Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter

by Nikki Jefford

  I sat straight up in bed, heart running amuck. I hesitated, but grabbed my cell phone. My breathing returned to normal when I saw it wasn’t Fane calling.

  I held the phone to my ear. “Hey Whitney.”

  “What the heck is going on?” Whitney demanded. “Suddenly Noel transfers to West and Valerie’s back together with Fane…has the world gone mad?”

  “Fane’s with Valerie again?” I know I broke up with him, but how could he go back to the vamp tramp so quickly? I thought Fane liked me. I had even believed he loved me. Fool. Love was a joke.

  Whitney sounded confused. “Did you guys break up or something?”

  I swung my legs out of bed and stood. “When you say together, did you just see them together or were they…”

  “Making out.” Whitney didn’t say it with nearly enough disgust.

  “I’ll call you later,” I said abruptly and snapped my phone shut.

  When I slammed it down, I aimed for the bed so it wouldn’t break. I threw open my closet doors and began rummaging around for something to wear, selecting a pair of dressy jeans and black V-neck. I grabbed my phone and dialed Noel.

  “Hi, Noel. How was your first day at West?”

  “Sucked.” She laughed a second later. “Sorry, bad word choice.”

  “Want to grab a coffee? Or herbal tea, if you prefer.”

  That got another laugh out of Noel. “Yeah, I really do. I’ll pick you up.”

  “I’ll be here.”

  Stranded. At least I had no shortage of new friends with cars.

  I brushed out my hair and worked it into a long braid before going downstairs.

  I found Mom in the kitchen.

  “Noel’s picking me up,” I said.

  Startled, she looked up from the page of a magazine she was reading slouched over the kitchen counter with a soda at her side.

  “What about your cold?”

  “I feel better now.”

  “I don’t think you should be going out when you haven’t been feeling well.”

  “Mom, this is really important.”

  “What’s so important that it can’t wait until you’re better?”

  “Noel just transferred to West, and I’m going to transfer tomorrow. I want to ask her some questions.”

  Mom straightened in her chair. “Transfer!”

  Maybe I should’ve had this talk with my mom yesterday, but I was asleep all day.

  “But…but…it’s your last semester,” she said. “Why do you have to transfer?”

  “Fane, Mom. I can’t go to the same school as him. I don’t want to see him ever again.” Not exactly. It would just kill me to see him with Valerie.

  Mom considered this and relented somewhat, but not entirely. “But all your friends are at Denali and the semester’s already started. You’ll have to catch up in all your classes.”

  “I know it’s a surprise, but I need a fresh start. I know I can do better if I get away from the distractions plaguing me at Denali.”

  Her expression softened.

  I smiled and pulled my trump card. “Besides, Dante and I had a long discussion about it on the way to Fairbanks. He believes it’s just what I need to get my life back on track.”

  “Oh,” Mom said. “I’m sure Dante’s right. He has a good head on his shoulders.”

  I gave Mom a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’ll be home soon—need to get ready for my first day in a new school. Will you drive me?”

  “Of course, I will.”

  “I still have to figure out how I’m going to get to and from West.”

  “I can drive you as long as you need—the whole semester if you need me to.”

  “Thanks, Mom.”

  I grabbed my coat from the closet and headed outside to wait for Noel.

  I started walking down the hill. Halfway down, Noel’s old Volvo chugged up beside me. She stopped, and I got in just before the tires spun in place. Noel backed up slowly into an empty driveway then pulled forward, pointing the Volvo back down the hill.

  I watched Noel drive for a moment. She looked so short behind the wheel.

  After a few moments of silence, I shook my head. “So you’re an informant. I had no idea.”

  “Don’t feel bad. It’s not your job to know who informants are.”

  “Did you suspect I was an assassin at any point?”

  “I had my suspicions…especially after you pulled out that dagger.”

  I fought back a grin and ended up losing. Noel laughed.

  I asked my next question. “So that whole song and dance about Henry the mega suave biter was a lie?”

