I spit in Valerie’s face. She screamed but held on, only loosening my wrist to throw a punch in my face. It was pretty weak, but she got me in the eye, which stung. I backhanded Valerie across the face and she howled. Looks like Dante’s training practice was going to come in handy after all. But before I could follow up with an uppercut to Valerie’s jaw, Jared pitched his upper body over the seatback and grabbed my arm.
“Cut it out . . . both of you,” he bellowed.
Henry started the car and backed up quickly. The black SUVs pulled out onto the road and Henry followed.
Valerie clutched a hand over her cheek, her breath coming out in angry puffs.
“She hit me!” she shrieked.
“And you hit her,” Jared said. “Now both of you simmer down and shut up.”
“Fuck you, asshole,” Valerie returned.
A vein in Jared’s neck twitched.
Valerie folded her arms across her chest and looked out the window. Jared glared into her face, but Valerie wasn’t looking at him. She wasn’t speaking anymore either. That must have been enough for Jared. He turned back around. As soon as he did, Valerie grumbled under her breath, “No one tells me to shut up.”
The caravan continued to the highway, leaving Delta Junction behind in the blink of an eye. We were headed back the way we’d come through Big Delta, North Pole, and Fairbanks. At least we were going the right direction.
“What’s going on, Henry?” I asked.
“You’ll know soon enough,” he said.
“I’d rather know now.”
Jared whipped around. “One more word, Raven, and I’ll get out the duct tape from the trunk and shut you up myself.”
I glared at him. Oh, how I wanted to backhand the bastard the same way I’d smacked his bitch. Jared flipped back around.
Near Big Delta, the SUVs ahead of us slowed and turned down a road that led to a small airfield. One by one, the vehicles pulled up to a hangar along the plowed airstrip.
I felt a weight lifting off my shoulders.
Maybe we were flying back to base. Maybe I’d been worrying for nothing. It stood to reason that Melcher had been the one to receive word about Jared’s capture. Knowing Melcher, he could have very well leaped to action without bothering to update Fane on the matter. Melcher would never accept Fane’s authority with the agency. In Melcher’s eyes, Fane had no business being on base. And since Melcher was such a dickhead, it wasn’t as if he’d explain anything to me until the mood struck him.
As Henry pulled to a stop, I saw Melcher step out of the passenger’s side of one of the parked SUVs.
I counted an additional eight men ranging in age from late teens to mid-thirties. They were all fit and wore stern expressions on their faces. All eight men were dressed in camo pants and olive T-shirts.
I guess Melcher hadn’t wanted to take any chances when he came to fetch Jared.
As we exited the vehicle, I heard Melcher issuing an order to one of the older-looking men.
“Prepare the plane,” he said.
“Yes, sir.”
“The rest of you can board,” Melcher said.
The group walked in unison toward an adjoining hangar. Melcher turned his back to them and watched our group approach with a glazed expression.
Jared’s gaze darted from the eight men walking away to Melcher. He licked his lips.
“You know it was never anything against you,” he rushed in to say. “It’s that Italian rat I couldn’t abide.”
When Melcher made no answer or facial expression other than a blank look, Jared swallowed. His head jerked.
“I never had any problem following your orders. I couldn’t stick around and obey that sniveling sorry excuse for a vampire.”
Melcher nodded slightly. “I understand,” he said in a low, even voice. He glanced sideways at the hangar beside us. “Join me inside before we take off.” Melcher took a step then stopped and looked at us. “Jared. Miss Ward. Miss Sky.” He pronounced each of our names slowly. It surprised me when he called me “miss” rather than “agent.” I guess we’d been demoted. “Mr. Fisher, you may wait here,” he said to Henry.
Jared hurried after Melcher, following him through the front door leading into the hangar.
Like a dog after his master, I thought.
Valerie put a hand on her hip and glared at Henry.
“You think you’re some big shot working for the agency now?” she asked. “Don’t forget I was the one who brought you in.”
“And now I helped bring you in,” Henry shot right back at her.
