"You are the luckiest girl ever!" Hope said when I met the Mouseketeers for lunch in front of their lockers. "How did you manage to snag Fane Donado?"
I sat on the ground between Hope and Whitney and stretched my legs across the hall, my back up against the lockers. Noel sat Indian style a foot away, hooded head bent down like the grim reaper.
"It wasn't exactly planned," I admitted.
Whitney pouted. "You're not going to want to party with us now. Not when you have your own little private party for two."
"So you and Fane are still going out?" Noel asked.
I couldn't see Noel's eyes from under her hood. "Yeah, I mean we talked and..." And I didn't know what else to say.
What I needed right then was to reestablish some good habits - normal habits - like attending class.
I also needed to study and get my homework done.
That was the plan anyway when I walked up the hill after school. Right up until I found Dante's white Rubicon parked in our driveway.
Okay. Now I was getting seriously annoyed. I was actually trying to get back on track if people would just let me.
Then a thought occurred to me.
Did Dante know about Fane? No. He couldn't.
"I'm home!" I yelled once I got inside.
"We're in the kitchen," Mom called back cheerfully.
I shrugged out of my backpack and jacket and casually strolled into the kitchen. "Hi, Mom. Hi, Dante, I wasn't expecting you."
He leaned against the counter and shoved a leftover brownie into his mouth. He actually swallowed before responding. "Hey, Sky. We've got a Code Red down at the station. Agents want us both in now."
I moved across the room so he wouldn't catch my shiver. "What's going on?"
"Don't know yet."
"I hope everything's okay," Mom said.
"Don't worry, Mrs. Sky. We can handle anything."
"Oh," she said with a smile. "I'm sure you can."
Dante turned to me. "Ready, Sky?"
"Do I need to bring anything?"
"Nope."
I turned to my mom. "I don't know when I'll be back."
"Take your time," Mom said.
"Where's Tommy Moe?" I asked as I clicked my seatbelt on.
"I left him at home."
"Oh." I wouldn't have minded some furry comfort at the moment.
"Don't look so worried, Sky. From your face you'd think you just got caught with your hand in the cookie jar."
I grimaced. He was closer to the truth than he knew.
The Jeep zoomed backward onto the road and turned down the drive. Once on Jewel Lake Road, I watched him shift down, over, up, and down. We lurched forward then flew down Minnesota Avenue.
"So you don't know what this is about?"
"Nope, but we'll find out soon enough. Melcher loves to toss in a Code Red every now and then. He takes this all very seriously, you know."
Apparently Dante and I were the last ones to arrive at the party - a rather startling surprise party that included...
"Noel?!"
Noel looked grim-faced sitting in front of Melcher's desk. To her left I saw Valerie, dressed in a turtleneck and a pair of tall boots pulled over tight jeans. Her hair cascaded in red waves down her shoulders. She leaned against the wall, arms folded. My heart dropped.
Busted.
Melcher smiled when he saw me. "Come in, Aurora. Have a seat." He indicated the spot next to Noel.
If Valerie's was standing so was I.
"Hi, Aurora," Noel said, barely audible.
Agent Crist raised a brow. "You two know each other?"
"We're friends," I said.
Valerie scoffed at this. She looked right over me to address Noel. "And you didn't suspect her? Fine informant you are."
"Ladies, ladies," Dante said, laughing. "Let's play nice." He crossed over to Crist's desk and settled on the edge. "So, what's with the little powwow?"
"Team, we have two problems," Agent Melcher said. "Usually we don't gather informants and agents in the same room. Withholding identities within the organization is vital and not doing so could cost someone their life, but we're making an exception because Valerie identified you, Aurora."
I looked quickly at Valerie and then back at Melcher.
"Valerie's one of our top informants and an uncannily perceptive one at that," Melcher said, proudly.
Perceptive, my ass.
Valerie's eyes narrowed. "Actually, I thought you were a vampire."
My jaw dropped. "So you tried to call in a hit on my life?"
Melcher chuckled. "Valerie does enjoy a prompt assassination - makes her feel like part of the team."
Valerie lifted her nose. "Who can blame me? Look how pale she is. Even in Alaska, that's pushing it. Then there was her accident on the road. One moment the kids at school are whispering about how Aurora Sky was in a fatal car crash, the next she's in class without a dent on her."
I glared at Valerie. This had nothing to do with the paleness of my skin and everything to do with a certain vampire. Of course, I couldn't mention any of this, and she knew it. If she wanted to tell the agents about Fane, she would have done so already.
And if I truly had been a vampire, she would have happily seen me staked through the heart.
