Stakeout (Aurora Sky (5 page)

Aurora shook her head. “He’s all yours.”

I think Dante would have been better off with
Valerie. Let those two squabble over the knife. But I didn’t make
the decisions, and ultimately, Melcher knew best.

Dante looked me up and down. “You’re so tiny.
Are you sure you can take on a full-grown vampire?”

I lifted my chin. “No problem.”

“Follow me to the first house, unless you
want to leave your car on base.”

“Right behind you,” I said. I stared at the
slip of paper in Dante’s hand and committed the first address to
memory.

“Got it?” Dante asked.

“Yep.”

“Cool, I’m in the white Jeep.”

I got one last look at Aurora in the parking
lot before she climbed into Valerie’s shiny red Honda Civic. Poor
girl.

I walked to the end of the parking lot and
climbed into my car. After starting her up, I turned the vent to
full blast even though the heater was on the fritz. Didn’t matter.
I’d been born with ice in my veins.

Once my windshield unfogged, I turned the
vent to half-speed.

I saw a white Jeep waiting at the exit. As
soon as I pulled up behind the Jeep, Dante headed out of the lot. I
followed him along the wooded road. It always felt so peaceful on
base. A city within the city. Sheltered. Safe. Until we reached the
main road leading up to the gated entrance, there were hardly any
vehicles on the road.

The Jeep zoomed onto the highway. The heater
wasn’t the only thing on the fritz. The old girl didn’t respond
well to the gas pedal.

I watched the Jeep careen through traffic
like an out-of-control snowball rolling down a cliff. Good thing
Melcher didn’t pair Aurora with Dante. She’d probably be shitting
herself right about now.

Downtown was just ahead. Dante punched it
through the first intersection as the light turned yellow. Even if
I wanted to run a red, I couldn’t with cars blocking every
lane.

Didn’t matter. I had the address in my head.
Melcher once told me he wanted me to get to know the whole city
like the back of my hand. So I’d studied city maps until I knew
Anchorage better than any pizza delivery boy ever could.

I turned the FM radio on to an alternative
rock station. The light turned green. I moved with the flow of
traffic in no rush. When “Sail” by AWOLNATION came on, I sang
along, watching the SUV in front of me.

The streets unclogged after the next
intersection. I passed a park with play equipment covered in snow
and took a right into one of the nicer neighborhoods in town. Not
the kind of place where I expected killer vampires to reside.

Dante’s Jeep idled directly in front of our
first address. I parked a couple houses behind him and walked
toward his car. He jumped out and met me halfway, shooting me a
mischievous grin. “Hey, you made it.”

“This is the address, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” Dante cocked his head to one side and
squinted as though trying to get a read on me.

“Then let’s go.”

3

“What do you think?” Dante asked as we tromped up
the walkway. “Vamp house?”

“We’ll find out.” I walked up to the door and
knocked three times.

A woman in an embroidered sweater answered.
She smiled sweetly. “May I help you?”

“Good afternoon, Ma’am,” Dante said, cheeks
dimpling when he grinned. “I hope we’re not interrupting anything.
We were just in the neighborhood, spreading the word of the Lord
and wondered if we might have a moment of your time?”

The woman gave me a dubious look. It’s not as
though I’d had time to change out of my black skirt with the tulle
trim. At least she couldn’t see my corset beneath my zipped
hoodie.

When the woman’s eyes returned to Dante she
was all smiles. “We love the Lord and all those who spread His
word. I just made cookies. Won’t you come inside a moment and warm
up? Even God’s servants need to take breaks.”

Dante took a step forward. “Cookies? You’ve
twisted my arm.”

I followed Dante wordlessly inside the house.
Like I said, I wasn’t in any hurry to get back to my crib.

“I hope you like chocolate chip,” the woman
said, disappearing behind a wall, leaving us inside an immaculately
clean living room. Cleanliness on that level had its own creepy
factor.

“Chocolate chip is my favorite,” Dante said.
He sunk into a cushion on the sofa, draping an arm over the
rest.

I took a seat beside him.

“One down. Two to go,” Dante said.

The woman returned with two pink plastic
plates – a cookie on each. She handed one to Dante and me.

“Thanks,” I said.

“What are your names?” the woman asked.

“I’m Peter and this is Wendy,” Dante
answered.

“Nice to meet you Peter and Wendy. I’m
Katherine.”

“Well, Katherine, we certainly appreciate
your hospitality.”

“Please,” Katherine said. “It’s the least I
could do. Which church are you two from?”

I ate my cookie and let Dante have the floor.
He seemed to have a knack for on the spot bullshiting.

“Actually we attend church in Palmer,” Dante
said.

He was good on his feet all right. There was
a church on practically every street corner in Palmer. Alaska might
not be part of the Bible Belt, but it had a few notches.

“How wonderful,” the woman said. “Which
one?”

Dante chewed his cookie for a while. Finally
he answered, “The Church of God.”

I looked at Katherine. She thought a moment
then smiled. “Oh, yes. That’s the one off the highway, isn’t
it?”

“That’s the one,” Dante said, grinning as he
bit into his cookie.

I set my plate on the spot beside me then
stood up. “Mind if I use your bathroom?”

“Down the hall to the left,” Katherine said.
“How long are you in town?” she asked, turning her attention back
to Dante.

