Eternal (Shadow Falls: After Dark #2)(87)

Della told them what Burnett had found, and then how she’d gone to see her aunt Miao. Her voice shook a little when she told them how hard it was to see her—someone she’d been cut off from because her parents thought she was doing terrible things. It shook a little harder when she told them what Burnett had found and now believed.

Kylie just sat there and didn’t say anything, but Della could tell she agreed with Burnett.

So then she told them about knowing for certain the ghost was her aunt Bao Yu, and about Natasha being her cousin.

“The crazy thing is,” Della said, “when I asked my aunt about Bao Yu’s death, it was almost as if Bao Yu was waiting to hear. As if she didn’t know what happened.”

“That’s not that unusual,” Kylie said. “Especially if it was a violent death. They block it out to protect themselves.”

“So the vision she gave me could mean nothing?” Della asked.

Kylie hesitated. “It has to mean something. Maybe it’s what she thinks happened.”

“Does this ever get any easier?” Della muttered.

“Not even a little bit,” Kylie answered. “Every ghost brings a new challenge.”

Miranda squirmed in her chair. “Not to change the subject. Well, that’s a lie, I really don’t like talking about ghosts. But you told us about the bond thing, but … did anything happen with Chase tonight? Did any hands or noses go places they shouldn’t?”

Della exhaled, and growled. She hadn’t really planned on dishing about that, but why the hell not? “He kissed me. Three or four, maybe five, times.”

“So bond or not bond … is he still a toad?” Miranda asked.

“He’s losing his warts,” Della admitted.

Miranda looked down at her hands and then back up. “I called Shawn this afternoon.”

“You did?” Kylie asked and looked shocked, if not even a little disappointed.

“All we did was talk. I told him you’d mentioned he’d been stabbed, and we just talked.” She looked at Kylie and got tears in her eyes. “I feel like I cheated on Perry.”

“You didn’t cheat,” Della snapped. “He broke up with you. Has he even called you yet?”

“No,” Miranda said. “But why do I feel guilty?”

“Because you’re a nice person.” Della shook her head. “No, I take that back. It can’t be that. Because I felt guilty, and I’m not a nice person.”

“Yes, you are,” Miranda said and wiped a tear that rolled down her cheek. “You’re just grumpy sometimes. And blunt.” She sniffled. “And you stomp people’s breakup ice cream into the floor.”

Kylie giggled.

Della just smirked at Miranda. “And I’ll do it again if you get all mopey and start gorging on ice cream when your nose is running.”

“My nose was not running,” Miranda said.

“Yeah, it was,” Kylie said. “But we love you anyway.”

Socks, apparently jealous that she wasn’t in the conversation, jumped up on the table. Della ran her hand down the cat and listened to her purr. The cat turned around and started butting noses with Della, giving her kitty kisses.

“I wouldn’t let her kiss you,” Miranda said.

“You’re just jealous that she’s loving on me,” Della said and pouted her lips at the kitty.

“Nope, that’s not it. It’s because I watched her eat a mouse today.”

“Eww.” Della set the cat on the floor and they all started laughing.

She went to bed feeling better, even if she had been kissed by a mouse-eating cat. At least, she felt better until her phone dinged with a text at three in the morning. She rolled over, ready to find out who she was going to kill for robbing her of her first good night’s sleep in weeks.

Her thoughts went to Steve. She reached for her phone, and when she did, she saw Smurfette on the nightstand staring at her. And bam, just like that, she missed Chase, and all those little details about his family that she’d learned last night played across her mind. Confused at thinking of Chase and Steve in the same heartbeat, she grabbed her cell.

The number was anonymous, but the message gave the caller’s identity away. She wasn’t going to kill anyone.

The caller was already dead.

The message, written in all caps and in red, simply read: FIND NATASHA!!!

“I’m trying,” Della said, and sat up the rest of the night in a very cold bedroom, trying to figure out what she needed to do next.

At 5 a.m., her phone dinged again. This one wasn’t from the ghost.

The message was simple. I miss you. Steve.

Chapter Thirty-six

“Della?” Mr. Yates, her science teacher, motioned Della to come up to his desk the next morning.

Oh double damn! Was he going to call her on spacing out and not paying attention? Probably. But Della could hardly think about school. Her thoughts went from picking up the rogue were, to Damian Bond, to missing Chase, after only being away from him for a few hours, and realizing there was a part of her that still missed Steve.

Then there was the issue of meeting the Vampire Council. Would she learn anything? Was she completely wrong that her uncle was behind Chase being sent to check on her and Chan?

And if so, did that completely exonerate Chase from her lack of trust? And if so, would that change things between them?