When she hung up, Burnett studied her. “Does he return your calls?”
“I don’t know, I’ve never called him.” She’d been proud of not giving in to the urge. But this was different. She didn’t need him for herself. She needed him for Natasha and Liam.
“My gut says he’ll answer,” she added, remembering how many times he’d messaged and called her before. Then again, she remembered one of the last things she’d told him. I don’t love you, period. I go back and forth on even liking you.
Her words bounced around her suddenly tender heart, recalling the hurt in his eyes. Then, swearing not to get caught up in all that syrupy emotion, she made herself focus on other issues. She looked down at her hands for a second, a question looming in her head, but knowing the answer scared her. Yet not knowing wouldn’t help anyone, so she asked, “How long? How long can vampires feed off each other and live?”
Burnett dropped the pencil and locked his fingers together, resting them on top of his desk. “Why don’t we just try to find them?” he said. “Besides, if Holiday is right—then time…”
“But just in case I’m right, and they’re alive. I need to know. How long do I have to find them?”
Chapter Six
Burnett gripped his hands tighter and his expression told Della he found her question as disgusting as she did. “Della, you’ve had a rough few weeks. Don’t take on the worries of the world. It’s Sunday, go enjoy being a teenager. Let’s wait until we get the go-ahead to work the case, then we’ll worry about—”
“Quit being difficult,” Della seethed. “Just tell me!”
He let go of a gulp of air. “It depends. If they’re careful not to deplete each other too much, they could hang on three weeks.”
It was longer than she’d expected, so she tried to find comfort in that.
But the ugly truth remained. If they were still alive, and if Chase hadn’t been in that vision, then the bulk of the responsibility of finding them lay on her shoulders.
Well, not entirely. There was the ghost. Della’s stomach quivered ever so slightly. Who was the ghost? And why had she come to Della for help?
But more important than her identity, or any connection, was how Della could get her to give up some information. By God, if this uninvited spirit wanted Natasha found, she needed to get off her dead ass and give Della something to work with. A feeling of panic swelled inside her as she recalled Kylie telling her over and over again that ghosts couldn’t be rushed or provoked to talk.
Wasn’t that just what Della needed? Another unreasonable and difficult individual to deal with.
She glanced up at Burnett. He leaned forward. “I’m serious, you need to go and…”
“Enjoy being a teenager,” Della finished for him. “I heard you the first time.” How the hell could she enjoy anything with so many damn issues weighing on her mind, filling up her heart, and pressing on her conscience?
As she got up to leave, one of those issues surfaced. She stopped at the door and looked back. “Any news on when we’ll get to bury Chan?”
Burnett’s expression spoke of frustration. “I checked on that this morning. Still waiting to hear back.”
Waiting. It seemed everything in her life was on hold.
* * *
After fretting for a few hours in her room, Della decided to give Burnett’s advice a shot. Obviously, sitting in her room waiting for a dead person to drop in wasn’t easy. Both Miranda and Kylie were out—probably with their boyfriends—so Della took off in search of her own “almost boyfriend.” After abandoning him early last night, she wanted to spend a little time with him before he went off to work with the doctor and the doctor’s daughter.
The thought of him working with Jessie, who had a crush on him, still rubbed her raw. But, considering she was probably going to be working with Chase again, she supposed she should shut her trap.
As she left the somber shade of the woods and spotted Steve’s cabin, she saw Perry stepping off the porch. She got a few feet closer. Before he noticed her, she caught his expression: sad and troubled. “What’s wrong?” she blurted out, and he jumped at the sound of her voice.
“Nothing,” he said quickly. Too quickly, and Della heard his heart tango with the lie.
And there was only one reason for him to lie to her. She crossed her arms over her chest and studied him. “You know I like you, right?”
“Yeah,” Perry said, as if unsure what she meant.
“Good, so you won’t take it personal if the ‘nothing’ you’ve got going on hurts Miranda and I have to kick your ass.”
He made a face.
“I’m just saying, I like you, but I like her better. And if you hurt her…”
He made a low growling sound. “Okay, let me change my answer to: It’s none of your damn business. And if you think I’d hurt Miranda on purpose, you’re an idiot.”
Della watched the blond shape-shifter storm off, realizing how weird that was. Anger wasn’t Perry’s go-to emotion. He usually made some wisecrack comment, using humor to either cover up the real issue or to defuse the situation.
Which meant whatever was wrong must be bad enough to take a bite out of his sense of humor.
When she turned around she saw Steve standing at the door, waiting with a half-smile. Steve’s half-smiles always looked sexy. It was the way his eyes tightened, and his lashes lowered over those warm brown eyes. His dark hair looked a little like he’d been sleeping. She always liked it a little messy. He wore jeans that hugged him in all the right places and a navy T-shirt that looked so soft she wanted to touch it. Oh, and he was barefoot. Even that got to her.
Her concerns for Perry and Miranda took a backseat to wanting to lean her head on his chest and feel his arms around her. To let the magic that was all Steve make her own issues feel less than. And if that made her less than, too, so be it. She’d pull up her big-girl panties later.