“Only a couple days.”

“We’re having a potluck tomorrow at the
church. I’d love for you to come...”

Their voices faded as I walked down the hall
of smiling portraits. They were all studio shots of the
family—everyone dressed their best with matching smiles in front of
holiday backdrops.

I slipped inside the bathroom, shutting the
door behind me. I opened all the drawers, medicine cabinet, and
cupboard beneath the sink. The drawers were lined with hair
products, nail polish, menstrual pads, and every type of headache
medication on the planet. I closed everything again and returned to
the living room.

“Ready?” Dante said, standing up.

I gave a slight nod.

“Well, Katherine, thank you again for letting
us in and for the delicious cookies.”

“God bless you both,” Katherine replied.

“And you,” Dante said, making the sign of the
cross.

Katherine’s head gave a slight jerk.

I touched Dante’s arm. “Come on, Pete, we
have work to do.”

Dante followed me to the door. “Duty calls.
Good evening, Katherine.” Dante caught up to me on the walkway.
“What was that about?”

I smirked. “You made the sign of the cross.
That’s a Catholic thing.”

“Is the Church of God not Catholic?”

I shrugged. “Beats the hell out of me.”

“You should ride with me,” Dante said. “It
would be faster.”

“Or you could ride along with me.”

“I said faster.”

“Fine.”

Dante walked around the front of the Jeep,
into the street, and climbed in. I stood staring at the passenger’s
seat. Small golden hairs covered the fabric and would no doubt
stick to my black clothes the moment I sat down.

“What?” Dante asked.

I sighed and climbed in. “I take it you have
a dog?”

“Tommy? He’s sitting this one out.” Dante
started the Jeep. He put his blinker on and drove cautiously
through the neighborhood before ripping out onto the main road and
punching the gas. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him glance my
way. I stifled a yawn.

“I think we’re going to hit the jackpot at
the next place,” Dante said.

“Why’s that?”

“Just a hunch.”

“We might not get the vamp house at all,” I
pointed out.

“The odds are in our favor.” Dante held the
horn down when a car pulled out of a parking lot in front of
him.

I looked from the road to Dante. “Why do you
want the vamp house so bad?”

Dante cranked the wheel at the next
intersection. I leaned toward him to prevent slamming my shoulder
against the door.

“It’s exciting,” Dante said. “Like being a
real life superhero. The more vamps I take down, the safer the
world is.”

I smiled. What our unit did was pretty damn
impressive. I didn’t get as hyper about it, but it gave me a
similar sense of satisfaction. Unlike Aurora, I valued my position
on the team. It gave me a sense of purpose my life lacked
before.

Dante’s next words didn’t register
immediately. He must have thought I was feeling anxious. “Don’t
worry, I’ll do the killing. No one has to know.”

I turned my head to look at him. “What makes
you think I can’t take this vamp out myself?”

Dante made a snorting sound I didn’t
appreciate. “Have you even killed a vampire before?”

“Yes.”

“I mean outside of orientation.”

I pressed my lips together.

No.

And I hadn’t killed my vampire during
orientation the first time around, either. He nearly killed me. I
had to have another transfusion and go through the whole process
again with a second vampire. In the first round, Melcher had
confirmed his hypothesis that people with AB positive blood
couldn’t poison vampires the way AB negative blood could. Our blood
didn’t mix right with the toxin or something.

Luckily the department still had a use for
me. I was happier as an informant anyway.

But before I could be put on active duty, I
still had to kill my first vampire.

“I’m putting you on undercover duty, Noel,”
Melcher had said. “Your job is not only to observe, but become a
part of the vampire community. But you must also know how to defend
yourself against these creatures. And you must be prepared to kill
them if necessary.”

So he’d assigned me a month of intensive
training before pitting me against another rabies vampire. That
time I was ready, and I knew what to expect. I couldn’t rely on my
blood. I had to rely on my skills. In the end, I’d chosen a knife.
After all, it wasn’t the first time I’d used one.

“You can count on me,” I told Dante.

“Keep your eye out for one-one-eight,” Dante
said when he pulled into the next neighborhood.

I scanned the homes quickly. “There,” I
said.

Dante hit the break then pulled up to the
curb. One-one-eight was across the street. They had a snowman in
the front yard with twig hands, a knit hat, and scarf. So much for
Dante’s hunch.

He turned the ignition off and reached across
me for the glove box. There was a sheathed knife inside. Dante
grabbed it.

I didn’t say a word, and I wouldn’t to
Melcher, either. If Dante needed to hold onto his knife to feel
secure, he could do whatever he damn well wanted. Nothing would
stop me from doing my job.

“Are you armed?” Dante asked.

I rolled my eyes. “Do vampires suck
blood?”

He glanced from my legs to my face. “Where is
it?”

“Under my skirt.”

Dante smiled slowly. “So how do you access
it?”

“I lift up my skirt,” I answered.

Dante’s grin widened. He glanced at my legs
again. “You should teach Aurora that trick.”

Okay, someone needed to get his mind back on
the mission.

“I imagine she’s got her own tricks up her
sleeve.” I reached for the door handle.

“Ah, but a trick up the skirt beats a trick
up the sleeve any day of the week,” Dante answered. I rolled my
eyes again.