Eternal

by C. C. Hunter

  From the corner of her eye, she saw the fast-and-hard vamp lying facedown on the ground. Chase was now taking on one of the other vamps and looking good while doing it. She twisted her head to check on Shawn. He had two swords in his hands, and the friggin’ things glowed. They reminded Della of Kylie’s magical sword. He had some moves down, but with three of them swiping blades at him, he probably could use some help.

  Della calmly walked up, tapped one on the shoulder. When he turned around, knife held out, she kicked him in the crotch. Hey … if it worked the first time, why not go for it a second?

  He fell to the ground and curled up in a fetal position, moaning like his leader. She started to step in and assist Shawn with the other two, but spotted one of the other vamps making a run for it with the backpack and O-negative blood.

  And that just wasn’t acceptable.

  “Come back here, you coward!” Della bolted after him.

  The escapee had a good stride. Probably would do well in the Olympics if he wasn’t racing with Reborns. She caught him by the scuff of his neck in less than thirty seconds.

  He turned, his knife aimed forward. She dodged it. Catching his wrist, she turned it, almost to the point of breaking it, before he dropped the weapon.

  He also dropped the backpack and took a swing at her with his left hand. She hadn’t expected it and he clipped her chin. It hurt like hell, but pissed her off even more.

  “You’re going down!” she heard Chase scream from behind them, and the bushes rustled with his fast approach.

  “No. He’s mine!” And wanting to change her tactics a bit, she fisted her hand and coldcocked the vamp. He fell to the ground in an unconscious lump.

  She hadn’t finished shaking off the pain in her knuckles when Shawn’s yelp filled the darkness. From pain or anger, Della didn’t know. Didn’t take the time to consider. Both she and Chase flew back to the warlock.

  The blond agent had blood oozing from his shoulder and he’d lost one of his swords. But his determined look said he hadn’t thrown in the towel yet. He moved in even, liquid steps, holding off the tallest and the last of the vamps.

  Della caught Shawn’s eye. “Can I help you?”

  “No,” he seethed as he came down hard and blocked the vamp from moving in to use his knife again. “I got it!” he muttered. And he did. As the vamp cut his eyes to Della and Chase, Shawn knocked the weapon from the vamp’s hand. He started to turn and run, but suddenly he froze. Not froze as in just stood extra still. But literally froze.

  A few tiny icicles hung from his nose.

  Della looked back at the warlock and he still had his pinkie out.

  “Why didn’t you just do that to start with?” Della rubbed her chin where she’d taken the blow. It wasn’t broken, but felt swollen.

  “It takes a second of calm to do it. They came on fast. I can pull up swords faster than I can curses.”

  “Ahh,” Della said, not getting the whole magic thing.

  “Nasty,” Chase said, moving close to see the guy’s face.

  “You okay?” Della said, motioning to Shawn’s arm.

  “Just a flesh wound.” He held himself proud, but having been stabbed once, she knew it had to sting like hell.

  “I have some electric cuffs in the backpack if you want to start containing those guys.” He looked around for the backpack.

  “Oh, one of the guys took off with it. I’ll get it,” Della said, but when she turned, Chase was already returning with the backpack in one hand, and dragging the rogue she’d coldcocked with the other.

  “That was easy,” Shawn said a few minutes later as he watched her and Chase cuff all but the frozen vamp. “You two are good.”

  Shawn nodded at Della and then his gaze shifted to Chase. “Burnett’s right. We need to steal you away from the Vampire Council.”

  “Thanks, but no thanks,” Chase said.

  “You do know we pay twice as much as them?”

  “Not happening,” Chase said with sureness.

  Why not? Della wondered, but then pushed it away to consider at a later time.

  Exhaling, feeling the adrenaline lessening, she fisted her hand that felt slightly swollen from the knock-out punch, and right then her jaw started to throb. A slight noise came from the frozen guy, who must have been defrosting because saliva dripped from his mouth. She glanced at Shawn.

  She tossed him the last pair of cuffs. He caught them and locked up the frosty vamp. “You didn’t do too bad, yourself,” Della told him.

