Aurora Sky Vampire Hunter - By Nikki Jefford Page 0,31

learn your lesson yet?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry. You can stop. Stop already!"

Jason pushed the boy forward and lifted his hands over his head in victory. His victim stumbled and nearly fell face first onto the squeaky cafeteria floor. The crowd began to disperse. I was planted to the ground, unable to move.

Something wasn't right. A warning whispered up my spine.

A look of murder settled deep within the beaten boy's eye sockets. He staggered upright then walked to the nearest table. Shorty didn't look dangerous. He was small and moved slowly. But to see his expression...it was unmistakable.

He grabbed a fold-up chair and lifted it above his head. Jason never saw him coming. The smaller boy approached silently from behind and slammed the chair over Jason's head.

I heard nothing. Sound ceased to exist. Blood sprayed the floor, landing in round droplets. It stained the ground inches from my black Mary Janes. I looked up and saw Fane in the crowd staring at the blood with an expression of enrapture. I should have been disgusted, but when I looked at the blood again I felt something stir inside me.

Jason lay flat on the floor. He wasn't moving.

The collected student population was momentarily gagged. The boy started toward Jason, chair still in hand. He'd kill Jason. He'd kill him and no one would do a thing to stop him. But I could.

I stepped in Shorty's path and yanked the metal seat from his fingers. I threw it aside. Sound returned like the clash of cymbals when the chair clattered to the ground. Something snapped inside me. I grabbed the boy by the hair and kneed him in the gut. He grunted in pain. His agony filled my ears like a sweet melody. I turned and jabbed my elbow into his ribcage. My skirt lifted several inches as I twisted into the punch.

The boy howled. He couldn't manage to fight back. He was too busy shielding himself from my blows.

Suddenly I was falling backward, being yanked from behind. I struggled and slapped at the hands that had latched onto my midriff.

"That's enough, young lady!"

Mr. Burke, my old biology teacher, stood frowning at me.

"All right, all right," I said, dusting myself off. "You're welcome!"

"Let's go," Mr. Burke said. "Principal's office."

The last thing I saw were the whites of Fane's teeth as he grinned. A month earlier I wasn't so much as a blip on that boy's radar. Now he was everywhere, appearing at my worst moments, like Satan, witnessing my fall from grace.
Chapter 12 The Ultimate Baddie
By the time Principal Romero finished suspending me, the school had all but emptied out. I slipped on my backpack, which sagged down to the exposed skin on my lower back. I pushed open one of the front doors and stepped outside. It was like walking into a freezer.

A rich velvet voice caused a second wave of shivers to ripple through my body.

"My, my. Someone's on a downward spiral."

I would have rather ignored the sensation his murmur stirred inside my stomach. I turned my head to the side. Fane leaned against the brick wall, one knee bent and foot planted against the building, smoking a cigarette.

I rolled my eyes. "Who, me?"

"What's the punishment for first-time offenders these days - a slap on the wrist and a warning?"

"Three days suspension."

"Crash and burn, baby." Fane flicked his cigarette to the ground and smashed it into the packed snow with the heel of his boot. "Your yellow school bus is long gone."

"So I'll walk," I said.

Fane looked me up and down. "Wearing that? You'll have hypothermia before you reach home."

"Well, then, the doctors can revive me and bring me back to life. It's amazing what modern medicine is capable of," I said.

Fane chuckled. "Well, aren't you jaded."

"Are you laughing at me?"

"Not me. Come on, I'll give you a ride."

"You know I won't get inside a car with you."

"Is it me or the car?"

"Both."

"What about lover boy? Would you get inside his truck?"

I glared at Fane. "No."

"I didn't think so. Come on."

"I told you..."

"I'll walk you to the bus stop."

"Whatever."

It must have been the sharp contrast between Fane and the freshly fallen snow that made him appear so overtly dark as he moved in sync by my side. He followed me inside the open Plexiglas shelter and stood in silence, as though he were my own personal bodyguard. The agents didn't mention anything about issuing one of those.

"You don't have to wait with me, you know." I fought back the urge to shiver. It