Northern Bites (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter, Vol. 2) (9 page)

Fane honed in on my frown and
grinned. “Don’t worry, she may have gotten the last word, but I got the last bite.”

“That’s enough,” I said, balling my hands into fists. “We’ve put in our time. Now if you’ll excuse me.” I stormed t
oward the door.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?”

Against my better judgment, I stopped and followed the direction of Fane’s eyes to the shot of blood on the dresser.

One sip. What harm would it do? I could taste blood, unlike food. Not that
blood tasted particularly fantastic. It’s the way it made me feel: my whole body humming to life, radiating warmth, all my senses fully engaged.

Fane took advantage of my hesitation. He fetched the shot and lifted it between me and the door.

“I’m leaving now,” I said.

I couldn’t blame Fane for not taking me seriously when I did nothing to push past him.

His voice dropped. “I know all about the cravings. I know about the unbearable thirst that can only be quenched with blood.” He stepped closer. “I know you think about it all the time, like a lover you can’t get enough of.”

I closed my eyes and shuddered. “Stop,” I rasped.

Fane chuckled softly.

I cracked my eyes open enough to see him throw back the shot, but he didn’t swallow. He leaned forward. Even knowing both the blood and his kiss were off limits, I leaned in. His lips curved up as they closed in on mine.

A knock at the door jolted me back to my senses. My body jerked. Fane
swallowed the blood and cursed.

“Aurora?” a voiced said from the other side.

My heart momentarily stopped. It couldn’t be, but even from the few conversations we’d had, I recognized Mike’s voice.

6

Fane opened the door halfway, folding his arms across his chest as he leaned against the frame. “Can we help you?”

I tried to regain my composure.

Mike stood in the hallway trying to look over Fane’s shoulder. He smiled when he saw me. “Hey.”

“Apparently you
have
made friends,” Fane said sardonically.

I didn’t respond. I had a bigger problem on my hands.
“Mike, what are you doing here?”

Before he could answer, Fane
jumped in. “Mike, is it?” I couldn’t see his expression with his back to my face, but there wasn’t anything friendly in his tone. “You see this here ornament on the doorknob?”

Mike glanced down. “Yeah.”

“When the bat’s in flight, we’re getting down tonight—if you know what I mean.”

I pushed past Fane. “That’s not what it means,” I said. “Come on, Mike
. We can talk downstairs. Fane, I’ll see you later.”

Fane stretched in the doorframe.
“Got some spare Trojans burning a hole inside your pocket?”

I whipped around and scowled at Fane so hard my jaw ached. The only thing burning was my face from rage and humiliation
…a lethal combination. I flipped him off right before I grabbed Mike’s arm and steered him down the hall. It took a bit of pulling—he kept staring into open rooms at the statues and other curiosities decorating the palace.

“Sorry, Aurora, I didn’t mean to interrupt anything.”

“There was nothing to interrupt. I was just leaving when you knocked.”

Mike grinned. “Oh? That’s good. Who was that guy?”

“Mike,” I said, stopping at the railing beside the spiral staircase. “What are you doing here? How did you even find this place?”

Mike
grinned. “I have a little confession to make. I followed you here.”

“What?”

“I hadn’t planned to,” he said quickly. “I drove to school to meet my buddies at the dance and then I saw you outside. Before I had a chance to park and ask what you were doing, I saw you get into a car with some chick.”

“So you followed me?”

“I remembered you saying you had a party to go to, and it didn’t look like you had a date. I thought if I showed up we might get a chance to hang out.”

Oh, Mike. This was so not the place to
hang out. I had to get him out of here immediately.

Mike stared down at the guests mingling in the living room. “This is quite the shindig. Glad I dressed up for the dance.”

“Speaking of the dance, you should get back before your friends worry about you.”

“Nah, I texted them before I came inside.”

If I’d had any color left in my pale skin it would have drained. “Did you text them the address?” I demanded.

“No, I just told them I decided to go to a party instead.”

My shoulders relaxed. “Good, now let’s get you out of here.” I looked back in annoyance when Mike didn’t follow me to the top of the stairs.

“What’s the rush?”

I tightened my fingers around the iron railing. My patience had just about run out.

“The rush is that this party is by invitation only
, and you weren’t invited. Now come with me before the host notices you’ve snuck in.”

I scanned the living room for Marcus as I spoke. He couldn’t be hard to locate in his red
shirt. As luck would have it, he wasn’t around. Hopefully he’d snuck off in one of the upstairs rooms with their dangling bats.

Mike looked ready to protest until I took his hand and pulled him toward the stairs. He smiled and gave my hand a squeeze.

