Daemons in the Mist (The Marked Ones Trilogy: Book One)

by Vancil, Alicia Kat

  A drink girl passed us, and Nualla said something to her I couldn’t hear above the music. The girl nodded and walked off.

  “Pretty awesome place,” I said loudly as I looked around.

  “You’ve never been to a club before, have you?” Shawn asked, with a smirk.

  “Nope.”

  “Awesome! Then this should be even more fun,” Shawn said, smiling mischievously. Something in his expression told me he was sharing a private joke with himself.

  The drink girl placed some shots in front of us, and Nualla tapped her card on the drink tray sensor. It flashed green, and the girl walked away, disappearing into the throng of people.

  “Bottoms up,” Shawn said as he raised his shot glass.

  I just stared at mine. People—mostly parents—liked to pretend that high school kids didn’t drink. They were completely wrong of course, but they could keep deluding themselves if they liked. I was by no means a lush or a teenage alcoholic, but I also was not a stranger to the stuff, either. I had thought that my parents might have noticed at some point that their liquor cabinet was getting depleted, but like everything else, they didn’t. But then again they would have had to have been home more to probably notice.

  “You do drink, right, Patrick?” Nualla asked, in a worried voice.

  I smiled up at her. “Of course, just not normally in public.”

  I looked back at the shot glass. Once I took one drink there would be no going back; the evening would take a completely different direction, I just knew it. But was I ready to go down that path? I looked up at Nualla, into her stunningly beautiful eyes. I didn’t really have to think about it after that.

  I took a deep breath, and raised my glass up to join theirs. A grin spread across all their faces, and we all downed our shots.

  The shot burned its way down my throat warming my chest. “What is this?” I asked, looking at the glass.

  “Tequila,” Nikki answered grinning.

  “Good tequila,” Shawn amended with a huge grin as he nudged me with his elbow.

  I decided it was best not to ask how much “good tequila” cost in a place like this.

  A shot or two later Nualla finally grabbed my hand and dragged me into the throng of people on the dance floor. The lights washed everyone in a golden-red light like—well an eclipse actually. People moved against each other, bodies slick with sweat. I was sure there must have been air conditioning running at full-blast, but it really wasn’t doing all that much to ease the heat out on the dance floor.

  As Nualla began to pulse along with the music, I thanked everything holy that I actually knew how to dance. She moved with the music hypnotically, and I tried to burn the image in my mind. I was sure I was never going to get this lucky again, and I wanted to remember this forever.

  Someone brushed up against me and I turned; Nikki and Shawn had joined us on the dance floor. Something in their movements—their eyes—told me they were more than just friends, but I doubted they had figured that out yet. It was interesting to see a different side of them all, the one they didn’t show at school. I had been a silent observer for so long that being invited into their private world was a little overwhelming. Overwhelming but welcome; it was nice to be on the inside for once.

  Nualla grabbed my hand and pulled me a little closer. I nearly froze, but then I released all my fear and just went with it. I let the music wash over me, directing my movements. My body moved closely to hers, a cushion of hot air the only thing keeping us from touching.

  The music went through several changes before Nualla pushed me softly away and turned her head to Nikki. “Ready, Nikki?”

  Nikki smiled broadly as if they were sharing a private joke. “Yep.”

  “Three…two…one,” the girls said softly.

  And then the music changed, and they were standing in the center of the dance floor. Their hips swiveled, arms thrust, feet stepped in perfect unison. Their precise movements would rival any professional dance squad and put any cheer team to shame. Their bodies pulsed with the music. Body rolls, hip pops, and spins that fit the music perfectly as if made for it.

  Nikki was hot and a good dancer in her own right, but she had nothing on Nualla. Nualla’s hips rolled and popped in time with music. No, she didn’t move with the music—she was the music. Nualla was song in liquid form; undulating in smooth sensuous movements. She was sex appeal incarnate. It rolled off her in nearly visible waves, affecting everyone around her. All the guys stared at her and so did half the women.

  A guy elbowed me gently and leaned in. “She’s hella hot.”

  My protective defenses kicked in. “She’s with me.”

  The guy folded his arms and looked me up and down, appraising. “You’re damn lucky. That girl is never here with anyone. She always just seems to be dancing for herself.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He unfolded his arms and pointed at Nualla. “Look at her eyes. She’s looking straight at you. She never looks at anyone when she dances.”

  “Really?” I said, looking back at Nualla as she spun, her hair flowing out in a beautiful wave of soft black spirals.

  “Yeah…look, she’s a little sex rocket. You better be careful, or you might get burned.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” I said without looking at him, but no answer came. I looked next to me, the guy was gone. I looked back at the girls and was hit full force by Nualla’s captivating eyes. They glowed as if illuminated from within.

  The girls popped their hips and dropped to the floor as the song ended. I just kinda gaped at them as everyone else cheered. I somehow got the feeling they did this a lot. Just how often did they come to places like this anyways?

