Whiteout (Aurora Sky

by Nikki Jefford

  And just like that I was suddenly convinced we could become good friends.

  Nicole set the boxes on a handmade wooden coffee table in the living room. “Sorry about the informal seating. Our table only seats two. I think it’s cozier by the fire anyway.”

  “This is perfect,” I said, ready to agree with whatever Nicole thought was best.

  Buck returned with two beer bottles and a roll of paper towels. He handed a beer to Dante.

  “How about you, Aurora?” Buck asked. “Alaskan Amber?”

  “No, thanks.”

  “Water?”

  I shook my head. “I’m fine, thanks.”

  How about blood? Jeez, I guess Dante was right about this guy. Beer and water. Nothing sketchy happening in this neck of the woods.

  “Aurora,” Nicole said. “If you don’t mind me asking, are you human or vampire?”

  “Vampire,” I answered, running my fingers over my hair to ensure it still hid the side of my neck.

  Nicole raised one slender eyebrow. “Oh really? I haven’t met many female vampires.”

  “Tell me about it,” I said.

  I swore male vampires outnumbered the female variety ten to one. Lady vamps were probably better at flying under the radar—probably less violent too.

  Dante gulped down his first swig of beer then pointed the bottle at Nicole. “What about you, Nicole? How are tricks?”

  Nicole frowned, and she and Buck exchanged looks.

  Dante lowered his bottle. “What’s the matter?”

  Nicole bit gently on her lower lip then released it. The gesture was oddly alluring. It made me think of biting and blood. It was so unfair that Dante could be content with beer while I suffered through blood cravings alone.

  Buck moved over to Nicole and put his arm around her. “Nicole doesn’t work tastings anymore.”

  “What happened?” Dante asked, sounding perplexed.

  Although I’d filled him in on last season’s episodes of my life, it didn’t change the fact that Dante had been locked inside a basement when the agency shut down the tastings permanently.

  Hearing about it and being there were two entirely different things.

  “Nicole used to be a wine girl at Diederick’s tastings,” Dante said to me, as though I was the one who needed clueing in.

  “Oh?” I said, taking a closer look at Nicole.

  I didn’t recognize her from the night our undercover kill team went up to the hillside. At least she’d made it out alive. But I couldn’t help feeling disappointed. Nicole hadn’t struck me as the type who would lend her body out to vampires. That night at Diederick’s left a bad taste in my mouth.

  Nicole must have seen the look of judgment on my face.

  “We were saving up to leave town,” she explained. “Our dream is to purchase land and become homesteaders.”

  My eyes darted around the sparsely furnished cabin. “This isn’t remote enough for you?”

  She smiled and shook her head. “Fairbanks has grown too much for our taste.”

  I gawked at Nicole. She looked like she should be posing for Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue, not crawling on her hands and knees planting cabbages.

  More power to her though.

  Me? I still dreamed of that villa Fane once mentioned in Tuscany.

  “What happened?” Dante pressed.

  Nicole’s shoulders dropped. “I was working a tasting in Anchorage a month ago and lost consciousness. When I woke up there were two guys with a gun and a man in a suit standing at the edge of the bed.”

  My body tensed.

  “The man in the suit did all the talking. He said he was part of a government agency that monitored illegal vampire activity and that he was shutting down tastings. He told me that unless I wanted to be brought up on charges, I’d answer all his questions.”

  “What kind of questions?” Dante asked.

  “He wanted to know the location and dates of every tasting I’d ever worked. He wanted names or descriptions of every vampire I ever encountered.” Nicole swallowed. “He said he knew I was dating a vampire, and that if I didn’t cooperate, he’d send his agents after Buck. I told him everything I knew and I promised not to tell anyone about the existence of vampires.” She balled her hands into fists. “He said I was on his radar permanently and that if I uttered a word about vampires to anyone, he’d go after Buck.”

  My head turned. “On his radar... like he’s monitoring you?” I asked. I looked at Dante. And here we thought it would be safer to seek help from a vampire. This wasn’t sounding so good anymore.

