Chapter Two
Chase stood there, staring at her. She wished she could read his mind.
Della’s patience finally snapped. “Leave! If Burnett finds you, he’ll…” Then it occurred to her that Burnett should have already found him. The alarm would have gone off. Why wasn’t the camp leader already here giving Chase hell and interrogating him? Something was up.
Chase’s expression of confidence confirmed it. “He knows I’m here. I had a meeting with him.” Honesty deepened Chase’s voice.
She tried not to let her disappointment show, but her expression tightened. Was Burnett in cahoots with Chase again? Hadn’t he been just as pissed as she was when he’d packed up his shit and disappeared?
“When we were done, I asked to come to the falls. I told him I kept hearing it.” Chase shrugged. “Burnett’s only rule was to not go near your cabin, and I didn’t.” He shrugged, almost guiltily. “Not yet, anyway. But I probably would have before I left. I needed to see you. He can get furious at me if he wants.”
He took one step closer.
She took one step back. “Why were you meeting with Burnett?”
“The council sent me back.”
“Sent you about what?” she asked.
He didn’t answer.
Tired of playing games, she darted around him in a dead run, her only goal to get away from him—away from the temptation to lean against him, to find out what this bonding really meant. Or if it meant nothing, she thought, wanting that to be true.
This time he didn’t follow. Good, she thought, ducking under tree limbs, moving fast. That’s what she wanted. So why didn’t she feel victorious? Why was she now hearing the falls louder? Was it the falls luring her? Or Chase?
They sent him about you. The words rang out.
She came to a sudden stop.
Where had the damn voice come from? She stood there, cutting her eyes east to west, then back again.
Did you hear me?
This time she knew the words hadn’t come from her left or her right. They had come from within her. She recalled hearing similar internal voices. Chan? But he’d crossed over, hadn’t he? She’d been sure of it. Or was he waiting until the FRU, Fallen Research Unit team—the FBI in charge of supernaturals—released his body and buried him.
You listening?
Yes, I am, Della answered, realizing the voice was female.
“Lorraine?” Della whispered the name of the murdered girl, the last spirit she’d heard in her head.
Yet hadn’t Holiday assured her that Lorraine had moved on, crossed over?
So who the hell was this?
Did Della have another ghost hanging around?
“Crap!” she muttered.
Did you hear me? the voice repeated, as if taunting her.
“I wish I didn’t.” Della’s heart thumped against her chest. She fought the panic swelling inside her. Inhaling, she tried to find a sense of calm. She’d done the ghost thing. First, communicating with Chan, then with Lorraine. It shouldn’t freak her out.
Who was she kidding? Communicating with spirits was a rare talent, one that freaked out most supernaturals. And she was no different. Adrenaline chased goose bumps up and down her spine and then all the way down to her toes, which she curled in her boots.
The Vampire Council sent him about you, the voice repeated. Aren’t you curious?
For the first time, she really heard what the voice said. “What does the Vampire Council want with me?” She posed her question aloud. And just like that, her fear was replaced with …
Hell yeah, I’m curious. It had to be about her uncle, damn it!
She swung around and started back—fast. Moving at a dead run … but hoping the dead didn’t come with her.
The sound of her boots hitting the wet earth filled her ears and played like background music to the rush of the falls. As she neared, she saw Chase’s figure disappear behind the wall of water.
Or, at least she thought it was him. In reality, it could have been anyone.
She didn’t care. Curiosity and something else … something she couldn’t explain, propelled her forward.
Bonded. The word echoed in her heart as an explanation, but she refused to believe it.
She kept running, her feet splashing through the stream. Her face hit the curtain of water—cool, but not cold. It spilled over her face, down her shoulders, soaking her clothes. The second she got on the other side, she saw nothing. A cave-like darkness swallowed her. She blinked and waited for her eyes to adjust.
One second.
Two.
No light. Nothing. Even the sound of the falls had been yanked away.
Something wasn’t right.
Chapter Three
Trapped. Claustrophobic. Hungry. She sat on the cold ground.
Emotions whooshed through Della like a fire chasing kerosene. Then she heard it. Breathing.
In.
Out.
Air being pulled into another set of lungs.
She remembered she wasn’t alone.
“Chase?” she whispered his name, but even as she said it, she knew it wasn’t him.
It was Liam.
But who the hell was Liam? She didn’t know any Liam, so how did she know his name? Her heart thumped a little faster and she tasted blood on her tongue.
Mo fo! What the hell was happening?
“You okay?” a voice asked, Liam’s voice.
“No,” Della said. I’m pretty sure I’m losing my mind.
“Here. Drink some more.”
She smelled another vamp. Liam was a vamp. But she’d already known that. How could she know and not know something at the same time? An arm, a strong limb of flesh and blood, came against her mouth.
“Go ahead, drink a little more.”
Knees pulled up to her chest, her empty stomach clenched as she realized what he was offering. Vampires didn’t drink another vamp’s blood. At least not the ones she knew.
“No.” Della pushed the arm away, but as she moved the limb, her fingertips touched tiny wounds … wounds that felt like teeth marks.
When she rested her arm on her bare knee, she felt the same tiny wounds on her wrist.
“Do it, Natasha. Come on, I’m fine.” His arm came against her mouth again, and she gently moved it away, holding on to him a second longer than necessary, needing the contact.
She started to tell him she wasn’t Natasha, but it would have been a lie. She was Natasha. Somehow, someway, she was inside Natasha. Then she remembered this happening before, with Lorraine. But Lorraine was dead. Were these two … She blinked and tried to make out her surroundings. Only darkness filled her vision.
She was locked in a dark, dank place that smelled like wet dirt with a boy named Liam. The tangy taste of blood lingered on her lips. Then the realization hit. They weren’t dead. Didn’t feel dead. They were actually trying to survive. And to do it, Liam and Natasha were feeding off each other.
“Seriously, I’m fine,” Liam repeated.
“I’m not hungry,” she lied. She barely noted the skip of her heart, listening to the sound of her voice. Not Della’s voice. Natasha’s voice.
Who was Natasha?
Panic started to swell inside her chest. She buried her nails in the wet earth she sat on, and almost cried out from the pain. Obviously, she’d already tried to claw her way out.
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 fal
ls. 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 shifting 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 ass chewed out by Burnett for telling you this, but that’s probably a plus for you, isn’t it?”
She ignored the ass-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 associated 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?
Hell 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.”
Pushing 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.”
Damn it! She did care. Bonded. What the hell did that really mean? She almost asked him to explain it more, but why the hell 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, hell, 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? Hell, 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. Damn 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 relationship 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 bullshit.”
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 shirt. 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.