The Nightmare (The Mist #2) - Regine Abel Page 0,90

and his creator. Yet, a powerful connection linked them: pity and guilt from her, complete and utter dependence from him.

“Not you,” I said out loud while gesturing for Letho to exit through the tunnel. “He’s insane,” I added as sole explanation to the others.

Turning on my heels, I made to leave, but the Nightmare frantically tapped on the glass wall, calling me back.

“HUNTER! Wait! Take me! Take me, too!” Letho telepathically shouted to me. “I fight and kill with you… FOR you!”

I paused and turned back to face him.

“Your mind is too chaotic,” I mind-spoke to him. “You would jeopardize the missions and put the humans at risk.”

“I don’t. I won’t. Letho listens. Letho obeys,” he begged, his palms and face pressed against the glass. “Purpose quiets the noise. Give Letho purpose, Alpha. I listen. I follow. I hunt for you.”

I glanced at Julia, who uncomfortably shifted on her feet. A thick cloud of guilt swirled around her.

“I… I think he could help,” the army veteran said in an apologetic tone.

It was my first time seeing her display so little confidence. She didn’t know for sure what her Nightmare was but had a strong suspicion as to why his mind was fractured. Through the chaos of Letho’s memories, I could see glimpses of what had made him this way. The poor bastard was the embodiment of Julia’s ordeal as a POW. In him, she had poured all the agony, terror, helplessness, and hatred that had festered inside of her. He was the reason she hadn’t gone mad. Through him in her nightmares, she had vicariously become the hunter, slaughtering all who crossed their path.

“The Director human gave Letho focus: hunt, grow power. Letho obeyed,” the Nightmare pleaded again. “Apex Alpha Zain, give Letho focus. I obey.”

It then dawned on me with crystal clarity. Letho’s purpose had been to take away Julia’s pain and channel it towards destroying her enemies. Since her retirement, and following therapy that had helped her cope with most of the trauma, her Nightmare no longer had a purpose. That left him day in and day out drowning in the chaos of his mind. Thomson’s directive for him and Merax to spend the past month hunting to build their reserves before they crossed over had given him focus. Focus had silenced the madness. I could give him focus with training and missions. But was he worth the hassle?

“He’s a strong and gifted hunter,” Julia said, as if she’d read the thoughts crossing my mind. “Yeah, he’s a little broken, but he can fight for our cause. And, in between that, I’ll look after him… like he looked after me.”

Her voice slightly broke on those last words, erasing any doubt I held about her knowing why he was like this.

“He was indeed swift and quite capable during the last Mist,” Riley added warily.

Naima walked up to me and placed her hand on my upper arm. She lifted her beautiful face to look at me. Even before our gazes connected, she’d already won.

“Is he a threat to the agents or to the general population?” my mate asked in a soft voice.

“Under my control, no,” I admitted, reluctantly.

“So, he could help then. Yes?” Naima insisted.

“He could, or he could become a nuisance,” I grumbled. The wretched female gave me a shy smile and shamelessly batted her eyelashes at me. I growled in annoyance before glaring at Letho. “If you become a pain in my ass or jeopardize a mission, I’ll permanently kill you myself.”

“I won’t! Letho listens to Alpha,” the Nightmare said enthusiastically. “I cross over now.”

I made a disgusted gesture with my hand and closed the tunnel access to Letho’s holding cell while he rushed to his bed to initiate his transition. In the cell next door, a white cloud crisscrossed by lightning already surrounded Merax’s ethereal body.

Come what may, those two misfits were now my pack.

Chapter 18

Naima

My eyelids were growing heavy, but my two companions had no interest whatsoever in calling it a night and going to bed. I couldn’t blame them. I, too, had wanted to stay right next to my Nightmare the minute I’d found out he was crossing over. We’d brought in a table and three chairs for Julia, Riley, and me to sit in front of the two holding cells where the Walkers were forming at an impressively fast pace.

It stroked my ego that they weren’t forming as quickly as my Zain had. My man had completed his transition in the record time of