  Nualla stood up in one fluid movement, looking at me from beneath her lashes. And then everything fell away; there was nothing but her. I had never seen anything so sexy and enchanting in my life. Never. She glided over to me and reached out a hand to run her finger down my chest. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. It suddenly felt very warm; too warm.

  Nualla pulled me dangerously close and brought her face close to mine. Her lips brushed against my ear as she let out a breath. It was hot and full of temptation. An electric shock ran through my body making my vision sway in and out. I caught a glimpse of something—something curved near her ear, but as I tried to focus on it, it shimmered farther from my vision.

  I looked away then looked back at her, this time trying to avoid her eyes. My pulse seemed to be running a fifty yard dash, and it was hard to remember to breathe. “I’ll…be right back.”

  I nearly ran to the men’s room passing one of the drink girls as I went. I snatched a shot off her tray, as I tapped my card to it. I didn’t look to see if it turned green, I figured if it didn’t she would find me. I downed it in a few seconds flat and clunked it down on a table as I passed. I turned a corner and pushed open the door into the blessedly cool restroom.

  Breathing hard I braced myself with my arms over the sink. What had I done? Nualla had always seemed so cool and reserved in school, but somehow I had unleashed a tigress. If I wasn’t careful, I would give in to her more than tempting body language. Before Monday, Nualla had never really paid attention to me, and now she seemed to have eyes for nothing but me.

  I threw cold water on my face, running it back through my hair. I could do this. I looked at myself in the mirror and walked back out into the sweltering club.

  When I got back to Nualla they were all back at the table doing shots with a few other clubbers. I snatched up one of the glasses and did one with them.

  Nualla looked at me questioningly, “You okay?”

  “Never better, just a little warm.” Who was I kidding? I was powerless to resist her.

  “I know! I wish I could take off more clothes,” she shouted over the music
as she tugged on her tank top to illustrate her point.

  My brain screamed danger, but I ignored it.

  Nikki laughed. “I’m sure the guys wouldn’t mind Nualla.” She was more than wasted. Just how many drinks had they had while I was gone?

  I swallowed hard and gestured to the dance floor. “What was that about?”

  Nualla moved closer, pressing against me. “Oh the dance routine?”

  I looked down into her eyes, which was a big mistake. “Yeah.”

  “Oh, me and Nikki take dance for our PE credits. Why, what do you do?”

  “I just go to the boring ordinary gym. Apparently, not nearly as useful as what you do.”

  Nikki chimed in loudly. “She’s very flexible.”

  “I am! Want to see?” Nualla asked, with a huge grin.

  “I—” I was doomed; that’s what I was. Either they were fucking with me, or they were smashed beyond all reason. Or both.

  The music changed, and Nualla squealed, “Oh I love this song. Come dance with me.”

  I looked at her and then the dance floor and then downed another shot for good measure. This turned out to be an incredibly bad idea, of course. I took a step and the world began to turn out of kilter.

  If you’ve ever been drunk, you know that there’s a point when you’ve had too much and everything stops making any real sense. You start to feel like you’re floating or walking through a dream. Yeah, I had hit that point.

  Nualla pulled me to the dance floor and put my hands on her thrusting, popping, and swaying hips. I continued to sway with the music as I looked down at her. I was beyond resisting her and maybe she knew it.

  She looked up at me questioningly. “What?”

  “There’s something not quite normal about you isn’t there?”

  “Yeah,” she answered, confirming my conclusions.

  “Care to enlighten me?” I asked as I raised an eyebrow.

  “Sorry—can’t.”

  “Why?”

  “You’d have to marry me first,” she replied in a teasing voice.

  “Okay.” I wasn’t sure why I had said that, it had just kind of popped out of my mouth, and in the fog of this drunken dream it began to make more and more sense.

  She stopped dancing and just stared at me. “Excuse me?”

  I tried to work through the fog in my head, but gave up and said the first thing that came to mind. “Were you bluffing again?”

  “No…” Nualla admitted very slowly, a smirk spreading across her face.

  “Then let’s go,” I said as I took a step toward the door pulling her along, a big dumb grin on my face. I didn’t really know why everything seemed incredibly funny when you were drunk, it just did.

  “Now?” she asked as she looked over at Nikki and Shawn who were amidst a conversation with some fellow clubbers, all of them laughing so hard they were nearly gasping.

  “Sure, why not. What have we got to lose?” I said, with a shrug.

  “Okay.” She smiled broadly at me, and we wove our way toward the door.

  As we broke out from the club and dashed into the cool night air I had never felt more alive. We ran down the street toward the future, laughing like idiots. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been this happy—this free.

  Why in the name of all reason I had said yes, I will never know. Maybe it was because Nualla was beyond tempting, and I was dying to know her secrets. Or that I was angry with my parents for never being there, and I wanted someone to be close to me. Or that I was really, really drunk. But it was probably because, when fate throws you the one thing you have always wanted, you grab hold of it and never let go.

  9

  Waking Up in Vegas

  Saturday, January 14th

  NUALLA

  I opened one eye. I was in a hotel room; it was very bright out, and I really needed to use the restroom. I threw the covers aside and stumbled ungracefully toward what I hoped was a bathroom. My head felt like it had made friends with a ton of bricks, and I was beyond thirsty.

