Hunting Season (Aurora Sky

by Nikki Jefford

  Tommy sat, ears and nose dropping. The sad look he gave me tugged on my heart, but he needed to stay. There was only enough room on the hand tram for two people. If Dante and I had to make a quick getaway, we wouldn’t have time to take turns crossing the gorge. That, and Tommy could easily attack Giselle if he perceived her to be holding Dante against his will. Unlike Jared, Giselle had weapons to use against him.

  Tommy’s head sagged. The fact that he minded so well increased my guilt. This way was safer. We’d be right back. I hoped.

  Tommy didn’t get up or follow me to the platform.

  The tram wasn’t much bigger than a phone booth. Real cozy standing against Jared in a steel cage, suspended over a deep gorge.

  I hesitated outside the cage, glancing across the way. What if Giselle cut the cable while we were crossing? No, it was too thick, and she wanted to face Jared before she killed him. Otherwise she wouldn’t have made a big deal about bringing the bastard to her alive.

  I took a deep breath and stepped onto the tram, latching the door once I’d settled across from Jared.

  He immediately grabbed the ropes and pulled us away from the platform. The tram gained momentum temporarily as it plunged down. Once we were dangling level from the ropes, the cage bounced several times in place. Jared pulled us steadily across. When we reached the midway point, I ventured a glance down. The river thundered beneath my feet, liquid blue with sprays of white visible through the bottom of the cage.

  The second platform got closer with each pull of the rope. I gave up the charade of pointing the gun on Jared. If he really wanted to, he could snatch it from me in an instant. He obviously wanted to see Giselle as much as she wanted to see him.

  I didn’t care who the winner at Winner Creek was so long as Dante and I walked out alive. Once he was free, we could take out the last man—or woman—standing.

  As we neared the platform on the opposite side, I moved my focus forward. There were no signs of Giselle or anyone else. The platform was empty. My body tensed. I looked all around the woods surrounding the platform on high alert.

  “Don’t worry,” Jared said under his breath. “She’s not going to jump out and surprise us. Mark my words, she’ll wait until we’ve stepped off the platform and be waiting calmly in the woods on the other side.”

  “If you say so,” I said, eyes trained forward.

  Jared nudged me with his elbow. “Smile, Raven. You get to sit this one out. Giselle’s all mine.”

  He pulled on the rope with renewed vigor, increasing our speed the closer we got to the other side. I unlatched the cage of the door as we pulled up to the platform and quickly stepped out, Jared right behind me.

  We walked across the platform, taking the steps down to the forest floor. I did a quick scan of the forest, but didn’t see anyone. Did she mean for us to hike in further?

  Jared stopped not far from the platform and looked around.

  I lifted the gun, not sure where to aim it.

  “Oh, Giselle,” he called. “Where’s my warm welcome? Why don’t you give daddy a kiss?”

  I searched the trees for movement.

  Giselle stepped out from behind a tree about twenty feet away. She wore a thin navy jacket over plaid pants and held a fencing sword in each hand. Her long wavy blonde hair tumbled loose over her shoulders.

  “Hello, Xavier,” she said calmly, eyes locked on Jared’s.

  Jared looked her up and down and grinned. “My dear, you haven’t aged one bit. Still skin and bone, I see, but other than that, nature has been kind to you.”

  “And too kind to you,” she said.

  Jared’s grin widened. He lifted his chin. “Alive and well as you can see. Escaped the hang man’s noose.”

  “What a pity,” Giselle said.

  The grin shriveled from Jared’s face.

  “I brought you Jared. Where’s Dante?” I demanded.

  Giselle glanced at me briefly before returning a steady gaze on Jared.

  “Well?” I said.

  “I’m right here.”

  Dante! It was Dante’s voice. My heart surged with relief. He stepped forward to the right of Giselle. His face was cleanly shaven, and he wore a clean pair of jeans and a hoodie. As far as I could tell, Dante was unharmed. I couldn’t make out any restraints. Not only that, but he held a rifle against his side.

  Relief was as fleeting as a butterfly flitting and floating away into the moss covered forest. Had Jared been right about Giselle recruiting Dante to her side? No way. Not possible.

