Unspoken: Shadow Falls: After Dark (15 page)

Burnett followed, and behind him, Della heard Chase’s steps. “We can’t prove it, but we’re pretty sure this is connected to the Chis’ murders.”

“It is,” Della said, remembering some of the vision. “I’m pretty sure these three walked past the Chis’ shop, probably smelled the blood, and they saw the murder scene.”

Burnett’s eyes widened. “How do you know?”

“A vision,” Della said.

“So you saw the killers?”

“Not their faces.” Bits and pieces of the vision filled her head. “But I heard—”

“I saw one of their faces,” Chase said.

Burnett’s brow creased. “You told me you didn’t see them.”

“Not earlier, but … in her vision.”

Burnett scratched his head. “You were in her vision?”

Chase nodded.

“It’s true,” she affirmed, even knowing it sounded bat-shit crazy.

*   *   *

It was dark when Della and Burnett got back to Shadow Falls. Burnett had sent Chase to the FRU headquarters to work with their sketch artist.

The camp seemed extra quiet as she walked to her cabin. Della could smell the bonfire, which meant everyone was in the woods cooking hot dogs and marshmallows. She debated going. Having something else on her mind besides her own problems might be nice, but the thought of trying to be friendly to everyone seemed too much.

The quietness of her cabin appealed more. She continued walking.

In the back of her mind, bits and pieces of the vision kept flashing in her head. Some little detail about the visions kept teasing her, as if it were important, but for the life of her she couldn’t put her finger on what it was. She was almost to her cabin when a bird swooped down. It didn’t hit her, but it came close.

Recalling the bird on the office porch earlier, she growled. “Is that you, Perry? This isn’t funny! I’m in no mood for silly jokes!”

She stood in the middle of the darkness and waited for the shape-shifter to answer her. No answer came. Tilting her head to the side, she could still hear the birds, or maybe a bird—she couldn’t tell if it was the same one—rustling in the trees.

She waited, impatiently, for another couple of seconds. Then she started off, swearing to give Perry some lip when she saw him. Her phone dinged with an incoming text.

She pulled it out and read Kylie’s request that she come join them. Trying to think of a good reason not to go without sounding pathetic, she stood in the dark. Finally, just giving up, she tucked it back into her jeans.

She was just in front of the cabin when she spotted a figure on her front porch. She breathed in and immediately frowned. What was he doing here? Then a second scent came to her. What were they doing together?

Chapter Seventeen

He hadn’t seen her. Hadn’t heard her. She could turn around and head to the campfire. Pretend she never knew he’d been here. She remembered his words:
We’ll talk later
.

She’d agreed. But she still didn’t have a clue what to say. Did he want some kind of an answer? With so much going on, she was answerless.

But then Baxter barked, in her direction, and curiosity struck again. What was Baxter doing with Steve?

Steve turned and glanced her way. “Hey.” His Alabama accent making the word sound longer than three letters.

“Hi,” she said.

Steve stayed on the porch, but Baxter bounded over to her. For an old dog, he had a lot of bounce.

“You had company.” Steve motioned to the canine who was leaning against her leg. “He was waiting on your steps.”

“Really?” Della knelt down and looked the dog in the eyes, confirming he was okay. Had Chase not put the dog inside?

She felt Steve studying her. “He belongs to Chase.”

Steve leaned back against the porch rail. “Yeah, I know.”

“You do?”

“Remember, I knew where his cabin was? He had the dog then.”

Yeah, she did remember now and could kick herself for asking. Steve had spotted her there with Chase. They hadn’t been doing anything, but Steve had been hurt.

And she’d felt like shit because of it.

“I heard you went to a murder scene,” Steve said.

“Yeah.” Della looked up to the moon hanging low in the sky. Silence filled the night and the distant campfire smoke flavored the cool air.

“Do you want to talk?” he asked.

She looked back at him, and her panic must have shown.

“Not about us,” he continued. “I mean, I know we need to talk about that sooner or later, but right now, I meant about the scene.” He shuffled his feet. “We used to talk about things like that.”

