Reborn (Shadow Falls: After Dark #1)(26)

Completely unexpectedly, her sinuses started stinging and tears threatened to appear. She glanced away, blinking the watery weakness from her eyes. Okay, that confirmed it. She had to be sick; why else would she be so weepy?

Since her hour was paid for in blood, and yet no one actually expected her to spend it with them, Della started back to her cabin. She’d read the obituary and maybe take a short nap before classes started.

The idea to skip classes and call it a sick day tempted her, especially with her slight headache still hanging in there. But not wanting to appear weak in any way to Burnett, she mentally yanked up her big-girl panties and told herself she could make it.

She got halfway to her cabin when something caused her to stop. Water. Like a shower running. No, not a shower, a waterfall. Was it the falls, the spooky and eerie place for which the school was named? The place rumored to be the hangout of the death angels, aka the supernatural spirits who stood in judgment of the supernatural.

She tilted her head and listened. It couldn’t be the falls. Even with her super hearing she couldn’t hear that from here.

Compelled to go check it out, she started toward the woods, following the tinkling sound, which for some reason sounded peaceful. Several footfalls later, she left the bright sunshine and entered the woodsy dusk. The smell of rich dirt filled the thick air. A few shadows from the sun above danced on the forest floor. It wasn’t actually cold, but under the umbrella of trees the chill of fall hung in the air. Looking up, she noted the fall colors: reds, oranges, and shades of murky browns painted on the leaves. The colors of death, she reminded herself.

She kept walking. Kept listening to the sound, feeling almost called, or lured, by the soft splashing noise. After several minutes, she realized it must be the falls she was hearing, because she was indeed heading toward it.

She’d only been there once. Kylie had begged her and Miranda to go with her. They’d refused to go, then felt bad and gone after her.

Della suddenly stopped walking. What the hell was she doing? Why was she going to the falls? The place scared the bejeebies out of her.

Or it had.

Now … she didn’t feel as afraid as she did … curious. She stood there digging the toe of her tennis shoe into the dirt and trying to figure out what compelled her to continue forward. Oh, hell, death angels hung out at the falls. It was said they danced on the walls behind the falls. And death angels stood in stern judgment of all supernaturals.

Della didn’t think she’d committed any crimes serious enough for them to burn her alive—and according to Miranda that could really happen—but no way was her soul lily white. Hell, just this morning she’d brought Jenny to tears by saying the wrong thing. And her failure seemed even worse when Jenny’d spoken up and offered her blood for her.

Chills ran down her back. She really should just turn around and go back to her cabin. But then the sound grew louder. Like music being played off in the distance. Maybe she could just get a little closer to it, not actually go all the way there.

She continued moving, more frightened by her lack of fear than fear itself.

Something didn’t feel right.

Suddenly anxious to get it over with, she started running—moving fast, so fast the trees became only a blur to her left and right. So fast her breathing seemed a bit labored and her hair flipping to and fro actually stung when it swiped across her face. But she continued. She kept waiting for that cumbersome feeling, that sense that she shouldn’t draw any closer.

It didn’t come.

She didn’t even think about the direction to take, she simply followed the sound. The soft bubbly sound became hypnotic. She came to an abrupt stop at the water’s edge. A thin sheet of water fell from about sixty feet above off the edge of the embankment, tossing tiny pin drops of water onto the variety of plant life and rocks.

Oddly, while a lot of the forest had changed with the season, here the color green thrived. It even smelled green. Fresh, clean. A little bit like spring. It smelled like life, new life.

The sun sprayed golden light through the trees, making all the tiny water droplets twinkle like Christmas lights. The view was like something out of a fairytale. A magical wonderland that didn’t exist.

Della clearly remembered standing in almost the exact same spot months back and feeling nothing but terror. Where was her terror now?

Was this how Kylie saw this place? But wow, why did it feel so different now? What did this mean? Or did it mean anything at all?

She longed to move into the water, to step behind the sheet of water, to take it all in, but something held her back. Something inside her said, Not yet and maybe never.

Where the heck had that come from? she wondered, and then felt a bit insulted.

“Why not now? Why not ever?” The questions slipped from her lips, and as crazy as it sounded, she felt as if someone listened. But who? When no answer floated back, she tossed out another question. “Who are you?”

Still no answer. She felt it then, a feeling that she shouldn’t be here. That she wasn’t welcome. She took one step back, her whole being instantly filled with the terror that she’d felt the last time. The beauty of the place was suddenly lost to her, and only the creepiness remained. Poised to turn around and flee, she heard it. A subtle snap of a twig. Someone … or something … was behind her.

Pain exploded in the back of her head as if she’d been struck by … by …