Dante turned onto a secluded road leading into dense woods. He followed a set of tire tracks through the snow. They led to a small cabin with smoke drifting from its chimney. The windows were dark.
"Brrr!" I cried when I got out of the Jeep. "If this Ivo doesn't kill me, the cold certainly will."
Dante grinned. "The great thing about Fairbanks is it doesn't matter whether it's twenty below or minus seventy. It all feels the same: damn cold." Dante tapped out a rhythm once he reached the cabin door.
A bolt slid back. A young woman with heavy eyeliner opened the door. She nodded for us to come in. Dante slipped in with Tommy, and I followed close behind. The woman shut the door as soon as I was through.
"Took you long enough," she said. "Hopefully there's still a party to go to."
Dante raised a brow. "It's two thirty - Ivo's just getting started."
"Hi, Tommy." The women's voice softened when she talked to the retriever. She scratched him behind the ears.
"Aurora Sky, meet Janine."
"Latest recruit?" Janine asked Dante.
"Roger that."
"Is this her first time in the field?"
"She'll do great," he said.
Janine walked over to a small square table. Dante tossed a duffel bag on top. As Janine turned up the flame on the gas lamp, shadows stretched and leapt across the sparse room to the wood beams overhead.
I hovered by the doorway a moment before walking over to the wood stove. Tommy followed me and curled into a ball on the ground beside the hearth. The backs of my legs started to prickle as I watched Dante pull knives out of his bag and set them on the tabletop. I turned myself slowly, evenly, like a piece of corn on the cob rotating over the flames.
The cabin was one open room with a small kitchen. There was a twin bed against the wall near the fire covered in a patchwork quilt.
"I thought you were going to wait until Renard was back in town and do one clean sweep," Janine said.
"Nah, we'll catch up to him next time."
"Who's Renard?" I asked.
"A real nasty," Janine said.
"As bad as this Ivo character?"
"Worse."
"Worse than Ivo?" Dante asked in disbelief.
"Even the junkies avoid him."
I was definitely not getting the romanticized version of vampires here. Surely they weren't all rabid nut jobs and psycho killers? The Mouseketeers didn't seem to think so.
"Sky, let's get you a weapon."
"Dagger," Janine suggested.
"Perfect."
"Lift up your pant leg," Janine ordered.
I pulled up the right leg of my jeans. Janine wrapped a leg holster around my calf and stuck a dagger into the sheath. I wrapped my fingers around the hilt and took it back out. My stomach tied into knots when I held it in front of my face.
"You'll be fine," Dante said, slapping me on the back. "Let's go party. Tommy, stay."
I returned the knife back to its holster, covering it with my pant leg.
Janine sat in the front seat of the Jeep and navigated Dante to a house party on the edge of town. The windows on the house were all boarded up. Only four cars lined the curb.
Janine sounded uneasy when she spoke. "I thought there'd be more people here tonight."
"Aurora, what's your cell number?" Dante asked.
I recited my number and Dante dialed it into his own phone. My phone began to ring seconds later.
Dante hung up. "There, now you have mine. Okay. Let's go over this real quick. Janine and I are going to make an appearance, but head out before the rest of Ivo's guests leave. For Janine's safety, we don't want any witnesses placing her as one of the last people at the party. Sky, you'll stay, pretend to get wasted, and take out Ivo. Get him to take you somewhere secluded - shouldn't be too difficult. If you can take out Patrick, too, even better. If not, have him bite you, and I'll finish the job. Call my cell when the junkies have cleared out."
Janine's safety? He was worried about Janine's safety?
I leaned forward. "So basically you're going to abandon me here?"
Dante looked over his seat. "It's the best play, Sky. No more white rooms. You know what to do. Now lose the scarf unless you want to use it to mop up blood."
I unwrapped the scarf slowly and set it on the empty seat beside me. A chill slid down my spine. I shuddered involuntarily.
