Northern Bites (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter, Vol. 2)

by Jefford, Nikki

  Is that how Agent Crist died? Had she discovered his secret? Perhaps she’d been on her way to tell Melcher. And Mike? That still didn’t add up. Jared didn’t seem to have a clue about Mike.

  I slipped my knife out of its sheath, holding it in front of the mirror much the same way Valerie had held her dagger and gun in front of the window.

  “It has to be done,” I said to my reflection. I returned my knife to its sheath and waited for Valerie in the bedroom.

  She returned, grinning as she held up a piece of paper. “Found our flight confirmation inside the bastard’s baggage.”

  I frowned. “Valerie…”

  Valerie’s smile dropped. “What?” she asked impatiently.

  “We have to go back.”

  Her entire face contorted in disdain. “The hell we do!”

  “You know we can’t let Jared wake up.”

  “Wait a minute. Now you’re telling me you want to kill him? I told you that back at the house. You had your chance, Aurora. It’s too late now.” Valerie made a sound of disgust and stormed over to her suitcase. She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out the revolver. I heard the bullets clink together inside her suitcase as she emptied the chamber.

  I took a step toward her, stopping at the edge of her bed to give her space. “If we don’t take care of him, we’re leaving ourselves in danger, not to mention Noel, Dante, and every operative in our unit. I think he killed Agent Crist.” I was sure of it. And how convenient to remove her cross after killing her and plant it at the Morrel’s house. Hell, he didn’t even have to plant it. He simply waved it in front of our faces and told us what he wanted us to believe. The only thing I wasn’t sure of was Mike. How would Jared have tracked him down and why? And if he had killed Mike, why not pocket a memento of his, like his class ring, and use it as part of his charade? That simply didn’t add up. It’s like two unrelated killings had occurred, but then why had both bodies been found dumped at the same location and time? Argh! I felt like my mind was going to explode.

  “Probably,” Valerie said in answer to my theory about Crist. She tossed her gun inside her suitcase, stormed past me, and disappeared into the bathroom. Her toiletries clacked together as she gathered them up. She returned a moment later, carrying a striped bag which she tossed in her suitcase. The zipper made a ripping sound as Valerie closed it. She set it on its wheels and met my eyes. “There’s nothing we can do. The police are probably there by now. Melcher can have someone take care of him while he’s inside a cell.”

  “We should call Melcher.”

  Valerie snorted. “Right. I’m sure he’s sitting behind his desk in the middle of the night waiting for our call.” She held up the piece of paper she’d snagged from Jared’s room. “What we need to do is get out of here. Lucky for us, our return flight leaves at 6AM. So let’s say we get our asses to the airport and off this damn island.”

  I opened my mouth to speak, but Valerie cut me off. “It’s our only option.” She moved briskly to the phone on the nightstand. “Yes, this is Ginger in room 102,” she said into the phone. “We’re going to need a taxi to the airport. Thanks.” She set the phone in the receiver. “Let’s wait out front. I want to put this place behind me as soon as possible.”

  I didn’t argue. Valerie was right. What could we do at this point?

  I hoisted my duffel bag over my right shoulder and followed Valerie into the hallway to the lobby.

  Our breath came out in foggy puffs as we waited for the cab outside. This early in the morning, the sky was as black as the Prince William Sound right after the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Valerie’s hand shook slightly as she lit a cigarette. For the second time in my life, I felt like asking for a drag.

  I think we both breathed a sigh of relief when the taxi pulled up.

  “To the airport?” our driver asked once we’d tossed our luggage in the trunk and taken our seats in the back of the car.

  “Yes,” we said simultaneously.

  “How long is our layover in Juneau?” I asked once the wheels on the cab began moving.

  Valerie studied the flight conformation. The paper hadn’t left her hand since she walked into the room with it. “Our flight lands in Juneau at 6:43 a.m., departing Juneau at 12:27, and arriving in Anchorage at 2:05 p.m.”

