“Then you turn your butt around and run the other away,” Miranda said.
“I was going to, but I was hit before I could.” Then Della remembered. “Did Burnett ask you to see if the death angels saw who hit me?”
Kylie nodded. “I put the question out there, but haven’t gotten an answer. Maybe they weren’t there.”
“It felt like they were there,” Della said. “I … I felt like I was trespassing. Like someone there was making me feel that way.” She shivered ever so slightly. “I still halfway think they’re the ones who hit me.”
“And yet you went back the second time?” Miranda snagged one of Della’s pillows to rest on. “And here I thought you were smart.”
Della scowled at the annoying witch. “I told you, I was hoping to find a trace of the piece of shit who hit me.”
“Did you get anything?” Kylie asked.
Della nodded. “Chase.”
Kylie’s mouth dropped open. “What?”
Miranda’s popped up from her reclined position. “Chase is the one who knocked you out?” Her eyes got wide. “And I thought he liked you. Oh, hell, Burnett’s going to kick his ass out of here for messing with his favorite vamp.”
Della shook her head. “First, I’m not Burnett’s favorite vamp.”
“Yeah, you are,” Miranda said.
Della looked at Kylie, who nodded her head as if agreeing with the witch. If she was his favorite anything, why would he want to stop her from going into the FRU? Della pushed that thought away to ponder later. “Second, I said I found Chase’s scent there, but then I found him. He told me Burnett sent him there to see if he could find a trace after I was hit.”
Kylie pulled one knee up to her chest. “Did you ask Burnett?”
“No, but I don’t think he would lie about something that I could so easily check on.”
Miranda crossed her legs. “Maybe he figured you’d think that and not ask.”
“Maybe,” Della said, and tried to think how she could pose the question to Burnett.
Kylie leaned back against the headboard. “Is that the obituary?” She nodded to the folded paper now resting beside her on the bed.
“Yeah,” Della answered.
“Whose obituary?” Miranda asked.
“My uncle’s.” Della pushed the covers off, noting that the cold had left. “Derek found it in some old newspaper files.”
Miranda put on a pout. “Why is it that Kylie always knows stuff before I do?”
Della cut her gaze at Miranda and made a face. “Because you’re always away with Perry getting your earlobes sucked.”
Miranda snatched a pillow and threw it at Della.
Frustrated, Della caught it with two hands and accidentally pulled it apart. Duck feathers exploded in the air like snow and then rained down from the ceiling.
Miranda started giggling. Kylie joined in. Eventually, Della couldn’t help herself. The giggles were contagious.
They laughed for a good five minutes, tossing handfuls of feathers at each other until they had them in each other’s hair, stuck to each other’s faces. Miranda even pulled a couple out of her bra. When the giggles stopped, Kylie found the folded-up obituary under a thick pile of feathers.
The chameleon looked at Della with empathy. “Do you want me to read it to you?”
Della almost said no, not wanting them to think she was too chicken to read it on her own. Part of her even felt guilty. Wasn’t wanting her uncle to be alive so badly saying her family at Shadow Falls wasn’t enough? But if anyone could understand and make this easier, it was Kylie and Miranda.
“Yeah. But I think I might need a Diet Coke.”
They went to get up, but they all froze when the bedroom door slammed. The air in the room became instantly frigid. The feathers, mostly on the bed, rose up and started swirling.
Cold air caught in Della’s lungs. She looked at Kylie. “You still think I’m crazy?”
“Shit,” Kylie said. “This can’t be good.”
Chapter Eleven
The feathers flew around the room for another few seconds. Huddling on the bed, their fear hanging in the cold air, they didn’t say anything until the last feather dropped and the room warmed up.
“Is it gone?” Miranda pulled her knees up to her chest, her eyes wide with panic.
Kylie nodded. They all cautiously stood up and moved into the kitchen, got drinks, and settled around the table. No one talked, as if afraid it would bring the dang ghost back.
“Is he still here?” Della finally asked Kylie.
“No.” Kylie turned the Coke can in her hand, then looked at Della. “Him? Do you think it’s a him?”
“I don’t know. You said you thought it might be my uncle.”
“I was just guessing.” Kylie bit down on her lip. “I think we should call Holiday.”
“No,” Della said.
“Why not?” Miranda and Kylie asked at the same time.
“Because she’d want to know who we thought it was and then we’d end up telling about my uncle, and then if this isn’t him then she’d tell Burnett and then if he’s not registered…”
“You don’t know she’d tell Burnett,” Kylie said.
Della made a face. “They’re married. They tell each other everything. I bet you tell Lucas everything.”
Kylie sighed and nodded. “I see your point. But—”
“Aren’t you the one who says no buts?” Della asked.
“Yes. But…” She closed her mouth for a second and then continued, “However, Holiday might know better how to handle this.”
“No,” Della insisted. “Look, Holiday told me that she felt I had a quest and she understood that I didn’t want to talk about it. She told me to work on it, but not to take any stupid risks. And that’s what I want to do. Remember when you were dealing with that creep that was after you? Well, you handled it yourself. Both of you have dealt with your own problems instead of running for help.” She saw some understanding in her friends’ eyes.
Miranda slumped in her chair. “She’s right. We all kind of want to take care of our own issues sometimes.”
“Okay,” Kylie said. “But let’s just make sure we do as Holiday said, and watch out for stupid risks.”
“We?” Della said? “You two don’t—”
“Please,” Miranda snapped. “To quote someone I know, ‘Bullcrappers!’ We’re a team. We work together.”