Shadow Falls After Dark: Eternal Part 35

"Then to Uck's we go." He reached over again and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "We are going to work this out."

"Work what out?"

"Everything," he said. "Natasha and Liam. You and me."

Her heart gave a big tug, and all she could do was nod.

He started the car, and for some crazy reason, she heard Steve's voice in her head.

Promise me that before you fall in love with Chase, you'll remember that I loved you first.

Then she heard Holiday's voice. Just be careful.

Oh, h.e.l.l. Was she really falling in love with Chase?

She called Burnett and told him she'd be home in a couple of hours to give him a full report. He started to interrogate her over the phone and she insisted they'd talk later. He wasn't happy, but he accepted it after she told him exactly where they were heading. He obviously felt there was nothing to worry about at Uck's, and didn't mind them going.

What p.i.s.sed Della off was that he was right.

They got nothing at Uck's. But because there were a few vampires there, they ordered c.o.kes and talked about mundane stuff. Stories about his parents and his sister. But for some reason, it didn't feel mundane. She wanted to know all those things.

Then he asked her about her past. Wanting him to know the good side of her father, she told him about how they played chess and even entered a few compet.i.tions. She told him about her father taking her fis.h.i.+ng. About Scrabble night, and how the family would get together and play.

It was sometime during that conversation that she understood why the ghost wanted her to read the diary. When you cared about someone, you wanted to know the little things. Details of their life. Her aunt, Bao Yu, wanted to know the little things of her daughter's life.

At almost nine o'clock, Chase pulled up at Shadow Falls. "Do you want me to come with you to talk to Burnett?" he asked.

"No," she said. "I got it."

He stared at her. "Are you going to tell him about the leak in the FRU?"

"I have to," she said. "Are you going to tell the council that I know about it and for him to get the h.e.l.l out of there?"

"I already have-when you went to the bathroom right after we got to the restaurant."

She inhaled. "At least we're being honest."

"Working for adversaries doesn't change what's between us, Della."

It would, Della sensed it. It just hadn't risen to a head. And when it did, she didn't have a clue how she was going to handle it.

But that was only part of her problem. "I'm not a hundred percent sure what is happening between us," she said.

He leaned over and kissed her again. She only let it happen for a second. She put her hand on his chest and pushed him back an inch.

"I can clear that up for you," he said. "It's called being bonded. And it's a powerful thing. We belong together now."

"I have to go." She walked away from him sitting in his car. And she listened to him drive away, feeling the emptiness she felt each and every time.

She went in and gave Burnett a full report. And when she told him about the leak in the FRU, a part of her almost felt disloyal to Chase. Working for adversaries doesn't change what's between us, Della. She reheard Chase's words, and again, she knew he was wrong.

No sooner had Della told Burnett about the leak, he picked up the phone to call someone at the FRU.

He was promptly informed that one of their agents had already cleaned out his office and left a letter of resignation.

"Do you see, I told you the Vampire Council was up to no good?"

Della leaned back in her chair. "Do you not have agents trying to get their information?"

"Whose side are you on?" Burnett asked.

"The FRU's," she told him, "but I'm not sure there should be sides."

"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 pa.s.sed 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 dis.h.i.+ng about that, but why the h.e.l.l 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 b.u.t.ting 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 ident.i.ty 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 message was simple. I miss you. Steve.