Mistwalker (24 page)

*Down here,*
he ordered on his mind-link.
*Stop. Come back.*

The footsteps faltered, and then silence, until the sharp tap of her heels hurried toward the alleyway. He breathed out.
*Closer.*

At the first sight of her, he trembled, his mouth working silently. He lashed out in his fury, sinking his fist into the bricks. The raw sting of his knuckles made his breathing pick up.

Her blonde hair trickled in wavy ringlets over her shoulders, the curves her slim figure clad in a svelte black dress. A cursory overcoat for the chill London weather and high heels. Yet, it was her face, her very life, which made him so speechless. She held a wide black umbrella to protect her from the elements. How could she live while his beloved had died? He doubled over with the pain. Humans deserved nothing.

*Come here.*

The woman walked right up to him, her blue eyes dazed and limpid. “Oh yes.” Her voice was breathy and sweet, shooting clouds of white into the frosty air. “Please.”

He couldn’t touch her, not so soon after losing Lorena.

He stared at her slender neck, at the pulse wildly beating beneath her skin. He reached out for her hair with a bloody hand and yanked her head to one side, pulling her deeper into the darkness. Hunched over her, he moaned at the ease with which his fangs sliced through her jugular vein. Blood, salt, fresh rainwater and make-up coated his tongue. But he ached. The throbbing sickness clenched harder in his stomach. His breathing quickened and nausea made him panic. He thought it was hunger.
It had to be hunger.
He must eat more.

The woman wobbled on her heels, and the umbrella landed with a splash in the puddle at their feet. Water ran into his shoes. Harder, he sucked.
Harder, deeper.
Lub-dub-dub, lub-dub-dub.
Her heartbeats slowed.
Lub...dub
...until her shoulders slumped against his chest.

He growled, wrenching his mouth from her neck. He shook from head to toe, gripping the front of her overcoat, then her arms. “What is wrong with you?” The soft flesh of her upper arms gave compliantly beneath his hard fingers, but the sickness bubbled within him, unsatisfied and demanding. Her head lolled, and that creeping, tell-tale grey swept beneath her skin.
Shit.
He’d taken too much. He quaked with yearning, and she shuddered.
More, more.
The pain was still there.

*Stay awake.*

Her eyelashes fluttered, and she moaned.

*Follow me to around the corner. You will walk.*

She complied, albeit unsteadily, her skin an ugly grey. Maybe her alcoholic blood would kill this strange pain once and for all. He smiled at the thought and speed-walked her back to his townhouse.

His.
He shook his head. No. Lorena’s soul remained there. He didn’t intend to bring the woman at first, but it was his best chance to placate the beast. Full circle. Punishment for what her kind had done, and continued to do. She had to see the depth of her responsibility.

He opened the front door, and her heels crunched on the leftover dust that had once been Korpus.

Carlo led her inside and gave her an opened bottle of whiskey from the liquor cabinet.
*Drink it all. Fast as you can.*

Then when she’d finished, Carlo pushed her into the bedroom, locked the door and said,
*You can see clearly.*

She gasped, breathed deeply a few times,
then glanced down at the bodies on the floor. She screamed, then promptly vomited from the alcohol. Quick as thought, he flew at her and slammed her back up against the wall, covering her mouth with his hand.
*Keep that in. Shut up. No sound.*

Her eyes widened, and sweat instantly beaded her forehead. She banged her head back against the wall, thrashed, and furiously bowed her back. Finally, she bit into his hand.
Hard.

He laughed. A fire blazed in his stomach, the heat within which made him burn. That twisting, coiling agony wanted her. “I like it when they have a bit of fight in ‘em. Take a good look around. Humans are so stupid. Try to escape.” He knocked her down,
then reached in a drawer next to the bed for the rope. He tested a length between his hands. “I love it when they run. So did Lorena.”

The woman manic-crawled for the door, but he yanked her up and tied her in spread-eagled fashion to the rings on the wall.

