Eternal (Shadow Falls: After Dark #2)(7)

Something she was working on denying.

He exhaled. “That’s bullshit.”

Suddenly feeling the urgency to deal with other issues—that didn’t have to do with him—she glanced up at another rainbow of color dancing on the walls. “I gotta go.” Turning on the heels of her boots, she stepped out of the cavern. The cold of the waterfall almost felt surreal. It washed down her head, seeping beneath her shirt. Immediately, she felt a sense of loss at leaving. I’ll be back.

“Go to do what?” Chase was right behind her, but she kept walking. She refused to look back, and refused to acknowledge that the sense of loss had anything to do with him and not everything to do with the falls. Please let it be just the falls.

“What is it that you have to do?” He repeated the question when she didn’t answer.

“Talk to Burnett,” she answered, thinking about him denying her the case—without even talking to her about it—and then she recalled the whole ghost issue and the crazy vision. “And Kylie and Holiday,” she said aloud as she formed her own plan. If anyone could explain what had happened there, it would be them.

“Talk about what?” His question came at her ear. His closeness felt both wrong and right at the same time.

“About me working with the Vampire Council.” Her mind raced back to Holiday and Kylie. “About finding Natasha and Liam,” she muttered aloud, but more to herself than to him.

Remembering how desperate she felt when she’d been in that vision, she started running. The sun had crawled higher in the east. Yet the sky still grasped the golden hue of pre-morning. The warmth of the light felt good on her damp skin and she couldn’t help but recall the darkness smothering Natasha and Liam.

As her footfalls sounded on the ground, she realized Chase no longer followed. She was halfway to the office when she suddenly became aware that Chase hadn’t asked her who Natasha and Liam were. A crazy thought hit. Had he somehow had the same vision?

She was tempted to turn around, find him, and ask. But, no, that was crazy. First, because getting any answers from him was like pulling teeth out of an angry lion, and second, because … surely a dual vision like that couldn’t happen. But she recalled how upset he’d been when she’d first awoken from that dark, damp place. Was his reaction from his distress for her, or had he shared the same experience that she had?

Slowing down to a jog, she snatched out her phone and dialed Kylie’s number. The chameleon answered sounding a little sleepy, but concerned.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing … really. I’m fine. I just have questions. Meet me at Holiday’s office, please.” She hung up, confident Kylie would be there. Kylie would never let her down.

As she continued to the office, another thought hit. She’d come to the falls to get answers, but left with more questions. How was that fair? Why did the death angels answer Kylie’s questions and not hers?

*   *   *

“That couldn’t happen, could it?” Della sat on Holiday’s office sofa, telling them about the voice, about the vision, and asking if they thought Chase could have actually been in the vision with her.

The fae camp leader sat at her desk, looking perplexed. Kylie, appearing almost as befuddled, sat beside Della.

“Wow,” Holiday said. “You’ve had a heck of a day, and it’s not even seven o’clock.”

“Tell me about it,” Della said, plopping back on the sofa, her heart heavy. “So what am I dealing with here?” Her thoughts shot back to Natasha and Liam. If Holiday or Kylie couldn’t help, how in the hell was Della going to save them? She didn’t have a clue how to understand any of this.

“Do you know a Natasha or Liam?” Holiday asked.

“No,” Della said. “But … I think it might have something to do with the Craig Anthony case. Chase told me that there are still a lot of fresh turns that haven’t been accounted for. What if Anthony is the one who imprisoned them?”

Holiday nodded. “That could be it, but … normally there’s more of a connection.”

“Maybe this one isn’t normal.” She tightened her hands.

“First, don’t be frightened,” Holiday said.

“I’m not,” Della insisted, and then realized Holiday was reading her emotions. But the fae had it wrong. “I mean, yeah, I didn’t like it, and when I first heard the ghost, I freaked out a little.” Her heart rushed to the sound of a lie. “Okay, a lot, but I’ve sort of moved past that. What’s scaring the shit out of me right now is that I won’t get Natasha and Liam out in time. They can’t live like that for long.”

Della saw the way Kylie and Holiday looked at each other, as if they knew something she didn’t.

“What?” Della asked.

Holiday stood up and sat next to Della on the other side of the sofa. The look on her face expressed pure empathy. The fact that she’d moved closer told Della that whatever she was about to tell her wasn’t good. In fact, it was so bad that she knew Della needed some of her calm-inducing touch to hear the news.

When Holiday’s hand came closer, Della shot up off the sofa. “No, don’t touch me. Just tell me. What is it you think I don’t want to hear?”

Chapter Five