Eternal (Shadow Falls: After Dark #2)(65)

Della saw his left eyebrow wiggle. Just like Chase’s wiggled when he lied.

Burnett stopped at the door. “You’re going to regret this.”

He’s lying. The ghost spoke again.

Burnett turned the doorknob. “No!” Unable to stop herself, she took two steps to the wall and raised her fist.

“Don’t!” Chase shot forward as if to stop her.

Too late, she pounded on the glass.

Both Burnett and the rogue vamp’s gaze whipped toward the wall. The kid looked kind of shocked, but Burnett looked pissed, and not just kind of, but full-blown, over-the-top pissed.

He shot out of the door. No doubt coming to have a powwow with the person who’d dared to knock. But that was okay. She needed to see him, too. She started toward the door when it flung open and banged against the wall so hard that tiny white pieces of Sheetrock fell like snow from the ceiling.

“What the hell are you doing?” Burnett roared. “You never interrupt an interrogation.”

Chapter Twenty-seven

Chase moved closer to her, almost as if fearing Burnett would strike her. Della knew better. Not that she didn’t fear Burnett. She feared disappointing him, feared he would see her weaknesses. But she never feared he would physically hurt her.

“I’m sorry, but he knows something,” Della snapped.

Burnett’s scowl deepened. “I know he knows something!” He tossed up his hands in frustration. “And he was about to tell me what he knows!”

“No he wasn’t. He was going to vague up the truth because he’s afraid.”

“No, he’s going to tell me the truth because he’s afraid!” Burnett demanded.

She shook her head. “You need to ask about the werewolf.”

“What werewolf?”

“I … don’t know. But if you ask … Wait, just let me ask him, I’ll act like I know more and I’ll get the truth out of him.”

“What?” Burnett seethed, and when she didn’t answer instantly, he shifted his glare to Chase. “What the hell is she talking about?”

Chase appeared confused, but then his light green eyes met hers and he almost smiled. “I’m clueless, but I’d bet my right arm that she’s onto something. If you’re smart, you’ll trust her.”

Burnett looked back at Della. “I do trust her. But I still need an explanation.”

Della gave one. One word. “Ghost.”

*   *   *

Della stood outside the door gathering her courage and pulling the elastic band of her big-girl panties up. She’d asked for this, now she had to come through.

Even with the core temperature of a vampire, she felt little pin-sized drops of sweat appear on her brow. Nerves. Nothing but nerves.

What if she was wrong? What if she’d only imagined the smell of were? What if the kid didn’t know crap? What if she failed? Both Burnett and Chase were watching back in the room with the glass wall.

Lordy! What had inspired her to do this?

Find Natasha.

Oh, yeah, that was what. The voice. The ghost.

Stiffening her spine, remembering Natasha and Liam’s lives were on the line, then cramming any sign of insecurity deep inside, she opened the door.

Remembering how Burnett’s presence had filled the room, she stepped inside. She didn’t immediately look at the vamp.

“They sent you in?” he asked in a condescending voice.

She crossed her arms and finally looked at him. “It’s because of what I know.”

“What do you know?” he asked, his brown eyes not showing the same fear as they did with Burnett.

She swallowed a lump of doubt. She considered picking him up and slamming him against a wall. But she suspected Burnett wouldn’t respect that.

“Cat got your tongue?” he asked, almost smiling.

Failure loomed right ahead, but she wasn’t going down without a fight.

She pulled out the chair across from him, letting it screech across the tile floor, and dropped down into the seat. “I know that you were about to vague up the truth when answering the agent.”

“You know that, huh?” He smirked.

She wanted to smack him. “Yeah, you weren’t planning on telling him about the weres.”

The look in his brown eyes told Della she was going to be able to walk out of here with her head held high.

“You don’t understand…” He paused, then added, “Shit!”

“Give me the names now and you’ll be placed in the best facility.”

He actually seemed to cringe. “I think I’d rather take my chances at the bad prison.”

“Really?” She leaned in, purposely getting into his space, hoping to push him to talk. “’Cause I’m imagining about half the convicts in Parkrow are werewolves. And from gangs,” she added, hoping like hell the weres he feared were wrapped up in a gang. “And you know we’re going to find answers and they’ll assume you were the snitch.”

He jumped up, grabbed the chair with his chained hands, and tossed it against the wall. It clattered against the floor a few inches from where she stood. It wasn’t so much an attack on her, as an expression of fury.

Della held out one hand to the wall where she knew Burnett and Chase watched, hoping they’d realize she was asking them not to come in. Getting the rogue angry was part of her plan.