Besides, she was just following Burnett’s orders. Enjoy being a teen.
When she stepped up on his porch, his half-smile faded. All her soft feelings vanished and she remembered seeing Chase and the craziness that had happened at the falls.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
Was her expression as sour as Perry’s?
She opened her mouth, but didn’t have a clue where to start. Or what all to tell him. Did she tell him everything?
That Chase had come to see her?
That the Vampire Council wanted her to work with them?
That she had a ghost hanging around again?
Did she tell him she thought there were a couple of vampires buried alive and it might be up to her to find them?
She had a feeling Steve wasn’t going to like hearing any of her issues.
She frowned. “Can I just say ‘everything’ and leave it at that?”
“Hell, no.” He reached for her and pulled her against him. Her head found the special spot she loved. After a two-second embrace, he turned and started inside his cabin.
“What’s going on?” he asked after settling her on the sofa and sitting beside her. His warmth pressed close to her side, his arm shifted around her shoulders.
When she didn’t just spit it out, he lifted her chin and made her look at him. “Why do I think it has something to do with Chase?”
Oh, hell. See, she was right, Steve wasn’t going to like this.
“I went to the falls,” she said.
“Why?” he asked, sounding like Miranda.
“Because I kept hearing it. Holiday says the falls call you. Anyway…” She swallowed and just said it, “Chase was there.”
She felt Steve’s muscles tighten and could swear his temperature actually inched up a few degrees. “Trespassing? Did Burnett grab him and teach him a lesson?”
“No, because he … he’d actually been here to see Burnett.”
“Why?”
“The Vampire Council wants me and Chase to work on finding the missing fresh turns that the creep Craig Antho
ny sold into slavery.”
“And Burnett vetoed that deal, right?” Steve’s brown eyes grew a dark amber color as he waited for her answer.
“He’s trying to arrange a deal where we will be working for the FRU and not the council.”
“But you’ll be working with Chase?” Steve asked, his tone tight.
She refused to lie. “If they agree to it.”
“I don’t like it. Seriously, you caught that Anthony creep, now let someone else do the rest.”
She cupped her hands together. “I can’t.”
“Why not?”
Because it’s the right thing, because … “A ghost.”
“Chan?” he asked, his eyes widening just a bit.
“No, a new ghost. She’s asking me to save a girl named Natasha.”
“And you have to do what the ghost asks? What if she asks you to jump off a bridge or eat a bowl of—”
Della pressed a finger against his soft lips. “She somehow … gave me a vision, and I was Natasha. She’s trapped, Steve, like in a tunnel, or a room underground, with another vampire and…” She had to pull in a deep breath to say it again, “She and another vampire are feeding off each other.” Della’s sinuses stung, remembering the horror she’d felt in the vision. “She’s scared, no, she’s terrified, and … and I know all this because I was her for a few minutes, in her body, and I felt it. I have to help her, Steve.”
He stared at her, the color in his eyes softening back to its normal warm brown with flecks of green and gold. She knew he was accepting it—that he understood. She couldn’t say he was thrilled about it, as his look was still frustrated, but he wasn’t going to hold it against her.
He brushed a strand of hair off her cheek. “You always try to come off as a hardass, but honestly, there’s nothing hard about you. You’d help your own enemy.”
“Don’t give me that much credit.”
“It’s you that needs to give yourself more credit.” He exhaled deeply and continued to stare at her. “Okay, you told me why you have to work this case, but why Chase? Why does he have to work with you? Why couldn’t I do it? Or Lucas?”
She hesitated before telling him, but then decided he deserved the truth. “The reason he was at the falls was because he’d been called there as well. I think he shared the same vision. For some reason, we’re supposed to do this together.”
He dropped against the sofa with a sigh. “I don’t … I just don’t like you being with him.”
She looked him right in the eyes. “I don’t like you being with Jessie, either.”
“At least I’m not … bonded to her. Whatever the hell that means.” He reached up again and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “And I know you don’t like talking about it, and I’m trying really hard to respect that, but I could really use some reassurance here.”
Oh, hell, what did he want her to say? That she didn’t give a flip about Chase. That would be a lie. That she wasn’t the least bit attracted to him? That would be a lie, too. That she wasn’t afraid of what she felt? Another lie.
She was scared shitless. Scared of where all of this was going to end, but the one thing she knew, the one thing she felt certain of was … Steve. Of how he made her feel.
Safe.
Accepted.
Cherished.
He knew her and still liked her, still wanted to be part of her life.
He cared.
He looked at her. Waiting. Waiting for something.
Her heart ached from indecision and her need to offer him something made that pain increase. Finally, she found one truth. One truth that she could offer. “I’m here, aren’t I?”
She lifted up and pressed her lips to his. It must have been enough, or at least enough for now, because he kissed her back.
Chapter Seven
Steve’s lips were warm, his taste addicting. And the magic, the magic that was pure Steve, happened. Della let go of all her issues, all the heartaches, fear, and haunts from the past, and she let herself be pulled into nothing but the kiss. The wonderful feel of his lips against hers.
