Valerie didn’t answer. She’d begun twirling her hair around her finger. Her head turned slightly to the left. “It will be our first Christmas together. Did you get me something?” she asked dreamily.
“I would have raided the jewelry box at the last place if there’d been one,” Jared said.
Valerie burst into a fit of giggles and smacked Jared playfully on the shoulder.
“I like jewels, the nice stuff. Precious stones. None of that fake shit.”
I snorted from the backseat.
“There’s still time,” Jared said.
“Don’t wait too long,” Valerie said in a pouty voice. Her voice returned to normal when she next spoke. “What do you want for Christmas, baby?”
“I’ve already got everything I need,” Jared said without a second thought.
“Everything?” Valerie prodded.
“Freedom and a feisty woman with great tits and ass.”
I couldn’t be sure if this would please the vixen or royally piss her off. The ensuing silence made me think the latter until she laughed a moment later.
“I do have great tits,” Valerie said proudly.
“Other than that, all I really want is death and mayhem.”
“Don’t you mean peace on earth?” I asked, voice rising over the engine.
“Nah, no fun in that,” Jared answered.
Typical. Christmas was so not a holiday for bloodsucking vampires.
North Pole looked exactly as I remembered it from the quick car exchange Dante and I had made the month before. The streets were lined with the same candy-cane-striped light poles. There was more snow, which tended to make every town look like a Christmas town this time of year.
Valerie navigated us to the home she’d handpicked online. It wasn’t as grand as the last place, but it was a vacation rental, fully furnished. It was also secluded, situated down a long, lonely gravel road, and surrounded by a fortress of trees. Thanks to the rental’s online booking site, Valerie had looked over the calendar and seen it was currently empty until closer to Christmas. Guess someone must have had the bright idea to spend the holidays in North Pole.
Once everything was inside, Valerie went around switching lamps on and off and testing the sinks. She walked into the den, wrinkling her nose.
“It smells funny in here,” she said, lifting her nose higher and sniffing.
I went over to the wood stove and eyed the kindling.
“How about starting a fire?” I asked.
“No,” Jared said firmly. “No smoke signals. One of the many benefits of being undead is we don’t require heat.”
He sounded like Giselle. Oddly enough, ever since waking up inside Selene’s trunk I’d felt impervious to cold. Maybe I’d made myself numb to survive the current mission or maybe I was having some kind of mental breakthrough in my evolution as a vampire.
I spun around and stuck my hands inside my pockets.
“What now? Clothes shopping?” I asked.
“Now we locate Wilson,” Jared said flatly.
“Right. Wilson. I’ve heard of him.” I grinned mischievously.
“The hell you have,” Valerie snapped, placing her hands on her hips.
Jared regarded me curiously, tilting his head to the side, which made my smile widen.
“Yeah, yeah,” I said quickly. “He’s that volleyball Tom Hanks hangs out with in the movie Cast Away. If your renegade army has come down to sports equipment, then you really are in trouble.”
Valerie huffed and rolled her eyes.
“I thought Dante was supposed to be the comic relief. He must have rubbed off on you during your little road adventure. What other kind of rubbing off did the two of you do together while you were holed up?” Valerie asked, tone turning malicious. Her lips curled into an ugly smile.
I didn’t dignify her comment with a response. Instead, I pulled a Valerie move, flipping my hair back as I moved into the kitchen and preoccupied myself with opening and closing drawers. Maybe the homeowners had left behind some long, sharp kitchen knives.
“Aurora and Dante would have made the perfect couple,” Valerie said to Jared while I frowned at the basic silverware and plastic cooking utensils inside the drawers.
A butter knife wouldn’t do me much good.
“That clod? I don’t think so,” Jared said. “I didn’t even have to recruit him. The idiot took care of everything by throwing himself off a cliff.”
My spine stiffened. I slammed a drawer shut and spun around.
“Dante didn’t throw himself off a cliff. He lost control of his snowboard coming down a freaking mountaintop.”
Jared raised his eyebrows.
