Feeling the meeting was over, she stood up.
“Any news on Chan’s autopsy?”
“Not yet. Sorry.”
She nodded, feeling the frustration of that issue still heavy on her heart, and then she walked away. Only a few feet out the door, she heard the stoic vampire say, “Good job tonight, Della. Between Craig Anthony’s arrest and now this, I’m proud of you.”
She didn’t look back, but whispered, “Thanks.” A sense of pride swelled up inside her, and she latched on to the feeling with a hungry heart. She would need any good emotion to counter the negative crap on her plate right now.
As she walked out, her phone dinged with a text. For some reason she suspected it was Steve. The negative crap had arrived.
Della’s walk back to her cabin seemed too quiet, and thoughts of Steve became second to the eeriness of the night. She pulled out her phone and checked the text. She’d been wrong. The last ding hadn’t been a text from Steve. It was from Kevin, Chan’s friend.
Call me.
She hit a few buttons to return his call. It went to voicemail. “What’s up? It’s Della.” She hung up, and right then a cold chill sent goose bumps chasing more goose bumps up her spine.
A few clouds kept passing over the moon and ridding the path of any silver glow. She didn’t know which was creepier, the silver glow, the smothering blackness, or the cold silence.
All of a sudden, she didn’t feel alone. She lifted her face to catch a scent, only to remember her nose wasn’t working properly. She cut her eyes left and right. A pair of yellow possum eyes stared back. It wasn’t a possum she felt.
She remembered Chan’s ghost. Her heart grew instantly heavy. Was he here? She thought he’d passed on, but maybe she’d thought wrong.
“Chan, is that you?” The cold wind seemed to suck the question into the night’s darkness.
The clouds shifted again, offering her enough glow to see the path. She heard the slightest rustle in the air and looked up, half expecting to see feathers. But only an orange leaf rained down. A dead leaf.
Had Chan shifted from feathers to leaves? Or was she simply overreacting? “If you’re here, I want you to know that I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ignore you.”
The moon slipped away again. Out of the blackness came a sound. Footsteps trailing behind her. Chan?
Did a ghost’s steps make sound? A current of fear ran through her. She fought the need to run. But she reminded herself it was Chan. Even dead, he was her cousin. A cousin she’d let down.
She turned. Her heart jolted when she saw the figure behind her. Because she was unable to smell who it could be, panic had her fangs extending.
“It’s just me,” a soft voice said. A soft, recognizable voice.
“Damn it, Jenny. Never sneak up on a vampire. I could have attacked.”
“I’m sorry,” Jenny said, not coming any closer. “I didn’t mean to…” She glanced around nervously. “… intrude. Is there a ghost here?”
“Do you feel one?” Della asked, her voice almost resonating the same shaky tremble as Jenny’s.
“No, I don’t feel ghosts.” Jenny stayed where she was. “But you were talking to … your cousin. The one that died. Do you feel ghosts?”
“No … not really.” She wasn’t even sure that was a lie. She’d seen Chan, but she wasn’t so sure she’d felt him. At least not in the way Kylie felt ghosts.
“So, no one’s here? You’re sure?” Jenny asked.
“No one is here.” And Della wanted to believe it.
“Good.” Jenny caught up with her. “Has Derek called you?”
“Was he supposed to?” Della continued walking, and while she hated admitting it, she felt better not being alone.
“He got the yearbook with your uncle in it. He found both of your aunts, your uncle, and your dad in there.”
Something akin to hope filled Della’s chest. She might find herself with a real family after all. She pulled out her phone to call Derek.
“He’s at your cabin now. With Kylie. Just Kylie,” Jenny muttered. “I saw Miranda leaving with Perry.” Her tone sounded accusing.
Della, eager to see the book, tucked her phone back in her pocket and started moving a little faster. She got several feet before she realized that Jenny had stayed behind.
Della glanced over her shoulder. “Come on.”
“Nah,” Jenny said, and scuffed her tennis shoe in the dirt.
Della knew what was going on in Jenny’s mind, and sighed. Della pushed aside her own urgency. “Look, Jenny. Nothing’s happening between Kylie and Derek.”
“You don’t know that for sure.”
“The hell I don’t. Kylie’s so in love with Lucas, she wouldn’t touch Derek with a ten-foot pole. And as for Derek, Kylie is last year’s news. Look, a vampire can smell pheromones, and he’s not stinking up any air when he’s around her.” At least he hadn’t been when her nose had been working. “On the other hand, when he’s around you, I can hardly breathe, he pollutes the air so much.”
“But he admires Kylie.”
“So? She’s a protector. I admire her, and I’m not fooling around with her.”
Jenny made a face. “How can I compete with Kylie? She’s so great.”
“That’s my whole damn point. You aren’t competing.” Della got an idea. “You aren’t going to believe it until you see it, are you?”
“See what?”
“See them. See them not doing anything. Let me prove it to you. Turn both of us invisible and let’s go to the cabin.”
“I … I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why not? You’d finally know the truth. Maybe then you’d get past this thing.”
Jenny frowned. “But … but I don’t know if I can turn you invisible. I’m not nearly as advanced as Kylie. And … Burnett told me that I wasn’t to ever eavesdrop.”
“Yeah, but you’re not eavesdropping, your proving something. There’s a difference.”
“Burnett made the rule very clear.”
“Sometimes the rules have to be broken. Besides, aren’t you breaking the rules running around invisible?”
“Yeah, but—”
“And how do you know you can’t turn me invisible if you don’t try?” Della saw temptation in the chameleon’s eyes. The girl did have gumption. Maybe that’s why Della liked her. “Come on. Give it a shot.” She caught ahold of Jenny’s hand. “Do it.”