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Melcher must have parked across the street or next door because there&039;d been no ominous black sedan in the driveway to warn ray suit It was the first ti nearby

I storlared athere?"

Mom frowned "Aurora, don&039;t - "

Melcher interrupted with a shts andclass, Aurora"

"So?" I plopped down on the couch and slung one leg over the other

"I understand transition period is confusing You&039;re not like the other kids at school anymore You&039;re special"

Great, just what I needed, Melcher going all student counselor on hting any time soon I was happy now

"Do you hter, Mrs Sky?"

Mom stood up immediately "Of course not I&039;ll be in the other room if you need lared at Melcher

He sighed and spoke in a low, articulate voice "You&039;ve been called to serve a greater purpose, Aurora It&039;s frightening at first, I know We put you face-to-face with evil and you won You have a gift A vaet, and we&039;ve never been better equipped to win the war on terror The i to remember is they&039;re not human They&039;re pure evil I think you&039;re ready for training, Aurora"

"I&039;m not ready I have senior year to finish" And a boyfriend who deserved all et in the way of school I was just explaining to your ned you a mentor I&039;ve chosen Dante for you I think the two of you will find you have a lot in common"

"So he&039;s a vaht"

"Fine Whatever" I stood up "Thanks for stopping by"

Agent Melcher got up "Don&039;t mention it You can expect Dante toiven us a time to expect Dante, ouldn&039;t have wasted the better part of Saturday afternoon peering out theany tiardless of the wait, it would be nice to meet someone like me

Finally, shortly after four thirty, the doorbell rang When Mouys I&039;d ever seen stood outside He grinned fro a tanned face His ht places It didn&039;t matter that his veins were filled with toxic blood - he had a smile that could kill

"Sky residence, I presuushed "Please, have a seat"

My led her brows at me the moment Dante&039;s back was turned He looked around the parlor and settled in the armchair Melcher had occupied the day before, but unlike Melcher, Dante slouched all the way back into the cushions

"I made cookies Would you like one?" Mom asked him

Dante&039;s eyes lit up "Cookies? You&039;ve discovered my weakness, Mrs Sky"

Mo out a plate of horabbed not one, but four

"I&039;ll get you a paper towel," Moe of the couch on the end closest to our good looking guest "So you&039;re my mentor"

Dante stuffed down half a cookie and talked with his mouth full "Mentor is one of Melcher&039;s terms I prefer to think of us as a team"

"Have you always lived in Alaska?" Mo Dante a napkin

"Thanks, Mrs Sky These cookies are fantastic I grew up in Fairbanks Now I&039;e"

"How do you like UAA?" Mom asked

"Small classes, top of the line professors, and in-state tuition - paid for courtesy of the government You can&039;t beat that"

Mom smiled

Dante had the build of a jock and face of a Hollywood heartthrob I couldn&039;t iine him in one of Melcher&039;s messy white rooms

"So, how did you die?" I asked

Moue "Aurora"

Dante sat up and grinned "No really, that&039;s my favorite question It happened last winter Maybe you heard about it on the news Soach Mountains to snowboard Man, the powder rocked that day So I got on my board and headed down - notthe white wave," Dante said, swishing side to side in the aro over a small cliff, like I&039;ve done a hundred times before, and land not onI know I&039;h brush and trees, gathering speed like a hue everywhere I&039; and I can&039;t tell the snow from the sky Then I&039;m tossed over the next cliff side and land a hundred feet down into a pile of fucking rocks Excusea hand to her heart

I grinned "And next thing you know you wake up in a white room?"

"Good as new," Dante said and winked

"I&039;otten on a snowboard since," Mom said

Dante leaned back "Au contraire The ht up to Alyeska and did a double-black diaht after - there was that little sabbatical I took first"

My face hurt fro brother kind of way Melcher had finally done so useful

"Can you stay for dinner?" Mom asked

"I&039;d love to"

Mom radiated with pleasure every time Dante helped himself to more chicken tenderloins and mashed potatoes Dante hummed with pleasure at each bite

"Do you kno long it&039;s been since I&039;ve had a home-cooked meal?" he asked

"You should coain soon," Mom said

"I won&039;t turn down an invitation"

While Dante scooped another heap of potatoes onto his plate, Mom shot me another one of the &039;he&039;s a keeper&039; looks

I returned it with a narrow eyed &039;leave me alone&039;

I clearedbesides water to drink? Soda or juice?"

