Bad Blood (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter, Vol. 3) (14 page)

Melcher tapped the desk as I got up. “Aurora, before you go, I have one more thing I want to say to you. I don’t want you drinking any blood at the party.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I said. Didn’t mean I wouldn’t think about it.

“Only if it’s a last resort,” Melcher said. “To maintain your cover.”

Yeah, got it boss. I’d tried desperately to overcome my cravings during boot camp. Now all this talk about blood made my throat dry. It was Melcher’s fault for injecting me with his virus cocktail and awakening all those dormant undead instincts floating around inside my DNA. Obviously, the antidote wasn’t a suppressor. If I slipped up and drank blood, I blamed Melcher.

7

After our meeting, Valerie bee-lined it to the Fifth Avenue Mall. She gunned it into town, leap frogging through traffic. At least she kept her eyes on the road and everyone else when she drove. Either she had the need for speed or was really excited to blow her wad of cash.

“We’ve got money to spend!” she squealed, cranking the wheel.

Once she’d circled her way up the mall’s parking garage and nabbed a spot, she slipped her arm around mine, pulling me toward the sky bridge. This was a side of Valerie I’d never seen before. I followed her in and out of shops. We tried on dresses and modeled for one another. Valerie picked out most of my dresses. Every time I thought I’d found one I liked, she made me put it back, saying we needed to explore all our options first.

“Seriously, Val? I loved the last one. I don’t see why I couldn’t just buy it. Melcher said we’d need several.”

Valerie was in such high spirits she either didn’t notice, or didn’t care, that I’d called her Val. Last time I did that, she’d practically bitten my head off.

Valerie wrinkled her nose. “The blue dress? You do not want to go to this thing in a blue dress. Go with red. It will compliment your hair. Red and black are classic, which is why I have my eye out for a little black dress.”

I looked at the clock on my phone. “You do realize we have to find something before tonight?”

“Plenty of time. Now let’s go check out Nordstrom.”

It was in the Nordstrom dress department that Valerie finally gave her nod of approval on a long skirted, backless red dress. We stood outside the dressing room staring into the double mirrors, me in red, Valerie in black. She’d found a simple low cut black dress that didn’t look so simple off the hanger, hugging her hourglass curves and bosom. I couldn’t help wishing I was a little shapelier and less stick figure when I stood next to Valerie.

As though reading my thoughts, she lifted her chin and said, “Turn around.”

I turned, back to the mirror.

“You should definitely go with the backless dress. Show off your slim shoulders and flawless skin.”

Her compliment gave me the shivers—the good kind that made me lightheaded and tingly.

“Watch out vamps, the ginger queen is coming in,” Valerie said to the mirror. She winked at her reflection.

I faced forward and gave a slight shake of my head. Before I could return to the dressing room, Valerie called out, “Hold it. You still haven’t mentioned anything about a certain vampire hunter.”

“What?”

Valerie placed a hand on her hip. “Don’t play dumb with me. Obviously you hooked up with Dante, so how was he?”

Was this the equivalent of locker room talk?

“First of all, it’s none of your business. Secondly, it’s not like that. We’re friends.”

Valerie rolled her eyes. “I assume by your tone that means you haven’t screwed him yet.”

I glared.

Valerie smirked. “Scowl all you want, Aurora. You’re not in kindergarten anymore. You’re in college. So fuck him already.”

“God, you’re vulgar,” I said, before turning and storming into the dressing room.

I snapped the lock in place behind me. As I shimmied out of the dress, Valerie spoke through the wall of the room beside me.

“Let’s face it. You need all the help you can get. Think of me as the little red devil on your left shoulder whispering all the encouragement little Miss Boring Aurora Angel is too repressed to act on.”

I took a long look at myself in my undergarments in the mirror.

“I don’t need encouragement,” I said to the wall. “I need to do things at my own pace.”

“Snail’s pace,” Valerie said. “It’s time to make a decision. Do you want to crawl through life or do you want to soar? Take the leap. Trust me, Aurora, you’ll never look back.”

Life rules by Valerie Ward. No, thanks.

I’d just gotten home. I wasn’t like some sex starved inmate ready to jump the first available person after being released from prison. That was probably what Valerie did after boot camp.

I thought my feelings for Fane had died a thousand deaths until he showed up at my door and breathed life back into them. I definitely couldn’t discuss that with Valerie.

I wanted to believe Dante was the better choice, but in truth, neither of them were good for me. If I really wanted to reinvent myself, I should have a life outside of vampires and assassins. I should find a nice college boy.

Righ
t
, said a sarcastic voice inside my head
.
Because that worked out so well with Scott Stevens and Michael Peterson. Normal is not your thing. So who’s it going to be? The hunter or the hunted?

Or neither
,
I answered back
.
I’ve got a busy semester ahead of me. Boys are an unnecessary distraction.

Rather than respond, the voice simply laughed.