“Exactly my point,” he said, moving to Valerie’s side, where he slung an arm around her. “The two of you are fighters, survivors. I knew you wouldn’t do anything stupid to put your lives in peril. That meant I had to intervene.”
I scowled, feeling equal disgust for Jared and Valerie. How could she stand there and let the dirtbag put his hand on her after he’d attacked and stabbed her in the back?
My fingers balled into fists. I could’ve used a Wilson right about then. I needed something inanimate to punch. Hell, Wilson didn’t even need to be a volleyball. If Wilson, the vampire, chose to associate with the likes of Jared he deserved a shiner and more.
Jared unzipped one of the duffel bags and pulled out a file folder. He lifted it in the air, legs spread wide.
“Time to get down to business,” he said. “I have Wilson’s assignment in here.”
My toes curled inside my boots.
“What’s Wilson’s assignment?” I asked, my throat burning.
“You mean whom,” Jared replied.
I pressed my hands against my stomach, unsure I wanted to hear any further explanation.
“His assignment is not a what, but a whom,” Jared continued, projecting his voice across the den. He stroked the folder and flashed me a smug smile. “Agent Chris Carroll, informant for the agency for over three years. Hard core frontiersman. I’d bet the farm he’s still on active duty. No way in hell Carroll would retreat onto base.”
“Aurora could tell us,” Valerie said. “Was there a Chris Carroll living on base while you were there?”
“Not that I’m aware,” I answered. “But we didn’t exactly show up for roll call every morning, and it’s not like Melcher included me in meetings.”
“No, he wouldn’t,” Jared said, nodding. “Well, no matter. I know there are still plenty of agents staying on duty in the field, and I have a good idea as to which ones.”
Valerie sidled up to Jared and slipped her arm around his waist. She smiled up at him and said, “My man is such a good profiler.”
“Part of my experience as a recruiter,” Jared said, chest expanding.
He shook the folder back and forth, sending a light breeze over my face.
“And now I am the one handing out assignments,” Jared concluded triumphantly.
Except that it was all backward. Agents were supposed to go after feral vampires, not the other way around.
“Let’s go,” Jared said, gliding away from Valerie’s arm, which dropped to her side as he moved for the door. “We don’t have a lot of time to coordinate everything before judgement day.”
I placed my hands on my hips.
“And when exactly is J day?” I demanded.
Jared pivoted, his face lighting up with his grin.
“J Day,” he repeated. “Perfect. For that, I’ll let you in on the secret. J Day is taking place on New Year’s Eve.”
“Your sick resolution?” I said, my voice dropping as a sour tang filled my mouth.
Jared batted the comment away with the file. “Christmas Eve would have been fine with me, but it doesn’t incite the same kind chaos among humans with their late-night drinking and partying before the year is out. The police will already have their hands full. It’s the perfect opportunity to coordinate a statewide attack on field agents. Most of them will
probably be out at vamp parties, keeping tabs. They’ll never see it coming.”
I supposed there was one silver lining. At least Jared hadn’t decided on a bloody Christmas. New Year’s Eve gave me an extra week to stop him and his cronies from executing their plan. If I couldn’t stop Jared before then, I’d have to do the thing I’d promised not to—run off and warn the agency.
As soon as Jared stepped outside, Valerie brushed against me, eyes narrowing and voice oozing acid.
“Don’t go thinking you’re special or anything. He was going to tell you the date of the attack while we were going over the plan with Wilson.”
I clenched my jaw, chest tightening as I stared into Valerie’s eyes.
“You’re really okay with all this?” I asked, folding my arms. “Some of these field agents were recruited by Jared. They’re just doing the job they were forced to. They’re no different from you and me. They didn’t sign up for this life.”
Valerie tsked and shook her head. “Always the bleeding heart, Aurora. This is war and in war, it’s the soldiers who die.”
“That’s sick,” I said.
“That’s the way of the world.” Valerie flipped her hair back and regarded me, steely eyed.
“You don’t have to go along with it,” I said.
