Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter by Nikki Jefford Page A

punch.
    The boy howled. He couldn’t manage to fight back. He was too
busy shielding himself from my blows.
    Suddenly I was falling backward, being yanked from behind. I
struggled and slapped at the hands that had latched onto my midriff.
    “That’s enough, young lady!”
    Mr. Burke, my old biology teacher, stood frowning at me.
    “All right, all right,” I said, dusting myself off. “You’re
welcome!”
    “Let’s go,” Mr. Burke said. “Principal’s office.”
    The last thing I saw were the whites of Fane’s teeth as he
grinned. A month earlier I wasn’t so much as a blip on that boy’s radar. Now he
was everywhere, appearing at my worst moments, like Satan, witnessing my fall
from grace.
     

 
     12

The Ultimate Baddie
     
    By the time Principal Romero finished suspending me,
the school had all but emptied out. I slipped on my backpack, which sagged down
to the exposed skin on my lower back. I pushed open one of the front doors and
stepped outside. It was like walking into a freezer.
    A rich velvet voice caused a second wave of shivers to
ripple through my body.
    “My, my. Someone’s on a downward spiral.”
    I would have rather ignored the sensation his murmur stirred
inside my stomach. I turned my head to the side. Fane leaned against the brick
wall, one knee bent and foot planted against the building, smoking a cigarette.
    I rolled my eyes. “Who, me?”
    “What’s the punishment for first-time offenders these days—a
slap on the wrist and a warning?”
    “Three days suspension.”
    “Crash and burn, baby.” Fane flicked his cigarette to the
ground and smashed it into the packed snow with the heel of his boot. “Your
yellow school bus is long gone.”
    “So I’ll walk,” I said.
    Fane looked me up and down. “Wearing that? You’ll have
hypothermia before you reach home.”
    “Well, then, the doctors can revive me and bring me back to
life. It’s amazing what modern medicine is capable of,” I said.
    Fane chuckled. “Well, aren’t you jaded.”
    “Are you laughing at me?”
    “Not me. Come on, I’ll give you a ride.”
    “You know I won’t get inside a car with you.”
    “Is it me or the car?”
    “Both.”
    “What about lover boy? Would you get inside his truck?”
    I glared at Fane. “No.”
    “I didn’t think so. Come on.”
    “I told you…”
    “I’ll walk you to the bus stop.”
    “Whatever.”
    It must have been the sharp contrast between Fane and the
freshly fallen snow that made him appear so overtly dark as he moved in sync by
my side. He followed me inside the open Plexiglas shelter and stood in silence,
as though he were my own personal bodyguard. The agents didn’t mention anything
about issuing one of those.
    “You don’t have to wait with me, you know.” I fought back
the urge to shiver. It would be a bit like crying in front of him.
    Nevertheless, he took off his long leather jacket and held
it open for me.
    “What are you doing?”
    “You’re cold.”
    “So?”
    “So put on my jacket.”
    My mind must have gone numb in the cold because I let Fane
to slip the jacket on me without further protest. I anticipated Fane’s warmth
enfolding me, but the coat was as cold as a corpse.
    “Brrr!” I snapped. “I might actually feel colder in this
jacket.”
    Fane’s ego showed no sign of injury. “You’ll warm up. At
least you look better.”
    My ego was another matter. “What do you mean I look better?”
    “I mean that slip of a skirt. You look like some prissy
airhead. The coat makes you look cool, like Trinity in The Matrix .”
    My cheeks heated. “You know what? You can have your damn
jacket back.”
    I yanked my arms out of the sleeves and thrust the coat in a
wad against Fane’s chest.
    He didn’t say a word as he shook out the jacket and put it
back on. While he was doing that, I untied the knot in my blouse and smoothed
the top over my exposed midriff, buttoning it at the bottom. I hugged my arms
around my chest.
    Fane lit a cigarette.