Shadow Falls After Dark: Eternal Part 17

"I know. I don't want to be adult about this," Miranda continued. "I know a long-distance relationship would be hard, but does he care so little about me that he doesn't want to try? He's just going to give up. I guess I'm not worth at least trying to make us work."

A lump formed in Della's chest. Wasn't that exactly how she felt about Steve? He was giving up on her, on them, and even with her confused feelings for Chase, she hadn't been ready to give up on Steve.

Oh, she knew it wasn't fair to want to hang on to him, but dad-blast it, it hurt.

"I'm so sorry," Della said, this time with complete honestly and she gave the witch another hug, her heart aching right along with Miranda's.

An hour later, Della lay in silence. Miranda, taking up half of Della's pillow, had cried herself to sleep.

Della heard Kylie walk into the cabin. The chameleon stopped in the living room and listened. Probably turned vampire to tune in to her super hearing to see who all was home.

She moved to Della's door and cracked it open. It only creaked once.

"Shh," Della said in a voice lower than a whisper. "If you wake her up, you're in charge of getting her to sleep next time. It took five hugs."

Della crept out of the bed with the slowness of an inchworm.

Kylie stepped back into the living room and Della cautiously and silently shut the door. They moved all the way outside to the front porch. They each sat down at the edge and let their feet hang down a few inches from the gra.s.s.

"I'm sorry." Kylie looked at her and nipped at her bottom lip. "I should've come home hours ago. Holiday asked if Lucas and I would go to Walmart. They ran out of eggs and asked if we'd make an emergency run. I called Miranda and she said she was fine. I didn't think you'd gotten home yet. And I didn't know it would take that long."

"It's okay," Della said.

Kylie looked back toward the door. "Was she an emotional wreck?"

"She's just Miranda," Della said.

"So she was an emotional wreck." Kylie smiled sadly. "And you dealt with her while you're hurting, too. d.a.m.n."

"I'm fine," Della said.

"Liar." Kylie, obviously still in vamp mode, t.i.tled her head slightly to the side as if hearing Della's heart stumble.

"Okay, I'm hurting, but I'm tougher."

"No," Kylie said. "You're just better at pretending." She gave Della the look that said "spill." "What did Steve want?"

Della sighed. "As if Miranda didn't tell you."

"She did," Kylie said, "but I was afraid it was more."

"It was more," Della said, her heart replaying the pain. "He said he can't take seeing Chase and me working together."

"Isn't it the same thing as seeing him work with that smiley chick at the vet's office who has the hots for him?"

"He doesn't think so."

"What do you think?" Kylie asked.

"I think ... Oh, I don't know what I think. I feel a million different things right now, none of them good."

Kylie let go of a deep breath, filled with empathy. "So, he's for sure leaving?"

Della nodded and felt the lump in her throat, then her thoughts went back to Miranda asleep in her bed. "I kind of understand why Steve is doing it, but Perry ... that just p.i.s.ses me off. Do you think it's because Miranda hasn't put out? I came right out and asked him, but he denied it, and his heart didn't actually call him a liar, but I'm not sure I believe him."

Kylie pulled one of her legs up and hugged it. "I could be wrong, but I just don't see it being that. Not Perry. He's so in love with Miranda."

"Yeah, but you know what guys love more than anything."

Kylie shrugged. "As sad as it sounds, I really think Perry is trying to do Miranda a favor. I ran into him this afternoon, and he looked so depressed that it hurt me to look at him."

"Duh. Then he shouldn't go to frigging Paris! How hard is that?"

"Pretty hard," Kylie said. "Put yourself in his shoes. He's basically ostracized from the human world. You and I, we think about college, and what we're going to do with our lives. He can't do that. If he can't learn to control himself, he's basically in hiding the rest of his life. And I'm sure Miranda talks about what she wants to do. He has to feel as if he's going to hold her back."

"d.a.m.n it! It sucks being a supernatural teen."

Kylie sighed. "I pretty much thought it sucked being a human teen, too."

"I didn't," Della said. "I had it great."

Kylie looked at her. "Didn't you tell me that your parents wanted you to be a doctor?"

"Yeah," Della said.

"And were you going to do that just to make them happy?"

"No," Della said.

"Then sooner or later you would've had to stand up to them, and then things wouldn't have been so great. I'm just saying that both humans and supernaturals have it tough when it comes to being a teen."

"Maybe," Della said with sa.s.s. "But being turned vampire added a little fuel to the fire. And not being able to stop yourself from shifting into a fire-breathing dragon sucks even more."

"True," Kylie conceded. "Seeing your dead father hanging out when you didn't know he was even your father wasn't a piece of cake, either. But I know human kids who have it almost that bad." Kylie bit down on her lip. "Look at my friend, Sara. She got cancer."

