We cleared the area without incident and were soon pulling up to the front of the lodge. The machine slowed and came to a stop. Fane cut the engine and I jumped off. Zack and his friend still laid in the snow where I’d shot them down. I turned my back to them as I ran to the front entrance. They weren’t going anywhere. They couldn’t hurt anyone ever again. That was one of the ironies of being undead. Live forever or die any day.
All it took was one bullet.
My chest tightened. I flew through the door and ran down the hall, not pausing for breath until I’d reached Dante. I expected to find him lying on his back unconscious. It was relief when I found him sitting up. He’d scooted over to the wall and was using it to lean against. The blood sack was on the floor, near his leg. His fingers rested on it. The bag looked empty.
My eyes widened. “Did you drink it all?”
Dante grunted. “Damned if I’m going to let Spaghetti Boy carry me out of here. I’d rather choke down a bit of blood and walk out on my own two feet.”
I got on my knees beside Dante and opened the first-aid kit. “Lift up your shirt,” I said as I ripped open an antiseptic wipe.
“It won’t get infected,” Dante said.
“Yeah, well, it doesn’t hurt to clean up some of this blood.”
“Sure you don’t want to lick the wound clean?” Dante asked. He groaned when he lifted up his shirt.
As though I’d ever lick blood off Dante again, especially not from a violent wound.
I rolled my eyes. “I think I’ll stick to blood bags from now on.” Blood leaked out of a hole in his flesh, staining his skin. Good thing the sight of blood didn’t bother me. I swiped the area, but it only made the wound ooze out more. I tossed the wipe aside and grabbed the biggest piece of square gauze from the kit. Once I laid it over Dante’s wound, I used the kit’s adhesive tape to secure it in place.
The bandage was barely in place before Dante grunted and pushed himself off the floor. Once standing, he grinned, but it was strained. He held his arm tight across his stomach.
“It sounded like that last vampire gave you some trouble.”
“The last vampire was Jared.”
Dante’s eyes bulged.
“Jared? Is he dead?”
Before I could answer, Fane appeared in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest. “He got away.”
Dante’s jaw tightened. “Again?”
I couldn’t tell if his scowl was in response to learning Jared escaped yet again or to Fane’s appearance. Probably both.
“It’s time we got going ourselves,” Fane said.
“We need to go after Jared,” Dante said, taking a step forward, clutching his arm against his stomach.
I released an exasperated sigh. “Number one, he’s long gone. Number two, you’re severely wounded.”
“I feel fine,” Dante insisted.
My gaze jumped from Dante’s eyes to his lips. “That’s the blood talking.”
Fane glanced at Dante’s abdomen. “It won’t do much good if he bleeds out.”
“I bandaged it as best I could.”
“The sooner he gets the bullet removed and stitched up, the better,” Fane said. He turned and led the way down the hall.
Dante fell into step beside me. “What did you mean when you said he managed to infiltrate the agency? How? And how did he find us out here?”
I placed my hand on Dante’s arm. “I’ll explain everything on the drive home,” I said.
“Flight home,” Fane said, looking over his shoulder at me while leading the walk down the hall. “It will be faster if we fly. There’s a small airport north of here. I’ll call Alfonso and ask him to make arrangements.” Fane pulled his phone out of his pocket and stopped several feet from the lodge’s front door.
I chewed on my lower lip. “Should we be flying in this weather?”
“Visibility is back and the wind seems to be calming down,” Fane said as he ran a finger over his phone’s touch screen. He looked up and met my eye, grinning slowly. “And we have a highly motivated pilot—me.”
My jaw dropped. “You know how to fly planes?” I shook my head, smiling. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.”
Dante huffed, clutching his stomach with both hands. “Anyone can fly a plane. You and I could fly a plane if we had lessons.”
“True,” Fane said with a smirk. “Want me to teach you? Aurora can vouch for my teaching skills. I already taught her how to handle a stick.”
Dante clamped his teeth together, face turning red.
“He taught me how to drive a stick shift,” I clarified, stepping between the two vamps. “How about we discuss flying lessons another day? Right now I just want to get home in one piece.”
Fane winked at me as he lifted his phone and began speaking in Italian.
“Show-off,” Dante grumbled beside my ear.
We headed outside in front of Fane. The wind whipped over our legs. It seemed too gusty for flying.
Dante groaned as he lowered himself inside the sled attached to the machine we’d brought in. I leaned beside him, frowning when I saw how pale he’d suddenly turned.
“I’ll be fine,” Dante said before I could ask. He clutched his stomach and his eyes shut slightly. “All I need is a doctor to pull this bullet out of me and stitch me back up.”
“Just hang on a little longer.” I gave Dante’s shoulder a squeeze.
With swift steps, I retrieved the gun I’d tried to take off the dead vampire when Jared had chased me down and knocked it out of my hand. As I straightened, gun in hand, I caught Fane’s eyes. He had pocketed his phone and was walking toward me.
