Bad Blood (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter, Vol. 3) (19 page)

“Who’s your boyfriend?”

“Dante.”

“Never heard of him.”

“So? Do you know every vampire on the planet?”

Henry’s eyebrows furrowed. He took a sip of his martini.

I folded my arms across my chest. “Mind telling me why I’m being interrogated?”

Henry straightened. “Richard Stanton hired me to investigate the death of his former partner, Marcus.”

“I heard about Marcus’s death,” I said without a second’s hesitation. “Terrible tragedy. I liked Marcus.”

“Hmm. The thing is you were one of the last people to leave the palace on the night of his murder.”

Cut to the chase why don’t you, Henry? My heart jolted and beat erratically. That night felt like a bad dream. Ancient history. Long, long ago. In a galaxy far away. Something that happened to someone else. Boot camp had broken me into a million fragments and then put me back together.
I was Aurora 2.0, boot camp graduate and sophisticated college student. Aurora 2.0 didn’t kill Marcus. Her conscience was clear.

“You’ve been misinformed,” I replied coolly. “I was one of the first guests to leave that night.”

Henry took another sip of his martini, watching me over the rim before setting the glass back down. He leaned closer, speaking in a low voice. “I saw your red scarf hanging from a hook before I left.”

“Really?” I asked. “I was wondering what happened to that old thing.”

Henry’s eyebrows pinched, meeting in the middle of his forehead. For the first time since interrogating me, he looked mad. “It wasn’t there after he was found dead.”

“I don’t know what happened to it,” I said, my voice rising. “I came to the party, saw Fane messing around and got the hell out of there. I was hurt and humiliated at seeing him with someone else. Happy now?” If he wanted to give me attitude, I’d give it right back.

Henry drummed his fingers a couple more times. Unfortunately, by the frown on his face, he didn’t look like he bought my story. That, or he was still in decision making mode.

“I find it interesting that you disappeared right after Marcus’ death. Where did you go, Aurora? Where have you been the past six months?”

My back straightened. “That’s none of your business. You’re not the police. Maybe you should leave the detective work to actual detectives.”

Henry’s eyes narrowed.

“There’s been something off about you from the beginning. It never made sense to me why three vampires would come all the way down from Fairbanks to go after you, not unless they had a good reason. Not unless they knew something the rest of us didn’t. Not unless they knew you were a vampire hunter.”

My jaw dropped. Henry knew about the existence of vampire hunters? Freakin’ fabulous.

“A what?” I asked in disbelief. “You mean like Buffy? You can’t be serious?”

The way Henry studied my face put me instantly on edge. Come on Aurora 2.0, nothing fazes you, be cool.

“You wouldn’t be the first,” Henry said. “But you are much more advanced than past vampire hunters. Your blood is poison.”

So he’d decided I was a hunter, had he?

I screwed up my face. “What are you talking about? I’ve never heard anything so ridiculous.”

It was weird watching Henry watch me. He never struck me as dangerous, yet here he stood, sniffing around my skirt for clues. I should be afraid. Really afraid. Break-out-into-a-cold-sweat afraid. This wasn’t good.

A situation like this called for my own personal carte blanche. Fane Donado. Vampire hunters didn’t date vampires. Lucky for me, we’d gone out before the truth of what he was slammed down over my human heart.

I stuck my nose in the air. “Obviously I’m not out to kill vampires. I went out with Fane.”

“Unless you were targeting him.”

Now Henry was really pissing me off.

“That’s outrageous!”

“Did he ever bite you?”

“Of course he bit me. He’s a vampire.”

I reached for my hair, momentarily forgetting Valerie had put it up.

Henry’s hand shot forward so fast I didn’t see it until his fingers squeezed around my wrist. Instinctively, I reached for the martini glass with my free hand and threw the gin into his face. Henry roared with anger. He released my wrist and swiped at his eyes.

I jumped off my stool, unsure if I should stay and fight, try to make excuses, or fly the coop. Before I could decide, Henry blinked through the liquor, glaring bloody murder at me. The martini dripped down his face, wetting his white collar.

Time froze for a split second until the sound of clapping brought me back to the present.

Selene walked over to my side. “Nice going, Aurora. This one’s a sweet talker, but I see his wily ways didn’t work on you.” She slipped her arm around mine, and this time I felt nothing but gratitude for her touch.

“This one’s spoken for,” Selene informed Henry.

Henry’s eyes narrowed. “A word of warning, Selene. She only looks innocent. I wouldn’t take my eyes off of her if I were you.”

Selene’s eyes sparkled. “I don’t plan to.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Foster entered the room, a tight frown on his face. He came in alone and headed straight for us.

“Is there a problem here?” he asked.

Beside us, the bartender began mopping up liquid that had splashed off Henry’s face and onto the counter.

“Relax, Foster,” Selene said. “Henry simply tried to hit on my friend here while her boyfriend’s upstairs. I think we can all agree she made her point.” She smiled sweetly.

Foster’s face didn’t relax for a second. He turned his eyes to me.

“Are you all right, Miss?”

I lifted my head. “Perfectly.” I turned to the bartender. “Sorry about the mess.”

He gave a slight nod and continued wiping the counter.

“I apologize for any distress this man may have caused you,” Foster said.

“I’m fine. Really.” The last thing I wanted was to make a scene. No doubt about it, I sucked at undercover work. Here I was, throwing a drink in a vamp’s face. Now the butler was involved, and people were watching and beginning to whisper.

“Now that I’ve made myself clear, I’m sure Henry won’t bother me again.”

Selene smirked.

Foster straightened his spine. “Nevertheless, Henry will need to answer for this disturbance. Diederick would like to see him at once.”

My heart dropped. Just what I needed, Henry arousing suspicion with the host of this grand affair.