  I found the sink and splashed cold water onto my face. And that’s when I saw it, glittering on my finger. A ring. A really nice ring. I took a step back and stared at myself in the mirror. Why the hell was I naked?

  I just stared at myself in the mirror for a while. Then something caught my attention, a mark between my hip bone and abdomen. I inspected it closer.

  Is that a hickey?

  “What the hell!” It totally was.

  “Ughhh…” groaned someone’s voice from the other room.

  I froze. I was in a hotel room—naked—and I wasn’t alone. This was bad. This was very, very bad.

  I edged toward the door of the bathroom and carefully peered out. There was a guy sleeping in the bed.

  Oh frak!

  I stalked into the room as quietly as I could. In a swift motion I snatched a sheet from the floor that had been kicked off the bed in the night and wrapped it over me like a Grecian goddess. I crept around the bed to stand in front of the still sleeping guy. I peered closer and took a small sigh of relief. It was Patrick.

  I ran my teeth nervously over my bottom lip; there was no point in putting this off any longer than I needed too. If I was awake and having to deal with this, he should be too. I reached out a tentative hand and poked him with one finger.

  He groaned and opened one eye. “Nualla?” It came out in a groggy, slurred voice. Then his eyes went wide, and he sat bolt upright. Apparently, the fact that I was wearing a sheet had chiseled its way through his morning fog. He looked at me, looked around the room, and put his head in his hands. “Oh, hell.”

  I thrust my left hand at him. “Patrick, never mind everything else, what’s this?”

  Patrick spread his fingers to peer at the ring glittering on my finger. He dropped his hands, and his eyes went wide. He looked at me then back at the ring then back at me again. “But…I…that was just…a strange dream?”

  “Want to try that one again, buddy?”

  Patrick pulled the blanket tight to him and leapt out of the bed. He tore frantically around the seating room area of the suite in search of something. On the coffee table under a pile random junk he apparently found what he was looking for because he stopped moving. However, from this distance I couldn’t see what it was.

  Patrick brought his other hand up to it and the blanket dropped to the ground. “Oh, fuck!”

  I whipped my eyes away from him lightning fast. “What? What is it?” I said to the wall, a blush creeping across my cheeks. He was also apparently very naked.

  I heard him walk over, and a second later he handed me a leather folder over my shoulder. I flipped it open and stared at it blankly. It was a certificate. I said nothing for a while; just stared at it in disbelief.

  Finally Patrick said, “Nualla, say something.”

  I whipped around to face him. “We got married last night?!”

  “Technically, I think it was early this morning, since it’s like three in the afternoon.”

  “What?!” I yelped, looking toward the windows again.

  Before Patrick could answer, I heard a buzzing. I looked over and saw the contents of my purse scattered across the floor. I dashed over and answered my phone without even checking to see who it was. “Hello?” I said cautiously into the phone.

  “Nualla, where the hell are you?” Thankfully, it was Nikki and not one of my parents.

  Good question. I looked around the room, but nothing screamed, You are here, Nualla you idiot!

  “I haven’t a clue. You?”

  “We’re at the Bellagio.”

  “I think we’re at the Venetian,” Patrick said from behind me.

  “Apparently we’re at the Venetian,” I related back to Nikki.


  “How did you get there? I thought you two were just going out for air?” Nikki practically yelled into the phone.

  “Well we were but…um…it’s a long story.”

  “With you, they are always long stories,” Nikki said, and I could swear I almost heard her eyes rolling through the phone. “Can you just give me the Twitter version?”

  “Look can I call you back after I find my clothes?”

  “Your what?!” Nikki shouted on the other end of the phone, and I had to pull it away from my head.

  “I’ll call you back in five, ‘kay?” I said quickly before I hung up the phone.

  “I found your clothes,” Patrick said apologetically from behind me. I looked where he was pointing; a trail of clothes lead from the door to the bed.

  “Oh, frak me!” My hands went automatically to my face and the sheet hit the floor. Patrick put his hand over his eyes lightning fast, a deep blush spreading across his cheeks.

  I rushed over and gathered up my clothes and held them in front of me as I backed toward the bathroom. I threw the clothes down and slammed the door shut. Then I wrenched the door back open and poked my head out. “Get dressed we’re going downstairs in like five minutes.”

  “No complaints here,” Patrick said, his hand still covering his eyes.

  “Good, because I’m in no mood to hear any.”

  PATRICK

  My head felt like a two-ton truck had hit it.

  Nualla was still pacing back and forth waving her hands frantically and talking into her cell in a language I couldn’t understand. Though she was speaking quickly, the words flowed over her lips like a beautiful waterfall. It sounded vaguely Elvish, like it was Gaelic or something. What did Gaelic sound like anyways?

  She seemed upset. I mean sure she’d woken up to find herself married to me. But there was something else. Something she wasn’t saying out loud, but I could see it in her eyes. Fear. Something was wrong—very wrong.