Reborn

Chapter Twenty-eight

Della cut her eyes to the table of agents. At least they wouldn’t be alone.

“Nah,” Chase said, keeping his cool, but his eyes grew brighter. “I like my idea better.”

“And I don’t.” The gang leader glared at Chase. “What does it take to get you in a fighting mood? Touching your little slut here?”

“No,” Della snapped, not fond of being called a slut or being used as bait, but more furious at being seen as someone who couldn’t fight her own battles. “That would put me in a fighting mood. Then you’d be embarrassed at having your ass whooped by a girl.” She let her fangs down and glared at the hand he held out.

“No trouble, Luis!” the bartender called out. “That’s our deal. You still haven’t paid for the last tussle your guys started in here.”

The jerk shot the bartender a third-finger salute, then focused back on Chase. “I see why you like this chick. Spunk and not a bad looker either.”

“Do we have a deal or not?” Chase seethed, no longer playing nice. “Bring the guy in for a chat and we’ll take it outside so the bartender won’t have an issue.”

“We’ll see,” he said. “I’ll make a few calls and see if my new member is interested in coming to see a lost love.” Luis, obviously that was his name, looked back at Della. “But you know, considering he was freshly turned, there’s a good chance he won’t even remember you. Now wouldn’t that just break your little heart?”

“I’m hoping that’s not the case.” Della tried to keep the venom from her voice.

Three minutes after he left, Chase went back to talking about traveling. He stopped when Della’s phone dinged with a new text. She looked at it, hoping it wasn’t from Steve again. It wasn’t.

Get out of the bar! Now! Burnett wrote.

She passed her phone to Chase.

He didn’t look happy, but when she got up, he followed. From the corner of her eye, she saw the agents watching. What the hell was going on?

“What about our plans?” called Luis from the bar.

“We’ll be right back,” Chase said. “Just going to drain the lizard.”

“Is she gonna hold it for you?” someone in the crowd asked. Laughter exploded.

Della sent the crowd her own third-finger salute.

They walked out into the dark night. Chase darted around the back of the building to the edge of the woods. He raised his nose in the air, checking for any nearby company.

He must have found it clear, because he asked, “What the hell is this all about?”

“Don’t know,” Della said. “But Burnett always has his reasons.”

“He can’t send us in to do a job and then pull us!”

“He just did,” she said. “And—”

Chase pressed two fingers over her lips and nodded to the woods, pulling her closer to the building, away from the moon’s glow.

Della tried to catch a scent, but couldn’t. But when she tuned her hearing, she heard voices. Close voices. And they were coming from two different directions. There was no place to hide. They could run, but it might be too late.

She saw a group of four guys walking from the line of trees on her left. Another two came from the right. They had their faces held up, as if they’d already picked up on their scents. Yup, it was too late. And if they were with the gang, it could mean trouble. Della’s only idea was to look inconspicuous. And the only way to make it appear believable was to …

She swung around, wrapped her arms around Chase, and kissed him. Hard and heavy. His lips felt cold, but soft and moist. He tasted like mint, as if he’d only recently brushed his teeth. And something about that taste had her almost forgetting why she started this.

If there was any hesitation on his part, it lasted a fraction of a second. His arms wrapped around her, the palm of his hands landing at the curves of her waist, then slipping to her back. In his embrace, and somehow entranced, he turned her so his back would be facing the oncoming vamps.

Della heard laughter and one of the guys said, “Those whores are always busy.”

Fury filled her heart but quickly faded as sweet hot desire spread to her belly. She realized her hands were on his chest; the feel of his hard body had her heart picking up pace. Chase’s hands glided up and down her ribs, softly caressing the sides of her breasts. Then his thumb brushed across her taut nipple. She almost moaned. And she was certain she heard a soft murmur from deep in his chest.

It was all an act, she told herself, but her body responded to his touch and to every delicious inch of his firmness so close to hers.

Stop it. Stop it! she told herself, and tried to fight the passion swelling inside her.

With what little brain cells she owned that weren’t drunk the kiss, she listened to the footfalls as the group of vamps walked away. They were just past the building when Chase ended the kiss. His gaze met hers, and she saw the heat in his bright eyes. Bright from danger, or from their kiss, she didn’t know. Then, breathless, he uttered, “Wow.”

Okay, so it was probably the kiss.

Another voice sounded in the distance, and without a word he gripped her hand and lit out in a dead run. Pulling her beside him. She had no warning when his feet rose and he went into full flight, taking her with him.

