Unspoken: Shadow Falls: After Dark (2 page)

“We will.” Della watched the elderly woman move to the counter. Then plastering on what she hoped was a friendly expression—but still irritated by Lilly’s rudeness—she faced the blonde. “Did you finish your hamburger?”

“Yeah.”

“Then maybe you can drop me back home.” She didn’t know if Chase had been serious about coming by or if she could add that to his list of lies. Probably a lie, but she should be there, just in case. She wouldn’t let him get away this time.

“But we’re going over to Susie’s to watch a movie.”

“Yeah. Sorry, I’m just not up to hanging out. It’s that time of the month.” She pressed a hand low on her abdomen. It was of course another lie—Aunt Flow had already come and gone. But Mother Nature had plagued women with the monthly curse, and Della figured that meant women had the right to use it as an excuse whenever needed.

Lilly frowned. “But your mom already…” She shut her mouth and even curled her lips as if wanting to pull the words back in.

“My mom already … what?” Della asked, sensing Lilly had her own secrets.

The girl rolled her green eyes, and Della remembered she’d never really cared too much for Lilly. Even before she’d gone off to Shadow Falls, she and Lilly had drifted apart. “Spill it,” Della snapped.

“Your mom paid me to get you out of the house.”

Della stood there, mortified and furious that her mom had paid someone to be her friend. Della had friends. She had the two best friends in the world back at Shadow Falls.

Right then she wanted nothing more than to go home, grab her bags, and get back to where she belonged. Where she didn’t feel like a monster.

“It’s not like I didn’t want to see you or anything. But I wasn’t going to turn down twenty bucks.”

“Take me home.” Leaving the stench of grease and beef behind, Della hurried out of the restaurant, fighting the temptation to fly home herself. When the cold Texas air hit her face, she inhaled and swallowed the tears down her throat. She might be hurting on the inside, but she’d be damned if she’d let Lilly know it.

*   *   *

Della didn’t say another word. When the car stopped in front of her house, Lilly looked at her. To the girl’s credit, she looked sorry. “Should I return your mom’s money?”

“No. Keep it.” Della jumped out and stopped outside her front door to listen. Her sister was staying over at a friend’s house. With any luck, Della could sneak upstairs without a confrontation. She didn’t hear the television on. Slowly she turned the knob and made a mad dash inside.

The living room was empty—thank God. She got to the bottom of the staircase and had her foot on the first step when she heard a whisper of music from her dad’s study. Della recalled when she would have been in that study with him, playing chess, laughing, and solving the world’s problems. Or at least solving Della’s problems. Whatever was going on in her life, her father had advice.

Now, there was no advice. He barely acknowledged her presence. As he had done every night in the three weeks that she’d been home, he’d already barricaded himself in his room. She wondered if he hid in there to avoid her. Then again, with a murder conviction hanging over his head, he was probably hiding from life. Earlier today she’d heard him tell her mom that he didn’t know how long he could continue to work. People were whispering behind his back.

I’m so sorry, Dad.
The knot in Della’s throat doubled. It was her fault. Her fault that the cold-case file of her aunt, Bao Yu’s, murder had been pulled and reopened. Her fault that her father was being falsely accused of murder.

Yes, the blood on the knife used to kill her aunt had been a perfect match to her father’s. Only an identical twin could carry the same blood. Too bad Uncle Eddie, her father’s identical twin, had already faked his death. Something most teens did when they were turned vampire. Living with a human family and trying to hide your new nature was near impossible. Della knew that all too well.

Right then it hit her. If she’d done it, if she’d faked her own death, walked away, none of this would have happened. Her family wouldn’t be suffering now.

She had her foot on the second stair when her mom stuck her head out from the kitchen. “Why are you back so early?”

Don’t do it. Don’t do it. Make up some shit.
She opened her mouth, waiting for some lie to form, to slip out, but damned if the humiliation she’d felt earlier didn’t peak again and her temper got the best of her.

“Guess you didn’t pay Lilly enough.” Della tore off up the stairs. This time she couldn’t swallow the tears.

