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

by Nikki Jefford

I scooped up the book and got to my feet slowly, setting the book down silently on the spot I’d vacated. With my first step, Jared’s head moved forward and his eyes opened as though he’d merely been resting them all along, never asleep.

  Rather than freeze up as though caught getting up to no good, I walked over to a tall floor lamp and switched it on.

  I could feel Jared’s eyes on me, but he said nothing. Neither did I.

  An engine rumbled from nearby. Jared rose slowly and walked over to the window, watching as headlights flooded through the snow-speckled forest.

  This happened to be one of those rare occasions when relief filled me at Valerie’s return. Even having the vixen around held more appeal than being alone with Jared.

  Speaking of the devil, he stood ramrod straight, chest lifted. It wasn’t until the car appeared into view that Jared’s shoulders relaxed and he moved away from the window. He plopped onto the couch and crossed one leg over the other.

  The engine cut out. It took several minutes for Valerie to enter through the front door, carrying shopping bags in both hands.

  “Thanks for the help,” she snapped, dropping the bags in the entryway, then turning and slamming the door shut behind her.

  “What did you get me?” I asked for the sheer pleasure of further pissing her off.

  It worked. Valerie’s face turned crimson when she scowled.

  I headed over and knelt to pick up half the bags.

  “That’s not yours,” Valerie said as I reached for a glossy pink paper bag with handles.

  I peered in quickly, but whatever was inside was hidden by pink and white tissue paper. Valerie reached under my nose and snatched it up.

  At this point, I was all for lingerie and any kind of wild, kinky production Valerie wanted to put on tonight. The wilder, the better for me. And the two of them might as well have their fun before I popped them. All things considered, it was a good way to go. Way better than hanging from a noose or having their necks snapped. I’d be doing them a kindness. Not that they’d see it that way.

  “Here,” Valerie said impatiently, riffling through the bags and shoving the parcels that were apparently Aurora approved at me.

  “What did you find?” Jared asked from the living room.

  Mr. Nosy. If he wanted a fashion show, he was out of luck.

  Valerie huffed. “This will do for now, but we’re better off waiting until after the holidays so we can hit up the sales.”

  Little did Valerie know that holding out for holiday sales shopping was the least of her worries. I took the bags she’d thrust at me over to a chair and looked inside. There was a three-pack of basic cotton underwear and socks inside a grocery bag. I was happy to see a hairbrush inside the sack, too, even if this ended up being my last night on mission. The important thing was Jared and Valerie were planning as though we’d all be together for a long time. The more they thought that, the easier it would be to take them off guard.

  Despite threatening me with overalls, I found a pair of jeans in one of the bags. I also found a red, long-sleeved V-neck. It wasn’t black, but red beat pink.

  Valerie took her bags to the room she’d claimed when we first entered the premises. She closed the door behind her and was gone for what felt like thirty minutes. As with age, I wasn’t very good at guessing the passage of time. Minutes could feel like hours away from home and the people I loved.

  Jared showed no signs of boredom, lounging on the couch. I supposed he had practice when it came to time—given he’d been around for several centuries. I was still a teenager. Impatient. Antsy. Forlorn at the thought of another night away from Fane.

  But tonight was special. Tonight I’d make my move.

  I pulled the North Star pendant out of my shirt by the chain and fingered it absentmindedly like a lucky penny. I rubbed it between my fingers a few times before stuffing it back down my skirt.

  The door of Valerie’s room burst open and hit the wall when she emerged.

  “I feel famished after doing all that shopping,” she announced.

  Jared raised his eyebrows from the couch. Valerie headed into the kitchen. I followed her in and rested my back against the counter as she opened the fridge and pulled out a blood bag.

  “Where’d you get those?” I asked.

  “Stole them,” Valerie answered. “Fresh blood isn’t always in supply.”

  I grimaced.

  “Check the cupboard for glasses,” Valerie said. “Grab long-stemmed wineglasses if this place has any.”

