Eternal

by C. C. Hunter

  “Tell that to the Vampire Council,” he snapped back. “They’re the ones who refuse to work with us.”

  After a moment of him fuming, Della asked, “Did you get anything else on the bodies?”

  “They’ve found a total of twenty now.”

  “No identifications yet?” she asked, almost scared of his answer.

  “None.”

  She almost told him about Natasha being her cousin. She didn’t because she knew he’d discover that her aunt had been murdered. Then he’d discover the connection to her uncle. Maybe she wanted him to discover it? If her uncle killed her aunt, didn’t he deserve to be discovered? Yes, he did, but she wanted a little more time to find her own answers before Burnett started stirring up the pot.

  And it had nothing to do with her thinking her father was guilty.

  It didn’t, she told herself as she walked back to her cabin. When she looked up and saw the stars, instead of appreciating the night, she realized another day had passed and Natasha and Liam were still trapped.

  Or dead. The thought whispered through her mind, and as much as she wanted to deny it, a part of her feared that she believed what Bao Yu wanted to believe. What if her aunt just refused to believe Natasha was dead?

  * * *

  Call it growth, or weakness … she didn’t know which, but Della finally accepted she needed to reach out for help and support. Instead of locking herself away in her room, she went to the fridge, got out three diet sodas, and waited for her two best friends to come home.

  About fifteen minutes later, they came in, smelling like smoke. They’d obviously been at a bonfire.

  When they stepped in and saw her, then the diet sodas, their laughter halted.

  “What’s wrong?” Kylie asked, and they both took up their places at the table.

  “Everything,” Della said. Her problems spun in her head and she wasn’t sure she could fix any of them. Powerless. That’s how she felt. Even though she had more now than she’d ever had.

  So she started with that truth, the one she should have told them weeks ago. She wasn’t just a normal vampire anymore. She didn’t tell them that Burnett was a Reborn, but she refused to keep secrets from them anymore.

  They sat there and looked at her, then at each other, and then Miranda said, “Tell us something we don’t know.”

  “You knew? How?”

  “We saw you flying way faster than you should have,” Kylie said.

  “And once, you flew off the porch and didn’t even run,” Miranda added. “We were wondering when you were going to ’fess up. I told Kylie I was giving you about another week and then we were going to have to call you out.”

  Della made a face. “I hate getting called out.”

  “Why didn’t you tell us?” Kylie asked, almost sounding hurt.

  “Burnett suggested I not tell you. So you can’t mention it.”

  “What happens at the kitchen table stays at the kitchen table,” Miranda said and turned a fake key on her lips. Kylie nodded.

  “Now tell us what’s really wrong,” Kylie said.

  Della explained the whole bond thing—how she didn’t like thinking it was real, but feared it was.

  They listened. Commiserated. But didn’t offer any real advice. How could they? They didn’t understand it any more than she did.

  “Did you get anything more from the ghost?” Of course, Kylie would guess her issues had to do with the ghost.

  Della told them what Burnett had found, and then how she’d gone to see her aunt Miao. Her voice shook a little when she told them how hard it was to see her—someone she’d been cut off from because her parents thought she was doing terrible things. It shook a little harder when she told them what Burnett had found and now believed.

  Kylie just sat there and didn’t say anything, but Della could tell she agreed with Burnett.

  So then she told them about knowing for certain the ghost was her aunt Bao Yu, and about Natasha being her cousin.

  “The crazy thing is,” Della said, “when I asked my aunt about Bao Yu’s death, it was almost as if Bao Yu was waiting to hear. As if she didn’t know what happened.”

  “That’s not that unusual,” Kylie said. “Especially if it was a violent death. They block it out to protect themselves.”

  “So the vision she gave me could mean nothing?” Della asked.

  Kylie hesitated. “It has to mean something. Maybe it’s what she thinks happened.”

  “Does this ever get any easier?” Della muttered.

  “Not even a little bit,” Kylie answered. “Every ghost brings a new challenge.”