"Remember," Dante said. "I'm Peter and you're Wendy. It's safer if they don't know our real names."
Peter, as in Peter Pan. Pretty fitting, really. Dante was like a boy who never grew up. At least he wasn't calling himself Van Helsing and me Buffy. Might not go over too well with the undead crowd.
I slipped out of the car as Dante grabbed a case of bottled beer out of the trunk and slung it under an arm. He put his other arm around Janine. She held a second case of beer in her free hand. We walked to the front porch, and Dante pounded on the door.
"Get the door!" someone yelled from inside.
The door opened a crack, and a scrawny young man with a pierced nose, brow, and ears peered out. His face muscles relaxed when he saw Janine. "Oh, hey, Janine, come in."
"Hey, Thomas."
As Thomas held the door open for us I noticed raw bite marks on his wrist. A wave of nausea rolled over me. I tensed my jaw to quell it.
The front door led into the living room. A pale young man sat on a torn-up couch. He looked like skin and bone beneath his ratty T-shirt. He was leaning against a slightly older man in slacks. The groomed man didn't pay attention to us as he licked a drop of blood from the corner of his lip.
"Janine," Dante chided in a booming voice. "I thought you said this thing was going to be classy."
Nice way to call attention to us, Dante.
The man narrowed his eyes. "Who's this?"
Janine sauntered in and plopped down on the other side of the couch. "Patrick, Peter. Peter, Patrick. Peter's visiting from Anchorage. He's a smart ass. I mentioned him, remember?"
"And who is this fresh peach?"
I couldn't locate the owner of the voice at first. It was deep and far away, as though coming from an overhead speaker.
"His friend's ex. She just got dumped and wanted to get out of town." Janine batted her lashes. "Stay away from her, Ivo. She's new to all this."
"Fresh blood." Ivo laughed.
I located him in a corner in a midnight-blue button-down shirt. A silver pendant with a Celtic symbol drew the eye to the dark wiry hair below his throat. Stubble covered his chin and cheeks. It was odd to assign an age to a vampire, but if Ivo were mortal, I'd place him around thirty. He was seated on a large armchair with worn upholstery. A girl with black cropped hair sat in his lap like a limp doll.
My skin crawled.
"Did we arrive late?" Dante asked, looking around. "Jeanie told me this place was going to be buzzing."
Ivo shrugged lazily and looked me over. "Some folks thought it was too cold. Only the brave came out."
Dante pulled a cap off a beer bottle with his bare hand. "Well, we didn't drive all this way for nothing. Beer anyone?"
The girl on Ivo's lap stood. "I'll have one. Thanks."
Dante handed her the beer and began opening another. "Wendy?"
I knew I was supposed to pretend to get drunk, but I wasn't much of a beer drinker. Heck, I wasn't much of a drinker at all excluding my solo New Year's Eve celebration and pre-sex binge. God, did I know how to have a good time or what?
"I bet Wendy wants something stronger," Ivo said.
I forced a smile. "Yes, you read my mind."
He seemed to like that I said this.
"Why don't you come back with me to the kitchen?"
"Lead the way."
The kitchen was as grimy as the living room. The linoleum was discolored and a section was missing in front of the fridge.
"Wendy, Wendy, Wendy," Ivo said as he looked through a cabinet. "What would my Wendy want? Ah." A bottle slid across the shelf like a claw over plywood. Ivo pulled out a bottle of tequila and handed it to me.
I unscrewed the cap and took a swig from the bottle. I welcomed the burn down my throat. I took a second swig then held the bottle out to Ivo. "You want a sip?"
His eyes glittered. "Not yet."
I felt that odd pull of revulsion when he looked at me.
Ivo leaned against the counter. "Poor little Wendy, lost her boyfriend."
Laughter trickled from my lips. I quickly covered it with another swig of tequila. Quite the opposite, Ivo. I had a boyfriend who was really into me.