“You better watch your mouth,” Valerie returned. She shook out her hair and lifted her nose. “I’m one of the agency’s greatest informants. What are you? Melcher’s chauffeur, or do you have some other arrangement with Melcher?” Valerie smirked.
Henry gave her a cold, steady stare. “Agent Melcher is waiting,” he said.
I headed inside the hangar ahead of Valerie. I wanted to know what Melcher was saying to Jared. I didn’t trust the two of them alone together. What kind of deal was Melcher making with his former recruiter while Fane wasn’t present to protest? Someone needed to listen in and report back.
Seeing that I was going in, Valerie stopped trading jabs with Henry and hurried in behind me. The front door led into a small darkened office with a metal desk and messy corkboard filled with calendars, flight schedules, and coupons. Light spilled in from a door leading into a large open space. I walked through the second door into the hangar’s main body. The ceiling went up several stories. The chamber could have fit several planes, but it was currently empty.
Melcher stood in the center of the room, arms at his sides, eyes on Jared, who stood rubbing the back of his neck several paces in front of Melcher.
I stopped a couple feet behind and to the side of Jared, not wanting to get too close to Melcher. Even Valerie lingered behind. She glanced at the door we’d come through then began picking at her nails, her eyes jumping up and down from her hands to Melcher.
“I rarely give out second chances,” Melcher said, voice carrying through the cavernous hangar.
Jared dropped his arms to his sides.
Melcher seemed focused mostly on him, as though Valerie and I were mere blurs in his peripheral vision.
“However, I understand why you left. I am not happy you went behind my back or kept out of contact, but I believe you are still loyal to my cause. Am I mistaken, Xavier?” There was a fondness in the way Melcher pronounced Jared’s former name. A familiarity that made my muscles tense.
I couldn’t see Jared’s expression, but I had a clear view of Melcher’s gaze, which seemed to soften as he looked at his former lackey.
Valerie stopped picking her nails, her posture suddenly rigid as though she, too, felt something wasn’t right.
“I am loyal to you,” Jared said in a clear, calm voice. “After all these years, you should know.”
This made Melcher smile for a brief moment. His expression turned serious again as he pulled open his blazer, revealing a pistol holstered at his side.
My heart sped up as Melcher removed the gun from its holster and cradled it gingerly in his palm as though it was no more dangerous than a baby snow bunny.
“Prove to me that you can follow orders. Kill Miss Ward.”
Beside me, Valerie gasped. My body stiffened as my chest filled with icy-cold unease.
“The hell he will!” Valerie cried out. “I’m his woman. His vampire soulmate.”
Jared’s body had gone still. He continued facing Melcher as though seriously considering the order.
Despite their hookup, I wasn’t as convinced as Valerie this was going to turn into a “you complete me” kind of scene.
Jared slid his hands into his pocket slowly.
“I’m beginning to think those troopers didn’t randomly happen upon us,” he said.
A slight smile appeared over Melcher’s lips. “I’ve been tracking your movements ever since I had Aurora deliver
ed to you.”
“Delivered?” Jared asked, sounding amused.
“Selene Ericson works for me. As soon as you threatened her she reported to me and we made a plan to drug Aurora, embed a tracking device under her skin, and get her off base to you.”
My hand flew to the back of my neck. “Son of a bitch!” I cried.
So Selene had been working with Melcher all along. No wonder she hadn’t shown any interest in switching sides to help me kill Jared at the exchange. All along her mission had been to hand me off to the enemy. I was angrier at Melcher, plotting behind our backs from the beginning. Not surprising, but completely infuriating.
“I’ve been monitoring your movements ever since,” Melcher continued. “Henry has been trailing you from a distance. We apprehended Wilson after you left North Pole. The vampire was extremely forthcoming about your plans for New Year’s Eve.” Melcher’s eyes gleamed. “When we saw you heading for Howard Butcher’s place, I called Butcher away and sent the troopers to bring you in.”
