Hunting Season (Aurora Sky

by Nikki Jefford

  “See you soon,” Fane said, ending the call.

  Noel’s fists tightened around the steering wheel. “What’s happened now?” she asked.

  “Valerie slashed Fane’s tires.”

  “Dammit,” Noel said. “The sun’s going to rise soon.”

  Outside our windows, grey light hovered over the edges of the darkened houses, surrounding everything in a lambent haze. Time was running out.

  “Don’t turn around,” I said.

  They could have been someone else’s words. I didn’t remember thinking them or even feel my lips move, but it was my voice that spoke.

  “What?” Noel asked, whipping her head my way.

  “I wasn’t sure if we were going to make it out of that room,” I said. “I can’t put Fane’s life in danger a second time. Drop me off at home then go back and pick him up. I’ll be gone by the time you get back.”

  As the next intersection approached, I waited to see if Noel would listen to me or turn around. She went straight through the light.

  “You can’t go alone,” she said.

  “I’ll take Tommy with me.”

  Noel zipped down the middle lane, blasting through the next light.

  “Fane’s going to be furious,” she said.

  She was right. He was going to be pissed, but at least Noel wasn’t turning around.

  “He’s already upset,” I said. “I’ll talk to him soon. If everything goes the way it should, I’ll rescue Dante and be back soon. Then there will be four of us to take down Melcher and get Joss back.”

  Noel chewed on her lower lip. “And if something goes wrong?”

  “Then it’s even more important he stays out of it.”

  “What’s to stop Giselle from killing both you and Dante after she gets Jared?” Noel asked.

  “Melcher,” I said. “She wants us to go after him.”

  Noel stopped chewing on her lip and squared her shoulders. “In that case, I’ll see you and Dante soon, and then the four of us can discuss phase two of the plan.”

  I couldn’t decipher if her vote of confidence was for her own benefit or mine, but the conviction with which she said it made me want to hug Noel a third time. A surge of hope came over me—the belief that we might actually make it through this—that soon I would be face to face with Dante, bringing him home.

  Which was another reason I didn’t want to involve Fane in the exchange. It would be better if I could speak to Dante alone first. How would he feel if I showed up to rescue him with my vampire ex-lover?

  The one I’d never stopped loving.

  Dante didn’t know he was undead yet. That was a conversation that required delicacy. Besides which, Giselle might pull out a gun and use it if I brought backup.

  No, it was safer for everyone involved if I brought Jared to Giselle alone.

  As we neared our house, Noel turned to me and asked, “What should I tell Fane?”

  I sunk into the chair. “Tell him I’m sorry about tonight. Tell him I’ll be back soon. Tell him…” I inhaled through my nose.

  Part of me wanted her to tell Fane I loved him, but that wasn’t for Noel to say.

  “Tell him we’ll get Joss back,” I said instead.

  “Okay.”

  Once she’d pulled into our neighborhood, Noel slowed the car. One by one, the houses passed until we reached ours. Noel stopped on the road and put the convertible in park. “See you soon,” she said grimly.

  “Where are Jared’s keys?”

  “In the ignition. We found a gun and ammo in the trunk. I moved them in the glove compartment.”

  I forced a smile onto my lips. “Well, we wanted to capture Jared tonight, and we did. Mission accomplished.”

  “Yeah, let’s toast once Dante, Gavin, and Joss are back.”

  “It’s a plan,” I said.

  I loosened my grip on Noel’s phone and held it out to her.

  “Keep it,” Noel said.

  “Are you sure?”

  “You need to contact Giselle, don’t you?”

  I glanced from the phone to Noel. “Thanks. I’ll bring it right back.”

  “You do that,” Noel said, her lips forming something that resembled a smile.

  I reached for the door handle. “Don’t let Fane do anything stupid while I’m away.”

  This was beginning to sound like goodbye.

  Noel flicked her wrist at me. “Go already. Get that asshole out of our house and bring Dante home… and my phone.”

  I forced a smile over my lips. “Will do.”

  With that, I got out of the convertible.