  The first cupboard I opened contained a set of matching white plates, bowls, and mugs. The second cupboard had drinking glasses. Valerie was in luck. The top shelf had six wineglasses. I stood on tiptoes and pulled two down, experiencing a brief flashback of the martini glass Selene had handed me before it was lights out.

  I pulled out a drinking glass for myself and set it on the counter with the wineglasses.

  Valerie lost no time saying, “Oh, so now you’re having some.”

  Glasses meant no swapping spit, and blood bags meant kosher. I needed my strength tonight, and I’d take what I could get.

  “I was full before. Now I’m not,” I said.

  Partaking now didn’t mean I’d drink my portion in a wineglass, celebratory style. Perhaps after I make the kills, I thought with a wry smile. I could just picture calling Fane for a pickup and having him burst in to find me sipping blood from a champagne flute, seated on a chair with my legs propped on the coffee table, a book spread open on my lap . . . spread open with the spine cracked. My smiled widened.

  Valerie’s eyes narrowed. “What’s so amusing?” she asked.

  “Nothing,” I said.

  “Do you think this is some kind of game?” she demanded.

  “It is to me.”

  “God, you’re immature,” Valerie said, ripping into the blood bag. She tipped it over the lip of the wineglass and it oozed down the clear bag, slopped inside of the glass, reminding me of the lava lamp from earlier with its red globs sliding up and down the inside of the globe.

  A drop of blood landed and splattered over the countertop as Valerie transferred the bag to the second wineglass. Once both wineglasses were filled, she poured blood into my glass, using up the bag. She didn’t ration blood the way Fane did.

  After digging a trash bag out from beneath the kitchen sink and disposing of the emptied blood bag, Valerie swiped her finger over the spill on the counter and sucked it off her skin.

  Staring at the full glasses, I asked, “You don’t warm the blood first?”

  “You want it warm you gotta find yourself a human,” Valerie retorted, snatching the wineglasses and tossing her hair as she headed for the den.

  I stayed behind to drink my portion in the kitchen, listening as Jared and Valerie clinked glasses. Silence followed their toast. I lifted my glass, nostrils flaring in anticipation as I took my first swallow. It was cold, but blood was blood. My body welcomed it with pleasure at any temperature.

  I didn’t sip at the blood so much as swallow it down one gulp at a time, smacking my lips after I’d emptied my glass. While I rinsed it in the sink, footsteps entered the kitchen.

  “Are you already done?” Valerie asked incredulously. “She finished that whole glass.”

  I left the rinsed glass in the sink and turned slowly. Jared and Valerie stood within five feet of me, each holding a wineglass still half full.

  Jared smirked. “Blood junkie with a capital J.”

  “Don’t you mean B?” I said.

  “No. J,” he returned.

  He would say J, narcissist that he was.

  Valerie’s lower lip pouted.

  “We’re going to need more blood now that we have an extra mouth to feed.”

  “We’ll work it out,” Jared assured her.

  We would indeed. If everything worked according to plan, there would be two less mouths to feed after tonight.

  While Valerie and Jared finished up their blood, I went back to pretendin
g to read beneath a lamp in the living room. Undercover bookworm. Really suave. But Jared’s earlier taunt about being a blood junkie had given me an idea. If he somehow heard me creeping out and caught me out of my room tonight, I could convincingly pretend I’d come out to raid the fridge for a midnight snack.

  I smiled to myself, appreciating the genius of the excuse. Hopefully I wouldn’t have to use it, but it didn’t hurt to have a cover story all set and ready to use in a pinch.

  When Valerie announced it was getting late, I set the book down and walked, unhurriedly, into the bathroom, taking my time brushing my teeth. I rinsed and spit, calling out from the open door, “Did you happen to buy me a pair of PJs?”

  “No,” Valerie called back sweetly, “but I picked myself up something.”

  That deserved an additional rinse and spit. I flicked the light off in the bathroom and stepped into the open hallway connecting the kitchen and den.

  “Night,” I called, looking anywhere except for the duffel bags, which were still parked against the wall of the den.