“Ready to go?” he asked.
“Yeah, but I’m taking this just in case we run into trouble along the way.”
“Let’s hope not. I think we’ve had enough trouble for today.”
“I’ve had enough trouble for the month.” I sighed, falling into step beside Fane.
With three of us on the snowmachine, our progress down the road was slow but steady. I appreciated Fane’s consideration for our wounded passenger, despite his earlier taunts. I held on to Fane with one hand and the gun with the other, keeping watch all the while. My body ached from the tension.
As we neared the highway, the wind let up a bit and slightly more by the time we reached Fane’s vehicle.
After Fane shut off the engine, we dismounted and helped Dante out of the sled. It concerned me that he let us help him. He looked unnaturally pale and his body shivered. I opened the car’s passenger door before guiding him inside. Dante hoisted himself into the chair with a grunt then slumped forward. I slapped his thigh and he looked up.
“Hang in there,” I said.
Even though his smile was forced, it gave me some comfort. I closed the door and hopped in back as Fane started the vehicle.
“What about the proprietor’s missing snowmachine?” I asked.
Fane backed up the car, meeting my eye when he looked over his shoulder.
“I’ll make arrangements once we’re back in town.”
Dante groaned. “That one belongs to a friend,” he said, nodding toward the window and the machine with the sled.
“We’ll get it all sorted out later,” Fane said.
We were silent until we hit the highway and accelerated, heading north. The drive felt different. For the first time since being recruited, I felt like things would work out. Despite everything we’d been through, my lips curved into a smile as I sat back. Fane met my eyes in the rearview mirror. When he saw my slight smile, his curved up in response. It warmed my insides more than the vents blasting semi-warm air from the dashboard.
“We’ve been given permission to use a plane and take off at Clear Air Force Station just outside of Anderson,” Fane said.
“And you’re flying?”
Fane’s smile widened in response. “Alfonso requested a Cessna 172. It’s what I learned to fly in. Like riding a bike.”
“A bicycle with wings, huh?�
�� I teased. I took a deep breath and sat up to get a better lock on Fane in the rearview mirror. Looking at his reflection I said, “I trust you.”
I trusted Fane with my life. My soul. My heart.
I said all this with my eyes and from the way he stared back, I swore he understood everything I meant by those words.
A thick layer of frost covered the runway at Clear Air Force Station. Although the length of the strip was plowed, it still looked intimidating.
But I’d gotten over my fear of driving. Now wasn’t the time to develop a fear of flying.
The Cessna had four seats. Dante was buckled into the one behind me. The three of us had on headsets, which helped block the roar of the engine and made it so we could communicate inside the plane.
The nose of the Cessna pointed down the runway where Fane had taxied from one of the base’s hangars. Too bad the base didn’t have specialized doctors on standby. Fane said they’d be waiting for us at Elmendorf. The doctor was prepped and ready to start on Dante as soon as we landed.
“North tower, Cessna 172, Number 927 ready for departure,” Fane said into his headset.
Seeing him in front of the controls, sitting upright, looking so efficient and capable of anything gave me goose bumps.
“Cessna 172, Number 927: you are clear for departure,” came the response over our headphones.
Fane gripped the throttle, which looked like something that belonged on a game controller, and pushed.
The plane picked up speed quickly. Soon we were rushing down the runway, wind shaking the small plane as though it was as flimsy as a kite.
I ground my teeth together and sucked in breaths through my nose.
Although we raced forward, the wheels seemed to stick to the ground as the end of the runway came into sight. Maybe I shouldn’t have watched. Maybe I should have closed my eyes and opened them when we were safely in the air. But I couldn’t have pried them shut if I wanted to.
Fane pulled back all of a sudden and the nose of the plane tilted up. The wheels left the ground and we began to climb, lifting above the frozen land. The plane shuddered on the way up and dipped when we got caught in a wind gust before evening out.
I released a long, calming breath.
Dante was the first to speak into the headset once we reached our cruising altitude.
“Now that we’re airborne, I’m going to pass out for a bit,” he said. “Wake me when we get there.”
“Copy that,” I said.
Dante chuckled, the sound soon fading. I turned in my seat and looked back to make sure he was only passed out. His eyes were closed, chest rising and falling. Good. So long as he was breathing, I’d leave him in peace to rest.
Thank goodness Fane had found me when he did. I didn’t want to think about what would have happened if I’d been at the lodge during the attack and Dante had been shot. Assuming I’d still managed to take out the vampires, including Jared, where would I have taken Dante for medical care?
Our days of running and hiding were over, thanks to Fane.
Now the real bad guy was on the run.
The plane dipped a little, taking my heart along with it.
Fane smiled reassuringly when I looked at him and said, “Turbulence.”
I expected Dante to be jolted from sleep, but he was out for the count. A glance back confirmed he was unconscious but still breathing.