  “Actually…” Shawn forced the cuffed vamp onto the ground next to the others, and then stepped back and pulled out his phone. “My orders were to get info without trouble. Burnett’s not going to be happy.”

  “Is he ever?” Chase mouthed off, then moved next to Della and took her chin in his hand.

  “That idiot left a bruise.” He looked back at the unconscious culprit.

  “It’s nothing.” Della stepped away from his touch.

  “It’s over.” Shawn’s voice echoed behind them. “Yeah, she’s fine.”

  Della rolled her eyes knowing Burnett asked about her first as if she couldn’t handle herself. How embarrassing!

  “Told you he’s overprotective,” Chase whispered as he lifted her chin again.

  “And what are you?” She slapped his hand.

  “We’re all fine,” Shawn said, a little louder as if to caution them that Burnett could hear.

  She and Chase faced him and Della tilted her head to the side to hear the voice on the line.

  “Is everyone else okay?” Burnett’s voice came from the phone.

  “Yeah.” Shawn looked down at his bleeding shoulder.

  “What’s wrong?” Burnett asked, hearing his lie.

  “I got cut, but it’s not bad.”

  Burnett moaned. “Did we get anything?”

  “Well, it didn’t go down like we wanted. We’re going to need a paddy wagon.”

  Burnett moaned again. “How many?”

  “Eight.” Shawn walked off and Della couldn’t hear Burnett anymore.

  “You really okay?” Chase asked her and reached for her hand that she’d used to knock out the rogue.

  “Stop,” Della snapped.

  “Hey?” Shawn looked back over his shoulder. “They are all alive, right?”

  Chase glanced at the eight vamps lined up like downed dominos. “Yeah, but I could fix that.” He glared daggers at the vamp who’d hit her.

  * * *

  Della and Chase followed the car with the rogues to the FRU offices. Burnett met them in the entrance. He walked right up to her and lifted her chin.

  “It’s just a bruise!” she fumed.

  “Which one did it?” he asked in quiet fury.

  “What does it matter?”

  “The one in the brown T-shirt,” Chase volunteered.

  Della scowled at Chase and then back to Burnett. “Why is it that Shawn, who took a knife to his shoulder, just walked past and you never went mother hen on his ass?”

  Burnett frowned. “Because my daughter isn’t named after him. Besides, I have a doctor meeting him right now. Now, were you hurt anywhere else?”

  “No, I’m fine.”

  “The fist,” Chase answered. “She knocked one out. Did a good job of it.”

  “I am fine!” Della growled.

  Only then did Burnett glance toward Chase. “You okay?”

  “Not a bruise.”

  “Bragger!” Della mouthed off.

  Burnett looked at the door. “Can you see that Della gets back to Shadow Falls? We’ll take over from here.”

  “No!” Della and Chase said at the same time.

  Della tilted her bruised chin back. “I … we want to know if they have anything on Liam.”

  Burnett’s expression hardened, but the look in his eyes said he wasn’t going to give them a fight. He turned and looked at another agent standing by a front desk. “Take them into room six to watch the interviews.”

  Chase
moved beside Burnett. Della noticed that Burnett only had about an inch of height on Chase.

  “I should do the interviews,” Chase said.

  “Sorry.” Determination tightened Burnett’s expression. “Hire on with us, and you’ll get full privileges. Until then, you do only what I say you do.”

  Chase’s eyes grew a bit brighter, but he didn’t respond. Remembering his negative response to Shawn earlier about signing on with the FRU, her curiosity about his employment with the Vampire Council piqued again. Why was he working for them? How had he come to work for them? Was there a reason for his loyalty to his employer?

  The other agent, a were, walked up and motioned for her and Chase to follow. While Della did as requested, she recalled smelling the were at the restaurant.

  The agent pushed open a door at the end of a drab, gray hallway. “They’ll bring them in one at a time … in about three minutes. You can see and hear them, but they can’t hear you.” The were motioned to the glass wall. Not that he needed to explain. Both Chase and she had been here once before. “Burnett will be doing the interviews.”

