Mistwalker

by Fraser, Naomi

  She thought it would be his strength toward her that would be her undoing. But it was all of him. Everything he was. His affection, his understanding, the way he soothed her and respected her independence. The way he helped her be more when everything was collapsing around her.

  She could feel it happening, the exciting, and life-altering ride to love.

  No. She laid a hand over her heart, feeling the thundering beats through her skin.

  She summoned the energy to slip down the hall, and thankfully, she found the living room empty. She grinned and hoped Juliun left her unwanted guests somewhere very inaccessible with lots of bright sunshine.

  She hunted around her apartment for the Cel Batrin book and found it on bathroom floor where she’d last pinned Juliun against the flimsy wall. Goodness, had she really done that?

  His blood was ambrosia, so delicious that each swallow tasted like a mini orgasm. Every single nerve ending, hormone and sense exploded inside of her at once. Her mouth still held the taste of him: complex, intoxicating, decadent and sublime. She wanted more. Much, much more.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  The strong odour of disinfectant clouded the air, and Alec’s voice echoed down the corridor, pitched low enough to not disturb his patients. Simone stepped around the corner and stopped dead at the sight of a very tall, blue-skinned humanoid standing beside Alec. She stared in disbelief, then knocked gently on the open door.

  Alec turned, as did the creature beside him. “Good morning, Simone.” Alec smiled cautiously and beckoned her into the room. “How are you feeling?”

  She got the full view of his visitor’s aquiline face. “Oh, fine,” she said, trying not to stare. “Um, Juliun came over.”

  “Morning?” the creature asked, his accent haughty and thick. “I forget she is a vampire and has no day. A shame she cannot be turned into something else.” His skin wasn’t quite blue, but blue-greyish-green with a faint sheen that glittered on his face and arms.

  A loose shirt and long pants covered his body. Her gaze roved down to his bare feet and webbed toes. Huh. Some type of sea creature then?

  “It would be unfortunate to forget such a thing.” Alec lifted his top lip, and his fangs flashed in a mocking grin. “Consider where you are.”

  “Vamp central,” she muttered under her breath, moving around them to get to Tammy. Simone hadn’t missed the hint of disdain and superiority in the creature’s voice. Of course, she hadn’t wanted to be turned into a vampire, but that didn’t mean she wanted to be changed into something else, either.

  She looked to Alec, somewhat puzzled, but not rude enough to ask what kind of immortal stood with them, even if she was dying to know. “Is it okay if I sit with Tammy for a while? Unless you’re busy?” Aka, the blue man in the room.

  This time the smile reached Alec’s eyes. “That would be good for her. Her heart beat is regulating and—”

  “I have offered my blood,” the other creature interrupted with an arrogant slant of his head. “I am Jasper, Lord of the North Sea. It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance, my Lady of the Mist.” He held out a large blue hand across Tammy’s body.

  “Y…yes.” Simone blinked. She leaned across and shook his hand. His fingers were firm and leathery. She frowned at the strange hardness in the centre of his palm and discreetly ran her hand back and forth. Scales.

  The faint trace of his former self hadn’t completely disappeared with his human transformation. He was so big; his arms were like massive, thick ropes swinging from his body. “It’s always a pleasure to meet more species,” she said.

  The doctor sighed. “Jasper, if you would like me to make the incision in your wrist, would you please raise your arm toward me?”

  “I have come because I could not wait to meet you,” Jasper said directly to Simone. He didn’t move anything toward Alec, but his grey-blue lips curved in a smile at her, his pointy, white teeth on display. “I cannot stay long due to my responsibilities in the sea, but I was hoping you might agree to accompany me after I fed your friend. Perhaps we could go to the cave near the water, then dinner?”

  Her mouth fell open. What would ‘dinner’ consist of? “You mean a date?”

  “Exactly.” Jasper smiled, obviously pleased. “You have read of our courting rituals. I am so happy you understand. There are many things I would like to show you about our underwater world.”