  Adrenaline kicked in the moment my feet hit the pavement. As soon as I slammed the door shut, Noel took off down the road. With swift steps, I hurried to the front door. When I walked in, Tommy sat on the other side of the door, waiting. His tail thumped against the floor.

  I crouched in front of him and held his head gently in my free hand. “You ready to get Dante back, boy?”

  This set Tommy’s tail wagging.

  “All right,” I said, straightening. “Let’s go get him.”

  Noel’s phone rang inside my hand, startling me. The last number to call appeared over the screen. Fane was probably wondering what was taking so long. I contemplated answering and telling him we were on our way, but I’d already lied once.

  I’d do everything in my power to make it up to him. I wouldn’t stop until both Dante and Joss were back. Then we’d go from there.

  I no longer cared about seeing the Pyramids or the Eiffel Tower or the Taj Mahal. So long as I got to see Fane again, I’d consider myself the luckiest woman in the world.

  I ran upstairs and turned over my backpack above my desk. A textbook smacked the surface, followed by the soft plop of a spiral notebook and the tapping of pens, pencils, and highlighters. I grabbed a spare dagger from my sock drawer and tossed it inside the backpack. Next, I hurried to the kitchen, pulled out a blood bag from the fridge and tossed it inside my pack just in case I needed a boost later on.

  I lifted Noel’s phone and jammed my finger across the number pad.

  “Here goes nothing,” I said aloud.

  It rang three times before Giselle answered.

  “What now?” she asked by way of greeting.

  “I have him,” I said.

  “Xavier?” Giselle asked, her voice perking up.

  “Yes.”

  “Where is he?”

  “Inside the trunk of his car.”

  “Restrained?”

  “Yes.”

  “Conscious?”

  “Not at the moment.” Not unless the chloroform and sleeping drugs had worn off. I wasn’t going to worry about that yet.

  “How did you manage to capture him?” Giselle asked.

  If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she was suspicious.

  “He drove me home from a mission. I invited him in for a drink and drugged him,” I said.

  Now let’s get this show on the road.

  Once I finished talking, the line went quiet.

  Please tell me Giselle believed what I’d said. What if she didn’t? What if she hung up on me and killed Dante? We were playing Russian roulette with his life.

  Finally, Giselle spoke. “I will contact you at this number in ten minutes. In the meantime, I suggest you put on a pair of hiking shoes and have your car keys ready.” With that she ended the call.

  I stared at the phone. Did that mean the exchange was a go? That I’d soon see Dante?

  I glanced down at my tennis shoes. They would have to do. What did she mean by hiking shoes anyway? Where was she keeping Dante? The top of Mount McKinley?

  Whatever her plans, I wasn’t sticking around for another ten minutes. I had to get out of there before Noel returned with Fane.

  I whistled. “Come on, Tommy. We’re going.”

  Tommy trotted behind me to the door connecting the kitchen to the garage. My heart lurched at the sight of Jared’s car. There wasn’t any noise coming from it. N
o banging or shouting, which was a good sign. The Aurora Surprise had really done the trick.

  I opened the passenger door, pushed the seat forward and coaxed Tommy into the back seat. There wasn’t a lot of room for the golden retriever, but he managed to fit. Once he was inside, I pressed the garage door opener against the wall and hurried around to the driver’s side. With a twist of the keys, the car roared to life.

  My heart ricocheted off my ribcage. I half-expected the sound of the ignition to wake Jared and set him to kicking the door of the trunk. There wasn’t time to worry about it. I backed into the driveway and put the car in park. Without a clicker, I had to close the garage manually. I jumped out of the car and raced back into the garage to close the door. I smacked the button and raced back out as the door lowered.

  Daylight crept faintly through the neighborhood. It was definitely time to get going. I headed toward campus to wait for Giselle’s call in the university’s parking lot.

  17

  Into The Wild

  The campus parking lot was deserted. The gas tank was three quarters full, but I turned the ignition off while I waited to hear back from Giselle. Thankfully, no sound emerged from the trunk. The thought of double-checking that Jared was still tied up in back sent waves of nausea through my body. He could be waiting quietly for me to pop the trunk then leap out and attack me. Nope, I was keeping that door firmly closed.

