Bad Blood (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter, Vol. 3)

by Nikki Jefford

  Fane studied me a moment before saying, “All right, Aurora. I’ll leave you alone. For now. But we need to come up with a time and place where we can talk safely.”

  I nearly snorted wine out my nose. Being alone with Fane was never a good idea.

  “I’m not leaving until you agree,” he said.

  “I’ll call you tomorrow afternoon,” I said quickly.

  He needed to go before Valerie saw him and started World War III.

  “Very well, talk to you soon, Aurora Sky.”

  Fane slid his wineglass across the counter, lifting it with his fingers as he left the bar. I didn’t see where he went. I kept my back to the room.

  I took another sip of wine, followed by another. I rooted myself to the counter, hoping Fane would leave the party entirely. Even if we weren’t seen together, Dante and Valerie would flip if they saw him at all.

  I finished the wine.

  My body swayed. I leaned against the counter. The bottles behind the bar blurred. I blinked several times. When I tried to refocus, everything looked hazy again. God, when had I become such a lightweight? I blamed Fane. If anyone could throw me into a temporary tizzy, it was that maddening Man-Vamp.

  Well, I had to say one thing—I felt relaxed.

  “Pour you another?” the bartender asked.

  He looked a bit blurry, too.

  “One was enough, thanks,” I said before pitching forward and catching myself on the counter.

  “I can see that,” the bartender said. He looked over my shoulder and jutted his chin up before walking away.

  I tried turning to see who he’d been signaling, but a dizzy spell came over me when I moved my head.

  Not good. On mission. Work to do.

  I started to slip down the counter when strong arms steadied me.

  “I don’t need your help,” I said, thinking it was Fane.

  But it wasn’t Fane, it was Henry. I rolled my eyes when I saw him.

  “You again.” I made a grunt of disgust. The trouble was I couldn’t quite shut my mouth once I was done. “You are so annoying,” I said, my words slightly slurred. “Go bother someone else.”

  “I only need you for a moment,” Henry said.

  “Not a good time. I don’t feel good. Wouldn’t want to ruin your fancy shoes.” I gave Henry a toothy smile.

  He looked down briefly and scowled. “You’re not going to get sick. You’ll just be out of it for a little while.”

  That’s when I knew the son of a bitch had drugged me. I tried to grab him by the collar and scream in his face, but my hand slipped. My entire body nearly followed the downward direction of my arm, but Henry caught me.

  “You and I are going to have a quick chat upstairs.”

  Where the hell were Diederick’s peace keepers? I looked in the host’s direction only to see everyone with their backs to us as the bastard bartender handed out shots from a tray.

  I squirmed.

  “Don’t fight me, Aurora, unless you want to get Diederick involved.”

  “What did you tell him?” I demanded. The words were crystal clear inside my head. To Henry I imagined they sounded more like, “Wuh di you tell ‘im?”

  “I didn’t tell him anything. This investigation is private. If you want off my watch list, it’s simple. Just let my associate take a sample of your blood.”

  “This is harassment.”

  “All I want is the truth.”

  I stopped squirming, a silly grin coming over my face. “Me, too,” I said. “That’s all I want. Let me know when you find out, will you?” My head lulled back. The last thing I remembered was Henry gripping me tighter.

  I didn’t have to worry about standing upright any longer. When I came to, I was lying on a bed. I wasn’t tucked in, cozy-like. Henry had laid me on my back on top of the blankets. He stood on the side, arms folded, staring at me with the cold detachment of a mortician. The overhead light above him glared in my face. I squinted to block it out.

  At least I wasn’t tied down or duct taped, but my body still felt like jelly. I tried to lift my head, but I didn’t move an inch. I turned my head to the side, instead. Nothing to see besides an oak dresser topped with a vase of fresh white lilies.

  “Hurry up. You waited so long she’s awake now,” Henry said.

  I turned my head to the other side. A scrawny teenage boy in slacks and a polo shirt jumped when he noticed me looking at him.

  Of course Henry was too much of a pansy to test me himself.

  “Is this one of the tasting rooms?” I asked.

