I shook my head.
“No milkshake? What happened to binge eating when you’re feeling down?”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t need to puke on top of everything else.”
Dante pulled up to the pickup window to collect his bag of fast food. He unwrapped the cheeseburger before getting back onto Fifth and tossed the bacon slices back to Tommy. Only Dante could manage to steer, shift gears, and stuff a burger in his face. When the burger was finished, Dante jammed fingers full of fries into his mouth and chewed loudly.
He noticed me watching and held the fries toward me. “Want some?”
I wrinkled my nose. “No, I’m good.”
Soon, we were on the Glenn Highway. This time, I could actually see the landscape waltzing by. We careened past the miles of fenced forest along the base, skirted mountains and woods, and crossed over rivers.
“I won’t be able to go back,” I said.
“Where?”
“To Denali.”
“This guy really got to you, didn’t he?”
“Yeah.”
I looked out the window.
“I could enroll at West with Noel.” I paused. “You probably think I’m a real coward.”
“Not at all. From Dante’s Guide to Life: If you no longer like the scenery, change it. Keep moving is what I say.” Dante tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “So you’re friends with Noel, but not Valerie?”
“She’s more like my arch nemesis.”
“Too bad, she’s really cute.”
I ground my teeth together. “Let’s be clear, if you ever hooked up with Valerie I’d never speak to you again.”
“Whoa,” Dante said and laughed. “What did this chick do to you?”
“She’s about to steal my boyfriend…or ex-boyfriend anyway.” I guess there was no harm in telling Dante part of the truth. I’d just leave out the bit about Fane being a vampire.
“She’s a badass,” Dante said in admiration.
“I stole him first.”
“Then you’re the badass.” Dante sounded even more impressed. “Nothing like a bit of juicy assassin/informant rivalry to entertain the mind on the long drive ahead.”
I leaned back in my chair and folded my arms. “I’m done talking about Valerie.”
“Come on. How did you steal her man out from under her?”
I shrugged. “He came to me.”
Dante chuckled. “I don’t doubt it.”
I changed the subject. “It’s all fine and good to say I’ll just transfer, but I’m going to spend my last semester of senior year utterly friendless.”
“Two words for you, Sky: track team.”
“Track team?”
“Join the track team, win at the meets, and you’re golden. Take it from your officially appointed mentor. I know what I’m talking about.”
“You’re forgetting one thing. I suck at sports.”
“Ah, maybe the Aurora of yore sucked at sports, but new superhuman Sky is a champion. Vampire blood, remember? It’s in us, it enhances us—can’t let that extra boost go to waste, can we?”
“Doesn’t track start in the spring?”
“So even better—start with cross country. I remember being on the cross country team,” Dante said wistfully. “Meets, competitions, parties, girls…well, boys for you. You’ll have it made.”
I stared out the window. “Maybe I’ll look into it.”
I cleared my throat. “So you located these two guys from the party?”
Dante produced a grunt of disgust. “Apparently one of them overdosed right after we left. I did get an address on the second guy, Thomas Parks—lives at home.”
“So we’re just going to barge in on his family.”
He smiled. “Single mom. Works all the time. I checked.”
Dante made several pit stops, including his favorite pullout where, even in the daylight, we couldn’t see Denali through the clouds.
“One of these times, Sky,” he said.
Once we reached Fairbanks, Dante drove straight for a rundown ranch house and parked in front on the street. He kept the engine running. It was either that or risk it dying in the subzero conditions without a plug in.
“Stay in the car,” Dante said. “I’ll be back in a sec.”
Fine by me. If I could take out two vicious vampires on my own, Dante could handle a half-dazed suck junkie.
Outside my window, Dante walked smoothly across the snow-covered yard on a path blazed by footsteps. The rest of the driveway hadn’t been shoveled. There was a concrete rectangle where a car had been parked. Dante walked onto the porch and bent over the door handle. I started to shiver even though the heat was blasting through the vents.
Dante opened the door and pushed into the house. Just as quickly, he shut it behind him.
Tommy’s tongue slid back and forth between his teeth. I turned the radio on and off. I started humming.
When Dante came out the front door dragging a black-hooded body with him, I grasped the handle of the Jeep and jumped out.
“Hurry up! Open the back.”
I nearly slipped on the ice, rushing to the rear of the Jeep. I don’t know how Dante expected to stuff a body in his shoebox sized trunk, but he did.
Surprisingly, Thomas didn’t struggle.
“Sedative for the ride,” Dante said as if reading my mind.
We hopped into the front seats, and I couldn’t stop shaking.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Moving him to another location to interrogate him.”
“The cabin?”
“Yep.”
I looked over my shoulder. Tommy breathed heavily then stopped when I stared at him.
“Is there a reason Tommy doesn’t find any of this alarming?” I asked.
Dante’s face softened. “Tommy’s just a big teddy bear.”
I guess that made Dante the grizzly.
22
Interrogation
Being back inside that cabin was eerie. Our mugs from the previous weekend were turned over on a kitchen towel on the counter. The bed in the corner was made. Dante got to work making a fire.
Once it flickered to life, he straightened up.
