Midnight Hour (Shadow Falls: After Dark #4)(77)

“No,” Della said. “If you’d hit him in the gonads hard enough, and he didn’t have balls of steel, he’d’ve gone down. And a real attacker

is gonna be pissed so you don’t want to be close to them right then. So for God’s sake don’t hang around to apologize for doing it or offer

them a hug to make ’em feel better.”

Miranda glared at Della. “I’m not an idiot.”

“No, but you got that soft heart going against you. I’ve seen you try to doctor a grasshopper you stepped on.”

“The grasshopper wasn’t attacking me. And Kylie’s heart is softer than mine and she manages just fine.”

Kylie, now sitting in the grass, checking her phone, looked up with empathy. “My heart’s toughened up some.”

Della nodded as if her point was proven. “When you go for the eyes, don’t go halfway. I showed you how to do it with your thumbs, but if that

’s not possible use whatever you can. Use your nails. Gouge their eyeballs out.”

“But that would blind them, wouldn’t it?” Miranda asked.

“Oh, I forgot. That wouldn’t be nice, would it?” Della said in mock empathy. “Look! I’m not teaching you how to defend yourself on a

kindergarten playground. This is the real McCoy. Someone is trying to kill you, and if you’re not willing to kill them first, then just stay a

coward.”

Della could be so mean! “So you never just try to wound someone instead of killing them?”

Della frowned tighter. “My point is that I don’t think about it. If I spent one second trying to figure out how to hurt them less, it’s one

second of advantage they have to kill me. You understand that, right?”

Miranda nodded. But understanding and liking something were two different things. Not that she was throwing in the towel, but it was something

else for her to chew on. Could she really kill someone?

“Now if someone grabs you from behind—”

Della had her arms around her when Miranda’s phone rang. Miranda jerked free and yanked her cell out of her back pocket. She’d tried to call

her mother again, and got nothing back. Not a peep out of Tabitha, either. Or Perry. It had to be one of them.

Glancing at the cell, she felt her heart sink. Holiday. Probably checking in about ghosts.

“Where are you?” Holiday asked as soon as Miranda hit accept.

“By the lake with Della and Kylie.”

“Can you come back to your cabin? I’m here now.”

“What’s wrong? Do you have bad news?”

Della and Kylie moved closer, no doubt to listen to Holiday’s answer with their vampire hearing. When Holiday didn’t assure Miranda that

everything was right with the world, she knew it wasn’t.

She tightened her grip on her phone. “What’s wrong?”

*

Perry spotted Miranda with Della and Kylie by the lake, but before he went to see her, he needed to check in with Burnett.

He’d landed in the thick of the forest, close to the front. He morphed and called Burnett. He’d already texted him earlier and told him that

two men were trying to take out Lily Chambers, but now he had to see the man face-to-face.

“Where the hell are you?” Burnett answered.

“Let me talk.” Perry started the spiel he’d practiced. “I have news. We need to meet. But I’ll only do so if you give me your word you won

’t try to stop me or put another shadow on me.”

He could actually hear the growl of frustration from the vampire’s chest. The man literally rattled when upset. “You were almost killed!”

“But I wasn’t. Do I have your word or not?”

The silence that followed didn’t mean the answer was no, just that Burnett took the question seriously. He never gave his word on a whim

because he never went back on it. “Fine. How long before you get here?”

“I’m walking in now.”

“I still may kick your ass!” Burnett muttered right before he hung up.

“No you won’t.” Perry slipped his phone away. “At least I hope not.” He’d never pushed Burnett this far.

He hurried around to the gate. Glancing down at his shirt, he considered changing. Surely some of his things were still in his old cabin. But

the office door swung open. Burnett, looking completely pissed at forty feet away, stepped out on the porch.

It was show time.

Perry hadn’t gotten to the porch when Burnett’s eyes brightened, probably due to his …

“How bad is it?” He motioned to Perry’s shirt. “I’ll call Dr. Whitman.” He turned as if to make the call.

“No, I’m okay.” Perry followed him inside, all the way into Holiday’s study. He tugged on the shirt. “Most of this isn’t mine.” His gut

tightened with thoughts of lions and senseless death. “And what is mine, I put there on purpose.”

“Why would you…?”

“The agent you sent swooped me out of the bar last night. I had to make it look like she tried to suck me dry.” He pulled back his shirt

collar and showed off the two puncture wounds he’d made with thorns.