Aurora Sky Vampire Hunter - By Nikki Jefford Page 0,62

is what I say." Dante tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. "So you're friends with Noel, but not Valerie?"

"She's more like my arch nemesis."

"Too bad, she's really cute."

I ground my teeth together. "Let's be clear, if you ever hooked up with Valerie I'd never speak to you again."

"Whoa," Dante said and laughed. "What did this chick do to you?"

"She's about to steal my boyfriend...or ex-boyfriend anyway." I guess there was no harm in telling Dante part of the truth. I'd just leave out the bit about Fane being a vampire.

"She's a badass," Dante said in admiration.

"I stole him first."

"Then you're the badass." Dante sounded even more impressed. "Nothing like a bit of juicy assassin/informant rivalry to entertain the mind on the long drive ahead."

I leaned back in my chair and folded my arms. "I'm done talking about Valerie."

"Come on. How did you steal her man out from under her?"

I shrugged. "He came to me."

Dante chuckled. "I don't doubt it."

I changed the subject. "It's all fine and good to say I'll just transfer, but I'm going to spend my last semester of senior year utterly friendless."

"Two words for you, Sky: track team."

"Track team?"

"Join the track team, win at the meets, and you're golden. Take it from your officially appointed mentor. I know what I'm talking about."

"You're forgetting one thing. I suck at sports."

"Ah, maybe the Aurora of yore sucked at sports, but new superhuman Sky is a champion. Vampire blood, remember? It's in us, it enhances us - can't let that extra boost go to waste, can we?"

"Doesn't track start in the spring?"

"So even better - start with cross country. I remember being on the cross country team," Dante said wistfully. "Meets, competitions, parties, girls...well, boys for you. You'll have it made."

I stared out the window. "Maybe I'll look into it."

I cleared my throat. "So you located these two guys from the party?"

Dante produced a grunt of disgust. "Apparently one of them overdosed right after we left. I did get an address on the second guy, Thomas Parks - lives at home."

"So we're just going to barge in on his family."

He smiled. "Single mom. Works all the time. I checked."

Dante made several pit stops, including his favorite pullout where, even in the daylight, we couldn't see Denali through the clouds.

"One of these times, Sky," he said.

Once we reached Fairbanks, Dante drove straight for a rundown ranch house and parked in front on the street. He kept the engine running. It was either that or risk it dying in the subzero conditions without a plug in.

"Stay in the car," Dante said. "I'll be back in a sec."

Fine by me. If I could take out two vicious vampires on my own, Dante could handle a half-dazed suck junkie.

Outside my window, Dante walked smoothly across the snow-covered yard on a path blazed by footsteps. The rest of the driveway hadn't been shoveled. There was a concrete rectangle where a car had been parked. Dante walked onto the porch and bent over the door handle. I started to shiver even though the heat was blasting through the vents.

Dante opened the door and pushed into the house. Just as quickly, he shut it behind him.

Tommy's tongue slid back and forth between his teeth. I turned the radio on and off. I started humming.

When Dante came out the front door dragging a black-hooded body with him, I grasped the handle of the Jeep and jumped out.

"Hurry up! Open the back."

I nearly slipped on the ice, rushing to the rear of the Jeep. I don't know how Dante expected to stuff a body in his shoebox sized trunk, but he did.

Surprisingly, Thomas didn't struggle.

"Sedative for the ride," Dante said as if reading my mind.

We hopped into the front seats, and I couldn't stop shaking.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Moving him to another location to interrogate him."

"The cabin?"

"Yep."

I looked over my shoulder. Tommy breathed heavily then stopped when I stared at him.

"Is there a reason Tommy doesn't find any of this alarming?" I asked.

Dante's face softened. "Tommy's just a big teddy bear."

I guess that made Dante the grizzly.
Chapter 22 Interrogation
Being back inside that cabin was eerie. Our mugs from the previous weekend were turned over on a kitchen towel on the counter. The bed in the corner was made. Dante got to work making a fire.

Once it flickered to life, he straightened up.

"Time to bring in Thomas."

"Need help?"

"Nah, he's a light weight."

Dante's retreating footsteps echoed over the floorboards. I rubbed my hands together in front of the fire,