Not that soles of her boots missed the ground; she felt as if she’d been floating since his mouth had found hers. Finally the sense of danger built and the passion, as great as it had been, got swept away with the wind. And her first thought was how bad an idea that kiss had been.

They weren’t past the first line of trees when she heard someone call out, “Where the hell did they go?” She recognized the gang leader’s voice.

And he was too close.

Chase moved faster, still holding her hand. She tried to keep up, tried to pull her own weight, but she simply wasn’t that fast. She heard the distinct sound of the vampires behind them.

Chase darted in and out of the trees as if to lose their scents. She still heard voices in the distance. The next thing she knew, Chase swung her around in his arms, holding her against him, and flew like the wind. The trees became a blur. She was no longer sure what was sky or terrain. Up, down, over this, under that, he moved faster than she’d known possible.

Her skin stung as they cut through the air. She had to bury her face in his chest to keep her eyes from burning.

She might not be able to pick up any traces, but this close, held against him, she could smell him again. The same spicy scent of male soap and the natural aroma of male skin that had surrounded her when they kissed was again filling her senses and messing with her head. Fresh. Clean. Wonderful. He had to have showered shortly before coming here.

She felt his face press down to her head. Was that his lips against her temple?

His words came against her ear. “I’m going to fly around to make sure they can’t follow our scents back to Shadow Falls.”

She didn’t answer. Didn’t think he expected her to.

A minute later, maybe two, or hell, maybe five minutes—she lost track of time—he landed. Her heart thumped in her chest, or was that his heart she felt? He held her off the ground and close. She opened her eyes and saw they were by a lake. No, not just any lake, but the lake at Shadow Falls.

He lifted his face in the air as if to see if they’d been followed. Only then did he look at her. His bright green eyes smiled. He looked happy with himself. He should be. Where the hell did he learn to fly like that?

“You okay?” he asked.

She nodded, having to swallow before she could speak. “Put me down.”

He slowly lowered her, but before his hand left the curves of her waist, he drew her against him. His mouth met hers. Soft. Moist.

This time, he tasted different. Even better.

He tasted like danger. He tasted like something she’d never tasted before.

He tasted … forbidden.

Oh, hell! He was forbidden. Giving herself a swift and firm mental kick in the ass, she yanked away from him. Slapped both her palms on his chest and shoved him down. He landed on his ass.

“Stop that.”

“You started it,” he said, and smiled.

Smiled. How dare he smile when…? She growled. “I only did it so they would think…”

“That we were about to get naked.”

“So they wouldn’t think…”

Plant one on that Chase guy. She heard Miranda’s voice.

“I only did it because…” Maybe because that freaking witch put it in my mind. Had she put a curse on her? No, she wouldn’t have done that, but it didn’t matter, just planting the idea had caused havoc. Bad havoc. She didn’t want to like Chase’s kisses. Didn’t want to want … That was it, she was killing Miranda.

She swung around and took off. Chase followed her. His footsteps filled the night.

“Hey, we need to talk.”

“No,” she snapped, and followed the lake. But she was so confused she wasn’t even sure which way it was to her cabin.

“Don’t run away,” he accused.

“I’m not running,” she seethed. “I’m walking.”

“Della?” Chase called out.

Walking away from you. She looked down at her feet to confirm it was true, and before she looked back up, she’d walked right into a solid chest. Damn him and his speed! Without thinking, blind with fury, she put her hands on his chest. She gave one big shove and knocked him on his ass again.

Then she heard it. Heard Chase’s footsteps behind her. But if he was behind her … Whose ass was it she’d just bruised?

“Why the hell did you do that?” Burnett asked, getting to his feet, scowling at her with bright angry eyes.

Unable to talk, she just stared.

Then she swore the camp leader lifted his face to sniff the air. Friggin’ frack! He probably smelled pheromones. And yes, she was probably putting out a few.

Damn it to hell and back, but she wanted to deny that she enjoyed the kiss. Wanted to claim it was just … the danger, the situation.

She couldn’t deny it.

She’d enjoyed it.

“What the hell is wrong?” Burnett asked again.

“Nothing.… I didn’t realize it was you.”

“How could you not know?”

“Because…” She heard Chase step beside her. I was just kissed senseless. Because my senses are on hiatus. Taking a deep sobering breath, she shoved the kiss to the bottom of her mental problem tank and yanked up her big-girl panties to think about the case. “Because I’m pissed. Why did you pull us out?”

