Reborn (Shadow Falls: After Dark #1)(25)

“It’s a little underhanded, if you ask me,” Perry said.

“What do you expect?” Lucas added. “He’s vampire.”

Kylie elbowed Lucas in his ribs. He grumbled and met Della’s gaze. “Sorry.”

Normally, Della would have had a smartass comment, but she didn’t say a word. She was … stunned. Sure, she recalled at one time there had been tension between Steve and Chris, and rumor had it that they both had a thing for her, but … Well, she didn’t completely buy it.

“I’ll donate two pints to spend an hour with her,” a voice in the crowd spoke up.

Della’s gaze shot to the owner of the voice. Chase.

Della’s breath caught and she tightened her hands at her sides.

Chris swerved around, finding Chase, and the blond vamp’s expression hardened. His light blue eyes shined iridescent. “Maybe where you come from vamps drink each other’s blood, but not here.”

Della’s mouth dropped open a bit more. This was not going to end well.

“I’m not offering my blood,” he said. “I’m offering some from my personal stash. When I came here, I’d been on my own. I don’t travel without rations. So I’ve got some extra.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Chris spouted. “That’s not how this works. This isn’t an auction.”

“I thought it was a blood drive. The more blood the better. Maybe you don’t really need the blood.”

Chris’s eyes grew brighter. “Fine.”

“Damn, Steve’s gonna have to kill two people,” Perry sputtered.

“You okay?” Kylie muttered close to Della’s ear.

“Hell, no,” she said. “This is ridiculous.”

“I’ll offer three,” Kylie instantly spoke up.

Everyone turned and stared at Kylie. Including Della. Leave it to Kylie to come to her rescue.

“I’ll up you one more,” Chase said.

“Five,” Kylie said, not backing down, and giving Chase a dirty look.

Chris grinned and shot Chase a smirk. But then Peter, Chris’s assistant in the campmate hour, spoke up. “You can’t donate five pints. It isn’t allowed.”

“I’m not going to donate all five,” Kylie answered, and seemed to hesitate in thought. “I’ll donate one, Miranda will donate one, and Lucas and … Perry and…”

“That’s only four,” said Chase.

Della saw Kylie look around as if searching for another person. One more person who would stand up for Della. “And Derek … he’ll donate one,” Kylie said with confidence.

Derek’s eyes widened. Della waited for him to tell Kylie he wasn’t in. He’d been pissed at her for upsetting Jenny, but a few pregnant seconds passed and he didn’t pull out. As a matter of fact, his gaze briefly found hers and he nodded. “Count me in.”

“And I’ll donate a pint, too,” a low feminine voice said behind them. Della swung around and her gaze met Jenny’s.

The chameleon looked nervous with all eyes on her, but she didn’t back down. And hadn’t Della just hurt the girl’s feelings? Not intentionally, but … Jenny didn’t know that for sure.

“My blood is just as good as anyone else’s here,” she said, her shoulders tightening, showing she had spunk.

Chris glanced back at Chase. “Are you out of the bidding?” Everyone’s gaze went to him to see if the new vamp would up his bid. The unasked question hung in the air: Just how much extra blood does this newbie have?

“I guess I lose. Or not. Looks like we’ll have plenty of food for a while.” He glanced at Chris and smiled as if that had been his plan all along. “By the way, that’s how a blood drive should be run.” Tucking his hands into his jeans pockets, he strolled away. Not as if he’d been beaten, but with confidence that bordered on cockiness.

Della watched him, still confused. Was that what he’d been doing? Just trying to secure food? Or…?

“Okay, let’s move on.” Chris started matching names to spend the hour together.

Kylie moved closer to Della. “I don’t know if we’ve been played, or not.”

Della gritted her teeth. “Me, either. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s for a good cause. And … I didn’t want you to have to do something you didn’t want to do.”

“Thanks,” Della said, her head still spinning with what had happened. And not just Chase, but the blood donors who’d come to her rescue.

Jenny walked up. “Where do I need to go to donate?”

Kylie smiled at her. “I’ll show you this afternoon.”

Della met Jenny’s hazel eyes. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” the girl said.

Della instantly felt bad, undeserving. She glanced around at the people standing in her circle. The people who’d all been willing to offer blood just to save her from having to spend time with someone she didn’t want to be with.

Friends. All of them. She’d told herself she only had Kylie and Miranda, but she’d been fooling herself. Each one of these guys stood up for her, and by golly, if they needed her she’d do the same for them.