  Miranda squirmed in her chair. “Not to change the subject. Well, that’s a lie, I really don’t like talking about ghosts. But you told us about the bond thing, but … did anything happen with Chase tonight? Did any hands or noses go places they shouldn’t?”

  Della exhaled, and growled. She hadn’t really planned on dishing about that, but why the hell not? “He kissed me. Three or four, maybe five, times.”

  “So bond or not bond … is he still a toad?” Miranda asked.

  “He’s losing his warts,” Della admitted.

  Miranda looked down at her hands and then back up. “I called Shawn this afternoon.”

  “You did?” Kylie asked and looked shocked, if not even a little disappointed.

  “All we did was talk. I told him you’d mentioned he’d been stabbed, and we just talked.” She looked at Kylie and got tears in her eyes. “I feel like I cheated on Perry.”

  “You didn’t cheat,” Della snapped. “He broke up with you. Has he even called you yet?”

  “No,” Miranda said. “But why do I feel guilty?”

  “Because you’re a nice person.” Della shook her head. “No, I take that back. It can’t be that. Because I felt guilty, and I’m not a nice person.”

  “Yes, you are,” Miranda said and wiped a tear that rolled down her cheek. “You’re just grumpy sometimes. And blunt.” She sniffled. “And you stomp people’s breakup ice cream into the floor.”

  Kylie giggled.

  Della just smirked at Miranda. “And I’ll do it again if you get all mopey and start gorging on ice cream when your nose is running.”

  “My nose was not running,” Miranda said.

  “Yeah, it was,” Kylie said. “But we love you anyway.”

  Socks, apparently jealous that she wasn’t in the conversation, jumped up on the table. Della ran her hand down the cat and listened to her purr. The cat turned around and started butting noses with Della, giving her kitty kisses.

  “I wouldn’t let her kiss you,” Miranda said.

  “You’re just jealous that she’s loving on me,” Della said and pouted her lips at the kitty.

  “Nope, that’s not it. It’s because I watched her eat a mouse today.”

  “Eww.” Della set the cat on the floor and they all started laughing.

  She went to bed feeling better, even if she had been kissed by a mouse-eating cat. At least, she felt better until her phone dinged with a text at three in the morning. She rolled over, ready to find out who she was going to kill for robbing her of her first good night’s sleep in weeks.

  Her thoughts went to Steve. She reached for her phone, and when she did, she saw Smurfette on the nightstand staring at her. And bam, just like that, she missed Chase, and all those little details about his family that she’d learned last night played across her mind. Confused at thinking of Chase and Steve in the same heartbeat, she grabbed her cell.

  The number was anonymous, but the message gave the caller’s identity away. She wasn’t going to kill anyone.

  The caller was already dead.

  The message, written in all caps and in red, simply read: FIND NATASHA!!!

  “I’m trying,” Della said, and sat up the rest of the night in a very cold bedroom, trying to figure out what she needed to do next.

  At 5 a.m., her phone dinged again. This one wasn’t from the ghost.

  The mess
age was simple. I miss you. Steve.

  Chapter Thirty-six

  “Della?” Mr. Yates, her science teacher, motioned Della to come up to his desk the next morning.

  Oh double damn! Was he going to call her on spacing out and not paying attention? Probably. But Della could hardly think about school. Her thoughts went from picking up the rogue were, to Damian Bond, to missing Chase, after only being away from him for a few hours, and realizing there was a part of her that still missed Steve.

  Then there was the issue of meeting the Vampire Council. Would she learn anything? Was she completely wrong that her uncle was behind Chase being sent to check on her and Chan?

  And if so, did that completely exonerate Chase from her lack of trust? And if so, would that change things between them?

  “Della?” Mr. Yates said again.

  Della stood up to do as Mr. Yates requested, and he added, “Go ahead and grab your books.”

  Her books? This reminded her of being sent to the principal’s office. She’d only gone once, and it totally hadn’t been her fault.

