Page 16 of Unspoken (Shadow Falls: After Dark #3)

Chapter Sixteen

Minutes later, dressed, but still not ready to face her friend’s accusations, or the deadly cold that had returned, Della heard another set of footsteps move up on her front porch. She inhaled the frigid air, and recognized Kylie’s scent, along with Socks, her cat.

She heard Kylie speaking with Miranda. Della purposely didn’t listen, only imagining what the witch was telling her. Then a loud feline howl filled the cabin. Was the cat protesting Baxter’s earlier visit?

Right then the chameleon knocked on Della’s bedroom door.

“Come in,” Della said, as if she really had a choice.

Kylie moved in first, her expression serious. She dropped on the edge of the bed beside Della. “Are you okay?”

“We were not doing the mattress mambo. I had a vision, he saw it too, and when he woke up he came here.” Della looked at Miranda standing in the doorway.

Kylie sighed. “I don’t mean—”

“I know it looked like it.” She frowned at Miranda. “And if I’d seen what you saw, I wouldn’t believe me either, but—”

“I’m not asking about you and Chase, I’m asking about the five spirits.”

“Yeah, I had…” Five? Five? Freaking five?

Della caught her breath. “No!”

Kylie nodded.

Della shook her head. “Two yes, but not five. You must have brought three with you, because I only had two.”

“There were definitely five. And they weren’t here for me. I couldn’t see them, only felt them.”

“Well, I didn’t see them either,” Della said, not wanting to claim them.

“Did they say anything?”

“No.” She popped up off her bed. “No. And no!” Della looked up at the ceiling. Not really sure who she was addressing, but looking up seemed appropriate. “Two is two too many. No way, no how, no hell, can I deal with five!” Then she glanced back at Kylie. “Are they still here?”

“No.” Kylie stood up. “They left.”

Miranda spoke up. “But they were here. The three Diet Cokes that I set out on the kitchen table for our talk—as soon as you finished what you were doing—burst. I swear I got frostbite!” She rubbed the tip of her nose.

Right then a loud thump landed on their porch, followed by a knock. Burnett.

All three of them walked into the living room. Miranda ran to the door. “Good thing you’re here. We had an invasion of ghosts.”

Burnett frowned, stepped into the cabin, and looked at Della. “Did you rest?”

“Yes.” Why did she get the strange sensation that he wasn’t just here to monitor her sleep? “Did Lucas’s trip to the basketball court turn up anything?”

“No.” From Burnett’s expression, she knew he had more to say.

“Then what?”

“I just got called to a murder scene. Three young weres. I think they might be the three you saw and may be connected to the Chi case.”

“At least we know who the three extra spirits were,” Kylie said.

“Did they say anything?” he asked.

“I didn’t even feel them,” Della said, hoping to put distance between her and them.

“You’re still not working the case,” Burnett said, “but it’d help if you could confirm they were the same ones. You up to it?”

Della inhaled. “Yes. Of course.” But everything inside of her screamed no.

No to not working the case. She wanted to catch the Chis’ killers.

No to ghosts. They still freaked her out.

No to seeing more dead bodies. That was just wrong.

No to kissing Chase. She wasn’t ready for that.

Now all she had to do was figure out why in the hell she kept saying yes.

***

“You sure you’re okay to do this?” Burnett asked, right before they were about to cross the yellow tape.

“Would you stop worrying about me? I’ve slept. I’ve eaten.”

His brow tightened. “I was referring to… Never mind.”

She suddenly remembered the last body she’d identified. A young girl and her boyfriend had been murdered by a vampire. Della had puked her guts out.

She swallowed and vowed not to have a repeat performance.

“I can handle this.” And to prove it to him, and maybe even to herself, she took the lead and stepped over the yellow tape, walking closer to the storage shed that was located on the far side of the park. The same park where she’d met Lucas and had saved the girl from the weres. The park close to her house.

As she took her final steps up to the building, surrounded by an array of other FRU agents, she recalled how many times she’d played right here as a child. Had there been werewolves hanging out here then? Did her sister ever come out here at night now? The thought sent a whisper of fear running through her. And she made a mental note to warn her.