  Noel’s phone rang, startling me even though I’d been expecting the call.

  “Hello?” I answered.

  “Head south on the Seward Highway,” Giselle said. “I will call back with further instructions.” With that, the call disconnected.

  I set the phone on the passenger’s seat and started the ignition.

  South. Okay. Guess I wouldn’t have to climb McKinley after all. But just how far did she plan on making me drive?

  Hopefully not too far. There was plenty of wilderness between Anchorage and Girdwood.

  Soon I was passing Potter Marsh, driving alongside the boardwalk. A tall man in a puffy green vest stood at the end with binoculars. A paranoid part of me wondered if Giselle had hired him as a lookout. This man didn’t appear to be in cohorts with her as he pointed the binoculars skyward at an eagle soaring overhead.

  I rounded the next bend, the yellow line at the edge of my vision as I followed each curve. The Kenai Peninsula was to my right, the Chugach Mountains to my left.

  The last time I traveled this road had been with Fane when we skipped class to go to Portage Glacier. That seemed like an ice age ago. Even though I was new to the whole immortality thing, my old life seemed like a distant memory.

  It pained me to remember how upset he’d been about Joss and how mad he must be at this moment that I’d taken off without him.

  He was always willing to help me and Noel. Now it was our turn to return the favor. Once I exchanged Jared for Dante, getting Joss back was priority number one. It would all work out in the end. It had to.

  My eyes moved back and forth from the phone to the road. Where exactly did Giselle have me going? I never imagined a road trip would be part of the exchange. Then again, it wasn't like the suspicious vampire would give me her address or risk walking into a trap by returning to my house.

  Still, driving without a destination put me on edge. I just wanted to get the exchange over with.

  I passed three cars that had pulled off along the mountainside. A middle aged couple stood precariously close to the road, staring up. They were looking at Dall Sheep, no doubt.

  Tourists, I thought to myself. Unlike me. Resident vampire hunter turned hostage negotiator. They hadn’t prepared us for this type of mission at boot camp.

  Soon I passed Beluga Point. Viewing season was over. I’d been away at boot camp when the white whales were active, catching fish in the silty inlet waters during the months of July and August.

  My mom and dad had taken me out here to watch them when I was younger. At some point, I lost interest. At some point, it became a “tourist thing.”

  Since when did whale watching become something only a visitor could enjoy?

  If I managed to take down Melcher and leave the state with Fane, I’d most likely never return.

  Suddenly I felt bereft at all the opportunities I’d missed to drive out and see the belugas. I'd never once pulled over to check out a Dall sheep. They were just another thing I took for granted—another tourist attraction.

  How could I lack such interest in life? The sad truth of the matter was that even without being vampires, most people were already half-dead to the world.

  I passed Girdwood and the railway to Whittier.

  Noel’s phone rang after I passed the turn off to Portage Glacier.

  “Drive to Exit Glacier,” Giselle said. “Once inside the parking lot, look for the green Subaru with a moose crossing bumper sticker below the trunk. The keys to the car are buried beneath some loose gravel behind the left front tire. I want you to switch vehicles. Once you’ve moved Jared, call me from the phone inside the glove box. Do you understand everything I’ve said?”

  I sat up in my seat. “Move Jared? Are you mad? What if he tries to escape?”

  “If he attempts to attack you or run, shoot him in the leg,” Giselle said evenly. “Just make sure he’s still able to walk.”

  Why did he need to be able to walk, and why had Giselle suggested I wear hiking shoes? I didn’t like the sounds of this one bit, especially not the part about exchanging cars and moving Jared. Suddenly I regretted not bringing Fane along.

  Too late now.

  “Now roll down your window and toss your phone out.”

  My eyes bulged. “What?”

  “Do not end this call,” Giselle said. “Roll down your window.”