“Why the troopers?” Jared asked. “You’ve got your own little army here.” He nodded toward the door. “Why not have your men round us up?”
Melcher took a step toward Jared, shoulders back, chin high.
“To remind you of how I first found you,” he said, his voice full of bluster. “Haven’t I always taken care of you?”
Jared shifted his weight from one side to the other. Melcher continued to hold out the pistol like an offering. He gazed at Jared, voice dropping into a sickening smooth tone.
“All I ever asked in return was for your uncompromising loyalty.”
“I am loyal,” Jared said.
Melcher gave a slight shake of his head. “You’ve been working with our enemies, Xavier. Targets. Bottom feeders. Twisted souls who should be put to rest.”
Jared pulled his hands out of his pockets and held his palms out toward Melcher. “I agree,” he said roughly. “They’re the scum of the earth. That’s why I wasn’t working with them. I was using them. They’ve kept themselves hidden away. By compelling them into action, I knew the agency would hunt them down.”
“At the expense of my agents,” Melcher snapped, his jaw tightening.
Jared scratched the back of his head. “You’re the one who always told me sacrifices must be made for the greater good.”
“And what is the greater good?” Melcher challenged.
“To rid the world of the demonic plague,” Jared answered.
Melcher’s jaw relaxed. He nodded. “If you believe that statement, do as I’ve asked and put Miss Ward to rest.”
Valerie took a step back. “You can’t do that,” she said. “You recruited me. I’m an agent.”
“You were an agent,” Melcher said evenly. “Now you’re one of the damned.”
Valerie shrank back at his cold words. She turned to Jared. “We’re family,” she said louder. “Why do you want him to kill me?” Valerie demanded, eyes jumping over to Melcher. “Why not Aurora? It’s her fault Fane wormed his way into your agency.”
“We still need Aurora,” Melcher answered calmly, keeping his gaze on Jared, pistol waiting in his palm.
Still? And once he didn’t? Then what? Would he ask Jared to finish the job he’d started when he hit my car?
Before I could protest, Jared started toward Valerie. If his hardened expression was anything to go by, it wasn’t reluctance but determination that made him walk in slow motion. Valerie’s eyes expanded. She looked too shocked to register fear.
“You’re kidding,” she said. “You’re fucking kidding. You stabbed me. You ensured I’d never see my family—my real family—ever again. You took away my entire life. And still I fucked you. I ran away from the agency and fucked you. Who else would follow you into the pits of hell?”
“You’d follow me, but he’d save me,” Jared said absently, inclining his head toward Melcher.
Then, before anything more could be said by anyone, he grabbed Valerie by the neck and twisted. A sickening snap followed. At least, I think it did. I screamed at the same time, but I swore I heard Valerie’s bones break.
It was like Henriette all over again. Only this time, Jared held Valerie in his arms after the life left her eyes. He stared at her for several moments before letting go. Her body hit the floor.
Vomit rose up my throat. I swallowed it down and gagged.
Taking a life shouldn’t be that easy. For all her evil deeds, Valerie deserved a fair fight, especially against the man who’d attacked, recruited, and betrayed her.
Now she lay in a motionless heap inside a cold hangar.
As soon as I’d recovered enough to speak, I turned to Melcher. “Why kill her? You once told me Valerie was one of your best informants.”
Melcher took his time returning his pistol inside his holster. Once secure, he smoothed his blazer over the concealed weapon.
“Miss Ward was beyond saving, beyond redemption,” he said. “She killed three of my agents and Diederick. She fled twice. She didn’t obey my orders or Jared’s.”
“Neither did I,” I said.
Jared said nothing. I wondered if he felt any kind of remorse killing the only woman who could stand to be around him.
“In time, I believe you would have,” Melcher said sadly. “You killed more vampires in your first few months than any other new recruit before you. You had so much potential—” Melcher shook his head, “until you got yourself caught up with Francesco Donado.”
“Italian vampires are the worst,” Jared said, brushing his hands on his jeans.
“Opposed to psycho killer vampires?” I snapped back.