  “Dante?” I said slowly. “What are you doing?”

  Jared chuckled. “You see, Raven? Can’t trust anyone. Your partner has switched sides.”

  Dante lifted the rifle. He didn’t aim it at anyone, but he had it ready. The question was, for what?

  “I don’t work for her,” Dante said, nodding sideways at Giselle. “I’m returning home with Aurora.”

  My heart flipped. I lowered my arm and the gun to my side. The relief I felt was almost overwhelming. Dante was alive, unharmed, and on my side. Always on my side. I couldn’t ask for a greater friend in all the world.

  “I’m here for you,” I said.

  Dante’s expression softened when our eyes met.

  “Well, isn’t this one big happy reunion?” Jared said sarcastically. He took a step forward, eyes on Giselle. “Unfortunately for you, those two work for me.”

  “I don’t work for you,” Dante said. “I know all about you. I know you ran Aurora’s car off the road. I know you tried to kill her and Valerie in Sitka. I know the whole thing was a ruse to pin the murder of Agent Crist on Andre Morrel and his family when it was you who killed Crist. You murdered a member of our team then you killed off your old family to try and cover it up—everyone but her.” Dante inclined his head in Giselle’s direction without taking his eyes off Jared.

  Jared ground his teeth together. “Quite the rumor that’s going around about me and ’ol Crist.” His eyes slid over Dante. He smirked and walked toward him. “Ease up, soldier boy. I didn’t kill Agent Crist. Now hand over the rifle.”

  In a flash, Dante lifted the rifle against his shoulder and aimed at Jared’s chest. “Stop right there.”

  Jared stopped. He ground his teeth together as he emitted a nasty snarl. “So you are on her side?”

  Dante watched Jared over the barrel of the rifle.

  “I’m on one side and one side only—humanity’s.”

  Jared’s jaw relaxed. He let out a bark of laughter. Dante kept his stance, rifle trained on Jared who continued to laugh.

  “What’s so funny?” Dante demanded.

  Jared stopped laughing. He looked Dante up and down and made a sound of disgust in the back of his throat. “You’re a vampire, fool.” Jared looked at me. “Tell him, Raven. Tell your partner what he is.”

  Dante glanced sideways at me, keeping the rifle pointed at Jared.

  “Quit stalling, Xavier,” Giselle said. “This is between me and you. I even brought you a sword.” She tossed one of the swords at Jared. It landed at his feet. “I don’t do things the coward’s way—the way you killed Etienne, Andre, and Henriette.”

  Wrinkles formed around Jared’s cheeks when he glared. “I am no coward,” Jared said. “You were the cowards leaving me behind to die after the police locked me away.”

  Giselle’s lips stretched into a smile. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it looked almost sweet. She circled slowly around Jared, mirth in the gaze she leveled at him.

  “Give me more credit than that, Xavier. Who do you think reported you to the authorities in the first place?”

  My breath hitched.

  She didn’t?

  Giselle’s smile widened.

  She so did! I stared at her, stunned. Then slowly, heart hammering, I looked at Jared.

  His eyes bulged. His face turned red. His lips curled back so far I noticed his back molars had been filed to points. I’d never do that to my teeth. Gross. I didn’t care if I was
a vampire.

  Jared snatched the sword from the ground. “You’re dead, bitch.”

  “You and I both know I never lose a sword fight,” Giselle replied.

  How could she act so calm? She might have been a calculating she-vamp, but she was a thin wisp of a thing, further dwarfed by Jared’s rage.

  He lunged. Giselle met him halfway, their blades clashing, steel grinding against steel as the edges slid apart.

  Giselle’s eyes seemed to light up at the sound.

  I moved back as Jared and Giselle circled each other. Dante lowered the rifle as he joined my side. I wanted to throw my arms around him, but it didn’t seem like the right time.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  “Fine,” he said, watching the sword fight as closely as I. “You?”

  “I’m okay. I’m so happy to see you. I can’t believe she didn’t tie you up.”

