Hunting Season (Aurora Sky

by Nikki Jefford

  I needed to stop stressing over it and try to finish at least one assignment.

  I took a detour to the bathroom to brush my teeth first. I put toothpaste onto my brush, but didn’t stick it inside my mouth. Instead, I stared at my pearly whites in the mirror. Vampire teeth, no fangs. Nevertheless, they were teeth that had bitten a boy and drank blood.

  I paused only a second longer before brushing them so hard my gums bled—making me brush them more rigorously still.

  Pajamas on, I set my phone on my nightstand and crawled under the covers. I turned off the bedside lamp. My phone lit up a moment later, ringing. Fane’s name displayed over the screen.

  Thank goodness!

  “I was worried,” I cried into the phone.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t call sooner,” Fane said.

  I sat up straight.

  “Fane, what happened?”

  He took a deep breath. “Valerie came by my place and broke out every window with Joss inside.”

  My gut twisted.

  “Oh my god. Is he okay?”

  “Shaken up, but fine otherwise.”

  “Did she throw rocks?”

  “Yes.”

  The line went silent. Fane sounded more angry than sad.

  “Fane, I’m sorry. If I hadn’t asked you over…”

  “I’m the one who dated her,” Fane said, voice hardening. “This is entirely on me.”

  My back straightened. “This isn’t on you or me. It’s the agency’s fault. The agency did this to us.”

  Fane sighed. “And this is only the beginning.”

  “No.” I shook my head. “Like you said, we can stop them. Starting with Jared. He’s Melcher’s right hand.”

  “We’ll be ready for him,” Fane said. “I only hope Noel made a convincing case to your boss and that Valerie stays out of it.”

  My heart sunk down to the covers.

  With Valerie once more operational, Melcher might assign her back to the lodge, or worse, the palace. She could throw a great big wrench into our plans.

  “Maybe I could talk to her,” I said. “She has as much motivation to take down Jared as I. and as for the trade, Giselle still has her boyfriend.”

  “Do not get her involved,” Fane said.

  I bristled at his command.

  “But if I sent her a text…”

  “Aurora, you need to stay as far away from her as possible.”

  Even though I knew he was right—Valerie was beyond reasoning with—I didn’t appreciate his tone. Fane wasn’t Melcher. He couldn’t order me around. I didn't have a choice in the matter if she and I were put on assignment together. Wouldn’t it be better if we were on the same page?

  “She could screw everything up,” I cried into the phone.

  “And you can bet that if she knew what we were up to, she’d screw it up worse,” Fane said.

  I inhaled and held it to the count of five before releasing slowly. I knew he was right; I just found the whole thing frustrating. Why did Valerie have to be such a psychotic bitch? We could have teamed up. If only she’d listened to reason when I tried to explain what happened with Fane at the tasting. It was as though she expected any guy who ever dated her never to care about another woman again. What a prima donna.

  “Okay,” I said. “The less people who know about our plan, the better. We need to be on our toes—you especially.”

  “So long as she stays away from Stanton’s Friday, I can handle her and any stones she throws my way.”

  “Fine,” I said. “Just promise you’ll be careful.”

  “Only if you promise first.”

  “I promise,” I said.

  The trap had been set. All that was left was for Jared to take the bait and for Valerie to keep the hell away. I hated having to worry about her.

  Just what we needed this week—Evil Red resurrected, released, and raising hell while we were in the midst of a rescue mission.

  6

  Hit Squad

  A single snowflake flew at the windshield and melted as soon as it touched the glass. Another wet flake quickly followed, then another, until a whole flurry flew at my face like spittle. I blinked despite the protection of the windshield. I fumbled for the lever to activate the windshield wipers, but they didn’t budge. I tried to slow the vehicle down, but my foot hit empty air where the gas pedal and brake should have been.

  Then, through the blizzard, a dark SUV appeared, barreling straight toward me. My hands dropped to the steering wheel, which had been driving itself a moment before. I cranked the wheel to the right then noticed it hadn’t moved at all, only my hands—sliding along the surface.

