Whiteout (Aurora Sky

by Nikki Jefford

  Gun in hand, I walked past the body I’d put down. Some John Doe vampire. His undead days were over.

  At the doorway, I held my breath and stepped out.

  Fane stood alert, keeping his eyes down the hall. Maybe he really had left the room to keep watch. He eased by my side, keeping an ever-watchful eye.

  “Everything’s quiet out here,” Fane said softly. “How is he?”

  “Not good,” I whispered. “He’s been shot. He needs a doctor.”

  “He needs blood,” Fane said. “I have about half a liter of blood on me. It will hold him until we get him back to Anchorage.”

  Fane unbuttoned his coat, holding the wool flap open. From an interior pocket, opposite the one that had held his gun, he pulled out a sporty-looking red hydration bag with a drinking spout. He was nothing if not pragmatic. The pliant bag would be much lighter than a flask like the one Zack had carried inside his coat to bring booze into Chillers.

  “You’ve been holding out on me,” I said, half joking.

  Fane smirked. “We were a little preoccupied or I would have offered.”

  The sigh from my lips was barely audible. “He won’t drink it. He’s too stubborn.”

  Fane’s eyes narrowed. “If he wants to live, he will.”

  My heart backflipped at the thought of Dante not making it through this when we were so close to safety and the change we’d hoped for within the agency. In the end, it was Fane who had come through for us.

  “We have to make him drink it,” I whispered urgently.

  “Don’t worry,” Fane said, rocking back on the heels of his combat boots. “When he sees me, he’s not going to just roll over, die, and let me run off with you.”

  Fane had a point. Nothing like a bit of incentive. I hurried back inside the room. Alarm went through me when I saw Dante’s eyes closed. They should have flown open at the sound of footsteps. I crouched beside him.

  “Dante,” I whispered, gripping his arm. “I don’t have much time to explain, but everything’s going to be okay. Fane managed to infiltrate the agency. He’s here now. We’re going to get you out of here, but you need to drink some blood before it’s safe to move you.”

  Dante’s eyes inched opened. He didn’t look at me hovering at his side. He looked at Fane, who had stationed himself at Dante’s feet.

  “This day keeps getting better and better,” Dante muttered.

  Fane leaned forward and handed me the blood sack. My stomach gurgled. I gave it a quick reprimand to keep quiet. There was more where that had come from. Fane probably had a stash at the suite back in Anchorage. Blood and a bath. We couldn’t get out of here soon enough.

  As I uncapped the spout, Dante groaned as he struggled to sit up. He had yet to take a sip and already the proximity to blood seemed to be reviving him.

  “I’m not drinking that.”

  Nope. My stomach dropped.

  Fane got to his knees beside me. “You will drink this blood,” he said in a low, no-nonsense voice. “Unless, of course, you prefer to lay back and die without a fight.”

  Dante’s jaw clenched. He glared daggers at Fane.

  “I’m still breathing, aren’t I?” he said peevishly.

  “For the moment,” Fane returned. “But you’re not looking so good. The blood will help. Did you ever see the movie Alive?”

  Dante gave a begrudging nod of acknowledgement.

  “Was that the one with Sylvester Stallone?” I asked, not certain where Fane was going with this.

  “No. Ethan Hawke,” he said. “It’s based on a true story about a Uruguayan rugby team on a plane that crashes in the Andes. The passengers had to eat the flesh of their dead companions in order to survive.”

  My lip curled.

  “They made it out alive,” Fane said, a slight glimmer in his eyes when he saw my distaste. Fane turned back to Dante. “Would you have done the same thing if it meant the difference between living or dying?”

  Dante’s eyes narrowed. “I would do whatever it takes to survive,” he said between clenched teeth.

  Fane took the bag of blood from me and held it in front of Dante. “Prove it,” he said.

  Dante didn’t reach out or look at the blood. His nostrils flared as he glared at Fane. Fane’s teeth flashed when he smiled. A silent dare.

  Dante sat up suddenly with a cocky grin of his own. “See? I don’t need to ingest blood to—” His words and smile disappeared as he groaned in agony. Dante’s eyelids drooped. He clutched his stomach and swayed.

