Aurora Sky Vampire Hunter - By Nikki Jefford Page 0,43

party. Sky, you'll stay, pretend to get wasted, and take out Ivo. Get him to take you somewhere secluded - shouldn't be too difficult. If you can take out Patrick, too, even better. If not, have him bite you, and I'll finish the job. Call my cell when the junkies have cleared out."

Janine's safety? He was worried about Janine's safety?

I leaned forward. "So basically you're going to abandon me here?"

Dante looked over his seat. "It's the best play, Sky. No more white rooms. You know what to do. Now lose the scarf unless you want to use it to mop up blood."

I unwrapped the scarf slowly and set it on the empty seat beside me. A chill slid down my spine. I shuddered involuntarily.

"Remember," Dante said. "I'm Peter and you're Wendy. It's safer if they don't know our real names."

Peter, as in Peter Pan. Pretty fitting, really. Dante was like a boy who never grew up. At least he wasn't calling himself Van Helsing and me Buffy. Might not go over too well with the undead crowd.

I slipped out of the car as Dante grabbed a case of bottled beer out of the trunk and slung it under an arm. He put his other arm around Janine. She held a second case of beer in her free hand. We walked to the front porch, and Dante pounded on the door.

"Get the door!" someone yelled from inside.

The door opened a crack, and a scrawny young man with a pierced nose, brow, and ears peered out. His face muscles relaxed when he saw Janine. "Oh, hey, Janine, come in."

"Hey, Thomas."

As Thomas held the door open for us I noticed raw bite marks on his wrist. A wave of nausea rolled over me. I tensed my jaw to quell it.

The front door led into the living room. A pale young man sat on a torn-up couch. He looked like skin and bone beneath his ratty T-shirt. He was leaning against a slightly older man in slacks. The groomed man didn't pay attention to us as he licked a drop of blood from the corner of his lip.

"Janine," Dante chided in a booming voice. "I thought you said this thing was going to be classy."

Nice way to call attention to us, Dante.

The man narrowed his eyes. "Who's this?"

Janine sauntered in and plopped down on the other side of the couch. "Patrick, Peter. Peter, Patrick. Peter's visiting from Anchorage. He's a smart ass. I mentioned him, remember?"

"And who is this fresh peach?"

I couldn't locate the owner of the voice at first. It was deep and far away, as though coming from an overhead speaker.

"His friend's ex. She just got dumped and wanted to get out of town." Janine batted her lashes. "Stay away from her, Ivo. She's new to all this."

"Fresh blood." Ivo laughed.

I located him in a corner in a midnight-blue button-down shirt. A silver pendant with a Celtic symbol drew the eye to the dark wiry hair below his throat. Stubble covered his chin and cheeks. It was odd to assign an age to a vampire, but if Ivo were mortal, I'd place him around thirty. He was seated on a large armchair with worn upholstery. A girl with black cropped hair sat in his lap like a limp doll.

My skin crawled.

"Did we arrive late?" Dante asked, looking around. "Jeanie told me this place was going to be buzzing."

Ivo shrugged lazily and looked me over. "Some folks thought it was too cold. Only the brave came out."

Dante pulled a cap off a beer bottle with his bare hand. "Well, we didn't drive all this way for nothing. Beer anyone?"

The girl on Ivo's lap stood. "I'll have one. Thanks."

Dante handed her the beer and began opening another. "Wendy?"

I knew I was supposed to pretend to get drunk, but I wasn't much of a beer drinker. Heck, I wasn't much of a drinker at all excluding my solo New Year's Eve celebration and pre-sex binge. God, did I know how to have a good time or what?

"I bet Wendy wants something stronger," Ivo said.

I forced a smile. "Yes, you read my mind."

He seemed to like that I said this.

"Why don't you come back with me to the kitchen?"

"Lead the way."

The kitchen was as grimy as the living room. The linoleum was discolored and a section was missing in front of the fridge.

"Wendy, Wendy, Wendy," Ivo said as he looked through a cabinet. "What would my Wendy want? Ah." A bottle slid across the shelf like