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Copyright © 2016 Nikki Jefford
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Cover model: Gabriella
For the diehards who stuck with Aurora and the gang from beginning to end.
Thank you for joining our fight across the Far North!
The Last Frontier
Command Center
Overlords And Underlings
All I Want For Christmas
Training
Young And Free
Forever Eighteen
Rendezvous
One Way Or Another
True Nature
Rule Breakers
Bad Company
Friends In Low Places
Outdoorsmen
Deadly Frontier
Silent Night
Team Reindeer
Last Stand
Nevermore
The Beginning Of Forever
Other Books by Nikki Jefford
1
The Last Frontier
Palmer, Alaska
December 8th
3 degrees Fahrenheit
The sky was crystal clear and cold as ice. The sun had reached its apex, but its rays didn’t reach this far north. If anything, it only made everything colder without the insulation of cloud coverage blanketing the forty-ninth state.
Daylight filtered through the birch and spruce trees. A sheen reflected off the crystalized snow. All around us, the world had frozen as though on pause. Once the mission went into play, it could all be over in a haze of gunfire.
Most of my fantasies involving Jared’s takedown played through my head as occurring at night, but daytime was fine too. More than fine.
Our team swooped in so fast, no one could have seen us coming. The agents were locked, loaded, and in position—all beautifully coordinated as though about to perform a winter ballet across the frozen ground. From all the SUVs parked along the dirt road you’d think there was a block party going on in the backwoods of The Valley. It was a party of sorts. Bring your own gun and take no prisoners.
At long last Jared had been spotted by one of the agency’s informants. Our agents were creeping in through the woods from all angles. We had the trailer surrounded. Looked like Christmas had come early.
Heat wafted over my legs and ankles in a continuous stream from the SUV’s vents.
“This feels like cheating,” I said.
Fane leaned against the steering wheel, keeping watch from the windows. “What do you mean?” he asked.
“Sitting this operation out in a heated car while a team of agents goes in after Jared.”
He glanced my way. “I’d rather you not be here at all.”
I snorted. “Tell me about it. I’d rather be in Italy with you.”
“If things go well, we might be booking tickets within the hour,” Fane said, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. “My family would be thrilled if we were able to make it in time for the holidays.”
“Yeah, your cousin didn’t stick around very long.” That was putting it mildly. I’d barely been introduced to Alphonso before the suave Italian jetted back to Venice. Maybe it had something to do with Fane trading in the penthouse at the Captain Cook for housing on base. We had a whole block for all the informants and hunters who had ever worked with or been recruited by Jared. Fane’s cousin had taken one look at the housing situation and turned up his slender nose.
“It’s a small miracle Alphonso came at all,” Fane said with a grunt.
I tapped my boots together. Despite the comfort of the car, it was difficult to sit still for long. Vacation plans weren’t first and foremost on my mind, but it helped to have something to discuss while we awaited word from the team.
“You know my mom’s going to want me to spend the holidays with her and my gran,” I said.
“So invite them,” Fane said. “Our families should meet. Perhaps I’ll make a better impression on Mrs. Sky at my family’s estate.” A brief grin formed over his lips.
I stopped hitting my feet together and straightened in my seat. “I think you’ll find her a lot more open minded since that night you came over for dinner. Being in hiding is character building . . . that and divorce, and living with my grandma, oh, and having a vampire for a daughter. I’m not the only member of the Sky family who has changed over the past year.”
Fane’s chest lifted as he took in a deep breath. “Still, you can’t tell me she’ll be thrilled when you tell her you’re leaving the country.”
“At this point, I think she’ll be relieved I’m getting out of Alaska and the vampire-hunting business.” I reached over and took Fane’s hand. “She’s got you to thank for that. We both do. If you hadn’t stepped in and pulled some strings, I’d be hunting vampires for the rest of my everlasting life.” That or dead, I thought.
Fane had done the impossible and found a senator willing to stand up to Melcher. The bastard who’d stolen my life now had to answer to Fane and Lieutenant Vince Pearlman. I, for one, took great satisfaction in seeing his Royal Smugness put in his place. He mostly stuck to himself inside his office and didn’t speak much, which was a small miracle in itself. No more of Melcher’s disturbed rantings. No more hierarchy against evil and the beings he deemed unworthy of immortality. He said he was still committed to the cause and would continue to work with Pearlman to monitor vampire activity in the Last Frontier.
I let go of Fane’s hand and slipped my arm into my lap. Fane went back to tapping the steering wheel. I cleared my throat softly.
“After we get Jared, after you and I go, do you think Melcher will try to go back to the way things were before?” I’d hate for the agency to return to its unethical practices after Fane and I left the state.
Fane stopped tapping the wheel and turned his head to me. “Pearlman won’t let that happen.”
“Pearlman’s human,” I returned. “What happens after he’s gone?”
