Stakeout (Aurora Sky (26 page)

“Whatever you want, babe.”

My mega smile was one hundred percent
genuine. No one had ever called me
babe
before. It sounded so comical I nearly bit my tongue to keep from
laughing.

Nothing was quite as satisfying as seeing the
look on Gavin’s face as Fane led me out. His expression changed
from shock to outrage. My heart gave a tiny thump.

Fane squeezed me against him. “Enjoy your
drink, Chum. I’m off to enjoy mine.”

“Noel!” Gavin called.

I turned my head.

“So, you’re with Fane now?”

Rather than answer, I smiled and said, “See
you around, Gavin.”

I willed him to stop me, yank me from Fane’s
side. Yeah, he had poor choice in women and he was being a complete
dick, but he was also a male. A vampire male, but still bullheaded
like the entire sex, no matter what his blood type. If anything, it
made him more human.

But Gavin didn’t stop us.

There was nothing left to do but continue the
farce all the way up to the October room in case anyone was
following our movements. Fane stuck a bat on the door knob and shut
us inside. As he turned, back to the door, he crossed his arms and
shot me a bemused grin. “What was that about?”

I mimicked his stance, arms folded, standing
in the middle of the room. “That was about preventing a fist fight
inside Marcus’s pristine kitchen.”

Fane smirked. “I would have dragged him
outside first. I know the rules. Little bastard probably would have
enjoyed licking his wounds.”

I grimaced. “Well, I don’t want anyone
getting hurt.”

“You don’t want Gavin getting hurt.” Fane
took a step toward me, lowering his voice. “You like him.”

I shrugged and broke eye contact. “Yeah,
well, I’m an idiot.”

“He’s the idiot,” Fane said. “Doesn’t even
realize he’s dating a vampire.”

My heart did this weird thing where it
bottomed out, actually causing me to stumble forward. “What did you
say?”

Fane cocked his head to the side. “Don’t tell
me you didn’t know. You’re the spy here.”

“Valerie Ward is not a vampire.”

Fane grinned. “You sound awfully sure of
yourself.”

I wish he’d stop smiling like that. It was
getting frustrating. “I’m certain.”

“Are you now?”

“Yeah, I am.” God, he was maddening. “Why are
you so sure?”

“I tasted it in her blood.”

There went my heart again, beating loud,
while my voice nearly lost all sound. “What did she taste like?” I
asked.

Fane walked up to me and lifted my chin so
that our eyes were inches apart.

“Death.”

I tried not to shake. Not only would Fane see
it, he’d feel it with his hand on my face.

Gavin had said I tasted odd. Odd like death?
Fane said Valerie tasted like death. Valerie had AB positive blood.
I had AB positive blood. Vampires had AB positive and negative
blood. We had their diseases, but we also had the antidote, unless
it didn’t work. Unless it had never worked.

“Noel, say something.”

My eyes had wandered off. I stared back into
Fane’s deep brown irises, ready to deliver my own bombshell.

“Valerie is an undercover informant, like me.
She works for the same unit as Aurora and me.”

Fane’s hand fell from my face. “Val, too?” He
took a step back and ran his hand through the blond tuff of hair on
top of his head. “Boy, do I know how to pick them.”

“They picked you,” I said. “Well, Valerie
anyway. Aurora didn’t know you were a vampire until I told her.”
Actually, I thought deep down she knew before then but didn’t want
to admit it to herself. Denial could sound pretty good when it came
in the form of a dark hunk of a man.

“I knew it,” Fane said. “You’re all vampires,
just like me. I had my suspicions with Aurora, but now that I know
Valerie is part of your operation it’s confirmed.” He nodded at me.
“That means you are, too.”

I shook my head. “I’d know if I was
undead.”

Fane raised a brow. “Ever experienced any
blood cravings?”

“No,” I answered immediately. Watching Aurora
drink blood after her kidnapping had actually grossed me out.

Fane grinned. “Ever tried blood?”

“No,” I said a little slower. “But that
doesn’t prove anything. Why are you so convinced that Valerie is a
vampire based on the taste of her blood? Maybe some people taste
different. We all have unique smells and physical attributes. Why
couldn’t blood be the same way?”

“Because I’ve tasted vampires before and they
all taste the same—not human.”

“But how many vampires have you tasted?”

“Enough.”

I shook my head. “It’s not possible.”

“There’s only one way to find out. Sit on the
bed.”

“What? Why?” I knew exactly why, but this
whole scenario had me all confused and riled up.

“Noel,” Fane said firmly. “Sit on the
bed.”

Our eyes locked one last time before I turned
and walked over to the bed. I sat on the edge, folded my hands in
my lap, laced my fingers together, and squeezed as though praying
for something. But what? My humanity? Eternal life?

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I
didn’t see Fane join me on the bed. The mattress dipped with his
weight as he took a seat beside me. Shallow breaths breezed in and
out of my half-closed lips. I felt like I was at the gynecologist’s
or on a first date. I couldn’t decide which, but either way it was
nerve-racking and awkward as hell.

My eyes remained open. It didn’t seem like
the appropriate occasion for closing them. I didn’t tilt my head,
either. Fane slipped my shirt down my shoulder slightly. I could
see him searching my skin for a vein from the corner of my eye.

His hands gripped me suddenly, and I was
certain he’d found his mark. I sucked in a breath and waited.