He retreated to the chair and carried Lorena’s folded clothes toward the dresser. “I know,” he said to them. “It’s all their fault.” He lifted the clothes to his face and breathed in her sweet, spicy scent, revelled in the softness of the cloth. Heat climbed and climbed up inside of him. His hands shook, but he lifted his head and firmed his jaw.
Hunger.
He had to stop the hunger.

After a fast rummage into another drawer for his favourite hunting knife, he sat on the chair and sharpened the knife on whetstone. He spat on the rock again, and then scraped the metal across the surface. Many, many times, and the sound echoed in the room. The blade sharpened.

The woman strained against the rope, cutting her wrists, and her mouth opened and closed with absolute terror.

He tested the edge with the tip of his finger. Perfect. He rose and kicked back the chair. “It’s all your fault she’s dead,” he said, calmly. “
All your fault.” He shook so hard he couldn’t articulate what he really meant, feeling something indomitable rise up inside of him, tearing through his throat. Poison, pain, pleasure—all of it—that beast of despair which knew no control.

He lunged, blade out.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Loud banging echoed in Simone’s dreams, interrupting the deliciously erotic things Juliun was doing to her. She frowned at the heavy weight on her chest, opened her eyes slowly, gasped and in a terrified moment, sprang to her feet, pushing out with both hands. The Cel Batrin book tumbled end over end, and the delicate pages slammed against the wall, then slid to the carpet with a dull thud.

She winced. Radu would love that.

The rhythmic thumping shook the walls of her bedroom, and she rubbed a hand over her face. She must have fallen asleep while reading. The book made a fascinating study. Written as diary entries, the pages were packed with information of all the species who resided in Whitby and across the world. Wolves, elves, sprites, fairies, mermen...Radu said two-hundred years had passed while he hid during the Great War. He failed to mention it had taken him five-hundred years to kill all the immortals that begun the instability. Talk about determination. She had a lot to learn. The banging continued louder than ever, and she moaned.

“All right, all right.
I’m coming.” She darted a quick glance to the windows to make sure the blankets covered the glass and faded to mist to appear at the front door.

The chain and lock rattled. Fingertips resting on the door, she rose on tip toe and peered through the spy hole.

Alec. With his hair all mussed up.
What on earth was he doing here?

“Miss Woods?” his usually calm voice barked. The door knob rattled. “Open the door or I’ll break it down!”

“Wake up the neighbours, why don’t you, Alec?” she mumbled and unlocked the door. The door flew open and crashed against the wall, and she jumped out of the way in the nick of time. “
Damn.
What’s all the fuss?”

“You’ve got to help me. We need the mist. They’ve taken Tammy.”

“Come on in,” she said, closing the door behind him. “What do you mean?”

He pushed a shaking hand through his blond hair, spiking up the normally well-groomed strands even more. His white coat fell askew from his shoulders, the blue cotton shirt ripped across his abdomen. “They’ve got Tammy! We have to leave to find her right now. We have to get—”

Simone rubbed a hand over her eyes. “Whoa. Wait. Who’s got Tammy? Slow down, Alec. I just woke up.”

“Rogues have her. I couldn’t stop them. You have no idea what they’ll do once they discover she doesn’t have the mist.”

“Rogues. Have. Tammy?” Simone narrowed her eyes on him. “Rogue vampires?”

He nodded. “I couldn’t stop them,” he repeated, his blue eyes anguished. “I can’t reach Juliun or Radu. You have the mist. You’re my only hope.”

Coldness settled over Simone, and she woke up in a hurry. “Where would they have gone?”

“I don’t know. I heard them talking about the mist. They looked like they were on foot, but I can’t be sure.”

“Did she wake up?”

He shook his head. “No, and they’ll kill her when she can’t tell them anything. Her blood won’t give them the power. That’s why she was stolen, they thought she was you.”

“Wait here.” Simone faded and appeared in her bedroom. She tore off her pyjamas and pulled on her vampire hunting gear. She jammed a stake inside the back waistband of her jeans, put on the Kevlar vest, holster, guns and then slid on her black leather jacket. She hit speed dial five on her cell phone. Her steel-toed boots were on in seconds.

