"Nothing bad is going to happen." Kylie dropped into a chair, losing hope due to their attitude.
"Says who?" Della asked.
"Says me," Kylie answered. "I just ... I don't want to go alone." "Because you're scared," Della insisted. "And for a damn good reason. Don't you know what death angels do?"
Kylie hesitated. "They are the ones who stand judgment of supernaturals."
She repeated what she had heard, but truth was, she didn't completely understand death angels. How could she when no one really wanted to talk about them? Well, no one but Holiday, and most of what she would say was that she had never met one face-to-face.
"Yeah, they are the ones who stand judgment of us and sometimes they dish out the punishment, too," Miranda said. "I knew a girl, Becca.
She was ... toying around with spells on people who pissed her off. People who really didn't deserve it. So maybe she was being bad, but damn, her spells were more an annoyance than anything else. Then two days later, she walked outside and her clothes caught fire. Poof, just like that, she went up in smoke. She's disfigured now, scarred like crazy, and everyone says it was the death angels teaching her a lesson."
"Or maybe it was someone she'd cast a spell on getting even with her," Kylie said.
"They were all questioned by the witches council. Proven innocent."
Kylie shook her head. "We don't even know if death angels really exist. Chances are, they are just powerful ghosts," Kylie said, repeating another thing Holiday had said. If Della and Miranda had heard even half of what Daniel had done by pulling her into his dreams, and pulling her out of her own body and into his so she could relive his death, well, they'd probably think he was a death angel.
Della leaned her chair back on two legs. "If you don't believe they exist, then why do you even want to go?"
"Because if there's even the slightest chance that they exist, and are more powerful than regular ghosts, then they might be able to help me save someone I love." She'd never explained any of this to Della or Miranda.
How could she when the moment either of them heard the word ghost they freaked?
"Save who?" Della, balancing the chair on two legs, started looking around the room as if they had company.
"I don't know. It could be you." Kylie stared right into Della's black eyes. "Or you." She pointed at Miranda. "There's a ghost who just keeps telling me someone I love is going to die. And it's up to me-"
"I hope it's not one of us," Miranda said.
Della snorted. "Maybe it is one of us and we die because you take us and offer us up as a sacrifice to the death angels."
"You know I wouldn't do that." Frustration buzzed around her gut even stronger than before. She tapped her left bare foot on the tile floor, trying to be patient, but her patience seemed to be in short supply lately.
Della shook her head. "I mean, it's bad enough that we have to accept that you have ghosts popping in all the time, but to actually go looking for the death angels..." She dropped the chair down with a whack. "I don't want to wind up with scars all over this face. Nope."
Kylie glared from one friend to the other. "Okay, even if they exist, what have either of you two done that is so bad that ... that they would set you on fire?" She glanced at Miranda. "You aren't casting spells on anyone."
She looked back to Della. "And you don't-"
"You don't know what I've done," Della snapped, her eyes glowed brighter. "Hell, I don't even know what I've done. There's a time when you turn vampire that you lose it completely, and I lost it. I don't know what happened for a whole two days. I don't want to know. Which is why I don't live in a glass house. Why I don't waste a heck of a lot of time judging others. And why I don't go to places where death angels are said to hang out. Maybe you haven't ever sinned, but I'm not perfect."
Kylie heard the undercurrent of guilt in Della's voice. "I don't think you would have done anything that bad."
"I wouldn't bet on it." Miranda made a face. "Look how mean she's to me," Miranda mouthed off.
Della glared at Miranda. "Oh, please, I haven't ever been mean to you."
"Bull crappie," Miranda said. "That's all you've been to me these last few days. I'm hurting and all you've done is poke fun at me."
"Yeah, but I do it out of love. Hoping to make you see what a dumbass you're being. Grieving over a guy who gets his shorts in a wad just because one of his friends kissed you. You should be out kissing all his other friends just to show him that you don't care. Not whining-"
"I'm not a dumbass." Miranda held out her pinky finger.
"I told you never to point that damn pinky at me." Della jumped up and started screaming something about how all witches should be doomed to hell.
Kylie sat there, listening to them sling insults. Then frustrated and completely out of patience, she got up, collected her shoes by the door, and walked out. She stopped outside on the porch to put on her Reeboks.