Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter (30 page)

“Mom, this is really important.”

“What’s so important that it can’t wait until you’re
better?”

“Noel just transferred to West, and I’m going to transfer
tomorrow. I want to ask her some questions.”

Mom straightened in her chair. “Transfer!”

Maybe I should’ve had this talk with my mom yesterday, but I
was asleep all day.

“But…but…it’s your last semester,” she said. “Why do you
have to transfer?”

“Fane, Mom. I can’t go to the same school as him. I don’t
want to see him ever again.” Not exactly. It would just
kill
me to see
him with Valerie.

Mom considered this and relented somewhat, but not entirely.
“But all your friends are at Denali and the semester’s already started. You’ll
have to catch up in all your classes.”

“I know it’s a surprise, but I need a fresh start. I know I
can do better if I get away from the distractions plaguing me at Denali.”

Her expression softened.

I smiled and pulled my trump card. “Besides, Dante and I had
a long discussion about it on the way to Fairbanks. He believes it’s just what
I need to get my life back on track.”

“Oh,” Mom said. “I’m sure Dante’s right. He has a good head
on his shoulders.”

I gave Mom a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’ll be home
soon—need to get ready for my first day in a new school. Will you drive me?”

“Of course, I will.”

“I still have to figure out how I’m going to get to and from
West.”

“I can drive you as long as you need—the whole semester if
you need me to.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

I grabbed my coat from the closet and headed outside to wait
for Noel.

I started walking down the hill. Halfway down, Noel’s old
Volvo chugged up beside me. She stopped, and I got in just before the tires
spun in place. Noel backed up slowly into an empty driveway then pulled
forward, pointing the Volvo back down the hill.

I watched Noel drive for a moment. She looked so short
behind the wheel.

After a few moments of silence, I shook my head. “So you’re
an informant. I had no idea.”

“Don’t feel bad. It’s not your job to know who informants
are.”

“Did you suspect I was an assassin at any point?”

“I had my suspicions…especially after you pulled out that
dagger.”

I fought back a grin and ended up losing. Noel laughed.

I asked my next question. “So that whole song and dance
about Henry the mega suave biter was a lie?”

“Not exactly. I sort of stole that story from Whitney and
added my own embellishments, but Henry really did bite me. He just wasn’t my
first.”

I swallowed. “What was your first bite like?”

“It nearly killed me.” Noel watched the road as she talked.
“It turns out my transfusion didn’t take. When the vampire got his teeth into
me, he kept drinking. He wouldn’t stop. I lost consciousness. I didn’t wake up
again until I was back on the cutting table. The agents had to patch me up and
give me a second blood transfusion.”

“Assholes,” I muttered.

“They didn’t know,” Noel said quickly. “They rescued
me—twice. Agent Melcher was there both times looking out for me when anyone
else would have let me die without a second thought.”

“What about your parents?”

“We don’t talk,” Noel answered abruptly.

She slowed as she entered a sharp turn.

I stared out the window at the bare limbed trees.

Noel took a deep breath. “I should have died at the end of sophomore
year. You and I are their newest recruits, you know.”

I turned in my seat toward her. “We are?”

“You even killed my vampire for me—the rabies vampire. He
was the one who nearly drained me.”

I shuddered. “So you had your own experience with the
lunatic.”

“He was almost the end of me.”

“Then I don’t feel so bad about staking him.”

“You should never feel bad about killing a vampire. They’re
evil…well, most are. Not all. Marcus isn’t evil. Nor is Henry or Gavin. Or
Fane.”

I sat up. “You aren’t required to report every vampire you
find out to the agents, are you?”

Noel looked over. “They only care about the violent ones, or
so I assume. It wouldn’t help the cause to destroy the ones that get us closer
to the real dangerous targets.”

I relaxed. Only slightly. I wasn’t entirely convinced that
Melcher and Crist didn’t wish to obliterate all varieties.

“Are you disappointed?” I asked. “I mean that you’re an
informant and not a hunter.”

Noel’s voice lifted. “I love being an informant. I love
doing my part to make the world safer. A lot of vampires, it goes to their
head. You know, immortality. They don’t play by society’s rules anymore. We’re
like the vampire police recruited to keep order in the world.”

“Hmm.”

“And I did have one advantage,” Noel said. “I already knew
about vampires before I was recruited. This chick I met had just let me in on
the whole secret and wanted me to go with her to a party so we could get bitten
together.”

“But you didn’t?”

“Not that time. I chickened out. It comes as a shock the
first time you see it. Anyway, I didn’t get another chance to try
before…before…you know, I was recruited.”

“You mean before you went into critical condition?”

Noel was quiet.

“How did it happen?”

She slouched further down in the driver’s seat. “Trust me.
It’s not something you want to know about.”