That feeling led to more feelings. Tingling. Wants. Desires.
It led to them shifting. Getting closer. To them reclining, side by side on the sofa.
In a few minutes, they were even closer. Their arms and legs entangled, their hearts beating together. Even at her vampire temperature, she burned … on fire from his hard body pressed against hers. Lost in how his soft breath felt on her neck.
His hand slipped under her shirt and she didn’t stop him. She wanted this as much as he did. Not that she planned to let it go too far, but this … this was what she needed. This was following orders. This was being a teen.
But then she heard them. Voices. Voices and footsteps coming toward the cabin.
She gasped and caught his hand. “I think we’re about to have company.”
He growled and lifted his head from the sensitive spot he kissed on her neck. “Do you want to kill them, or do you want me to?”
She giggled.
When she met his sexy, hooded eyes and saw the heat and desire there, her breath caught and the same emotions filled her chest. If she hadn’t heard the voices again, she would’ve caved and gone back to kissing him. This place, this wonderful place she went to forget things, could also make her forget her limits. Sooner or later they weren’t going to be able to stop.
Was she ready to go there with Steve?
Oh, hell, she’d just found another thing to worry about.
* * *
After a good-bye kiss filled with with pent-up frustrations, Steve walked her outside through the back door to avoid the approaching company. “I’m heading out in about an hour,” he said.
She nodded and laced her fingers with his. “Be good.” An unwanted vision of Jessie filled her head.
“You, too,” he said and she could guess what he was imagining.
He gave her hand a squeeze then leaned down and kissed her again. The birds and soft whisper of the breeze played background music.
That kiss was probably about as hot of a kiss as they should be indulging in, she thought, but then she found even that brief feel of his lips on hers to be alluring.
She only got a few feet away when her phone dinged with an incoming text. Her heart raced thinking it was Chase. But she didn’t check it until she got in the mix of trees—pines, a few oaks, a maple or two—away from Steve’s line of vision. The thought of hurting him sent a sharp pain to her chest.
And yet, if right now Steve was getting a text from Jessie, it would hurt like hell. If Steve cared even nearly as much about Jessie as she did Chase, Della would be damn pissed.
Shit. She had to be hurting Steve. But how could she fix it?
Two choices. Only two. Let him go or refuse to work with Chase on the case. Refuse to ever have anything to do with Chase again.
The realization tumbled around inside her like a ball of thorns. A few tears threatened to fall as her phone dinged again.
She looked at it.
Not Chase. Burnett. The message read, Come to the office.
She didn’t hesitate.
When she stormed into his office, he glanced up. “I hope you were close—if not, you came too fast. I’ve warned you not to—”
“I was close,” she said and it was only half a lie. She had been close, but she probably still came quicker than he would have liked. At least being Reborn came with a few perks, superspeed being one of them. “What is it?”
“I got a call from the Vampire Council.”
“Are they approving Chase and me working together with the FRU?”
“No. One of the council members called to ask if we’d heard from Chase. He missed a meeting with them and isn’t answering his calls. They say this isn’t like him.”
Della felt her blood pressure rise. “Do they think something happened to him?” She could still recall how he’d moaned when he’d taken her blood inside him during her rebirth. When he’d will
ingly done it, willingly taken on the pain to save her. I don’t love you, period. I go back and forth on even liking you.
“No. He seemed more concerned that I’d convinced him to work exclusively with us. When I assured him that wasn’t the case, he insisted that you would know where he was. They said he’s been obsessing over you lately.”
Obsessing? She shook her head. “He hasn’t called or texted me since we saw each other at the falls. If he had, I’d tell you.”
“That’s what I assured them,” he said.
Della pulled out her phone again and typed Chase another message. Worried. Vamp Council looking 4 u. U ok?
She stared at her phone, her lungs tight, praying he would text her back.
When it didn’t ding back in seconds, she looked up at Burnett. “Maybe I should go look for him.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know, but—”
“No. If you knew where he was, it would be one thing, but—”
Her phone dinged. She looked at the number. Chase’s number.
“It’s him.” She read his message—to herself.
Worrying means u care.
She clenched her teeth.
“And?” Burnett asked.
She ignored Burnett and typed: R u ok?
His reply came back quickly. Fine. Working our case. Later.
Della looked up, drawing in air. “All he says is he’s okay and is working the case.”
She half expected Burnett to ask to see the texts. He didn’t, and that showed a lot of trust on his part. She appreciated that more than he knew.
“Text him back and tell him I said for him to contact the council. We need him to stay in their good graces right now.”
She did as Burnett said. They sat in the silent office for several minutes, waiting for his reply. Her phone didn’t ding.
Finally, Della set her phone down. “What could Chase know, or the Vampire Council know, that we don’t? How can he be working on the case?”
Burnett’s expression hardened. “I don’t know. My people are still going through the files that we got. I know that one of Craig Anthony’s homes was torn apart before we got there. Maybe someone with the council found something. But I don’t think so. We found most of our evidence in the files at the funeral home and on his phone and computer.”