Hunting Season (Aurora Sky by Nikki Jefford Read Free Book Online Page A

longer Denali High’s number one delinquent?”
    Fane had told me he was taking a break from the whole high school charade this year. Since Joss was the one who supported them with his online rare books business, I wasn’t sure how Fane passed his time without any kind of daily routine.
    â€œThe real question is how does Principal Romero pass the time now that I’m gone?”
    â€œI’m sure he has one less grey hair on his head this semester,” I said, watching that I didn’t run into anybody as I circled the courtyard.
    â€œTwo less,” Fane said. “As I recall, you paid a visit to his office at the beginning of the year—three days suspension for fighting.” Fane clicked his tongue. “Bad girl.”
    Sizzles ran up and down my spine, humming like a power line along a mountain pass.
    I remembered that day clearly. Fane had followed me onto the public bus after Principal Romero finished suspending me. But I was the one who’d jumped into Fane’s lap and stuck my tongue down his throat.
    â€œAnd now you’re cutting class,” Fane observed.
    I circled around a building, leaving the courtyard behind. It wasn’t exactly a telephone booth, but I had the shaded corner to myself. Was this what my life had come down to? A vampire watching humanity from the shadows?
    My eyes watered. I’d been holding it in since I first walked onto campus.
    Betraying nothing with my voice I said, “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with myself. I don’t know how to spend forever. I don’t even know what to do today or right now, this second.”
    Fane was silent a moment before answering. “All you have to do is take it one day at a time.”
    My face dropped. “I expected something better than a bull-shit answer from you, Fane Donado.” The next pause was longer than the last. I couldn’t hear so much as a crackle or breath on the other line. Finally I asked, “Did I lose you?”
    â€œNot a chance,” Fane answered right back. “You want to know what to do with yourself?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œLive each day in the present. To regret what might have been is to live in the past. To worry about what’s to come is to live in the future. The question is, what does Aurora Sky want to do right now?”
    You , I thought. I want to do you. I want you to taste me the way no man or vampire has tasted me before. I want you to make love to me for so long I can’t think of a damn thing besides how good you feel inside me… finally. I want to forget everything—yesterday, today, tomorrow, the present, the past, the future. I don’t care what moment I’m living in. I want you.
    Naturally, I said none of the above. I said something almost worse.
    â€œCan you come over?”
    The silence that followed was different. If a smile had a sound, this was it—the soft exhalation, the half-chuckle that came before Fane answered.
    â€œI take it you’re skipping the rest of the day?”
    I shrugged beneath the building’s shadow. “Old habits die hard.”
    â€œI’ll be right over.”
    â€œGood. I’ll see you soon,” I said, ending the call before he could answer.
    Aw, hell, what had I just done?

4
Co-Pilot

    I jammed my phone into my coat pocket and booked it off campus, retracing my steps home. Even on foot, I figured I had a ten minute lead on Fane. I raced up the stairs to the overhead crosswalk and back down to the other side of the street.
    So much for making the Dean’s List. I’d missed my high school graduation. What were the odds I’d make it through college?
    I smiled at the security cam Fane installed above the front door.
    â€œBack so soon?” I asked it. “Why yes, I am.”
    I ran upstairs and gave my hair another quick brush through. The walk back and forth to campus had introduced a couple of minor tangles back into my dark