I could already see she was over whatever initial disappointment she must have felt when Agent Melcher explained I was one of their own. She still had me at her mercy. What was the punishment for dating a vampire? Death? Mine was questionable. Fane's was certain.
I wanted to rip Valerie's throat out, but I needed her to talk to me first.
"Let's get to the first order of business." Melcher said. "Valerie, Noel, we have reports of the infected prowling the halls at West High. I want one of you to transfer and identify every last one of them."
Valerie lifted her nose in the air. "I'm not leaving Denali."
Noel's voice quivered. "But all my friends are there."
"You can make new friends," Valerie said.
Melcher spoke up. "That's enough. Noel, you're transferring to West first thing Monday."
Noel's face dropped. "Yes, sir."
"Once you track down the predators, I'll meet with you and Sky to talk strategy."
Guess Noel and I would be partying together after all.
"Now that everything's cleared up, you two can leave." Melcher looked from Noel to Valerie. "I need to have a word with my assassins."
Noel hurried out of the room. Valerie pushed away from the wall, locking eyes with me as she left. Crist stood up and closed the door behind them. Melcher folded his hands over his desk.
I'd been holding my breath without releasing it. I pulled in air slowly.
"I've got bad news," Melcher said. "This is serious, gang."
Dante folded his arms and leaned forward. "Psycho vampire on the loose?" He thought a moment and snapped his fingers. "Renegade vampire army?"
"Janine's dead."
After the initial shock wore off I looked at Dante. His face was a blank mask.
"How?" he asked.
"She was found dead in her dorm room, both arms broken, trauma to the head, blood drained."
Janine bludgeoned to death. Great time for my imagination to go graphic.
I sank into a chair.
Dante's jaw was tight. "Who did this?"
"We don't know," Crist said.
"Obviously we know what did it," Melcher said. "What we don't know is if Janine told it anything."
Dante propelled himself off the desk. "Shit!"
Crist frowned and glanced at the cross on the wall.
"I want a name," Dante said. "I'm going to personally send this creature back to his grave."
"We're working on it," Melcher said. "But in the meantime, both you and Sky need to be on high alert."
My pulse slowed. You'd think it would quicken right about now, rather than retreat into hiding. I felt faint. "Does this vampire know who we are?"
"We don't know, but it's a possibility we can't rule out."
I nodded slowly. "I think I need some air."
"Go on, Sky," Dante said. "I'll meet you in the parking lot in a moment."
I hurried down the hallway, in a rush to get out of the compound as quickly as possible. Just being there reminded me of the white room and the vampire lunatic. Now I was sick with the thought of what happened to Janine. It overshadowed my own fear of being targeted. And I thought I had problems before. Not only had I been made aware of Fane's condition, but now Valerie was onto us.
She was waiting for me in the parking lot, a Capri Slim between two fingers. Just what I needed right then.
I sidestepped her as she tried to blow smoke in my face.
I looked Valerie up and down. "The agents told me there were vampires, but they didn't mention anything about witches."
Valerie glared at me. "Maybe the agents didn't explain to you that you're supposed to take down vampires, not date them." She dropped her cigarette and crushed it under her boot.
"And shouldn't you be turning them in?" I countered.
"Do you want me to turn Fane in?"
I saw straight through the sweetness of her tone.
"No," I admitted.
"Then break it off," Valerie said smoothly.
I should have been relieved that she was offering to keep him secret from the agents, but relief was not what I felt inside my chest at the moment. The despair was so intense I itched to grasp the area over my heart and squeeze until it stopped hurting so much.
"You mean..."
"Break. Up. With. Him."
I ground my teeth together so hard they ached when I released. "So you can swoop back in?"
"Just remember, as long as Fane's with me he's safe." Valerie tossed her hair over her shoulder. She walked to her car, a shiny red Honda Civic that zoomed out of the lot, leaving behind a cloud of exhaust.
I didn't need to jump in place to keep warm as I waited for Dante - I was fuming. I always knew Valerie was heinous bitch. And now she thought she could blackmail me. Well, actually, she could. What was I going to do about it? What could I do? And why the hell did she think she could be with Fane if I couldn't?
I sobered up when Dante walked out. I knew there were more serious things to worry about than breaking up with Fane, though they didn't feel nearly as important.
Dante lifted his chin when he saw me. We got inside the Rubicon and he stared through the window shield into the lot before starting her up.
"Dante...I'm sorry." It seemed we were both losing someone we cared about.
"Don't worry, Sky. Janine would never rat us out."
"What about those two guys at the party?"
"I'm going to hunt them down this weekend. Wanna come?"
Not a bad idea. Break up with Fane then skip town. My life just kept getting better and better.