I went at the bite mark as though aiming for a bull’s-eye.
I reopened the wound with my teeth. Daren yelped. Blood trickled over the surface of his skin. I sucked at it greedily.
I didn’t stop to think I was drinking directly from the source, just like a vampire.
Daren’s body slackened. He closed his eyes, lower lip slightly ajar.
He likes this, I told myself to try and justify what I was doing.
I bit into the wound to make it bleed more. Daren made a guttural sound in the back of his throat. He moaned.
Sick freak, I thought, even though I was the one drinking him. I wanted the blood. I needed the blood.
Still, it wasn’t right.
I swallowed and pushed Daren away. He steadied himself. I grabbed the torn bandage from the ground, thrusting it at him.
“Cover that up.”
Daren took the bandage from my fingers and held it over his neck. “It’s okay,” he assured me. “Your secret’s safe with me. Just ask Noel.”
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. “What secret?”
Daren leaned in, looking side to side as though the walls were listening.
“That you’re vampires,” he whispered.
“We’re not vampires,” I said.
“But…”
“No!” I inhaled sharply. “You should go now.”
“Of course. Whatever you want,” Daren said. He paused at the door. “If you ever need anything, call me.”
19
Worst Day Ever
I sank onto a dining room chair. Despite the blood, I felt like the one who’d been drained.
Giselle still had Dante. Levi had Tommy. Jared was on his way to Anchorage.
And I was a vampire.
I didn’t need Goth-boy to tell me what I’d known and denied since the moment I first drank blood.
There was no antidote. I’d been dead all along.
What Melcher called side effects were really symptoms, ones I recognized in the boot camp textbook: loss of appetite, sensitivity to sun, blood cravings, lethargy followed by bouts of hyper-activity and energy, even sensitivity to garlic.
We’d all found that last one especially amusing at boot camp.
Vampires infected with rabies were hypersensitive to pungent smells, like garlic. Guess what the cafeteria never served? Garlic, onions, or anything else from the genus allium.
Even Dante, with his impressive appetite, ordered his pizza without garlic. I’d seen him pick onions off burgers before.
So it was true. Melcher was building his own vampire army—fighting fire with fire. It had to be.
What happened when his soldiers figured it out? What options did we have? Serve Melcher for the remainder of our unnatural lives or die?
My lips curled back. It brought a whole new meaning to the term “life sentence.”
What about death? It was pretty comical considering I’d already died and been brought back as this. I stretched my arms across the table. Vampire arms. I concentrated on my breathing. It sounded the same as it always did. I placed a hand over my heart, felt the soft, measured thumps.
Everything inside my body felt the same, but was functioning differently. I was immortal… at least until Melcher ordered my damned soul be sent to the great beyond.
I laughed hysterically, peals of laughter that went on and on, bouncing off the walls all around me.
Undead. Dead.
What was the bloody point?
The doorbell rang. I wiped tears from my eyes as I got up to answer it.
Fane stood on the other side of the door, frowning.
“Noel called…” he stopped abruptly, leaned forward and looked into my face. “You seem strange.”
I raised both brows. “You mean not quite human?”
“What do you mean?”
I had a bone to pick with Fane. He’d let me go on about the antidote and turning, all the while knowing I was already undead. Now would be a good time to speak up. I waited for Fane to call me the V word—to say it out loud. But he remained silent. We stared at one another, each of us waiting. Maybe he wanted me to say it.
I had a more pressing question to ask. “Did you get Tommy?”
I rose to the balls of my feet, ready to hug him if only he’d say he came through.
I didn’t want to deal with being undead. I just wanted to run my fingers over Tommy’s soft fur and revel in the fact that Levi hadn’t gotten to him first. After that, I’d handle everything else.
The frown on Fane’s lips froze me in place. “He wasn’t there.”
My heart slowly sank.
“No,” I whispered, tears pooling over my eyes. Not Tommy. I couldn’t let them take him while Dante was held hostage.
I leveled my eyes with Fane’s. “We have to find him.”
Fane stared back at me, and in his eyes I saw the sympathy and kindness I so desperately craved.
“I’d say the pound is the best place to look,” Fane said.
I nodded. “I think so, too.”
“Let’s go.”
Fane drove us to Animal Control in silence. No music, no conversation. He walked by my side past cages, cell after cell of forlorn eyes that followed our movement—some begging, others that had lost all hope. There were three golden retrievers, none of them Tommy Moe, named after the great Olympic gold and silver medalist and resident of Alaska at the time he became the first American male skier to win two medals in a single Winter Games.
Come on, Champ. Where are you? Where did you go?
My throat closed up. The simple act of breathing threatened to choke me.
Fane sat on the edge of his car’s hood in the pound’s parking lot, calling every animal rescue group in Anchorage to ask if anyone had turned in a golden retriever that day. But like Dante, Tommy was MIA, and there wasn’t a thing I could do about it.