Ivo's earlier playmate walked in with a half-empty beer bottle. I couldn't read her expression. She was most likely too out of it to form a thought, let alone expression. "Ivo, are you coming back out soon?"
Ivo grimaced.
"Why don't you go home, Casey? I've had enough of you."
Ivo might have been able to walk and talk, but he was no less despicable than the rabies vampire I'd killed during orientation.
Casey blinked at him a couple times, turned and left the kitchen.
I set the bottle of tequila down on the counter. "I should check on my friends."
Ivo followed me to the living room. Dante was sitting on the arm of the armchair, bottle of beer in hand, smirking at Patrick as the latter glowered at him.
"So Peter, you want your blood sucked out?" Patrick said.
"Truth be told, I'd like to suck a little blood myself, but I can't - human and all. No, I like to watch."
My lips curled. Sure, Dante was a great actor, but I could swear he was enjoying himself.
"Or do you not suck women's blood?" Dante taunted.
Patrick's fists tightened. I willed him to get up and sock Dante in the jaw so we could get this damn assignment over with together. But just as quickly his shoulders relaxed, and he called Janine over.
Janine approached the couch and stood in front of Patrick. I couldn't see her expression with her back to me.
"Very well, you want to watch me suck your girlfriend's blood?" Patrick sneered. "Is that what turns you on?"
He grasped Janine by the wrist and twisted her arm as he pulled her closer.
I forgot to breathe.
Dante sounded as cool as glacial ice. "On the neck."
Patrick released Janine's wrist and guided her to his lap. The human boys watched without expression. Patrick's mouth widened as he closed in on Janine's neck. Dante leaned forward. I turned and hurried back into the kitchen.
Ivo followed behind me. I guzzled down the tequila. Sure, brilliant way to cure the sick pit inside my stomach - dose it with esophagus-burning alcohol. I coughed.
Pretend to get drunk, Aurora. Don't get drunk!
The vampire chuckled. "You're such a pretty young thing, Wendy. Not like the trash Patrick drags in from the gutters."
I wiped my mouth on the back of my hand. The floor went out of focus.
When Ivo's lips opened over his teeth in a grotesque smile, I noticed that each tooth had been sharpened to a point. I almost retched.
"Do you think they're done?" I asked abruptly.
Ivo didn't answer. When I returned to the living room, Dante and Janine were gone. The two boys were smoking in a corner. Patrick sat in the same spot on the couch drinking a beer.
My jaw dropped. "Where did Janine and Peter go?"
Patrick looked over my shoulder at Ivo and smiled slowly. "They wanted some time alone."
"They left?" I knew this was part of the plan, but they didn't even say goodbye.
"The night's still young," Ivo said behind my back. "Matter of fact, it's always night in Fairbanks this time of the year." He laughed softly. "I'll take you wherever you need to go, but you don't want to go just yet, do you?"
"I guess not."
Ivo stepped closer. "You came for something, didn't you, Wendy?"
"Yes," I said in a voice so soft it was barely audible.
He inhaled my neck. Cold fingers ran through my hair. His arm snaked around my waist as he leaned in.
I pulled away. "Not here. I...don't want an audience."
Ivo looked me over and chuckled. "Follow me."
He led me down the dark hall to a bedroom in back.
There was a barricade of splintered wood against the outside of his windowpane. The floorboards were scuffed and creaky. A mattress sat in the middle of the room without a frame or blankets.
Homey.
Ivo closed the door behind him and circled me. "So Wendy's wandered into Never Never Land seeking answers...or something else?"
So the Pan reference wasn't lost on him.
"Has Wendy been bitten before?" he prodded.
"Once."
"Such a lovely thing, our Wendy. I bet your blood is sweet." Ivo swooped up to me. "I want to drink. Every. Last. Drop."
He opened his mouth so wide, I feared he'd snap off my neck. I recoiled. When he tried again, I pulled my arm back and rammed my fist in his face. Pain splintered across my knuckles. I twisted my hips to add torque to the blow. Ivo grunted in surprise. He put a hand to his face, but when he looked up, he smiled.
