The roar of the falls had echoed in the distance. There was no way, even with her vampire hearing, that she could hear the falls from her cabin. Which meant the falls were calling her.
The falls, being that magical but creepy place where the death angels—mystical beings who stood in judgment of all supernaturals—were said to hang out.
The sound of the falls echoed louder.
“Don’t worry. I’m coming.” She wouldn’t back out, and not simply because it called her—Della had never been one to come when called. She made this trip because she’d remembered something Kylie had once told her. I go to the falls to find answers.
If those death angels could answer Kylie’s questions, then by damn, they could answer Della’s. Never mind that last time she’d gone there after feeling called, someone … as in the death angels themselves … had clobbered her on the head with a rock.
A nervous tickle whispered through her, but she kept going. For the answers, she’d risk it.
But if it was the death angels that knocked her on the head, they’d best be forewarned. This time, she’d be a hell of a lot harder to take down.
* * *
As Della neared the falls, her tickle of unease evaporated, and a sense of well-being grew in her chest.
She stepped between the trees and caught sight of the cascading water. She turned her head side to side, wanting to take it all in. Trees circled the area. Their limbs arched above, almost hugging the area of the falls, making it feel like a special little alcove. The sun, still new to the morning, cast its first golden hue of light through the trees. The air smelled fresh, verdant, and peaceful. She’d never considered what peaceful smelled like, but she knew it now.
The ambience reminded Della of a Buddhist temple she’d visited in China when she was twelve. Without explanation, she suddenly knew the death angels hadn’t hit her on the head.
“So who was it?” She muttered the question aloud, not the least bit paranoid to be voicing her question to the empty woods.
Just because she couldn’t see them didn’t mean they weren’t there.
She wasn’t alone.
She sensed it. For the first time since she’d woken up from that coma after being Reborn, she felt … less alone. Complete.
“Who was what?” The voice blended with the rush of the falls.
Her heart leapt and her gaze shot to a spot in the curtain of water that blurred as a figure emerged.
Recognition hit and Della’s sense of peacefulness shattered.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Probably the same thing you are.” Chase’s gaze whispered over her. “I kept hearing it last night.”
“You followed me,” she accused.
He smirked. “Now you’re not even being logical. I was here first. If anyone was followed, you followed me.”
“I didn’t.” Ambivalence rumbled around inside her, and had her clenching her fist. Should she hightail it out of here and continue with her vow not to speak to him until he told her the truth about who had sent him? Or should she cross over the water and go vamp on his butt to get the truth out of him?
She knew which one she wanted to do. Oddly, kicking ass—in a place where peace flavored the air—felt wrong. Decision made, she swerved around and started walking. Hopefully he’d follow her to a less than holy place and she could kick his butt then.
“Whoa! Stop!” he called.
She ignored him. Ignored the sound of the falls. She kept walking, her focus on the ground, the way the wet earth squished around the edges of her boots. Gaze still lowered, suddenly, another pair of wet leather boots appeared in her line of vision.
She stopped, but didn’t look up. Didn’t have to. She knew they were Chase’s boots. Her heart did another tumble. His speed still awed her.
Am I that fast now?
She hadn’t really had a chance to test her limits. Not with Burnett micromanaging her powers. Not with all her pressing issues.
But those issues didn’t need her immediate attention, so she nudged those thoughts aside to deal with the problem at hand—or rather, the problem at her feet. Chase. Lifting her gaze, the visual details—Chase details—hit her at once. She stared, soaking them all in like a hungry sponge.