  Dante grimaced. “Yeah, well, after she told me what you said about Jared killing Agent Crist as an excuse to murder her family, I got pretty worked up. I already wanted him dead after he came at you twice. When I heard he’d killed Agent Crist, I said she needed to release me so I could go after him myself.” Dante snorted. “I guess she found my anger convincing. She wouldn’t let me go, but she said I could have a gun at the meet if I promised not to screw anything up.”

  My jaw dropped. “She trusted you?”

  “Trust me?” Dante shook his head. “She doesn’t trust anyone. Besides, I told her I’d let her have her chance at Jared. If she doesn’t take him out, I will. If she manages to kill him, she has to deal with me next.”

  “And me,” I said, lifting the pistol in my hand. “It doesn’t matter who wins. They’re both dangerous.”

  “I’m not leaving until I see Jared die,” Dante said.

  I knew how he felt. The trouble was that if Giselle killed him, she’d probably kill us next. I had a hard time believing she’d give Dante a loaded gun knowing he meant to go after her once she beat Jared. There had to be a firearm stuffed somewhere on her. I’d seen what she was capable of. She did not hesitate. Not for a second. Even now she went at Jared with her sword as though she’d trained for this moment her entire life.

  Jared grunted, lunged, and slashed at Giselle. She jumped back, avoiding the tip of his blade. Whereas Jared looked diabolical in his rage, Giselle showed little emotion—only cool disdain.

  Dante watched their actions closely. Even as he spoke to me, his eyes never left the duel. “For her sake, I hope she gets a chance to avenge her family before I put a bullet in her. It doesn’t matter who wins this round, but at least she’s not deceitful like Jared—still denying his part in Crist’s death and calling us vampires. That’s rich.”

  Right. About that. It wasn’t the ideal place to have the “Dante, you’re a vampire” talk, but now that he mentioned it, I felt obligated to comment. First things first.

  “Jared didn’t kill Crist.”

  Dante turned his head to me, eyes still on Jared and Giselle. “But you said—”

  “I was wrong. I accused him to his face. He said Melcher killed her.”

  Dante snorted. “When hell freezes over.”

  “It has,” I said somberly. “He’s telling the truth.”

  Dante dropped his chin. “How do you know?”

  I turned away from the fight. “Melcher’s a vampire and so are we. We’re all vampires. They turned us, Dante. They turned us the moment they brought us in for transfusions.”

  Dante shook his head. “But the antidote—”

  “It's no antidote. It's the poison that makes vamps writhe when they bite us,” I said. “It was all a lie. We’re undead. Vampires. Recruited and turned to fight Melcher’s war.”

  Jared screamed. I turned quickly and saw him clutch his shoulder. Giselle backed away and stopped, poised with her sword at her side, eyes shining and below them, a little smile on her lips. She was the first to draw blood.

  Jared said something in French before charging forward. Giselle took two steps toward him. Their blades collided and broke apart. The pair circled each other around the forest floor, stepping over roots as they went. There wasn’t much of a clearing, which kept them in close quarters.

  I glanced back at Dante, who frowned. He straightened his spine.

  “Someone’s been messing with your mind, Sky. We are human. I know we are.”

  Stubborn vamp boy! And Noel had thought I couldn’t handle the truth. Dante wouldn’t accept that he was undead if the truth walked up and bit him in the neck.

  Jared screamed again. He swiped a hand over his thigh and lifted bloody fingers.

  Dante’s brows rose. “Things aren’t looking good for Jared.”

  This time, Giselle didn’t wait. She lunged forward and knocked Jared’s sword from his hands. The blade hit the hard packed soil. Jared took a step back, followed by another. Giselle stepped forward slowly.

  Jared continued backing away then stopped. “You should have never reported me to the police.”

  Giselle lifted her sword. “You’re right. I should have killed you myself.”

  She lunged, but before she could strike the fatal blow, Jared ducked at the last second. Giselle missed and passed him. As she did, Jared jumped back up and shoved her face-first into a tree.

  Giselle’s sword fell from her fingers when she hit the tree trunk. She fell, landing on her back.

  Jared quickly snatched a mango-sized rock off the ground and leapt on top of her. He lifted the rock.

