Night of the Living Dante (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter, Vol. 4.5) (2 page)

“No problem,” Dante said. He reached for his knife. The
vamp who’d patted him down jumped back as though anticipating an attack. Scar
Face lifted the riffle. Dante set the knife on the ground and straightened out.
“You sure are jumpy.”

Scar Face lowered the riffle. “Like you said, can’t be too
careful. Come inside.”

Dante followed the vamps into the cabin. Janine stepped in
behind him and closed the door. Inside, the room was cold and dim, as was so
often the case at vamp dwellings. Other than a single room in the back corner,
the place was open.

There was a small stove, black as soot, against the far
wall—not that the vamps appeared to be using it.

Two more vampires looked up from a table when they
entered. One had a dark beard. The other was clean shaven. A kerosene lamp cast
a filmy light over their faces. These two appeared to be in their thirties, or
rather, were in their thirties when they became vampires.

They stared back, but didn’t say anything.

Scar Face walked over to the table. “These two were told
they could buy powder from us. Know anything about that, Nelson?”

All three vamps stared at the clean shaven guy.

His lips puckered in thought. “I don’t know anything about
that.”

“You sure, Nelson?” the vamp in flannel prodded.

“Yep. I do have coke, though.”

“Excellent,” Dante said, rubbing his hands together.

The guy stared over the table at Dante. “I’m not selling,
but I might be persuaded to share a couple hits if you give us something in
return.”

Dante folded his arms across his broad chest. “And what’s
that?”

The vamp looked at Dante’s neck. “Blood.”

Dante whistled. He glanced at Janine.

She nodded and took a step forward. “No big deal. You want
blood and we want blow. It’s a simple exchange.”

The clean shaven vamp stood up from his place at the
table. “Obviously, you’ll have to go first.”

“Yeah, sure,” Janine said. She headed straight for the
clean shaven vamp’s chair. “So, Nelson, you’re the one with the coke?”

Before he could answer, she pulled back his chair, circled
around, and swung a leg over his lap.

All four vamps went still. All five males held a
collective breath.

Janine pushed her bodice against Nelson’s chest. “Go on,
have a taste.”

Dante’s groin throbbed. Blood rushed to his brain and
pounded inside his ears.

Nelson leaned toward Janine. His eyes zeroed in on her
neck right before his teeth followed. He held her head in his hands as he bit
into her skin.

Janine gave a soft whimper.

Nelson’s cheeks hollowed as he sucked. Janine’s lashes
fluttered and closed.

Dante’s fingers curled into his palms, anticipating his
turn. The bite. The blood. The kill. The rush.

The two vampires they’d met outside looked from Janine to
Dante. Even in the dim light, their eyes seemed to suddenly glow.

Dante flexed his arms. “Ready when you are.”

Scar Face and Flannel approached slowly, taking up a place
on either side of Dante. Scar Face reached for Dante’s arm first. His fingers
were cold. His grasp firm. Flannel’s hand trembled slightly when he took Dante’s
other arm.

Both vamps turned his arms to the smooth underside. As
Scar Face lifted Dante’s arm to his lips, Flannel quickly mimicked his friend.

Once their noses touched Dante’s skin, the vamps bit into
him simultaneously—eagerly. Their teeth tore through with brutal force. Dante
threw his head back and groaned. Biting triggered something euphoric inside his
brain every time.

Perhaps it did something similar for vampires. Not his
blood, though. His was poisoned. And unlike a stomachache, the side effects
weren’t gradual. Dante’s blood took immediate effect.

Flannel dropped first. He hit the ground with a thud.

Scar Face stopped biting and sucking all of a sudden. He
lifted his head abruptly, eyes wide open. His fingers tightened around Dante’s
arm. They seemed to lock up. Dante pulled his arm back. Scar Face lost his
grip. Next, he lost his footing. He joined his friend convulsing on the ground.

Blood streaked down Dante’s arms.

“Vampire hunter!” the bearded vamp yelled from the table.

Nelson stood up abruptly, sending Janine crashing to the
floor on her ass. Her fishnet arms spread wide, like broken wings attempting to
cushion the fall.

The bearded vamp came barreling toward Dante.