“Then I’ll see that someone new is appointed.” Fane went back to tapping the wheel and staring out the window.
The trees obscured the men and the trailer they’d surrounded. A radio sat on the dashboard. We were both waiting to hear the mission was complete. I kept saying the words in my head. Target down. I repeat, target down. Over. My heart fluttered in anticipation.
I stared at the radio a moment then asked, “What about Dante?”
Fane didn’t answer. He kept drumming his fingers on the steering wheel as though I’d never spoken.
“He’s not going anywhere. Couldn’t he oversee Melcher and the agency?” I pressed.
Fane stopped drumming his fingers. He squeezed the steering wheel in his left hand and slid his right hand to the gearshift as though preparing to put the vehicle in drive and gun it through the woods straight up to the trailer’s door.
“The agency needs someone with more qualifications than availability,” Fane said in a calm, even voice.
“I agree,” I said quickly. “You don’t think Dante is qualified, or could be with more training?”
“I think he’s a bullheaded commando incapable of leadership.”
I whistled softly. “Tell me how you really feel.” I smiled, but Fane didn’t return it.
“Would you want to work for the agency with Dante running it?”
I thought for a moment then said, “I wouldn’t want to work for the agency at all.”
“That wasn’t the question.”
I stared out the window and chewed on my lower lip. If I was stuck to continue on, would I want to work at an agency run by my headstrong, action junkie of an ex-partner? Hell no! But admitting this to Fane felt like a betrayal to my brother at arms. Behavior aside, Dante’s intentions were pure. He wanted to rid the state of vicious bloodsuckers. He wanted to keep humanity safe, and he wanted to do it in a way that didn’t involve forcing people to join the agency. Since returning to Anchorage, Dante had spent every waking hour on base either helping in the efforts to track down Jared, or training the agency’s newest recruits how to defend themselves and take down an opponent in a vamp attack.
“I don’t doubt that he’s a committed agent,” Fane said, “but what the agency and agents need is a leader who is levelheaded. Besides, you can’t tell me Dante would be happy in Melcher’s shoes. He likes training and fieldwork. Do you see him sitting behind a desk?”
I rubbed my chin. “No, you’re right. He’d be miserable stuck inside an office.”
Fane flashed me a reassuring smile. “Dante will always be a valuable part of the team. You don’t have to worry about the agency right now. Pearlman’s not going to expire tomorrow.”
Not unless Melcher got to him the way he got to Agent Crist. My stomach twisted and curled like ribbon pulled tight around a package.
Melcher wouldn’t dare, I thought. It would be too obvious. Maybe he wouldn’t care. He might even get away with it. Everything would be so much easier if he was dismissed from the agency altogether, but Fane said he had friends in high places, places more far reaching than even the Donados could stretch.
“If only—” I started to say when static erupted from the radio on the dashboard.
A deep masculine voice emerged through the dark speaker. “Team leader one, we’re inside the cabin. No sign of the target, but we found Edwards. You’re going to want to see this, sir. Over.”
Fane snatched the radio. “This is team leader one. Roger that. We’re headed in. Over.” The radio hovered beside Fane’s mouth. He stared out the windshield, stock-still. The next moment he smashed his fist against the dashboard. “Damn it! I thought we had him.”
“Me too,” I said, my stomach dipping with the weight of bitter disappointment. I grabbed my gun from the glovebox and opened the car door. Whether or not Jared was around, I wasn’t going in empty handed.
Warm air clung to my body as I stepped onto the snow-covered ground. It didn’t take long for the warmth from the car’s vents to dissipate into the frosty outside air. I swear the sun was sucking heat from the earth rather than producing warmth. The only reason it seemed to come out at winter was for the sole purpose of mocking the state’s inhabitants. Anyone who bragged about liking this kind of cold was either a liar or a vampire.
The slam of Fane’s door supplanted mine. We followed the tracks in the snow leading through the wooded trail up to the trailer. The agents who had rushed in earlier now stood out front, several puffing on cigarettes. A tall, muscled member of the team held the door of the trailer open. Fane stopped beside him. “Is Edwards inside?”
“Dead. Multiple stab wounds,” the agent confirmed.
Fane walked inside. I followed close behind, heart hammering, knowing what was coming. When I’d said Christmas had come early, a dead informant wasn’t the kind of gift I was expecting.
The laminated floor creaked with our footsteps. The place wasn’t heated, which was fortunate considering the dead body.
Edwards lay in a pool of his own blood on the floor between the kitchen and dining table. He stared glassy eyed at the ceiling.
On the wall by the table were the words TOO LATE, spelled out in blood.
The thick smears of blood made my skin crawl. It was like a psycho child’s finger painting. I covered my mouth and backed away, out the front door into the crisp, clean air, no longer minding the purifying bitter sting. Fane was right behind me. I heard him stop and speak to the agent at the door.