Della spotted three sheet-covered bodies lined up. Blood, the victims’ blood, filled her nose. With that smell came the horrid scent that Della recognized as death.

Burnett said something to one of the other agents. She should have been listening, but she was too worried about controlling her gag reflex.

One of the younger agents, Shawn, the warlock, who had a thing for Miranda, stepped closer and nodded at Della. Della returned the courtesy.

“You okay?” he asked.

Frowning, she nodded. She’d be a lot better if people quit asking her.

Another agent, a black-suited, older were, walked over to the three bodies and one by one pulled the sheets from their faces for Della to see.

Her stomach roiled, but she willed herself not to throw up. She looked from one tainted blue face to the other. As she worked at controlling her stomach, she lost control of her heart. She recalled seeing the three teens out for a fun Saturday night. They’d had their whole lives in front of them. More than ever, she wanted to catch the creeps who did this.

“It’s them,” Della said and heard footsteps behind her.

She glanced back at Chase and realized she should have known he would be here. He was working with Burnett now. Chase’s gaze, filled with concern, met hers and she saw the “you okay?” question in his eyes. Seeing it fueled her vulnerable side, and the emotion in her chest doubled. She recalled how good it had felt to lean against him earlier.

Her sinuses stung. Mentally giving herself a big swift kick in the ass, she glanced away and stiffened her shoulders. The last thing she wanted was Chase coddling her in front of a bunch of agents.

On second thought, the last thing she wanted was to need anyone to coddle her. What the hell was happening to her? Realizing she didn’t need to look at the bodies anymore, she walked a few feet away.

Burnett followed, and behind him, Della heard Chase’s steps. “We can’t prove it, but we’re pretty sure this is connected to the Chis’ murders.”

“It is,” Della said, remembering some of the vision. “I’m pretty sure these three walked past the Chis’ shop, probably smelled the blood, and they saw the murder scene.”

Burnett’s eyes widened. “How do you know?”

“A vision,” Della said.

“So you saw the killers?”

“Not their faces.” Bits and pieces of the vision filled her head. “But I heard—”

“I saw one of their faces,” Chase said.

Burnett’s brow creased. “You told me you didn’t see them.”

“Not earlier, but… in her vision.”

Burnett scratched his head. “You were in her vision?”

Chase nodded.

“It’s true,” she affirmed, even knowing it sounded bat-shit crazy.

***

It was dark when Della and Burnett got back to Shadow Falls. Burnett had sent Chase to the FRU headquarters to work with their sketch artist.

The camp seemed extra quiet as she walked to her cabin. Della could smell the bonfire, which meant everyone was in the woods cooking hot dogs and marshmallows. She debated going. Having something else on her mind besides her own problems might be nice, but the thought of trying to be friendly to everyone seemed too much.

The quietness of her cabin appealed more. She continued walking.

In the back of her mind, bits and pieces of the vision kept flashing in her head. Some little detail about the visions kept teasing her, as if it were important, but for the life of her she couldn’t put her finger on what it was. She was almost to her cabin when a bird swooped down. It didn’t hit her, but it came close.

Recalling the bird on the office porch earlier, she growled. “Is that you, Perry? This isn’t funny! I’m in no mood for silly jokes!”

She stood in the middle of the darkness and waited for the shape-shifter to answer her. No answer came. Tilting her head to the side, she could still hear the birds, or maybe a bird—she couldn’t tell if it was the same one—rustling in the trees.

She waited, impatiently, for another couple of seconds. Then she started off, swearing to give Perry some lip when she saw him. Her phone dinged with an incoming text.

She pulled it out and read Kylie’s request that she come join them. Trying to think of a good reason not to go without sounding pathetic, she stood in the dark. Finally, just giving up, she tucked it back into her jeans.

She was just in front of the cabin when she spotted a figure on her front porch. She breathed in and immediately frowned. What was he doing here? Then a second scent came to her. What were they doing together?