  I leaned into Valerie, doing some quick calculations as I stared at the flight confirmation. “Six hours.” That was a long time to stick around the capital twiddling our thumbs. I thought briefly of Mendenhall Glacier. I definitely was NOT in the sightseeing mood. I felt like I was running for my life, which was ridiculous. Jared was the one in the wrong. Jared should be the one afraid. Melcher hunted vampires. Well, not personally, but he had a team of hunters at his beck and call.

  I still wanted to know how Melcher recruited The Recruiter. And no more of his cryptic, bullshit answers. Our team leader had nearly killed us.

  15

  Takeoff

  After we checked in, we settled into two scuffed up chairs in the farthest corner of the terminal. We had a little over two hours to wait until boarding. As soon as we sat, Valerie whipped out her phone.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, alarmed. “You can’t go telling Gavin what’s happening.”

  Valerie looked up from her phone and gave me a menacing glare. “He thinks I’m in California visiting my mom and annoying sister.”

  My shoulders stiffened. “I suppose I’m the annoying sister.”

  Valerie smirked without answering. She bent her head down and began texting.

  I pulled my own phone out and sent Dante a quick text message.

  Jared’s a vampire. Valerie and I are on the run. Call me when you get this.

  As if that last sentence was needed. I wished I could see the look on Dante’s face when he read the text. How many hours until he saw it? The time read three twenty-five. It would be a while yet. He might think I was playing around again.

  I looked over at Valerie, still busily texting. “What do you think Jared will tell the police when he wakes up?”

  Valerie stopped typing. Her bottom lip turned down. “I don’t know. He’ll come up with something.”

  I didn’t doubt it. “Do you think the officers are safe?”

  “They’ve probably locked him in a cell for questioning. I mean, they found him with a gun inside a house full of dead bodies.”

  “Is there anything linking us?” I asked. “What if they trace Jared back to the Westmark? We’re under his reservation.”

  “Under false names.”

  “But if they questioned the clerk on duty he’d tell them we left for the airport.”

  “Then let’s hope he doesn’t wake up anytime soon.” Valerie crossed her leg and began jerking her foot around.

  “What if they notice the rental car and trace it back to the hotel?”

  Valerie’s foot stopped. She turned and glared at me. “Will you give it a rest already? You’re making me nuts. There’s nothing we can do besides sit here and wait for our fucking flight to take off.” She made a point of holding her phone up to her face.

  I fiddled with the bear claw.

  Valerie lowered her phone and watched me a moment. “What is it with that thing? I saw it on Dante before we left.”

  “He lent it to me.”

  “Is it like a promise ring or something?”

  I squished up my face. “No. We’re partners. That’s all. At least we were until Melcher forced you on me.”

  Valerie narrowed her eyes. “Sooner or later Dante’s going to tire of your prudish games and move on, you know, and I’d bet my bootstraps you aren’t going to like it when he does.”

  “I hope Dante does find a nice girl,” I retorted.

  Valerie placed an arm on the armrest between us, leaning in closer than I liked, her fire engine red lips inches from mine. Only Valerie would find the time to reapply her lipstick while running for her life. “Dante doesn’t want a nice girl, and you don’t want a nice boy. Why do you think you wer
e attracted to Fane?”

  My first thought was that it wasn’t any of her damn business. My second was that no words came readily to mind.

  “When did you notice Fane?” Valerie asked. “Before or after the accident?”

  “He’s a little hard to miss,” I said sarcastically.

  “No. When did you notice Fane?”

  I stared at the empty rows of chairs in front of us.

  I noticed Fane the first time I laid eyes on him, sophomore year. He’d looked exactly the same back then, which made sense now that I knew he couldn’t age. Even his hair had been the same—that unnatural shade of black, cropped on both sides, and mop of blond flipped back on top. I noticed Fane the first day he walked into English late. I’d gotten goose bumps as he breezed by my desk towards the back row in his long leather coat. My arm hair had prickled as though I’d just been passed by a ghost.

  I’d noticed him as someone to avoid.

