True North (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter, Vol. 6)

by Nikki Jefford

  “I’m not on your side,” I said.

  “You will be . . . eventually,” Jared said with certainty. “You’ll fall into step over time.” He glanced sideways at me. “And if you don’t I can always kill you.”

  “You can try,” I said. “That’s never really worked out, though.”

  “Nor for you, so don’t get any ideas. Even the mighty La Force Prison in Paris couldn’t keep me locked away. One snarky, twenty-first-century teen doesn’t stand a chance against me,” Jared sneered.

  We’d see about that.

  Jared relaxed into his seat and pointed a finger at the volume button on the dashboard.

  “Do you want to listen to music?” he asked.

  What the hell? First he threatened to kill me, now he was pleasantly inquiring as to whether I’d like to listen to tunes? If Jared started going Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on me, I’d gag.

  “I’m boycotting the radio this month,” I informed him. “Christmas music.”

  “I don’t care either way,” he said, smooth as silk.

  “How’s recruitment going?” I asked with thinly veiled sarcasm.

  The last time I encountered Jared, he had plans to build a renegade vampire army and pit them against the agency, and humanity.

  A gurgle of disgust emitted from Jared’s throat.

  “I’d forgotten how gutless vampires could be, sticking to the shadows like rats pouncing on easy pickings, but lacking the balls to live life out in the open. They tiptoe around private parties and clubs under the cover of night and think they’re ruthless for sucking blood off humans. Spineless,” Jared spit out.

  “Whereas killing is courageous?” I asked incredulously.

  “This isn’t a debate,” Jared snapped. “I explained it to you before. We’re predators. Nature made us this way. The same way she created all beasts of nature. You wouldn’t expect wolves to start living off tree bark and berries. We depend on blood for survival.”

  “Yeah, and we don’t have to kill anyone to get it,” I interjected impatiently.

  “The planet’s overcrowded. We’re doing the world a favor,” Jared said.

  He stared forward at the dark lanes that gave the illusion of stretching on infinitely. We had yet to pass another car, which I considered lucky. I wouldn’t want anyone to become road kill should Jared feel the urge to accent his point or have himself a road snack.

  My stomach gurgled. Dammit.

  Jared kept his eyes on the road. His lips smirked.

  “Can’t fight nature,” he said smugly. “Especially you. As I recall, you’re one of the biggest blood junkies the agency’s had in a long time.”

  I scowled.

  “You should be proud,” Jared continued. “A hearty appetite for blood signals strength of species. It’s one of the reasons I’m giving you a second chance. You’re not with Melcher anymore. With me you won’t be chastised for who you are. You’re free to embrace your true nature.”

  “I have embraced my true nature,” I snapped, “and it doesn’t involve endangering humans or behaving like a psychopath.”

  Jared reached for the knob on the dashboard.

  “Careful, Aurora, or I’ll turn on the Christmas tunes.”

  I snorted.

  “You’re threatening me with holiday music? Wow, Jared. You’ve really gone soft. You used to threaten me with broken bones and dismemberment.”

  Jared’s fingers hovered in front of the volume control a moment before he retracted his hand.

  “Very true,” he said with a nod. “But that was during your training days. I’d like to think of us as partners now. Family.”

  Family. My gut twisted. Jared was the furthest thing from family. He was my mortal enemy.

  Jared stroked the steering wheel.

  “Your parents won’t be around forever, you know. Once they die, who does that leave you with?”

  “Fane,” I answered.

  Jared snarled. “That toothless Italian never had to work a day in his whole life. And that’s saying a lot given his real age. Born with a silver spoon up his ass.” Jared lifted one hand of the steering wheel and flicked his wrist back and forth. “Only thing he knows how to do is pick up a phone and make a phone call. Doesn’t have the first clue about what it takes to survive in the real world.”

  “He’s made it this long,” I returned.

  “Because he comes from money. Because he has connections,” Jared sneered. He returned his hand to the steering wheel and squeezed hard.