  I cradled the phone between my ear and neck, one hand on the steering wheel, one hand pushing down the control for the driver’s window. Wind blew inside the car. Tommy leaned forward, sticking his nose toward the open window.

  “The window’s down,” I said.

  “Toss it. Now.”

  I took hold of my phone and chucked it out the window. It clacked against the pavement. In the mirror, I saw it fall flat.

  There went all contact and communication with the outside world. Not to mention contact with Noel and Fane. We’d all lost our phones in the last twelve hours. I’d never felt more cut off as I entered the Chugach National Forest.

  I was tired of Giselle’s games. She had me driving all the way to Seward.

  And that wasn’t even the final destination.

  What next? A scenic tour of the Kenai Fjords?

  I caught myself spacing out as Sitka spruce, mountain hemlocks, and alpine lakes whooshed past the windshield. Ice edged the lakes. Fall had come and gone. Soon snow would blanket the land, tucking it in for the long, cold winter.

  I took a left at the fork around Tern Lake, continuing south on the Seward Highway. I passed Upper Trail Lake through Moose Pass, Kenai Lake and Bear Lake. Just outside Seward’s city limits, I turned right to get to Exit Glacier.

  Gravel pinged off the bottom of the car. The Jeep would have handled the dirt road much better, though I was glad it was Jared’s car I was ditching and not Dante’s. I had his dog back and his Jeep. Now I just needed Dante.

  The green Subaru was easy to find given the parking lot was practically deserted. Alaska’s tourist season was as short as the summers. From the parking lot, I couldn’t actually see the glacier. It had receded over time and required a short walk to view. I might be around long enough to see it disappear altogether. What kind of world would that be?

  On one hand, such a thought was depressingly pessimistic. On the other, highly optimistic to assume I’d outlast a glacier, to say nothing of the exchange or attempt to take down a government-backed agency.

  I pulled up beside the car with its “Moose Xing” bumper sticker.

  I turned the ignition off and pulled out the keys. Once I’d stuffed the keys in my pocket, I reached for the revol
ver on the passenger’s seat. Four of the chambers were loaded. I dug two bullets out of the ammo box and slipped them into the empty compartments. Then I snapped the chamber into place.

  One foot then the other touched the gravel as I stepped outside and took a look around the deserted lot. A small group of cottonwood trees was all the audience I had. I went around the front of the car to the Subaru, crouched beside the front tire and set the gun down momentarily. Unearthing the key wasn’t difficult. Giselle had tossed just enough dirt and gravel to cover the key. I straightened out and unlocked the doors of the Subaru.

  Then I turned back to Jared’s car. Tommy pressed his nose against the back window, breath fogging up the glass. I opened the passenger door, tossed the box of ammo inside my backpack and slung it over one shoulder before scooting the chair forward to let Tommy out. He ran happily to the nearest tree and lifted his leg.

  While Tommy took care of business, I walked slowly to the trunk of the car. There was no noise, nothing to indicate a hostage in back. Heart in my throat, I stuck the key into the lock of the trunk, turned and lifted. As the trunk flew up, I stepped back and aimed the gun.

  In my mind, I pictured Jared popping up like a demonic Jack in the Box, but he stayed down. I took a tentative step toward the trunk and leaned forward. Jared lay on his side, back to me—legs folded and tied with rope at the ankles. Was he still unconscious?

  It’s a trick, my mind screamed.

  Damn Giselle. Moving Jared was a terrible idea.

  “You need to get out of the trunk now,” I said in a surprisingly firm voice.

  Too bad there was no answer.

  “Jared? Get out,” I said louder.

  There was still no movement. I sighed. “I’m taking you to Giselle, like you wanted,” I said, trying a new tactic. “I know this isn’t what you had in mind, but I had to make it look real.”

  Jared turned suddenly onto his back, a malicious smile carved over his lips. I jumped in place.

  “You are so dead,” Jared said. His smile widened.

  Having moved past the anxiety of opening the trunk, I squared my shoulders and glared into Jared’s eyes. “Too late. You already made me undead, and I’ll unmake you if you don’t help me get Dante back.”