Bad Blood (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter, Vol. 3) (40 page)

Melcher looked at Levi. “You are dismissed, Mr. Parker. I want a word with my hunters.”

Levi gave an obedient head nod and headed for the door. I got in front of him so fast he bumped into me. Levi shook his head slightly.

“Know when to accept defeat,” he said.

I thought I saw a flicker of pity on his face. I’d take what I could get. I leaned into Levi and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. His eyes dropped to the spot where I touched him. From there they moved to my lips.

“Promise me you’ll do the right thing,” I said in a whisper. “Promise me you won’t hurt Tommy. Promise me—”

Before I could finish the next sentence, Levi silenced me with his finger. He pressed his pointer against my lips, leaned forward, and whispered in my ear, “And what do you promise in return?”

A sick sensation rolled over me. I didn’t know whether to throw up, slap him, or promise whatever he wanted so long as he kept Tommy safe.

“Enough,” Melcher said, before I could respond in any of the above ways. “This is not a negotiation.”

Levi removed his finger from my lips, straightened, and smiled. “Don’t worry. The dog will be better off now.” Levi slipped out the door. When it shut, it felt like a physical weight slamming over my heart.

Hatred coursed through my body when I glared at Melcher.

“I know you’re upset,” he said. “But you have to think of the greater good. People are counting on you, Aurora. They’re counting on all of us to keep them safe.”

I couldn’t care less about people at the moment. Humanity could go fuck itself, right after Agent Melcher. I fixated on his desk and had a brief fantasy in which I shoved it backward and crushed him against the wall.

“Now let’s get back to the problems at hand,” Melcher said. He took the file from his desk and handed it to Mason. “Henry Fisher has been giving Aurora problems. I want you to bring him in. Alive,” Melcher added. “Since Mr. Fisher is already aware of our operation, we can put him to immediate use during our agency’s next initiation.”

My heart flipped as Melcher’s intentions sunk in.

“You’re going to put him in a cell and make a new recruit kill him,” I said, staring absently at the bare walls.

“That’s correct,” Melcher said. “This way Mr. Fisher’s existence won’t be an entire waste. I find it poetic when one of the damned has an opportunity to do something good before they die.”

Sick. I always knew Melcher was twisted, but he still found ways to sicken me more. I was no friend of Henry’s, but there was nothing remotely poetic about putting him in a cage for some poor recruit to kill.

“That’s all for now,” Melcher said. “Mr. Hicks, please drive Miss Sky home.”

I didn’t bother beseeching Melcher one last time. I couldn’t even look at him. I walked out of the office in front of Mason. Once outside, I said, “Before we go, I have to use the ladies room.”

“Whatever,” he said.

I strode over to the secretary’s desk. A young woman wearing a camo top and pants looked up at me.

“Where’s the bathroom?” I asked.

She pointed down the hall. “Take the first left. You’ll see it on the right side of the hallway.”

“Thanks.”

I forced myself not to run. Once I’d rounded the corner, I dove into the bathroom and checked under the stalls for beige boots. Thankfully, the room was empty. I whipped my phone out and called Noel.

The more it rang, the more my heart jammed up my throat. When Noel answered I breathed out in relief.

“Don’t get mad at me,” Noel said, before I could get a word in. “He insisted on staying the night.”

I experienced a moment’s confusion before realizing she was referring to Fane. That was the least of my worries.

“I don’t care about that! I need your help now.”

Noel’s voice dropped. “Aurora, what’s wrong?”

I caught a glimpse of myself in the wide mirror above the bathroom sinks. I looked crazy eyed, face flushed and splotchy. My distressed features matched the tone of my voice.

“I don’t have time to explain. You need to get over to Dante’s house now and get his dog out of there.”

“What’s going on? Where are you?”

“I told you I don’t have time to explain,” I said, right before proceeding to do just that. “I’m on base. There’s an informant on his way right now to get Tommy and do who knows what with him.”

“Aurora…”

“What?”

Noel exhaled. “I’m in Girdwood.”

My heart dropped. Girdwood was roughly forty-five minutes away. There was no possible way for Noel to beat Levi to Dante’s.

I caught my eye in the mirror. I stared back in determination.

“Call Fane,” I said. “Call anyone. I have to go, another hunter is waiting to take me home.”

I hung up before Noel could answer. She better find someone. She owed me.

I’d never missed Dante as much as I did sitting in Mason’s Hummer on the ride home. Mason wasn’t the talkative type. I wasn’t in the mood for conversation, anyway, but it would have helped to know the big guy possessed emotions of any kind.