  “Don’t worry,” Nicole said. “He doesn’t consider me a threat enough to monitor closely. I’m in his system or whatever, but he made it clear Buck and I wouldn’t be the only ones who suffered if either of us ever stepped out of line. He knows where my mom and sister live too.”

  “What an asshole,” I said, knowing exactly who “he” was.

  Melcher strikes again.

  Nicole smiled slightly. “With a capital A. I got out of there as soon as he released me, but I could see they were interrogating all the girls who worked that gig.”

  Buck rubbed Nicole’s back. “Honestly, it’s a relief Nicole’s no longer working those things. We’ll find another way to save up for the homestead.”

  Nicole’s shoulders drooped as though procuring the necessary funds was wishful thinking.

  “What about you, Buck?” Dante asked. “You still working at the A and P?”

  “Yep, no men in suits bothering me there.” Buck removed his hand from around Nicole’s back and spread his arm toward the couch. “Make yourselves comfortable,” he said.

  “Yes, let’s eat,” Nicole said, voice lifting.

  “You don’t have to tell me twice,” Dante said.

  Tommy’s nails clicked over the hardwood floor as he made his way to the opposite side of the coffee table where he sat on his haunches and stared at the pizza boxes. He licked his chops.

  “He’s so cute,” Nicole said.

  Tommy wagged his tail.

  Nicole smiled big. “That’s right, I’m talking about you, Tommy Moe. You are such a cutie.”

  “Want to keep him?” Dante asked.

  Nicole laughed and stopped. “Wait. You’re not serious, are you?”

  Dante slouched against the couch. “Just for a little while.”

  Buck rocked forward. “What’s going on, Dante?”

  Yeah, what’s going on, Dante? I wanted to hear his explanation for this one.

  “Those agents you spoke of are after me,” Dante said.

  Okay. Guess this was truth night.

  Nicole lifted her head. “Because of your attendance at past tastings?”

  “Among other things,” Dante answered.

  Nicole lowered her head. “I am so sorry, Dante. I told that agent I met you and Noel at that tasting back in February. He was so insistent I share every name and face I’d ever come into contact with.”

  My nose wrinkled. Coming here was beginning to feel like a mistake. The second I had a chance to speak to Dante privately, I wanted to advise we leave immediately and take Tommy with us.

  But Dante didn’t appear concerned.

  “Don’t worry about it,” he said gently. “That agent who talked to you already knew Noel and I were at the February tasting. It’s a good thing you didn’t hold out.”

  Perhaps, but Nicole hadn’t known that at the time. Who knew what other arrangements she’d had to make with Melcher in order to be set free and protect her lover? She could be under strict orders to report any sightings of past clientele. She could have a copy of the flyer. Fifty grand would go a long way toward funding a homestead.

  “I didn’t tell him you’d been to our cabin. He didn’t seem particularly interested when I mentioned your name and that you’d been there with a human girlfriend. He waved it off and asked me for the next name.” Nicole took a deep breath and looked at Buck. “Of course Tommy can stay here. It’s the least we
can do.” Buck nodded his head in agreement. Nicole turned to Dante. “For as long as you like.”

  “I appreciate it.”

  With the matter of Tommy settled, Dante lifted the lids on the pizza boxes and handed out slices.

  Buck, like Dante, chewed his food quickly. Seeing two vamps behave like everyday, run-of-the-mill Alaskan men was bizarre to say the least. I ate through my slice slowly, then nibbled on the crust.

  Buck took a big swig of beer, swallowed, and asked, “You two headed out of town?”

  Was this Buck’s attempt at getting a location out of us? I eyed him, paranoia returning in full swing. On the other hand, if Buck truly wanted to trade us in for the reward money, it would have made far more sense to do so when he had his shotgun pointed at us. Rather than keeping it aimed, he’d lowered it the moment Dante called out his name. It certainly wasn’t bounty hunter behavior.

  “Affirmative,” Dante answered, lifting his beer to his lips.

  “We’d do the same if we could,” Buck said. “It’s rough around here, man.”

  “How so?” Dante asked.

  Nicole leaned forward. “Buck,” she said in a warning tone.