  “I don’t see you working a real job either,” I said, looking him over sideways.

  “I did my time,” Jared said. “There’s no nastier work than digging up bodies to pay the rent.”

  “How long ago was that?” I returned, answering the question myself. “Ages. You’ve lived comfortably since then, haven’t you? Melcher rescued and recruited you, pretty much let you do as you wished.”

  “You know nothing,” Jared said, his lips curling as he spoke. “Gabriel’s no benefactor. Everything he does serves a personal purpose. He’s the most ruthless vampire I’ve ever met.”

  “Then what made you willing to go against him?”

  Jared lifted a defiant chin. “I’m not going against him, and deep down he knows that, probably even respects it. I’m going against the new management. Your boyfriend.” Jared turned his head and leaned across the console inches from my face. His stale morning breath hit my mouth. I pressed my lips together, preferring to breathe in through my nose despite the off-putting odor.

  I lifted my bound wrists and covered my nose. Jared returned to the wheel.

  “Not that I’m too worried,” Jared continued, switching to a smug tone. “Under Fane’s leadership the agency has already lost two agents and a civilian. Myself, Val, and Selene defected, and my favorite one, I managed to steal you off base right under Fane Donado’s nose. What a clown he must feel like right about now.” Jared’s chest shook with mirth. “Money and connections can’t buy you street smarts. You’re better off without him.”

  I ground my teeth together, my eyes zeroing in on the dark road ahead. Life on the lam had been trying with Dante and Giselle, and while they wouldn’t have been my first choice as travel companions, they were a hell of a lot better than Jared and Valerie.

  “How much longer till we get there?” I asked peevishly.

  “Hold your horses.”

  Jared chuckled again.

  Glad I was such an amusing passenger. He needed to get it through his head that we weren’t family, and we sure as hell weren’t friends. He probably wouldn’t get the picture until I stuck a knife in his heart.

  The minutes crawled by as the SUV sped forward into the unknown.

  He’d likely take us somewhere extremely remote. Maybe another run-down trailer or small cabin off in the woods. For someone touting to have such superior street smarts, Jared wasn’t very bright. He was about to welcome me into his hideaway like a Trojan horse. I didn’t even need to present myself. Jared had made all the arrangements. Tracking him down couldn’t have been any easier than this.

  I relaxed my hands in my lap.

  All I needed was to get hold of a weapon and take Jared off guard. No doubt he and Valerie had all kinds of goodies lying around. Taking him unaware would be the tricky part. He had an annoying knack for getting out of hairy situations. Plus, he didn’t trust me. Not yet. Not ever. For all his talk about teaming up and becoming family, it wasn’t possible. He knew me too well, and he’d been betrayed by his family, by Giselle repeatedly until one of his goons got lucky and shot her dead.

  Thinking about how a centuries-old vampire had failed to kill Jared didn’t help boost my morale so I shoved the thought of Giselle aside.

  Eventually, when the sign for Fairbanks appeared green in the SUV’s headlights, I groaned.

  “Not much farther,” Jared said eagerly, a grin taking over his face.

  Every time I drove through Fairbanks, I told myself it would be the last time, yet someho
w I kept winding up in that bitter, cold city. This time around, I chose to take it as a good sign. I’d had my first mission in Fairbanks. This would be my last.

  One way or another, I told myself. It had become a mantra of sorts. The words brought me comfort. One way or another I’d put Jared down. I wouldn’t leave Fairbanks until the deed was done. Hell would freeze over, or in the case of Alaska, it would warm over into a tropical paradise before I willingly accompanied Jared and Valerie on a European tour. Besides, I already had plans to see Europe with Fane. No one was taking that away from me, least of all Jared.

  Big box stores and gas stations slid past the window. Jared drove right through and kept driving.

  I guess his idea of not much farther and mine were vastly different.

  Jared took a left, heading north when he reached a sign that said Steese Highway.

