Hunting Season (Aurora Sky

by Nikki Jefford

  Jared tsked. “What a pity, Raven. So much potential. We could have been a team. It just goes to show: Never trust a woman.”

  Jared headed straight for me.

  I braced myself and aimed at his face. My trigger finger twitched. Jared lifted the rifle higher. I watched his finger on the trigger, waiting until he got closer.

  As he closed in, Giselle appeared behind him. I’d never seen her get up. My eyes widened in surprise, which was enough to tip Jared off. He whirled around. Giselle’s blade sliced through his side.

  Jared screamed.

  He swung the barrel of the rifle around, aiming for Giselle, and took a shot. She dropped to the ground just in time to avoid eating lead.

  I ran to Dante, dropping to the ground beside him.

  “Dante!” I cried, shaking him by the shoulders. “Dante?” I said, nudging him.

  Another shot rang out.

  “Dante, get up!” I yelled.

  His eyes opened suddenly, as though he’d received an electric shock. I nearly cried out in relief.

  “We have to get out of here now,” I said.

  I got to my feet and grabbed his hand. Dante pushed off the ground as I pulled him forward. I yanked his hand toward the platform. We made a run for it. Turning my back to the enemy was far from ideal, but to do otherwise could cost us our lives.

  We scrambled up the platform stairs and sprinted to the metal cage. Dante ripped open the door.

  “Get in!” he said.

  I didn’t need to be told twice. The cage bounced when I jumped in. Dante stepped in behind me. Before he could close the door, Giselle ran up the platform, sword in hand, and grabbed the door with her free hand.

  “I’m coming with you,” she said.

  “Where’s Jared?” I demanded.

  “He’s retreated into the woods.”

  “So why don’t you go after him?” Dante asked.

  Giselle glared at him. “Because he has the rifle. The rifle I entrusted you with.”

  Dante pulled the door closed. “You’re not coming with us.”

  Giselle looked at me. “I’ll take you to Gavin.”

  I chewed on my lower lip, thinking.

  “Aurora, forget the vampire,” Dante said. “We have to report this to Melcher.”

  My hands trembled. I stuffed the gun inside the back of my jeans and took Dante’s hands in mine, squeezing gently. Dante turned his head slightly to the side, suddenly still. He searched my eyes.

  “Dante, I can’t go back to the agency,” I said slowly. “Not after I tried to kill Jared. You know what Melcher would do to me.”

  Dante’s grip on my hands tightened. He nodded and relaxed his hold.

  “That means I can’t go back, either.”

  Giselle shoved her way inside the cage with us.

  “The two of you are going to need a benefactor and a place to stay,” she said. “Unless, of course, you fancy getting yourselves killed.”

  The cage wasn’t designed for more than two people—even if the third occupant was a skinny vampire. Dante and I had to squish together to make room for Giselle.

  We were only inches apart. His chest heaved as his lungs pumped the cool air around us in and out. He grabbed ahold of the rope, arms flexing as he pulled the cage across the chasm. Halfway across, Giselle reached inside her pocket and tossed her phone into the raging river below.

  As the cage neared the platform on the other side, Tommy appeared on top of the concrete block.

  Dante leaned against the ledge, jolting the contraption along the way. “Tommy!”

  Tommy barked and jumped onto his hind legs. His tail wagged like crazy.

  Woof. Woof. Woof.

  Each ecstatic bark became louder the closer we approached. Dante put his entire upper body in to pulling the rope.

  Giselle craned her neck toward the approaching platform. “Is that a dog?”

  No, it’s a horse. I kept my sarcasm to myself.

  Once the cage bounced over the platform, Dante jumped out. In an instant, he gathered Tommy into a hug.

  “Tommy, boy! I’m back!”

  Tommy barked happily.

  I stepped out, followed by Giselle.

  “That’s nice, but we need to get going,” she said.

  Dante glared at her over his shoulder. “We’re going.” He stood and switched to a smile when he looked at his dog. “Ready for a road trip, boy?”

  Tommy stared up at him and wagged his tail.

