Mistwalker (27 page)

Lissanne’s wide gaze flew to Simone. “Your friend…she isn’t…?”

“They stole her,” Simone said. “I faded one of the vampires back to the dungeon, and when I got back to the train, she was gone. They’d put a compulsion on Alec. We haven’t found her yet.”

“Yes, and guess who Simone trapped? You are going to love this,” Juliun drawled. “Get ready.”

Lissanne blinked and shook her head. “Go ahead.”

“Kristoff.”

The bottle dropped from Lissanne’s hands, and blood and glass shot in all directions. She cried out, stumbling backward against the wall. Juliun caught her, but it was slippery going.

“Is it true?” She pulled her hands away to implore Simone. “You did that?”

She nodded, squatting beside Lissanne and rubbed a hand down her arm in comfort.

Lissanne reached out and hugged Simone so hard she almost broke her neck. “Oh my darling girl, I cannot thank you enough.
You found him. You found him
.” She went silent, and then glanced up at Juliun. “Radu.”

“Shall you tell him?” Juliun asked gently. “Or will I? Sorry to spring it on you
like this.”

Lissanne shook her head, tears dripping down her face. Her hands shook. “I can’t…I can’t.”

“It is all right,” he soothed. “Let me take you back to your room.”

“No. First you tell him.” Lissanne looked down at the floor, muttering, “We have him.
Finally.”

“Will you be here when I get back?” Juliun turned his head to ask
Simone. “I will call in the housekeeper.”

“Sure.” She slapped her thigh and reached into her jacket. “That reminds me.” She flicked open her cell and pressed a button on speed dial. “Vinnie,” she said, holding the receiver up to her ear. “She’s gone. Yeah, I can’t believe it myself. I’m working on it now. I’ll keep in touch.” She nodded. “I owe you one.” She laughed. Her gaze swung to Juliun’s stiff posture, his dark frown. He stared at her with harsh pebbles for eyes.

She pulled her face away from the phone. “What?” she mouthed to him.

“Damn.” Vinnie’s words came clear through the line. “Are you bringing her back to the hospital when you find her?”

“Ah no.” Simone walked back over to the stool. “I’ve got a friend who’s a doctor. They’ve promised to take good care of her. Thanks for everything. I knew I could count on you.”

“No problem,” Vinnie said. “Call me if you need me anytime, sweetheart.”

“Ditto.” She ended the call and faced Juliun.

His brows lowered, knuckles white on the kitchen counter, his mouth thinned with displeasure. “You rang him for assistance?”

She shrugged. “Alec told me you weren’t answering your phone, and I needed another pair of eyes at the hospital.”

His eyes turned smoky and refused to release her. “This…
good friend
of yours—”

She fronted up to him. “Yes?”

He opened his mouth, but was interrupted by his mother.

“Juliun.
Tell Radu. Tell him.” Lissanne rose, one hand resting against the wall. Her blonde hair tumbled around her shoulders, her cheeks streaked red and white from crying.

“As you wish.”
Juliun nodded and said to Simone, “Please be here when I get back. I have had a suite prepared for you.”

Her brow creased. “I don’t want to put you to any bother. And I don’t like being told what to do.”

“No bother,” Juliun said. His stare pinned her to the spot. “I want you here.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Bright-red blood coated Simone’s palms and fingers, the coppery scent fogging the spacious kitchen. No wrenching pain lurched in her belly and for that she was thankful.

She ran hot water and detergent over her hands; not believing a kitchen this size had no gloves or a mop. She’d hunted through every cupboard and drawer, but only came up with dishcloths under the sink.

A strange thud echoed near the door, and she faded to mist, reappearing on the other side of the kitchen, guns at the ready.

Hazel laughed and shook her head, her grey curls swinging against her lined cheeks. She held onto the handle of a mop. “Sorry for scaring you, dear.” Her eyes were a gentle, faded blue. “The king wishes to see you in the dungeon as soon as you’ve finished your meal.”