“But I do.”

Noel remained quiet.

“I mean, unless you don’t want me to.” Which, judging from
her continued silence, must have been the case. It was odd. I didn’t recall
hearing anything about a sophomore nearly dying the year before, whereas my
accident was the talk of the school.

It was easy enough to change the subject.

I leaned over. “Did Melcher tell you that an informant was
killed in Fairbanks?”

Noel’s mouth hung open a moment. “No. Did a vampire get them?”

“Yeah, and now he’s looking for me and Dante.”

Noel stepped on the brake a bit roughly at the next
stoplight. “What happened?”

“We did a job in Fairbanks recently, and someone at the
party mentioned us to the dead vampire’s friend.”

“What’s his name?”

“Renard. Supposedly he’s headed this way. Maybe he’s already
here.”

“Should you be going out?”

I gave a half shrug. “It’s not like he knows my name or
anything.”

“I’ll keep my eyes and ears open.”

“Thanks.”

I stared out the window.

Noel cleared her throat. “Sorry you had to break up with
Fane.”

“It’s for the best,” I said halfheartedly. “Although I’m
still trying to figure out why Valerie gets to be with him.”

“And go to Denali.”

“Valerie’s a bitch.”

“You don’t need to tell me twice.”

“You know we’ll be school mates again soon?”

Noel jolted up in her seat. “We will?”

“Tomorrow, I’m enrolling at West High.”

“You are? That’s great. Why? I mean, I’m so happy, but why
are you transferring? This is your senior year.”

“I can’t go to Denali anymore. Not with Valerie moving in on
Fane. I’d end up doing something stupid like attacking her in the halls.
Anyway, my old friends have dropped me.”

Noel considered this and nodded slowly. “I guess it’s time
we both started fresh.”

“Does it take you long to drive to school?”

“I’m rooming with a couple girls near school. They’re early
twenties, work most evenings. They leave me alone.”

“Are your parents not in Anchorage?”

“They are.”

 “Did you turn into a wild child after the transfusion?” I
asked.

“Something like that.”

Noel’s voice was barely above a whisper. I had to strain to
hear her.

I nodded. “I had a similar experience, only in my case, it
was a parent who left the house—my father.”

Noel perked up. “Really?”

“Yep. He’s still MIA.”

“Maybe it’s selfish of me, but I’m really glad you’ll be
going to West,” Noel said.

“Thanks.” I shrugged. “School’s school, I guess.”

“And now it’ll be easier to spend time with Marcus.”

“Who is this Marcus you keep mentioning, anyway?”

Noel grinned. “A vampire. A really hot one. He’s not
dangerous or anything.”

“Has he ever bitten you before?”

“I wish. Anyway, you just have to meet him and see for
yourself.”

I wasn’t particularly in the mood to meet any more
irresistibly hot vampires. Pit me against the nasties. That dynamic was cut and
dry. Literally. At least those ones didn’t rip out your heart.

 24

It was a surreal sensation, walking through the halls
of a new school. I remembered what a nerve-wracking change high school seemed
like during the first days of freshman year. Now it was not so much a big step
as new territory.

I managed to get into a fifth period film elective with Noel
so at least I’d see one familiar face during my day.

Mom invited Dante over for dinner after my first day at
West. He brought over a bottle of sparkling apple cider, which my mom drank
instead of soda. She hummed as she filled three champagne flutes and handed
them out.

“So your classes are all right and the students seem cool?”
Dante asked.

“Roger that, Dante.”

Dante smacked his fist on the table. “That’s the spirit!”

“Yeah, yeah, but enough about me,” I said. “How’s your
semester going at the ol’ U of A?”

“I have a good mix of easy and difficult classes. Need to
allow time for the extracurricular activities.” Dante winked.

Mom giggled as though we were all in on the joke. “Do you
get called to duty very often?” she asked.

“Not that much, though this is turning into a busy year. The
agents are sending me to Kotzebue this weekend.”

“What’s happening in Kotzebue?” I asked.

“There’s a rabid vampire terrorizing the village.”

“Do you need my help?”

“Much as I’d like it, this mission’s simple. Anyway, it’s
your first week at a new school.”

“I wouldn’t mind,” I said. “It’s not like I get to travel
anywhere else. Might as well get a glimpse of the back country.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that too much.”

I shrugged. “Well, best of luck saving the town of Kotzebue.
Don’t forget to pack your mukluks.”

“Right, I’ll bring you back some seal meat.”

I smacked Dante’s shoulder, and he smacked me back. Mom
grinned. I hadn’t seen her this happy in too long.

Parts of me felt content. Other parts felt broken. The most
important lesson I’d learned over the past couple months was to be strong.
Sometimes, that meant laughing with company even with a heart split in two.