  “Let’s head out.”

  Dante led the way back to Alyeska. None of us spoke during the walk through the woods. It was as though nature had cast a spell of silence over us. We walked in silence, single file. I’d never felt more wired or exhausted in my entire life. My body and mind kept teetering from one extreme to the other.

  “Are we taking the Subaru?” I asked when we reached the parking lot.

  “The truck,” Giselle said, nodding at a big-ass blue Ford truck parked at the front end of the parking lot.

  It wasn’t until we were inside Giselle’s truck, headed out of Girdwood, that Dante cleared his throat and said, “Now would be a good time to bring me up to speed.”

  I took a deep breath and told him about the tasting, Valerie, Levi, and Mason, the human deaths at the agency’s hands, and their recruitment of previous targets.

  Dante shook his head. “Something is rotten in Denmark.”

  From the driver’s seat, Giselle glanced over briefly before returning her attention to the road.

  “So how do we make this right?” Dante mused, drumming his fingers over his thigh.

  Staying alive was more my focus than making things right.

  “You can’t set things straight if you’re dead,” Giselle said.

  One thing could be said about Giselle—she’d survived in the world a long time. Maybe having her along for the ride wasn’t the end of the world, even if it meant sleeping with one eye open. Melcher wasn’t the only one aligning himself with past enemies.

  “We could head east toward Canada,” I said. “Cross the border on foot through the wilderness.”

  “No,” Dante said.

  “You’ve got a better idea?” I asked.

  Dante studied the passing scenery, taking his time answering. Finally he said, “We go north toward Denali and we keep heading north. Why do you think Melcher always sent me to Fairbanks? Because I know that area better than anyone.” Dante leaned into me. “Including everything in between.”

  I clenched my jaw.

  Cozy.

  Until I had a chance to meet up with Fane, hiding out with Dante and Giselle made the most sense. I couldn’t risk going home to pack a bag or speak to Noel. It was only a matter of time before Jared found a phone and alerted Melcher.

  “Do you have an extra phone in here?” I asked, eyes on the glove box.

  “No more phones,” Giselle said.

  “Where can we pick up some burners?” I asked.

  “No phones of any kind from now on,” Giselle said.

  My jaw tightened. “I need to call Noel and let her know Dante and I are okay. While I’m at it, I can give her Gavin’s location. There’s no reason to leave him locked up. He never hurt anyone.”

  “We can look for a pay phone once we’re out of Anchorage,” Giselle said. “Until then, I’m not stopping.”

  “She’s right,” Dante said. “We have to keep moving.”

  I looked between the two of them, mouth ajar. My gaze settled on Dante. I could stare all I wanted. His eyes were intent on the road.

  Then it occurred to me. I couldn’t call Noel—not even from a pay phone. Her phone was electronic road kill on the Seward Highway. There was no way to reach her. No way to reach Fane.

  There had to be someone who could pass on a message to Noel. Daren, Reece, Whitney or Hope. Too bad I didn’t know any of their last names.

  My gut twisted as we passed through Anchorage. Fane had to be worried about me—probably livid, too. I’d told him we’d be
right back. Instead, I took off without him.

  The weekend had been one unending emotional roller coaster—more of a dropping elevator really, hurtling straight down to ground zero.

  Tommy rested his face on the truck’s seat back. There wasn’t much room for him. Dante scratched behind the dog’s ears.

  “What’s the plan?” Giselle asked.

  Funny she was asking us when we were on the run because of her actions to begin with.

  Dante faced forward. “We need more weapons and supplies. Guns, ammo, flashlights, walkie talkies, sleeping bags, and freeze dried food.”

  Speaking of food, in the heat of the moment, I’d left my backpack with the blood bag inside the Subaru. Dang it! It wasn’t as though I could run into a convenience store and pick up another one.

  Giselle wrinkled her nose. Freeze dried food probably sounded even less appealing to a two-hundred-and-something-year-old vampire than it did to me.

  “Did you really not know you were a vampire?” Giselle asked.