  “Telling them isn’t going to change the fact,” Buck told Nicole gently before turning to Dante. “A friend of Nicole’s went missing last month.”

  “Oh, I’m so sorry,” I said.

  Tears gathered in Nicole’s eyes. “It’s my fault.”

  Suspicion aside, the agony in her voice and eyes made it impossible not to feel sympathy for Nicole.

  Buck obviously felt the same way. He set down his beer to go to her side. “You have to stop blaming yourself. You warned her not to go there.”

  “I should have never told her in the first place,” Nicole said, her eyes clearing.

  “Told who what?” Dante asked. He too seemed to have forgotten his beer for the moment. He’d set it down and left it unattended for more than a minute.

  Nicole met Dante’s eye. “Stacey. We’ve been friends since fifth grade. I could always tell her anything. She knew about Buck and vampires before I ever worked a tasting. That girl would take a secret to her grave. She was also very curious. Knowing about the underworld wasn’t enough. She wanted to experience it firsthand. She asked me to hook her up with a tasting gig, said we could carpool and everything.” Fresh tears gathered in Nicole’s eyes.

  “I was all for it,” Buck said. “I accompanied Nicole to all the local tastings, but my work schedule didn’t permit me to attend many of the out-of-town shindigs. I liked the idea of a friend looking out for Nicole when I couldn’t make it.”

  “But Diederick didn’t want her,” Nicole said sadly.

  “Did she have AB negative or positive blood or something?” I asked. That was the reason Valerie couldn’t go in undercover as a wine girl. Diederick tested blood. AB anything wasn’t allowed.

  “No,” Nicole said. “She was blond.”

  “Does that affect the taste of blood?” I asked in confusion. If so, that was news to me.

  “No, nothing like that. He preferred brunettes in the tasting rooms, said they looked classier.”

  Or maybe he had Buffy issues.

  “Stacey took it hard,” Nicole continued. “She was already frustrated with being single, and then this disappointment. She felt like vampires weren’t interested in her either. So Buck and I took her to Chillers to introduce her to a couple vamps.”

  “Local club,” Dante said to me.

  “Local vampire hangout,” Buck added. He straightened up and went for his beer. “It’s not a place we like to go, but Stacey was in a funk and perked up at the idea of meeting some of the undead dudes I knew in town. They weren’t really friends, but they weren’t bad guys either. They did, however, enjoy sucking blood from willing humans. Not my scene,” Buck said, taking a swig of beer.

  “And it did cheer her up,” Nicole said. “Especially the attention the vamps gave her at the club. She started going to Chillers regularly.” Strands of silky brown hair brushed against Nicole’s cheek when she turned her face to look at me. “There’s not a whole lot to do in this town.”

  “What happened?” I asked.

  Nicole’s lips drew back, almost in a snarl, exposing perfectly straight teeth. “She started hanging out with a group of shady vamps. One of them invited her to go out of town with him for the weekend. He sounded like trouble from the moment she mentioned him. His name was enough to set warning bells off in my head—Jab.” Nicole shuddered.

  Jab. He’d been in Nelson’s list of phone contacts. I understood what Nicole meant instantly. His name had stood out like a red flag in my head as well.

  I glanced at Dante. His eyes narrowed to slits, but he said nothing.

  Suddenly, Nicole was crying as she spoke. “I never even got a chance to talk her out of going. I was at my last tasting when she left the message on my phone.” Her shoulders shook. Buck gave her a loving kiss on the head.

  They were a sweet couple. I could see how Dante had warmed up to them so quickly during his stakeout with Noel.

  “That message is the last time I heard Stacey’s voice,” Nicole said. She cleared her throat, sounding once more resigned.

  Dante now sat on the edge of the couch. “What about Jab? Did you ever track him down?”

  Buck folded his arms. “Unfortunately, Stacey’s disappearance coincided with the threats made to Nicole in Anchorage. I don’t want her putting herself in any more danger, which means staying the hell away from this vamp. I don’t want it to be known that she’s asking about him either.” Buck straightened his spine. “And I’m not sticking my own neck out only to leave her unprotected if something were to happen to me.”

