Shadow Falls After Dark: Eternal Part 2

And it hadn't worked.

They couldn't continue to feed off each other. She and Liam were going to die.

No, Natasha and Liam were going to die.

But the realization didn't make Della feel any better. A feeling, a need, to save Natasha and Liam, swept through her. No, not swept. It felt as if it was tattooed on her soul, as if it was part of her destiny. As if not doing it would mean death not just for Natasha and Liam, but for part of herself as well. Part of her soul.

Save her! Save her! The words echoed as if in the distance. The same voice she'd heard before she'd come inside the falls. A ghost? Maybe.

"You okay?" another voice, a deep male voice, snuck into her awareness and tickled her subconscious. "You okay?" the deep voice repeated.

It wasn't Liam this time.

The deep tenor carried an undertone of confidence that she recognized. A tone she admired, but wished she didn't. Another feeling swelled inside her, and one word resounded in her heart.

Bonded.

Chase.

She mentally climbed out of the odd kind of dream state that had sucked her under. Chase held her by the shoulders, and he gave her a slight shake.

"Hey. What's wrong?" he asked, his brow wrinkled, his lips almost white, he held them so tight. "Answer me." He touched her face. His palms moved down her arms. His touch ... felt so right. It felt so wrong. "Della?"

"Stop fondling me." She slapped at his hand and took a step back, her gaze s.h.i.+fting around the cavern.

"I wasn't ... what just happened?" he asked.

Her breath caught, wondering how long she'd stood here, lost in that other place. Or not exactly lost, but trapped. Trapped like Natasha.

She suddenly remembered what the ghost-or whatever it had been-had said to her about Chase.

The Vampire Council sent Chase here about you.

"What does the Vampire Council want with me?" she asked.

Chapter Four.

A look of surprise entered Chase's eyes. "I didn't say they sent me here for you." He lowered himself and sat on a large rock. The filtered light from the falls cast shadows around him. Some of the light held tiny rays of color, like a mini light show.

"The truth, Chase. Please." The "please" sounded wrong. She shouldn't have to beg for the truth. And that was why she couldn't ever really trust this guy, she reminded herself.

He exhaled. "They want you to work a case." He let go of some air as if frustrated. "I'll get my a.s.s chewed out by Burnett for telling you this, but that's probably a plus for you, isn't it?"

She ignored the a.s.s-chewing comment and the slight hurt in his voice, and focused on the information he'd finally leaked. "A case? What kind of a case?"

"One you've already partially solved."

"What?"

"Supposedly, you captured and then led the FRU to that creep, Craig Anthony, who was enslaving new vampires and using a funeral home as a front."

Yeah, she'd stumbled across his organization when she'd gone to ask questions about Chan and her uncle's funeral, but ... "Craig Anthony was caught, so what's the case about?"

Glancing back at the falls, Chase rested his hands on his knees. His jeans, still wet, stretched over his muscled legs. "Anthony was caught, but he isn't talking. Between the FRU and the council, we're pretty sure we've reined in most of his clients holding vampires. But according to some leads, there could still be as many as twenty or thirty fresh turns under someone's thumb."

"So the FRU and the Vampire Council actually compare notes?"

Chase frowned. "Not very often, and only when it benefits the FRU."

"Or the other way around," Della said. Then she remembered how sleazy Craig Anthony was and she had no doubt those new vampires were being treated terribly. Somebody needed to find them. Why not her?

"So, they want me to work with the FRU to find them?"

"Not quite. They want us to find them." He studied her face. "They want you to come and work for the council."

Della stared at the wall of water, trying to wrap her head around this piece of news. Ever since she'd learned of the council's existence, she'd considered them partly rogue. The FRU was the legitimate supernatural governing body. Knowing Chase was even halfway a.s.sociated with the Vampire Council tainted her view of him.

She glanced back at him in his wet clothes. The idea of working with him, being with him, had panic swelling inside her again. "I'll have to think about it."

"Don't waste your time. Burnett already denied the council's request."