  As I reached for Dante, he cut me off with a sharp look. “I’m fine.” He thrust one hand toward Fane. “Give me the bag.”

  “Please?” Fane suggested.

  “Fane!” I snapped, my fingers clenched.

  Now that Dante had all but agreed to do what he wanted, Fane needed to drop the cock show and hand him the bag of blood. If he didn’t do it soon, I’d rip it from his fingers and give it to Dante myself.

  Fane handed it over without another word.

  Dante grasped the bag and held it below his lips. “What about the other vampire?” he asked, stubborn as ever.

  “On it,” I said, getting to my feet.

  Before Fane could rise beside me, I said a quick, “Stay here and make sure he drinks the blood. I’ll be right back. There’s only one left.”

  Fane’s jaw tightened. “I’m coming with you.”

  Dante huffed. “If you don’t think she can handle one vampire, then you don’t know Aurora very well.”

  Fane turned his attention to Dante. “Oh, I know her quite well,” Fane answered.

  Argh, so not the time or place.

  “Dante, drink the blood. Fane, stay here,” I commanded. “Once it’s safe to move, we need to get Dante to the machine with the sled. If I need help, you’ll know.”

  I walked swiftly to the doorframe before Fane had a chance to protest. Before stepping out, I peered into the hallway. Still empty.

  I stepped out of the room, the floorboards creaking under my feet. My stomach twisted. The feeling was altogether too familiar. I made my way down the hall, listening for any sounds from the lobby.

  At the end of the east wing’s hall, I stopped and crouched. From my position a few feet from the floor, I peered into the lobby. Furniture obscured my view. All I could make out was a chair and table legs. If I wanted to see anything more, I’d have to walk in.

  The three vamps I’d killed had gone down quickly. They’d also been standing in plain sight. Playing cat and mouse with an unknown enemy accelerated my heart rate.

  Where the hell was this sucker?

  Maybe he was already dead and I was working myself up for no reason at all. Giselle could be lying low, waiting to see who entered the lobby next. In which case, I should have called out to her so she wouldn’t accidently shoot me. Then again, if it was another vampire, the last thing I wanted to do was blurt out my location.

  Keeping crouched, I crept into the lobby, making my way behind the back of a long sofa.

  A creepy sense of déjà vu came over me.

  Inch by inch, I straightened out until my eyes cleared the top of the sofa. Across the room, a body lay face up on the floor. Long blond hair rested along Giselle’s arms, as limp and lifeless as her body. Her sword lay by her side looking dull in the gloom of the darkened room.

  I squatted back down. Damn it. Why couldn’t she have taken at least one of the assailants down? She was the one who called them in. This one must be stealthy to have gotten the best of Giselle Morrel.

  Then I heard the words that made my body freeze and my blood run cold.

  “You’re next, Raven.”

  22

  Face-off

  Was it really that big of a surprise that the last vamp standing was Jared? He seemed more like a demon than one of the undead.

  Part of me had been expecting him, another part of me had hoped that if he really was nearby, he’d send in his goons to bring us in rather than risk going out in the open. Jared wasn’t t
he only one trying to avoid the agency.

  Poor Giselle. Even though she’d brought this on herself, it still bit big time that Jared had gotten to her first. Now it was up to me to put the rat bastard down once and for all.

  Just as soon as I figured out his location.

  His voice had seemed to originate near Giselle’s body, but I hadn’t seen anyone before I ducked down.

  Acid burned in my throat. The last thing I wanted was for Jared to wander off and find my guys. He wouldn’t—not after spotting me—but I still wanted to lead him away from that room. There was the opposite hall. Maybe I could lead him down it, duck into a room, then jump out and take him by surprise, or run all the way to the end and lead him outside, into the open.

  I positioned myself in a runner’s lunge. The gun was tight in hand and my body was turned toward the west wing of the lodge. I didn’t know where he was in the lobby, but I needed to lead him out into the open hall and away from Fane and Dante.

  On the count of three.

  Screw it. This was no time for counting. I lunged forward, keeping crouched along the sofa back. I shot out from behind it, keeping my head low.

