not open the door for him. He is to be handled with extreme prejudice.”
A frightening thought crossed my mind as Peters spoke those words. Whipping out my own phone, I called Agent Tate.
“Hello,” Tate answered at the second ring.
To my utter relief, there was no sound of sirens in the background of where he was answering from, confirming he wasn’t the Nightmare lurking in the base.
“It’s Naima. Where are you?” I asked.
“I’m driving back. I’m still thirty to forty minutes away,” Tate said, worry creeping into his voice. “What’s that noise? Is that the breach siren?”
“Yes,” I replied with a tensed voice. “Darryl is inside, and he has taken on your appearance.”
“WHAT?!” Tate shouted.
“He’s let the Mist in and released the Beasts from the holding areas,” I continued while trying to rein in the fear that threatened to choke me. “I banished him, so he can only stay within the areas that the Mist can access. Peters is locking down the base to try and contain him.”
“Good thinking. Where is Zain?” Tate asked.
“He’s hunting in the Mist. I need to go get him,” I said, glancing at the beds Peters had brought in for my companions.
“The Nightmares?” he asked.
“Still about an hour to go before they wake,” I said heading towards one of the beds. “When you get here, make sure to contact Peters first to avoid friendly fire.”
“Will do. Be there soon,” the agent said before hanging up.
As I sat down at the edge of the bed, a terrible thought crossed my mind, and I stared suspiciously at Agent Peters.
“Darryl disabled the alarm,” I said to him. “How did you know something was going on?”
Peters didn’t flinch or recoil and held my gaze unwaveringly.
“Before he left, Thomson said there might be a breach. He didn’t want to know what measures we would take but only said to account for that possibility,” Peters replied. “I activated the backup security system and only informed Richmond. That system is silent and is triggered the minute anyone tampers with the base’s lockdown system.”
That alleviated some of my worries. Then again, he had weapons, and we didn’t. If he’d meant to harm us, he’d have already done so. The thumping sound of a Beast’s heavy steps in the hallway and its growl reminded me that time was of the essence.
“I’m going to get Zain,” I told my three companions. “Whatever you do, don’t let Darryl in, I added before lying on Julia’s bed.
I closed my eyes and prayed that Zain would pull me in.
Chapter 19
Zain
I’d never thought the day would come when hunting would feel so lackluster. With too few high-level Beasts in the vicinity, I easily mowed through the Sparks and other creatures roaming around. To think that, just a month ago, some of the ones I’d defeated today would have required some effort and strategy.
I was buzzing with an insane amount of power. A single blow with my tendrils could all but split one of my prey in two. Between the convicts, the Transient Nightmares, and feeding daily from my woman’s emotions, especially during our lovemaking, my power had grown by leaps and bounds.
Naima had been right to fear I’d grow addicted to hunting humans—or at least highly sentient beings. These helpless Mist Creatures presented no challenge. That didn’t stop me from gulping down everything I could get my claws on. Despite the boredom of the chore, I felt happy: an emotion I’d never thought would ever be associated with me.
Throughout the years spent preparing myself to cross over, I’d imagined a million ways my physical reunion with my creator would go down. After their unexpected offer of joining the Fourth Division, I’d been uncertain if I’d managed to adapt to their world, their rules, and their expectations. In truth, after the battle with Tobin, I’d fallen into a terribly dark place unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. The certainty that I’d soon lose my mate had been eating me from the inside out. I’d even started thinking of ways to convince Naima to leave the Mortal Plane and just come live with me in the Mist. But she never would have agreed.
And yet, here I was today, part of a team and the leader of my own Squad. I had high hopes for Merax. As long as he didn’t develop unrealistic ambitions, he could make a solid right hand. Letho was a train wreck. However, if he could be trained as an attack dog, in my hands, he could become a