  Alec stepped toward their clasped hands over Tammy’s body, his face wreathed in a tight frown. He turned his concerned gaze to Jasper. “I wouldn’t like to cross the prince.”

  Jasper shrugged. “He is not here, and I am. I simply wish to become good friends.” He smiled, and those sharp teeth flashed in his aquiline face. “Certainly more if my lady desires it. I am at her bidding. You are a treasure to all.”

  “And you’re all about treasure, aren’t you?” Alec asked with a sardonic glance to Jasper. “I heard about your recent acquisitions.”

  Jasper’s hand stilled over hers, and he rubbed his fingers over her knuckles. His touch was cold. More scales grew over his skin. “That boat sank due to human error. The artefacts intended for the British Museum would have been lost forever without my intervention.”

  “You intend to hand them over?” Alec asked, dryly.

  Jasper turned a frown toward Alec. His gaze swung back to Simone, reading her face. “Of course.”

  Alec laughed.

  Jasper began speaking again, and Simone looked at him, but directed her thoughts into Alec’s mind. *Will he feed Tammy if I don’t agree to this date?*

  Alec’s voice drifted into her mind. *I doubt he will donate blood at all. Too squeamish. He is only here to meet you. You are forced to do nothing. It won’t matter if he does not feed her because she is healing. The werewolf and elven leader have donated already. There has been a large influx of powerful immortals to the clinic. Of course, they have all asked about you, but if you don’t wish to go, then tell him no. The prince will kill him if he finds Jasper was in here hassling you.*

  She squashed down the notion of Juliun being her ultimate protector, but her traitorous heart leapt at the idea. *It’s really that easy? I won’t offend him? Start trouble?*

  *The king is the head of the Council, and he is familiar with Jasper’s impertinence.*

  Simone withdrew her hand from Jasper’s clasp, but his grip tightened, and he drew her closer, still talking about his underwater kingdom. Her upper lip curled, and she faded to mist to reappear on one of the plastic chairs at the other side of the room.

  Really, like he thought he might hold onto her with force. Be polite, she reminded herself. “I’m sorry. I can’t possibly think of going out with anybody until my friend is healed completely,” she said. “I’m sure you understand it’s a difficult time for me with this transition.”

  Jasper frowned, his thick brows coming together as if she’d committed a cardinal sin. “If I can be of any service, let me know.”

  The cell in her back pocket jingled. She sighed and plucked it out, reading silently: You have to come to the Council Headquarters at once. Look into Alec’s mind to find the place. It is urgent. Yours, J. She held out the phone to Alec. “Do you know where the Council Headquarters are?”

  “Yes.” He frowned down at the message. “He must have known you’d be here to see Tammy.”

  “Council Headquarters?” Jasper asked. “Why would you wish to go there?”

  “I’ve been invited. Can you show me the place in your mind?” she asked Alec.

  “If it’s the Council Headquarters you’re after, then I should attend,” Jasper said. “I cut off my methods of being contacted while I was with you.”

  Alec nodded. “He’s right. But look into my mind, and then take him.”

  She didn’t miss the hint to not trust Jasper and concentrated on the picture in Alec’s mind. She saw a vast, luxurious room with a semi-circular seating arrangement. The chairs rose up from the polished floor, and she got a clear picture of the door.


  She pulled back from Alec’s mental images and rested the Cel Batrin book on the chair beside Tammy’s bed. “Got it, thanks Alec.” Simone stared at Tammy, sleeping peacefully, her blonde hair splayed out on the hospital bed. Slight bruises shadowed beneath her eyes. “Please take care of her while I’m gone.”

  “Always,” Alec said.

  Simone didn’t flinch as the burn of the mist consumed her body, and she took form at the edge of the door that she’d seen in Alec’s memories. Jasper appeared beside her. “Where is this place?” she asked in awe.

  “You transport others well,” Jasper complimented her and avoided her question. “I thought that would be a hard skill to learn.”

  A dark mass of wind swelled, and Juliun appeared, drawing her swiftly to one side and away from Jasper. She remembered the passion of their morning together, and her knees went weak, but she frowned at his worried face. “What is it?”

