Night of the Living Dante (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter, Vol. 4.5) by Nikki Jefford

By Nikki Jefford
     
    They waited until dark to leave Fairbanks.
    As Dante drove south on the interstate, the last traces of
city lights vanished in the rearview mirror. There were no streetlights along
this part of the Parks Highway—only the eerie glow of trees darting past the
headlights like creatures in the night.
    Dante’s partner, Janine, had the location on a small gang
of vampires holed up in the Alaska Interior. Fortunately for the agency, one of
the suckers had a drug addiction. That addiction brought him into Fairbanks
from time to time, and no vampire flew under Janine’s radar in Fairbanks.
    She stretched her long, lean legs in the seat beside him.
Tonight, she wore black lace up boots over sleek vinyl pants. With legs like
those on full display, Dante had trouble keeping an eye on the dark road. It
was further distracting when Janine began massaging her neck while staring out
the window.
    This wasn’t the first time Dante had seen her in a corset,
but tonight her midnight blue bodice was attached to black fishnet sleeves that
stretched from her shoulders to her thumbs.
    Before Dante’s snowboarding accident and recruitment with
the agency, he wouldn’t have gone for a Goth chick. Side by side, he and Janine
looked like a complete mismatch with Dante in his clean-cut blue jeans and
fitted tee.
    But they were both committed to fighting evil and Dante
didn’t care how she came packaged.
    Then again, maybe Janine wasn’t really Goth. She was undercover.
Dante wondered what she looked like beneath all the makeup and black hair dye.
He’d only ever seen her with layers of paint.
    Dante punched the gas pedal. Chances of a moose wandering
onto the road were low, since Alaska was experiencing uncommonly little
snowfall for January. That meant the big animals kept to the woods where they
could walk and munch. These light dustings made for easy meandering.
    Meanwhile, the East Coast kept getting hammered in snow.
Mother Nature. Fickle creature. Just look at what she could do to a person with
AB negative blood. Make them undead or, in his case, a hunter capable of
poisoning the undead with his blood.
    Once they neared the town of Healy, Dante slowed the Jeep.
    “Where’s the turn?” he asked.
    Janine lowered her arms and peered out the window.
    “About a mile up.”
    A mile further, Dante slowed the Jeep and scanned the dirt
roads leading into the woods.
    “This one?”
    Janine squinted out the window. “Drive further.”
    Dante slowed at the next road. “This?”
    “Nope.”
    At the next, “this?”
    “Nope.” Janine sat up. “Wait. This one. Here.”
    Dante didn’t bother with a blinker. They were the only
ones on the road. How many people got a whole highway to themselves at any
point in their lives? Only in Alaska.
    Two minutes in, Janine inclined her head. “Take the dirt
road on the left.”
    Dante grinned. “Your ability to retrace a vamp trail in
the dark is uncanny.”
    Janine’s thickly coated lashes fluttered. “My dad always said
I was born with an internal compass.”
    “Nice."
    Janine shrugged. “You could do the same if you paid more
attention to your surroundings.”
    What was it with women never being able to take a
compliment? Janine waved his flattery off like a swarm of pesky mosquitoes.
    Dante cranked the wheel with both hands. The Jeep’s
headlights cut across a wooded road.
    Howling winds the day before had scattered branches across
the narrow pathway and blown the snow clean off the trees. This time of year,
the trees were nothing but bare limbs—mere skeletons without their leaves.
    The dark landscape looked sinister at night, but that was
nothing compared to what awaited them at the end of the road.
    They bounced in their seats as they started in over the
dirt path.
    “How long is this road?” Dante asked.
    “I don’t know. I didn’t follow him all the way.”
    Dante’s heart pounded in anticipation. Adrenaline pumped
through his veins. His fingers itched to