Whiteout (Aurora Sky by Nikki Jefford Page A

didn’t like vampires preying on humans any less than Dante. Most young wom en didn’t have the advantage of poisoned blood or combat training.
    â€œOne’s plenty,” Pierce answered.
    â€œShe won’t get hurt?” I asked.
    â€œNot if she keeps her mouth shut. The last girl wasn’t our fault. I thought you said she was cool.”
    Ice filled my veins. “I thought she was too,” I said, disgusted by the charade. I wanted to reach through the phone and remove every last one of P ie rce’s teeth so he’d never be able to bite anyone ever again… and take out his tongue while I was at it. Maybe rip out his throat.
    An d whoever this Pixie was, I wanted to grind her to dust. What kind of sick bitch rounded up women like cattle for vampires to feed on? Everything inside me twisted in on itself.
    â€œWhere do you want her?” I forced myself to ask.
    â€œ We’re switching locations. A rlo found a cabin that hasn’t been occupied in at least six months .”
    Guess we weren’t the only ones breaking and entering our way around the backcountry.
    â€œWhat’s the address?” I asked.
    â€œNelson has it.”
    â€œNelson’s baked.”
    â€œNelson needs to lay off the weed.”
    â€œI’ll tell him you said so.”
    Pierce sniffed. “Fat lot of good that will do.   When can you deliver?”
    â€œI can pick her up right now,” I said.
    â€œWhere does she live?”
    â€œIn town.”
    I figured the less detail the better. The conversation had turned into a verbal game of ping - pong. My objective: keep the ball on the table long enough to extract an address out of Pierce. This he did with his next serve ; he took it one step further by providing directions. The place turned out to be a cabin roughly thirty miles from where we’d taken down Nelson.
    I listened carefully, repeating the number 1451 in my head. The address was spray - painted on a rock at the end of a wooded driveway with reflective markers. Sportsman Road. Apparently Pixie was like an overzealous sheepdog rou nding up victims before throwing them to the wolves. Not this time. This time the predators would become the prey.
    â€œWill you be there?” I asked almost eagerly.
    Pierce must not be very close to Pixie to not recognize her voice. The phone could be deceiving, but I wouldn’t have been at all surprised if his contact with the woman was minimal. I hardly recognized my own voice since answering the phone.
    â€œI’m driving down from Fairbanks, but Arlo will be there. What’s the girl’s name?”
    â€œAnna.” I smiled as I said it. No more Wendy. I was going with Anna from Frozen . Dante could be my backup/ sidekick , Kristoff.
    â€œOkay,” Pierce said. “Arlo will be expecting her.”
    Well, Arlo was in for an unexpected treat.
    â€œToodles,” I chirped into the phone. It sounded like something a Pixie would say. I end ed the call and dropped the phone in my lap.
    Giselle twisted in her seat and leaned into me. “What are you doing?” she demanded.
    â€œSlight detour,” I answered.
    â€œNow we’re tal king.” Dante sat up in the driver’s seat , eyes shining .
    I kn ew he’d be on board and, for once, his obsessive desire to hunt didn’t bother me. Even Giselle seemed to realize it was futile to argue. She leaned back into her space, but not before crossing her arms in silent protest.
    â€œWe need to turn around,” I said.
    D ante glanced in the rearview mirror as he eased his foot over the brake. There wasn’t anyone coming from either direction. Dante made a U - turn in the middle of the road. The sick pit in my stomach turned with the truck, lifting with conviction.
    My shoulder s and neck ached. They’d tensed up the moment Pierce mentioned the girls. Going after him wasn’t enough to ease the stiffness out of my upper body. The best way