Valerie took a step forward, right up to my face, her lips mere inches apart. “Let me be clear. I want to go along with it. So don’t go trying to win me over to your side—the losing side. I’m a winner. And if you want to be on the winning team, you better start cooperating.”
Valerie turned and bumped me as she strode outside, leaving the front door open.
The frozen air from outside didn’t chill me in the slightest. My blood pressure was rising. I could feel it boiling inside my veins, sizzling across my skin. Valerie really was a lost cause.
I couldn’t speak during the drive across North Pole. I could barely swallow past the lump in my throat.
Wilson, the vampire, not the volleyball, lived in a rundown apartment complex on the outskirts of town. The splintered stairs leading from the outside carport to the second-story units felt ready to give out at any step. Jared stomped his way up, but I noticed Valerie pick her way up carefully. I followed the two of them, stepping gingerly over the rotting wood. If there was one thing that could be said for subzero temperatures, at least the winter weather probably kept the stairs frozen in place.
Jared led us to down an outer hall to a door with white peeling paint. After Jared pounded on the door, it was yanked open into the apartment. A young man with a scruffy beard and brown hair that curled behind his ears stood there. The beard made him look late twenties, but he could just as likely be in his mid-twenties.
“I wasn’t expecting you today,” he said in a gravelly voice.
“That’s the whole point,” Jared said, walking inside without invitation.
Valerie followed on his heels. I paused outside the doorframe, peering inside the dark room. There were black trash bags duct taped over the windows. The only light came from a jumbo-sized lava lamp, about two feet tall, sitting atop a tall stool beside a burly couch patched up with duct tape. Crushed beer cans littered the floor beneath a piece of plywood resting on two white milk crates—a makeshift coffee table.
I joined the party inside. This wasn’t anything I hadn’t seen before, except the lava lamp, that was new. Maybe the red globs floating up and down the yellow liquid reminded Wilson of blood.
Valerie’s nose had wrinkled, a look of disgust frozen on her face. I doubted she’d drop the look until we left the apartment. She shot Jared a wrinkled frown while Wilson’s back was turned, closing the door.
Jared yawned and flopped down onto the beat-up couch. The frame of the couch made a cracking sound, like wood splintering as Jared landed heavily upon it. He grinned and threw one leg over the other. Wilson whipped around and scowled.
“Careful,” he hissed.
Before I knew it was coming, a burst of laughter sprang from my lips. I covered it quickly with a loud cough and a hand over my mouth.
Jared’s eyes found mine. An amused grin formed over his lips.
Wilson made his way over to the couch, settling carefully down on the opposite end from Jared. He lowered himself gently as though the couch was a prized piece of fragile furniture. It did look like it was on its last legs.
Valerie stood across from the piece of raised plywood, rubbing her elbows. The place wasn’t heated, but I doubted very much she was stroking her arms to keep warm. More likely this place made her feel itchy and unclean. I smirked to myself. No more ball gowns or fancy tasting missions for rogue Agent Ward. No more drinks at the palace or undercover wining-and-dining assignments to get close with eligible bachelor vampires like Fane. Time for Valerie to get a taste of the lowlifes, the types of associates she could expect to spend time with on this new path of destruction. If she wanted to work with dirtbags, she’d have to roll in the mud.
I grabbed a stool and set it beside the wall to use as a backrest after I sat down and stretched my legs. Valerie remained standing, lips pursed.
“Aren’t you going to offer us refreshment, Wilson?” Jared said, clucking his tongue. “And by refreshment, I mean blood.”
Wilson’s body jerked.
“I have no blood,” he answered peevishly. “I haven’t fed in over a month.”
“Wilson, Wilson,” Jared said, shaking his head from side to side. “And you call yourself a predator? You’re a vampire, man. Live up to your name.”
Wilson scowled. “I don’t feed in my hometown. I go to Fairbanks for that, but after last month . . .” His head swung sideways, eyes narrowing on Jared. “You’re the one who warned me to stay away from Chillers.”