  “Not exactly. I sort of stole that story from Whitney and added my own embellishments, but Henry really did bite me. He just wasn’t my first.”

  I swallowed. “What was your first bite like?”

  “It nearly killed me.” Noel watched the road as she talked. “It turns out my transfusion didn’t take. When the vampire got his teeth into me, he kept drinking. He wouldn’t stop. I lost consciousness. I didn’t wake up again until I was back on the cutting table. The agents had to patch me up and give me a second blood transfusion.”

  “Assholes,” I muttered.

  “They didn’t know,” Noel said quickly. “They rescued me—twice. Agent Melcher was there both times looking out for me when anyone else would have let me die without a second thought.”

  “What about your parents?”

  “We don’t talk,” Noel answered abruptly.

  She slowed as she entered a sharp turn.

  I stared out the window at the bare limbed trees.

  Noel took a deep breath. “I should have died at the end of sophomore year. You and I are their newest recruits, you know.”

  I turned in my seat toward her. “We are?”

  “You even killed my vampire for me—the rabies vampire. He was the one who nearly drained me.”

  I shuddered. “So you had your own experience with the lunatic.”

  “He was almost the end of me.”

  “Then I don’t feel so bad about staking him.”

  “You should never feel bad about killing a vampire. They’re evil…well, most are. Not all. Marcus isn’t evil. Nor is Henry or Gavin. Or Fane.”

  I sat up. “You aren’t required to report every vampire you find out to the agents, are you?”

  Noel looked over. “They only care about the violent ones, or so I assume. It wouldn’t help the cause to destroy the ones that get us closer to the real dangerous targets.”

  I relaxed. Only slightly. I wasn’t entirely convinced that Melcher and Crist didn’t wish to obliterate all varieties.

  “Are you disappointed?” I asked. “I mean that you’re an informant and not a hunter.”

  Noel’s voice lifted. “I love being an informant. I love doing my part to make the world safer. A lot of vampires, it goes to their head. You know, immortality. They don’t play by society’s rules anymore. We’re like the vampire police recruited to keep order in the world.”

  “Hmm.”

  “And I did have one advantage,” Noel said. “I already knew about vampires before I was recruited. This chick I met had just let me in on the whole secret and wanted me to go with her to a party so we could get bitten together.”

  “But you didn’t?”

  “Not that time. I chickened out. It comes as a shock the first time you see it. Anyway, I didn’t get another chance to try before…before…you know, I was recruited.”

  “You mean before you went into critical condition?”

  Noel was quiet.

  “How did it happen?”

  She slouched further down in the driver’s seat. “Trust me. It’s not something you want to know about.”

  “But I do.”

  Noel remained quiet.

  “I mean, unless you don’t want me to.” Which, judging from her continued silence, must have been the case. It was odd. I didn’t recall hearing anything about a sophomore nearly dying the year before, wh
ereas my accident was the talk of the school.

  It was easy enough to change the subject.

  I leaned over. “Did Melcher tell you that an informant was killed in Fairbanks?”

  Noel’s mouth hung open a moment. “No. Did a vampire get them?”

  “Yeah, and now he’s looking for me and Dante.”

  Noel stepped on the brake a bit roughly at the next stoplight. “What happened?”

  “We did a job in Fairbanks recently, and someone at the party mentioned us to the dead vampire’s friend.”

  “What’s his name?”

  “Renard. Supposedly he’s headed this way. Maybe he’s already here.”

  “Should you be going out?”

  I gave a half shrug. “It’s not like he knows my name or anything.”

  “I’ll keep my eyes and ears open.”

  “Thanks.”

  I stared out the window.

  Noel cleared her throat. “Sorry you had to break up with Fane.”

  “It’s for the best,” I said halfheartedly. “Although I’m still trying to figure out why Valerie gets to be with him.”

  “And go to Denali.”

  “Valerie’s a bitch.”

  “You don’t need to tell me twice.”