  Scooping up her books, she walked to Mr. Yates’s desk. “Yes?”

  “Burnett wants to see you.”

  Okay, she was sort of being sent to the office. But hopefully not for something she’d done wrong. As she walked out, Miranda and Kylie gave her a wave.

  All sorts of thoughts shot through Della’s mind as she left the classroom. And the worst one had Della almost hyperventilating. Had one of the bodies been identified as Natasha or Liam?

  In less than a minute, Della arrived. Burnett’s voice echoed from Holiday’s office. Since the door was open, Della walked right in.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “It’s not anything terrible,” Holiday said, instantly picking up on Della’s emotions and standing as if to come give her one of her touches.

  Della held her hand out, wanting to deal with this alone.

  Burnett, having been half-sitting on Holiday’s desk, stood up. “I just wanted to go over what will happen tonight at the airport.”

  Della let out the breath she’d been holding. “Okay.” She moved the rest of the way in, plopped down on the sofa, and placed her books beside her. This was a piece of cake.

  “I’ll be going with you. We’ll meet Chase at the airport.”

  Okay, the cake wasn’t as sweet as Della thought. She and Chase had pre-airport plans that involved a trip to meet the Vampire Council, and she knew Burnett would balk at that.

  Oh, hell, who was she kidding, he’d do more than balk, he’d be livid.

  “Uh … why can’t Chase and I take care of this on our own?”

  Burnett stared down at her and his brows tightened the way they did right before he started arguing. The fact that she knew his pre-arguing expressions said a lot about their relationship.

  “He’s a known criminal with a three-page rap sheet. I wouldn’t send two of my best agents out alone to pick him up. I’ll be there, as well as another agent, as backup.”

  His tone told her he wouldn’t compromise on that. “Fine, but I’ll ride with Chase. He’s picking me up around four this afternoon.”

  “The plane doesn’t land until nine.”

  “I know,” she said, not offering anything else.

  “So…?” he asked.

  She knew he meant “so” as in “so, what the hell are you planning on doing until then,” but she didn’t plan to play. If he wanted to know, he would have to ask. Not that she would tell him. She couldn’t.

  “So I guess we’ll see you at the airport around eight, or earlier. Just tell me where you want to meet.”

  He frowned. “I don’t know exactly how to put this, but I don’t approve of Chase.”

  Della knew this was where it was going, but she hadn’t planned what to do about it. “I know you don’t approve of him. But … I do.”

  Burnett leaned back against Holiday’s desk again. Holiday rose and came around to stand almost between them. No doubt, the fae could feel a pending argument brewing. She probably knew it before Della ever arrived. And that look in her eyes, almost an apology, told Della to get prepared—this conversation wasn’t going to be easy.

  “I don’t trust him,” Burnett said. “And if I remember correctly, you weren’t too keen on him in the beginning, either.”

  “I know, but I’ve worked with him all this time and I’ve seen another side of him. Plus, I remember when Holiday wasn’t so keen on you.”

  Burnett grimaced. “So now are you comparing you and Chase to me and Holiday?” He turned to his wife. “I thought you said there wasn’t anything romantic going on?”

  Holiday shook her head. “No, I told you she said they weren’t having sex.”

  Della huffed. “I’m glad you two get off on talking about my sex life.”

  Burnett glared back at Della. “So, you’re emotionally involved with Chase?”

  She almost denied it, but then couldn’t. “Sort of.” And then feeling defensive, she added, “You’re the one who assigned me to work with him.”

  “That was before I knew he worked for the council and had info about the FRU leak.”

  “In his defense, he told me about it.”

  “He should have told us about it a long time ago.”

  He grew quiet, and having seen his interrogation techniques, she knew he used it to put a person on edge. And whether he meant it that way or not, it worked. She was all edge. But she wasn’t backing down. She needed to meet the council.

  “You assigned me to work this case with him and I plan to finish this case with him.”

