Eternal

by C. C. Hunter

  Chase looked at Della. “I think that might be best.”

  Della frowned. “Not until Burnett has Damian.” He was their last link to Natasha and Liam, and Della wasn’t going to risk losing him.

  Chase looked back at the officer. “I guess we’ll be staying a while.”

  * * *

  An hour later, they were all at the FRU headquarters. Burnett had arrived at Cooper Airport less than five minutes after everything went down. He was followed by two official cars, and three other agents, who showed off their badges, and their authority, managing to piss off the Oak, Texas, police department.

  Face it, this was probably the first time their tiny police department had caught a bad guy, especially two at once, and they hadn’t wanted to lose any of the credit.

  However, Burnett, with paperwork in order, wasn’t about to walk away empty-handed.

  He also got Della and Chase out of having to go down and give their statements—insisting the local police leave them out of the paperwork and media hype because they worked undercover. But before they left, the mother of the child who Damian had held hostage came up to her and offered a tearful thank you.

  A sense of rightness filled Della right then. This was what she wanted to do. But was she willing to lose Chase for it?

  Burnett had a doctor waiting at headquarters to look at Chase’s arm as soon as they walked into the building. Of course, Chase tried to get out of it, but Burnett wasn’t taking no for an answer. He told Chase to see the doctor … or leave.

  Chase glanced at Della, huffed, and then went into the room to see the doctor.

  After the door closed, Burnett approached her, concern etched in his frown. The airport had been crazy, and this was really the first chance she’d had to speak—not that she hadn’t seen him visually checking on her—since he’d threatened her career. She felt an achy sensation, a mixture of hurt and love, right in the middle of her chest.

  She looked at Burnett and her throat grew thick.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “You saved that baby’s life. Seems you’re good at doing that,” he said, referring to her delivering Hannah.

  “Just lucky,” she said.

  She looked back at the door where Chase had disappeared. “He took that bullet for me.”

  “I heard. Which is the only reason I care enough to make sure he sees the doctor.”

  Della nodded, but she didn’t buy it. She knew he had some major problems with Chase, but somehow she also sensed a level of respect. She could only hope that came in handy when the case was over and Burnett put pressure on her to end things.

  Because honestly, she wasn’t sure she could.

  If push came to shove, would she choose him over her career? She prayed she didn’t have to make that choice.

  “Go on into waiting room six, I’ll be interviewing Damian in about five minutes and you can watch.”

  She looked back up at Burnett and thought of Natasha again. “Make him tell us where they are.”

  “That’s my plan,” he said.

  * * *

  Damian Bond didn’t want to talk. Burnett slammed down photos of Liam and Natasha on the table. The were refused to look at them. Della’s blood pressure rose and her canines extended just watching him.

  Someone had given the were a sling, and he sat there with his broken arm held as tight as his lips. Burnett, looking pissed, turned to the wall where they watched. “Do you know who’s in there?” he asked.

  Damian didn’t respond, but Burnett answered anyway. “An agent with the Vampire Council.”

  The were’s eyes widened just a bit, but then he went back to pretending he didn’t hear. But Della did see him glance at the photos on the table.

  Did he know them?

  Burnett continued. “Have you heard what they do to weres in the Vampire Council prison? It makes going to one of our facilities seem like a day at the spa.”

  Della looked at Chase. “Is that true?”

  “We don’t believe in segregation,” he said. “And since most of our prisoners are vampire, the were will have it rough.”

  Della shuttered, wondering what “rough” included.

  “And if you don’t talk,” Burnett continued, “we’ve agreed to pass you over to them.”

  The were looked up at Burnett and snarled. “Good try. But since when do the FRU and Vampire Council work together?”

  Burnett dropped in the chair across from him. “Since over thirty fresh turns came up missing, and were being sold into slavery. You’ve got three seconds to start talking, or I’m turning you over to them.”

  “If Burnett’s serious, we’ll get the answer out of him,” Chase said.