He denied it? "I'm sure he wants to talk it over with me," Della said, hoping she was right, but accepting she probably wasn't. First, she knew Burnett didn't trust the Vampire Council. Second, even with her new powers, knowing him, he'd still probably hesitate to let her work any case he considered dangerous. But shouldn't the decision be hers?

h.e.l.l yes, it should, the ghostly voice inside her shouted. Find Natasha!

And just like that, she knew the two things were connected. Natasha and Liam were victims of Craig Anthony. He may have been caught, but those he had imprisoned and enslaved were still out there.

"Burnett denied my request right out," Chase said with sarcasm. "He keeps you all on a short leash."

Pus.h.i.+ng her latest thought aside to deal with Chase, she cupped her hands and considered his accusation about the camp leader. She knew what Chase said was true. She'd spent most of the last few months yanking on her leash, but her loyalty to Burnett demanded she defend him. "Not that short. We caught Craig Anthony, didn't we?"

"There is that," he said. "But I'll bet anything you did it while breaking some of his rules."

Right again. But she wouldn't admit it. She met Chase's gaze, noting the bruise under his eye. "Some rules are there for a reason. Like we're not supposed to reveal our Reborn powers. Is that how you got that black eye? Inviting trouble by showing off?"

"I don't invite trouble, but I take care of it if it shows up."

"Well, stop it. Stop showing off what you can do. Burnett's right. It'll invite all kinds to try to outdo you. Next time, instead of a black eye, you could have a broken neck."

A slow smile came across his face. "Careful, you almost sound like you care."

d.a.m.n it! She did care. Bonded. What the h.e.l.l did that really mean? She almost asked him to explain it more, but why the h.e.l.l would she trust someone who was full of nothing but secrets?

She turned to leave, but before she walked through the falls, he appeared in front of her.

"Don't go," he said.

She shook her head. "The only conversation I want to have with you is when you tell me who sent you to check on Chan and me."

"I told you already," he growled, frustration sounding in his tone. "The Vampire Council."

Della studied his face, realizing that this time he didn't flinch. Was he telling the truth? Did he not know who else was behind it? Oh, h.e.l.l, she didn't know what to believe anymore.

"Then how did they know about me?" she asked.

"Della, I work for them, just like you work for the FRU. Do they tell you everything? h.e.l.l, no. Burnett didn't even tell us they sent other agents in when we were looking for that Billy kid."

The truth of his words had more doubt flopping around her head and her heart. She hated uncertainty.

And he seemed to sense it. "We belong together now." He moved closer, put his hand on her shoulder. "Why are you fighting it?" He studied her and a frown suddenly pulled at his lips. "Is it Steve? You still have feelings for him?"

She tilted her head back. "Yes, I care about Steve."

She wasn't going to lie. She and Steve were practically together now. This last weekend when he'd been here, she'd stopped pretending in front of everyone. Steve had even put his arm around her when they'd been walking to lunch Friday. And because she'd sensed it had been a test, she'd let him. d.a.m.n it, she hadn't wanted to fail that test.

She hadn't wanted to fail Steve. Yet there was a small part of her that worried she was destined to fail him. And all because of some stupid bonding with the guy standing in front of her.

"And this," she waved a hand between them, "this isn't the same thing." She reached deep inside to find something to explain it.

She saw emotions flash in his eyes. Disappointment, anger, maybe even jealousy.

"You even told me. This bond thing can be compared to the relations.h.i.+p shared by identical twins."

His eyebrow arched in complete disbelief. "So, you love me like a brother? That kiss last week-"

"Not exactly like a brother, but ... but..." His words echoed in her head. Or, at least one word did. Love. "I don't love you, period." She gripped her hands. "I go back and forth on even liking you." Being attracted to him, caring if he got hurt, that was something different. Something she didn't want to think about.

Something she was working on denying.

He exhaled. "That's bulls.h.i.+t."

Suddenly feeling the urgency to deal with other issues-that didn't have to do with him-she glanced up at another rainbow of color dancing on the walls. "I gotta go." Turning on the heels of her boots, she stepped out of the cavern. The cold of the waterfall almost felt surreal. It washed down her head, seeping beneath her s.h.i.+rt. Immediately, she felt a sense of loss at leaving. I'll be back.