She looked at him and her heart skipped a beat with her next thought.
We used to talk about a lot of things.
And right then another painful truth hit. Steve was just another thing in her life that had changed. Yet here he was, not trying to pressure her, just offering to talk, to listen. To help.

Chase’s words echoed in her head.
Not everyone ends up together. You still have a choice.

“It had to have been hard,” Steve said.

She dropped on her backside and leaned against the front of the cabin. Baxter dropped down beside her. “It was,” Della said.

“But this is still what you want to do as a career.” He stepped closer. “Why would you want to see stuff like that?”

She looked at him. “I don’t want to see it, I want to stop it.”

He sat beside her, but not so close they touched. She recalled sitting out here on the porch with him so many times. Feeling so … scared of what she was feeling.

“I don’t get it.” He picked up a piece of pine straw off the porch and started twisting it. “It hurts you, but you still want to do it.”

“But it feels right when I find the person responsible. Doesn’t it hurt you to see someone sick?”

He almost smiled. “Touché,” he said. “I guess I hadn’t looked at it like that, but you’re right.” There was silence. The night noises echoed around them. “I saved my first life while I was in Paris.”

No, I was your first.
He’d given her a transfusion that had saved her life, but bringing it up felt too personal somehow, so she let it pass.

“How did you do it? Save the life?” she asked.

“A were came into the clinic I was assisting at. The doctor was out on a call. He had internal injuries, was bleeding out. I had to operate to stop it. I was scared he was going to die on me. But when he didn’t, it was … I don’t know how to explain it, but it was a powerful feeling. I’ve never been surer about wanting to be a doctor. It was like being validated.”

“You’re going to make a great one.” Della recalled what Chase had told her about her uncle.

“Now I just have to convince my mom that going the supernatural route to medicine is what’s right for me.”

“I’m sure she’ll be proud of you either way,” Della said.

“Oh, hell, no. She’s doing everything she can to try to get me to enroll in regular medical school. I know she means well, but I just don’t understand why she can’t let me follow my own dreams.”

“Most parents don’t understand.” She thought about her parents, her father, and wondered what he thought he understood … what he believed. In her mind, she saw the way he looked at her these last few months. Was he really afraid of her?

“How are things at your home?” Steve asked, as if reading her mind.

“Crazy,” she said. “I’m guessing you heard about my dad.”

“Yeah. I’m sorry. I know that has to be hard.”

She nodded.

After a moment, he asked, “What changed?”

“What do you mean? I thought we weren’t going to talk about us.”

“No, I didn’t … I mean you coming back to Shadow Falls. I heard you went back to try to help out.”

She gave Baxter a slow pass of her hand across his back. “My being there wasn’t helping. It made things worse.”

“Not intentionally, I’m sure,” he said.

She stared at the dog. “No.” A bird called out in the night. “I think my dad knows.”

“Knows what?”

“That I’m vampire.” She glanced up, unsure why she’d told Steve this. She hadn’t even told Kylie or Miranda yet. Chase knew, but only because he’d eavesdropped. But the second she looked into the shape-shifter’s eyes, she understood her reasons. This was Steve. He’d always been so easy to talk to. He was safe. Even safer than before, she realized.

Perhaps he’d always been safe, but it hadn’t always felt that way. Now it did.

She didn’t have that need to run away, or to keep him at a distance. She wasn’t the least bit afraid. That, she realized, was what had changed.

And just exactly what did that mean?

*   *   *

Chase finished up with the sketch. Once outside the headquarters, he pulled out his phone and checked the time. Looking around, he spotted a bird in a tree. Was it just any bird, or was Burnett still having him followed?

Was he taking a chance?

He remembered the kiss he’d shared with Della. The one that she’d initiated, not him. And damned if that hadn’t felt good. Sooner or later, she’d understand that they were perfect for each other. She had to, didn’t she?

Maybe after she got her dad off, then they could start all over. A fresh start—one where she knew he was her choice, one where kisses and having a half-naked Della in his arms weren’t so uncommon.

And tonight’s little excursion might bring that about sooner. It might lead him to Douglas Stone. Burnett would get pissed, but, in a way, it had been his suggestion.