Dante squeezed his fingers into fists and lifted them,
ready to knock Beardie down. But the vamp wasn’t running for him, but past
him—for the front door.

Dante quickly pivoted and sprinted toward him… or would
have if Scar Face hadn’t grabbed his ankle. Dante tripped, but didn’t fall. The
jerky movement was enough to break free from Scar Face’s sudden grasp.

Beardie left the door of the cabin open. Dante charged
after him. The guy ran past the truck and Jeep.

He’d passed up the weapons, as well.

Dante dove down, grasping the hunting knife and pistol in
each hand. As he did, another figure zipped by.

Nelson.

Dante dropped the knife. He jumped to his feet, both hands
on the gun, and did a quick scan to pinpoint Nelson. The vamp raced down the
road in the same direction Beardie had fled. By the time Dante had a chance to
aim, both vamps had receded into the night.

Dante cursed.

Janine appeared by his side, breathing hard.

“Where’d they go?”

“Down the road,” Dante said, jutting his chin in the
direction they’d fled. He snatched his hunting knife off the ground and thrust
the hilt at Janine. “Finish the two inside. I’ll get our runners.”

Janine took the knife and turned to the cabin.

Dante rushed toward the Jeep. He jumped inside, tossed the
pistol onto the passenger’s seat, and turned the key in the ignition so hard it
squealed. He cranked the wheel and did a 180 in the driveway. Once turned
around, Dante punched the gas.

The tires ground through snow and dirt. Twigs snapped as
Dante blasted down the bumpy track. The Jeep jolted him side to side, up and
down. Dante squeezed the steering wheel and drove with his nose all but
touching the windshield. He kept expecting the vamps to appear in his
headlights, running down the road.

Shadows appeared on both sides. Trees that kept throwing
Dante off, thinking they were vampires trying to blend in with the woods.

One tree looked so human, Dante jammed on the brake and
skidded over gravel only to see that the arms he thought he’d detected were
really tree limbs.

“Damn it!”

He lifted his foot off the brake and pushed down on the
clutch as he gave the Jeep gas.

These vamps might have a head start, but Dante had wheels.
Any second now, he’d catch up to them and put the blood suckers down.

Dante shifted into second gear and floored the gas pedal.

The forest flew past his headlights. The lights reached
only so far down the dark road.

Dante flicked on his brights. The dense woods only seemed
to magnify around the blazing lights.

Dante shifted to third gear. The odometer jumped to
thirty-five miles per hour.

Dante shifted into fourth and exceeded forty.

At this speed, he’d be hard pressed to stop in time should
the vampires not jump out of the way. His arm muscles tightened when he
squeezed the steering wheel. The open wounds below his biceps ached, but the
blood was starting to dry on his arms.

Dante reached the public road. He cursed and skidded
across gravel, turning the wheel into a spin. Dante headed back down the road.
The vamps must have heard him coming and hightailed it into the forest.

Foot chase. Game on.

He zoomed down the first half of the road, slowing about
halfway in. Dante shifted down to first gear and moved his head from side to
side looking for tracks in the debris littered snow. All the branches and dirt
made it difficult to discern footprints. If they’d kept to the ruts in the road,
the Jeep had taken care of obliterating their progress down the road. Not to
mention it was hard to see anything in the dark.

Dante tapped the steering wheel. If he was a vamp, at what
point would he deviate from the road? Probably the moment he heard the Jeep
coming after him. Now he just had to figure out how far they could have run
before the Jeep started up. It wouldn’t be too far from the cabin. Dante hadn’t
delayed in chasing after the runaways.

As he neared the cabin, he stopped the Jeep in the road
and turned off the ignition. Dante grabbed a flashlight out of the glove box,
and pocketed his keys as he stepped out of the Jeep with the gun and light.

His feet crunched over the frozen ground and dry snow as
he walked along the road, beaming the light along the edges of the woods,
searching for the vamps’ trail.

Damn, the dark.

Next time Dante went on a night mission, he was bringing
along a pair of night vision googles.

He walked slowly up and down one side of the road,
followed by the other. As time passed, the cold bit at his arms. It settled
into his bones. Dante shivered. He walked faster. He retraced his steps in case
he’d missed anything and that’s when he noticed two sets of footprints going
off into the woods.