  Dante stretched his legs in the space we were sharing. “Jury’s still out on that one.”

  I turned to him. “There is no jury. We’re undead. Forever young.”

  That got a smirk out of him. His eyebrows jumped. “If we truly are forever young, that means we can fight the undead forever.”

  He found out he was undead, and that was the first thing he had to say about it? Should I really be surprised?

  I sighed heavily.

  “What?” Dante asked. “We need all the advantages we can get.”

  Giselle cleared her throat. “The way I see it, neither of you has much of an advantage right now.”

  “We have all the advantage we need,” Dante said. “The only way anyone’s going to find us is if I want them to.”

  My chest tightened. “I’m worried about my mom and Gran.”

  Dante’s hand touched my thigh before I ever saw it move. He gave me a gentle squeeze. I knew it was supposed to be reassuring, but it was anything but. Plus I wanted his hand off me, but he left it there.

  “The first call we make will be to Mrs. Sky.”

  I squeezed my hands together and jerked my head in acknowledgement.

  “What about Noel? My phone was taken, so I borrowed Noel’s. Giselle made me throw it out the window.”

  Dante removed his hand from my leg. “I’ll give my roommate your home address and have him pass on a message.”

  My body relaxed now that Dante had his hands to himself. “Does your roommate know anything about the agency?”

  “Not a thing.”

  “What will you tell him?”

  “That me and my girl decided to get out of town.” Dante turned to me and winked.

  “What about Gavin?”

  “I’ll have him pass the address along—say a friend is traveling with us and she needs her plants watered.”

  My jaw clenched. “Friend?”

  “I am your friend,” Giselle said. It was spoken as a statement—without emotion. “We all want Jared dead and for that agency of yours to leave us alone. That make us allies.”

  Allies, okay. I could accept that. Friends? Never!

  I wasn’t about to befriend someone who threatened me at gunpoint and kidnapped Dante. The fact that he wasn’t getting more upset about that part made me want to shake him. Dante struck me as eager, showing the same excitement he got on mission.

  We weren’t on an operation. We were retreating. Hiding. Running for our everlasting lives.

  Part of me wanted to tell Giselle to pull over and let me out of the car. I’d walk or hitch my way back to Anchorage—back to Fane. The other part of me wanted to survive.

  What would happen to me if I went back? Melcher could easily grab me and toss me inside one of his cells. After everything I’d been through, I sure as hell wasn’t going to make anything easy on the agency. I’d take the open road and backcountry over a cell on base any day of the week.

  I'd come back for Fane. I'd come back for Joss. And by using everything the agency taught me, I'd take it down.

  After driving up and down Wasilla’s side streets, Dante at last spotted a pay phone. Phone booths were about as obsolete as drive-ins, but at least they still existed.

  Giselle pulled over and put the truck into park, leaving it running. The clock on the dashboard read just after two o’clock. Dante exited first. I slid out after him. Good thing there were a couple quarters in my wallet. I didn’t want to waste a second making change at a gas station.

  Dante stopped at the booth’s open entrance and gave me a slight nod. There were three sides to the booth, but no door. I stepped inside, a quarter pinched between my fingers.

  The whole thing felt surreal. Even the clack of the phone as I lifted it from the receiver sounded archaic.

  It was just after five p.m. in Florida. Poor Gran was probably getting ready to eat dinner. Both her and Mom were completely unaware that their lives were about to turn up-side-down. Welcome to the club. We were all on this sinking ship together. Mom had put us there. If anyone should listen up and understand, it was her.

  I punched in her phone number. After a short delay, I heard ringing and more ringing.

  A sick sense of dread came over me. What if she wasn’t home? What if Melcher had gotten to her first?

  “Hello?” Mom answered.

  I gasped in relief. “Mom.”

  “Hi, honey. I don’t recognize this number.”

  “I’m calling from a pay phone.”

  “A pay phone? Are you on assignment?”

  I turned and met Dante’s eye. His chin dropped. He gazed into my eyes. In his face I saw the concern he shared for my family, and it gave me renewed purpose.