This was so different than all the pervious
times I’d been inside this room. Nothing erotic or enticing about
it. My fate lay on the tip of Fane’s tongue.

His bite was delicate. Gentle. It was nice
not to be ripped into, which happened more often than I cared to
count.

Fane’s grip tightened as he sucked my skin
between his lips as though extracting venom from a snakebite. I’d
nearly forgotten he hadn’t had blood since his second breakup with
Valerie. Hopefully he didn’t get too carried away. Not that I’d
protest. Blood was the least I could offer him after everything
he’d done for me.

But I wanted answers. I wanted them now!

I was about to ask the million dollar
question when, out of the blue, the door of the October room flew
open. My first thought jumped to Gavin. He’d finally come to stop
Fane from biting me. But it wasn’t Gavin standing in the doorframe
looking like he’d witnessed the most grotesque sight humanly
possible.

It was Aurora.

13

It made no sense. How could Aurora appear at the
worst possible moment? For a second, I nearly convinced myself I’d
somehow ended up in the middle of a nightmare, and this was the
part where I’d wake up and go, “Wow. That was seriously screwed
up.”

But Aurora didn’t fade away, and neither did
Fane. He’d pulled away from me and was staring at Aurora. I
expected him to say something, anything. I waited. We all
waited.

A brief flash of hurt filled Aurora’s eyes
before they turned into daggers, pointed at both Fane and me. She
turned to leave.

“Aurora!” I called desperately. “It’s not
what you think!”

She didn’t answer or stick around for more
than a second before storming away.

“Aurora!” I called again, leaping to my
feet.

Fane caught my arm and pulled me gently back.
I stared at the open door, feeling like the absolute worst friend
in the entire world.

“Noel, you’ve got bigger problems.”

I turned my head slowly. For about thirty
seconds, I’d forgotten why we were here.

I stared into Fane’s eyes. “I’m dead, aren’t
I?”

One by one, Fane’s fingers released my arm.
“You are very much alive, Noel. Forever.”

“Forever,” I repeated. Tingles of pleasure
raced up my spine. Me. Noel Harper. Vampire. I’d been given the
gift of everlasting life. One of nature’s specially selected.

Blood rushed through my veins, pumped to my
heart in pure joy.

This was better than winning the lottery.

I didn’t realize how big my smile was until
Fane interrupted my thoughts to say, “You took that rather
well.”

“Should I be upset?” I felt different in a
good way. Even my voice sounded more confident.

Fane studied my face. “Most people are, to
some degree. Even if they’re happy about it, there’s the initial
shock. You seem pretty calm. Should that worry me?”

“Why? Do you think I’ll start killing
people?”

Fane raised a brow.

“This doesn’t change anything.” I considered
that a moment and laughed. “Okay, it changes everything, but I’m
still me, and I still believe in the same principles of right and
wrong. Killing people is always wrong, no matter who or what a
person is. I need to have a serious chat with my boss, though. I
can’t believe he didn’t tell any of us.”

Fane shook his head. “I wouldn’t advise
that.”

“Why not?”

“Noel, think about it. Why didn’t your boss
tell any of you that you were vampires?”

I chewed on my lip, unable to answer that one
off the bat. Why didn’t Melcher just come out and say we were
undead? He hated vampires. His entire mission in life was to rid
the world of them. Why would he create more?

I blinked several times. “I don’t know.”

“Exactly.” Fane straightened. “And how can
you know that he doesn’t plan to eliminate you once you find
out?”

“Why create us in the first place if he only
plans to kill us later?”

Fane raised a brow. “Later is the key word.
For now you’re at his disposal to do his bidding. He probably waits
as long as he can before you and the people you know begin to
notice you’re not aging.”

A tremor ran down my spine. That couldn’t be
correct, could it? Maybe Melcher gave us the option to carry out
our duties forever, passing us on from agent to agent after he and
the leaders after him aged. But again, why not mention that from
the beginning? Why not inform recruits at orientation or even boot
camp?

“Maybe he was concerned we’d hesitate to
carry out our duties if we were killing our own kind.” Now there
was a moral dilemma. It certainly would make me think twice, which
showed that maybe Melcher really did know what he was doing.

Then again, there was still the question of
what he did when hunters or informants found out or, if they didn’t
put it together themselves, how he chose to inform them when the
time came.

“Maybe you’re right to hold back on telling
my boss, but I have to tell Aurora.”

Fane stiffened. “Aurora can’t know.”

“How can I not tell her? This is huge!” Fane
couldn’t be serious.

“She’ll flip out if you tell her.”

I gestured furiously towards the door. “She
already has flipped out! How am I supposed to explain what happened
in here if I don’t tell her?”

“You can’t. Not yet. Not until we figure out
what’s going on. Can you guarantee she won’t rush off to that boss
of yours and demand answers?”

I pressed my lips into a firm line, thinking.
Yeah, Aurora was bullheaded like that. She’d already done it once
with her blood cravings. Melcher was already suspicious of her,
enough to ask me of all people to watch her for odd behavior.

It all suddenly made sense. Melcher wanted to
know if Aurora starting turning, so to speak—acting on vampire
tendencies. He wanted to know if she somehow figured it out. What
would he do with her then?

No matter what Aurora thought of me, I had to
keep her safe.