“As soon as the gang leader left your table, he called someone and told them to summon the whole gang there. They had plans to overtake you.”

“How do you know this?” Chase asked, now standing so close she felt his hip next to hers.

“He had agents there,” Della answered, staring at Burnett, not willing to look at Chase. Not yet. She needed just a few more seconds to put the kiss from her mind. Unfortunately, the damn memory buried its claws and hung on, refusing to be pushed aside. The way he’d felt. The way he’d smelt. The way his lips had …

“What?” Chase asked. “And neither of you felt I needed to know that?”

“I didn’t know. I only knew when I saw them there,” Della said, offering him a quick glance. Her gaze went to his mouth, still wet. She looked away.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Chase asked Burnett.

The camp leader didn’t react to Chase’s attitude. He answered calmly. “I never send new agents out alone if there’s a chance it could be dangerous.”

“I could have handled it,” Chase said.

Della hated to agree with Chase, but after seeing how fast he could fly, and after seeing him handle the creep last night, she wasn’t sure it was an exaggeration. Was there anything he couldn’t handle? Fighting? Flying? Kissing?

“Maybe,” Burnett said. “But it was a chance I wasn’t willing to take. What matters is we got him. The fresh turn, a Billy Jennings, showed up seconds after you two left. The gang leader asked him about his rendezvous with Della.” Burnett looked at her. “When he left with only a couple of other vampires, my agents followed, and I just got word that they were able to detain him. They’re taking him to…”

Della stopped listening. They got him! Relief fell over her like a soft rain. We got him, Lorraine. Della wasn’t sure why she felt like the girl could hear her thoughts—hell, she really hoped she couldn’t—but she said it anyway. We caught the creep who did that to you.

“I’ll need you two to come confirm it was his trace you got that night.”

Shit! A slow burn of panic started to build in her gut. If her sense of smell was still on sabbatical, how was she going to know for sure if it was him? But if she told Burnett she’d accepted this mission without having all her senses in full operating order, he’d have her head on a chopping block.

If not her head, for sure her career.

Burnett opened a door and motioned for Della and Chase to walk inside a small room. Painted a dull gray, the room felt gloomy. Sad. One wall was made of glass, where you could see in another room. An empty room.

“They’ll place the suspect in there in a few minutes,” Burnett said. “You can see him, but he can’t see you. And there are air vents so you two should be able to get his trace.”

Should be able to, Della thought.

“I’ll be right back.” Burnett walked out. The sound of the door clicking shut played on one of her last nerves. Or maybe it was her last.

“You okay?” Chase asked, as if reading her every emotion.

She nodded and tried to stop what felt like chatter in her head. Inhaling, she tested the air, hoping her sense of smell was back. Nothing. She couldn’t even pick up Chase.

A sound came from the other side of the glass. An agent, the female agent, led a boy into the room and pointed to the chair. Not just a boy, she reminded herself, but Billy Jennings, the suspect. Very possibly the person who’d viciously killed Lorraine and her boyfriend.

Della inhaled again, hoping to catch a scent. Still nothing. Her gut knotted.

She looked at Billy’s face. She recalled trying to pick out a killer earlier, but not in a million years would she have picked him out. Sure, he had short dark hair, but he looked younger than her, and clean-cut enough to belong in a high-school band—a trumpet player, or maybe the clarinet.

He exuded innocence. His cheeks were even rosy like some portrait of a straight-A model kid. The kind of kid who’d never even tasted beer, much less blood.

She felt Chase staring at her and knew the question he was about to pose.

She’d already decided she wouldn’t lie. She couldn’t. She might not tell Burnett that her sense of smell was on the fritz, but she wouldn’t condemn anyone without proof.

“What do you think?” he asked.

She looked back at Billy. He looked scared, really scared. She remembered how it felt a week out from being turned. Her life as she’d known it had been yanked from her. She hated herself, hated what she’d become.

Innocent. Innocent. Innocent. The word played over and over in her head.

In spite of being cold, the room suddenly felt stuffy, as if the gray walls were closing in on her. Blood rushed to her ears and she started getting dizzy. She had to get out of there.

She swung around, yanked open the door, and walked down the hall until she saw a door leading outside. She didn’t breathe until she cleared it—until she stood in the parking lot, the moon and stars flickering down on her from above.

“Hey.” Chase came up behind her. “Calm down.” He put his hands on her shoulders. His touch was cold, but comforting. She almost wanted to fall against him. Then she remembered their kiss. “It’s going to be okay.”

