Northern Bites (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter, Vol. 2) (12 page)

“A doctor’s note. Have your mother deliver it to your school.”

Something awful and ugly twisted in my gut. I didn’t bother checking my latest malady before crumpling the note into a wad. I squeezed the crumpled paper one last time then let it fall to the ground.

“What’s the point?”
I turned on my heel and stormed out of the room.

The secretary frowned at me as I walked by. Usually I smiled at her no matter how unfriendly she acted. Not now.

I hurried down the hallway past closed doors and bland walls. My vision swam with unshed tears.

“Aurora, wait up!” I heard Dante call behind me.

I turned around, startled to see him looking very serious. He squeezed the claw at his chest and pulled it over his head. Dante held the cord out to me. “Take it for luck.”

“You’re giving me your claw?”

Dante grinned. “I’m loaning it to you. Just watch yourself, Sky. I have a funny feeling about all this.”

Great, Dante had a funny feeling. He usually lived for this stuff.

Dante fished his car keys out of his pocket. “Here, wait in the Jeep if you want. Melcher and the new general want to brief Noel and I. Shouldn’t take long.”

I thanked Dante and headed out into the cold.
I retrieved my backpack from Noel’s car and tossed it inside Dante’s Jeep. I turned the key in the ignition and turned the heaters up full blast. While I waited for Dante, I turned the bear claw over in my hand. Poor beast. Hopefully this one had lived to a ripe old age and died of natural causes before having his claw stripped from his carcass. Well, I needed all the luck I could get. I slipped the cord around my head.

There was nothing to see outside the windshield besides parked cars and Melcher’s base of operation. It looked about as
welcoming as an army barrack. I never thought I’d be summoned back so soon. I tightened my fingers into fists, angry with myself for entertaining any ideas of self-pity.

Crist
and Mike were dead.

I hated knowing the victims. Worst of all, I hated feeling somehow responsible.

I’d walked Mike to his car. He’d gotten inside. What went wrong?

A vamp must have been waiting in the backseat of his car. Or followed him. Maybe he’d returned to the party. No, I would have seen him from my spot in the living room. I could have sworn his car was gon
e when Noel and I left.

What about Fane?

He’d seen Mike and I together, and it hadn’t made him happy. Where had he slipped off to?

I didn’t even want to think about it. It was ridiculous. Fane wasn’t a killer.

What about Henry?

He hadn’t liked Mike seeing him at the party
and there was the location of the bodies to consider. The Anchorage dump was literally becoming a dumping ground for dead bodies. Fane, Gavin, and Henry had used it before to ditch Renard and his associate after Marcus ripped them apart.

It seemed unlikely
he would be so obvious, but then again, he probably didn’t plan on the bodies being discovered. Not to mention he had no clue I was part of a secret government organization specializing in vampire activity.

I was deep in thought when Dante climbed inside the Jeep.
“Feels like a sauna in here,” he said. He switched the heat off completely.

“Feels nice.”

“Good thing you’re headed south.”

Sure, into the wet cold. Anchorage was so dry that if you dressed right you’d be
fine. Southeast Alaska with its damp winters chilled a person right down to their bones.

Dante pulled out of the parking lot. It was still light out. Before he could turn on the radio I asked about his briefing.

“They’re sending us up to check out some dude who comes into Anchorage every couple months. Noel thinks the whole thing’s going to be a bust—says he likes beer better than blood.” Dante leaned back in his seat. “Oh well, I’m always up for a road trip.”

Dante began tapping the steering wheel. He always did that
around these parts. I knew he couldn’t wait to get off base and start speeding.

“Melcher has us all on a wild
goose chase. I bet the killer is right here in Anchorage,” I said. Maybe right under our noses.

“Oh yeah?” Dante said
, sounding interested. “Got a suspect in mind?”

“I’ve got a funny feeling is
all.” Dante wasn’t the only one.

“And you didn’t
want to share this with Melcher?”

I scrunched up my nose. “Melcher’s a freak.”

“And we’re his little Franken freaks.”

I laughed.

Dante smiled sideways at me.

“Did you hear anything about the vamp I’ve been assigned?”
I asked.

“Just a name
and origin: Andre Morrel, formerly of French citizenship. The sergeant doesn’t seem keen on small talk.”

“Yeah, he’s a real bundle of joy.”

Jared scared me a little, but that meant he’d scare any vampires we ran into as well. Maybe this time I wouldn’t get beaten and bruised.

Then again, a
quick in and out to Fairbanks with Dante was beginning to sound better. At least I knew the journey would include comedy relief. I wouldn’t wish Valerie on Noel, though, especially after she’d sunk her claws into Gavin. Maybe I could get to the bottom of that development as long as I was forced to work alongside the vixen. Maybe Valerie and Gavin had teamed up to take out Agent Crist and Mike. Nah, it was too much to hope for. While Valerie had shown no love for Crist, Mike’s death made no sense. None of it made any sense. I still couldn’t wrap my brain around the connection. The effort had begun to exhaust my brain.

