Chapter One
Della Tsang swung one leg outside her bedroom window. The sun had risen but hung on the eastern horizon, spilling just enough light to paint that strip of sky a blood-red. The color had her mouth watering.
Her empty stomach rumbled. She needed blood. Later.
First things first.
She knew what she had to do—hadnt slept half the night because of it.
A blast of late-October air stirred her black hair in front of her eyes. The wind was cold on her face, but not cold like when shed had the fever.
Since shed woken from the two-day coma after being Reborn, which was an unusual second transition into being a vampire, all her previous flu-like symptoms had disappeared.
Pushing off the window ledge, her boots hit the wet earth with a squish. She paused right outside the cabin to see if the sound had awoken her Shadow Falls roommates, Miranda or Kylie, almost hoping for some company.
Only silence filled her ears.
Theyd both stayed out late last night with their boyfriends. Della had seen Steve, too, but shed pulled the tired card and called it an early night. She took a small step, still listening for any sign they were awake.
I dont need them. I dont. Della had to do this on her own.
Alone.
That had been her mantra for the last week. Well, not exactly—more like: Not with Chase. The lying, conniving vamp whom shed unwillingly become bonded to when hed convinced Steve, Dellas almost-boyfriend, to let him mingle his blood with hers to up the odds of her surviving the so-called rebirth.
Bonded. She recalled what little information Chase had explained. It links the two vampires. They become almost a part of each other. It has been compared to the relationship shared by identical twins or perhaps soul mates.
Pushing that from her mind, she glanced again at the dark woods, sensing something waiting for her … calling her. There was no turning back.
Reaching around, she closed her bedroom window. A twig snapped from inside the woods. Della turned and faced the trees, inhaling the air to catch anyones scent.
Nothing but the wet, musky scent of a possum.
She started walking. As soon as she entered the woods, the nights noise vanished. Even the trees seemed to hold their breath. A carrier of the vampire virus, shed been turned almost a year ago. This second turn, extremely rare, meant she was stronger, faster—meant she could really kick ass and ask questions later.
Shed give the power back in a snap if it would bring Chan back.
Perhaps she should be appreciative for what Chase had done, making sure she lived, but she wouldve preferred hed done it for her cousin Chan. Burnett, the camp leader and another Reborn, had survived his rebirth without a transfusion; she probably could have as well. Plus, Chase had done it so secretively and had lied to her until the very end.
The real pisser was—he hadnt stopped lying.
Shed texted him the question: Who sent you to check on me and Chan?
His reply: Dont know. Just following orders, was bullshit.
Hed messaged her last night. Five minutes … give me five minutes. Im at the gate.
Shed replied, Until I get answers, I dont have five minutes for you.
Not until he came clean. The guy had more secrets than a rogue werewolf had fleas.
If her suspicions were correct, and shed bet her canines they were, he had information about her missing uncle whod gotten turned and faked his own death as a teen. Who else would care about her? Who else would know Chan was her cousin? And if it was her uncle calling the shots, why hadnt he cared enough to save Chan, too?
Thinking of her uncle had her automatically thinking of her father and how easily hed turned his back on her. Adding to her heartache was the discovery that hed been suspected of killing his own sister.
Her mind couldnt wrap around that. Her father couldnt, wouldnt have done that.
She continued walking, her footsteps soggy. The night had seen its share of rain. Instead of sleeping, shed listened to the sound of drizzle dancing on the tin roof of the cabin. But that wasnt the only sound of water shed heard.
The roar of the falls had echoed in the distance. There was no way, even with her vampire hearing, that she could hear the falls from her cabin. Which meant the falls were calling her.
The falls, being that magical but creepy place where the death angels—mystical beings who stood in judgment of all supernaturals—were said to hang out.
The sound of the falls echoed louder.
“Dont worry. Im coming.” She wouldnt back out, and not simply because it called her—Della had never been one to come when called. She made this trip because shed remembered something Kylie had once told her. I go to the falls to find answers.
If those death angels could answer Kylies questions, then by damn, they could answer Dellas. Never mind that last time shed gone there after feeling called, someone … as in the death angels themselves … had clobbered her on the head with a rock.
A nervous tickle whispered through her, but she kept going. For the answers, shed risk it.
But if it was the death angels that knocked her on the head, theyd best be forewarned. This time, shed be a hell of a lot harder to take down.