  Frantically, I attempted to open the door only to find it lacking a handle.

  Fear seized me by the throat.

  I looked up even though the oncoming vehicle was the last thing I wanted to face.

  The SUV had closed in enough to see inside—to notice that no one manned the vehicle. Headlights glared into my eyes.

  No, not again. Not when I’d faced my fears and taken the wheel.

  A movement to my right caught my eye. I saw the blue bandana tied around his forehead first.

  Jared sat in the passenger’s seat, a bag of theater popcorn in his lap. He pulled a puffy kernel out and plopped it inside his mouth, followed by a crunch.

  Jared didn’t look at me. He stared ahead.

  “This is going to hurt,” he said in a matter-of-fact voice.

  I turned my head just as the SUV came at us full speed.

  My body jerked, reaching out on both sides for anything to grab hold of. This time, my fingers slid over cool, smooth bed sheets.

  Slowly, my ragged breaths abated. I opened my eyes to find no blinding headlines aimed at my pupils, only darkness inside my bedroom.

  It was only a dream.

  Real or not, it didn’t bode well. Call it a premonition, an omen, instinct… It could mean only one thing. Jared was back in town.

  I half expected to find a dusting of snow on the ground when I looked out the window later that morning, but the sidewalks were clear.

  As I organized my backpack, my phone rang, displaying a blocked number.

  “Hello?”

  “Hello, Agent Sky,” Melcher said.

  My breath caught inside my throat. A queasy sensation, similar to the one I’d experienced in the dream, roiled around my stomach.

  I wanted to scream, to shout—to tell Melcher I knew what he’d done to me. Instead, I swallowed my anger down like a lump of coal and replied, “Good morning, Agent Melcher.”

  “I need you on base in an hour.”

  “But I have class in twenty minutes.” I’d blown it off the day before, but I wanted to give college a fair shot. Fane was right. I should live in the moment, experience life. The agency had no right to take away my college experience.

  “School can wait,” Melcher said. “This can’t. Do you need me to send someone to pick you up?”

  My jaw tightened. “I can get there myself,” I informed him.

  “Good.”

  “By the way, how’s Valerie doing?” I asked.

  “Miss Ward lost a lot of blood, but no vital organs were damaged. Once her transfusion was complete, she was cleared to go home.”

  Uh-huh. Home. Hers. Not mine. Not Fane’s.

  “See you soon, Agent Sky,” Melcher said.

  “Yeah.”

  I hung up the phone and immediately dialed Fane.

  “I’ve been called on base for a meeting.”

  “Did they say why?” Fane asked.

  “No, but that’s normal.” I sucked in a breath. “What if he called in Valerie, too? What if Jared shows up?” Rage sparked across my body. “This is my chance. I should do something with it. If Valerie was called in, she could take Jared and I could take Melcher.”

  “Aurora, stop and think a moment. Even if everyone was there and even if you could convince Valerie to cooperate in a split second, how would you clear the building, let alone
the base, with hostages?”

  My shoulders sagged. Man, reality checks sucked. “I don’t know. I guess it was more wishful thinking than anything else.”

  “Go in and stay calm. Find out what they’re planning. Remember, we have the upper hand.”

  I liked the sound of that even though it wasn’t true. Melcher had an army of hunters at his beck and call, including a particularly nasty vampire. He had backing from the government and his own team of scientists. How were we supposed to go up against that?

  “We’ll get Jared,” Fane assured me. “But we have to be smart about it. Get him where we want him. So play along today and find out what you can.”

  I should have been grateful for Fane’s level head. But he sounded like someone else. Someone who hadn’t kissed me yesterday. His actions indicated that he cared for me, maybe even loved me. But until he said the words, I wouldn’t know for sure.

  Fine, Fane wanted to be all business, I would, too.

  “You’re right,” I said. “This is my chance to find out what Melcher’s up to.”

  “Just remember to keep cool while you’re on his turf,” Fane said. “Once we lure them into the open, they’re fair game.”

  Fair game? More like bargaining chips.

