Unspoken (Shadow Falls: After Dark #3)(21)

“We gotta go!” he said and smiled. She didn’t take flight. He heard the footsteps fast approaching and rushed forward, caught her by the waist, pulled her against him—where she felt so damn right—and took off into the dark sky. They were barely above the trees when he heard cops yelling at the weres.

She fought him for a fraction of a second.

Looking down, she must have spotted the police. She remained silent, her body so close to his, and his heart thumping at the closeness as he flew them farther away. God help him, but he could swear her heart was racing faster than his.

Was it because of him, or was she still reacting to the threat of the fight?

“Land,” she finally seethed.

“Just a little farther.” He savored the closeness and he pressed his face into the curve of her neck. The sweet scent of her skin and her shampoo filled his nose.

Knowing she wouldn’t tolerate it much longer, he landed in an alley, a block from her house.

She ran from his arms as soon as their feet hit the ground. Swinging around, she stared at him with bright eyes. “Where’s Feng?”

He inhaled and tried to convince himself that some of her anger was residual, left over from the fight. “I don’t know.”

“Because you told him not to tell you?”

He almost denied it, but he was tired of lying to her. “Yes. Feng didn’t kill her, Della. I’m going to find the person who did. And I’m going to get your dad off.”

Della just stared, hurt reflecting in her eyes. “Why doesn’t my uncle come in and talk if he’s innocent?” Unable to stop himself, he reached up to push back a strand of her dark hair. She stopped him with a raised hand, but he noticed the bruises on both her knuckles and her face.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” The desire to race back and hurt the bastards who’d hurt her burned in his gut.

“I asked you a question!” She inched closer, her eyes a bright green.

He had to think a second to remember what she’d asked. “If Eddie came in, the FRU would just pin the murder on him. They wouldn’t even look for this other guy.”

“You don’t know that,” she accused. “And his name isn’t Eddie!”

“Yes, I do know that, and so do you. And since he pulled me out of that plane crash and saved my life I’ve known him as Eddie.” Right then, he felt it, that odd kind of cold he got when Della’s dead aunt had been hanging around. He tucked his fists into his jean pockets.

Della stared down the dark alley, her fist clutching and then releasing. Was that still the panic, or was her aunt back to cause trouble? Then she swung around to face him. “We need to go back.”

“Back…?” It was almost too cold to think.

“To the park. One or more of those weres might be a murderer.”

“Yeah, but the cops are there.”

“Doesn’t matter.” She started forward as if to take off in flight.

He caught her. “It matters. If we just show up they’ll suspect that we were part of it. I don’t think Burnett would appreciate having to bail us out of jail.”

“They could be the ones who killed some people I cared about.” Her voice shook and her breath caused a puff of steam to lift from her lips. She looked again down the alley.

“Is that who’s here?” he asked.

Della’s head snapped back. “Can you see her?”

“No.” At least he hoped not. He wasn’t going to chance it and look down that alley. “I feel the cold.”

“She was my neighbor.” Her voice was edged with pain and grief.

He realized Della hadn’t pulled away. He’d give his right arm if she would just lean on him a little. Della wasn’t the type to lean on people very often, but when she did need it, he wanted to be the person she’d turn to.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“You’re not the only one who’s sorry. Which is why I have to go back.”

He tightened his hold. “Going back there is a bad idea.” But she had a point. The FRU needed to interrogate the weres before the regular cops released them.

“I’ll call Burnett.” No doubt Burnett would be furious that Chase was with Della. Probably earn Chase a good chewing out, but it didn’t even matter.

Della’s phone dinged with a text. As if she suddenly realized he was touching her, she glared at his hand on her arm and pulled away, then snatched her phone from her pocket. After reading the message, she looked up, puzzled.

“What?” he asked.

“It’s Burnett. He wants to know if we’re okay.”

Chase frowned. “He knows?”

“It seems that way.” She started texting back.

Before she finished, Chase got the vamp’s scent. So did Della, because her fingers stopped moving. Chase’s gut knotted, preparing to get hell.

Burnett hadn’t gotten secure on his feet when Della said, “Don’t start giving me crap. All I did was take the long way home. And if I hadn’t, some poor girl would—”

“I’m not giving you crap,” Burnett said.

Is that because he’s saving it all to give to me? Chase stood quiet, dreading what might be forthcoming.

“You okay?” Burnett asked Della.