* * *
As Della neared the falls, her tickle of unease evaporated, and a sense of well-being grew in her chest.
She stepped between the trees and caught sight of the cascading water. She turned her head side to side, wanting to take it all in. Trees circled the area. Their limbs arched above, almost hugging the area of the falls, making it feel like a special little alcove. The sun, still new to the morning, cast its first golden hue of light through the trees. The air smelled fresh, verdant, and peaceful. Shed never considered what peaceful smelled like, but she knew it now.
The ambience reminded Della of a Buddhist temple shed visited in China when she was twelve. Without explanation, she suddenly knew the death angels hadnt hit her on the head.
“So who was it?” She muttered the question aloud, not the least bit paranoid to be voicing her question to the empty woods.
Just because she couldnt see them didnt mean they werent there.
She wasnt alone.
She sensed it. For the first time since shed woken up from that coma after being Reborn, she felt … less alone. Complete.
“Who was what?” The voice blended with the rush of the falls.
Her heart leapt and her gaze shot to a spot in the curtain of water that blurred as a figure emerged.
Recognition hit and Dellas sense of peacefulness shattered.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Probably the same thing you are.” Chases gaze whispered over her. “I kept hearing it last night.”
“You followed me,” she accused.
He smirked. “Now youre not even being logical. I was here first. If anyone was followed, you followed me.”
“I didnt.” Ambivalence rumbled around inside her, and had her clenching her fist. Should she hightail it out of here and continue with her vow not to speak to him until he told her the truth about who had sent him? Or should she cross over the water and go vamp on his butt to get the truth out of him?
She knew which one she wanted to do. Oddly, kicking ass—in a place where peace flavored the air—felt wrong. Decision made, she swerved around and started walking. Hopefully hed follow her to a less than holy place and she could kick his butt then.
“Whoa! Stop!” he called.
She ignored him. Ignored the sound of the falls. She kept walking, her focus on the ground, the way the wet earth squished around the edges of her boots. Gaze still lowered, suddenly, another pair of wet leather boots appeared in her line of vision.
She stopped, but didnt look up. Didnt have to. She knew they were Chases boots. Her heart did another tumble. His speed still awed her.
Am I that fast now?
She hadnt really had a chance to test her limits. Not with Burnett micromanaging her powers. Not with all her pressing issues.
But those issues didnt need her immediate attention, so she nudged those thoughts aside to deal with the problem at hand—or rather, the problem at her feet. Chase. Lifting her gaze, the visual details—Chase details—hit her at once. She stared, soaking them all in like a hungry sponge.
Details like how his wet, black hair clung to his brow. Like how his white T-shirt appeared shrink-wrapped to his upper body, showcasing every dip and curve of his muscular form. How he appeared buffer, or maybe shed just forgotten how male-model perfect he was. She hated perfect!
“Hey.” His one soft word seemed to float through the air as he inched closer. His nearness made her skin feel extra sensitive. Maybe she didnt hate perfect so much. Had he always had this effect on her, or was this just post-bonding crap?
She growled, annoyed at her own weakness. But for the life of her, she couldnt seem to move back. Look but dont touch, she gave herself one rule.
He grinned as if he could read her mind.
She growled louder.
“You are a sight for sore eyes.” He reached out as if to pull her against him. She found the strength and lurched back, leaving skid marks in the wet grass.
The look-but-dont-touch rule would stand firm.
He stepped toward her. His scent, part musk, part mint, invaded her air. He lifted his hand.
She sucked cold oxygen between her teeth before speaking. “Your eyes arent the only thing thats going to be sore if you touch me!”
He held up both of his hands, a sign of submissiveness, but his sexy smile signaled trouble. She would not, could not, give in to these crazy feelings. How could she when part of her heart belonged to someone else?
“Fine, Ill keep my hands to myself.” He looked over her shoulder at the falls and then back at her. “But cant you see its fate?”
A spray of sun shot through the trees and cast swirly shadows over his face. Thats when she noticed the purple bruise under his eye. Considering vampires didnt bruise easily, that had to have been a hell of a lick.
“Whats fate?” she asked, trying not to care that hed been hit. Hurt. That he could have been killed.
Bonded.
“This,” he said, moving his hands between them.
“Whats this?” she asked.
“Us.”
“Us what?”
“Us. Here.”