  “No, Mom, I’m not on assignment, but I’m okay. I’m with Dante. We ran into a bit of trouble. Dante’s life was in danger. Getting him back meant going against the agency. Now we have to disappear for a while. You and Gran do, too.”

  No use sugar-coating it.

  “What do you mean disappear?” Mom asked, voice rising.

  “The less you know the better. Right now you need to worry about yourself and Gran.”

  “Aurora,” she said, her voice rising even more. “I want to know what’s going on right now.”

  “Sorry, Mom. Telling you would put my own life at risk, as well as yours. Trust me, everything’s going to be okay.”

  A brief silence passed. Then Mom spoke.

  “I’m coming home.” Her voice brokered no argument.

  My heart lodged itself inside my throat, tight as a fist jammed inside a boxing glove.

  “No! You can’t come up here.”

  “This isn’t up for discussion.”

  Tears swarmed my eyes. I’d only just gotten Dante back. Now I had to worry about losing my mom.

  My knuckles ached under the bone crushing death grip I had over the phone.

  “Aurora,” Dante whispered behind me. “Let me try talking to her.”

  I took in a shaky breath. My fingers loosened slowly.

  “Mom, Dante wants to speak to you.”

  Good thing because I was about to yell or cry—or both. None of us were safe. The worst thing my mom could do right now was fly up and walk right into Melcher’s hands.

  I held the phone out to Dante.

  Our eyes locked briefly. He stepped forward, blocking me inside the booth with him. Dante took the phone. He smiled the moment he began speaking.

  “Hi, Mrs. Sky. How are you?”

  Normally my mom turned into cherry flavored Jell-O speaking to Dante, but standing that close, I could hear her agitated tone coming from the earpiece. Dante’s body stilled as he listened. His expression turned neutral.

  My jaw tightened. Although on the run, Dante and I had training. We had weapons. We had a centuries-old vampire at our disposal. What did my mom have? A tennis racket. A cake pan. My seventy-three-year-old grandmother.

  Now that we weren’t in imminent danger, the full weight of the situati
on pushed down on me with brutal force.

  As my shoulders sagged, Dante’s lifted.

  When the chatter stopped he said, “Aurora’s right. For now, you’re better off not knowing the details, not to mention we’re safer if you don’t know where we are or where we’re headed. Do you and Abigail have someplace you can hole up until we sort things out?” Dante listened for a bit. “That will work for now,” he said. “I suggest you pack a few essentials and leave within the hour.”

  More chatter.

  Dante’s chin lifted as he listened. In that moment, his presence filled me with comfort. His tone with my mom was firm, but caring.

  Dante wasn’t the type to give up, and neither was I. Together we’d figure something out. Together we’d survive. I wanted a life free of the agency for my family, friends, and Fane.

  “Are you friends with any of your neighbors?” Dante suddenly asked. “Okay, give me her phone number. We’ll leave updates with her when we can. More importantly, we’ll let her know when it’s safe for you and Abigail to return home.” Dante listened for a moment. “Will do, Mrs. Sky,” he said somberly. “I’ll make sure nothing happens to her. For now you need to get yourself and your mom to safety. Okay. I will. You, too. Bye.”

  Dante reached over me to place the phone on the hook.

  I raised my eyebrows. “She didn’t want to say bye to me?”

  “I’m sure she did, but I thought it best to get her off the phone and on her way.”

  I nodded absently. “Good thinking.”

  “They’re going to be fine.” Dante leaned into me. “Your mom’s a tough cookie—like you. She has friends with vacation homes in the area. She said some of them are unoccupied, and she can arrange for her and your grandma to crash at one of them. She also gave me the number of one of their neighbors. If we need to get a message to them, we can do so through the neighbor, but we agreed no locations—including your mom’s. As soon as we’ve dealt with this agency issue, we can let her know it’s safe to come out of hiding.”

  My jaw relaxed a fraction.

  “Thank you, Dante.”

  He touched my cheek. “At least we’re together. I’ve missed you.”