  Jared ought to be thrown into oncoming traffic for what he’d done to me.

  Patience, Aurora. Let Giselle rip his heart out. I didn’t care who did the honors so long as it was done and Jared—The Recruiter, The Killer—was no more, followed by Melcher. With those two out of the picture, maybe I could finally begin living a normal undead life with a decent undead guy.

  Fane’s voice provided only temporary relief. Finding out as much as I could from Melcher made perfect sense, but it didn’t mean I was happy to meet with the man. Then there was the immediate dilemma of driving the Jeep.

  My hands shook as I opened the driver’s door. The keys weighed down my hand.

  If only Dante were there to drive me… or Noel.

  Scratch that!

  What kind of assassin feared cars? Self-reliance meant getting from point A to point B without a chauffeur.

  Unless—the dream had been a warning not to get behind the wheel.

  The jagged edges of the keys bit into my palm as I squeezed them. I didn’t have much choice. I’d rather take my chances behind the wheel than call Melcher back and say I required a ride after all. No way.

  I started the Jeep and put it into neutral, the way Fane had taught me. I got it into first gear and eased onto the road.

  No problem, I told myself.

  On the way through town, I watched the cars in front of me carefully. I down shifted and stopped at red lights, which, luckily, weren’t on any hills. When the light turned, I eased up on the clutch and tapped the gas, paying attention to every foot maneuver and shift. Somewhere along the way, I began humming Christmas tunes, stopping briefly to have a one on one conversation with myself about how it was way too early for caroling.

  By the time I reached base, my temples were sweaty.

  Two cars waited in front of me. At my turn, the guard checked my ID then handed it right back, his face expressionless. The gate lifted, and I drove onto Elmendorf Air Force Base toward the top secret compound on the outskirts.

  Melcher certainly knew how to protect himself. If Giselle was correct, and he was a vampire, how had he ever rallied government aid?

  If only I could get some information out of Jared before Giselle offed him.

  Triumph flashed through me as I parked the Jeep. I’d made it on my own—conquered the mountain—all thanks to Fane and his car rehabilitation tactics.

  Suddenly, I wanted to call him and thank him for believing in me all along. For having patience. For giving me my independence back.

  But it would have to wait until after the meeting.

  I walked toward the compound, chin up. As I tromped through the dank halls, the Christmas carols humming inside my head were replaced with positive affirmations.

  I am strong. Superhuman. Vampire. An asset to the agency. They’ll never see me coming.

  Once I turned the final corner, two sets of eyes looked at me. Levi and Mason sat in plastic chairs in the hallway. Levi slouched back, one leg propped over his knee. Mason sat ramrod stiff, at attention like a good solider boy. My nose wrinkled.

  I kept my head up and walked straight over to Levi.

  “Where’s Tommy?”

  Levi sat up straighter. “Well, hello to you, too,” he said, grinning from ear to ear.

  I couldn’t believe I ever compared him to Kurt Cobain. He smiled way too often and with too much teeth.

  “You can go in now.”

  I barely noticed the secretary, and it wasn’t because of her camouflaged uniform.

  I continued glaring down at Levi. “We’re teammates, remember? So, why don’t you play ball and tell me where you took the dog?”

  Levi stood. Our noses were practically level. His smile dropped briefly from his face.

  “If your partner hadn’t gotten himself kidnapped, I wouldn’t have to take care of his mutt.”

  Anger flared through me at the same time hope blossomed. If Levi was taking care of Tommy that meant he was safe, for now.

  Melcher should have let me take care of Tommy from the start. This was probably some sort of punishment for questioning orders. He acted like we were a team, like I mattered, but I knew the truth. Melcher didn’t give a damn about any of his recruits. He didn’t want us to have pets or any kind of relationship that interfered with our commitment to the agency. All that mattered was the mission. Follow orders. Period.

  “Agent Melcher is ready for you,” the secretary said louder.

  Levi brushed past me, Mason right behind him, toward Melcher’s office. They let themselves in first. I walked in last and shut the door behind me. While my back was turned, a voice sneered.