He dialed Leo. “We still on for later tonight?” he asked as soon as the guy answered the phone.

“Yeah, but Chase, are you really sure you want to do this? I’m sneaking you in, so I can’t send the guards in with you. I’ll be the only one covering the back entrance, which means I can’t go in.”

“I know,” he said. “I’ll be fine.”

“We’ve lost three people this year. They thought they would be fine, too. And they weren’t in there alone.”

“Let me worry about that.”

“Okay, be here at eleven and don’t be late.”

“Got it.” He hung up and looked at his cell again for the time. He had just enough time to go back to the cabin, feed Baxter and let him out, and then go off to the jail.

*   *   *

As he flew over Shadow Falls, he saw the campfire’s glow. Was Della there? He envisioned her with Miranda and Kylie. But a less desirable image hit. One of her cozying up to the fire with Steve’s arms around her. Jealousy filled his chest.

As tempting as it was to fly low enough to see, he knew he’d set off the alarm. So he flew past the orange glow and scent of roasted marshmallows and headed for the entrance.

Walking through the gate, knowing the camera had taken his picture and let him pass, he looked back over his shoulder to see if he had a tail. He didn’t spot one, but that didn’t mean shit. He hadn’t spotted one last night, either.

He came to the trail and debated making a quick visit to the bonfire. Taking off in a quick run, he got there in less than three minutes. The fire was huge, flames reaching up to the sky, and the popping sounds of burning wood filled the night air. Laughter rang out from a group of girls roasting hot dogs on sticks. A few couples, arm in arm, enjoyed each other’s company.

Lucas, hanging out by some trees, spotted him and waved. Standing close by the blue-eyed were was Kylie. But no Della. Chase walked over.

Kylie smiled. “Hey, I heard you’re back.”

“Yeah.” He noted that the girl’s smile seemed genuine. Did that mean Della hadn’t badmouthed him too much to her? Chase glanced back at Lucas and remembered that Burnett had sent him to follow the lead on the basketball.

“Your trip back to the park lead anywhere?”

“No, I stayed there several hours. I think Burnett sent another were agent to keep an eye out.”

Chase nodded and focused back on Kylie. “Is Della around?”

“I don’t think she’s back yet.” She pulled her phone out.

“She should be,” he said.

“I texted her a while back and told her to come here.” The blonde looked up. “She hasn’t texted me back. But she might have called it an early night. I think she had a rough day.”

Her light blue eyes hinted that she worried he was part of Della’s rough day.

“Thanks, I’ll run by her cabin.”

“Or just let her sleep,” she said.

“I just want to check on her.”

“Is something wrong?” she asked.

You mean other than me being worried about her cozying up with Steve?
“No.”

Walking away, he did one loop around the fire, moving in and out of the groups of people, hoping to spot Steve alone, or better yet with another girl hanging on him.

But the shape-shifter wasn’t around. Were he and Della together?

Chase took off for Della’s cabin. He landed on the porch. He tilted his head to see if he could hear anyone inside. Just a cat meowing. Then a scent hit. His nostrils flared. Blood.

And not just any blood.

Della’s.

He grabbed the doorknob and shot inside. The door hit the wall with a thud. His eyes burned and his canines extended when the scent of blood grew stronger. A quick glance around and he noted the lamps on the end tables were turned over, a couple of the kitchen chairs were downed. There had been a fight here. And considering it was Della’s blood, his heart jolted in his chest.

He shot into Della’s bedroom. Nothing looked out of place. Whatever had happened must’ve been contained to the living room.

He went back there. A growl left his lips when he spotted drops of blood on the floor by the door. He moved outside, where he spotted more blood splatter by the steps.

Fueled by fury, and fear, he took off to follow the trail of Della’s blood.

Chapter Eighteen

The blood led Chase through the woods. The thought that he should call Burnett and get help was countered by the thought of not wasting a second before finding her.

He ran through the brush, not caring when he got caught by a thorny bush. After about a minute he realized that unless the trail changed, he’d come out at cabin fourteen. His cabin.

Had Della been hurt and gone looking for him? The thought of her needing him and not being able to find him sent another jolt of pain through his chest.