  My heart thundered inside my chest. It propelled me forward faster. I imagined myself as a rocket shooting by, a blur, impossible to hit.

  A shot rang out. Wood splintered on one of the wall’s logs. Laughter followed me down the hall. I ducked inside a room to avoid a bullet in the back.

  “I missed on purpose,” Jared called out from the lobby.

  I wished he’d shut up. His voice was going to grab Fane’s attention.

  “Giselle was a mistake,” Jared continued. “One of my buddy boys got a little trigger happy on the way in. Too bad. I had a fitting punishment all lined up for my disloyal daughter.” Jared’s voice had now reached the hallway.

  I kept the gun aimed at the doorway, reminding myself that I had the upper hand. If Jared was dumb enough to walk in, I’d fire on him.

  “Don’t worry. I have something particularly special lined up for you. And I’ll make sure no one interferes.”

  A chill ran down my spine. I fought to calm my breath, repeating over and over in my head that I had a gun. All he had to do was show his face at the door. And all I had to do was shoot him.

  “Where are my associates anyway? Have you seen them around?” Jared’s voice now seemed to be right outside the door. “Did you put them down all on your own? Impressive. I assume one of them got to Dante, the way they did Giselle. That is unfortunate for him, though it makes things much fairer for me and you.”

  “Oh,” Jared said, as though just remembering something. “I should mention that I have more associates on the way. Every vampire in Alaska wants you to suffer.”

  “Not every vampire,” Fane’s voice spoke from in the hall.

  My blood ran cold, seeming to freeze me in place.

  No.

  I took long, sweeping strides to the doorway and peered out. Jared had been about eight feet from the room I’d ducked inside. He stood sideways in the hall now, back not entirely to me, though his gaze was directed at Fane, who stood in the middle of the hallway. He and Fane pointed guns at each other. My heart gave a lurch. I hadn’t survived a month in the wilderness and finally been reunited with Fane—finally offered him my heart and soul—only to lose him to a lead bullet.

  “Francesco Donado, bravo, you made it to the party,” Jared taunted. “I heard you managed to bribe your way into the agency. You can understand why I put in my resignation.”

  “The way I heard it, you tucked tail and ran,” Fane returned.

  “On the contrary, I’m running my own operations now. The grassroots kind. Bureaucracy was never my thing.” Jared gave a low chuckle.

  If I were going to take Jared off guard, I’d need to act quickly. There wouldn’t be time to process anything or think. The moment I entered the hallway I had to fire. I sprang forward, gun lifted. This round, the gun wasn’t loaded with blanks. As soon as Jared appeared at the end of my barrel, I pulled the trigger.

  My finger curled in, but rather than being followed by a blast, I heard the gut-kicking sound of a low click.

  This round, the gun wasn’t loaded at all.

  Son of a bitch, I thought as Jared lunged for me. I thought I had a bullet left. Some dark demonic angel must be looking over this psycho.

  The moment of confusion and outrage was brief, but enough to royally screw me. Before I could dive back into the room, Jared’s hand shot forward. He grabbed my arm and swung me around with dizzying speed. My back landed roughly against his chest. His arm snaked across my chest in a viselike grip as he pushed the barrel of his gun against my temple.

  My heart beat erratically.

  “Easy does it,” Jared said.

  At first I thought he was talking to me, until I saw that Fane had started forward, gun raised, trying to get a lock on Jared.

  “Put the gun down,” Jared commanded.

  Fane stopped in his tracks but kept his weapon aimed at Jared. “Let her go,” he said in an equally commanding voice.

  Jared chuckled softly, shaking me as he did. “Don’t worry, Francesco. I’m not going to kill her.” He pressed the barrel into my temple hard enough to make me flinch. “Not unless you give me a reason to. And I promise not to have my way with her. I’m not fond of black or blond. I’ve recently discovered that red is my color.”

  “What are you talking about, you maniac?” I asked. As long as we kept him talking there was time to turn the tables. I’d love nothing more than to flip around in his arms and knee the bastard in the groin, grab his weapon, blast him, and let him bleed out. How was that for red?

  Jared squeezed me against him, but his gaze was intent on Fane.