Once Valerie and I were dressed, we waited in line by the cash register with our new gowns. She leaned against me.

“Don’t let Melcher know you and Dante are going out. He’ll split you apart like kindling.” She made a chopping motion with her arm. “He doesn’t want us having relationships of any kind unless he orders it.”

My grip tightened on the dress hanger. “Melcher has no business sticking his nose into my private life.”

Valerie chuckled. “Yeah, good luck with that. The man thinks he has full ownership over us. Just play along and keep quiet. What Melcher doesn’t know won’t kill him. Too bad Andre Morrel isn’t around any longer. If he really did kill Crist, maybe he could have taken care of Melcher next.”

I glanced around the department store, but we were the only ones around and the cashier had the phone cradled between her ear and as she wrote on a piece of scratch paper.

“Except that it was Jared who killed Crist,” I reminded Valerie.

“Andre had her cross.”

“No, Jared had her cross.”

“Whatever,” Valerie said, rolling her eyes. “The point is neither of us wants to be under Melcher’s thumb. The bastard hired Jared to attack and recruit candidates like us. No way Melcher’s not in on that. Probably gave the orders himself. I always knew that guy was fucked in the head. If I find out he sent Jared after me, he’s dead. Jared first. Then Melcher. Once those two bite the dust, I’m out of here for good.”

Valerie stepped in front of me and set the black dress on the cashier’s counter, tapping her foot until the woman hung up the phone.

I’d spent many sleepless nights at boot camp pondering the same thoughts. Just how involved was Melcher in the unit’s unsavory recruitment methods? Like Valerie, I had a hard time believing Jared operated independent of Melcher’s instructions.

It only led to more questions.

Why would Melcher do something so malicious? I thought his entire purpose was eradicating evil. He certainly preached his intentions to rid the world of vampires with conviction. Were his beliefs fanatical enough to justify attacking and enslaving his own personal army?

Who was really in charge, and why in God’s name had they given Melcher command of his own unit?

What made Melcher so neurotic? Why did he hate vampires so much? Had one killed his family? Something had to have happened. How could I find out?

“Now let’s get shoes,” Valerie said, heading for the escalators once I finished paying for my dress.

Apparently shopping was her happy place. It wasn’t as easy for me to jump back and forth between the dark place and the light. I didn’t know if a sunny place existed within myself any longer. Maybe that place was off limits to assassins… at least ones with a conscience.

From the moment Valerie stepped onto the carpeted area of the women’s shoe department, she had a sales clerk rushing back and forth with black heels of various heights and styles.

“Find anything yet?” Valerie asked as she slipped on her fifth pair of heels.

“Most of these shoes have heels,” I said, picking a sleek red pump off a display across from Valerie as a visual aid.

Valerie shot me one of her “duh” looks, not bothering to roll her eyes.

“I had to wear stilettos on my last assignment,” I said, setting the shoe down. “Complete hindrance, not to mention uncomfortable as hell.”

“You get used to it,” Valerie said, standing. She strutted across the carpet to a mirror propped against a wall.

“I don’t want to get used to it.”

I might not be soaring through life, but I certainly didn’t want to stumble. Comfort beat looks any day of the week. Life lessons according to Aurora Sky.

While Valerie admired her legs in the mirror, the saleslady asked if she could get me anything in my size. In the end, I found a pair of nude flats. The hem on the dress practically reached the floor. Not like I’d be showing off my footwear, so might as well be as comfortable as I could. Even the flats were stiff and poked my skin around the edge.

I glanced at the time on my cell phone.

“We should go,” I said.

“I want to try on perfume first,” Valerie replied, already on her way to the perfume counter.

She picked up a pink bottle, sprayed the air, sniffed, and moved onto the next.

My chest lifted into a deep sigh. Moments like these were almost enough to make me pick up driving again.

After passing the air test, Valerie sprayed one of the perfumes directly onto her skin and rubbed her wrists together.

A clerk walked over and smiled at Valerie. “Euphoria is one of my favorites. I love the seductive scent of exotic fruits and rich florals.” She leaned in closer. “I swear it messes with my man’s head. Anytime I put it on, the compliments come rolling in. He can’t keep his eyes or hands off me.”

Oh, please. It was perfume, not liquid aphrodisiac. But Valerie ate it up, laughing along with the scent expert.

I tapped my foot against the floor.

“I’ll take a bottle,” Valerie said. Then, looking at me, “So will she.”

The clerk smiled and started to turn.

My foot stilled. “No I won’t.”

“Come on, Aurora. Dante will love it.”

“Dante doesn’t care what I smell like.”

Okay, as long as I didn’t smell like BO. No one liked that smell. But having a clean non-smell was good enough. I doubted Dante would like a high maintenance woman. He was too practical for that, besides which, I didn’t want to mess with his head.

Valerie shrugged. “It’s your call. Just don’t complain tonight if he can’t keep his eyes off me after getting a whiff of Euphoria.”