“Have the men break into teams of two and patrol the roads in case Jared’s still in Palmer. I want teams patrolling Main Street and all the nearby side roads.”
“Understood, sir.”
Before Fane could join my side, an agent holding a radio headed him off.
“Agent Melcher is sending in the cleaners. He wants a couple of us to stay here until they arrive.”
Fane waved dismissively before walking away. I fell into step beside him, the cool crunch of the snow the only sound accompanying us to the car.
Engine running, Fane shook his head. “I really thought we had him.”
“Jared’s good at disappearing,” I said, sagging against my seatback. He was also good at getting away with murder and cheating death.
2
Command Center
An hour later, we were back on base. We went straight to command center where we could keep on top of the agents’ search of Palmer. No new sightings had been radioed in on the drive back.
A large, open room had been set up with computers and desks. Our band of misfit agents called it “the parlor.” There was an enlarged map of Alaska attached to the wall with colored thumbtacks representing agents and informants who’d remained in the field.
Noel and Joss sat side by side at oak desks with their heads bent. As soon as Fane and I walked in, they lifted their heads. I grabbed a black Sharpie off Noel’s desk and approached the state map. Popping the cap off the marker, I zeroed in on a white thumbtack stuck beside Palmer and drew a slash through the round, flat edge.
I stared at it a moment. Edwards was the second informant to die since we began tracking Jared’s movement. Another informant had been found dead in Willow the week before. I’d never met either man, but that didn’t make their loss any less tragic.
We figured Jared was making his way south. Dante had even thought he was headed for Anchorage, but Fane had stuck a finger on The Valley and said, “I bet he doesn’t go any farther than Wasilla.” Looked like Fane was right. For now.
You’d think it wouldn’t be too difficult to corner Jared. While Alaska was the biggest state in the US, it had few major highways and only two real directions to drive in: north or south. And most of those roads had major dead ends in the form of immense mountain ranges and the Gulf of Alaska.
But while there weren’t many major roads to drive on, there were plenty of places to hide.
Noel stood up and sat on her desk. “How did Jared find out about Edwards?”
I glanced at Fane, who had been very quiet on the drive back, which likely meant he’d been puzzling over the same question. Edwards was one of Pearlman’s civilian recruits, meaning Jared should have not been aware of his existence. Yet somehow the rat bastard had figured out Edwards was working with the agency and offed him before we had a chance to close in.
Joss laced his fingers together on top of his desk and looked at Fane. Unlike Fane’s cousin, Joss had remained behind to help. Lucky me. At least he was good at burying himself in research and stuck to indoor office work versus accompanying Fane and me in the field. Best of all, Joss had opted to room with Reinhardt and Gunter, two of Melcher’s newer recruits in need of guidance.
Joss the mentor. Who would have thought?
Explaining they had been made undead against their will had been an interesting new approach to orientation. No need to bring out the demo vamp in a locked room. The teenage boys only had to look in the mirror.
Reinhardt and Gunter had a lot of questions, which Jos
s answered patiently. They seemed to find his presence comforting. I was grateful Fane and I had a place to ourselves, even if it was on base and we hardly used it except to sleep and, well, you know, make sweet vampire love.
Sleep was more of an afterthought.
Noel kicked out her legs. The desk groaned when she banged it with the bottoms of her Mary Janes. The chick was still going for the sweet-schoolgirl-sundress look. Cold didn’t bother Noel. She got a kick out of driving her convertible with the top down on days like this. People around town would sooner think she was out of her mind than undead.
“Who all knew about Edwards?” she asked.
Fane backed up and closed the door. This room had turned into our own personal headquarters of sorts. Melcher mostly stayed out of it, and the newer recruits only came in to train with Dante in the small gymnasium.
With the door now shutting us in, Fane closed in on our little posse. Noel stopped swinging her legs and leaned forward.
Speaking in a low voice, Fane said, “Besides the four of us, the only people who knew about Edwards were Pearlman, Dante, and Melcher.” Fane rolled his neck then walked over to the state map spread across the wall.
No one said anything, but I’d bet a half pint of blood we were all thinking the same thing. The only one capable of leaking that kind of information was Melcher, though he seemed genuine in his determination to locate Jared—maybe even as obsessed as the rest of us. The vamp had betrayed him. There had been recruits who rebelled before, but nothing like this. This was mutiny.
Noel launched herself off the desk like a kid from a swing on a swing set and walked over to Fane.
“I know you’re all thinking that if anyone gave up Edwards’s identity it was Melcher, but that makes no sense.”
“Well, it certainly wasn’t Dante,” I said.
Noel spun around. “No, of course not. Nor was it Pearlman, or any of us. Edwards probably got cocky and tried to take Jared on before backup arrived.”
True North (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter, Vol. 6) Page 1