Mistwalker

by Fraser, Naomi

  She crept around the corner, trying to merge into the shadows. The place reeked of blood. It was the one thing she couldn’t escape. She didn’t mean to breathe so deeply with her body weakened from hunger, but her stomach growled a stern protest. She needed to feed, although she wouldn’t prey on some poor human because she couldn’t control herself.

  She stiffened in realisation.

  How long would it take to hold on to that opinion of right and wrong when it was either drink or die? She couldn’t ever imagine a time when her survival instincts might be her downfall.

  There were the mob vampires, the lonely hearts staring into their chalices, the bad asses in leathers and chains with a barely dressed female gyrating on their laps. Hands disappearing up skirts and wild passionate kissing. Maybe even…no…her eyebrows rose. She didn’t want to look that close.

  Crackling and fierce, energy spread throughout the club, from the groups of female vampires with cunning eyes and hard smiles with some poor sap in their midst, to the young ones in the latest fashions, sporting knowing smiles and hungry stares.

  Predators.

  Simone crossed the scarlet carpet and rounded a corner where the music wasn’t quite so loud. An earthy and animalistic scent swamped her senses, and she stared, her nostrils flaring.

  A group of men with tight shirts and thick dark hair on their arms faced her. They didn’t smell human or vampire.

  She couldn’t quite decide what they were.

  A screech made her jump and turn around.

  Small creatures with green roundish heads and long spindly fingers sat at another table along a wall. Their chests barely came up to the top of the table. They looked pissed and talked fast—in a dialect she couldn’t understand. The nastiest looking one glanced up with a vicious snarl. Its green eyes narrowed into slits, the fine white hairs spiking up on its back.

  Her hand closed over the butt of the gun under her jacket, and she kept walking. Don’t turn around. Don’t turn around or stare. She wouldn’t have enough bullets to take them all, and she didn’t want to start shooting up in the club.

  Great way to keep a low profile, Simone. Gawping at the first odd thing you see.

  Someone tapped her on the shoulder, and she stiffened. Hell. Wait, those things were too short to reach her shoulders. She cocked the .44. If exploding rounds didn’t work, she’d disappear.

  “Excuse me. You’re Simone, aren’t you?” A blond man stood in front of her with both his hands shoved inside the pockets of his pants. He smiled. “Can I offer you a drink? You must be thirsty.”

  She frowned, her gaze roaming over his pale skin and iridescent blue eyes. Vampire. “Who are you?” she asked coolly.

  “Willem. How about a chat then? It’ll be something normal at least.” He cast a sidelong glance at the little table with the green creatures. “And we can get away from this part of the club. You’ll be more comfortable somewhere else no doubt.”

  Four or five of the little creatures climbed up and stomped on the table, whispering furiously to themselves. Razor sharp nails extended from their long fingers and their thin, bony toes. Mottled green skin rippled along their sides as they hissed and muttered.

  She glanced back up at Willem. “Err…yeah, okay. I get it. No need to create a scene.”

  He laughed. “This isn’t the vampire section of the club.”

  “Vampire section?” She felt faint and glanced over her shoulder frequently while following him to a low sofa away from the dance floor. “How do you know my name? And what were those things?” she asked over the music. Had she imagined them? No, life couldn’t be that sweet.

  “Don’t worry.” Willem sat on the chair beside her, extending his long legs. “The goblins and wolves won’t say anything.” A blond lock fell in front of his eyes, and he swished it away.

  “Did you say the goblins and the wolves?” Her eyes widened and her stomach dropped. “Those green creatures back there are goblins...” Her voice tapered off to a whisper. She breathed deeply and looked around at the lavish décor, but it faded in and out. “I’m in a freaking fairy tale. Who are the wolves?”

  “The group of males that smelled rather earthy. Ripped chests. Large, hairy arms? They don’t like to fully change in the club. Their beast overcomes them too easily.”

  A few curious vampires stared at them until an intoxicated human walked past. She wanted to leap up and intercede on behalf of the mortal; however that would leave Willem at a loose end. “Why should they keep quiet?”