“Chillers, not the entire city,” Jared said, reiterating the name of the club where Dante and I had run across an entire table of undesirables. “There are plenty of feeding grounds in Fairbanks. It’s a big city. You shouldn’t be such a coward.”
“I’m not a coward,” Wilson ground out, his bearded chin quivering in anger. “I’m not stupid either. Kyle and his group were all killed . . . outside of the club. Jab returned to town last week and he died, too. Outside of the club.”
“Yes, too bad I didn’t find Jab in time,” Jared said pensively. “No one knew where he was holing up outside of town. That can be a good thing, but in his case it led to his demise.” Jared gave a tsk. “Very unfortunate. I had high hopes for Jab.”
Not me. I was relieved Dante and his team had gotten to the murderous vampire first. Thank goodness there was still some justice in the world.
Jared’s chest rose and fell on a dramatic sigh. “Anyway, fortunate for you that you keep in touch with the local network of vampires.”
“We just want to live our lives without interference or the threat of death, same as anyone else,” Wilson grumbled.
Jared nodded, his eyes and lips drooping in a phony show of concern and understanding. “Oh, I agree. I agree. That’s what me and my girls have been trying to do.” Jared leaned forward, elbows resting on his thighs. He laced his fingers together. “All we want is for vampires to stand together against the institution threatening our lifestyle and very existence. We did not choose this life. It chose us.”
“Damn straight,” Wilson said.
“The government doesn’t have the right to exterminate us like animals,” Jared continued.
Wilson grit his teeth and jerked his head in agreement. I raised my eyebrows and Jared smirked at me. I had to admit, he gave a good spiel, much easier to nod along to than one of Melcher’s mad rantings.
Jared pulled his fingers apart, made a fist with his right hand, and hammered it down on his leg for emphasis.
“If the government is going to send assassins out to kill us, we have a right to defend ourselves. Do we sit back and wait for them to come after us, or do we go after the bastards first?” Jared’s eyes widened and flared.
“You’re right,” Wilson said, voice rising li
ke one of the red blobs inside his lava lamp. He reached out his hand. “I’ll do it.”
“Good,” Jared said through the smile on his lips. He handed Wilson the folder.
Wilson flipped it open and began pawing through the papers inside. “Chris Carroll,” he read aloud. “Is that his real name?”
“It is,” Jared replied.
Wilson leaned forward and squinted, his nose a couple inches from the paperwork. A flashback of the files stacked neatly on Joss’s desk appeared in my head. I looked closely at Wilson’s face to see if I recognized it from any of the profiles we’d gone over. I should have had them all etched in my brain, but I looked at them over and over again without really seeing them—anxious to put all this behind me.
Perhaps someone from our team was staring at the file now, studying Wilson as a potential point of contact while Wilson eyed an agent’s file—one that should have been classified.
“It says here he lives in North Pole,” Wilson said, frowning.
“Yeah?” Jared prodded impatiently.
Wilson grimaced. “He’s a local.”
“You said you didn’t want to go to Fairbanks.”
“Yeah, but . . .”
“There’s bound to be a new informant hanging around Chillers, perhaps you’d like the task of identifying him or her.” Jared twisted his body and leaned across the couch. Wilson leaned away.
“This is fine,” he said quickly. The papers crinkled in his hands as he clutched them tight. “It will be easier to track him down if he’s a local.”
“I’m glad you agree. You’ll see a short list of names and addresses. These are the vampires he keeps regular tabs on. Keep an eye on them, too, and you’re bound to run across Agent Carroll soon.”
Wilson flipped a page and looked down. His pupils moved down the page. He gave a sudden cry and leaped to his feet, eyes wide as he lowered the paper and gaped at Jared. “My name’s on here,” he cried.
Jared uncrossed his leg and shrugged. “How do you think I found you?”
Wilson’s eyes darted all around the room. “I gotta get out of town.”
“Relax,” Jared said with a sigh. “Agent Carroll has been keeping an eye on you for three years. If you start packing now, he’ll know something’s up and swoop in before you ever have a chance to flee this . . . enchanting town.”
True North (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter, Vol. 6) Page 18