Almost Midnight (Shadow Falls: After Dark #3.5)(77)

Miranda and Della looked at each other and then back at the chameleon. “When the shoe fits,” Miranda said and offered Kylie a sympathetic smile. “But we wouldn’t change you if we could.”

“Too sweet.” Della pointed to Kylie, then moved her finger to Miranda. “Too flighty.” And then pointed at herself. “Too pissy. We’re quite a team.” Della giggled and dropped back on the bed. “I feel as if we should be sitting at our kitchen table with Diet Cokes.”

“That’s a good idea.” Miranda zapped them three Cokes. They all leaned back on the bed’s headboard and the sound of the three cans being popped open sounded in the dark room.

“So what’s up with your mom?” Kylie asked Miranda.

“I don’t know. She didn’t tell me she was here. She sorta let me believe she wasn’t. And there has to be a reason.”

“What reason?” Della asked.

“I don’t know. I just sugarcoated my answer to Burnett because I didn’t want him to think she had anything to do with the murders.”

Della shook her head and sipped from her can. “Your mom’s a bitch, but I don’t think she’d kill anyone any more than I think my dad would.” Della downed a big sip of soda.

“Thank you,” Miranda said. “Except for the bitch part.” She frowned. “It probably has to do with Tabitha and her mom. Maybe they met somewhere to hash it out.”

“That would be fun to watch,” Della said.

Miranda rolled her eyes at the vamp.

“No, it wouldn’t,” Kylie said and shot Della a warning look. Then her gaze went back to Miranda. “Why don’t you try to call her?”

“I think I need to see her in person.” Miranda let her gaze shift to the window. “Is that the sun rising?” she asked. “Tell me it’s not morning yet.”

“It’s not morning yet,” Della said. “See, I like you enough to lie to you.”

Miranda rolled her eyes.

“What time do you have to be at practice?” Kylie asked.

“Noon.” She moaned and leaned back on the headboard, exhausted.

“Then why don’t we try to sleep? You’re gonna need it. You have to win and become a high priestess.”

“Yeah,” she said and handed Kylie her Coke to put on the bedside table. Then she wiggled her butt until she slid down on the mattress.

“Don’t you want to win?” Kylie asked. Both her friends sat up, looking down at her.

“I didn’t think I did, but now … Yes, I want to win.” She admitted something, not only to them, but to herself. “I want to win so bad I can taste it. I never wanted to say it, because I didn’t think it was possible. But now…”

“What?” Della asked.

“The Perry thing and now this whole Tabitha thing, both of them hurt, and it’s stealing away my joy.”

“Maybe it’s not as bad as you think,” Kylie said. “Tabitha could be wrong about things. You won’t know until you talk with your parents.”

“Yeah,” Miranda said, but in her heart she knew it was true. She just didn’t know how she was ever going to forgive her parents for all the lies.

She closed her eyes and then opened them and glanced from Kylie to Della. “I love you. You two are like sisters I never … Damn!” She hit her fists on the mattress.

“What?” Kylie asked.

“Tabitha’s my sister. My sister is sleeping in the next room over.”

Della stared at her and her brows tightened. “You … you knew that already.” Della glanced at Kylie. “Is she losing it?”

“No, I’m not losing it,” Miranda snapped in a sleepy voice. “It just hadn’t sunk in all the way. I mean, all my life I begged my mom and dad to make me a sister. Sometimes I felt all alone and I didn’t even have to be alone, because I already had a sister.” Miranda paused. “And she hates me.”

“If it makes you feel better, sometimes my sister hates me.” Della butt-scooted farther down on the mattress. Her shoulder met Miranda’s.

“I guess.” Miranda let her eyes close and waited for sleep. The last thought whispering across her worried mind was the kiss. The soft and painful kiss she’d gotten from Perry. And then another kiss entered her brain, the kiss she’d gotten years ago at a masquerade party.

“I’m so messed up, guys.”

*

Voices. Miranda heard them and pulled the pillow over her head. Sunshine still snuck in the tiny slits of her closed eyes. Her mind raced to orient her. She wasn’t at her cabin.

She remembered.

Paris.

Perry.

Rogue vampires.

Lying parents.

A sister.

A practice competition.

Ugh. She buried her head deeper into the pillow.

She heard the bedroom door swish open.

“Miranda?”

She expected to hear Kylie or Della urging her to wake up. The last person’s voice she expected to hear was …

She tossed the pillow off her head and sat up. Her gaze met his blue eyes, and emotion tightened her gut. She hadn’t been ready to speak to him on the phone last night, she certainly didn’t feel up to a face-to-face with him.