Vinnie picked up. “What’s up, sweetheart?”

“I need your help. I never told you but my friend and I were in hospital, and now she’s been kidnapped,” Simone said.

“I’m coming over to your place right now. Don’t—”

“We won’t be here,” she interrupted. “I’m going after her. Run by the hospital would you? I don’t think they’ll be there, but if they are use the weapon I told you to last time I slept at your place. A crossbow.” She paused. “Hey Vinnie, shoot first and ask questions later, okay? I don’t need to tell you these guys will take one look at you and rip out your throat.”

A silence echoed down the line. “I understand.”

“Oh and Vinnie,” she said. “One last warning. These guys are fast and deadly. Don’t be shocked by anything you see.”

He laughed. “Hey sweetheart, you know me. If I was slow, I’d be dead already. Don’t worry, we’ll get her back.”

Simone ended the call and dialled the number Juliun gave her before she’d left Ravenkeep. She got his answering machine. “Answer your damn phone, Juliun. Tammy’s been kidnapped, and Alec and I are going after her. Bye.”

Simone appeared in the kitchen beside Alec. “What’s the first place you think they’ll go?”

He fidgeted and kept glancing at his watch. “We need to hurry. You have guns?” he sounded surprised.

“Yes,” she said, meeting his gaze. “
Two, and a stake.”

“Bullets don’t kill vampires. Slow them down, maybe.”

“One has custom ammunition, doc. You’re going to see a giant big hole in any vamp that tries to stop us. Now, where would they have taken her?”

“Without a car?
The train station,” he said, worriedly. “I hope.”

She pulled out the .44.
“The platform closest to the hospital?”

Alec nodded.

The burn fired into her legs, arms and up her neck in spidery tendrils. Her arms transformed into a solid curl of mist, and then Alec appeared beside her.

She stalked through the train station’s grimy storage alcove, over piles of discarded newspapers until they finally stepped from the shadows. Old fashioned lamps hung from the ceiling and posters of various women in states of undress plastered the opposite wall. Commuters boarded the train down the far end of the platform, and the whistle blew in a screeching wail. She tucked the .44 back in the
holster and zipped up her jacket. “We’re catching that train.”

“How do you know she’s on there?”

“I’ve caught this train before. It sits a while. Decide now whether you’re coming or staying ‘cause there’s no turning back.”

“I’m not leaving her.” He frowned and stared at her as though staying put never occurred to him. “They’ve got her. She will live. She
has
to live.” His voice broke.

“Good.” Simone walked toward the train and entered the first open carriage door.
“Great minds and all that.”

Bored passengers glanced up with exhausted faces at their entry. The scent of sweet human blood swamped her, and the force rocked her back on her heels. She breathed in big gulps of air.
Huge mistake
. The barrier of human skin even with a thick layer of clothing offered no buffer to the temptation of fresh blood.

It was as if paper-thin shells covered the most gorgeous scents in the world and lured her on more. Her fangs descended, and she pressed her tongue against the back of her teeth.
Pain to fight pain.

She closed her lips and clenched her fists. Music blared through ear plugs of iPods and whispered conversations between couples. It would be so easy to capture one of them. All she’d have to do was…

She jerked at the touch on the middle of her back. Her heart thundered.

“I should have brought some food with me,” Alec whispered into her ear, his breath cold. “I forgot. Do you feel all right?”

She shot him a sharp look over her shoulder and frowned at his guilty expression. “Don’t worry about it, Alec. You didn’t have time to stop of at the shop for a hotdog.” Her gaze swerved to a man wearing a baseball cap, and the strong thickset line of his jaw. Veins popped out of his neck and huge arms in the black muscle t-shirt. Her hands wouldn’t have been able to wrap around his biceps. Damn. The sharpness of his pine cologne mingled with the deep pull of his blood, and a cloud of hunger overwhelmed her. She shivered, knowing she could make all these humans forget what they saw. Her canines pierced the tip of her tongue.