  Della swallowed and told herself it was the right thing. But the thought didn’t settle well in her stomach.

  Burnett looked back at the wall. “I guess you can come and get him.” He started out.

  “Wait,” Damian spouted. “Okay, I’ll talk. It wasn’t me, though. It was my boss. Tyler Myers. He used them to hold fight matches. People paid big bucks to see them fight, and then he got a cut of the profits. But Tyler got word that you guys were aware of the operation and had closed down the Dallas branches, so he shut down. He got rid of them.”

  Della’s chest gripped. She felt Chase move beside her as if afraid of what Damian might say.

  “You mean he had them murdered?” Burnett asked.

  The air in Della’s lungs turned to syrup and it took everything she had to not to let her knees buckle.

  “Yeah. But I was just following orders.”

  Burnett gripped his fist. “How many? And where are the bodies?” His eyes turned orange with fury and Della felt her own brighten even more.

  “I don’t know. The boss and the others got together and got rid of all of them. I heard something about a junkyard.”

  Chase’s arm came around Della.

  “But I swear I don’t know where it is.” Damian looked down at the photos. “But these weren’t ours. They might have been with the others, but they weren’t ours. I’d remember her.”

  Chase took Della’s hand in his and she heard him breathe for the first time. “It’s still not over,” he said.

  “Then why does it feel like it?” she asked and felt the knot in her throat expand.

  He turned and pulled her against him. She rested her forehead on his chest. She closed her eyes and smelled blood. But it wasn’t Chase’s blood.

  She pulled back and looked up at him. Liam, not Chase, looked down at her.

  Chapter Forty

  Della had done this numerous times—slipped into a vision, or whatever it was—but that didn’t make it any easier. Especially now, when her faith that Natasha and Liam were still alive had shrunken to nothing but a tiny seed of hope.

  Natasha was reclined on a dirt floor, halfway on top of Liam’s naked body.

  Della focused really hard and tried to force Natasha to ask Liam where they were, but all the effort was wasted because she didn’t speak. She rested her chin on Liam’s chest and she felt her bare breasts press against the solid feel of his abdomen.

  Liam pushed her hair out of her eyes. “What is the first thing you want to do when we get out of here?”

  Natasha frowned, and Della knew why. She didn’t think they were getting out. But she was willing to placate him. She looked back at his chest, shifted her hand up to just below his right shoulder and traced the emblem that appeared to be part tattoo and part scar.

  “What do you say we go get our tattoos removed?” She ran her fingers over his tattoo again.

  Della studied the cross-like symbol. Could that mean something?

  Liam chuckled. “I like that idea. How about we go listen to a band play? Do you like to dance?”

  “Love to. Sometimes my friends Amy and Jennifer and I go.”

  That loud noise came again. The sound of heavy machinery.

  Liam put his arm on her back, as if he knew the noise bo
thered her. “Then we’ll go dancing first thing.”

  What’s the noise? Della screamed in Natasha’s mind, hoping she would hear her, but her question went unanswered.

  “Maybe we should take a shower first,” Natasha teased. She rested her head back down and looked around the dark room.

  Della took it all in. The walls were like blocks, but the floor was dirt, and there was what looked like an open passageway into another area that appeared just as dark.

  What was this place?

  “Together?” Liam asked, his hand running across her naked back. “Let’s take a shower together.”

  “Yeah, together.” She giggled and spread her hand flat on his chest and glanced at it. Natasha was a shade or two lighter than Liam.

  “Is your mom or dad black?” Natasha asked.

  “My dad was half black.”

  “Was? Is he dead?”

  “Not that I know of.”

  “Did you ever know him?”

  “Yeah, he came around some when I was younger. Mom didn’t like it.” He got quiet for a minute. “They would always fight. The last time he was there, I was like thirteen. They got into a real big fight. He accused my mom of trying to raise me to be white. Mom told him all she wanted to do was raise me to be a good man, and that had nothing to do with color, and everything to do with character, and that if he was going to see me, he’d have to get himself sober and set an example.”