“Time to bring in Thomas.”
“Need help?”
“Nah, he’s a light weight.”
Dante’s retreating footsteps echoed over the floorboards. I rubbed my hands together in front of the fire, but it offered no heat.
The cabin door flew open, hitting the wall with a bang.
Dante dragged Thomas by the shoulders and dumped him on a chair.
“Tape his arms and legs to the chair will you?”
I rummaged around in the kitchen drawers until I found a roll of duct tape.
No one had ever trained me in the art of taping a hostage to a chair before. I started by pulling Thomas’s arms around the seatback.
The tape made a ripping noise as I pulled long stretches of it from the roll.
“Make it tight,” Dante said.
I held one of Thomas’s limp arms against the back and began wrapping tape around his appendage and the gap between the strips of wood backing. I ripped the pieces of tape off with my bare hands. His feet were easier.
I stood back to admire my handiwork.
“What about the hood?”
“Leave it on.”
Dante checked Thomas’s wrists. “Not bad, Sky.”
“Now what?”
The fire sparked behind Dante casting an eerie glow all around him.
His eyes were on Thomas.
“Now we wait for the sedative to wear off.”
The cabin felt a hundred degrees hotter once the fire got going. I welcomed the warmth when I ran back inside after freezing my ass off in the outhouse.
I nodded at Thomas. “Still out?”
Before Dante could answer a murmur came from under the black hood.
Dante yanked it off. The fire wasn’t the only presence in the cabin that
had come to life. Far from appearing fearful, Thomas oozed with pent-up rage.
“You two!” Thomas sputtered. “You killed Patrick and Ivo, didn’t you?”
“I’ll ask the questions, son,” Dante said. “Now tell me who offed Janine.”
Thomas looked away.
“Wendy, knife.”
I grabbed Dante’s hunting knife off the table and handed it to him as though he was a surgeon asking for his scalpel, and I was the assisting nurse.
“What are you going to do?” Thomas demanded.
Dante ignored him and turned to me. “Let’s drain him.”
That got Thomas’s attention. The boy wriggled in an attempt to thrash out of his bindings.
I nodded, trying my best to seem like I thought it was a good idea. “His friends won’t have any more use for him once he has no more blood.”
“You can’t do that!” he shouted.
“It’s my job,” Dante said smoothly. “You’re a threat to the nation, Thomas. Unless you tell me everything we’ll consider you in league with the hostiles.”
Thomas’s jaw dropped. “Hostiles?”
“Hostiles, vampires, murderers…they’re all the same—a danger to society. Now who killed Janine?”
Thomas pressed his lips together and shook his head.
Dante moved in on him. He showed teeth when he grinned. “I was hoping you wouldn’t cooperate.”
Dante sliced his dagger across Thomas’s arm. The boy screamed. I looked away.
“Let’s just get right to the other arm, shall we? Unless you want to tell me who killed Janine.”
Dante pressed the tip of his knife into Thomas’s thigh.
“Stop! Renard—it was Renard! God, just stop!”
Dante got up abruptly and went to the kitchen. He wiped his blade clean with a rag before setting it on the table. He stepped directly in front of Thomas again.
“Now for the real question. How did Renard find out?” Dante reached forward in an instant and wrapped his hands around Thomas’s neck.
Thomas began making a chocking sound.
Was it wrong that I felt attracted to Dante for one fleeting second?
“This one’s a freebie,” Dante hissed into Thomas’s ear. “I’ll answer for you. You ratted Janine out. You got her killed.”
Dante released his grip, and Thomas gasped as he sucked in air.
Thomas started shaking. “I didn’t want her to die! She’s the one who got herself involved in all this. Where do you think Renard came looking once he heard the police suspected arson at Ivo’s place? He knows I’m over there all the time.”
“You could have told him you didn’t know anything rather than send a mass murderer after Janine.”
Thomas stiffened. He looked past Dante and glared at me. “You’re the murderers. Wendy especially. She was the last one there that night.”
“What did you tell Renard about us?”
“Everything I could!” Thomas seethed in his chair.
“Wendy,” Dante said calmly, turning to me. “Take Tommy and wait in the Jeep.”
I hesitated at the door.
“Go!” Dante yelled.
I jumped in place.
“Tommy,” I called sofly. “Tommy, let’s go.”
Once we were outside, I hurried Tommy into the car. He jumped in back. I climbed in after the retriever and wrapped my arms around him, burying my face into his fur.
I heard the Jeep door open and close not long after. Dante didn’t say a word as he shifted gears and drove away from the cabin. The turns he took were gentle. He drove slow. I lost track of the time, but he eventually pulled to the side of the road. When he didn’t get out or continue driving, I pulled my head away from Tommy.
We were on the edge of town. Dante looked from me to the passenger’s seat. I took the hint, scooted over to the door, climbed down, and joined him up front. He continued driving only when I’d fastened my seatbelt.
“You killed him, didn’t you?” I asked once we were on the highway.
“Renard’s not the only vampire Thomas could sic on us. He was a threat, and he had to be eliminated.”
I looked out the front window. “Will I ever have to kill a human?”