  “I am going to bash in your skull, you backstabbing bitch!”

  “Like you killed that boy?” Giselle lifted her head off the ground. A drop of blood ran down the side of her face like a tear.

  The rock shook in Jared’s hand.

  Without saying a word, Dante and I crept in closer.

  “What is it with you and that infernal boy?” Jared demanded. “He was an imbecile.”

  Giselle’s eyes narrowed. “He was defenseless.”

  She ought to be worrying more about her defenselessness at the moment than a boy who died over a hundred years ago.

  Jared straightened his back. “The world is better off without him, just like it will be better off without you.”

  Jared slammed the rock down. Giselle moved her head at the last second, but it wasn’t enough to miss the blow altogether. She cried out as it struck one side of her head. She kneed Jared in the gut. He grunted as she twisted around and crawled toward her sword. Jared leapt to his feet and got to the sword before Giselle. He dropped the rock and scooped up the blade. Giselle was still on her hands and knees when he kicked her in the face so hard she fell onto her back, suddenly motionless.

  Ouch. I knew from personal experience that had to hurt like hell.

  “Game over,” Jared said through gritted teeth. “Au revoir, Giselle.”

  “Jared, stop!” I screamed.

  My voice didn’t startle him for a second. The contorted expression on his face made him appear demonic as he stood over Giselle’s body, sword raised. It was too sick. I couldn’t let him, even knowing that saving Giselle was what had gotten me into this mess in the first place. This wasn’t about saving her. This was about ending the vampire who had taken my life.

  As Jared raised the hilt of the sword, I raised my gun and fired. The shot rang out through the forest, echoing across the gorge.

  19

  Survivalists

  Jared dropped the sword and stared at me in shock. He took a step forward, stopped, keeled over and fell to the ground on his stomach.

  The gun shook in my hand. Oh my god, I’d shot him. I’d killed him. It was over. I stared at Jared’s body in disbelief.

  My heart hammered inside my ears, or maybe they were still ringing from the shot.

  Jared and Giselle were laying on the ground. Dante and I were left standing.

  A hysterical laugh burbled up my throat, but I held it in. A sickening sense of joy came over me. And relief. I’d never felt so much relief.


  “You did it,” Dante said. “You got him.”

  I nodded slowly. “It had to be done.”

  “Damn straight it had to be done,” Dante said, walking over to Jared’s body.

  Dante stared down for a long while before turning to look at Giselle. Her eyes were closed, but her chest rose up and down slowly. I kept my ground.

  “That one’s still breathing,” Dante said.

  “Where’s Gavin?” I asked.

  “The vampire is still locked inside her basement.”

  “Do you know where that is?”

  Dante shook his head. “She blindfolded me the entire way here. Doesn’t matter. He’s a vampire.”

  “So are we, and he’s a friend of Noel’s.”

  “I’d know if I was a vampire.”

  “Blood doesn’t excite you?” I challenged.

  Dante’s frown deepened. “It’s a side effect.”

  “It’s a symptom.”

  “I don’t believe it,” Dante persisted. “The agency would never allow something like that. We kill vampires. She kidnapped an agent and stabbed another.”

  He took a step toward Giselle.

  My eyes were on her. They should have been on Jared. By the time I noticed him rise onto his knees, it was too late. His hand shot out, grabbing Dante by the ankle.

  I screamed as Jared yanked back. Dante fell to the ground beside Jared, who snatched the rifle out of Dante’s hands by the barrel. Jared cracked the handle over Dante’s head.

  “No!” I screamed.

  Dante slumped over, taking the spot Jared had occupied on the ground moments before.

  Jared stood with the rifle, laughing hysterically. His lips pulled back, showing the whites of his teeth, when he looked at me.

  “You think I’d trust you with a loaded gun? I filled it with blanks.”

  Oh. Shit.

  I glanced at the pistol, no more helpful than a BB gun.

  Jared cocked the rifle, lifted it to his shoulder and started toward me slowly. I lifted the pistol, both hands clasped around the handle as though in prayer. I might not be able to kill him, but I could slow him down.