"Water&039;s good, thanks" Dante chewed heavily and looked up suddenly "Sky, how can you not eat with all this delicious food in front of you?"

Oh, he inning points with Molared at hinoreddrive ahead of us"

I gaped at Dante Ibecause I swear he just said &039;drive&039;

"Training," Dante said between mouthfuls "Got a mission planned in Fairbanks"

"Fairbanks!" I don&039;t knohich hadthis on you, Mrs Sky - agents&039; orders"

Moent Melcher not tell you that Aurora was in a car accident?"

Dante stopped chewing "I know it&039;s difficult, but Aurora has to get over her phobia if she&039;s going to get the job done Unless, Aurora doesn&039;t feel up to the task" Dante squinted at oading ents I ended up with a bloody neck At least Dante wanted to take me out on field work I could do without the locked roorumbled under my breath "And you want to leave now?"

"No time like the present" Dante leaned back and sht Promise"

I hesitated

"I&039; drive on which to answer theo pack a few things"

Dante grinned "That a girl"

"You will take your cell phone with you?" my mom called after me

"Yeah, Mom"

I ran up to my bedroom and threw an extra pair of pants and a heavy sweatshirt inside a backpack Who knew if this thing would be as messy as my orientation?

I ducked into the hallway and trotted back down the stairs "Ready"

As I came into the kitchen, Dante stood and nodded to Mom "Mrs Sky, sorry to eat and split This was fabulous Don&039;t worry I&039;ll see to it your daughter stays safe and sound"

My ave my mom a quick peck on the cheek and headed outside with Dante A white Jeep Rubicon was parked in the drive I stopped in front of it "Let overnment paid I&039;ll even let you drive her" Dante tossed ht them instinctively and stared intoback in the saddle"

I threw the keys back "I can&039;t"

"Then buckle up, baby, &039;cause I&039; full well I&039;d look like a sissy if I ran back insidecouldn&039;t be any worse than orientation Nothing could

A golden retriever stared at me from the backseat when I climbed inside the Jeep My anxiety dissipated at once

"Who&039;s this?"

"Sky, meet my best bud, Tommy I named him after Tommy Moe"

I raised a brow

"Oly," Dante said as though I was daft "Ninety-four, first Ale Winter Olympics, and he was an Alaskan resident at the ti snarky and reached back to pet the silken fur on top of the retriever&039;s head instead Toers I pulled- he&039;s a lover"

I settled back into the passenger&039;s seat and buckled in A long ride up north sounded relaxinguntil Dante started driving

He ripped into Jewel Lake Road and floored it onto Minnesota Avenue I reached for the roll bar overhead

"What the hell are you doing?" I yelled

Dante ra to drive the terror out of you, Sky By the ti lots"

"I&039;ve never liked wheelies"

"You will soon"

"You&039;re a real jackass, you know?"

"And you&039;re a backseat driver"

"Backseat driver? I&039;m not a backseat driver! Have I told you to slow the hell down or watch out for cars changing lanes?"

Dante chuckled "Relax, Sky We&039;re superhuer is e do best"

I folded lanced back To because the dogat hi down

"So what do you want to know about our fanged foes and hoe&039;ve been recruited to rid this world of evil? Fire away"

"All right, are there really vampires?"

"I was told you were initiated"

"That doesn&039;t answer my question"

"It should The beast bit you, didn&039;t it?"

"Yeah, but any crazy person can bite someone"

A smile worked its way up Dante&039;s cheeks "Did this one drink blood straight from your vein?"

"Yeah"

"Welcome to the world of the demonic, Sky"

I stared out theat the shadowed storefronts as we passed through don There was a certain thrill to leaving town even if ere headed deeper into the darkness

I shifted in ents when they told you there were vaed "I don&039;t know I &039;s possible What I didn&039;t believe is that they&039;d doped me up on some kind of noxious blood that&039;d knock a creature out"

"And then they initiated you"

Dante was quiet a ets their first bite? It&039;s more memorable than the first tiross"

"You&039;ll understand once you have a chance to compare"

Well, I could compare Not that it was any of Dante&039;s business Sex and bloodsucking were seriously overrated in my opinion