The Nightmare (The Mist #2) - Regine Abel Page 0,28

feeding on apathetic Sparks while he fortified his lands. Then, in an unexpected twist, the lucky bastard had saved his creator from committing suicide in the Mist. Since then, she had given up mortal life to move permanently here in the Mist.

Having his creator willingly come live by his side in our realm had made Risul incredibly powerful. So much so, he no longer needed to hunt to maintain his tremendous energy level. Thankfully, he was a Wish and not a Nightmare. Had he continued hunting, he might have become as unkillable and god-like to us as that Darryl had become to the humans.

A bright light flashed as the lord of the domain crossed his defensive walls into the no man’s land outside where I waited. Risul came out in his wraith form, his shadowy tendrils already out, crackling with impressive energy. I smiled at this deliberate display of power. The Wish was peaceful but wouldn’t hesitate to kill to protect those he cherished.

“These lands and those within are not for you to hunt,” Risul said as sole greeting. “You will leave my lands and not return.”

“I am not on your lands, nor do I wish to enter them,” I said smugly. “But I do wish to have a word with your guest. Would you be so kind as to call him out?”

“You will not harm or threaten my stepfather,” Risul hissed, advancing slightly in a menacing fashion.

“I have no such intentions,” I said with a dismissive wave of my hand. “You can read me, Wish,” I continued with a sliver of disdain in my voice as I stated his classification. “There is no lying in the Mist. You know what I seek. Bring him.”

I felt his consciousness brush against mine as he assessed my intentions. He scrunched his face as if he’d bitten into something sour.

“I do not command him,” Risul said with obvious reluctance. “I will forward him your message. He will choose whether or not to address you. If he declines, you will leave at once and never return.”

I acknowledged his comment with a stiff nod. The Wish flew back through his wall. Seconds later, I was shocked to see Thomson walk out of the dark clouds, stopping a few steps from their protective embrace. His eagerness, and the visible displeasure of his son-in-law hovering behind him, majorly flattered my ego.

“Greetings, Zain,” Director Thomson said to me.

He didn’t shout, and yet his words reached me loud and clear, despite the great distance between us. With that alone, the human was making a statement, establishing that despite being a foreigner in our lands, he had mastered some of the Mist’s quirkier features—something that could only be accomplished with many years of experience.

“Risul tells me you wished to see me,” Thomson continued. “Or should I say, that you wished to read me?”

I didn’t answer, too busy flipping through his thoughts and memories. The smugness of his broadening smile aggravated me. I hated that he had already anticipated that this night might play out this way. He had expected my visit. Being predictable didn’t sit well with being a predator. However, he held no deception either. Worse still, Thomson was laying all of his hopes on my shoulders. He truly believed I was the answer to the Nightmare—both literally and figuratively—that was plaguing his existence. Even though I didn’t give two shits about dead humans, past and future, his hope in me being their savior, their champion, stroked my massive ego.

“Time is of the essence for both you and us,” the human said once he accurately guessed I was done reading him. “Should you choose to join us, you should aim to initiate your birth in the next ten to eighteen hours. It takes anywhere between six to twelve hours for your kind to form a human vessel. If something goes wrong, you want to complete the process long before the Mist ends so that you can safely make it back home before the portals close. As for us, you know the urgency of our situation. But it matters for you as well. With every passing day, Darryl grows stronger.”

And that was the biggest concern. I couldn’t let him become too powerful, or I might not survive the encounter. I wasn’t embarking on such a journey only to get my butt handed to me right at the start.

“I will think on it,” I replied, trying to sound bored.

His barely repressed snort pissed me off. He knew he had me the