  “They know who I work for.” He waved down a passing waiter, and a jug of warmed blood and two glasses were set on the table. “Everyone is in here of their own free will. You must be hungry. Please drink, then I’ll tell you how I know you.”

  “Juliun sent you.” She released the trigger of the .44, not feeling overly threatened by Willem. He was too preppy and easy-going, and she could fade any second. What was the harm in having a little chat? They were in neutral territory. She wanted to know more about fading into mist so she could use it to save Tammy. Simone poured the blood into the glasses and settled back into the sofa.

  Willem nodded. “He’s worried about you.”

  “Kidnapping is caring.” The blood soothed her dry throat. Liquid warmth pooled in her stomach, but she needed more. Hunger twisted inside her, coiling in a yearning hand reaching up into her body, and she rode out the pain of her clenching muscles.

  “Would you have come willingly?”

  “Probably not.” She grinned and crossed her legs, enjoying herself. “Why were you lying in wait for me?”

  She poured herself another glass of blood. The sweet aroma hit her nostrils, and she almost swooned. Maybe it was bad manners to gorge, but she didn’t care at this point. How long had it been since she’d had a proper feed?

  Willem leaned forward, his elbows on his thighs, and a narrow, intent look in his eyes. “You have the mist and are in great danger. I’m here to help you.” He shot her a smug look. “And you do need help. Admit it.”

  “My friend needs help more than I do.” A steely undercurrent entered her tone. “She must be safe in the hospital. I want to know what’s happening with her. Is she still being watched?”

  He nodded. “Prince Juliun wants to talk with you about that. He regrets scaring you about her safety. That was not his intention. You see, he has methods of getting you past the staff so you can see your friend. Apparently, her turn isn’t going well. There are other complications.”

  Simone’s fingers clenched around the stem of her glass until the thin stalk cracked. “Don’t be coy. Say exactly what you mean.”

  “It would be a good idea if you talked to Prince Juliun. You could always fade back to Ravenkeep, and ask him if you can see her tonight.” Willem gazed at Simone in earnest. “He will arrange it. He does not want to see either of you hurt. You have my word.”

  The word of a vampire?

  She averted her face. The deep bass music filled the room, and she moved closer to the table. Help Tammy. Hunt for information about her mother’s murder and the mist. Drink and leave. Why did that have to include talking to the prince of vampires? The heir to the kind who had taken her mother—the one who’d turned Simone into a vampire against her will and kidnapped her.

  She only hoped Tammy didn’t share the same fate.

  Simone’s tongue swirled inside her mouth, tasting the delicious blood. She didn’t know why she felt like confiding in Willem, maybe because he was a stranger, or because she’d drunk more blood in the last five minutes than she had in two days.

  “I’d rather not see him. He hunted me. Kidnapped me and chained me to a chair. He wants me to stay at vampire central.”

  Willem sighed. “Now that you know you can go wherever you please, he can’t make you stay anywhere. But no one could help you more. He offered secure protection for your friend whenever you wish and will not interfere with your decision. You should take him up on the offer. It will save her life.”

 
Thoughts circled and tumbled in Simone’s mind. Let Juliun help her with Tammy? Wasn’t that like getting the devil to drive her to church?

  “Why? What’s wrong with her? How can I trust him when he threatened me and attacked us? And why couldn’t I find her at the hospital?”

  “There’s too much at risk not to trust him. He never wanted you chained up at Ravenkeep, and he had no other choice but to waylay you that night. What happened to both of you is not an everyday occurrence for him. He does…well, he’s never met…What I’m trying to say is, he needs to know you’re safe,” Willem fumbled on awkwardly and took a sip from his glass. “Your friend is in a special part of the hospital.”

  Intrigued, she decided to linger and find out more. She wanted her enemies right under her nose and wasn’t foolish enough to believe Willem hadn’t intended this outcome. She knew a player when she saw one, and he was very good at manipulation. She had to give him that.

