Whiteout (Aurora Sky (39 page)

Fane
handed it over
without another word.

Dante grasped the bag and held it below his lips. “What about the other vampire?” he asked, stubborn as
ever.

“On it,” I said, getting to my feet.

Before Fane could rise beside me, I said a quick, “Stay here and make sure he drinks the blood. I'll be right back. There's only one left.”

Fane's jaw tightened. “I'm coming with you.”

Dante huffed.
“If you don't
think she can handle
one vampire
,
then you don't know Aurora very well.”

Fane turned his attention to Dante. “Oh, I know her quite well,” Fane answered.

Argh, so not the time or place.

“Dante, drink the blood. Fane, stay here,” I commanded. “Once it's safe
to move
,
we need to get Dante to the machine with the sled. If I need help, you'll know.”

I walked swiftly to the doorframe before Fane had a chance to protest. Before stepping out, I peered into the hallway. Still empty.

I stepped out of the room, the fl
oorboards creaking under my feet. My stomach twisted. The feeling was altogether too familiar. I made my way down the hall, listening for any sounds from the lobby.

At the end of the east wing's hall
,
I stopped and crouched. From my position a few feet from the floor, I peered into the lobby. Furniture obscured my view. All I could make out was a chair and table legs. If I wanted to see anything more, I'd have to walk in.

The three vamps I'd killed had
gone down quickly. They'd also been standing in plain sight. Playing cat and mouse with an unknown enemy accelerated my he
art rate
.

Where the hell was this sucker?

Maybe he was already dead and I was working myself up for no reason at all. Giselle could b
e lying low, waiting to see who entered the lobby next. In which case, I should
have called
out to her so she wouldn't accidently shoot me. Then again, if it was another vampire, the last thing I wanted to do
was
blurt out my location.

Keeping crouched, I
crept into the lobby, making my way behind the back of a long sofa.

A creepy sense of déjà vu came over me.

Inch by inch, I straightened out until my eyes cleared the top of the sofa. Across the room, a body lay face up on the floor. Long
blond
hair rested
along Giselle's arms, as limp and lifeless as her body.
Her sword lay by her side looking dull in the gloom of the darkened room.

I squatted back down.
Damn it.
Why couldn't she have taken at least one of the assailants down?
She was
the one who called th
em in. This one must be stealthy to have got
ten the best of Giselle Morrel.

Then I heard the words that made my body freeze and my blood run cold.

“You're next, Raven.”

 

 

 22

Face-off

 

Was it really that big of a surprise that the last vamp standing was Jared? He seemed more like a demon than one of the undead.

Part of me had been expecting him, another part of me had hoped that if he really was nearby, he'd send in his goons to bring u
s in rather than risk going out in the open. Jared wasn't the only one trying to avoid the agency.

Poor Giselle. Even though she'd brought this on herself, it still bit big time that Jared had gotten to her first. Now it was up to me to put the rat bastard
down once and for all.

Just as soon as I figured out his location.

His voice had seemed to originate near Giselle's body, but I hadn't seen anyone before I ducked down.

Acid burned in my throat. The last thing I wanted was for Jared to wander off and fin
d my guys. He wouldn't—not after spotting me—but I still wanted to lead him away from that room. There was the opposite hall. Maybe I could lead him down it, duck into a room
,
then jump out and take him by surprise, or run all the way to the end and lead h
im outside, into the open.

I positioned myself in a runner's lunge. The gun was tight in hand and my body was turned toward the west wing of the lodge. I didn't know where he was in the lobby, but I needed to lead him out into the open hall and away from F
ane and Dante.

On the count of three.

Screw it.
This was no time for
count
ing
. I lunged forward, keeping crouched along the sofa back. I shot out from behind it, keeping my head low.

My heart thundered inside my chest. It propelled me forward faster. I ima
gined myself as a rocket shooting by, a blur, impossible to
hit
.

A shot rang out. Wood splintered on one of the wall's logs. Laughter followed me down the hall. I ducked inside a room to avoid a bullet in the back.

“I missed on purpose,” Jared called out
from the lobby.

I wished he'd shut up. His voice was going to grab Fane's attention.

“Giselle was a mistake,” Jared continued. “One of my buddy boys got a little trigger happy on the way in. Too bad. I had a fitting punishment all lined up for my disloyal
daughter.” Jared's voice had now reached the hallway.

I kept the gun aimed at the doorway, reminding myself that I had the upper hand. If Jared was dumb enough to walk in, I'd fire on him.

“Don't worry. I have something particularly special lined up for
you. And I'll make sure no one interferes.”

A chill ran down my spine. I fought to calm my breath, repeating over and over in my head that I had a gun. All he had to do was show his face at the door. And all I had to do was shoot him.

“Where are my associa
tes anyway? Have you seen them around?” Jared's voice now seemed to be right outside the door. “Did you put them down all on your own? Impressive. I assume one of them got
to
Dante, the way they did Giselle. That is unfortunate for him, though it makes thi
ngs much fairer for me and you.”

“Oh,” Jared said, as though just remembering something. “I should mention that I have more associates on the way. Every
vampire in Alaska wants you to suffer
.”

“Not every vampire,” Fane's voice spoke from in the hall.