I returned my gaze to the window. It was an odd sensation being above the tundra, the forest, and the mountains we’d taken shelter in for one very long, cold month. All that was behind us. Below us and behind us.
The engine roared outside the plane and the cabin vibrated. If I was going to go down, this was as good a way as any. I’d gotten away from Jared. We’d escaped a horde of vengeful vampires. Fane and I were reunited.
For a few brief moments, nothing mattered besides being alive, being with Fane. We were on top of the world. Free as birds.
“What’s that smile for?” Fane asked, his voice coming through the headphones.
I looked over. “Vampires really can fly. Imagine that.”
Fane chuckled. “Not all vampires.”
“Right,” I said. “Only you, Fane Donado.”
He didn’t need superpowers. He could conquer the world with sheer willpower. Fane had once offered to show me the wonders of the world, but I didn’t need him to do that. As long as he was in my life, everything would be all right.
Change was in the air—like us, soaring toward home and an unknown future.
All I knew was that it included Fane, and that feeling alone lifted me higher than any aircraft ever could.
We were safe for the moment, but as long as Jared was free, every agent and informant in the state was at risk. Worse. From what Jared had confided, the entire world could be in jeopardy. We couldn’t allow him to go after agents one by one or prey on people across the country.
He had to be stopped.
Permanently.
Aurora Sky Returns
Thank you, friends of the Far North, for allowing Aurora’s journey to continue with your kind support.
See you for the conclusion in 2016!
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Name A Character Contest Winners
Congratulations to the Whiteout “Name A Character” contest winners:
Hanife Ormerod – Rex
Amy Nicole McManus – Nelson
Lysette Lam – Pixie
Julia at Paranormal Book Feast – Pierce
Kelly Stewart – Arlo
Brandi Dagwan – Vince
Acknowledgements
For the incredibly helpful brainstorming sessions on the beach at Discovery Park in Seattle, thank you to Stacey Marie Brown. The suggestion to add Fane’s POV was just what I needed to hear. Your questions and suggestions helped hone in the plot and give me ideas for the next Aurora Sky book. You have influenced me in so many ways to be a better writer, a better person, and to turn my pigsty of a home office into a space that’s organized and filled with art.
Thank you to Karen Lynch and Melissa Haag for the last-minute beta reads. Even a seemingly simple suggestion can add so much to a scene and make it hold more power. I appreciate both of you for your honesty, generosity, and friendship.
I am so grateful to the incredible network of readers on Facebook whose excitement for books and authors knows no limits. Your comments are a daily source of fun and amusement.
I cannot thank Kara Malinczak enough for not holding back on comments when she copyedited the first version of this book. I knew something wasn’t quite working with the storyline, but it was Kara who first cleared the path for the new and improved storyline.
Thank you to Jenn Waterman for her catches and comments while editing. And to Hollie Westring for the final round of copyedits, catching even the smallest errors, tightening up the text, and making everything flow beautifully!
I’d like to thank Em Eldridge for breathing life into the characters in the audiobooks. Your sarcastic wit is right on and I love that you can do British, French, and Italian accents with such ease. Listening to the audio version of the series has been a true treat for the ears!
Th
ank you to Gabriella for being the face of Aurora Sky on the cover throughout the series. No one else could have portrayed Aurora so well with that look of fierce determination, rebellion, and heartache.
Thank you to Claudia at PhatPuppy Art for making the covers so gorgeous. I never tire of staring at each one.
Thank you to Teresa Yeh for orchestrating the cover shoots, sending out the casting call, putting together the outfits, overseeing everything from lighting, styling, and posing and making it so difficult for me to choose from her phenomenal photos.
Shout-out to Rick Miles at Red Coat PR for introducing me to new people and opportunities in this ever-changing and exciting world of book publishing.
A special thank you to Ashley Graham for organizing the Aurora Sky Read-Along leading up to Whiteout’s release. You went above and beyond with discussion questions from every chapter of the books. Your support of the series blows my mind. I wasn’t joking when I said maybe I should name an informant, and potential love interest for Dante, after you.
An ongoing chorus of love and gratitude to my mom, who ignited my love of books and storytelling as soon as I was old enough to read and write. The kindest gift life ever gave me was a mother who is a dear friend and the most generous soul I’ve ever known.
To my heart: my husband, Seb. For listening to me say “I’m going to publish a book” over and over for twelve years and believing in me no matter what.
And to Cosmo, my little white furball, for being the best little reading and writing buddy.
About The Author
Nikki Jefford is a third generation Alaskan now living in the Pacific Northwest. She loves fictional bad boys and heroines who kick butt. Books, travel, TV series, hiking, writing and motorcycle riding are her favorite escapes. She loves meeting people from all walks of life, from all around the globe; and wouldn’t trade her French husband in for anyone – not even Spike!
Whiteout (Aurora Sky Page 26