Part 34 (1/2)
”Yeah, but the Vampire Council's files are practically the same.”
There it was again, the feeling that he knew more than he'd told her. ”Do you still have that file?”
”No,” he said without looking at her. ”Once a case is over, you turn it back in.”
”What else did it say?”
”Just normal stuff. Where you lived, your parents' names.”
Something wasn't adding up, but she couldn't put her finger on it. ”So, if you knew their names, why didn't you get that it was my aunt that called when we were in the closet?”
He lifted up one eyebrow and half smiled. ”When we were in the closet, I had my mind on something else.”
She frowned at him. Then bam, her brain found that thing that bothered her. ”So, in this file you had, it listed that I was at Shadow Falls?”
”Yes.”
She tightened her eyes. ”Then why did you join the Blades? You told me you'd joined them looking for me and that's where we met.”
He stared straight ahead and his hands tightened on the steering wheel.
”Answer me, d.a.m.n it! And look at me when you do it!”
He turned and met her gaze. ”The Vampire Council knew you were being sent on that mission. They didn't want me going into Shadow Falls at first because they were afraid Burnett would be on to me.”
”How?” she asked.
”How what?” he came back.
”How did you know I was going on that mission?”
His jaw muscles tightened. ”Why are we talking about this instead of talking about how this visit is going to help us find Natasha and Liam?”
”Because I need to trust you to work with you.”
He jerked the car over into a parking lot, cut off the engine, and then slammed his hand on the steering wheel. ”You don't trust me? I gave you my blood, went through the turn with you-which was d.a.m.n painful, in case you don't remember-and I gave you some of my power. And you still think I'm out to hurt you?”
Fueled by his anger, she squared off. ”I didn't say you would hurt me. I think you're hiding things. Or not telling me things. And just for the record, I didn't ask you to bond with me. I seem to remember telling you I didn't want you to do it!”
He growled, tightened his grip on the steering wheel, pressed his head back, and closed his eyes. ”You are the most stubborn-”
”Not any more than you!” she seethed. ”Just answer my questions. How did you know I was going on that mission?”
He turned his head, loosening his grip on the wheel. ”And you'll report it right back to Burnett, correct?”
She didn't see any reason to lie. ”Probably.”
He exhaled loudly. ”So, to win your trust, I have to betray the council?”
”Yes,” she said.
He looked appalled that she'd made it that clear.
He stared at her for a second as if debating, and then answered. ”There's a leak in the FRU. And before you ask, I don't know who it is. And from what I hear, they don't even give away anything that would really be detrimental to the organization.”
She believed him, not so much about the detrimental part, but about him not knowing who it was. But since he was finally answering questions, she had a few more. ”What was the mission with me and Chan?”
”What do you mean?” he asked.
”What exactly was your mission?” she repeated, her patience thinning.
”I was to check on you, attempt to help you both through the rebirth.”
”So, you were sent to bond with one of us?”
”No, that was totally at my discretion. I was there to try to make sure you kept up your strength. I told you that it's been proven that those who are in better physical condition have a higher survival rate. Remember me making you run?”
She nodded. ”Now all I need to know is why and who?”
”Why and who what?”
”Why were you sent and who initiated it?”
”I just told you that I was sent to help you through the rebirth.”
”So they have a list of every possible Reborn?”
His expression tightened with more frustration. ”I don't know what all they have ... but I do know they know that there are only a few bloodlines that lead to rebirths, so maybe they do.” He pa.s.sed a hand over his face and then glared at her. ”Do you know what all the FRU has?”
No, she didn't. But she wasn't satisfied. ”There has to be a reason they sent you, Chase. In a perfect world, maybe they just care about people. But this isn't a perfect world. And I don't think the Vampire Council gives a s.h.i.+t about a few people dying unless it's in their benefit to make sure they don't.”
”They aren't the monsters you make them out to be. The problems between the council and the FRU are political. Not because one of them is evil and the other isn't.”
She heard what he said, but she was too busy trying to answer her own questions. All of a sudden, an answer came to her. ”Did they send you so that I would come to work for them? Or maybe that I would be one of their spies in the FRU? Is that what they really wanted? What they want?”
”I already told you they want you to come and work for them.”
”But was that their plan all along? Save me, then use you to try to convince me to become a traitor?”
Chapter Thirty-five.
”A traitor?” Chase asked. ”So the Vampire Council is terrible to ask you to work for them? What the h.e.l.l do you think Burnett has been doing since he discovered that I'm a Reborn? Is the man you hold the utmost respect for evil for trying to get me to work for the FRU? For that matter, why the h.e.l.l do you think he's working with Shadow Falls? Or haven't you noticed how many of the students are working for the FRU? He's handpicking the cream of the crop.”
His point gave Della pause, but only for a second. ”Burnett cares. He'd die for any of the students at Shadow Falls. And he didn't get involved with the camp just so he would have access to the students.”
”Oh, I'm sure that never crossed his mind,” Chase said with sarcasm.