  Valerie put her hand up and waved impatiently.

  “Sleep well,” Jared said from his spot on the couch. Probably catching up on his rest from the night before.

  I made my way to the last bedroom down the hall. The bed was freshly made, a thick patchwork quilt on top. There was a dark wooden nightstand and dresser and the walls had framed photographs of Denali, caribou, grizzlies, and one of the aurora borealis streaking across the night sky triumphantly over frozen tundra.

  My heart surged. I wanted to think of it as a sign that the room I ended up with had a photograph of the aurora taking over the night.

  Mom had named me after the aurora borealis. A name could be a powerful thing. I liked to believe mine gave me special abilities, other than the ones I shared with other undead ABers. I’d been lucky so far. Fane might think of me as a disaster magnet—he might even be thinking it right now—but I liked to think of myself as an opportunist.

  Playing it safe never seemed to work out. It hadn’t done any good for Agent Crist or the Morrels. Agent Crist probably thought there wasn’t a safer place than on base at Melcher’s side. Boy, had she been wrong.

  For me, the safest place just happened to be in the eye of the storm.

  I unlaced my boots and set them at attention beside the bed before pulling back the quilt. Once settled, fully clothed, on the mattress, I gathered the quilt around me and lay my head on the pillow in case Jared came by to check on me.

  I breathed in and out against the pillowcase, listening attentively, heart hammering against my wishes.

  The creak of footsteps coming down the hall grew nearer. My heart rate kicked up as someone, likely Jared, came closer. I slid my hand down my leg, reaching for a knife before remembering I didn’t have one as my fingers found nothing to grab hold of.

  The footsteps stopped at my door. Several seconds of silence followed before the doorknob turned.

  Feign sleep or jump up and scream?

  I closed my eyes, deciding to hold the scream for if he stepped inside. The door squeaked open briefly then closed again. Relief flooded me even though I could still sense him lingering at the threshold. I held my breath and listened close. Where was Valerie when I needed her? She’d pitch a fit if she saw Jared hovering outside my bedroom. The vixen was probably taking a powder, getting herself all primped and pretty for her psychotic boyfriend.

  If I didn’t take a breath soon, it would come gasping out of me. Finally, the footsteps backtracked down the hall, away from my room. Jared had been checking on me. No trust. Go figure.

  I lay on my side, going over the plan in my head again and again. Once the shrieking and moaning started I’d slip out of bed and head for the hall. I knew my door squeaked and the floor creaked, but only in the dead silence. Valerie’s sex fest provided the perfect cover. I wouldn’t have to tiptoe around if she wailed the way she had the night before. The banshee had a pair of lungs on her and tonight I was grateful. In the end, Valerie would help me take down Jared against her own wishes.

  Sweet justice.

  I thought I might be waiting awhile, but it couldn’t have been ten minutes since the time Jared peeked inside my room that there was the sound of a bang. I nearly leaped out of my skin. The noise was from a door hitting a wall, but it sent my heart racing up my throat and pounding in my ears.

  A voice murmured right afterward. I couldn’t make out the muffled words other than to identify the speaker as Valerie.

  Thanks for the near heart attack, Val. Not that vampires suffered from heart problems. No, our biggest problem was each other.

  The saying “hell is other people” could be applied to vampires as well.

  There was more murmuring, all female and all unintelligible, thank god. If I had to lay around listening to Valerie’s pillow talk, I’d be barfing blood all over the poor homeowner’s nice quilt.

  Murmurs turned to moans.

  I tossed aside the quilt and swung my legs over the bed. If tonight was anything like last night, I had hours to make my move, but zero incentive to torture myself any longer than necessary waiting for the perfect moment.

  With bold steps, I walked straight up to the door, tucking my hair behind my ears. I reached for the doorknob and turned as Valerie let out a shriek of pleasure. I ground my teeth together and opened the door. As I did, something crashed against the wall. Unfortunately, it wasn’t Jared banging Valerie against their bedroom wall. The sound was much too close. Something fell away from my door when I opened it and hit the opposite wall.