“Have you ever been to Sitka or Juneau?” I
asked Dante, switching topics.

“Sadly, no. Melcher’s always sending me north
. He knows I have a way with the natives.” Dante winked. “I envy you, Sky. You get to take on the capital.”

“Not really. I’m only passing through on the way to Sitka.”

“Even better. Back in the day Sitka was the capital of Russian America. They called it the “Paris of the Pacific.””

I snorted. “Paris, give me a break.”

Dante squeezed my thigh. “Come on, Sky, show a little enthusiasm. This is a chance to see the world, go back in time before The Alaska Purchase. You have the chance to stand outside St. Michael’s Cathedral and the old Russian blockhouses. Even better, you get to see Mount Edgecumbe. It looks just like Fuji.”

Pa
ris and now Japan. Big stretch.

I only half listened. My concentration had flown out the window when Dante put his hand on my thigh. He had it back on the s
teering wheel where it belonged a moment later.

“
I’m jealous,” Dante said.

“Don’t be, I’
m stuck with Hothead and Strawberry Suck Cake.”

A devious smile spread over Dante’s lips.

“What?” I demanded.

“Maybe a trip out of town is just what the two of you need to bond.”

I gave a rude laugh. “Let me assure you right here, right now, that I will
never
bond with Valerie Ward.”

Dante
’s brows shot up. “Never say never.”

“Never.”

9

The next morning, I packed my raincoat and hunting knife, secure in its sheath. Melcher hadn’t verbally lifted my ban on weapons, but he hadn’t prohibited it on this mission, either. I wasn’t about to go in unarmed.

Mom didn’t seem particularly concerned that I had to leave town. She had one thing on her mind at the moment: the divorce. Not that she’d accepted it. She told Dad she wouldn’t sign the papers until he agreed to meet with a marriage counselor.

I kept what I wanted to say to myself.
“He moved on. Shouldn’t you?”

Then again, what did my mom have to move on
to? She didn’t have a career or many friends. Soon enough, she wouldn’t be responsible for me any longer. It was bad enough staying in state for college. I sure as hell wasn’t staying home. The apartment search was marked on my mental calendar for the day after graduation. If I graduated.

Dante had brought a fresh doctor’s note with him from the meeting.

“Take it,” he’d insisted. “The only person you’re hurting is yourself by not turning in the note.”

He could be annoying but
sometimes Dante made perfect sense.

I zipped up my duffel bag then slung it over one shoulder and stopped in front of my mother’s bedroom door. I knocked. “Mom? Mom, it’s time to go. Mom?”

No answer.

“Mom, do you want me to call a cab?”

“I’ll be right out,” came her gravelly voice.

I headed downstairs, ate a piece of bread without toasting it
, and downed a glass of orange juice. I glanced at the clock on the oven. I really needed to get to the airport.

The stairs creaked with
her slow descent. She appeared in the foyer in her slippers and open bathrobe. I took it she wasn’t getting dressed before seeing me off.

Mom shuffled to the fridge and pulled out a
can of Diet Coke. She got a glass out and plunked a handful of ice cubes from the freezer inside before pouring the soda in the glass.

“Uh, Mom? We need to go
.”

She
nodded and took a sip. She set the glass down and tied her robe closed. “I’m ready.”

Mom followed me to the garage
, not even bothering to put on shoes. At least the airport wasn’t far.

“Is Dante going with you?”

“No, he has to go to Fairbanks. I’m going with another girl and our team leader.” I wasn’t sure what to call Jared.

Mom hummed. “Another girl? That’s nice. Is she your age? Are you friends?”

“Yes. Yes. And no.”

“It might be nice to have a friend who shares the same line of work.”

“I have Dante.” And Noel, but Mom didn’t know that, and it wasn’t for me to share.

“I meant a female friend,” Mom said.

“Guys make good friends.” Better friends…except when they were trying to hit on me.

“Maybe this trip will
give you girls a chance to get to know one another better. What’s her name?”

“Yo
u know I can’t give out that information, Mom.”

“Oh, right, I forgot.”

“Don’t worry. You can call her Ginger. That’s her codename on this mission. I’m Raven.” Raven was a heck of a lot better than Mouse. I couldn’t imagine Noel was too thrilled about that, or that she and Dante would stick with those names. Dante liked to use the name Peter, as in Peter Pan, the boy who never aged. I doubted he’d make Noel his Wendy. He reserved that name for me.

Mom pulled into the departures lane in front of Alaska Airlines and put the car in park. I glanced at her slippers. What I wanted
to do was lean over, kiss her on the cheek, and get out of the car, but Mom pulled on the handlebar and stepped outside. I hustled around to the trunk and took my duffel from her hands.