  My body might’ve been dysfunctional, but at least my words sounded better, a bit bewildered, but better than slurred.

  “We’re inside a guest room on the second floor,” Henry said.

  “You actually answered my question.”

  “I’m not a villain, Aurora. I’m just doing the job I was hired to do. Now why don’t you answer mine?”

  What a jackass. And to think I’d once had an oral fantasy about him. Well, he could just forget about an encore.

  “Okay.” I lifted my head and smiled at Henry sweetly. “I’m not a vampire hunter and I didn’t kill Marcus.”

  “We’ll see,” Henry said. “My associate here is going to verify your statement.”

  “Associate?” I looked at the scrawny dude and snorted. “More like guinea pig.”

  Henry ignored me. “Go on,” he said to his associate.

  The boy didn’t move or look at Henry. He kept looking at me, his body hunched, all but quivering.

  “If she’s lying and she really is a vampire hunter, her blood will kill me.”

  Henry sighed. “It won’t kill you. The most you’ll experience are some slight shakes and those quickly go away.”

  Ha! Who was the liar now?

  “Hey, twigs,” I said. “I will kick your ass if you get those chapped lips anywhere near my body.”

  The boy’s eyebrows shot up. He looked at Henry. “If it’s not that bad, why don’t you bite her?”

  Henry’s menacing glare wasn’t half bad. He looked the boy up and down.

  “Are you refusing to cooperate?” he asked softly.

  The boy swallowed before answering, “No, of course I’ll cooperate.” He said the words, but made no move toward me.

  I’ll admit I pitied the boy. Being forced to follow orders sucked. Didn’t mean I wouldn’t kick his ass if he bit me, though.

  “I don’t have all night,” Henry said.

  The boy took one step forward. He glanced at Henry and moved to the bedside.

  All right, Aurora, how are you going to get out of this one?

  I had a knife. No, wait. I’d left it inside the car.

  I had my kung fu moves. Nope, those wouldn’t do me much good, either, being drugged and all.

  The boy crouched beside me, eyeing my arm warily.

  “Permission denied,” I said.

  “Do it,” Henry said louder. “Bite her.”

  A loud knock at the door made the boy jump.

  “This room is occupied,” Henry called out.

  The knocking stopped.

  Dante, I commanded inside my head,come through that door and kick these suckers’ asses. But it wasn’t Dante who burst through the door. It was Fane.

  He sauntered inside, looking around the room, eyebrows rising when he saw me on the bed. He flashed Henry a chilling smile.

  “Want to explain what the hell’s going on in here?”

  “Just asking Aurora some questions,” Henry said, lifting his chin. If he wanted to make himself taller around Fane, it wasn’t working. Fane still dwarfed Henry.

  Fane glanced at the bed. “And you decided to make her more comfortable while you were at it?”

  “She had too much to drink and wanted to lie down.”

  “Liar,” I said.

  Fane locked his eyes on Henry.

  Henry lifted his chin higher. “You may have heard that I was hired by Richard Stanton to investigate Marcus’ death.�
��

  Fane snorted. “And you think Aurora did it?”

  Henry’s eyes narrowed on Fane. “I have good reason to suspect her. No one at the party saw her leave that night. Her scarf was still hanging by the door when the last of the guests departed.”

  “That’s it? A scarf.” Fane nodded at the boy quivering by the bedside. “What’s he doing here?”

  “He’s here to test Aurora’s blood and make sure she’s not a vampire hunter.”

  “I’ll save you the trouble. I’ve tasted it many times to no ill-effect.”

  The boy heaved a sigh of relief. “So I don’t have to bite her?”

  Henry looked from Fane to me before answering, “You can go now. Shut the door on your way out.”

  No one spoke while the boy hurried out, shutting the three of us inside together. The room went silent. All I needed was an extra vampire and Dante to complete the scene from one of my most disturbing fantasies. For a moment, I wondered if I was dreaming. I wished this were a dream. At least then I could wake up safe and put it all behind me.

  Henry stared at Fane for a long time.