  Soon, there was no more city. We were back to driving alongside forest. I’d say one thing for mountains and extreme weather conditions, it prevented civilization from plowing over everything and putting up more subdivisions and strip malls. Melcher might be the most ruthless vampire around, but Alaska was America’s most savage state. I’d been born here. Not Europe. What I lacked in age and experience, I made up for in relentless determination and the wild north that ran through my veins. Best of luck going up against that.

  The first traces of dawn crept over the pointed tips of the spruce trees. The snow lit up gradually, as though being brightened touch by touch on a computer monitor or tablet screen. It had been tinted grayish and was slowly becoming brighter and more blinding.

  “This road ends at some point, right?” I asked. I was beginning to feel like I spent half my life in a moving vehicle.

  “According to the map it does, but we’re not going that far.”

  Normally Jared was a speed demon, but I swear he dropped the SUV’s speed just to irk me. For a villain, he sure was immature—and predictable. I knew what buttons to push to get him to react a certain way . . . and which buttons to leave the hell alone.

  At the next bend in the road, Jared slowed down more. He dropped one hand to his lap and maneuvered the steering wheel one handed, cranking it to the left onto a road named Gold Rush.

  Really original, though far more creative than the streets of downtown Anchorage, which were the letters of the alphabet. A Street, B Street, C Street, etc., going vertical and bisected by numbered roads running horizontal. 1st Avenue, 2nd Avenue, 3rd Avenue, etc. Our city planners had been really creative.

  As Jared turned onto Gold Rush, I fully expected to bump along a gravel road, not drive over smooth pavement, freshly plowed despite the remote location. There were long, paved drives leading up to McMansions, with acres of land separating them from their three-story neighbors. Jared respected the twenty-five-mile speed limit through the neighborhood. I had to hand it to him for finding a nice place to lay low. This wasn’t the kind of area I’d have thought to check.

  I should have known Valerie wouldn’t be holed up in some backwoods cabin. I couldn’t picture Princess Red roughing it.

  “Did you win the lottery or something?” I asked, practically pressing my nose to the window.

  “I don’t need to play the lottery. I take what I want,” Jared answered.

  I rolled my eyes, but he didn’t see it.

  He braked beside a paved driveway sloping upward. There was a for sale sign hanging from a wood post at the end of the drive.

  “Ah,” I said with knowing. “Did some house-hunting, did we?”

  “You can thank Val,” Jared said as he cranked the wheel onto the driveway.

  The first slope curved then climbed higher.

  Val, sure. Little Miss Betty Crocker Homemaker. Most likely strutting around in high heels and a silk bathrobe up inside her loaner mansion. Jared wasn’t the only one who took what he wanted.

  “What happens when the Realtor has a showing?” I asked.

  “Not many people are in the market for a million-dollar home,” Jared returned. “And if they are—” he paused and grinned wolfishly, “that means we’ll have ourselves some blue blood on the menu.”

  I wrinkled my nose, recalling just how twisted Jared was.

  “For now, I’m afraid all we have is the blue-collar kind.” Jared clicked his tongue and shrugged. “Ah, well, blood is blood.”

  “Count me out,” I said at once. “I don’t drink anything that’s not kosher.”

  “What about from a willing participant?” Jared asked, leaning so far over the console his shoulder bumped mine.

  I cringed inwardly.

  “That’s a different story,” I admitted begrudgingly.

  “Just wait until you’ve tried fresh from the vein. You’ll never want to go back to the bag,” Jared said.

  “Already have, and I did go back to the bag,” I informed him. I wasn’t proud of sucking blood from Daren’s neck, but at the moment, I felt glad for the experience just for the chance to throw it back in Jared’s face.

  Been there, done that. No big deal.

  “Liar,” Jared said.

  I shrugged my indifference. “You said it yourself, I’m a blood junkie.”

  A massive brown house appeared at the top of the drive. There was a three-car garage, which Jared parked outside of.

  I turned my head to him. “Don’t have a garage remote?” I inquired sweetly.

  “None that I could locate,” he answered.

  Once he turned the car off, I held my wrists up.