  “You’re right,” Dante said. “The two of you need to stay away from Chillers. Aurora and I will check it out.”

  My head snapped up. “We will?”

  “Might as well look into it on our way out of town. We might find nothing—then again, we might get lucky.”

  “And we might get recognized,” I said.

  Nicole looked from me to Dante. “It’s kind of you to offer, but we’d never ask you to do something like that.”

  “You’re looking after Tommy for me, and besides, these fangers ruin things for the rest of us,” Dante said with conviction.

  Tommy’s tail thumped on the floor in agreement.

  Dante leaned forward, reaching his hands out to rub Tommy’s back. “What do you say, boy? Should we grab your food out of the truck?” Dante stood and turned to me. “Mind giving me a hand, Aurora?”

  I stood quickly. I’d give Dante a hand all right, right along with a piece of my mind. I followed him outside on his heels. The second the cabin door closed behind us I said, “We should grab Tommy and leave here immediately. She outed you to Melcher. What’s to stop her from doing it again, especially with fifty grand on the table?”

  Dante stopped in his tracks. “Nicole didn’t out me. She reported all the names and faces she’d ever seen at tastings. Noel and I checked that one out impromptu while we were in town. Melcher already knew all about it.”

  “How can you trust her?” I asked.

  “Nicole only met me the one time,” Dante answered. “Why would she protect a guy she just met over her boyfriend? You or I would do the same.”

  “I guess,” I said, shoulders slacking. “It still doesn’t change the fact that she’s on Melcher’s radar. Is this really the best place to leave Tommy?”

  “No,” Dante said through clenched teeth. “But I don’t have much of a choice, do I? My family and friends are completely out of the question. Nor can I bring him back to the lodge. Giselle’s up to something, I can feel it in my bones.”

  “Me too,” I said sullenly. “If the choice was between Giselle and Nicole, I’d be inclined to trust Nicole more.”

  “Unfortunately, it’s not a matter of if,” Dante said, heading once more for the truck.

  Damn. He had me there. But that was one of two issues we were
currently dealing with. I hustled to catch up to Dante.

  “Okay, fair enough on Tommy, but mind explaining the sudden volunteer mission? That’s a shame about Nicole’s friend, but you’ve got to be out of your mind if you’re seriously suggesting we check out Chillers.”

  Dante raised both palms into the air. “Hear me out.” He leaned his face into mine, eyes shifting side to side. “Misdirection.”

  I bristled, not especially happy with Dante’s nose inches from my own. “What?”

  “The agency is hyperaware of Chillers. Janine used to hang out there regularly, keeping tabs on local bloodsuckers. If we were to be seen at the club, it would likely get back to the agency, cause a distraction. While the agency looks for us around Fairbanks, we double back to Anchorage and get in touch with people on the inside.”

  Dante took a step back as if it would help him gauge my reaction easier.

  Go back to Anchorage. Suddenly I liked this plan a whole lot more.

  “One problem,” I said. “What if some of these vamps attempt to capture us to collect on the reward?”

  “We kill them first.”

  Cold air shot up my nostrils when I inhaled sharply.

  “Not worth the risk,” I said. As great as getting back to Anchorage sounded, I wanted to do so on my own terms, not kicking and screaming if we were caught. Strolling into Chillers was about as brilliant an idea as placing a fresh carcass in front of a horde of hungry brown bears.

  “Yeah, we have no idea how many hostiles we’re dealing with,” Dante said thoughtfully. “We should go in disguise and bag a vamp then let him escape and spread stories about a sighting in Fairbanks.”

  “Now we’re doing the abducting?” I asked, incredulous.

  “It’s only temporary,” Dante said as he leaned against the bed of the truck.

  “It still doesn’t seem worth it.”

  Dante pulled both bags of dog chow to the side of the bed. When I reached in for one he said, “I’ve got them.” He lifted the bags and held them under each arm, pausing to meet my eyes. In the darkness, Dante looked especially somber when he frowned. “We have to assume Nicole’s friend is dead.”