a meaningful glance at the gate.
I didn't answer, and turned my attention back to the wretched kite. I gave it a couple of solid knocks with the tip of the broom. This time, it almost fell, but the broom slipped out of my hand, and I barely caught myself before I would have fallen off the ladder.
“For fuck sake!” the man exclaimed this time with obvious exasperation. “Just welcome me in your damn house.”
My blood turned to ice in my veins as understanding finally dawned on me. My head jerked towards him. Eyes wide, mouth gaping, I stared at the stranger’s face looking for some feature I would recognize from all the videos I had watched, but there were none. The branding on my chest began throbbing, and the tingle of ethereal energy made my small hairs stand on ends.
I carefully climb down the ladder, my stare never straying from him. A malicious smile stretched his lips, confirming he knew I had realized what he was. For some reason I couldn't explain, I turned to the kite and pulled on the rope that was now dangling. The kite came falling down, and I caught it before it would hit the ground.
Turning back to the Nightmare, my gaze locked with his. “You are not welcomed inside my house. You're not welcomed in my backyard. In fact, you are not welcomed anywhere on my property,” I said in an icy cold voice.
His face immediately constricted, but he swallowed back the pain of trespassing to continue staring at me. This time, so much hate burned in his eyes that a cold shiver ran down my spine. That he hadn't collapsed to the ground, screaming in agony, or attempted to run the minute I had revoked his access to the public part of my residence proved that he was a very powerful Walker. Aside from Darryl, there had been no other Nightmares of this caliber reported in the neighboring cities. So, who the heck was he?
“As for this, you’re not getting it back,” I said, waving the kite in front of him. “As we say, finders keepers. Now, get the fuck off my property.”
“Oh, little Naima, how I'm going to make you pay for your insolence,” the man said.
My stomach churned upon hearing him use my first name. The male chuckled maliciously in response to the shocked expression on my face.
“I know everything about you and about that feeble Dark Desire called Zain,” he said in a voice filled with evil glee. “Enjoy him all you can tonight. By the time the Mist is over, Zain will be no more. And as for you, I will not kill you. I will keep you, feed off you, and teach you not to fuck with Darryl.”
“Darryl?!” I whispered in a horrified voice. “You can't be him.”
“I am a man of many faces, little Naima,” Darryl said. “I will enjoy feeding on your terror and your pain, and wrecking that tight little cunt of yours. Dream of me, my beauty. Whether you want it or not, I will haunt every single one of them.”
On a reflex, I picked up my phone in my pocket and snapped a picture of the Nightmare who made no effort to hide his face. The cocky son of a bitch even struck a pose. Turning on his heels, he finally walked away towards an inconspicuous silver-grey vehicle parked in front of my house. I ran to the gate and took as many pictures as possible of the vehicle and of the license plate as he drove off.
Feeling faint, I leaned on the wall for support while calling Thomson. He ordered me to lock myself inside the house and not go anywhere until they arrived. I forwarded the images I had captured and took refuge the living room.
I sat on the couch, staring out the window for any sign of their car. By the time Zain, Thomson, and Tate parked in front of the house, I had finally stopped shaking. I had never been one to easily let strangers inside my home, but I finally understood how easily most people would have welcomed in their death.
Zain stormed out of the vehicle and raced to my door. I opened the first door at the same time he was climbing the handful of stairs. Just as I was reaching to unlock the screen door, my man stopped dead in his tracks. He wrinkled his nose as if he’d been struck by a nasty smell. A