Reborn (Shadow Falls: After Dark #1)(22)

Della’s stomach clenched. “Why do you say that?”

“I’m not sure, I just … You’re looking for him and everyone says he’s dead, I thought maybe…”

“He can’t be dead. I need him to be alive.” And she didn’t realize how true it was until she’d said it. She needed someone, a family someone, in her life. Someone who wouldn’t look at her like a monster. She shook her head. “No, it’s not him.”

Kylie nodded, but didn’t look convinced. “I … I’m meeting Lucas for a picnic breakfast. So I’d better run. And Miranda had a Witch Council meeting this morning. I’m afraid you’re on your own for breakfast.”

“I don’t care,” Della said, feeling anxious about the whole ghost thing.

Kylie nodded and started to walk away.

“Hey,” Della called to her. “It’s not here now, is it? The ghost?”

“No.” Kylie looked concerned. “You sure you’re okay? Even Miranda is worried about you.”

“Of course I am.” Della didn’t need anyone feeling sorry for her, she just needed a ghost-free environment. And she needed her uncle to be alive. Hence her hesitation to read the obituary.

The images of death from last night flashed in her head again.

“Go.” She waved Kylie away. When the door closed, she looked around the silent cabin. She tucked the obituary in her pocket, deciding to face runny eggs and burnt bacon before she had to face the possibility that her uncle was really dead.

Della walked into the chatter of the crowded dining hall. She was all set to join a few other vampires who’d obviously bypassed this morning’s early breakfast when she spotted Jenny. The girl sat alone and looked lonely. Knowing it was the right thing to do, she grabbed a tray and then dropped down in the seat beside the little chameleon.

“Hey,” Della said, staring down at her eggs and the yellow goo they floated in. Ugg, she so wasn’t going to eat those. Then she saw that her bacon was indeed burnt.

“Hi,” Jenny said, sounding peppy, her hazel eyes lighting up with a smile.

Della had to tighten her face not to frown. It was just way too early to deal with peppy, but she owed Derek for his help.

“Have you seen Kylie this morning?” Jenny asked, almost as if she just needed something to say.

“Yeah,” Della answered. “She and Lucas were having a breakfast picnic.” Meaning they were off sucking face somewhere. And maybe getting naked. Though Della didn’t think Kylie would take her clothes off in the woods; she was much too proper and smart for that. Being naked in the woods led to chiggers and bug bites in places you really didn’t want them.

“That’s nice.” Jenny’s gaze shifted across the room. Della followed it and saw she’d glanced at the fae table. Particularly at the end of the table where Derek sat. The brown-haired fae was laughing at something one of the new fae chicks was saying. He wasn’t coming off as if he was actually flirting, but Della saw a touch of disappointment flash in Jenny’s eyes.

“So what’s up with you and Derek?” Della asked, stabbing her half-cooked eggs with her fork.

“Nothing’s up,” Jenny said.

“I thought you two were sort of an item. I mean, you slept with him when you first got here.”

Jenny’s face reddened. “No. We shared a bed, but we didn’t … do anything. We’re just friends.”

The chameleon’s heart did one light flutter with her last sentence, so it wasn’t a complete lie, but it wasn’t the complete truth, either. “Not that it’s any of my business, but I think he’d like to be more than friends.” Della saw that Jenny’s bacon was practically raw. Just the way Della liked it. Her stomach growled.

“Yeah. He kind of hinted at that,” Jenny said.

Della continued to eye Jenny’s bacon. “You gonna eat that?”

“No.” She wrinkled her nose. “It’s barely cooked.”

“I’ll trade you my burnt one for your raw one?”

Jenny pushed her tray over and Della snagged the uncooked meat and took a bite. After her first swallow, she asked, “So Fairy Boy doesn’t do it for you, huh? That surprises me. I mean, Kylie was all over him.”

Jenny’s peppy look vanished. “Yeah, I know.”

Della suddenly realized how what she’d said sounded. “I didn’t mean … all over him like … She was just into him for a while.”

Jenny picked up her fork and moved her eggs around her plate. “Yeah, I heard she was back and forth between Lucas and Derek.”

Della heard something in the girl’s tone. “You do know Kylie and Lucas are a real thing now, don’t you?”

She nodded, but didn’t look convinced.

“Is that what’s keeping you from going for Derek? You’re worried about him and Kylie?”

“No,” she said, but her heart raced to an all-out lie.

Della cut her a cold look. “Why do people try to lie to me?”

“Okay, maybe I’m worried a little. I like Kylie a lot and I don’t want anything between me and Derek to cause issues.”

“You need to talk to Kylie,” Della said, and munched on another bite of bacon. “I know she’d tell you to go for it. Derek’s a decent guy. If you like his type.”