Reborn (Shadow Falls: After Dark #1)(68)

Della found her chest filling up with warmth. Kylie reached over and held Miranda’s hand.

“And you did a great job,” Kylie said. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Me, too,” Della added.

“Group hug,” Miranda said, holding out her arms.

“No damn hugs!” Burnett snapped. “You can undo it, right?” he asked.

“I’m pretty sure I can.”

“Oh, hell!” He raked a hand over his face. “Try to do it. Try really hard. I don’t think our jail is set up to house kangaroos.”

Ten minutes later, the six agents—seven counting Burnett—had the five vampires handcuffed and at the door, waiting for the bus to transport them to the FRU jail. They’d get their day in court, but the evidence they’d found in Mr. Anthony’s phone pretty much condemned them.

Miranda had managed to change them back, no issues. And Della, Miranda, and Kylie stayed on the sofa that Burnett had assigned them to, watching it all go down.

The warlock kept eyeing Miranda. Della wasn’t sure if he was impressed or scared of the witch. Either way, it did Miranda’s ego good.

The bus must have arrived, because the five thugs were being led out.

“Oh, crap.” Miranda giggled.

“Crap what?” Della and Kylie asked at the same time.

“I just noticed they’re walking funny. I didn’t remove the jock-itch spell.”

“Oh, darn,” said Della. And they all laughed.

The humor was sucked right out of the air when Burnett came to a quick halt in front of them. “Now to deal with you three.”

“No, to deal with me,” Della said. “I practically forced them to help me. They didn’t want to do it.” It was an out-and-out lie, but she had to try.

“She did not!” Kylie looked up from her phone, where she seemed to be checking e-mails.

“Nope,” Miranda said. “You punish one of us, you have to punish all of us.”

Della shot the little witch a cold look. Why the heck was she encouraging Burnett to punish them?

“Who the hell do you girls think you are? Charlie’s Angels? Why would—?”

“We do kind of look like Charlie’s Angels, don’t we?” Miranda grinned.

“Charlie’s what?” Kylie asked.

“The movie.” Miranda looked at Della. “You’re Lucy Liu and I’m Drew Barrymore and you’re,” she glanced at Kylie, “that Cameron chick … what’s her last name again?”

“Stop!” Burnett growled. “Do you three have any idea how badly this could have turned out?”

“Yes, we do,” Kylie said. “But we didn’t know going into it. So it isn’t our fault.”

“How the hell can you think it was okay to come here—?”

“Look!” Kylie held up her phone. “Here’s a picture of the funeral-home owner. Tomas Ayala is at least ninety. We had no idea he’d died and his evil stepson had taken over.”

Burnett glanced at the phone’s screen, but didn’t look convinced. “You came to an unregistered vampire-run business—”

“And that’s wrong, how?” Della asked. “In a year, we’ll all be leaving Shadow Falls and we’re going to live in the normal world. In a world where other supernaturals live. And surprise, not everyone is registered. What do you expect us to do? Never leave our homes? The whole point of Shadow Falls is to teach us to survive in the normal world. And what’s really nuts is that not only did we survive, we caught some bad guys.”

“You should have come to me with your concerns about your cousin,” Burnett said.

Della shook her head. “The last time I even mentioned him, you asked me how old he was. And I know why you did it, too. Because if he was eighteen, you’d have had to turn his name in as a possible rogue.”

Burnett’s mouth tightened before he spoke. “If he’s an adult, he needs to be registered.”

“In a perfect world, yes, but this world isn’t perfect.”

“I know that, damn it, which is why I worry about you three running around poking your noses in things that could get you killed.”

Della shot up off the sofa. “I know you care about us. But you take it too far. And you’re not nearly as hard on any of the male students. We’re not weaklings. We just proved it to you, and yet you refuse to see the ball of kangaroo as evidence.”

He gritted his teeth, his jaw muscles twitching. But Della saw something in his eyes. Understanding. She might not have won the war with him, but she’d won this battle. And considering she was up against Burnett, that was something to be proud of.

He sighed. “Let’s get you three back to Shadow Falls.”

“No,” Della said. “We’re staying at Kylie’s for the weekend. You’ve already agreed to it.”

His eyes grew bright, but he let out a deep puff of frustrated air. “Fine. But be careful for God’s sake.”

“We will.” Della smiled, feeling rather victorious. “Thank you,” she said, and Miranda and Kylie stood up.

They were almost to the door when Burnett added, “You did good. All of you. This guy, Craig Anthony, has been on the FRU’s radar for several years, but we haven’t been able to connect him with any of the crimes.”