  Once alone in the room, Della looked at Chase and her curiosity bit. “Why the loyalty to the Vampire Council?”

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “You seem really loyal to them.”

  His shoulders tightened. “They aren’t the rogue group as you’ve been led to believe. We might not agree with all the FRU politics but—”

  “I didn’t say that. I’m simply asking why you’re so loyal to them?”

  He looked cornered by her inquiry.

  “That’s a strange question coming from you, who defends Burnett even when you hate it that he’s coddling you.”

  His counterattack, rather than giving her a straight answer, made her even more curious. Was he hiding something?

  “Not so strange,” Della answered. “That’s exactly why I’m curious. I’m loyal to Burnett because…” She paused, finding it just a bit hard to admit out loud. “He’s more than just a route into my career, he’s family. What’s your excuse?”

  He didn’t answer right away. Was he thinking of a lie, or … “I like my job. I like the freedom the council allows me. It’s no secret I find Burnett’s micromanaging to be ridiculous.”

  “Yeah, but that’s Burnett—with me. We’re talking about working for the FRU, not working for Burnett.”

  “True, but I get the feeling he carries a lot of weight in the unit. And the rest of them are just like him.”

  Della could have argued the point. No one cared as much as Burnett, and while she hated his coddling, she wasn’t above caring for him right back. That said, she couldn’t deny seeing reason in Chase’s answer.

  “How did you hire on with the Vampire Council?”

  He looked at the glass wall into the empty interrogation room. “They became aware of me being a Reborn. They sought me out.”

  Out of habit, she listened to his heart. It hadn’t skipped, but she hadn’t forgotten his ability to control that organ. Her suspicions grew. Had he turned away so she wouldn’t note the telltale signs of him lying?

  She was just about to call him on that fact, when she heard them: An agent, one of the vampires who’d come to help transport them here, brought one of the rogues into the room and forced him down in a chair.

  A few seconds later, Burnett came in and sat across the table from the unhappy cuffed vamp. Burnett carried a file and opened it on the table. His gaze stayed on the paperwork. He didn’t come across as violent, but being Burnett, just his presence carried a certain amount of intimidation.

  He sat there without speaking. Never even looking up. Even hidden behind the one-way glass, Della could feel the tension building.

  The vamp couldn’t handle the silence any longer. “We weren’t going to hurt them. We just wanted the blood.”

  “Funny, it didn’t seem that way, did it?” Chase asked Della.

  “No,” Della admitted.

  Slowly, Burnett looked up. “Tell that to the agent who got knifed and the one who got clipped in the jaw.”

  “Hey, that chick kneed me in the balls.”

  “You’re lucky she didn’t remove them to play badminton with.”

  Chase chuckled lightly. “Burnett knows you well.”

  Della shrugged, but didn’t answer, too busy studying what was happening in the other room in hopes of learning a thing or two.

  Burnett leaned back in his chair, squaring his shoulders, making the guy sitting across from him appear smaller. Did he do that on purpose?

  Finally, Burnett spoke, but looked back at the file. “She doesn’t normally go so easy on lowlifes who threaten her life.”

  “I told you we weren’t—”

  “Jason Von, right?”

  When the kid didn’t answer, Burnett leaned forward, his eyes glowing. “Is that your name?”

  “Yes,” Jason said.

  Burnett nodded. “Look, Jason, I’m not going to beat around the bush. All eight of you are going down for attempted robbery, two of you get the added bonus of assault. Our facilities are almost filled. We have two spots left at Burton. It’s not a walk in the park, but Parkrow, our other facility, it’s rough. Only about fifty percent who go in, come out. And twenty-five of those will end up killing themselves. And the first two of the five of you with the lesser counts who tell us what we need to know will get to go to Burton.”

  He pulled a photograph out of the file and pushed it in front of the rogue. The rogue, who suddenly seemed too young to be up to his yin yang in this kind of trouble.