“We are not killers, Aurora,” Melcher said with a tight frown. “We are crusaders protecting humanity from the evil of our own kind.”
“So why don’t you do humanity a favor and impale yourselves on a couple of sharp sticks?”
Melcher studied me a moment as though taking my words seriously. When he spoke, it was to answer. “I am called to a higher purpose. I didn’t understand it at first. I wondered how God could turn me, one of his most devoted servants, into one of the forsaken. It took months of anguish and prayer before I realized I hadn’t been damned, I’d been chosen to outlive mere mortals, to live as long as He deemed necessary to rid this earth of the undead plague. The undead are not immortal, but if left unchecked, they can live for centuries. The Almighty did not create man to live indefinitely. Only demons are untouched by time. Only demonic creatures would live off blood. It is up to us to lay these beings to rest.”
Jared cleared his throat. “What’s the plan, boss?”
Melcher’s eyes flicked over to his reinstated devotee.
“It’s time to take back control of the agency,” he said. “Once Francesco is disposed of, it will be easy to convince the senator to call off his lieutenant. The only reason he instated him was because of the pressure the Donados put on him.” Melcher reached inside his blazer pocket and pulled out a syringe. The sight of the needle made my blood turn cold. “It has to look like an accident so his family doesn’t look into it too closely. All we have to do is lure him to a secluded location and take him out.”
Melcher and Jared closed in on me. I hollered as Jared’s fingers clamped around my arms from behind. I thrashed from side to side then jerked backward and banged the back of my head against his face, but his grip only tightened. Jared released one of my arms only to wrap his free arm around my neck and begin choking me.
I gagged and fought for air as the pressure increased, crushing my windpipe. Black spots appeared over my vision. I was too focused on fighting for breath to fight Jared. I took in shallow breaths as Melcher loomed at my side, joining Jared’s grip on my arm with his own cold fingers as he jabbed the needle into a vein. It pinched but was nothing compared to the crushing pressure on my throat.
Jared released me and I stumbled forward, sputtering. I sucked air in and out. I could breathe again, but I was fading into oblivion. The floating black spots fused togeth
er, forming one dark curtain closing in on me fast.
Melcher’s voice was the last thing I heard before I passed out.
“It’s time to lay Fane Donado to rest.”
16
Silent Night
When my brain flickered awake it was met with silence and cold the likes I’d never known before. My body felt unbelievably stiff. I tried lifting my arms to rub my eyes, but they were restrained. An image of Jared and Melcher ganging up on me flashed through my mind. My eyelashes fluttered open.
There were walls all around me—no longer the spacious hangar, but a wooden A-frame structure with bunk beds that went up three high. The glass pane on a small window beside the door was warped, allowing in a limited amount of light, but no clear view outside.
The air was musty and stale.
Someone had placed me seated upright and taped to a wood chair in the center of the bunkhouse. There was no bedding on any of the bunks and no heat from the small iron stove in the corner.
I was all alone.
It took a minute for the cloud of confusion to clear away and for Melcher’s last words to come charging back at me.
“It’s time to lay Fane Donado to rest.”
Blind panic scorched through me. How long had I been out? Was Fane already dead?
I jerked my arms back and forth, but the duct tape held firm. The tape’s resistance only spurred on my efforts to break free. The friction rubbed my wrists raw, but I kept fighting the restraints, twisting from side to side to get more momentum. My heartbeat thrashed inside my eardrums. My breaths came out in shallow gasps.
I rocked side to side in the chair until it fell over onto the floor, taking me down with it.
The door of the bunkhouse swung open. A rectangle of murky light entered.
“Oh, you’re awake.”
I lifted my head off the ground, getting a sideways view of Henry that started with his wrinkled slacks and continued up to his reddening face. His Adam’s apple bobbed and his eyes darted around the room, looking everywhere but at me.
“Where’s Fane?” I demanded.
Henry’s eyebrows furrowed. Before he could answer, Jared appeared beside him and smirked down at me.
True North (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter, Vol. 6) Page 23