Northern Bites (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter, Vol. 2) (13 page)

“Thanks for dropping me off, Mom.”

She nodded, looking me over. “You be safe.”

“I will.” I gave her a quick hug.

“Call me after you land.”

I hoisted my duffel over one shoulder and walked to the curb.

“Let me know as soon you return, and I’ll come pick you up.”

I lifted my hand.
She took a step toward me. Now that I was leaving, she couldn’t seem to say goodbye. I would feel more relaxed once she got back inside the car.

“Aurora, I love you.”

“I love you, Mom. I’ll be home in a couple days.” I had no idea when I’d be home. That was part of the job we had to accept. I went where the agents told me for however long it took. I couldn’t imagine this mission taking long. It seemed to me like we were shooting in the dark. I guess it made sense to start with the most obvious candidates and make our way down the list from there—though being from out of town didn’t strike me as particularly sketchy.

The night before I’d tried to psyche my mind into believing I was headed out on a mini holiday
…with two of the last people on the planet I wanted to be stuck with.

“I’ll
call you when I land,” I said again, then turned toward the sliding doors leading into the terminal.

I caught one last glimpse of my mom standing in the drop-off lane in her slippers and robe.

Warm air greeted me as I stepped into the terminal. Valerie came out of nowhere, practically bumping into me as she pulled a small suitcase on wheels behind her.

“What’s with your Mom? She looks like she escaped
from a mental ward.”

“My mom’s not a morning person,” I said defensively.

Valerie parked her suitcase at the back of the check-in line and put her hands on her hips. “Where’s Jared? He has our tickets.”

“We might as well wait in line till he gets here.”

She tapped her foot as the line inched forward. She wore a fashionable trench coat that stopped above her knees.

My raincoat was the outdoorsy kind. I’d stuffed it inside my duffel
bag along with Dante’s bear claw in case TSA tried to confiscate it. For the plane trip, I had on my standard jeans and pleather jacket. I’d left the red scarf at home. Last time I wore it on mission I was abducted and nearly killed. Didn’t want to jinx myself.

The closer we got to the check-in counter, the faster the line moved. At least I wasn’t the only one flustered. Once we were next up, Valerie glanced over her shoulder and huffed. “Don’t tell me he got the time wrong.”

“Next!” a ticket agent called.

Valerie and I stood in place. Just as I was about to admit defeat and head to the back of the line, Jared gave us both a shove from behind toward the check-in counter.

“Hey!” Valerie said.

“Hey, yourself, Red.”

She snorted in disgust. “Really? Is that the best you can come up with?

“Works for me,”
Jared replied, pushing between us to get to the counter.

“Dipshit
,” Valerie said under her breath.

“Three to Juneau, final destination Sitka,” the clerk said. “I have you all seated together in aisle twenty-three. Will you be checking in any luggage?”

“Three bags,” Jared said.

It’s not
like we could carry all our knives and hazardous materials on board.

“What seats are we in?” Valerie asked as the three of us waited in line at security.

“I’m taking the aisle,” Jared said. “You two can flip for the window seat.”

Valerie shook her hair over her shoulders. “I’m not flipping for anything. I call window.”

Great, stuck between Ginger and Mr. McCreepy.

“Fine,” I said. “I’ll take window on the way back. It’s only fair,” I said when Valerie began to protest.

Jared and I went through security first while Valerie unzipped her boots and removed all her jewelry.

Since we were in the back of the plane, o
ur aisle was one of the first to be called for boarding. Jared held onto all our tickets. It felt patronizing, which I suspected is what he was going for. I had no choice but to follow him and Valerie down the Jetway to our plane.

There were people in
the front rows, standing in the aisle, stuffing everything they could into the overhead bin. Rather than wait for them to finish and take a seat, Jared bumped passengers from behind and kept moving. He stopped at the row after ours.

Valerie
ducked under the overhead compartments and plopped into her window seat. I took the dreaded middle seat. Once Jared had us blocked in, I dug out my iPod, buckled my seatbelt, and rested my head against my seat, earbuds in place, music playing. The volume wasn’t loud enough to block out the screaming child who ended up in the seat in front of me. I turned up the volume and closed my eyes.

I had to leave my musical cocoon during takeoff.
The seat in front of me shook when the boy screamed, “I don’t want the puzzle. I want to color!”

“You’ll have to wait
‘til after takeoff,” the mother said.

“I don’t want to wait.”

“You have to.”

“I don’t want to!”

“Here, have your jelly beans.”

“No!”

Jared kicked the seat in front of him. I didn’t think the mother noticed because I could see her through the space between chairs leaning forward, rummaging through her big carry-on tote bag.

I couldn’t see Valerie behind the book she held in front of her face.
Blood in the Snow
the title said in big, bold red letters. I would’ve thought she was more a
Glamour
magazine type reader. Then again, I wasn’t exactly surprised that she got her kicks reading about cold-blooded killers.

As soon as we
reached cruising altitude, I lowered the seat tray in front of me. Dante had grabbed a copy of the University of Alaska Anchorage’s summer schedule for me to look at. The fall schedule didn’t come out until mid-semester. I pulled the catalogue out of my messenger bag along with a highlighter, flipping through the registration dates, deadlines, and introductory pages until I reached the course listings with their dates and times.

Jared had his iPad out
, playing Angry Birds beside me, legs stretched into the aisle.

My tray jiggle
d when the boy in front of me squirmed in his seat. I reached beside my legs to dig my iPod back out of my bag.