  “What did he say?” Natasha asked.

  “He hit her.” Liam’s body under Natasha tightened. “It wasn’t the first time, but it was the first time I decided to stop him,” he said.

  Natasha pushed herself up and looked at Liam’s face. “Oh, my God. What happened?”

  “I came out with a baseball bat. I hit him in the arm. I don’t think I broke it or anything, but I could tell I hurt him. I told him to leave and never come back.”

  “Did he ever come back?”

  “I don’t think so. Mom got married to Hank a few years later. He was a good guy. Black, too. But Hank was twenty years older than my mom. He died of a heart attack less than a year after they got married.” Liam ran his hand over her back. “Didn’t you tell me your dad died?”

  Natasha paused. “Yeah, my adoptive dad died when I was eleven and when I went to look for my real parents I discovered my real dad was dead, too.”

  “How old were you when you found out you were adopted?”

  “Almost eighteen.” She inhaled. “Mom said they were going to tell me when I was thirteen but when my adoptive dad died, she just thought it’d make me feel worse.” Natasha grew silent and just breathed for several seconds. “I think part of me always knew. My adoptive dad was half Chinese. Even as child I would stare at his face and wonder why I didn’t look more like him.”

  “Didn’t you say your real mom was dead, too?”

  “Yeah,” Natasha said. “Someone killed her. But they never found out who did it.”

  He ran his hand alongside her hip. Not sexily, just tenderly, but there was something totally intimate about being naked against another person. “That must have been tough, looking for your real parents and then finding out they were both dead.”

  “It was for a while. But I did find an aunt. She was nice. And she had a son about my age.”

  They lapsed into silence and then Liam asked, “How did your adoptive dad die?”

  “A work accident. One day he was there, and the next he was gone. But Mom remarried a few years ago.”

  “Do you get along with your stepdad?”

  “Yeah, he’s all right. Well, a lot better than all right … compared to your real father. He loves my mom, but I always got the feeling he was just waiting for me leave so he could have her all to himself.”

  “Well, that’s okay,” Liam said. “Because when we get out of here, we’ll get our own place. I’ve only got two more years before I graduate. We’ll find a cheap apartment. Both of us will go to school and work part-time. We’ll make it. Since we don’t need food that much anymore, we won’t have to worry about who’s going to cook. We’ll share the housework. I’ll take out the garbage. And I promise not to leave my dirty underwear around.”

  She laughed. “I’m not the best housekeeper.”

  “Good, we can live kind of messy, then.”

  She lifted her chin and rested it on his chest. “Will you put the toilet seat down?”

  “I’ll try.” He laughed.

  Della felt Natasha’s sinuses sting. “I want that,” she said, her voice cracking. “I want that apartment. I want to give you a hard time about leaving your dirty underwear out and leaving the toilet seat up. But I’m so scared it’s not going to happen. I’m so afraid this is all we’ll have.”

  * * *

  Saturday, at ten fifteen, Della sat in the dining hall watching everyone visit on parents’ day. The voices of all the campers and their parents bounced around the huge room and echoed down from the rafters. Della tried not to let her emotions leak out into the crowd—too many faes around—but honestly, she really wanted to go find someplace quiet and cry.

  Damian Bond had nothing. They were back to square one.

  She’d come home last night and stared at the ceiling for half the night, feeling useless and angry. Feeling alone. She missed Chase. She wanted to help Natasha and Liam. Save them. Give them a chance at life.

  She wanted her mom to call her.

  No, she wanted her parents to show up. Where were they?

  The doors to the dining hall swished open. Della looked up, expecting it to be them. Wrong. It was Derek’s mom. Della watched as she smiled at Derek who sat at a table toward the back of the dining hall with Jenny.

  Della looked around. Kylie and Lucas and her mom sat chatting about selling her house. Lucas must be getting used to Kylie’s mom, because he actually looked comfortable instead of miserable, like he usually did when Kylie forced him to spend time with her mom.