Dante’s heart surged in excitement.

The chase continued.

And the vamps were traveling together. That would make it
so much easier to track them down and kill them both.

Dante sprinted into the woods. He wanted to keep running,
but he had to continually point the flashlight at the ground and follow the
tracks around trees and brush.

Deeper and deeper he went, hurrying through the forest.

The trail curved and wound its way around dense patches of
wood. The frigid air iced his lungs and kept him alert. The tracks led Dante on
a slanted path that suddenly arced like a frosted rainbow, curving back in the
direction he’d come.

Dante picked up the pace. He had to be getting close.

He held tight to the flashlight and gun. The path
straightened. The trees slid past the beam of light. Dante charged forward,
faster and faster. Suddenly, Dante reached a black void. No forest. No looming
trees.

Dante swung the light around, realizing it wasn’t a
void—the trail had led him back to the road.

Dante needed a compass. He needed Janine.

What if they’d doubled-back and gone after her?

He raced down the road, leaving the Jeep behind him. At
least if they tried to drive away in their truck, they’d be blocked in.

Soon, Dante caught sight of the square of light coming
from the cabin. He paused briefly before continuing his sprint. Sweat froze
against his arms and neck.

The front door was still open. He ran through it.

Scar Face and Flannel lay still on the floor, eyes open
and staring in shock. Blood stains blossomed across the fabric over their
hearts.

“Dante?”

Dante looked up. Janine stepped out from the one room in
the cabin.

“I was waiting in case they returned,” she said.

Dante nodded. If only.

“Did you get them?” Janine asked.

“No,” Dante grumbled. “They ran off into the forest. I
picked up their trail, but they doubled back to the road. Probably crossed over
and did the same thing on the other side. I couldn’t see a damn thing in the
dark. Suckers had the advantage being able to hear the Jeep. I bet they skirted
me in the woods when I drove back and hit the road running again. Damn it!”
Dante kicked the wall.

Janine walked over to him and glanced at the bodies on the
floor. “At least those two are down.”

Dante ran a hand through his hair. “Maybe their friends
will come back. We can bed down here and wait.”

Janine glanced at the doorframe. “Those two aren’t coming
back.”

“Maybe not tonight.”

Janine huffed. “I’m not holing up here for days.”

Dante nudged the tip of her boot with the toe of his. “We
could find ways to keep busy while we wait—make up for the last five weeks.”

A flicker of a smile played over Janine’s lips. “Take me
back to our hideaway in Fairbanks and we’ll work something out.”

Dante’s eyebrows lifted. “Oh, yeah?”

Janine’s gaze traveled down his body, lingering on his
groin.

Her pointed stare was answer enough for him. Dante
straightened. “Let’s get out of here.”

Janine nodded at the two dead vamps on the floor. “You
want to burn the cabin down with the bodies inside first? Call it in?”

Dante shook his head. “The mission’s not complete. We’re not
lighting it up or calling it in. I’ll check back in another month or so. See if
our runaways wander back.”

Janine snorted and rolled her eyes. “Don’t hold your
breath on that one.”

“We’ll see,” Dante said, undeterred. “I can be extremely
patient when it comes to hunting vampires.”

Janine snorted again. “You? Patient.”

Dante walked over to the kerosene lantern and snuffed out
the flame. The room went dark, except for the circle of light from Dante’s
flashlight. He lifted it to his face and lit up his grin. “You’d be surprised.”

“Good luck with that,” Janine said. “Now let’s get out of
here. This place gives me the creeps.”

“Don’t tell me you’re scared?”

Janine folded her arms across her chest. “Nothing scares
me.”

“Except for zombies.”

Janine laughed. Her arms relaxed. “Did you see the look on
those vamps’ faces? They cleared out of here as though they were being pursued
by a zombie horde.” The floorboards creaked beneath her feet.

Dante followed her outside.

Janine stopped. “Where’s the Jeep?”

“Down the road a ways.”

She cussed. “I am so ready to get out of this shithole.”
Janine held out her hand. “Flashlight.”

Dante placed the flashlight in her palm. She wasted no
time leading the way down the road. Darkness swallowed the cabin whole.