Eternal (Shadow Falls: After Dark #2)(14)

“Where?”

“I don’t know, but—”

“No. If you knew where he was, it would be one thing, but—”

Her phone dinged. She looked at the number. Chase’s number.

“It’s him.” She read his message—to herself.

Worrying means u care.

She clenched her teeth.

“And?” Burnett asked.

She ignored Burnett and typed: R u ok?

His reply came back quickly. Fine. Working our case. Later.

Della looked up, drawing in air. “All he says is he’s okay and is working the case.”

She half expected Burnett to ask to see the texts. He didn’t, and that showed a lot of trust on his part. She appreciated that more than he knew.

“Text him back and tell him I said for him to contact the council. We need him to stay in their good graces right now.”

She did as Burnett said. They sat in the silent office for several minutes, waiting for his reply. Her phone didn’t ding.

Finally, Della set her phone down. “What could Chase know, or the Vampire Council know, that we don’t? How can he be working on the case?”

Burnett’s expression hardened. “I don’t know. My people are still going through the files that we got. I know that one of Craig Anthony’s homes was torn apart before we got there. Maybe someone with the council found something. But I don’t think so. We found most of our evidence in the files at the funeral home and on his phone and computer.”

“I hate this,” Della said, and this time it wasn’t about her feelings for the crazy vamp, but for Natasha and Liam.

“I know, but right now there’s nothing we can do.”

All of a sudden, Burnett’s cell rang. He looked at the phone. “I need to take this.”

Della figured he meant he wanted her to leave, and she stood up.

As she took one step to the door, she heard the voice on the line. “It’s Leo. I got the approval, but we’re going in dark. We never got ahold of the owner. That said, we’re good to move tonight. Three a.m.”

What was going down? Did it involve Chase? The case? Okay, she didn’t want to be rude, but curiosity bit. Bit hard. She took another step toward the door, but she didn’t open it.

“Okay, I’ll be there,” Burnett’s voice came.

Just as she reached for the knob, Burnett said, “Della?”

Crap. Was he upset that she’d been eavesdropping? She turned around, feeling guilty. It had been rude.

“I’m sorry, I should have left, but I thought maybe it was—”

“Sit down.” He shut off the phone. His gaze met her eyes, and she saw it. That phone call involved her.

She didn’t do as ordered.

“What is it?” She sensed his hesitancy and that could mean only one thing. It was bad.

“Sit back down,” he repeated. “We need to talk.”

*   *   *

The clock on Della’s bedside table listed the time as 2:55 a.m. She had five minutes. She looked down at her clothes. She was ready.

Black.

Black boots.

Black jeans and a black fitted T-shirt.

All black, so she’d blend into the night.

It had been the first rule of thumb that her cousin, Chan, had taught her about being a vampire. How appropriate that the color was right for this event. Black for grief. Black for pain. Black for putting Chan’s body into the ground and saying good-bye.

The call Burnett had gotten today while she’d been in his office had been about Chan. They had finally finished the autopsy and were releasing his body. At least now he’d be laid to rest. When she thought of him, she wouldn’t think of his body in some cold morgue.

Burnett had tried to talk her out of going. They’d discovered the graveyard was owned and managed by werewolves, and they weren’t answering their calls. But Burnett had been relentless that they needed to get Chan in his proper grave. After failing to survive being Reborn, other rogues had buried him in an unmarked grave in the woods to prevent his secrets from being revealed.

Now that he’d been found, he deserved one person at the burial who loved him. Even if she had to defy Burnett’s orders, she’d be there to see them lower his casket.

For the second time.

Damn you, Chan! It should have been me. She swallowed the tightness down her throat, remembering his first funeral. The fake one. Not that she’d known it’d been fake. When he’d first been turned, he faked his death, like most vampires did to separate from their human lives. And Della had mourned him then as she did now. Only then, she hadn’t felt the guilt.

Survivor’s guilt, Holiday explained. Pointing out that Chase had chosen to save Della instead of Chan. Della didn’t care what name you stamped on the emotion. She still felt like shit.

Inhaling, she went and stood by the window. A few stars twinkled down. A cloud crawled across the sky, hiding all but a small sliver of the half moon. She watched as the gray foggy formation inched by, reminding her of ghosts.

Not that she’d had one visit since the falls, but they hadn’t been far from her mind.

Her phone dinged with an incoming message. She pulled it out of her pocket, hoping it was Chase telling her he’d gotten something on Natasha and Liam. She’d texted him again after leaving Burnett’s office, but he hadn’t returned her message. Was he not answering because he was upset about what she’d told him earlier?