  “You know we’ll be school mates again soon?”

  Noel jolted up in her seat. “We will?”

  “Tomorrow, I’m enrolling at West High.”

  “You are? That’s great. Why? I mean, I’m so happy, but why are you transferring? This is your senior year.”

  “I can’t go to Denali anymore. Not with Valerie moving in on Fane. I’d end up doing something stupid like attacking her in the halls. Anyway, my old friends have dropped me.”

  Noel considered this and nodded slowly. “I guess it’s time we both started fresh.”

  “Does it take you long to drive to school?”

  “I’m rooming with a couple girls near school. They’re early twenties, work most evenings. They leave me alone.”

  “Are your parents not in Anchorage?”

  “They are.”

  “Did you turn into a wild child after the transfusion?” I asked.

  “Something like that.”

  Noel’s voice was barely above a whisper. I had to strain to hear her.

  I nodded. “I had a similar experience, only in my case, it was a parent who left the house—my father.”

  Noel perked up. “Really?”

  “Yep. He’s still MIA.”

  “Maybe it’s selfish of me, but I’m really glad you’ll be going to West,” Noel said.

  “Thanks.” I shrugged. “School’s school, I guess.”

  “And now it’ll be easier to spend time with Marcus.”

  “Who is this Marcus you keep mentioning, anyway?”

  Noel grinned. “A vampire. A really hot one. He’s not dangerous or anything.”

  “Has he ever bitten you before?”

  “I wish. Anyway, you just have to meet him and see for yourself.”

  I wasn’t particularly in the mood to meet any more irresistibly hot vampires. Pit me against the nasties. That dynamic was cut and dry. Literally. At least those ones didn’t rip out your heart.

  24

  Champagne And Blood

  It was a surreal sensation, walking through the halls of a new school. I remembered what a nerve-wracking change high school seemed like during the first days of freshman year. Now it was not so much a big step as new territory.

  I managed to get into a fifth period film elective with Noel so at least I’d see one familiar face during my day.

  Mom invited Dante over for dinner after my first day at West. He brought over a bottle of sparkling apple cider, which my mom drank instead of soda. She hummed as she filled three champagne flutes and handed them out.

  “So your classes are all right and the students seem cool?” Dante asked.

  “Roger that, Dante.”

  Dante smacked his fist on the table. “That’s the spirit!”

  “Yeah, yeah, but enough about me,” I said. “How’s your semester going at the ol’ U of A?”

  “I have a good mix of easy and difficult classes. Need to allow time for the extracurricular activities.” Dante winked.

  Mom giggled as though we were all in on the joke. “Do you get called to duty very often?” she asked.

  “Not that much, though this is turning into a busy year. The agents are sending me to Kotzebue this weekend.”

  “What’s happening in Kotzebue?” I asked.

  “There’s a rabid vampire terrorizing the village.”

  “Do you need my help?”

  “Much as I’d like it, this mission’s simple. Anyway, it’s your first week at a new school.”

  “I wouldn’t mind,” I said. “It’s not like I get to travel anywhere else. Might as well get a glimpse of the back country.”

  “I wouldn’t worry about that too much.”

  I shrugged. “Well, best of luck saving the town of Kotzebue. Don’t forget to pack your mukluks.”

  “Right, I’ll bring you back some seal meat.”

  I smacked Dante’s shoulder, and he smacked me back. Mom grinned. I hadn’t seen her this happy in too long.

  Parts of me felt content. Other parts felt broken. The most important lesson I’d learned over the past couple months was to be strong. Sometimes, that meant laughing with company even with a heart split in two.

  “Pssst,” Noel said the next day in film class.

  I raised a brow. She was seated beside me, and class hadn’t started yet, so there was still a lot of noise as students walked in and settled into their seats. She must’ve been in a good mood because she wasn’t all hooded as she tended to be when she was acting moody.

  “Marcus is having a party Saturday night. He mentioned there are a couple vamps in town from Fairbanks who might show.”