Valerie lowered her book
and nodded at my open catalogue. “What’s that?”

“The summer schedule at UAA.
”

“Are you taking summer classes?”

“I don’t know. I just wanted to get an idea of what they offer.”

“Can I see that?”

“When I’m done.” I found it hard to concentrate with Valerie watching me. “Are you going to UAA or something?” I asked.

“
I start this fall.”

“Really?”

“Where else would I go?”

That surprised me. I guess I never thought about it before, but informants were probably under the same set of rules as assassins
—forced to live, work, and study in-state. Still, I wasn’t a hundred percent sure. “Are you in Alaska because you have to be?”

Valerie huffed.
“No, I’m here for the beautiful sandy beaches and great tanning weather.”

Sarcastic much? Valerie sounded even more
disenchanted about being stuck in Alaska than I was.

“Here,” I said, passing Valerie the catalogue. Maybe I could see which classes she was interested in and avoid them. I watched her
thumb through the pages. “What degree are you going for?”

Valerie sighed in utter annoyance. “It doesn’t make a damn difference what degree I get. Our careers have already been chosen for us.”

Jared looked up from his iPad. “Whiner.”

She
very slowly lifted her middle finger at him, her expression totally badass. She would have made a great actress, even though I’m sure she would’ve ended up being a diva from hell.

What happened to Valerie Ward to get her stuck in this program
in the first place?

The only stories I knew were my own and Dante’s. Dante had nearly died in a snowboarding accident. Noel didn’t want to talk about what happened to her. I bet Valerie wouldn’t either, but I co
uldn’t stop myself from asking. “What happened to you?”

“None of your fucking business!”
she snapped as soon as my words were out. I swear she knew what I was going to ask before I asked it.

The woman in the seat in front of Jared lifted her head
above her seat to glare at us. “Do you mind?”

Jared set his iPad on his thighs and leaned forward. “You keep your brat quiet
, and I’ll see what I can do about mine.”

The woman’s
frown reached her chin, but she seemed incapable of speech with Jared staring at her like some kind of maniac begging to be provoked.

Her head disappeare
d. “Keep it down, Sammy,” I heard her say.

Valerie turned her attention to the catalogue. As we began our descent into Juneau, I leaned over
her to get a look out the window. Valerie sighed but didn’t say anything. She turned her head quickly enough.

Patches of blue sky broke through the gloom. Mountains rose endlessly all around us, half covered in snow. From above, Auke Bay looked like a river flowing between
the rugged coastal mountain range. The entire landscape was tinted blue.

Valerie and I watched out the window the whole way down. We hit the landing strip roughly, bounced back up, and hit it again. The boy in front of me shrieked, but I barely noticed. Happily, he and his mother got off in Juneau.

Passengers continuing on to Sitka were asked to remain on board.

Valerie unbuckled and hovered halfway out of her seat. “Excuse me
,” she said.

She wanted out, which meant I had to nudge Jared who’d slipped his iPad into the seat pocket in front of him and closed his eyes.

I cleared my throat. He didn’t respond.

“Jared? Valerie needs out.”

Jared’s eyes opened. He looked at Valerie. “Where are you going?”

“To the bathroom.
Where do you think?”

He
stretched in his seat before slowly standing and stepping into the aisle. He blocked the way to the front of the plane, eyes sliding lazily over me as I stepped out, and honing in on Valerie when she reached the aisle.

She
made a snort of disgust. “Do you think I’m going to make a run for it? In Juneau?” She started laughing.

It was pretty funny. Juneau might be Alaska’s capital, but it wasn’t accessible by road.

Jared didn’t so much as crack a smile.

Valerie headed toward the back of the plane, laughing as she went.

“I’m going to use the restroom too, as long as I’m up.” I hated explaining myself to Jared, but he looked at people in a way that made you feel like you had to narrate your intentions.

The flight from Juneau to Sitka was
under forty minutes but it felt good to stretch my legs. I beat Valerie back to our seats.

Jared
stood, leaning against the headrest of the chair across from our row.

“It’
s a shame we don’t have a chance to look around. I’ve never been to the capital,” I said, trying to make conversation. He stood impassive. “Someday I’d like to see Mendenhall Glacier.”

“You see
n one glacier, you’ve seen ’em all,” Jared said in monotone.

Sure,
print that one on the brochure.

Passengers
began boarding. A young woman had to squeeze past Jared when he didn’t move aside. I really hoped that once we found Agent Crist and Mike’s murderer, Jared would go back to recruiting and disappear from our lives.

The plane was almost ready for departure by the time Valerie reemerged.
She had a look on her face like a cat that just ate the canary. I moved into the aisle, and as Valerie slipped in, I caught a whiff of perfume and cigarette smoke.

If Jared noticed, he didn’t say a word.

We weren’t at cruising altitude for long, but I listened to music the entire time we were, ignoring Valerie and her smug little smile.

Our plane landed on Japonski Island
. Valerie lit up a cigarette while I called my mom to let her know I’d safely landed. Jared pulled up in a compact rental car. Valerie threw her cigarette on the ground before tossing her suitcase in the trunk beside my duffel. She took the seat in back, so I took the one up front. If I could survive three hours mashed up beside Jared on a plane, I could get through a short car drive. By this time it was almost noon.

Jared drove across the O’Connell Bridge connecting the airport on Japonski Island with Baranof Island and Sitka. The road was wet but free of snow and ice.
Sitka’s climate with its overcast sky and constant drizzle resembled the Pacific Northwest more than the Alaskan interior.