  “Mind freeing my hands?”

  Jared stared at me a moment before reaching into his pocket and digging out his knife. He pulled up a small blade and slipped it beneath the tie where my wrists split apart. In one quick motion, he sliced the tie with an upward cut.

  A breath of relief escaped my nostrils as my wrists parted company. I rubbed at them and scratched the unrelenting itch on the back of my neck. I couldn’t help a sigh of satisfaction.

  Jared pushed the tip of the blade shut on his jeaned thigh and stuffed the knife back in his pocket.

  “Now that you have free use of your hands, what’s say we shake on your trial period?” he said. “For starters, you agree not to run away.”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” I said, lifting my head up defiantly.

  “Good. And you agree to behave.”

  “Behave?” I repeated. “I thought you were all about misbehaving.”

  Jared smirked. “Me, yes. You, no.”

  “Well, that’s not fair,” I said with a mock pout.

  “And you’re under probation.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Ever since I was recruited I’ve been under probation. You and Melcher have trust issues.”

  “For good reason,” Jared returned.

  Good reason, no kidding, like the fact I planned to kill Jared first chance I got. I’d already tried several times before. If Jared wanted to delude himself that I was under probation, all the better for me. It was the old keep-your-friends-close-and-enemies-closer tactic, though I was pretty sure this went way beyond the intended meaning of the term. Live with the enemy. Work with the enemy. I was going to extreme lengths to take Jared down.

  “I agree not to run away, everything after that we’ll make up as we go,” I said, sticking my hand out to Jared, which was either extremely brave or really stupid of me considering the way he liked to crush bones.

  A slow grin crept over Jared’s face. “Deal,” he said, taking my hand in a firm shake. He kept hold of my hand, locking eyes with me. “This could either be the beginning of community bliss or your own personal hell. Don’t fuck it up.” His grip tightened on my hand.

  What Jared didn’t realize is that community bliss with him and Valerie was the epitome of what I’d consider my own personal hell.

  I squeezed his hand back.

  “Fair warning,” I acknowledged.

  “Good,” Jared said releasing my hand. “I’m glad we understand one another.”

  Sure we did.

&n
bsp; Jared exited the car first. I stared up at the house, feeling apprehensive about entering an enclosed space with him and Valerie. The car had been an enclosed space, particularly Selene’s trunk, but the SUV had four doors and an engine that could blast me away. Reluctantly, I left the passenger’s seat and stepped outside into the biting cold. The frigid air prickled my skin.

  Wood stairs creaked under Jared’s footsteps as he climbed up one level above the garage. He didn’t look over his shoulder to make sure I followed. Guess he’d bought the sincerity of my promise not to make a run for it.

  At least I was here by choice. Sort of. The kidnapping part kind of put that in question, but here, at this moment, I was right where I wanted to be. Even if I could have slipped away and contacted the agency to send a unit in on the house, I wouldn’t have. Jared and Valerie would disappear again before our unit had a chance to swoop in on them. This was my mission now. Agent Sky on active duty. In position and ready. Target in sight.

  I zeroed in on Jared’s back and grinned to myself before taking the first step, stalking after him into the house.

  Jared didn’t bother removing his shoes as he traipsed over the carpet. I didn’t either. I had no desire to make myself at home in their current hideaway.

  An enormous living room opened up to large windows overlooking a sprawling forest and mountains in the far distance. The view was gorgeous—something hard to enjoy given the present company and bareness of the home without any furniture left behind. There was a spacious deck outside with a covered hot tub. I thought longingly of Fane for a moment then chased the feeling away. I couldn’t let emotions distract me on mission. When this was all over, Fane and I would finally be free to begin our lives together. Unlike Jared’s former family, the Morrels, I wasn’t going to run off and hope Jared never found us. There was no riding off into the sunset until I put the bastard down, ensuring he’d never follow or catch up to us.

  Jared walked toward the windows, stretching his arms into the air. His shirt rode up his back as he did, exposing bare skin above his pants line.