"Go to do what?" Chase was right behind her, but she kept walking. She refused to look back, and refused to acknowledge that the sense of loss had anything to do with him and not everything to do with the falls. Please let it be just the falls.

"What is it that you have to do?" He repeated the question when she didn't answer.

"Talk to Burnett," she answered, thinking about him denying her the case-without even talking to her about it-and then she recalled the whole ghost issue and the crazy vision. "And Kylie and Holiday," she said aloud as she formed her own plan. If anyone could explain what had happened there, it would be them.

"Talk about what?" His question came at her ear. His closeness felt both wrong and right at the same time.

"About me working with the Vampire Council." Her mind raced back to Holiday and Kylie. "About finding Natasha and Liam," she muttered aloud, but more to herself than to him.

Remembering how desperate she felt when she'd been in that vision, she started running. The sun had crawled higher in the east. Yet the sky still grasped the golden hue of pre-morning. The warmth of the light felt good on her damp skin and she couldn't help but recall the darkness smothering Natasha and Liam.

As her footfalls sounded on the ground, she realized Chase no longer followed. She was halfway to the office when she suddenly became aware that Chase hadn't asked her who Natasha and Liam were. A crazy thought hit. Had he somehow had the same vision?

She was tempted to turn around, find him, and ask. But, no, that was crazy. First, because getting any answers from him was like pulling teeth out of an angry lion, and second, because ... surely a dual vision like that couldn't happen. But she recalled how upset he'd been when she'd first awoken from that dark, damp place. Was his reaction from his distress for her, or had he shared the same experience that she had?

Slowing down to a jog, she s.n.a.t.c.hed out her phone and dialed Kylie's number. The chameleon answered sounding a little sleepy, but concerned.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing ... really. I'm fine. I just have questions. Meet me at Holiday's office, please." She hung up, confident Kylie would be there. Kylie would never let her down.

As she continued to the office, another thought hit. She'd come to the falls to get answers, but left with more questions. How was that fair? Why did the death angels answer Kylie's questions and not hers?

"That couldn't happen, could it?" Della sat on Holiday's office sofa, telling them about the voice, about the vision, and asking if they thought Chase could have actually been in the vision with her.

The fae camp leader sat at her desk, looking perplexed. Kylie, appearing almost as befuddled, sat beside Della.

"Wow," Holiday said. "You've had a heck of a day, and it's not even seven o'clock."

"Tell me about it," Della said, plopping back on the sofa, her heart heavy. "So what am I dealing with here?" Her thoughts shot back to Natasha and Liam. If Holiday or Kylie couldn't help, how in the h.e.l.l was Della going to save them? She didn't have a clue how to understand any of this.

"Do you know a Natasha or Liam?" Holiday asked.

"No," Della said. "But ... I think it might have something to do with the Craig Anthony case. Chase told me that there are still a lot of fresh turns that haven't been accounted for. What if Anthony is the one who imprisoned them?"

Holiday nodded. "That could be it, but ... normally there's more of a connection."

"Maybe this one isn't normal." She tightened her hands.

"First, don't be frightened," Holiday said.

"I'm not," Della insisted, and then realized Holiday was reading her emotions. But the fae had it wrong. "I mean, yeah, I didn't like it, and when I first heard the ghost, I freaked out a little." Her heart rushed to the sound of a lie. "Okay, a lot, but I've sort of moved past that. What's scaring the s.h.i.+t out of me right now is that I won't get Natasha and Liam out in time. They can't live like that for long."

Della saw the way Kylie and Holiday looked at each other, as if they knew something she didn't.

"What?" Della asked.

Holiday stood up and sat next to Della on the other side of the sofa. The look on her face expressed pure empathy. The fact that she'd moved closer told Della that whatever she was about to tell her wasn't good. In fact, it was so bad that she knew Della needed some of her calm-inducing touch to hear the news.

When Holiday's hand came closer, Della shot up off the sofa. "No, don't touch me. Just tell me. What is it you think I don't want to hear?"

Chapter Five.