  “Something very important has come to the Council’s notice, and it concerns you,” he spoke in her ear gently. “Grandfather has convened an emergency meeting. It is going to be hard for you, but I am here no matter what happens.”

  “Juliun?” She stopped in confusion. “How does it concern me?”

  Jasper huffed and glared at Juliun. “I’ll have to leave you momentarily, my dear.” Jasper strode to the back of the room to the large wooden desk. “I am always at your service.”

  Two blue men jumped into action at the sight of Jasper. They carried an assortment of weapons on their backs and around their waists. Arrows, knives and spears. Bodyguards. He was one of the Councillors, and she’d snubbed his offer of a date. They walked into the room where there were six others seated at massive wooden desk. Radu reclined in the centre, elegant and menacing in a high-backed golden throne. His gaze followed every move she made.

  On his left hand sat a woman who had to be one of the fae. Her pale wings glistened above her shoulders, and she smiled with a sweet serenity. The emotion, however, did not reach her eyes.

  A man sat on Radu’s right, and his gaze glittered coldly. The vibration of power that pulsed off him gave her gooseflesh, and not the good kind. Another man sat beside him, his massive shoulders and feral intent hard to mistake. A werewolf. He growled low, the room echoing with the deep rumble in his chest.

  Her gaze flicked to the female beside the werewolf in human form. Very short, her head barely came up past the desk, and she had the look of the troll. Intricate, heavy beading wound around the top of her head, and in her own way she was a stunningly miniature version of health and vitality. She radiated a calm and capability that was not lost on the wolf sitting beside her. She laid a hand on his arm, and he quietened.

  Jasper took a seat beside the elven leader, the same one she’d also seen in the marketplace. Each member had their own personal bodyguards. Fifteen royal guards lined up around the room, protecting Radu, who probably needed no protection at all.

  Juliun gripped her hand and led her toward two seats at the front of the Councillors’ desk which rose up in front of her like an old judge’s in a parliamentary arena. She swallowed nervously. “Why am I here?”

  Radu waited until she took a seat. “This meeting is called in session.” He called out the particulars of who was in attendance and all the facts for the beginning of the minutes. A vampire swept down into seat below them and perched her fingers over the keys of a typewriter. She typed with an amazing speed, her fingers blurring across the machine.

  “Samael.” Jasper nodded to the Councillor with the dark hair and even darker eyes. “I didn’t realise you were in the country. I assumed you were still taking tonic in Romania.”

  Samael’s look became even more brooding. His gaze landed squarely on Simone with a barely checked menace. “There’s only so much magick can accomplish.” His dark power pushed out further, twirling around the room, and the veins on his face grew black.

  “Let us all not be confused about why we are here,” Radu said. “We received communication from the Drachyn clan, and...it is disturbing to say the least.” His gaze flicked to Simone. “I am afraid it affects you most of all, Simone, and since you are a mistwalker, a meeting needs to be held.”

  “I am recommending no action at all,” the fae female asserted. “I’m sure you will all agree for the sake of everyone in this room and the immortals in the world.”

  “Because humans don’t count,” Samael muttered with an inflection in his voice. “They’re only the ones who started the Great War.”

  Simone grinned at him.

  “Now, Allegra.” Radu turned to the fae Councillor. “Take into account who you are speaking to. She could wipe out your entire species with a single thought! Trust me; denying her in this will achieve nothing.”

  Allegra slammed Simone with a look, so sweet and spiteful. “It is precisely that power which makes her so dangerous. How can we let her do what she likes? I am only concerned for the species. She could kill us all.”

  Simone flinched at the truth in the words.

  Juliun had not released her hand; in fact, he squeezed harder, his back straight. “Do not forget my involvement,” he said. “She has my backing and needs to know.”

  Jasper cocked his head. “And what involvement is that?”

  Juliun grew quiet, but Jasper’s face tightened with every second. Obviously, Juliun had communicated to him through a mind-link.

  “You lie,” Jasper said viciously, slamming his fist down on the desk and standing up. “This is another attempt to gain more power.”