Dante, where are you
?
My head screamed as I stared out the window.

“Is this it?” Mason asked, speaking his first words of the entire drive when he slowed in front of my house.

“Yes,” I said, voice lifting when I saw the familiar Roadster from the previous night in the driveway.

Relief flooded over me. Noel had come through. One of her gothic boy toys had made it in time. It was the first small victory of the day.

“Who’s that?” Mason asked, staring at the car.

“None of your damn business,” I said. I stepped out of the car, grateful to get away from Mason and find Tommy safe from Levi’s clutches.

I walked up the driveway, listening for Mason’s rig to pull away. When it didn’t, I looked over my shoulder and glared at him. He watched me with a steady gaze, lips relaxed into a neutral line. This reminded me of being stalked by a vampire. Vampires, assassins, informants—I was beginning to hate them all equally.

Tommy wasn’t inside the car. I stopped at the driver’s door and tapped lightly on the window.

Daren, the shorter of the Goth guys with the eyebrow piercing opened his door. A square bandage covered the spot on his neck where I’d seen the bloody bite mark the week before.

“I drove over as soon as Noel called,” Daren said.

“Shh,” I said, even though Mason couldn’t hear us.

“Just walk inside with me like everything’s cool.”

Daren quickly closed his mouth and followed me to the front door.

My feet felt as if they were moving in slow motion. I wanted to run, but I couldn’t, not with Mason watching.

Daren and I moved forward, a foot apart, until we reached the door. I unlocked the deadbolt, re-locking it once we were inside. No more unannounced visitors bursting in, thank you very much.

I listened at the door until I heard the Hummer drive away. Mason had gone, probably after Henry now.

I turned to Daren. “Tell me you got Tommy.”

I didn’t like the frown on Daren’s lips.

“I went to the address Noel gave me, but there was no dog there.”

“How do you know?” I asked. “Did you go inside?”

Daren nodded. “The door was open. I went in and searched the whole house.”

I stared at Daren for several seconds, hoping I’d heard wrong. He needed to revise his story, tell me what I wanted to hear. I refused to accept this outcome. It didn’t work. It wasn’t acceptable.

I collapsed against Daren, nearly knocking him down. He grasped me by the shoulders, fumbling for a better hold.

“Are you okay?” he asked in alarm.

I took a steadying breath as I righted myself. No, I wasn’t okay. I was far from okay.

“I haven’t had anything to eat or drink in nearly twenty-four hours,” I said.

I stared at Daren’s pale arms. He still had a hold on my shoulders. When he saw me staring, he let go. I could make out the blue ridge of his veins on his knuckles. They looked precariously close to the surface of his skin.

“What happened here?” I asked, poking the bandage on his neck.

Daren’s hand shot up to the bandage as soon as I pulled my finger back. “It’s nothing,” he said quickly.

“You like getting bit,” I said in a far-off voice.

My eyes kept gravitating to his neck.

“Don’t you?” Daren asked. “You know, when you and Fane were together?”

I moved my head slowly from side to side. His neck shifted back and forth as I did.

I didn’t like being bitten. I didn’t like having my blood sucked. I wanted to do the sucking. That was part of what it took to hack a life as a vampire. I knew I liked blood, but biting had never thrilled me until now.

God, I was famished.

I ripped the bandage from Daren’s neck, experiencing a sudden craze. Hunger pains gripped me by the waist. Saliva gathered inside my mouth. I was stressed, starved, and angry—not a good combination… at least not for Daren.

The raw wound beckoned to me. It would be so easy to reopen it. This time, I grabbed Daren’s shoulders. I yanked him to me, fueled by the promise of bloody nourishment. It had revived me once; it could revive me again.

I went at the bite mark as though aiming for a bull’s-eye.

I reopened the wound with my teeth. Daren yelped. Blood trickled over the surface of his skin. I sucked at it greedily.

I didn’t stop to think I was drinking directly from the source, just like a vampire.

Daren’s body slackened. He closed his eyes, lower lip slightly ajar.

He likes thi
s
, I told myself to try and justify what I was doing.

I bit into the wound to make it bleed more. Daren made a guttural sound in the back of his throat. He moaned.

Sick frea
k
, I thought, even though I was the one drinking him. I wanted the blood. I needed the blood.

Still, it wasn’t right.

I swallowed and pushed Daren away. He steadied himself. I grabbed the torn bandage from the ground, thrusting it at him.

“Cover that up.”

Daren took the bandage from my fingers and held it over his neck. “It’s okay,” he assured me. “Your secret’s safe with me. Just ask Noel.”