Whiteout (Aurora Sky Read Online Free Page A

Sing “ Kumbaya ” and roast marshmallows in front of the fire? I knew what I wouldn’t be doing, hanging around listening to Simon Says.
    I left the door open. Despite my anger, I didn’t want to be shut inside the room alone. I also didn’t want to be on one of the bottom bunks if or when a third vamp showed up. The unoccupied top bunk against the right wall looked like the best out of the four options.
    I pulled the thick comforter from its bag and tossed it on the top bunk. Usually I balled up a sweat er to use as a pillow, and I always slept with a gun.
    Down below, I undressed in the dark. I stripped down to my underwear and T -shirt. Using both hands, I reached behind me and unclasped my bra. I pulled the straps off under the shirt and pulled it free t hrough the sleeves.
    The first few nights on the run , I’d slept fully clothed. As the days wore on, I cared less and less if Giselle or Dante walked in and saw me in my underwear.
    I folded my jeans and stuck them inside my backpack. I set my bra on top then peeled off my socks and put them in the bag with everything else. Then I turned on the flashlight, aiming the beam at the wooden ladder. It creaked with each step.
    When I was halfway up, I smoothed my sleeping bag out before climbing onto the bed. I e ased into the sleeping bag, feet first, and zipped myself inside the plush cocoon.
    This was always the hardest moment of my day. This was when I felt most cut off from the world. When I wished for a phone and a way to call Fane. If only I could hear his vo ice. If only he could hear mine.
    I sank farther inside the sleeping bag.
    It would be a while before I fell asleep, but sleep would come. Even as my brain fought to torment me all night, the cool temperature eventually pulled me under. The cold had become a constant bedfellow.
    Fane had yet to visit me in my dreams. Instead, I brought him to me. I welcomed him inside my sleeping bag. I scooted to the edge of the bag to make room for him. I envisioned his legs entwined with mine, his arms holding me against h is chest.
    Zipped up tight together.
    My breath steadied. I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for everything to fade away. Eventually it did. The low voices from the main cabin drifted past my eardrums and dissolved like mist. I never heard Dante and Giselle come to bed. I didn’t hear anything until a low growl woke me sometime in the middle of the night.
    My heart beat steadily from inside my soft cocoon.
    I waited, listening.
    Tommy growled again.
    The bunk across the room creaked, followed by the click of a gu n’s safety coming off. Below me, a blade sang as it was unsheathed. That meant Giselle was my bunkmate. Big surprise. Dante obviously didn’t want to sleep above or beneath me—even figuratively. Not after I chose Fane over him.
    My hands slid along the bunk’ s edge until it came in contact with my gun. I shoved the magazine in place while lying on my back.
    Weapons ready, an eerie silence settled inside the cabin.
    My heart picked up speed as the seconds passed in silence.
    Man, was I happy I’d chosen a top bunk. I could pop up and take out an assailant before he had a chance to take three steps inside the room.
    A zipper hissed open. The floorboards creaked heavily as Dante swung out of his bunk and stood up. He started out of the room.
    I sat up. “Where are you go ing?” I whispered.
    He stopped and turned my way. All I could make out was a tall , dark form.
    â€œOutside to look around,” he whispered back.
    â€œI’m coming with you,” Giselle said. Her head appeared as she stepped out from under the bunk. She must not have been zippered in. I could see she had on her skinny jeans and turtleneck. I was sure it had nothing to do with modesty. Giselle had probably been waiting for this moment all along—maybe even lying awake, ready to leap into action.
    As my eyes adjusted, I saw tha t Dante, too, had gone to bed in