Unspoken (Shadow Falls: After Dark #3)(12)

Chase had to grit his teeth not to tell Burnett to go to hell. Instead he sat in silence. Total silence. Somewhere in the office was a clock, and it marked the seconds as they passed. Chase stopped counting at sixty.

Burnett finally leaned back, not in a relaxed pose, but he no longer looked poised to pounce. “If you know who killed Della’s aunt, why don’t you just bring their ass in to the FRU?”

“I need some help,” Chase admitted.

“And the council won’t help you?”

He pulled his shoulders up, not in defense, but in honesty. “They have tried. His name is Douglas Stone.”

Burnett sat still. “Who is he?”

Before Chase could answer, Burnett’s phone dinged with a text. He read it and instantly his eyes glistened with anger. When he looked up all that fury was aimed as Chase.

Was it at him, or at whoever left the text? Didn’t matter, Chase surmised, because right now he was the only target.

“And now you come begging for our help,” Burnett seethed.

It was the word begging that did it—pushed Chase over the edge. “I am not begging.” He inhaled to calm his fury, especially in the face of Burnett’s rage. “I’m offering my services to the FRU.”

Burnett leaned in again. Chase had seen the man angry, but never like this.

“Then offer it to them, Mr. Tallman. Don’t involve me or Shadow Falls in your deal.”

Chase squared off. Was that what the text had been about? “Surely the FRU knows the value of having another Reborn in their employment. My conditions…”

The man’s canines came all the way out and his eyes glowed.

Just like that, Chase realized his mistake. He should never have tried to use leverage against Burnett.

“My intent was—”

“Take your intentions,” he shoved the envelope across the desk, “and get the hell off my property. No one—not you, not the FRU—tells me what I must do! Don’t you think for a minute I wouldn’t walk away from my position with the agency to protect those that I love? And no one—no one—forces my hand!”

Right then Chase realized that was exactly what he’d done wrong. Tried to force Burnett to accept him back.

The desk between them was suddenly slung against the wall. Burnett James stood up in full vamp mode.

Yup, it had been a big mistake.

“Go!” Burnett seethed. “While you still can!”

Chase stood up. “Look, I realize—”

“Go!” he ordered.

Chase heard the warning in the vampire’s voice and saw it in his eyes. Desperate, but not stupid, he turned and walked out.

Damn it to hell and back! Chase seethed as he hurried off the porch. He’d screwed up. At this rate, he was never going to win Della back.

At this rate, maybe he didn’t deserve to. He should have known this would backfire.

*

Della landed in the park in the mix of the trees and rubbed her arms to fight off the cold, again wishing she’d worn a jacket. The moon gleamed on the metal playground equipment in the clearing about a hundred feet away. Another chill tiptoed down her back. There was something eerie and almost ominous about an empty playground—as if it had been robbed of its innocence.

A swing squeaked as a cold breeze stirred it. The noise seemed loud, as if it were a call for help in the night’s silence.

She looked around at the dark shadows and lifted her nose to make sure no one lurked nearby.

Her phone beeped. Probably Burnett.

As she pulled her cell from her pocket, she heard a car pull up and cut off its engine. Someone opened a car door and then she caught the scent of a were. She shifted deeper into the trees, glancing up to plan her exit if the were came at her. Right as she clicked on Burnett’s number the scent became familiar. She knew before she read the text what it would say.

Burnett hadn’t come. Had Lucas brought Kylie? She inhaled again.

No Kylie. Disappointment stirred. She could have used some girlfriend time.

Turning, she watched as the good-looking were crossed the parking lot. The dark-haired, six-foot-plus eighteen-year-old held a Thermos. Her stomach grumbled.

“Hey…,” Della said and then, “thanks.” She took the Thermos.

“No problem,” he said.

“Why didn’t Burnett show?”

“Something came up,” the were said.

“A new case?”

“I don’t think so,” Lucas said.

Della wasn’t sure if he was hiding something or just being vague. Lucas wasn’t exactly the talkative sort. Most weres weren’t. Not that Della disliked him. He loved Kylie, one of Della’s best friends, and he was good to her.

“Do you mind?” She held up the Thermos.

“No. My job’s not complete until you do.”

They moved over to the playground.

She glanced back just then, realizing what he’d said. “Did Burnett instruct you to watch me drink?”

When he didn’t answer, she knew he had. “That’s ridiculous.”

“He just knows how hard it is to be vampire while trying to coexist with humans.”

She found just a little comfort in knowing it wasn’t just her.

“I hear you’re coming back to Shadow Falls.” Lucas stood beside a swing set.