“I’ll keep calling,” Fane said on the drive home. “Every day until we find him.”
The tears I’d just blinked away swarmed back over my eyes. “For all we know, Levi took him out of town and set him loose in the woods,” I said, staring out the window.
That sounded like something Levi would do. I remembered the way he taunted me, his mischievous smile, the last question he whispered in my ear: “What do you promise in return?”
Maybe, like Giselle, he decided to keep Tommy hostage in return for something else. Now was not the time to come up with ideas. They only made my skin crawl. But if he kept Tommy, that meant he wasn’t lost in the woods without food or shelter.
“How long have you known this informant who took the dog?” Fane asked.
“I met him today,” I said, frowning.
Fane’s slender fingers wrapped around the steering wheel. “And this was after Giselle stopped by and stabbed Valerie?”
I took a deep breath in and out. “It’s been a long day.”
It hadn’t just been a long day, it had been the worst day of my life. Right after initiation. And my abduction and stabbing. And being duct-taped, suspended from a ceiling, and forced to kill Marcus. Come to think of it, all I had were bad days. To say it was the worst wasn’t saying much. It was like calling ice cold.
By the time we returned home, Noel’s convertible was parked in the driveway. When I saw it, I went from mopey to mad. If Noel hadn’t left me alone with Fane overnight and gone off to Girdwood, she could have easily gotten to Dante’s house before Levi. We lived minutes away, as opposed to Fane who lived clear across town.
Fane pulled up along the curb.
Once we’d made it inside, Noel rushed at us from the hallway. She was wearing a short strappy dress with light pink and purple checkers. The fabric reminded me of a picnic blanket. Around her neck, she wore a chunky necklace with smooth square beads. Noel’s shoulders and arms were bare and perfectly smooth. I couldn’t make out any bite marks, but there wouldn’t be any, would there? Not with her doing the biting.
“I got here as fast as I could,�
�� she said.
After she did her hair and makeup and got dressed? I thought bitterly.
Noel turned to Fane. “Did you get the dog?”
Fane shook his head. “The informant got there before me.”
Noel covered her mouth. “Oh, no.”
“Why did you leave me alone with Fane last night?” I asked.
Noel lowered her hand slowly. “A friend invited me to a party. Besides, I thought it would be better if we weren’t all three under the same roof. You told me to stay out of the way, so that’s what I’ve done. I have no idea what’s going on with you. You haven’t exactly been forthcoming.”
“And you have?” I challenged. “How long have you known you were a vampire?”
Noel gasped and looked at Fane. “So you did tell her?”
Fane didn’t say anything. He looked at me, instead. He’d known what I was from the moment he caught me trying to sneak blood out of his fridge. He knew about Noel. He probably figured it out at Marcus’ party. That was the big secret. That was what they’d hidden from me, as though I were some kind of china doll who’d crack under the pressure.
I wasn’t fragile, I was numb. Nothing could hurt me at the moment. I had no feelings—physical or emotional—to hurt. What was there left to lose besides my life?
If Giselle wanted to play it cool, I’d be cool back. If Melcher wanted to keep secrets, I’d keep secrets, too. They were all toying with me, and I was tired of it. I had to start thinking like a vampire, cold and calculated, just like the bastards messing with my life and the people I loved.
“Fane didn’t tell me; Daren did,” I said.
Noel’s jaw dropped further. “Daren wouldn’t do that,” she said.
I tilted my head, brows rising suggestively. “Oh, but he would under the right circumstances.”
Noel frowned and shook her head, not understanding.
“Aurora bit him,” Fane supplied.
He was a quick one, Fane Donado. Always had been. Just not quick enough to save Tommy.
Noel’s eyes widened. “You bit him?”
I placed a hand on my hip. “That’s what vampires do, isn’t it?”
Noel let out a breath that sounded like relief. “How long have you known?” she asked.
I stared at the walls absently, thinking back.
“I knew something wasn’t right the moment I woke up from the accident,” I said.
I knew the first time I drank blood. I knew when Marcus told me I tasted like death. I knew at camp. I knew in so many little ways, but it wasn’t until I ripped the band-aid off and bit Daren that I knew for sure.
Drinking blood wasn’t just a craving, it was instinct.
“What about you?” I asked Noel.
She glanced at Fane.
“Fane confirmed it for me the night you walked in on us at the palace.”
“You were telling the truth,” I said, looking into Fane’s steady brown eyes. “Our blood has a bad taste. Marcus mentioned it before I killed him.” I looked at Noel. “Is everyone in our unit a vampire? Dante? Valerie?” Levi and Mason. It wouldn’t surprise me if those two already knew.
Noel nodded. “I think so.”
Valerie I could believe, but the idea of Dante being a vampire sounded ludicrous. But he had the same blood. He’d undergone the same transfusion, been injected with vampire viruses. We were all undead. The process had been completed, thanks to Melcher and his team of mad scientists.