“He does?” Simone swallowed at the sudden lump in her throat. “What for?”

“He didn’t say. Prince Juliun told me of the mess in the kitchen, but thank you for your help. You have certainly saved me some time. The guards are on full alert tonight. You will be safe.”

What on earth would Radu need her for? An extra witness to Kristoff’s death? A sick trembling churned in her gut. She envisioned the dungeon, feeling as though she were being invited to a hanging. She shifted into rolling dark mist that dissipated from the room in a swift, silent rush and opened her eyes to soft light in the dungeon.

A sombre, chilling draft swept the roughened flagstones. Her
fingers brushed the cold bars of the cells which Juliun guarded.

His strong, solid arms crossed over his brick-wall chest, forcing the intensely ripped muscles to bunch and define beneath the white shirt. He’d opened his collar, exposing his corded neck. Her gaze dropped from his deliciously solid, broad shoulders and abdomen, to his gorgeous backside, wait…travelled back up, then continued down again to his muscled thighs. Blood pounded in her ears. Her mouth dried. He was leashed power standing there like that.

He stared at Kristoff with an unnerving gaze. The rich, conservative cut of Juliun’s attire contrasted with the dark, silken shot of his hair fastened at the base of his neck. That hair hinted at a rebel who didn’t care for protocol and would never fit the mould. Instead, he revelled in the one he created.

Hot pinpricks washed her skin, and her teeth worried her bottom lip. How could she feel this way after everything he’d done? Was she crazy? Yet, when…
when
had she the chance to view him without someone watching her? Without prejudice?

He’d stopped her in the streets and tried to use glamour to save his friend’s life. Changed and captured her
. The sweet freedom of the mist came with a price, and the king wanted her to witness what happened in the dungeon; she hadn’t wanted to come. She’d been so confused by Juliun’s motivations at first. But he guarded the cells, protected them all from the vampires who had taken Tammy.

Simone was beginning to see him and felt like a thief in the night, stealing a few precious moments before reality snuck in.

Finally, she ventured forward. “You wanted to see me?” she asked, quietly.

Radu’s head snapped around. The full blast of his icy stare intensified the scowl on his aged face. “Let us begin.”

The corners of Juliun’s sensuous mouth kicked up in a grin. His gaze softened and roamed over her face and the loose, long hair that brushed her shoulders. His broad, solid chest expanded with a sudden intake of air.

“You stayed.”

“Of course.” She dug her hands into the warm pockets of her leather jacket. Heat mottled her neck and marched up her cheeks. He must see the tell-tale pink staining her pale skin and yet she did nothing to hide it. “You asked me to.”

His black pupils swallowed the irises. Her heart twisted. The heat of his seductive interest swamped the dungeon. This was insane. A vampire was about to be destroyed, and she was getting all hot and bothered.

*Simone*

Radu’s voice pierced her thoughts, and she straightened, turning to him.
*Yes?*

*I need your full concentration for this.*

She blushed and nodded.

Juliun laughed.

Radu floated toward her, stiff-backed and haughty, holding out a hand. “Juliun will turn Kristoff to mist. All except for the top of his head. Kristoff will be not be able to run, speak or hurt you in anyway. There, but not there. You need to find your friend. There is a chance you may see something which triggers a memory of your attackers from when you were a child.”

That’s why Radu wanted her in the dungeon. Not to witness Kristoff’s death, but to help her.

She released her breath and grasped his hand. Tears welled in her eyes. She’d never imagined such a thing could be done. Again, that moment on the street flashed in her mind, when Juliun appeared from nothing.

That instant changed everything
.

Radu’s fingers tightened around hers, tensile steel wrapped in flesh. “We are family and act as one,” he said. “You cannot restrain an immortal with the mist. There are no limits or boundaries. Juliun and I are powerless if you wish to leave. I must train you in the art of protecting yourself by using your vampire skills. You are already familiar with the human methods. Your friend has been kidnapped, but they were after you. Your training starts here.”