Henry pushed away from the bar, but not before glowering at me. “I will get the truth out of you, Aurora Sky.”

Selene kept her arm around mine as she steered me toward the opening of the rec room.

“Pay no attention to that old grump,” she said. “He’s actually quite charming when he wants to be, but when things don’t go his way, he can be as petulant as a three-year-old. Men are so full of contradiction. I don’t even try to understand them.”

I only half-listened. At least her voice had a lulling effect that gave me a false sense of safety.

“Why did you come back?” I asked.

Talk about good timing. I hadn’t expected to see Selene and Valerie for at least an hour.

Selene leaned her shoulder into mine. “I wanted to check on you. Your friend said this was your first tasting. Diederick runs a tight ship, but that doesn’t always stop the cheapskates from trying to get a free taste below deck.”

“I’m glad you stepped in,” I admitted.

Selene gave my arm a pat with her free hand. “I’m afraid the pleasure is all mine.”

She led me to a pool table in the next room. Valerie was waiting, fingers wrapped around a pool cue. “You decided to join us after all.”

I had no desire to join their game. I wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. Maybe Foster could go upstairs and find Dante.

“There was a vamp giving her trouble,” Selene said.

Valerie’s fingers tightened around the stick in her hand. “Which vamp?”

“It’s nothing.” I pulled my arm out of Selene’s and waved it in the air. “It was Henry.”

“Henry? What did The Great Gatsby want? Don’t tell me! He wanted to taste you. Not your blood. Your essence. Trust me, I’ve heard it before. Henry really needs to update his lines.” She lifted her chin at Selene. “It’s your shot.”

Selene glanced at me. “Why don’t you take it?”

I shook my head. “I’ll watch.”

Valerie folded her arms as Selene picked up her pool stick and circled the table before settling on a spot across from me. She studied the table for a moment. Her head lifted slowly, and she winked at me before lowering it again and slamming her cue tip against the cue ball. It cracked against a blue striped ten, sending the table into a temporary chaos of flashing colors that smacked against the edges of the table. Two striped balls dropped into corner pockets.

“Show off,” Valerie muttered with a grumble.

Good thing I hadn’t taken Selene’s shot.

I kept to the far wall, watching the game, but not really seeing it. My eyes kept flicking over to the opening of the rec room, expecting to see Henry storm through at any moment.

“That’s game,” Selene said. “Want to play again?”

Valerie huffed. “You’ve probably been playing for five decades. Like that’s fair.”

“Maybe you and your friend should play,” Selene suggested.

“What do you say, Aurora? Think you can take me on?” Valerie asked.

“What?” I tore my eyes from a couple leaving the rec room and looked at Valerie. “Sure.” I needed something to keep myself busy.

Selene handed me her pool stick while Valerie tossed the balls into a triangular rack on the table. Valerie took the first shot, breaking up the balls with a smack.

“I’m stripes, you’re solids,” she called.

On my first turn, I attempted to hit the orange five into a pocket, only to end up sending it bouncing aimlessly around the table.

Valerie slinked her way up to the table and got a striped green into a pocket right away. She moved to the corner and took her next shot. The cue ball bounced across the table two times before smacking the striped red eleven into a pocket.

Valerie smiled smugly. “This is more like it.”

She wasn’t successful with her third shot.

I approached the table and took a long look around. Even if I were halfway decent at pool, I wouldn’t be on my game tonight after the interrogation from Henry.

As I leaned into position, I felt a body press against my backside, and an arm slide over mine.

“Lean down more,” Selene said softly in my ear. “Hold the cue closer to the tip.” She guided my fingers as she spoke. “Guide the ball with your eyes. Focus on the spots you want it to strike.”

Valerie’s eyebrows rose across the table.

When Selene pulled back, cool air caressed my back. I focused on the table, the solid white, and the orange five I’d failed to hit earlier. I pushed my arm forward and struck.

The cue ball struck the orange, which hit the side of the table, bounced off, and rolled into a pocket.

“Yes!” I said, fist pumping the air.

“No fair,” Valerie said. “You got pointers.”

I squared my shoulders. “Doesn’t matter. I took the shot.”

Selene gave me an approving grin.

“Fine. Let’s see if you can do that again.”

Despite Selene’s personalized instructions, I missed the next shot… and the next. Valerie won. I didn’t care. About fifteen minutes into our game, Henry stormed past. I made sure to concentrate on the table when he went by. Now that he’d gone, I felt considerably more relaxed.

Selene encouraged Valerie and me to start up another game. “I’ll get us liquid refreshments,” she announced.

“I’m not drinking,” I said.

“And I’m the designated driver,” Valerie noted with an eye roll.

Selene smiled. “I’ll have him make us virgins.” With that she disappeared into the rec room.

Valerie came around the table and nudged me in the ribcage. “You two make a cute couple.”

“She’s nice,” I said, not taking the bait.

“Maybe Dante will get lucky and score some simultaneous loving after all.”

I tossed a hand up at the ceiling. “Dante is getting plenty of loving already. How long does it take to make the rounds and get some quick samples?”

Valerie grinned deviously. “Maybe he’s doing more than sampling.”

I glared at her. “You can be a real bitch sometimes.”

“Like you aren’t wondering the same thing.”

Actually I wasn’t. I had bigger worries, like being a suspect in Marcus’ murder. Henry had every right to be suspicious. This wasn’t anything like the mystery surrounding Agent Crist’s death, though I was sure Jared was responsible. I knew exactly who killed Marcus. Me.

What I really wondered was if I’d seen the last of Fane. He said he’d only been helping Noel out. He said he should have stuck by my side, that he wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. That was before Dante showed up and staked his claim. Would Fane give up now? Had he meant what he said?