  It wasn’t until after the accident that I wanted him to notice me. That’s what changed. I wanted Fane to see me. I didn’t miss the way he looked at the rest of the student body as though they were faceless, nameless drones going about their day. Back then he only had eyes for Valerie, and it had given me the shivers to see how much attention a boy could give a girl.

  Then, by some twist of fate, Mr. Mooney paired us up in gym class. It had only been for one class period, but it had been enough. Fane saw me as no one else had since the accident. And then I’d run into him in front of the video store and he’d walked me home. I didn’t know him at all, but he put me instantly at ease. After that I’d wanted to jump his bones, but I didn’t. I jumped Scott Stevens instead. Yuck. Good one, Aurora.

  Fane wasn’t available when I made my stupid list of New Year’s Resolutions.

  I did get to kiss him though. A lot. That is until Valerie put a stop to things. To be fair, I’d put a halt on kissing once I discovered he was a vampire. Those lips had sucked blood from human veins. It didn’t bother me as much now.

  “You are thinking way too hard,” Valerie said. “Fine, you don’t want to talk about Fane. It’s probably best, all things considered. At least you’re not as big of a pansy as I originally thought. But back to my original observation. Dante doesn’t do nice and neither do you. It’s the vampire blood. Deny it all you want, but you’re sick. We’re all sick. Noel, too. The agents made us this way.”

  “What way? What are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about rabies and TB. It’s not a lot, but it’s enough to increase our sexual appetites.”

  Sounded like a convenient excuse to me. Sure, Valerie wasn’t a sex addict by choice; blame the viruses flowing through our bloodstreams.

  “Where are you getting your information?” I asked. It wasn’t like there was a manual on vampire traits and characteristics.

  “Boot camp. Hasn’t Melcher talked to you about it?”

  I shook my head.

  Valerie smirked. “I guess he’s not convinced you have what it takes.”

  “Fine by me. I don’t want to go to vampire boot camp.”

  “Anyway,” she said, ignoring me. “Part of training included a course on understanding the enemy. Has Dante not told you anything?”

  “A little. It’s a lot of information.” I’d like to see Valerie try mentoring a new hunter. There was a lot of ground to cover.

  “I thought he would have shared the sexual stuff with you right out of the gate.”

  I’m glad he hadn’t. We’d talked about sensitivities to garlic and sunlight, not sex. I wanted to know more without having to ask. Luckily, on this subject, Valerie was happy to elaborate. “Tuberculosis causes periods of fatigue. It also increases sexual appetite. Rabies is worse. The disease messes with the part of the brain that helps people sleep at night. It kicks their sex drive into fifth gear.”

  Valerie lifted a finger. “We have the same blood.” She lifted a second. “We have the same viruses.” A third. “We have the same symptoms.” She sat back in her seat, shooting me a triumphant look.

  I didn’t know what there was to be happy about. In a sense, we were vampires. The only difference was that we were aging vampires. I shared this observation with Valerie, who actually looked impressed.

  It was sort of nice to talk to somehow who noticed the symptoms.

  “What about blood?” I asked suddenly. “Do you ever get cravings?”

  Valerie smiled. Her eyes took on an unnatural shine under the florescent lights. “I don’t see why vampires should get to do all the sucking.”

  “You sucked someone’s blood?” I asked, alarmed. Cravings were one thing. The thought of biting into someone’s skin was too horrific to contemplate.

  “No, stupid. I can taste my own blood on vampires’ tongues after they’ve bitten me.”

  “Eww.”

  “Grow up, Aurora. It’s time to take off the granny panties and wear the thong.” Valerie turned her attention back to her phone. I didn’t know why I felt disappointed. Maybe because out here Valerie was all I had.

  “Are you from California originally?”

  Valerie lowered her phone slowly. Her expression started taking on the familiar hostile look. “Why do you ask?”

  “That’s what you told Gavin—that you were in California visiting your mom and sister. I wondered if your family really lived there.”

  “You want my advice, Aurora? Don’t meddle in other people’s lives, especially trained assassins.” She stuck her face inches from mine. “I know I’m technically an informant, but I’ve had the training and I’ve done the killing. So back the fuck off.”