My b
lood ran cold, seeming to freeze me in place.

No.

I took long, sweeping strides to the doorway and peered out. Jared had been about eight feet from the room I'd ducked inside. He stood sideways in the hall now, back not entirely to me, though his gaze was
directed at Fane, who stood in the middle of the hallway. He and Fane pointed guns at each other. My heart gave a lurch. I hadn't survived
a month
in the wilderness and finally
been reunited with Fane—finally
off
ered him my heart and soul—only
to lose him
to a lead bullet.

“Francesco Donado, bravo, you made it to the party,” Jared
taunted
. “I heard you managed to bribe your way into the agency. You can understand why I put in my resignation.”

“The way I heard it, you tucked tail and ran,” Fane returned.

“O
n the contrary, I'm running my own operations now. The grassroots kind. Bureaucracy was never my thing.” Jared gave a low chuckle.

If I were going to take Jared off guard, I'd need to act quickly. There wouldn't be time to process anything or think. The mo
ment I entered the hallway I had to fire. I sprang forward, gun lifted. This round, the gun wasn't loaded with blanks. As soon as Jared appeared at the end of my barrel, I pulled the trigger.

My finger curled in, but rather than being followed by a blast,
I heard the gut
-
kicking sound of a low click.

This round
, the gun wasn't loaded at all.

Son of a bitch, I thought as Jared lunged for me. I thought I had a bullet left. Some dark demonic angel must be looking over this psycho.

The moment of confusion and
outrage was brief, but enough to royally screw me. Before I could dive back into the room, Jared's hand shot forward. He grabbed my arm and swung me around with dizzying speed. My back landed roughly against his chest. His arm snaked across my chest in a v
iselike grip as he pushed the barrel of his gun against my temple.

My heart beat erratically.

“Easy does it,” Jared said.

At first I thought he was talking to me, until I saw that Fane had started forward, gun raised, trying to get a lock on Jared.

“Put t
he gun down,” Jared commanded.

Fane stopped in his tracks but kept his weapon aimed at Jared. “Let her go,” he said in an equally commanding voice.

Jared chuckled softly, shaking me as he did. “Don't worry, Francesco. I'm not going to kill her.” He pressed
the barrel into my temple hard enough to make me flinch. “Not unless you give me a reason to. And I promise not to have my way with her. I'm not fond of
black or
blond
. I've recently discovered that red is my color.”

“What are you talking about, you mania
c?” I asked. As long as we kept him talking there was time to turn the tables. I'd love nothing more than
to
flip around in his arms and knee the bastard in the groin, grab his weapon, blast him, and let him bleed out. How was that for red?

Jared squeezed
me against him, but his gaze was intent on Fane.

“Did Melcher not tell you?” he asked. “Before parting ways, I rescued Valerie Ward from rehabilitation.”

“Rescued,” I ground out between my teeth in disbelief.

“That's right, Raven,” Jared said into my ear.
“Her skills were being under
valued
. She was most grateful when I freed her. In fact, I've been enjoying her gratitude every night ever since.”

My lips curled back at Jared's jeering words. If he got a hard
-
on while holding me this close
,
I was going to be
sick.

“No way,” I said. “Valerie may be mental, but she'd never do what you're implying. Not with you. You stabbed her.”

“And she shot me,” Jared said, sounding amused, enamored even, which made my stomach twist. “We're both a bit fucked up.”

“Sounds like
a match made in heaven,” Fane said sarcastically.

“Ah, but it is,” Jared said good
-
naturedly. “You never appreciated what you had.”

“Yeah, well
,
black's more my color,” Fane returned.

I could just make out the curve of Jared's amused smile from the corner
of my eye.

“To each his own,” Jared said. “Unfortunately for you, I'm keeping both Ginger and Raven. I recruited Aurora. I gave her everlasting life. Now it's time she served me.”

Bile rose up my throat. “I'd never serve you, you disgusting piece of shit.”

I tried to break from his grip, but his grasp on me was suffocating, as though he'd anticipated the attempt before I made it.

“Come with me now or cease to be,” Jared said, pulling back the safety on his gun. “The choice is yours.”

Choice?
That
wasn't a c
hoice. Live or die.

“Fine,” I said begrudgingly. “I'll go with you.”

Fane took a step forward, stopping when Jared tensed.

“I can't let you take her,” Fane said.

And I thought Dante was stubborn. I didn't want to go with Jared either, but the
alternative—death—sounded much worse. At least with Jared I could escape—something I inten
ded on doing before he got me anywhere near
the highway.

“Fane,” I said
,
“I'll be okay.” I moved my pupils from Fane to the side
,
hoping he'd understand I meant to br
eak away the first chance I got. Jared couldn't hold a gun on me and get us down to the road at the same time. He'd have to holster his weapon at some point and the moment he did, I'd make my move.

Fane's jaw clenched. “I can't let you go.”

“You'd rather s
he die?” Jared said in a jeering voice.

Fane's spine straightened. A vein on his neck pulsed, otherwise he appeared calm.

“You won't kill her,” Fane said. “If you do
,
I'll have a bullet in you before you have a chance to bat one eyelash. You value your lif
e too much
,
more than one agent's.”