  “There are only three vampires in the world who can control the mist,” Willem said. “The king, Prince Juliun, and you. Others have tried to steal the power. With your turn, they could steal it from you, so expect to be hunted.”

  She frowned. “How could they steal it? They’d need to catch me first.” And walk through bullets and a stake.

  Willem shook his head, frowning. “Prince Juliun’s father was killed by his best friend who was under a compulsion.” Willem’s blue eyes lost their sparkle. “When Juliun transferred the mist to you, he gave you the greatest power a vampire can know and the greatest curse. He wants to make sure it’s not the latter and protect his people.”

  “Curse? What could be worse than being a vampire?” She poured the last of the blood into her glass. Pity that she couldn’t stay longer. “I was human a week ago. I don’t know about you, but I used to love going to the beach in the daylight.” A sudden rush of longing consumed her. “I miss my old life. I can’t ever get that back.” Anger choked her.

  “The transition is hard, but we’re here to help. Newly turned vampires are always so hungry, and there is the danger you could hurt someone or reveal who we are. The situation gets worse when you have the mist.”

  “Why? When I can disappear to anywhere I like?”

  Willem winced. “You aren’t going to like this. There is a price. You cannot drink blood from source.”

  She shook her head. “What does that mean? What is source?”

  His gaze never wavered from hers. “Not directly from humans, immortals or animals. Anything you feed from could obtain the gift and considering that you can turn up anywhere you like, imagine if some of the more unsavoury characters in your past had this ability.”

  She sobered instantly.

  “With any weapons of their choosing,” he added.

  Icy cold fingers trailed up and down her spine. Her mind swirled with the black, sweet power she’d felt earlier. In the wrong hands the mist could destroy them all. “How do I feed then?”

  Willem shifted closer. “You need to drain the blood.”

  She blinked and frowned. “Are you mad?”

  “They haven’t broken me yet.” He grinned, his white fangs flashing. “As soon as word gets around that you have the mist, prepare to be hunted and courted.”

  She gritted her teeth. “Because they’re not the same thing around here?”

  He laughed. “Leaders from other families will want your blood in their line. They will follow the rules and not drink from you, but your children will have the ability,” he said. “Hence their sons will become a challenge to the royal family. That’s not counting the rogues who will kill you and take their chances with the Council. Some will not want others to have the mist at all. Their mission is death.”

  “Wait a minute. Wait a minute.” She noticed the sudden stares around her and lowered her voice. “Vampires can’t have children. And what rules are you talking about?”

  “Vampires can have children. Our reproductive systems work fine. The rule is any immortal that doesn’t have the mist cannot drink from one who does and vice versa.”

  Her mind stuck on the fact that her reproductive system worked fine, forget the drinking blood part. “How is it possible I can have children? I’m dead.”

  “Do you feel dead? Your heart still beats, does it not? You are a different species, and after mating with one of your kind, you will have children. Although, you age at a much slower rate than humans, and you cannot be killed by the usual methods.”

  “Why did Juliun transfer the mist if it’s so dangerous? Why didn’t he stop me? He could have, I know. He’s strong enough.”

  Willem shifted in his chair. “You surprised him. When you punched him in the face, his fangs were down, and you scraped your skin. His own blood had filled his mouth before, and with your punch, well...” Willem shrugged. “You have to understand he doesn’t normally go into town to feed since he can’t feed from—”

  “Yes, yes.” She waved her hand. “I understand. No tourists. Can’t transfer his blood.”

  “That doesn’t mean the police haven’t noticed some of the goings on around this time of year. The festivals bring out all types of weirdos.”

  “Funny.” She grimaced. “But Juliun acted like he knew me from somewhere.” She watched Willem’s face. “I’ve never seen him before in my life.”

  Willem didn’t evade her look. “Sometimes vampires are capable of seeing people in their dreams. He’s seen you.”

  Breath strangled in her throat. Had he dreamed of her like she’d dreamed of him? “What does that mean? You’re sure he doesn’t know me from my past?”