A trickle of hope fluttered through me. If Dante really was a vampire, maybe Giselle would let him go. Why hold another vampire hostage?
“We can get Giselle to release Dante,” I said.
Fane shook his head. “She won’t care if he’s a vampire.”
“So now what?” I asked sullenly.
Fane looked from Noel to me.
“We work together,” he said.
I thought telling Fane and Noel everything that had happened to me since Fane left that morning would lessen the weight on my shoulders, but it didn’t. Dante was still a captive, Valerie was still in critical condition, Giselle’s demands were still impossible to meet, and Tommy was nowhere to be found.
Noel had asked about the blood on the carpet. I hoped she was as good at getting blood stains out as she was at home decorating.
The three of us stood in the living room where I’d walked them through everything from the confrontation with Giselle, to the meeting on base, my new teammates, and our upcoming assignment.
“What would happen if you walked away?” Fane asked.
A bitter laugh bubbled its way up my throat. “I can’t walk away. Melcher would put me on a hit list, or worse, throw me in one of his cells for a new recruit to kill.”
I had no trouble imagining all types of horrific scenarios when it came to Melcher.
The room went quiet until Fane said, “Unless, as we discussed earlier, Melcher was eliminated.”
“What about Noel?” I asked. “She loves her work as an informant with the agency.”
Even if she was a vampire, she obviously enjoyed the perks of staying on the force: a nice house, clothes, and a convertible. Both a government slave and a kept vampire.
Noel cleared her throat. “I want out.”
I must have heard wrong. Noel Harper lived to serve. She once told me we were like the vampire police, recruited to keep order in the world. She said she loved doing her part.
“Does Melcher know about your self-discovery?” I asked.
Noel shook her head.
“What’s with the convertible?”
Noel grinned. “I parked my old beater in Fairview and reported it stolen. Melcher told me to find something under ten thousand on Craigslist. I found a Mazda with low miles in mint condition after you left. It was easy to talk the owner down with it being winter.”
I glanced around the room.
“This is a nice house. You’ve got a nice car, suck buddies on the side…” I looked directly at Noel. “Why would you want to give that all up?”
Noel met my eye. Her head lifted. “Because Melcher broke the rules. We’re supposed to save lives, not take them.”
“He killed you, too,” I said, voice dropping.
I wondered if he’d set Jared on Noel, as well. Just how many lives had they taken in the interest of their underworld war?
Noel shook her head. “I killed myself.”
“You killed yourself,” I repeated, dumbstruck.
“It doesn’t matter. He might not have taken my life away, but he’s taking others. How long before he ends us for good?”
“I’ve been wondering the same thing,” I said.
Fane cleared his throat. “You said this vampire named Jared hit your car?”
“Yes.”
Fane balled his hand into a fist. “In that case, he’s the first to go.”
“He’s on his way to Anchorage,” I said. “Melcher called him in to go after Giselle. She wants him alive.”
“Too bad,” Fane said. “Jared’s mine.”
“You can’t kill him,” I said. “We have to get Dante back first. I won’t do anything that risks his life.”
Fane pressed his lips together. He stared at me steadily, frowning.
“I agree,” Noel spoke up. “We get Dante. He’s one of the good guys. And Gavin… we get him back, too.”
“Very well,” Fane said. “What’s the plan?”
I smiled grimly.
“We let Jared come to us.”
Fire against fire. Fang to fang. I’d handle Jared the way I’d been taught—without mercy. Melcher wanted to keep the kings in play. I had my own plans to take them all out one by one until only the master remained, vulnerable and weak.
I didn’t have my own army. I had something better. Friends. The kind that lasted forever.
About the Author
Nikki Jefford is a third generation Alaskan, living in Northern Washington. Books, travel, TV series, hiking, writing and motorcycle riding are her favorite escapes.
She enjoys meeting people from all walks of life, from around the globe, and believes that the planet and all its inhabitants should be treated kindly.
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Nikki’s the author of:
The Spellbound Trilogy
Entangled (Spellbound #1)
Duplicity (Spellbound #2)
Enchantment (Spellbound #3)
Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter
Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter, Vol. 1)
Northern Bites (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter, Vol. 2)
Stakeout (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter, Vol. 2.5)
Evil Red (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter, Vol. 2.6)
Bad Blood (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter, Vol. 3)
Hunting Season (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter, Vol. 4) Releasing Fall 2014
Say Hello!
Nikki posts updates, teasers and other fun things on her blog. She can also be found on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
Acknowledgements
Big Alaskan bear hugs to Ali Hymer and Janice Pia for beta reading and critiquing the heck out of Bad Blood. This book wouldn’t be what it is without these two fearless ladies’ vigilant feedback. (I also got a kick out of their Aurora Sky song recommendations.)
As always, tremendous thanks to author S.M. Boyce for her content and copy edits. Boyce understands my voice and goals for the series. Her observations and suggestions are beyond priceless.
Bad Blood (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter, Vol. 3) Page 25