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I told Mo over to Noel&039;s to study for a French test - no need for her to know Noel was taking Spanish Noel droveme the entire way not to confront Fane I ay ahead of her I&039;d called him before we pulled out of the driveway and told hiine that a couple hours earlier we had skipped school to go to Portage Glacier

Before heading back to toe&039;d ue in ain

Noel pulled into a spot in front of Video City and said, "I&039; with you"

"Fine," I said

I shivered The vents were blasting cold air on us

"And call as soon as you&039;re done speaking to hihed

I stared at theus Starship Troopers Seriously, ever think about updating to the twenty-first century?

Fane pulled in beside Noel He looked over and gave her a nod Noel lowered her head slightly

I narrowed my eyes "Do you two know each other?"

"Not well," she said

"Has he ever?" I suddenly began to ask, but couldn&039;t finish the words

"Fane? No, of course not Fane&039;s a one-wouy at all He was a bloodsucking varave Worse yet, he didn&039;t trust h to tell me

"Aurora" Noel said as I opened the door to get out

I forced a smile "I&039;ll be fine"

Once I slipped inside the Catalina I stared forward I was afraid if I looked at Faneon?" he asked

"We need to talk, but not here"

"Where do you want to go?"

"The bluff"

Fane put the car in reverse and headed to the ocean "Sure you can&039;t tell me what this is about?"

I shook my head

After a spell Fane asked, "How do you know Noel Harper?"

"Funny, I was just asking her the saers, which were loosely steering, norapped around the wheel tightly His voice turned silky "And what did she tell you?"

I kept h the airport and co the coastal trail On our way to the bluff, I pointed out a trail access surrounded by dense woods

"Pull in here"

Point Woronzof was a popular place tomore secluded Well, maybe not that secluded By noas almost four in the afternoon The sun would set in another forty-five minutes

The trees surrounded the deserted parking lot, shading the last gray hues before total darkness Fane pulled into a spot in the far corner against the woods

"So?"

"When were you planning on telling me you&039;re a vaht you knew"

"Why in the hell would you think that?"

Fane waved his hand at naling to me"

"Not even!" I shook my head "I can&039;t believe this"

Nohat? What would Melcher instruct me to do in a situation like this? This was different This wasn&039;t a mission This was Fane

His body tensed and the soft features of his face hardened His words were silky smooth, without a trace of surprise He even had the insolence to sound amused "You chose to confront me in this dark, isolated location, alone in er?"

"I&039;m not afraid of you"

"Good because I could never hurt you I ht want to sleep with you and suck your blood, but I&039;d never hurt you"

"Stop it"

He turned in his seat to face me I didn&039;t like the way he looked me up and down "Don&039;t tell me you don&039;t want it, too"

"I could never sleep with you"

I hadn&039;t s? I mean, if they were immune to bodily harm, perhaps their emotions were equally deadened

I didn&039;t have to wonder for long The Fane I knew disappeared, replaced by a big-headed brute - or h impervious to words or emotions "Now you don&039;t want to do the dirty because I&039;irls"

I bet it was I bet girls like Valerie got off on a good fuck and suck

"Oh? And how irls have you been with?"

I tried to sound as detached as hih he had hurthe never could

It took him what? All of ten seconds?

"I&039;ve been around a long time"

Fane pulled down his visor A pack of Ahter into the socket on the dashboard Within seconds, the metal cylinder popped out

Somehow this infuriated me more than Fane&039;s countless line of lovers "So you&039;re s up withed and lit up Guess he was uys were all the saht hundred

The e I threw the car door open and got out I slammed it shut with both hands The s off across the empty lot

Fane would either speed away or chase after o for the hunt, since he was a va it so soon

He juarette across the snowy lot He locked eyes with me, and a shiver ran down ht idea, Aurora, let&039;sfor the vampire

I wasn&039;t a co even more lethal - my blood He wanted to bite me I could feel it with every beat of ht alone h the woods Adrenaline was a powerful thing In normal circumstances, I would have tripped over a stump by now Instead, I leapt over fallen trunks and dashed through the trees toward the ocean And ould I do there? Swim across to Fire Island? I wouldn&039;t make it thirty feet before hypother behindofhihon the bluff I stopped suddenly and whirled around

My body trembled, but it wasn&039;t fro Fane in his tracks twenty feet away

We stared each other down like two combatants about to duel Fane started toward , I rened courage, I couldn&039;t e ofdistance between us He yanked me to him with both hands It was difficult to tell if he meant to caress or attack me His hands ran down my back

Fane pulled atto taste you" His words left hot ripped me harder and ripped off my scarf The fabric pooled over the snow like a stain I struggled and was just about to reach for the dagger when Fane released his hold onto my hands and knees in the snow

Fane stood over

"You&039;ve already been bitten"

The cold air prickled my neck It was like someone had cut off my hair and left aze fixated on h he wanted to bite me anymore I probably could have used stitches where Ivo bit me Since I had the scarf to hide the wound, it wasn&039;t carefully covered up with powder or foundation

Fane&039;s fingers trembled when he reached for my neck "Who did this to you?"

"A vampire"

He didn&039;t smile "Who was it?"

I studied his side profile in the dying light "Why? Do you know every vampire in Alaska?"

Wait, would I be required to report that inforent Melcher? Maybe it was better if he didn&039;t answer

Fane&039;s eyes narrowed "That bite mark is fresh"

I lowered my chin and tried to look at it, which was ridiculous - there was no way I could seeFane in the eye when he was staring at h I&039;d cheated on hiet this!" Okay, that was a lie, but it&039;s not like I wanted to be bitten I&039;d rather jab a needle in nawed on by creepy killers

Fane bent down slowly for the scarf and handed it to "

The snow seemed thicker on the walk back

Fane turned on the heat once we got inside his car "Noel Harper dragged you to one of Marcus&039;s parties, didn&039;t she?"

I really had to meet this Marcus and check out one of his after hour parties They were the talk of the town, at least ae crossed Fane&039;s face "Aurora?" he said carefully "A couple days ago you had a bruise on your forehead Did someone force hihingposition, I could easeI didn&039;t want to hurt hi evil vaents ever ask me to kill nice ones like Fane?

"Have you ever killed anyone?" I asked suddenly

"What?" Fane scowled "No"

Before he could ask about the bite again I said, "Look, any girl who hangs out with Noel and her friends ends up getting bitten"

Fane&039;s features began to vanish in the diht It was the end of January, and ere up to seven hours and forty ht, not that it was noticeable on overcast days like this The grayness had a cal effectuntil Fane punched the dashboard It made me jump

"I can&039;t stand it!" he cried "I can&039;t stand the thought of so you"

"Hey, I didn&039;t like it either"

He turned to "

"But !"

Fane settled back into his seat and stared forward "Is that what you think of hed and shrank back in the seat

My voice came out so much quieter than I&039;d intended "I wanted tobut I can&039;t"

His fists tightened around the steering wheel

I hugged h"

I couldn&039;t tell if Fane was nodding or shaking his head "Do you want me to take you home?"