  A lot of people would find this unnerving, but Fane inspected his fingernails as though royally bored.

  “Have you really bitten her?” Henry asked.

  “No, I’m only a pretend vampire.” Fane made a sound of disgust deep in the back of his throat.

  “Prove it.”

  Fane’s body tensed. “I don’t have to prove anything to you.”

  “Then I’ll get someone else to do it.”

  Fane and Henry stared each other down. Suddenly, Fane’s shoulders relaxed. He smiled sardonically. “Haven’t had any action in a while, have you, Henry? Looking for a show?”

  Fane turned to me so quickly his features blurred, turning him temporarily into a dark inky blot. His fingers curled around the hem of my dress. In one swift move, he lifted and pulled the skirt over my legs. The fabric slid up my body. It was so smooth and seductive that I didn’t think to protest.

  Fane gathered the skirt just below my hips.

  It hit me. This couldn’t be happening. I wouldn’t let it.

  I reached for Fane’s hand, crying out, “Fane!”

  “It’s the only way to get him off your back,” Fane whispered.

  He pressed one knee into the mattress and swung his leg across me, straddling me above the knees. His hands slid up my thighs, pushing the dress over my hips. He sucked in a breath.

  The air between my legs turned deliciously warm when he exhaled. God, it felt like his mouth was only an inch away. Maybe it was. I’d closed my eyes. It made the whole thing less humiliating. Not that I was coherent enough to experience anything other than a sense of weightlessness and disbelief.

  My nipples tightened and rubbed against the fabric when I squirmed beneath Fane. Liquid heat rushed between my legs.

  It’s the drugs, I told myself. They were messing with my mind and making me crave things I shouldn’t want.

  Fane placed a firm hand on my belly. If he bit me, he’d convulse. I didn’t think he’d go through with it. But a second later he dipped down, hot breath on my groin, and bit my inner thigh. Hard!

  My eyes flew open. I screamed instantly. Henry covered his ears.

  As Fane lifted his head, he pulled down my dress, covering my knees.

  I forced my leaden head off the mattress to stare, bewildered, at Fane. He grinned at Henry, teeth covered in blood.

  My jaw dropped.

  Fane ran his tongue over his teeth and swallowed, smiling the entire time. “Can I have seconds?”

  Henry folded his arms across his chest. “You proved your point, Francesco.”

  Fane’s eyes narrowed on Henry. “Don’t ever question me again.”

  Henry nodded curtly and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

  I stared wide-eyed at Fane.

  “You—you bit me,” I stuttered.

  Fane’s eyebrows lifted.

  I gathered my dress around my waist for a closer look. A set of teeth marks marred the skin of my inner thigh, but there was no blood.

  My head snapped up. “But, how…”

  Fane’s grin widened. “I bit my tongue.”

  I sat up. “You bit your own tongue?”

  “It was the only way to convince Henry you weren’t what he thought you were.”

  I felt my heart floating with the knowledge that Fane had lied to one of his own and hurt himself to protect me.

  “I had to find a place he wouldn’t examine closely,” Fane said. “I’d say it worked out to everyone’s satisfaction.” He smiled smugly.

  I took a moment to stare at his lips, lips that had been between my legs moments ago. Fane’s eyebrow rose like the curly part of a question mark.

  “I’m with Dante,” I lied. I looked down at the mattress, avoiding Fane’s eyes.

  “In that case, he can send me flowers for keeping you alive.”

  I nodded. “Thank you for that.” The movement of my head made everything fuzzy again. I stopped.

  Fane scooted off the bed, stood, and reached out a hand for me. “Let’s get you out of here.”

  I looked from his hand to his eyes. “I can’t leave. I’m working.”

  Fane’s eyes narrowed. “You’re in no condition to do anything until you’ve slept off whatever Henry had the bartender slip into your drink. I’ll drive you home.”

  “But Dante…”

  Suddenly Fane grabbed me by the arm and pulled me up. Our noses nearly touched. I stared at Fane’s lips, watching their movement as he spoke.

  “You said you want to live. If you meant it, you’ll come with me now.”