  “Sit down.” Radu’s voice was calm and deadly. The whole room fell silent. “I have seen the truth of his claim with my own eyes. He does not lie. You think I would allow anyone to live with the mist?”

  “She is strong,” the female troll spoke up with a squeaky, soft voice. “Even I can see that. I have read her file and am concerned with how this potential death may affect her mental state.”

  Jasper slowly resumed his seat, muttering about the convenience of having a grandfather who was head of the Council.

  “Whose death?” Simone asked, at a complete loss.

  Radu tapped a finger on an envelope in front of him. “Read this,” he said.

  She faded the envelope to mist and reappeared back in her chair with the letter. Juliun’s arm wrapped around her shoulders, tight and secure. She opened the envelope with trembling fingers and read the words on the small piece of paper:

  Tell the fortunate girl we have something of hers and offer a trade. All I want is the mist. If not, her mother dies in the next 48 hours.

  Dravego.

  A photograph fell out of the envelope and fluttered into Simone’s lap. She picked it up. Her face crumpled, and she shook her head.

  “No. It can’t be.”

  She tried to cover her face. A burning rage so swift and terrible boiled within her, and she couldn’t catch her breath. “I saw her die. Her blood was everywhere. She’d died.”

  Her mother. So gaunt and weak in the photograph. An incredibly ancient version of the woman Simone remembered. “It’s her. It’s my mother.” The words were a sob from her soul, and she bent over, riding out the pain.

  No one spoke. She lifted her tear-filled eyes, meeting the intent stares of the Councillors.

  They were right to be worried.

  Chapter Forty

  The photograph shook in Simone’s trembling fingers, and every moment that she gazed at her mother’s face filled her with such a bittersweet longing. “I remember that she was in the street, with blood everywhere. Who took this photo?”

  “Take your time,” Radu said, softly. “Your memories are correct, but Carlo Ginati and Lorena turned your mother into a vampire with their blood. Dravego, as a psychic vampire, has the constant need to feed from people, and we believe he recruited Carlo and Lorena to find new sources the night they attacked you. It is a mystery as to why you were not taken.”

  “No mystery,” Simone muttered. “What can a child offer?” Her
mother was alive! Alive. The urge to escape the Council chambers right now overwhelmed her. Simone shivered, trying to quell her anxiety and looked at the door, then remembered she needed no door at all. Forty-eight hours was all the time she had.

  Yet she’d signed a pact to never give another the mist.

  Her heart squeezed. She looked back up at the Council members and knew they wouldn’t let her go. They didn’t understand. She’d never wanted anything so much as this.

  “Lorena and Carlo wanted to kill me. They nearly succeeded. My whole life was shaped from their attack.”

  “Lorena was mentally unstable. A serial child killer,” the troll female said with a sympathetic tone. “She hated little girls and young women, often killing those who looked similar to her, with the same hair and skin colour. The girls’ youth infuriated her for they possessed the most amount of life as she saw it. Their blood would rejuvenate her for a little, and then she always came back for more. Her orders were from Dravego though; she would never disobey him. He was the puppet master.”

  “That is correct, Minna,” Radu said with a slow nod. “She stole all your girls one year.”

  Minna’s eyes glistened, and her jaw clenched. “Took them from their beds in the dark of night and slaughtered them in the fields. They were helpless.”

  Juliun’s hand clenched around Simone’s, and the feel of his strength steadied her. What had become of her mother?

  “Would Dravego have drained her?” Simone asked.

  Juliun leaned over and rubbed his hand down her upper arm. “Try not to think of that. We will get her back,” he murmured into her hair. “I promise.”

  Simone smiled at him through her haze of tears, somewhat comforted by his support.

  “We know she is a vampire.” Radu leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk. “To live through what you have described, they must have turned her. However, we received intel from various merchants that Dravego sold her to another clan when she was first turned. Dravego regularly held slave auctions, and by all accounts, to live that long under the Drachyn regime, she should be in a pit or dead. The explanation of being sold into slavery fits.”