"Well, well. Wendy's a feisty thing. I don't get many live ones these days. Youth today is so dark and disturbed. They've given up. Takes the fun out of it. Come on, Wendy, let's teach you to fly."
Ivo grabbed my shoulders and tossed me across the room. I hit a set of drawers and landed on the floorboards. Ivo hauled me up by the neck and threw me so hard over his bed that I flipped and fell over the other side with a tremendous whack.
I tried to stand. My arms shook underneath me. Warm blood tickled from my lip, and I noticed Ivo's eyes shine. He dropped to his knees and loomed over me.
"Where are your friends now, Wendy? They've abandoned you. Soon they'll go out into the world and live out their useless little lives. They'll grow up, age. But you, Wendy, you'll never grow old."
Ivo's razor teeth pierced through my skin. He dug in deep and shook his mouth like a bloodthirsty wolf. My skin tore. Blood spilled down my neck. My heart pumped blood up my throat. Ivo drank greedily.
One,two,three,four,five...six. I counted in my head.
Suddenly his jaw slackened. His grip weakened. He fell on top of me, convulsing. I shoved him off.
While he twitched, I pulled up my pant leg and took out the dagger. His eyes bulged.
"Hun...Hun..." He tried to speak.
"Vampire hunter," I said for him. "Not so sweet anymore, am I?"
I lifted the dagger with both hands and brought it down through his heart. I tore through his skin the way he'd torn through mine.
The twitching stopped. Ivo's eyes gaped at me. I pulled out my dagger and wiped the blood off on his shirt.
I still needed to kill Patrick. I unlaced my boots and left them in Ivo's bedroom before walking down the edge of the hall. The floorboards bent under me, but didn't creak. The entry to the living room loomed closer, and I crouched by the doorframe. For a long time, no one spoke inside. Finally, one of the boys said he was tired.
"You know the rules," Patrick said. "You can party here, but you can't crash."
Their footsteps creaked on the floorboards, followed by the slam of the door. Outside an engine sputtered and chocked before rumbling to life.
I peeked inside the living room. Patrick sat alone on the couch, sipping a beer, probably washing down the blood. I doubled back, put on my boots, and walked into the living room. I stumbled into the room, leaning against the doorframe.
Patrick looked me up and down, a smirk on his lips.
Blood trickled from my lip and neck. My head throbbed from the whack I'd taken on the floor.
I forced a sloppy grin to make Patrick think I was drunk. "He's a bit rough."
I staggered over to the couch and "passed out" with my head in Patrick's lap. His legs tensed under me, and he started pushing me aside.
Come on, Patrick, easy offering - drink!
The push against my shoulder eased up. Patrick's breath blew over my skin when he inhaled the bite on my neck. I waited for his teeth to break through. He ran his tongue over the open wound.
I had to force myself to stay still. The licking wasn't causing him to convulse the way the biting did.
Patrick swallowed and I had to suppress a shudder as he licked me again.
Maybe Ivo had sucked out the good stuff and left behind diluted blood.
Patrick licked and swallowed again. Then he became very still right before he began to convulse.
I rose off his lap, pulled out the knife, and stuck it in his heart.
I took my time walking to the bathroom. The warm water didn't seem to be working so I ran a hand towel under cold. When I glanced in the mirror I saw myself clearly. A cut bled over my forehead. I dabbed at it with the wet cloth then went to work on my neck. I dabbed and rinsed until the water ran clear.
I pulled out my phone after I finished.
Fane answered immediately. "Aurora."
He felt so far away. Hundreds of miles and a dark void in between separated us.
"I miss you," I whispered. Tears gathered in my eyes.
"Aurora, where are you?"
"Never land."
"Aurora?"
I flipped my phone shut, reopened it, and dialed Dante. I spoke before he could say hello.
"It's done."