Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter (21 page)

Ivo’s razor teeth pierced through my skin. He dug in deep
and shook his mouth like a bloodthirsty wolf. My skin tore. Blood spilled down
my neck. My heart pumped blood up my throat. Ivo drank greedily.

One,two,three,four,five...six.
I counted in my head.

Suddenly his jaw slackened. His grip weakened. He fell on
top of me, convulsing. I shoved him off.

While he twitched, I pulled up my pant leg and took out the
dagger. His eyes bulged.

“Hun…Hun…” He tried to speak.

“Vampire hunter,” I said for him. “Not so sweet anymore, am
I?”

I lifted the dagger with both hands and brought it down
through his heart. I tore through his skin the way he’d torn through mine.

The twitching stopped. Ivo’s eyes gaped at me. I pulled out
my dagger and wiped the blood off on his shirt.

I still needed to kill Patrick. I unlaced my boots and left
them in Ivo’s bedroom before walking down the edge of the hall. The floorboards
bent under me, but didn’t creak. The entry to the living room loomed closer, and
I crouched by the doorframe. For a long time, no one spoke inside. Finally, one
of the boys said he was tired.

“You know the rules,” Patrick said. “You can party here, but
you can’t crash.”

Their footsteps creaked on the floorboards, followed by the
slam of the door. Outside an engine sputtered and chocked before rumbling to
life.

I peeked inside the living room. Patrick sat alone on the
couch, sipping a beer, probably washing down the blood. I doubled back, put on
my boots, and walked into the living room. I stumbled into the room, leaning
against the doorframe.

Patrick looked me up and down, a smirk on his lips.

Blood trickled from my lip and neck. My head throbbed from
the whack I’d taken on the floor.

I forced a sloppy grin to make Patrick think I was drunk.
“He’s a bit rough.”

I staggered over to the couch and “passed out” with my head
in Patrick’s lap. His legs tensed under me, and he started pushing me aside.

Come on, Patrick, easy offering—drink!

The push against my shoulder eased up. Patrick’s breath blew
over my skin when he inhaled the bite on my neck. I waited for his teeth to
break through. He ran his tongue over the open wound.

I had to force myself to stay still. The licking wasn’t
causing him to convulse the way the biting did.

Patrick swallowed and I had to suppress a shudder as he
licked me again.

Maybe Ivo had sucked out the good stuff and left behind diluted
blood.

Patrick licked and swallowed again. Then he became very
still right before he began to convulse.

I rose off his lap, pulled out the knife, and stuck it in
his heart.

I took my time walking to the bathroom. The warm water
didn’t seem to be working so I ran a hand towel under cold. When I glanced in
the mirror I saw myself clearly. A cut bled over my forehead. I dabbed at it
with the wet cloth then went to work on my neck. I dabbed and rinsed until the
water ran clear.

I pulled out my phone after I finished.

Fane answered immediately. “Aurora.”

He felt so far away. Hundreds of miles and a dark void in
between separated us.

“I miss you,” I whispered. Tears gathered in my eyes.

“Aurora, where are you?”

“Never land.”

“Aurora?”

I flipped my phone shut, reopened it, and dialed Dante. I
spoke before he could say hello.

“It’s done.”

 16

I waited in the back of the Jeep while Dante and Janine
dosed the place in gasoline. I had my scarf back on. If my neck bled anymore at
least it would blend in.

I didn’t see Dante and Janine return to the Jeep so much as
hear the doors open and slam shut.

Janine’s expression softened when she turned to look at me.
“Good work, Aurora.”

“Did I tell you she was ready or what?” Dante spread a hand
over his chest. “My raven-haired prodigy. I’m so proud.”

“Let’s get out of here,” Janine said.

Dante held up a hand. “Wait. I want to make sure the fire
catches.”

I turned to my window and stared at the boarded house.

When black smoke began to leak from the cracks of the house,
Dante shifted into drive and took off down the road.

I stared out my window at the deserted streets. It looked
like a ghost town at night.

Dante ran a red light. It didn’t matter. We were the only
moving vehicle on the road.

Tommy wagged his tail when we returned to the cabin.