  “He knew your face, that’s all. The king is capable of seeing into the future.” Willem sounded nonchalant. “Lars was sick. The town likes to believe the vampires are a myth to keep the tourists happy.”

  She frowned. “What’s wrong with Lars?”

  Willem gave a ‘thumbs up’ sign to another male across the bar, an easy grin spreading across his face as he turned his attention back to her. “Lars was locked up by enemy of his family’s. I won’t go into details, but it was a long standing feud. If you’ve ever been without blood for long enough, his state would be understandable. He was given the minimum to keep him alive. The deprivation has slowly warped his brain and his body.”

  She cast her mind back to Lars’ state of dress that night she’d met them. “He was filthy; hungry.”

  Willem nodded. “He would have died without blood. Juliun had been searching for years and finally found him. They’ve known each other for centuries. Feeding Lars from a vein would be better than a donor bag, more life force, and there were no bags at Ravenkeep because of the festival. The only vampires at the castle were Juliun and the king, and they could not feed Lars due to the rules of the mist. Everyone else had left, even the guards. The king truly needs no one to protect him.”

  A waiter set a second jug of blood on the table in front of Willem, and he poured her a glass. “It wouldn’t be the first time a vampire erred. I can understand why he did.”

  She sipped her drink. Willem was revealing the crux of why Juliun attacked her—something he never mentioned when she’d been chained to the chair. She doubted she would have listened if he’d tried to explain. Her emotions were so twisted with indecision, she didn’t know what to think, but she couldn’t fault the lengths he would go to ensure his subject’s safety. A prince who was ready to do anything to protect another of his kind. To stop a friend from dying, oh yes, she understood that. She lived that.

  Juliun saved Lars. Simone thought it ironic how she was in even more danger than she’d ever imagined, though she was curious about why Juliun had dreamed of her. Was it to do with her mother? Did he remember her face from somewhere—her childhood?

  “Which reminds me to ask,” Willem said. “How are you feeding?”

  She shrugged. Sucking back some steaks and it’s not enough. “You wouldn’t want to know. I’m sticking to the rules, though.”

  “Good.” He glanced down at hi
s watch. “My shift starts in half an hour. I’ll have to shoot back to the estate. That’s another thing the mist is good for.”

  She frowned. “Yes?”

  “You can transform any immortal into mist and take them with you.”

  Her jaw dropped, and she gasped. Then she snapped her mouth shut before she looked like a fool. Incredulous, she asked, “That’s how Lars disappeared when we first met. Juliun went at the same time. Does it work on any immortal? You mean I can drop every creature in this place on a Siberian mountain top?”

  He nodded, grinning. “I can see the idea appeals to you. You could take the entire group of goblins to the middle of the ocean and then fade back here. An army of werewolves. Every immortal in this club and take them wherever you wished.” His gaze speared her. “Now you see why the mist is so dangerous. You could fade every immortal in town to the one place where they were likely to die. However, let’s make my life easier and go to the estate. Don’t you want to try out the power? It will help you move your friend when the time comes.”

  She hesitated. “But Tammy’s human.”

  Willem smiled. “Even so, why don’t you try?”

  “I only know one room, and my memory of that place isn’t something I want to revisit.”

  “Don’t worry. You can fade out the moment I’m there. It’ll be a good chance to turn another vampire. Trust me; it’s a skill you’ll want to perfect.”

  His blue gaze steadied on hers. She could turn any immortal into mist. The thought was heady. Astounding. She could make sure no one got near Tammy. Capture her mother’s killers on sight, if need be.

  Was this how her principles would change, by a thin black thread of vengeance? As if might equalled right. Maybe it had already started. How far was she willing to go?

  “What other kinds of immortals are there?”

  He laughed. “You’re better off hearing about all the species from the king. They have a book at Ravenkeep which has all the protocols for dealing with immortal species. I’m here to help you with the mist and give you some food. A newly risen’s hunger is dangerous if left unsatisfied.”