Chapter Two

Della got to her room and dropped face first on her bed, her chest a big ball of pain. She heard her mom’s footsteps and wanted to kick herself, really hard, for not keeping her mouth shut. Her mom already had too much on her plate. But damn, didn’t she know how much she’d embarrassed her?

“Della?” Her mom opened the door.

“I’m tired, Mom. I want to sleep,” she said into her pillow, praying her voice didn’t shake.

The mattress shifted with her mom’s weight. “She … told you?”

Della nodded.

“I … was trying to help.”

She felt her mom’s hand on her back. She rolled over and popped up, not wanting her mother to notice her cool body temperature. Every time her mom touched her, Della saw the concern in her eyes.

“I don’t need help.” Della pulled her knees to her chest and hugged them. “I certainly don’t need you paying people to be my friends. I have friends, lots of them, at school.”

“But you’re not at that school now. It’s not like … I didn’t … She was helping me out with my groceries and I mentioned she should come over and see you. Then I didn’t have any change to give her, so I just dropped a twenty in her hands and said she could come by.”

“Just forget it, okay?” Della asked.

“Maybe if you enrolled back in your old school you’d get reacquainted with your old friends and you’d be … happier.”

“No. I’m happy. As soon as things … calm down here, I’ll go back to Shadow Falls Academy.”

Tears filled her mom’s eyes. “Honey, it could be a long time before things … calm down. The trial could be months away.”

“It’s not going to trial. They’re going to realize it’s a mistake and dismiss the charges.” At least according to Burnett, one of Shadow Falls’s owners and a member of the Fallen Research Unit (FRU), the supernatural equivalent of the FBI, and the half-warlock lawyer he’d sent to assist in her father’s defense.

Tears filled her mom’s eyes. “I want to believe that, Della, but we have to be realistic.”

Realistic?
Della stared at the pain in her mom’s eyes. The realization kicked Della in the stomach. No, right in the heart. “Oh, God, you think…” Emotion filled her throat. “You think he did it. You think Daddy killed his sister? How could you believe that? You know him better than that.”

“I don’t think…” Her mom swallowed hard. “It’s just the evidence—”

“I don’t give a shit about the evidence. Dad didn’t do this.”

“I believe that.” Her mom wiped a few tears from her lashes. “But honey, he doesn’t remember what happened. He was knocked unconscious. He can’t even testify to his innocence.”

The room’s temperature instantly started falling. Falling fast. Only one thing could make a room go that cold, that quick. They had company. The dead kind.

He was not unconscious!

The words rang in Della’s head—for her ears only. She let her gaze shift up. There, in front of the window, midair, hung the ghost of her aunt. She wore the bloody gown again. It flowed back and forth as if some unfelt breeze stirred it. Tears ran down her cheeks, but she looked angrier than she was sad. She hadn’t shown herself since Della left Shadow Falls.

Let my mother talk,
Della said in her head.

It was the first time her mom had said anything about her dad’s account. Her dad would never talk to Della about it, so this was as close as she could get to hearing it from him.

“Tell me what happened, Mom.” The more Della knew, the better her chances of helping, but would her mother tell her?

Her mom rubbed her hands up her arms, fighting the cold. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“No,” Della said. “I deserve to know.”

“Honey, your father—”

“I’m part of this family. It’s hurting all of us. We can’t keep secrets.”

A tear slipped from her mom’s lashes. “That’s just it, I don’t know anything.” The cold caused steam to rise from her lips. Della hoped her mother couldn’t see it. “The only thing he’s told me is that he woke up when the paramedics were there. His sister was … dead. He said there was blood everywhere. To this day he has nightmares about it. He got so upset that his parents sent him to a psychologist and they committed him for a while at St. Mary’s.”

“The mental institution?” Della asked.

Her mom nodded.

“Sharron,” her dad called out her mom’s name.

Her mom’s gaze filled with guilt. She wiped her tears away. “Yes, hon. I’m in here.”

Footsteps sounded on the stairs. He stopped in the doorway. His gaze went to Della and—as he always did when he saw her—he flinched. Maybe not physically, but mentally. He’d blink and his pupils would change sizes. What was it about her that caused him so much pain?

“You’re home.” Disappointment echoed in his tone. His eyes shifted to her mom. “I thought she went out.” He tucked his hands into his pockets.