Della shook her head. "You know, you kind of sound like Holiday. Logical, upbeat."

"Am I that bad?" Kylie frowned. "I hate it when she takes something completely batty and turns it around to make perfect sense."

Della chuckled. "You are going to make a perfect counselor." Then she added, "Come to think of it, maybe you can help me make sense of something else."

"Counselor Galen at your service," Kylie teased. "What do you have? Wait. Let me guess. A certain vamp tried to kiss you today and you don't know how you feel about it?"

Della frowned. "That's not it." He hadn't kissed her, but Kylie hit the nail on the dad-blasted head about her not knowing how she felt.

"So, he didn't try to kiss you?" Kylie asked, tilting her head to listen to Della's heart.

"No. I thought he was, but he wasn't."

"So he wasn't too touchy-feely?"

Della's mind took her back to leaning on him, to him holding her in his arms. Then it went to him touching her ear. And that took her back to the whole nose-in-his-crotch incident. An unexpected giggle spilled out of her lips.

"What?" Kylie asked.

Della debated not telling, but realized this was exactly the kind of thing they shared. The crazy things, the stupid things, the embarra.s.sing things. That's what being a friend was about. Telling each other everything.

In spite of the cool temperature, Della's face felt warm. Then she bit the bullet and told Kylie about seeing her dad on the freeway.

"Did he see you?" Kylie asked with complete concern.

"No. I ... hid. The floorboard was full of Chase's camera stuff, so I ... I had to go facedown on his lap. And I think my chin might have bruised his boys."

Kylie burst out laughing and Della joined in. They were laughing so hard they didn't hear the person move behind them.

"What's so funny?" Miranda asked, sounding sleepy. She sat down beside them, dangling her feet off the side of the porch. Della repeated the story about putting her nose in the Panty Perv's crotch.

And they all three sat there in the dark, the insects singing in the distance, laughing like girls. When they sobered, Kylie looked at Della. "So, what was the thing you needed me to help you make sense of?"

Della looked at Miranda, and knew the girl wouldn't like this subject. h.e.l.l, Della didn't like the subject, but she needed advice, and Kylie was the go-to person for these issues. Especially if it was something you didn't want Holiday or Burnett to get wind of. "Ghosts."

Kylie made a funny face, then looked at Della all serious-like. "Ghosts seldom make sense."

Miranda let out a moan. "I'd rather talk about you putting your nose where it didn't belong."

Della grimaced. "Then maybe you want to go back inside."

"I don't think so. I'd rather be with you two talking about ghosts than by myself knowing you're talking about ghosts. My imagination can be scarier than the truth."

Della didn't agree. What she had to talk about was pretty d.a.m.n scary.

Chapter Twenty.

Della told Kylie about the near accident on the freeway and what Holiday said about ghosts being able to cause c.r.a.p like that.

"Did you see the ghost when it happened?" Kylie asked.

"No, I've never seen her. I hear her. I feel a cold presence."

"And you still don't think you know who she is?"

Della remembered that both Holiday and Kylie had said she probably had a connection to the ghost. "No. But we already know what the connection is. It's that Chan knew Natasha."

Kylie looked doubtful. "Most of the time it's more than that."

"Well, this time it isn't," Della said.

"Did you feel her when the accident was about to happen?" Kylie asked.

"I don't know," Della answered honestly. "It happened so quickly and then I saw my dad and-"

"That's when you saw your dad?" Kylie asked.

"Yeah," Della said and realized she hadn't put those two things together. "Do you think he has anything to do with it?"

"Duh," Miranda added her two cents' worth.

Della shot a frown the witch's way. "If you can't say something constructive, just keep your mouth zipped."

The witch scowled back. "I could say something constructive, but you don't want to hear it."

"What do I not want to hear?" Della asked, annoyed.

Miranda looked at Kylie as if asking permission to speak.

"You don't need her approval. Just say it already," Della snapped.

"Fine. You act as if you don't know who the ghost is, but I think it's pretty evident."

"It's not Natasha," Della snapped.

"I'm not saying that it's Natasha."

"Then who?" Della and Kylie asked at the same time.

Miranda looked at both of them and then appeared almost scared to say it. "Your aunt."

"My aunt Miao is alive."

"No, the other one."

Della's breath caught. "You mean Bao Yu?"

"Is she the one who was murdered?"

Della nodded.

"Then yes, that one. It makes sense. She spotted your father, she freaked out, and made all the cars go crazy-"

"No!" Della felt her chest burn and her eyes burned with it. "My dad did not kill his sister!"