  “Did Melcher not tell you?” he asked. “Before parting ways, I rescued Valerie Ward from rehabilitation.”

  “Rescued,” I ground out between my teeth in disbelief.

  “That’s right, Raven,” Jared said into my ear. “Her skills were being undervalued. She was most grateful when I freed her. In fact, I’ve been enjoying her gratitude every night ever since.”

  My lips curled back at Jared’s jeering words. If he got a hard-on while holding me this close, I was going to be sick.

  “No way,” I said. “Valerie may be mental, but she’d never do what you’re implying. Not with you. You stabbed her.”

  “And she shot me,” Jared said, sounding amused, enamored even, which made my stomach twist. “We’re both a bit fucked up.”

  “Sounds like a match made in heaven,” Fane said sarcastically.

  “Ah, but it is,” Jared said good-naturedly. “You never appreciated what you had.”

  “Yeah, well, black’s more my color,” Fane returned.

  I could just make out the curve of Jared’s amused smile from the corner of my eye.

  “To each his own,” Jared said. “Unfortunately for you, I’m keeping both Ginger and Raven. I recruited Aurora. I gave her everlasting life. Now it’s time she served me.”

  Bile rose up my throat. “I’d never serve you, you disgusting piece of shit.”

  I tried to break from his grip, but his grasp on me was suffocating, as though he’d anticipated the attempt before I made it.

  “Come with me now or cease to be,” Jared said, pulling back the safety on his gun. “The choice is yours.”

  Choice? That wasn’t a choice. Live or die.

  “Fine,” I said begrudgingly. “I’ll go with you.”

  Fane took a step forward, stopping when Jared tensed.

  “I can’t let you take her,” Fane said.

  And I thought Dante was stubborn. I didn’t want to go with Jared either, but the alternative—death—sounded much worse. At least with Jared I could escape—something I intended on doing before he got me anywhere near the highway.

  “Fane,” I said, “I’ll be okay.” I moved my pupils from Fane to the side, hoping he’d understand I meant to break away the first chance I got. Jared coul
dn’t hold a gun on me and get us down to the road at the same time. He’d have to holster his weapon at some point and the moment he did, I’d make my move.

  Fane’s jaw clenched. “I can’t let you go.”

  “You’d rather she die?” Jared said in a jeering voice.

  Fane’s spine straightened. A vein on his neck pulsed, otherwise he appeared calm.

  “You won’t kill her,” Fane said. “If you do, I’ll have a bullet in you before you have a chance to bat one eyelash. You value your life too much, more than one agent’s.”

  Jared stilled. My breath seemed to follow his example, no oxygen coming in as though in suspense or under water. Then Jared’s shoulders relaxed.

  “True,” he said thoughtfully. “Very true,” he echoed in a faraway voice before pulling the gun from my temple and firing it at Fane.

  I screamed. It was a shriek of horror that flared down the corridors and lobby. If someone opened the front door, it would likely echo across the mountains.

  My throat burned.

  Fane stumbled backward. His gun fell to the ground, but he did not. No, not Fane Donado; he dove into the nearest room.

  When Jared loosened his grip on me to go after him, I stomped on his foot and spun around, finally getting an opportunity to ram my kneecap between his legs.

  Jared grunted and I took off running down the hall, away from Fane, hoping Jared would pursue me. As I neared the corridor’s side door leading outside, I slowed and spun around. Jared had straightened. Damn, my jab to his nuts had barely made a dent. Jared glanced from me to the room Fane had disappeared into, as though taking a moment to consider his options.

  “Hey, Jared,” I yelled.

  When he looked my way, I lifted my middle finger, my lips forming a belligerent grin. “Fuck you, asshole.” His eyes narrowed. The moment I saw him start in my direction, I turned and sprinted the remainder of the way to the door and yanked it open.

  23

  Flight

  I sprang forward, leaping over the snow and hopefully any hidden traps Giselle must have laced near the opening. When I landed, it was thankfully in pure white powder. No steel jaws rushed up to crunch through flesh and bone. If there was any justice in the world, Jared would step into one of Giselle’s traps.