She glared at him. “Did you forget how to use complete sentences?” she smarted off.
He half chuckled. “Come on. Doesnt it seem strange that we were both lured here?” He shifted slightly and the precious gold light touched his face. His hair, wet from his trip through the falls, appeared almost black, and his eyes, a light golden green, almost glowed with the sun on them. But noting the bruise again, she felt a sympathy pain under her left eye.
She had to remember not to let herself get lost in those eyes—in emotions she couldnt explain.
“I wasnt lured.” Her heart danced around the mistruth as the sound of the cascading water hummed in the background. “I came here for a reason.” That much was true. She stiffened her shoulders.
“What reason?” he asked.
“To find answers. Answers that you arent giving me.” Accusation rang in her tone. She pressed both her hands on her hips and stared up at him. Oddly, shed forgotten how tall he was. He towered above her. She wasnt accustomed to feeling small or feminine, but his presence did that.
He tucked his hands in his jean pockets and tipped back on his heels. “What answers?”
She raised her chin and studied him, trying not to note the bruise or worry what hed done to get it. “Who sent you to check on me and Chan?”
For a flicker of a second, he hesitated, then spoke, “I did answer that. The Vampire Council.” But the sneaky vamp looked away as soon as the words left his mouth. And she knew he always did that when he lied.
“Thats bullshit,” she said. “Youre still keeping something from me.”
He glanced back at her. “Its not a lie. I got my orders from the council.”
She studied him. This time he didnt blink or turn away. Did that mean he spoke the truth?
No, she didnt trust him. If he could learn to control his heartbeat when he lied—and hed admitted he could do that—then he could learn to control his facial reactions. Surely by now hed figured out why she constantly challenged his word.
“Did they also order you to let Chan die?” The moment the question left her lips, she felt her resolve strengthen. It didnt matter that her strength came from her own guilt—shed take it.
Chase inhaled and looked down at the ground, shifting the tip of his right boot into the wet earth. When he looked back up, she saw a flicker of emotion in his eyes.
“No. Letting Chan face the rebirth on his own was my decision. I told you, I didnt think he would survive, and if Id tried to save him, I wouldnt have been able to save you.”
“Do you have any idea how that makes me feel?” Her throat tightened. To save her, hed let Chan die.
His shoulders lowered half an inch. Refocusing on his gaze, she spotted empathy in his eyes.
She hated empathy. It ranked right up there with pity.
She turned to leave. He grabbed her. Gently.
His thumb moved in small circles over her elbow. “Im sorry. But Im not responsible for his death any more than you are. We didnt make this happen. And I did what I thought was right. It wasnt easy for me, either. I liked Chan. But he was just too weak.”
Her skin tingled where the tips of his fingers moved. Remembering her no-touch rule, she shook off his hand. “Which is exactly why you should have helped him. If two people are in a river, you save the one who cant swim.”
“And let you drown?” he asked.
“I might have made it through the rebirth. Burnett did.” The second the words left her mouth, she worried Chase didnt know Burnett was a Reborn, but his lack of surprise put her at ease.
A frown tightened the corners of Chases eyes. “Burnetts an exception. Less than three percent of Reborns live. The odds werent in your favor.”
“I would have taken those odds if Id been given a choice. But I wasnt. You didnt even tell me Chan was dead and you knew. You kept this whole Reborn thing and your being here to help me to yourself. And why? Because you knew Id be opposed to it.”
He kicked at a rock on the ground. The pebble soared through the air and hit a tree with a dead thump. “So Im the bad guy for wanting to save your life?”
She leaned in. “Youre the bad guy for not being up-front. And youre still doing it.”
His mouth tightened, and he crossed his arms over his chest. “Okay. I didnt tell you everything. Be mad at me for that. But you cant just ignore me or the fact that were bonded. You feel it. I feel it. You cant deny it.”
“Watch me. Im good at denying shit!” She seethed and darted around him to start back.
“God, youre stubborn!” he called out, then again appeared in front of her.
She came to an abrupt stop, slamming her hands on his chest to stop from falling face forward. He caught her by the waist. Gently. His touch sent her heart racing this time.
“Either tell me the truth or leave,” she said, stepping out of his embrace. It was her last ultimatum. “Who are you working with besides the Vampire Council, and dont tell me no one, because my bullshit detector goes off every time you tell me that.”
Copyright © 2014 by Christie Craig