Almost Midnight (Shadow Falls: After Dark #3.5)(16)

He dropped his chair down. “It’s still early.” Their gazes met. “I’m sorry I said what I did. I just thought … I told you about my parents and … We don’t have to talk about that. Choose a subject and we’ll talk about whatever.”

Ignoring the soft pleading in his voice, she went to the Walmart bag she’d dropped on the sofa. She pulled out one sheet, one blanket, and snagged the other pillowcase. “We have to be up at three thirty. Don’t bother me.”

*

She sprayed the bed three times with disinfectant, made it, and then used the old bedding to make it look like she was under the blanket. If he peeked in, he’d hopefully assume she was out cold—pun intended.

It was, Della thought, the thing she hated most about being a vamp. Drinking blood she could handle, but when someone accidentally brushed up against her and flinched at her body temperature, she felt … like a monster.

She knew why, too. It had been the thing that kept Lee from touching her after she’d been turned. You just don’t feel right, he told her. You’re cold. I think you’re still sick.

A crazy thought came. Would Steve not like how she felt? She pushed the thought away, because seriously, it didn’t belong in her mind. Tilting her head to the side, she listened for the shape-shifter. When she’d been making her bed, she’d heard him doing the same to the sofa. He must be sleeping now, because she could only hear the very subtle sound of someone breathing.

The conversation they’d had earlier about his parents floated through her head and whispered across her heart with a tug of emotion. He almost sounded resigned to the bad relationship with his parents. Or was he just pretending—like she so often did?

Realizing she’d let Steve consume her thoughts, she blew out a deep whoosh of air. Then moving to the window, she quietly raised it. She stood there just a second, listening to the night’s song, before she climbed out. She perched on the ledge a long second before she took off.

The dark September air felt cool, cooler than her skin. Her hair whipped around her head and scattered across her face, occasionally obscuring her vision. A sound, a slight wisp of air came from her left. Was something following her? She raised her head to catch any scents. She didn’t sense any other creature, but with so much wind coming at her, she wasn’t sure if her sense of smell was accurate.

Without slowing down, she glanced back. Nothing but the night chased her.

She considered how close she was to the vampire compound and the rogue gang. Fear danced on her skin, but she pushed it aside. If it was them, she already had a cover for being there. Surely they would ask questions before they attacked. She hoped.

In a few minutes, she spotted the lake that ran by her parents’ house and started descending. Her heart shifted from fear to something even more uncomfortable. Grief.

She came down a block from her house at the neighborhood park. Her black jeans and black tank top helped her blend into the darkness.

Moving in the shadows so no one would spot her, she saw lights on in her parents’ dining room. Either her family was eating late, or they were playing board games. Her mom loved board games.

Easing between the bushes and the house, the neighbor’s dog, the crotch-smelling canine Champ, barked from the neighbor’s backyard. Then Della heard laughter.

Her father’s laugh.

Her heart gripped and her throat tightened. She hadn’t even seen him smile since she’d left for Shadow Falls. Easing in ever so carefully, she looked into the window.

The scene looked like something from a movie on the Family Channel, a family spending time together. A family she really didn’t belong to anymore.

Tears prickled her eyes when she saw them. Her mom, her sister, and her dad playing Scrabble. They looked so happy, so … complete. Didn’t they miss her, even a little bit?

A twig snapped behind her, and her heart rose to her throat. Della swung around. Champ, a mix of Lab and German shepherd, stared at her, or was he staring in the window? His tail slowly started thumping.

“How did you get out?” she whispered to the dog as she felt a tear slip down her cheek. He lowered his head, whimpered, and rubbed his snout against her knee. “What? No crotch smelling tonight? I’m hurt.”

The canine looked up at her as if he actually missed her. How could that be, a neighbor’s dog missed her when her own family didn’t?

Moving out from behind the bushes, Della gave the dog another scratching behind his ears. She brushed a lingering tear from her eye and took off.

In less than five minutes, she landed at Lee’s house. When the garage door opened, she flashed to the side of the house. As the car pulled out, she saw Lee in the driver’s seat.

Where was he going? On a date? Her heart knew it. Her heart also said that she should just go back to the cabin. She didn’t need to see it.

But she did.

Kylie had told Della a thousand times that she needed to move past Lee. Maybe this was the answer. Maybe if she saw Lee with someone else, she could let go. She could stop hoping that he’d come to his senses and would run back to her, begging for a second chance.

She followed him to a house on the other side of the subdivision. She waited for a few minutes in the shadows, still hoping maybe she’d been wrong. Maybe this was just one of his friends.

When he walked out with a girl, an Asian girl, at his side, the knot in Della’s chest came back. This was the fiancée. The one he’d told Della his parents had pushed him into marrying. Seeing this should have been enough. Seeing how she clung to his arm. She should have left right then, but no. When they got in the car, she followed them to the restaurant.