  My heart began thumping.

  “No one by the name you mentioned, but maybe I can find out something from these other two—Greg and James.”

  I tapped my pen over my notebook. “It’s worth a shot.”

  I’d finally get a chance to meet Marcus.

  Maybe Fane would show up.

  Scratch that. That wasn’t the reason I lied to my mom on Saturday afternoon about sleeping over at Noel’s so we could stay up late working on a film project.

  It would have been so much easier if I had been teaming up with Dante. Mom would have handed us party hats and said, “Have a good time. Stay out as late as you want.”

  I didn’t have time for my mom’s hang ups. I had responsibilities. Besides, maybe with a bit of sleuthing, Noel and I could figure out where Renard was holed up. That would show the agents just how valuable we newbies could be.

  I don’t know what Marcus did for money, but bank robbery wasn’t out of the question. He had a tall two-story townhouse overlooking the inlet, and everything from the floor to the furniture to the décor to the lighting was magnificent.

  Noel and I entered through a massive hand-carved wooden door with a panel of etched glass on each side and walked in over large slabs of sand-colored stone. I felt like Dorothy walking down the yellow brick road.

  “Is this like the VIP Vamp party,” I whispered to Noel. “You didn’t prepare me for this.”

  Noel smiled. “How could I?”

  There was a large open layout from the entrance to a kitchen that looked down into a massive living room several steps down. Artwork hung from the walls, and statues sat on pieces of furniture that were just as beautiful and unique as the objects they supported.

  “Joyeux, Noel! There you are.”

  A man in a black and white floral silk shirt and white pants walked over and kissed Noel on each cheek. His hair was luscious. It flipped off his forehead and tapered off under his ears.

  “Hello, Marcus.”

  He looked me over. “And who is this?”

  “I’m a new student at West,” I stammered. “But not…new. You k
now?”

  “What is your name?”

  “Aurora.”

  Marcus’s eyes lit up. “Noel and Aurora. I like this. My dark haired duet.” He reached out and took some of my hair in his hand.

  I glanced sideways at Noel.

  “Nice, very nice, but I do not like this scarf. You must not hide your neck. There is nothing as beautiful as…the neck.”

  I stared transfixed into Marcus’s pale blue eyes as he spoke.

  He turned back to Noel. “It is good you brought her here. Now make sure she has a good time.”

  “Yes, Marcus.”

  Once he’d moved away and I was able to breathe again, Noel took my arm. She led me to the kitchen. The cabinets were made of solid oak with custom iron handles. No two were the same. All of the appliances were stainless steel surrounded by granite countertops. Champagne flowed from a small silver fountain on the counter.

  This was more like it.

  I’d take the high-class assignments over boarded-up shacks in rundown neighborhoods any day. I couldn’t imagine anyone foul enough to be friends with Ivo turning up to this grand affair. Guess I’d just have to enjoy myself and see if I could pick up any information.

  “Champagne?” Noel asked, looking at the empty glasses on a silver tray beside the fountain.

  “I don’t know. My last experience with champagne was a bit rough. Then again, I did drink an entire bottle in one sitting.”

  A lean young man with tight abs and thick dark hair walked into the kitchen. Noel’s eyes lit up when she saw him. “Henry!”

  So this was Henry. He embraced Noel.

  “Henry, I want you to meet my friend, Aurora Sky.”

  Henry turned to me with a devilish smile and extended his free hand to not exactly shake, but grasp, mine for several beats. “Any friend of Noel’s is a friend of mine. Welcome, Aurora.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Aurora just transferred to West as well,” Noel added.

  “Wonderful, then my girl here is in good company.” Henry broke away from Noel to grab two champagne glasses. “May I?” he asked, filling each glass in the fountain.

  “Thank you,” I said after he handed me a glass.

  “What’s this, Henry? Trying to keep all the beautiful ladies to yourself?” An equally dashing boy strolled into the kitchen. His hair was light brown and streaked with gold highlights.