  “Are you going to be one of the lucky Burton attendees?” Burnett tapped the picture with his index finger. “I need info on this kid.” He looked the guy straight in the eyes. “Do you know him? Have you ever seen him before? I know he was hanging out in your gang’s territory.”

  The vamp, probably no older than Della, glanced down at the image, and his eyes widened with recognition. In his round brown eyes, Della saw something else. Fear.

  “He’s afraid,” Della said.

  “He should be,” Chase answered. “I’ve seen Parkrow, you might as well go to hell.”

  “No,” Della said. “When he looked at the picture he was afraid. He knows something and is scared to tell.”

  The kid looked back up at Burnett. “I…”

  “Burton or Parkrow?” Burnett said.

  “I … uh,” the vamp stuttered.

  “Fine,” Burnett said. “Parkrow it is.” He stood to leave.

  “No,” Della muttered. “He knows something.”

  Yes, he knows something. Find Natasha.

  The voice echoed in Della’s mind. She looked at Chase to see if he’d heard it, but he didn’t appear to have.

  Still reeling from the voice, Della got a fresh scent of werewolf again. She looked behind her to see if a were had somehow snuck in the room, but nope.

  She inhaled again to see if she’d been mistaken. The scent hung on. And the familiarity of it tickled her senses. This was the same scent she’d gotten back at the restaurant.

  “Do you smell that?” she questioned Chase.

  He looked confused, but lifted his face and inhaled. “Smell what?”

  Damn! The ghost was trying to tell her something. But what?

  Her gaze shot back to the kid, to the fear in his eyes. “I don’t know shit,” he said.

  Della saw his left eyebrow wiggle. Just like Chase’s wiggled when he lied.

  Burnett stopped at the door. “You’re going to regret this.”

  He’s lying. The ghost spoke again.

  Burnett turned the doorknob. “No!” Unable to stop herself, she took two steps to the wall and raised her fist.

  “Don’t!” Chase shot forward as if to stop her.

  Too late, she pounded on the glass.

  Both Burnett and the rogue vamp’s gaze whipped toward the wall. The kid looked kind of shocked, but Burnett looked pissed, and not just kind of, but full-blown, over-the-to
p pissed.

  He shot out of the door. No doubt coming to have a powwow with the person who’d dared to knock. But that was okay. She needed to see him, too. She started toward the door when it flung open and banged against the wall so hard that tiny white pieces of Sheetrock fell like snow from the ceiling.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Burnett roared. “You never interrupt an interrogation.”

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chase moved closer to her, almost as if fearing Burnett would strike her. Della knew better. Not that she didn’t fear Burnett. She feared disappointing him, feared he would see her weaknesses. But she never feared he would physically hurt her.

  “I’m sorry, but he knows something,” Della snapped.

  Burnett’s scowl deepened. “I know he knows something!” He tossed up his hands in frustration. “And he was about to tell me what he knows!”

  “No he wasn’t. He was going to vague up the truth because he’s afraid.”

  “No, he’s going to tell me the truth because he’s afraid!” Burnett demanded.

  She shook her head. “You need to ask about the werewolf.”

  “What werewolf?”

  “I … don’t know. But if you ask … Wait, just let me ask him, I’ll act like I know more and I’ll get the truth out of him.”

  “What?” Burnett seethed, and when she didn’t answer instantly, he shifted his glare to Chase. “What the hell is she talking about?”

  Chase appeared confused, but then his light green eyes met hers and he almost smiled. “I’m clueless, but I’d bet my right arm that she’s onto something. If you’re smart, you’ll trust her.”

  Burnett looked back at Della. “I do trust her. But I still need an explanation.”

  Della gave one. One word. “Ghost.”

  * * *

  Della stood outside the door gathering her courage and pulling the elastic band of her big-girl panties up. She’d asked for this, now she had to come through.

  Even with the core temperature of a vampire, she felt little pin-sized drops of sweat appear on her brow. Nerves. Nothing but nerves.

  What if she was wrong? What if she’d only imagined the smell of were? What if the kid didn’t know crap? What if she failed? Both Burnett and Chase were watching back in the room with the glass wall.