  Whoa, okay then. I leaned away from her.

  She stood up, slipping her purse over her shoulder. She left a larger handbag on the seat. “Watch my bag while I’m in the powder room.”

  Unlike Jared, I wasn’t worried that Valerie would split. She wanted off this island as much as I did.

  After Valerie returned freshly perfumed, she pulled out her Blood in the Snow novel.

  “How can you read that?” I asked.

  Valerie looked from her book to me. “The world is an ugly place, Aurora. You gotta face the facts.” She opened the book to the last spot she’d dog-eared and lifted the paperback halfway to her face.

  “Doesn’t mean I want to read about it,” I mumbled.

  I spent the rest of the wait flipping through songs on my iPod, searching for ones that might calm me. I wasn’t having much luck listening to a single song all the way through.

  More passengers entered the terminal. When a small crowd had gathered near the gate, Valerie lowered her book, dog-eared the corner, and slid the paperback inside her bag. She got up and I followed suit.

  As soon as the airline’s agent walked behind the gate’s counter, Valerie edged her way to the front of the crowd. I stuck to her side. Once boarding began, we were ready with our passes to get on first.

  We were in row fifteen on this flight. Valerie charged in first, so I didn’t bother protesting when she took the window seat again. Fuck the window seat. I just wanted to be wheels up already.

  I slid into the middle seat beside Valerie. Somehow, I felt like if I sat in Jared’s seat he’d appear to claim it. Valerie checked her phone again, but from her frown I guessed Gavin hadn’t been responding. Her foot tapped the floor until the captain came on the intercom and said, “Flight attendants please seat yourselves for takeoff.” Then it stopped.

  The plane taxied to the runway. I couldn’t see much out the window. It was still dark this early in the morning.

  My entire body thrummed as our plane sped up, faster and faster, then lifted off. I breathed a sigh of relief the moment the wheels left the tarmac.

  Valerie unclicked her seatbelt as soon as we were at cruising altitude. “Let me out.”

  My jaw tightened. She didn’t need to pee. I knew that much. “Do you seriously want to tamper with the smoke detector and risk having the captain turn this flight around or hold us in Juneau?�
��

  “Fair enough.” She sat back in her seat and hummed to herself a minute before opening her book again.

  We were only in the air for thirty minutes before landing in Juneau. The cities weren’t that far apart, but the airplanes ran at slow speeds between the two towns. I wasn’t nearly as far away from Sitka as I’d like to be. Six hours was way too long of a layover. Plenty of time for Jared to wake up. Luckily the next flight out of Sitka wasn’t until 6:20 p.m. Even if Jared somehow got out of jail that morning he wouldn’t be able to catch up to us.

  Valerie unbuckled before the plane came to a complete stop at the gate. I didn’t know what the hurry was. Once we reached the terminal, she began walking in long determined strides. I hurried to keep pace. “Going somewhere?”

  “To the check-in counter.”

  “But we’re already checked in through to Anchorage.”

  “I’m not going to Anchorage.”

  “What are you talking about?” The feeling of panic swept back in.

  Valerie stopped in the middle of the hall. There weren’t a whole lot of people around, and the ones who were easily moved around us. Valerie’s expression took on a look of almost childlike excitement. Now she was really scaring me.

  “Now’s our chance, Aurora.”

  I had a good idea where she was going with this, but I asked all the same. “Our chance to what?”

  “Fly the coop. Escape.”

  I didn’t consider it for a second. Oddly, I felt appalled by the idea. Fleeing meant running...forever. Without the monthly antidote I’d lose my humanity. Become one of the diseased for all of eternity, or until Melcher or his predecessor found me. And the same went for Valerie.

  “You know we can’t do that,” I said.

  “Speak for yourself.”

  “Without the antidote you’ll turn into a vampire.”

  Valerie’s lips pursed. “I’m already dead as far as my friends and family are aware, so why not? Why the fuck not?”

  I couldn’t think of a response as I stared at her. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway. Valerie’s mind was made up. She grinned when I didn’t answer. “You know I’m right.” She began walking again.