  “Is this all you’ve got for me?”

  My body went rigid at the sound of Jared’s voice.

  I turned. His eyes drilled directly into mine from the far corner of the room. There stood the vampire responsible for all my woes. He wore a dark blazer over blue jeans—casual cool. There was a five o’clock shadow over his chin and cheekbones covering his face in a sinister looking mask.

  Melcher stood between his desk and chair.

  “Jared, meet agents Levi Parker and Mason Hicks. You and Agent Sky have already met.”

  Oh, we’d met all right—on a cold wintery road ten months ago. Jared had robbed me of my humanity. If that wasn’t bad enough, Melcher later forced me to work alongside my killer.

  Why did he want us all to meet now?

  I glanced at Melcher who had taken a seat at his desk.

  “Do you two know how to follow orders?” Jared demanded, looking from Mason to Levi.

  “Yes, sir,” Mason said.

  Jared’s eyes narrowed on Levi. “What about you, Jeans?”

  I expected Levi to glower back, but he grinned instead. “You can count on my full cooperation.”

  Something in the way Levi said it made Jared grin back. “Good.”

  Jared sat behind Agent Crist’s old desk. The vamp had a lot of nerve taking her seat after killing her.

  Mason and Levi lowered themselves into the two chairs in front of Christ’s desk. I crossed over to a chair in front of Melcher.

  “Now here’s how Friday night is going down. You three have the upstairs,” Jared said, aiming his finger at us in one arc. “I’ll handle everything below.”

  My body jolted as though shocked inside the chair.

  Handle everything below? What? No! We needed Jared to go to the palace, not the lodge. But I couldn’t protest without raising suspicion.

  “Everyone dies, except Diederick,” Melcher said.

  “What about the wine girls?” Levi asked, raising an eyebrow.

  Melcher rested his arms on his desktop. “I’ve got an informant on the inside. He’ll slip something in their wine before your arrival. They�
��ll be asleep during your operation. He’ll also take care of disabling security cameras at the front door and entryway. Diederick doesn’t have cameras upstairs. He keeps the tasting rooms private.”

  “What about the valet and butler?” I asked.

  Melcher pursed his lips. “They’ll have seen your faces. Allowing them to live would put my agents in danger.”

  Mason nodded. “Collateral damage.”

  “They aligned themselves with the enemy,” Melcher confirmed. “That’s the risk they took.”

  “What about Diederick?” I demanded. “He’ll have seen our faces.” Well, mine, anyway. I’d attended the tasting twice and made a scene at the bar with Henry. I hadn’t exactly flown beneath the radar.

  Melcher had warned Dante, Valerie, and me off killing Diederick the first time we scoped out the hillside tasting, claiming the vamp was more valuable to him undead than forever dead.

  “We’ve already lost track of dozens of vampires since Marcus’ departure,” Melcher had said.

  “Diederick has vast connections to the underworld. For now, we need him to coax his underlings out of the shadows.”

  “Diederick won’t see what any of you are doing upstairs, and there won’t be any survivors to describe you later,” Melcher said now. “Jared and his team will go in below with ski masks.”

  Just what we all needed after Sitka had gone sooooo smoothly. If anyone could massacre a house full of vampires, it was Jared.

  I sat up in my chair. “But if we kill all his clients and staff, what good is he to you? It’s not like he’d be dumb enough to set up new tastings. His reputation will be ruined if it gets out that his patrons all died at the hands of hunters.”

  Melcher nodded. “He’ll leave the state, or Anchorage at the very least. My informant will stay with him and keep an eye on future endeavors.”

  “So we’re just going to let Diederick walk out the front door?” I pressed.

  “My man will help him escape,” Melcher said.

  “Now listen up,” Jared’s voice boomed. “I want you three to go in first. Take out the valet and butler. From there, go directly upstairs. You will find one of Diederick’s associates overseeing the tasting rooms above. Kill him. Jeans will take his place,” Jared said, nodding at Levi. “Don’t let anyone leave until they’ve visited the room at the end of the hall. That’s where Raven and Mason will be.”