candidates enter the Observatory. Eyes wide with excitement and curiosity, their emotions buzzed with confusion, hope, and a sliver of fear of the unknown. Without context, appearances were so incredibly misleading. A month ago, when Naima’s light had beckoned me to this place, I had presumed this to be some sort of a rich folks gathering to enjoy the view of the freaky creatures of the Mist. Never in a million years would have I guessed they were here as bait to lure monsters like me.
At a glance, I could already tell who wouldn’t have spawned the type of Walker we needed. A dozen of them had taken seats at one of the tables grouped in the center of the room to free the area around the windows so that others could walk around it in the hopes of getting spotted by their Mistwalker. Two more groups would be brought here within the next hour once they completed their screening back at the HQ.
I felt the portals opening a split second before the city’s sirens resounded in the distance. A wave of energy surged deep within, and a sense of peace, of being home washed over me. The humans around me gasped in awe and fear at the sight of the white fog that appeared to rise from the ground to quickly swallow the world. But in my case, a terrible longing was urging me to run outside and give myself over to the loving embrace of the Mist. And then the first Beasts and Sparks appeared in the distance before slowly making their way towards us, drawn by the bright lights illuminating the large Observatory.
While the first group of candidates began walking around the perimeter of the room with a great deal of trepidation, a second group arrived. Among them, Riley and Julia who were immediately taken down to the secured area of the base by Agent Peters. Naima would be happy to see them, especially Riley with whom she had formed an almost instant friendship.
Although my woman’s affection for anyone other than me displeased me, I didn’t feel any particular urge to bash Riley’s head in since he clearly didn’t feel any sexual attraction towards my mate—or any other woman for that matter. However, I had to admit that the appreciative glances he’d cast my way had both flattered and offended me. I was well aware of my tremendous ego. For one such as myself, instilling awe and admiration in others felt like my due. At the same time, I was insulted on behalf of my mate that he would covet what belonged to no one else but her. I’d only spared him because he hadn’t acted on it.
Minutes later, two Mistwalkers arrived together and circled around straight to the side door that had first taken me inside one of the holding cells of the base. It was an incredibly odd sight. Nightmares usually didn’t play well together. Maybe, there was hope after all.
I headed down to their holding cells. Initially, each cell had been in an individual room with the ‘safe’ front half for the human, and the glassed-in area filled with Mist. For the sake of expediency, the wall separating two such rooms had been taken down, making it one large room with two holding cells occupying the back wall. I walked in before the Walkers arrived and found my woman in an animated conversation with Riley and Julia. Agent Peters was holding the remote which controlled the access doors from the tunnel into the cells.
With his fractured ribs, Peters should have gone home and taken some time off to recover. But the foolish man had insisted on staying. Like many of his colleagues, he was too eager to meet the two potential new recruits.
As soon as he noticed my presence, the agent beamed at me while approaching to hand over the controller to me. Young, with short black hair, and a face that would probably eternally look like he’d never quite ended puberty, Peters was my hardcore fan. He’d already been in awe of me previously, but saving his life when that foreign Nightmare had infiltrated our city had sealed the deal. If he had a tail, he’d no doubt be wagging it something fierce right now. He was my cute little pet.
“I’m staying in the Observatory to handle the candidates,” Peters said. “Agent Tate has returned, and said he would supervise the men luring Beasts into the holding areas instead.”
My brows shot up. “Already?