  Miranda was playing the part of the good witch, sitting and listening to her mom talk about the upcoming competitions.

  Della pulled out her phone to check the time. Her parents were fifteen minutes late. Strange. Her dad didn’t do late.

  Then again, maybe he wasn’t coming today. He’d missed one out of three parent visits lately. But her mom and her sister, Marla, were usually on time, too. The sooner they got here, the quicker they could leave. Or at least it felt that way.

  Glancing at her phone, she debated calling her mom then decided against it. Looking back up, she saw Holiday and Burnett studying her with empathy.

  Oh, friggin’ hell, the last thing she wanted was for everyone to start feeling sorry for her. She was fine. Her family would show up. Her mom never missed parents’ day.

  All of a sudden, Burnett’s phone rang. This far away, Della couldn’t hear the person on the line, but Burnett didn’t look happy.

  Probably FRU business. Was it about Natasha and Liam? She tilted her head to the side and heard him whisper to Holiday, “I need to take this in the office.”

  Della watched him walk out. Her need to know bit deep, but she accepted there wasn’t a dang thing she could do. If it was news on Natasha and Liam, he would tell her. And if it was about them, it was probably bad news.

  Ten minutes later, Della’s phone rang. Glancing at the number, Della’s breath caught. Her sister, Marla, never called her.

  “What’s up?” She shot up, and dodged tables in the dining hall to move away to have a private conversation.

  “Hey.” Marla’s voice sounded small. “Uh, Mom asked me to call you and tell you we weren’t going to make it today.”

  “Okay,” Della said, fighting the pinch in her heart and walking outside. “Is something wrong?” Or have you guys just decided to give up on me?

  “Hold on a second,” Marla said quietly.

  Della continued toward the woods, a spot she knew where several large trees created a little alcove. She heard her sister on the move, too. Then she heard the door close.<
br />
  “Sorry. I just wanted to go in my bedroom in case Dad was listening.”

  Yeah, you wouldn’t want Dad to know you were talking to me. Della’s mood stood on the verge of sliding down the slippery slope of self-pity when Marla spoke again. “Something’s going on, Della. I don’t know what it is, but it’s bad. Can you come home?”

  Home? Uh, no! “What? What’s happening?”

  “That’s just it. I don’t know. They won’t tell me anything.”

  “Are they fighting?” Della asked. Her parents weren’t perpetual fighters, they actually loved each other, but they’d had a couple of fights. And Della had hated that tension she’d felt during those times.

  “Not really. Mom’s just so upset. Every time I see her, she’s got tears in her eyes. And Dad is acting strange. He didn’t come home until after ten last night. And when he did get home, he took Mom in his office and they stayed in there forever talking.” She paused. “You don’t think Dad’s got a girlfriend, do you?”

  Della’s mouth dropped open. “No.”

  Then it hit her. The reason her parents were upset. “Has dad talked to Aunt Miao?”

  “I don’t know,” Marla said. “Why?”

  “Nothing,” Della said, and closed her eyes. Shit! She’d done it again. Disappointed her dad, caused her mom more heartache.

  “I want you to come home. I need you. I don’t like this ‘only kid’ shit.”

  Since when did her sister say shit? “I can’t, Marla.” She bit down on her lip, but her throat felt tight hearing her sister’s request. While it felt so good knowing she was finally being missed, it felt equally bad knowing she could never go home. Never. Ever.

  “Where is Mom?” Della swallowed a lump of pain down her throat.

  “She left. Said she was going to the grocery store. Mom never shops on Saturday mornings.”

  “I’ll call her,” Della said, but her stomach knotted thinking what her mom would say about Della going against her dad’s wishes and seeing her aunt.

  Hanging up with Marla, Della called her mom.

  It rang twice and her mom finally answered. “Hi, Della.”

  Her mom’s voice didn’t sound right.