“No, it’s not.” She shook her head. “I can’t … I can’t do this. My … I don’t know if that’s him. I’m not that sure.” Then it hit: She didn’t have to be sure. She swung around and looked at Chase. “You got his trace, too. Is it him? Is he the one who killed that couple?”

He paused, then slowly nodded his head. “Yeah.” But even in the darkness she noted his left brow twitched.

Della shook her head. “You’re lying. You don’t know for sure.”

“I may not be a hundred percent sure, but I’m sure enough.”

Innocent. Innocent. Innocent. The word started playing in her head again.

“No, if you aren’t sure, then you can’t put that on the kid.”

“Della, stop and think.” He took her by the shoulders. “Listen to me, okay?” Only when she looked up did he start talking. “I know it’s hard to be sure, but he fits the description and MO of the person the FRU thinks did this. Before they condemn the kid, they’ll get the DNA, so if we’re wrong, he won’t go down.”

“He might not go down, but until it comes back, he’s going to be accused of murder. And he’ll think he did it, because he won’t be able to remember.” She felt emotion tighten in her chest as she recalled being brought to this very place and being tested to see if she’d killed someone when she’d been turned. Never had she felt more like a monster than that day.

Was that how Billy was feeling now?

“This isn’t right,” she said, trying to control the shakiness of her voice. “We can’t accuse him if we’re not certain he did it.”

“What’s not right is if they let him go and then find out he’s guilty and he’s gone. And he will be gone. Do you think if he walks out of here, he won’t skip out? He will. He’d be nuts not to get the hell out of Dodge, guilty or otherwise. He won’t want the FRU on his ass. The gang won’t take him back now that the FRU are looking at him for something. It would bring the FRU down on their butts. And, statistically, when a fresh turn kills, the odds of them doing it again are twice as great as those who don’t.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do. It’s been proven. Trust me on this.”

“How? Who has it been proven by? Why do you claim to know so damn much?”

“It doesn’t matter.” His jaw muscle clenched as if he’d said something he shouldn’t have.

It did matter. Everything mattered. Lorraine and John mattered. Billy Jennings mattered.

Chase took her chin in his hand and forced her to look at him again. “Della, I really believe it was his trace. Trust me.”

She shook her head. “But you’re not a hundred percent sure.”

“Is anyone a hundred percent sure?” He exhaled pure frustration. “Look, if he’s innocent, all this will cost him is another day in jail. That might not be easy, but if he’s guilty, it will cost someone their life. Do you want to be responsible for him killing again? Hasn’t he hurt enough people?”

Della’s mind went back to the vision of Lorraine and John, throats gaping open. Did she owe her loyalty to the dead, or to a scared kid who might not be guilty of anything other than being turned?

Innocent. Innocent. Innocent.

“I can’t be sure,” Della told Burnett ten minutes later. All three of them sat at a table back in the adjoining room. Della stared at the two of them, trying not to look at Billy.

Burnett didn’t look happy. Neither did Chase. But why was he so upset?

Burnett leaned on his elbows and came forward on the table. “I thought you got his trace?”

“I thought I did, too. But something isn’t right. I … I’m sorry, I can’t be sure.” She kept her eyes cut away from the two-way mirror.

“I know it’s hard, Della,” Burnett said, “but if this kid did this…”

Innocent. Innocent. Innocent. “Yes, it’s hard, but that’s the problem. I don’t know if he did it. I can’t … I’m not sure.”

Burnett let go of a deep gulp of air and looked at Chase. “Please tell me you got something,” he said.

Chase nodded. “It’s him.”

Della watched him blink. Unwillingly, she glanced at Billy. Billy had tears in his eyes, eyes that expressed self-loathing. Her breath expanded in her chest and she stood up. Stood up so fast, her chair hit the tile floor behind her.

Innocent. Innocent. Innocent.

“Chase isn’t being completely truthful,” she told Burnett. “He’s not sure. You can’t blame the kid for this.” She personally knew how it felt to consider yourself a murderer. The pain, the shame could cripple you.

Burnett looked shocked. He glanced at Chase. “Is this true?”

“No,” he said.

Della couldn’t believe Chase’s nerve, his gall. “Look at him, Chase!” she insisted, and pointed to the glass wall. “He’s nothing but a kid. You’re going to let him go through this when you’re not sure?”

Chase didn’t look at Della. He looked at Burnett. “The kid did it.”