  “And then?” he asked.

  And then? The question bounced around her head and heart. “I don’t know.”

  Burnett ran a hand over his face. “Fine. But there are some things you need to know up-front.”

  She nodded. And she saw Holiday grimace as if she knew what was coming.

  “After this case, if you continue to see Chase, your career with the FRU is over.”

  Della felt the blow to her gut. The pain shot up to her throat and it tightened. She had expected to have a fight on her hands with Burnett about Chase, but she never expected this.

  All her hopes, her dreams she’d worked so hard for since coming to Shadow Falls, were sitting on the chopping block.

  “You would do that?” she asked, and it took everything she had not to cry.

  “No.” Complete honesty deepened his voice and he shook his head. “The FRU will do it.”

  She titled her head up and didn’t bat an eyelash for fear a tear would fall. “Then I guess, after this case is over, I have a choice to make.”

  Making it clear she planned on meeting Chase, she stood to leave. Burnett caught her arm. “It’s not me doing this, Della.”

  Hate the message, not the messenger, her heart said. Never mind that the messenger knew how badly she wanted this. That since working her first case with the FRU, she knew it was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life.

  “I believe you,” she said, but couldn’t deny it hurt like hell. She pulled away and tore off to her cabin. She had a lot to think about.

  * * *

  Della’s phone dinged with a text fifteen minutes before three. Chase had arrived early. His message read he’d wait for her in his car. Did he sense he was unwelcome in Shadow Falls? Had Burnett confronted him?

  She wouldn’t put it past the camp leader.

  She walked out the gate, noting Burnett looking out the window. Her breath caught at the sight of him. Then she saw Holiday appear at his side. Probably to touch him so he’d calm down. Maybe she should have let Holiday touch her, too.

  Della tried not to feel guilty about disappointing Burnett, but she pretty much failed. She tried not to be angry, but she flunked out on that as well. How would Burnett feel if someone tried to blackmail him into turning his back on someone?

  Someone he cared about.

  Someone who very well could turn out to be a part of his life for
ever.

  And yes, that’s how she felt about Chase. Part of her believed the ties between them couldn’t be cut. Another wanted to bring out a pair of scissors.

  The sight of Chase standing beside his car, watching for her, melted her regret about disappointing Burnett, but not much of her anger.

  Chase wore his sunglasses, looking cool and collected in jeans and a long-sleeved, light green shirt. Even with his glasses on, she felt his gaze touch hers. Felt it pulling her to him, reading her, needing her.

  He needed her.

  She hadn’t really sensed that before, but she did now. He needed her. The feeling made the ache in the center of her chest spread.

  “What’s wrong?” He walked toward her.

  So Burnett hadn’t given him the lowdown.

  She stepped away when he reached out for her and headed for the car.

  “Della?” he asked.

  She looked at him. “What isn’t wrong?” she asked, prolonging having to tell him. Or trying to decide if she needed to tell him.

  “I could name a few things,” he said and moved closer. “The sky’s blue. It’s not raining. We’re going to ride with the top down, and I got you some more hair-band things. Later, we’re going to pick up one bad-ass were who I’m thinking is going to lead us to Liam and Natasha. Top off that with … you, other than appearing upset, look sexy as hell.”

  His gaze lowered. “I love those jeans on you, by the way. You were wearing those the first time I saw you at Shadow Falls.” He paused a second and raised his eyes. “And I get to spend the whole afternoon with you.”

  He moved a little closer and ran a finger down her cheek. “And that, Miss Tsang, is what isn’t wrong.”

  She caught his finger. “Why are you always touching my face?”

  He grinned. “Because other parts are still off-limits to me.”

  Chapter Thirty-seven

  Della growled and hopped in the car. But her face tingled where he’d touch it.

  Chase moved around the car, opened the door, and with ease and style, lowered himself into the driver’s seat. “Hey, I’ve got an idea. Why don’t you drive?”

  “No,” she said.