“No. We’re vampire hunters, Sky. They’ve got cleaners for vermin like Thomas. I’ve got a call into them now—although they’ll be disposing of a cold one this time. He killed Janine. It was for me to finish.”
I nodded slowly. “I can’t believe they got her.”
“There’s one thing left to do—find Renard and take him out.”
Right, take him out before he took us out.
“Do you think he’s looking for us?”
“Probably. The agents had someone check out his last known address. It’s been cleared out.”
“Will he be able to find us?”
“Doubtful. All Renard has is a couple of fake names and a city…should have said we’d come from Barrow now that I think about it. Send that fucker right up to the Big Freeze. Well, live and learn.” Dante turned to me and smiled. “At least this way, he’s coming to us. I’ve had it with Fairbanks for the time being.”
“I’ve had it with Fairbanks forever,” I countered.
“Let’s talk about something else—like breakups.”
I grumbled. “You’re a load of laughs, you know.”
“You know it’s on your mind.”
“Doesn’t mean I want to talk about it.”
“Sure you do. You’re a girl.”
I turned in my seat. “Hey! Watch it, buddy.”
Dante chuckled. “So, what makes you think this guy is going to let you go so easily?”
I’d had the same concern—and, to be honest, hope. But I reminded myself what would happen to Fane if Valerie alerted the agents. I’d seen what happened to Thomas…part of what happened, anyway, and I knew what hunters did to vampires—I had personal experience in that department. Regardless of Valerie, it was only a matter of time before Fane tried to bite me. I kept coming to the same conclusion. One way or another, this had to end.
“I sort of told him I was seeing someone else.”
“Good call, Sky—surest way to inflict the deepest wound.”
“I didn’t want to inflict pain. I just needed him to believe it was over. I told him I was seeing you.”
“Me?” Dante’s voice lifted. “Sky, I’m honored.”
“I didn’t think you’d mind being my pretend boyfriend.”
“Au contraire. We don’t even have to pretend.”
I laughed and glanced at Dante, but my smile fell. We were on a straight stretch of highway and his palms were flat, barely touching the steering wheel.
“You’re joking, right?” I asked.
“Why? I find you attractive. You think I’m funny. And we have the blood link and whole saving the world from vampires thing in common. It’s tricky dating normal girls. They’re not really up on the up, you know what I mean?”
I sat back in my chair. “Thanks, but I don’t think so.”
“Don’t want to mix business with pleasure. I get it.”
“I don’t want to mix anything.”
“Maybe not now, Sky, but we’ll see. I’m irresistible, you know?”
I laughed. “You’re irritating is what you are.”
“And yet you can’t keep away.”
“I don’t have a choice.” I was forced to stay away from one boy and stick beside another. At least Dante wasn’t bad to look at, and he did have a knack for pulling me out of funks.
We arrived in Anchorage at midnight. Dante rolled into the driveway in front of the door and pulled up the emergency brake.
“You were amazing back there, Sky.”
I looked over at him and nearly laughed. I hadn’t done anything but watch.
He grinned. “I’m really impressed. You’re new to this, and yet you’ve managed to take out two nasties—on your own—and keep a cool head. You’re doing great.”
I smiled slo
wly. “Thanks. I guess it’s nice to be good at something, even if it is killing vampires.”
Dante smiled back at me. “Get some rest. You deserve it.”
“Nothing like aiding in a kidnapping and murder to get one started on a good night’s sleep.” I looked back at Tommy, who was sprawled out over the entire back bench snoozing. “Not a problem for Tommy, anyway.”
Dante chuckled. “Good night, Sky.”
“’Night.”
As soon as I stepped out of the Jeep, Dante pulled away and barreled down the road. This was one girl he didn’t have to worry about seeing to the door…though he could have waited to make sure I reached it. The air felt balmy compared to Fairbanks, but an instant shiver ran down my spine. I glanced at the forest at the top of the hill.
I didn’t see anyone, but I felt like I was being watched. Not that I’d see Fane if he were lurking among the trees. It was pitch-black, and he could blend into the night in his dark attire.
I stared straight into the black void for several beats to show I wasn’t scared despite my hammering heart. I turned and forced myself to walk—not run—to the front door. Once inside, I turned the bolt behind me and shut off the front porch light. It was dark inside the house.
I made my way around the house, checking all the doors and windows to make sure they were locked without turning on any lights as I made the rounds. My eyes adjusted to the dark, and I could see the stairs outlined in the gloom. I peeked inside my mother’s room and heard her snoring lightly.
I continued to my own room. In the dark, I closed my curtains and spent the rest of the evening sitting on my bed, knife beside me. It could be Fane out there. It could be Renard. Then again, it could be nothing.
I slept through most of Sunday and stayed up all the next night. Monday morning, I told my mom I must have caught a cold in Fairbanks and needed to stay home. She left me alone for the most part to rest in my room. Honestly, I didn’t know if I could get sick. The vampire blood in me probably made me immune, but I couldn’t go to school. I couldn’t face Fane.
23
Transfer
The sudden ringing on my nightstand jolted me awake at two forty-five in the afternoon.
Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter Page 17