I sat with a
thud
on one of the wood chairs.

Janine grabbed a plastic gallon of water and poured it into
a kettle by the cook stove.

“Coffee before the drive home?”

“Me, me,” Dante said.

“Aurora?”

“Yeah, coffee’s fine.” Anything warm would do.

Janine lit the flame on the stove then took a seat across
from me. I reached under my pant leg to remove the dagger. It scraped the table
as I pushed it toward Janine.

“Keep it,” she said.

I nodded and returned the dagger to its holster.

Janine was back on her feet the moment the kettle hissed
steam.

My eyes wandered to the corner of the cabin. The quilt from
the twin bed now lay on the floor in front of the fireplace. The sheets were in
a wad at the foot of the bed, along with the pillows.

Tell me they didn’t. Not while I was off getting pummeled,
bitten, and left to stab two vampires in the heart.

“Smooth moves, Sky,” Dante said, interrupting my train of
thought. “I wish I’d been there to see them. We found Patrick in the same place
on the couch as though he never saw it coming. Ivo was on his back on the
floor.”

Janine set an enamel mug in front of me. The steam rose
below my chin.

“We found Ivo in his bedroom,” Janine said carefully. “Did
everything go okay? I noticed you have bruises.”

“Those aren’t bruises!” Dante said. “They’re battle wounds.
You fought the good fight, Sky.” He drank from the mug Janine handed him and
winced after swallowing the scalding liquid. “Next time we’ll do it together.”

In your dreams
.

I’m sure Dante didn’t mean it in a sexual way, but I
couldn’t help feeling annoyed. I wasn’t angry at Janine. She looked genuinely
concerned, and I’m sure a quick rough and tumble while I battled for my life
wasn’t her idea.

“I can’t wait until Renard and his cohorts get back to town.
We’re going to buzz right back up here and paint this town red.”

“Dante?” I said.

“Yeah?”

“Shut up.”

Janine smirked.

Even Dante smiled.

“Come on, Sky,
lighten up
. We’ve got another long
drive ahead of us.

There were no traces of light when we stepped outside. It
was hard to tell night from day in this arctic wasteland.

Janine walked us to the Jeep. She shook my hand.

“Welcome to the team, Aurora. You really impressed me back
there. I look forward to working with you again.”

“Thanks for the dagger.”

“My pleasure.”

Dante gave Janine a big bear hug, lifting her off her feet
in the process. She laughed and swatted Dante playfully on the back.

“Until the next time duty calls…” she said, laughing again.

Dante broke out into a lopsided grin. “See you soon. Let’s
roll, Sky.”

The only thing rolling were my eyes. We jumped into the Jeep
and slammed our doors shut at the same time. I gave a quick wave to Janine before
she disappeared inside the cabin.

Dante blasted through the secluded road to the paved
streets.

“Mind if I speed?” he asked.

I had stabbed two more vampires in the heart. Dante could
gun it for all I cared.

“Just get me the hell out of here.”

“That’s the spirit, Sky.”

Dante floored the gas pedal at the first big intersection.
As we approached the center, he cranked the steering wheel. The Jeep slid at a
sideways angle.

I grasped the nearest handlebar.

Dante straightened out the wheel and we were once more
moving head first.

When I’d regained my breath, I screamed, “In one piece,
Dante!”

He chuckled. “Sorry, it’s just so much fun driving these
streets when no one’s on them.”

I pulled out my cell phone and dialed into voicemail.

“Who are you calling?” Dante asked.

“Shh!”

Fane’s voice spoke urgently inside my ear.
“Hey, I’ve
been trying to reach you. Are you okay? Give me a call.”

Dante whistled a tune as I tried to listen.

When we entered Nenana, Dante said, “Gotta gas up,” before
pulling into a Chevron.

He hopped out of the Jeep singing “Young Forever” by Jay-Z.
I could hear him through the glass. “Forever young, I wanna be forever young…”

Tommy lifted his head at the sound then settled it back over
his paws and sighed.

I called Fane while Dante refilled.

He answered immediately. “Aurora, I’ve been worried.”

“I’m fine. Sorry about cutting you off earlier.”