“I came back. You were in the study so I didn’t bother you.” Della hoped she sounded normal, but it was hard when the ghost stood there, blood dripping from her white gown, staring at Della’s dad with murder in her eyes.

“Why is it so cold up here?” he asked. “Have you been playing with the thermostat?”

“No, sir,” Della said.

He walked out. Della sat there, holding the hurt inside while freezing on the outside. Glancing back at the ghost, Della prayed that it didn’t start snowing. The ghost had done that once before.

Her mom watched her dad leave. She stared at the empty doorway for a second before she turned back to Della. Relief and more guilt filled her mom’s eyes. She squeezed Della’s hand, as if in some kind of unspoken apology. Thankfully, it was so cold that the chill in her mom’s hands matched Della’s body temperature.

Then her mom dropped Della’s hand and stood up. She was almost out the door when she looked back. “I just want you to be happy, baby.”

With the sound of her mom’s footsteps treading down the stairs, Della glanced back at the angry ghost, who stood shaking her head.

Lies. It’s all lies. He remembers. He remembers everything!

“Do
you
remember?” Della asked, knowing how unreliable ghosts were. Apparently, death, especially a violent death, did a number on your psyche, making memory recall and communicating difficult.

Enough to know he’s lying,
she said.

“You think he killed you?” Della asked.

The spirit stood there, pain and regret so clear on her face.

“What if it wasn’t my father, but your brother, Feng?”

She tilted her head to the side as if remembering.
No, Feng was already … He died. There was a car accident.

Maybe it was time to tell her aunt the truth. “No, he’s vampire like me and your daughter, Natasha. Remember, you had me find Natasha? And there was Chan, too. Chan faked his own death to protect his parents from finding out that he was vampire. Just like Feng did.”

Bao Yu’s eyes glazed over. A dead glaze. Did she not understand?

“Tell me. Tell me exactly what happened.” Della braced herself to hear details. When her aunt still didn’t speak, Della added, “Or show me.” Her chest tightened at the suggestion. Ghosts could pull you into their thoughts, where you basically lived through their experiences. A month ago the ghost had given her a quick glimpse of that night. The vision of someone standing over her dead aunt with a knife. Someone who looked just like her father.

If she could find her uncle, Burnett would attempt to get a supernatural judge on her father’s case. Maybe even get it dismissed. But they needed proof. They needed her uncle.

“I’m serious,” Della said. “Show me.”

It’s too ugly.

Della clenched her fist. “In the vision you did show me, Feng was standing over you with a knife. Did he kill you? Think, Bao Yu. Think.”

No. Feng, he … he didn’t have the … Chao, he …
The spirit closed her eyes, as if reliving the vision.
It wasn’t Feng. It was Chao.

The apparition faded.

Gone.

Della muttered words her mom would ground her for saying.

Then with her vampire hearing, she listened to her parents talking, whispering below. While it was rude, she popped out of bed and went to stand in the hall to listen. Her three weeks here had gained her nothing, no new information. How was she going to help figure things out if her parents wouldn’t confide in her?

“Why?” her mom asked, speaking to her father. Her voice was a mere whisper, but her tone was tight, filled with angst. “Why do you treat her like that?”

Della’s breath caught.

“Like how?” Her father’s words bit back. “All I did was ask her if she’d messed with the thermostat.”

“It’s not what you asked, it’s how. Didn’t you hear her answer, ‘No, sir’? Like you’re a drill sergeant. It’s as if everything you say to her is an accusation. She’s our daughter! Don’t you love her?”

Della swallowed the painful lump.

She waited for her father’s answer, afraid of his answer.

“She’s just…”

“Just what?” her mom asked.

“She’s changed. She’s not the same.”

Changed?
Della leaned against the wall. Hell, yeah, she’d changed. She’d become a vampire, but he didn’t know that. And no way in hell could she tell them.

“Of course she’s changed. She’s growing up.”

“No, it’s more than that. And I did nothing wrong,” her father snapped. “I’ve got too much going on to worry about … this. I don’t understand why she’s here. It makes things harder. Send her back.”

Della put her palm over her mouth. Tears, tears hotter than her skin, rolled over the back of her hand.