Reborn (Shadow Falls: After Dark #1)(117)

“Hey … all you did was kiss.” Kylie tried to assure her, but even the chameleon was smiling on the inside, Della could see it in her eyes.

“I don’t know,” Miranda said. “His hand was in her shirt and we couldn’t tell where her hands were.”

Della shot the witch a cold glare. “Drop it before I drop you!”

“Right, let’s change the subject,” Kylie said. “We’re happy. Holiday and Hannah are going to be fine. Thanks to you, by the way. You and Steve have made up.”

“Thanks to me,” Miranda said. “I told you to kiss Chase. And that’s what fixed this.”

“Kissing Chase was a mistake.” Della’s mind went to him knowing Chan again, and she needed to call Kevin to see what else he knew about the panty perv, but she didn’t want to think about him right now. Kylie was right. Things were too good to worry. And if that meant ignoring that she now had a little headache, so be it.

“All in all,” Kylie said, and popped the top on her soda, “it’s been a hell of a good day.”

And I saved Billy, Della thought, and opened her own drink.

When Della looked up, Miranda stared, eyes tight, frown tighter. “What?”

The witch set her soda down. “You’re happy, but…”

“But what?” Della asked.

“Your aura is still dark. Even darker than before.”

“Well, then your aura detector is broke,” Della said.

Miranda shook her head. “Tomorrow, you’re going bird watching. I don’t care if I have to drag the birds to you.”

By eight that night, Della sat alone at the kitchen table—feeling lonely. And feeling like shit. Her headache had increased.. The throb came not only at her temples, but at the base of her neck. Maybe she should have let Steve drive her back to Dr. Whitman’s office after all. Or perhaps she should have asked Kylie to do her magic before leaving.

Yup, Della’s two best friends had abandoned her over an hour ago to be with their boyfriends. She couldn’t be pissed. If Steve was here, she’d be with him.

Staring down at her phone, she willed it to ring. She’d called Kevin back twice, hoping they could finish their conversation about Chase, but his phone went to voicemail and he hadn’t returned her calls. The question weighing on her mind grew heavier. Why hadn’t Chase told her he knew Chan? What could that mean?

The cabin walls seemed to moan. Was it her imagination, or had the room’s temperature dropped a few degrees? She folded her arms around herself and looked around. Was Chan here? She shouldn’t be afraid of him if he was. But the tickle of unease in the pit of her stomach didn’t go away. What did her cousin want with her? Was it about Chase?

She recalled Chase telling her he’d been looking for someone. Had he been lying?

All at once, the skin at the base of her neck prickled. She turned her head, half expecting to see someone standing there, staring at her.

The room was empty. Or at least empty of anyone she could see.

“Is it you, Chan?” she whispered.

Only silence answered her. Picking up her phone, she considered calling Steve, but she’d called earlier and he said he had patients and he’d call her as soon as he had a few minutes. Thoughts of Jessie being with him did a lap around her already antsy mood. Trusting Steve was one thing, trusting Jessie was another. Her head throbbed harder.

When another chill ran down her spine, she stood up and decided to go take a warm shower. She moved to the bathroom, started the water, and stripped off her clothes. The sound of the shower seemed to echo, and for some reason she remembered the falls. She looked at the shower curtain. Steam billowed out. She set a towel on the counter. Rubbing her temple, she glanced up in the mirror and saw her naked reflection. Then she saw him.

“Shit! Get out of here, Chan!” Being scared of her dead cousin she maybe could have handled; being scared and naked was too much. She grabbed the towel and swung around to face him. She expected him to be gone, but he wasn’t. He stood there in puff of steam.

“Look behind you,” he said.

“Get out of here,” she repeated, still adjusting her towel and fighting the pain.

“Look behind you,” he said again, and now he was the one who looked afraid.

She glanced over her shoulder, breath held, not knowing what she would see. Nothing stood behind her, just her reflection, and the reflection of her dead cousin, staring at her with sad eyes.

She turned and faced him again, and slight movement sent her world spinning. She waited for it to stop. “Look at what?” she managed to ask, gripping the counter for fear she’d fall.

He raised his arm and pointed behind her. She glanced back again and again saw nothing. But then, in the midst of the fog, Chan’s image faded.

She slowly turned her head to the front again. He was gone.

Look behind you. His words echoed in her head. Do it!

Shaking on the inside, she didn’t know which was worse. Seeing him, or hearing him in her head.

Still, she did as he requested and looked over her shoulder again. “What am I supposed to see?” she asked, her words seeming to be sucked up by the steam. The pain in her head seemed to spread to her shoulders.

“What am I supposed to see?” she said again, her patience thin.

Only a deadly silence answered. She couldn’t hear the water running anymore. She couldn’t hear herself breathe.