  14

  Outdoorsmen

  The shrieking stopped. The whole house went silent. At first I was too stunned to even react.

  I stood frozen, halfway in the hall, my eyes landing on a thin, long object that had landed against the wall and fallen on its side. It was the tall standup lamp from the living room. Jared must have propped it against my door earlier. That sneaky bastard. Bitter cold rage filled me. I’d been so close to achieving my goal.

  Footsteps thumped against the carpet. A door swung open down the hall and Jared stormed out naked.

  My eyes! I lifted a hand to cover them.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Jared asked in an icy voice that would have chilled my insides if I weren’t so angry.

  I lowered my arm and glared through the dark at him.

  “I was just coming over to tell you to keep it down. I’m trying to sleep.”

  Valerie appeared behind Jared, scowl on her face. She had on a black lace teddy with thigh-high stockings attached to a garter belt.

  My poor eyes.

  “You need to mind your own damn business,” Valerie said.

  “That’s a bit of a challenge when I’m stuck under the same roof as you,” I returned.

  Jared lifted his chin. “We’ll get her earplugs tomorrow.”

  “I don’t want earplugs,” I ground out between my teeth. “I want peace and quiet, and I want to be able to leave my room at night without worrying that my door is booby trapped.”

  Valerie’s eyes narrowed. “Why do you need to be leaving your room at night?”

  “What if I have to pee?” I shot back.

  Valerie’s lips pouted. No response, that’s what I thought.

  “You still need to earn my trust, Raven,” Jared said.

  I looked into his dark, cold eyes, it beat staring at any part of his naked body. I didn’t want to take any lingering images of his schlong away with me. Valerie in lace underthings wasn’t anything I hadn’t seen before in the gym locker room in high school or in our hotel on mission in Sitka. I could handle the sight of her way better than the sound of her.

  “Trust is a two-way street,” I said.

  Valerie snorted derisively.

  “Go back to bed,” Jared said to me. “I won’t booby trap your door again, and I’ll keep a gag on Val tonight.” Jared smirked.

  I recoiled at his sleazy smile, making the mistake of lowering my gaz
e away from his smug face. A smooth, hairless, muscled chest jumped back at me. I caught myself in time to avoid gazing any lower. My entire face wrinkled in disgust as I turned away.

  “You’re a beast,” I heard Valerie say in a pouty voice.

  “And you’re a screamer,” Jared returned.

  “You like it.”

  I stormed back inside my room.

  “Don’t go raiding the fridge in the middle of the night. I’ll know,” Valerie yelled, her tone switching to bitch frequency.

  I slammed my door shut and stood inside my room, arms folded, glaring at the frame, overwhelmed by frustration and anger searing my insides like overcooked corn, charred to the husk.

  My stomach roiled with a tumult of emotions, disappointment and frustration high among them. I wanted to scream and get it all out, but I had to keep it locked inside.

  Valerie didn’t do any more shrieking that night. The whole house had gone silent after we went to our separate rooms. Jared probably wanted to keep his ears open in case I tried leaving my room again. I felt like pacing, but in the silence he might hear, and there was something invasive about him listening to my movements.

  I stationed myself beside the framed photo of the northern lights, following its patterns in the dark. Unfortunately, it hadn’t been a sign, just a picture suspended on the wall, no more active than me at present—standing in the shadows.

  I folded my arms, unfolded them, squeezed my fingers into fists and released them. The house remained silent. How ironic that the night I could have caught up on sleep was the night I was too wired to step anywhere near the realms of slumber. I’d also had more than my usual amount of blood before bed.

  As the minutes dragged on, I listened to the sound of silence and lost opportunity. Eventually I sat on the bed. Finally I laid down, tired, though unable to sleep. It was one of the longest nights of my life.

  Jared and Valerie were up early, moving around, and talking. Their footsteps creaked through the house.

  I stayed in my room with the door shut, having no energy to play along. My legs dangled over the edge of the bed, my hands folded inside my lap. My heart thudded dully inside my chest.