He gestured toward the snarling Kristoff who mouthed obscenities thick and fast in the dark cell.

“He is perhaps the most capable of compulsion ever born without royal blood, and he has taken from
me.” Radu’s words grew in strength and trembled past his lips. “I hope we never meet one like him again.”

A wave of energy swept the room, and goose bumps sheered her skin beneath her jeans and jacket.

“A parent should never have to outlive their own child.” A tear glistened at the corner of his eye and rolled down his cheek. “We will force our way into Kristoff’s mind. He will have formed blocks. Hear my thoughts. Feel the depths. One day, it will prepare you to do this by yourself. Do not be afraid. This will be your last chance to see into his mind before he is gone.”

“All right,” she croaked, trying to calm her thoughts. Radu spoke with the total certainty of Kristoff’s death, but then she hadn’t expected him to let his son’s killer escape. There were more people to save. “I’m ready.”

Juliun faded Kristoff’s feet and legs into mist, then arms, body, neck and face below the nose.

She huffed out a short, panic-filled breath. She hadn’t seen anything quite so fascinating in her entire life. Half of Juliun’s head floated in the air, while Kristoff’s furious black eyes glowed in the darkness inside the cell like Radu had said they would. Every part of Juliun’s faded body was also reflected in Kristoff’s.

*Hold him, Grandson.*
Radu lifted Simone’s hand, and a sudden shot of fire licked her skin.

Everything plunged into the familiar blackness, and she opened her eyes inside the cell.

Kristoff’s head floated within arm’s reach.

Radu interlaced his fingers over the top of hers and placed his other hand on top of Kristoff’s skull.

“Breathe deeply, and open your mind,” Radu advised. “Do not put up any blocks. You are there to see. Follow my lead, and stay clear.”

A sudden pulling coiled open from behind her third eye, opening up in a yawning chasm beneath her feet. Memories surfaced; visions on a reel, voices and thoughts. Deeper and farther she climbed within, until time separated into distinct ribbons, circles spinning and spilling in a constant eddy.

*You will let us see all the events surrounding the girl you kidnapped tonight,*
Radu thought.
*Who ordered this? Her location and your orders?*

Simone’s stomach roiled, and she hunched over. There was nothing to grab onto except Radu’s hand, and she clenched his fingers in her own, fighting the urge to vomit. She remembered the
same feeling when Juliun used mind control on her when they first met, and she’d also experienced it with Kristoff.

Vampire glamour did not work on her, but the power made her feel pain and nausea. She compelled her mind to remain open and clear, dragging deep, hungry breaths into her lungs.

A direction opened up, and they skewered to a white, blinding blaze. She wanted to look away. Couldn’t. It was everywhere. There was nowhere to turn. She’d somehow sunk into the glow. Relentless fire burned in her chest, and then the push away, the block.

A terrible wave pulled the energy from her surroundings and thrust it against the wall. The block crumbled, and she followed in Radu’s wake.

A man in a black robe stood before her. A hood covered his eyes and nose, only his lips and chin were visible. Kristoff’s feelings pounded in her mind. He was afraid of the man. No, not a man at all. A vampire. And, he was flat-out terrified. Kristoff stood a distance away, nodding at the vampire’s orders.

Yes, she mouthed the words as Kristoff said them. They were to get the girl and take her to the Drachyn lair. If the kidnap did not go according to plan, the plane waited at the airstrip. Assassins would be deployed. Kill anyone who stood in their way.

Simone dwelled within the vision, amazed at the clarity.
The Drachyn.
The name floated around her mind, and she was behind Kristoff’s eyes as he turned, looking around the room.

She went limp, seeing as they drove to the train station where Kristoff wiped the train driver’s mind.

The driver threw himself from the carriage, and Simone closed her eyes in despair at the utter loss of another innocent life.