“Do you see, I told you the Vampire Council was up to no good?”

Della leaned back in her chair. “Do you not have agents trying to get their information?”

“Whose side are you on?” Burnett asked.

“The FRU’s,” she told him, “but I’m not sure there should be sides.”

“Tell that to the Vampire Council,” he snapped back. “They’re the ones who refuse to work with us.”

After a moment of him fuming, Della asked, “Did you get anything else on the bodies?”

“They’ve found a total of twenty now.”

“No identifications yet?” she asked, almost scared of his answer.

“None.”

She almost told him about Natasha being her cousin. She didn’t because she knew he’d discover that her aunt had been murdered. Then he’d discover the connection to her uncle. Maybe she wanted him to discover it? If her uncle killed her aunt, didn’t he deserve to be discovered? Yes, he did, but she wanted a little more time to find her own answers before Burnett started stirring up the pot.

And it had nothing to do with her thinking her father was guilty.

It didn’t, she told herself as she walked back to her cabin. When she looked up and saw the stars, instead of appreciating the night, she realized another day had passed and Natasha and Liam were still trapped.

Or dead. The thought whispered through her mind, and as much as she wanted to deny it, a part of her feared that she believed what Bao Yu wanted to believe. What if her aunt just refused to believe Natasha was dead?

*   *   *

Call it growth, or weakness … she didn’t know which, but Della finally accepted she needed to reach out for help and support. Instead of locking herself away in her room, she went to the fridge, got out three diet sodas, and waited for her two best friends to come home.

About fifteen minutes later, they came in, smelling like smoke. They’d obviously been at a bonfire.

When they stepped in and saw her, then the diet sodas, their laughter halted.

“What’s wrong?” Kylie asked, and they both took up their places at the table.

“Everything,” Della said. Her problems spun in her head and she wasn’t sure she could fix any of them. Powerless. That’s how she felt. Even though she had more now than she’d ever had.

So she started with that truth, the one she should have told them weeks ago. She wasn’t just a normal vampire anymore. She didn’t tell them that Burnett was a Reborn, but she refused to keep secrets from them anymore.

They sat there and looked at her, then at each other, and then Miranda said, “Tell us something we don’t know.”

“You knew? How?”

“We saw you flying way faster than you should have,” Kylie said.

“And once, you flew off the porch and didn’t even run,” Miranda added. “We were wondering when you were going to ’fess up. I told Kylie I was giving you about another week and then we were going to have to call you out.”

Della made a face. “I hate getting called out.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Kylie asked, almost sounding hurt.

“Burnett suggested I not tell you. So you can’t mention it.”

“What happens at the kitchen table stays at the kitchen table,” Miranda said and turned a fake key on her lips. Kylie nodded.

“Now tell us what’s really wrong,” Kylie said.

Della explained the whole bond thing—how she didn’t like thinking it was real, but feared it was.

They listened. Commiserated. But didn’t offer any real advice. How could they? They didn’t understand it any more than she did.

“Did you get anything more from the ghost?” Of course, Kylie would guess her issues had to do with the ghost.

Della told them what Burnett had found, and then how she’d gone to see her aunt Miao. Her voice shook a little when she told them how hard it was to see her—someone she’d been cut off from because her parents thought she was doing terrible things. It shook a little harder when she told them what Burnett had found and now believed.

Kylie just sat there and didn’t say anything, but Della could tell she agreed with Burnett.

So then she told them about knowing for certain the ghost was her aunt Bao Yu, and about Natasha being her cousin.

“The crazy thing is,” Della said, “when I asked my aunt about Bao Yu’s death, it was almost as if Bao Yu was waiting to hear. As if she didn’t know what happened.”

“That’s not that unusual,” Kylie said. “Especially if it was a violent death. They block it out to protect themselves.”

“So the vision she gave me could mean nothing?” Della asked.

Kylie hesitated. “It has to mean something. Maybe it’s what she thinks happened.”

“Does this ever get any easier?” Della muttered.

“Not even a little bit,” Kylie answered. “Every ghost brings a new challenge.”

Miranda squirmed in her chair. “Not to change the subject. Well, that’s a lie, I really don’t like talking about ghosts. But you told us about the bond thing, but … did anything happen with Chase tonight? Did any hands or noses go places they shouldn’t?”

Della exhaled, and growled. She hadn’t really planned on dishing about that, but why the hell not? “He kissed me. Three or four, maybe five, times.”