Aurora Sky Vampire Hunter - By Nikki Jefford Page 0,63

but it offered no heat.

The cabin door flew open, hitting the wall with a bang.

Dante dragged Thomas by the shoulders and dumped him on a chair.

"Tape his arms and legs to the chair will you?"

I rummaged around in the kitchen drawers until I found a roll of duct tape.

No one had ever trained me in the art of taping a hostage to a chair before. I started by pulling Thomas's arms around the seatback.

The tape made a ripping noise as I pulled long stretches of it from the roll.

"Make it tight," Dante said.

I held one of Thomas's limp arms against the back and began wrapping tape around his appendage and the gap between the strips of wood backing. I ripped the pieces of tape off with my bare hands. His feet were easier.

I stood back to admire my handiwork.

"What about the hood?"

"Leave it on."

Dante checked Thomas's wrists. "Not bad, Sky."

"Now what?"

The fire sparked behind Dante casting an eerie glow all around him.

His eyes were on Thomas.

"Now we wait for the sedative to wear off."

The cabin felt a hundred degrees hotter once the fire got going. I welcomed the warmth when I ran back inside after freezing my ass off in the outhouse.

I nodded at Thomas. "Still out?"

Before Dante could answer a murmur came from under the black hood.

Dante yanked it off. The fire wasn't the only presence in the cabin that had come to life. Far from appearing fearful, Thomas oozed with pent-up rage.

"You two!" Thomas sputtered. "You killed Patrick and Ivo, didn't you?"

"I'll ask the questions, son," Dante said. "Now tell me who offed Janine."

Thomas looked away.

"Wendy, knife."

I grabbed Dante's hunting knife off the table and handed it to him as though he was a surgeon asking for his scalpel, and I was the assisting nurse.

"What are you going to do?" Thomas demanded.

Dante ignored him and turned to me. "Let's drain him."

That got Thomas's attention. The boy wriggled in an attempt to thrash out of his bindings.

I nodded, trying my best to seem like I thought it was a good idea. "His friends won't have any more use for him once he has no more blood."

"You can't do that!" he shouted.

"It's my job," Dante said smoothly. "You're a threat to the nation, Thomas. Unless you tell me everything we'll consider you in league with the hostiles."

Thomas's jaw dropped. "Hostiles?"

"Hostiles, vampires, murderers...they're all the same - a danger to society. Now who killed Janine?"

Thomas pressed his lips together and shook his head.

Dante moved in on him. He showed teeth when he grinned. "I was hoping you wouldn't cooperate."

Dante sliced his dagger across Thomas's arm. The boy screamed. I looked away.

"Let's just get right to the other arm, shall we? Unless you want to tell me who killed Janine."

Dante pressed the tip of his knife into Thomas's thigh.

"Stop! Renard - it was Renard! God, just stop!"

Dante got up abruptly and went to the kitchen. He wiped his blade clean with a rag before setting it on the table. He stepped directly in front of Thomas again.

"Now for the real question. How did Renard find out?" Dante reached forward in an instant and wrapped his hands around Thomas's neck.

Thomas began making a chocking sound.

Was it wrong that I felt attracted to Dante for one fleeting second?

"This one's a freebie," Dante hissed into Thomas's ear. "I'll answer for you. You ratted Janine out. You got her killed."

Dante released his grip, and Thomas gasped as he sucked in air.

Thomas started shaking. "I didn't want her to die! She's the one who got herself involved in all this. Where do you think Renard came looking once he heard the police suspected arson at Ivo's place? He knows I'm over there all the time."

"You could have told him you didn't know anything rather than send a mass murderer after Janine."

Thomas stiffened. He looked past Dante and glared at me. "You're the murderers. Wendy especially. She was the last one there that night."

"What did you tell Renard about us?"

"Everything I could!" Thomas seethed in his chair.

"Wendy," Dante said calmly, turning to me. "Take Tommy and wait in the Jeep."

I hesitated at the door.

"Go!" Dante yelled.

I jumped in place.

"Tommy," I called sofly. "Tommy, let's go."

Once we were outside, I hurried Tommy into the car. He jumped in back. I climbed in after the retriever and wrapped my arms around him, burying my face into his fur.

I heard the Jeep door open and close not long after. Dante didn't say a word as he shifted gears and drove away