I led Mike down the spiral staircase. The moment we reached the living room I let go of his hand. Before I could steer Mike out of the living room, he said, “Hey, I know you.”

I tried not to grimace as Henry turned slowly. He looked from Mike to me then back at Mike, saying nothing.

“You go to West,” Mike added.

Oh
God, Henry did not look happy, and I couldn’t blame him. I would have clamped my hand over Mike’s mouth if it wouldn’t draw more attention.

“Come on, Mike. The door’s this way.” I gave his arm another pull.

“Aurora’s throwing me out,” Mike said with a laugh. “See you around.”

I felt a surge of relief when I f
inally managed to get Mike past the kitchen. The front door was in sight.

“Did you bring a coat?” I asked.

Before Mike could answer, we were stopped by a mass of muscle, staring sensually at Mike. Marcus. Perfect timing.

“And who is this delicious treat?”

“No one. He’s leaving.”

Mike reached his hand out. “Hey, man
. I’m Mike.”

Marcus’s eyes shined under the track lighting above his head. “
Handsome and well mannered—I insist you stay. My name is Marcus.”

“Is this your place?” Mike asked. “I didn’t mean to crash your party.”

“Crash? Don’t be silly,” Marcus said, still holding on to Mike’s hand. “You can crash here anytime. Aurora knows I never turn down objects of beauty.”

Mike
’s smile faded. He moved closer to me.

I
squared my shoulders. “Too bad Mike has another engagement he’s late for.”

“I’m sure he can cancel,” Marcus said, winking at Mike.

Before Mike could answer, I said, “Unfortunately not. He’s kept his friends waiting long enough already and like you said, he’s too well-mannered to keep them waiting any longer. Mike?” I said sharply. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

“Maybe another time
,” Mike said, following close behind me.

“Anytime.” Marcus brows jumped
, and he turned back toward the living room.

Mike walked out the front door as though
in a trance until the cold air hit him.

“Wait, what about my jacket?
”

“Forget the jacket
. I’ll bring it to school on Monday.”

“Are you mad at me?”
Mike asked.

Now that we were outside, I felt free to talk as loud as I liked.

“Yes, I’m mad at you! You can’t just follow me to a party and show up uninvited.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I wasn’t stalking you or anything. I’d just rather hang out at a party than a school dance. And it would have been cool to hang out. Marcus didn’t seem to mind.”

I stopped on the sidewalk and leaned into Mike. “You have to promise me you will never come back here.” I really needed to find a way to hammer that point home. It’s not as though I could warn Mike about vampires. “It’s Marcus, you see. He once had a thing for me, and he still gets jealous of other guys. I know he acts friendly, but you can’t trust him to have the best intentions.”

“Marcus?”
Mike asked dubiously.

I nodded, hoping he’d buy it.

Mike watched me carefully. “But you’re not into him?”

My expression was proof enough
—my entire face wrinkled. “I’ve never been into him that way.”

Mike
stopped beside an SUV and kicked at a clump of frozen snow on the sidewalk. He kept at it, making no move to the driver’s side.

The cold made my gums feel numb. I cleared my throat. “
Drive safe, Mike.”

Mike stopped kicking at the snow.
“So, you’re going back inside?”

“Only to get your coat and find my ride. I’m ready to go.”

“I’ll drive you home,” he said.

“I promised my friend we’d hang
out afterwards,” I said.

“Okay, well, I guess I’ll see you Monday.”

Unless I found another high school to transfer to. Yeah, right.

“D
rive safe.”

“
See you later, Aurora,” Mike said.

I lifted my hand in the air and turned my back to him before he could say anything more, hurrying back to the warmth of the palace.

Henry
was waiting for me in the kitchen with a tight frown forming wrinkles on his chin. I eyed the blood shots on the counter beside him. I could really use one. Blood made me feel strong, in control.

“What was Michael Pe
terson doing here?” Henry demanded.

My brain had a whiteout moment before registering that Henry was referring to Mike.

“I didn’t invite him,” I said defensively.

“That wasn’t my question.”

I reached for a bottle of red wine on the counter. If I couldn’t drink blood in public then I was going for the next best thing. Red wine had its own warming quality, especially in winter.

“Allow me,” Henry said, ever the gentleman even though displeasure
filled every crevice of his face.

“He followed me here,” I said as Henry poured.

“You seem to have a knack for drawing unwelcome attention,” Henry said, eyes never leaving the flow of wine. He lifted the bottle when the glass was half full and handed it to me.

I didn’t feel like drinking anymore. It’s not as though I could argue with him
—as much as I wanted to. It had been nice of him and Gavin to help dispose of my captors two weeks ago. Now here I was leading a clueless classmate straight into the bat cave. If I didn’t watch myself I’d be banned from the palace.