  His tone brokered no argument. I lifted my eyes to his and nodded. When I tried to take a step forward, the floor seemed to move out from under me. Fane caught me.

  “What did he give me?” I asked.

  “Something to loosen you up.”

  I felt loose all right.

  “Put your arm around my neck,” Fane said as he maneuvered me out of the bedroom.

  I did as he asked. Fane slipped an arm around my waist and we proceeded down the hall. Good thing we were on the main level and didn’t have to deal with stairs.

  Foster stood at attention near the entrance.

  Fane halted our progress. “Did you have a jacket or a purse?” he asked me.

  “Phone,” I said.

  Foster turned and pulled down one of the wicker baskets from the shelf. I didn’t know how he remembered which was which. They all looked the same. Foster presented a basket with two phones inside.

  “Which one’s yours?” Fane asked.

  I pointed to mine.

  Fane grabbed it and stuffed it inside his pants pocket.

  “Mind getting the door?” he asked Foster.

  The butler returned the basket to the shelf before holding the door open. Cold air prickled my arms. The bald valet disappeared as soon as he saw Fane and returned promptly with the old beat up Pontiac Catalina. Bet they didn’t see many guests driving shit cars like that on the hillside.

  Fane stepped in front of the valet when he came around to open my door.

  “I’ve got it,” he said.

  The valet crouched down. “Miss, I have to ask, do you know this man?”

  I glanced at Fane. “He’s an old friend. I’m not feeling well, so he offered to give me a ride home while my boyfriend finishes his tasting.”

  “Thank you. Very good.”

  Fane buckled me in.

  Hello, old girl, I thought, looking around the interior of the car. It was so ancient, it was hard to tell it was clean, but Fane never had any crap lying around. This car was more like a memory-mobile. We’d made out in this car, skipped school, and worked on car rehabilitation, as Fane liked to call it. He’d come to my aid in this car. It wasn’t exactly the batmobile, but it was reliable.

  Once we’d pulled away from the lodge, I turned to Fane and said, “I’m guessing Henry wouldn’t hav
e had much luck getting me off the grounds.”

  “Marcus didn’t like incidents,” Fane said. “Diederick ensures there are none. If you think that makes you safe, think again. If Diederick has even a flicker of a suspicion about you, he’ll ban you and your friends or worse.”

  I frowned. “I need to text Dante and Valerie.”

  Fane pulled my phone from his pocket and handed it to me. I texted Dante first—or tried to. My thumb kept sliding over the keys, pressing the wrong letters. I ended up using the delete key more than the letters.

  Finally, I got everything spelled out properly.

  Me: Ran into a problem. Got a ride home. Stop by tomorrow.

  I hit “send” and opened up a new text to Valerie saying the same thing, minus the invitation to come over.

  I set the phone in my lap and looked over the mountain’s edge as Fane drove down. Anchorage was lit up from below—a city in the distance, twinkling like earth-bound stars across the landscape. They began to blur. I rubbed my eyes.

  “You can never go back there,” Fane said.

  I leaned my head into the seat. “I might not have a choice.”

  Fane hit the steering wheel with his fist.

  “Tell me what needs to happen to free you from this life.”

  I nestled against the seat. Now that I was safe, the drug’s calming effects washed over me.

  “Agent Melcher needs to die,” I said, my lids growing heavy. “But if he does, so do I. Without the antidote, I’ll turn. I’ll be trapped forever.”

  Silence filled the car. I stopped fighting the dark static in my mind and let the drug pull me under

  I woke up slowly to the sound of voices. It was pitch black, so it took a moment to realize I was under the covers of my own bed. The voices outside my room gradually increased in volume as though my ears were adjusting.

  “We need to tell her,” Fane said.

  “Isn’t that what I said from the start?” Noel answered, sounding annoyed.

  I listened for more, but their voices stopped. I felt so tired I didn’t care. I shut my eyes and drifted back off.

  16

  The Red Fury

  Morning woke me with her insistent light. I hadn’t dreamed. I’d like to think I had. I’d like to believe the incident at the lodge with Henry and Fane had all been a figment of my imagination.