Part 34 (2/2)
She leaned closer to him. ”I happen to know that he's gone against the FRU and their rules to protect someone. He's put his job on the line for the school. And even you made the point that he coddles his agents. Why do you think that is?” She poked him in the chest with her finger. ”Could it be because he cares?”
”Could it be that he's not the only one?” Chase snapped back.
”The Vampire Council doesn't care.”
She went to poke him again and he caught her finger, his eyes bright. He leaned in, she thought to give her more h.e.l.l, but she was wrong.
”I wasn't talking about the council. I'm talking about me.”
His lips met hers in a kiss that tasted like anger, pa.s.sion ... he tasted good.
So good.
He let go of her finger and one hand came to the back of her neck, the other cradled the back of her head. Della's hand dropped to press against his chest.
The kiss deepened and so did Della's confusion.
His tongue slipped between her lips. She allowed it. Welcomed it.
Finally, seeing reason, she pulled back. ”You can't just kiss me to avoid answering.”
”Really?” He drew her closer and kissed her again.
And d.a.m.n it, she let him.
She finally pushed back. ”Answer me,” she said, but without a lot of conviction.
He smiled at her. ”I forgot the question.”
She wanted to smack that smile off his face, especially when she realized she'd forgotten the question, too.
He pa.s.sed a finger over her lips, and the s.e.xy way he looked at her told her he was about to kiss her again. She caught his finger this time. ”Why haven't you arranged a meeting with me and the Vampire Council?”
”I have. We're going there before we go to the airport to pick up Damian Bond.”
”Why didn't you tell me?”
”I was going to, but ever since you showed up at my place earlier, all I've focused on was coming to see your aunt.” He pulled his finger free and touched her chin. ”Now, will you answer my questions?”
”What questions?”
”Natasha is Chan's sister?”
”No,” Della said and decided to tell him the truth. ”The ghost is Natasha's mom. She gave Natasha up for adoption.”
”So you had another aunt?”
”I guess the council missed that in their report, huh?”
”I guess so,” he said and looked concerned. She almost asked if he knew about her uncle. The question sat on the tip of her tongue.
”How did Natasha's mom die?”
”She was murdered,” Della said, but she couldn't bring herself to tell him more.
Questions and concerns quickly started forming in Della's head. ”Because Chan and I were both Reborns, does that mean Natasha will be, too?”
”It's not a given, but her odds are fifty/fifty.”
Della started thinking about other odds. ”I've heard that in families that carry the virus, the odds of them actually getting turned are like one in a hundred. And only then when they're young.” This was why Della hadn't really worried about her sister. ”Do those odds of being turned go up if you belong to one of the bloodlines that are more likely to be Reborn?” When he didn't answer immediately, she asked, ”Are my sister and Meiling at a higher risk of being turned?”
He nodded. ”The statistics are that one in ten of the stronger bloodlines are actually susceptible to being turned.”
”So, me being around my sister or my cousin can expose them?”
”It's exposed only through blood. Like the HIV virus. So just being with them isn't going to get them turned.”
Della sat back in her seat and tried to digest what she knew.
”Hey,” he said and touched her shoulder. ”Don't worry about things that haven't happened. Let's worry about saving Natasha and Liam right now.”
She looked at him, and knowing he was right, she nodded.
He spoke again. ”You said you felt as if the ghost wanted you to come here. Did you learn anything that would help?”
She tried to consider everything she'd learned. ”I don't think so.” She looked at Chase and offered him more of the truth. ”I think this is about something else.”
”Like what?”
”She wants me to find out who killed her.”
”Okay,” he said, sounding leery. ”Do you think you know who did it?”
She looked at Chase and debated telling him everything again. She almost did, then stopped. Oddly, it wasn't because she didn't trust him, but because he already held a prejudice against her father. She didn't need him a.s.suming the worst right now.
”Can we just try to find Natasha and Liam?”
”Okay,” he said, but his expression said he didn't like it. ”What do you want to do? Where do you want to go?”
”Back to Uck's,” she said.
”You still think the were you got a trace of at the restaurant has something to do with Natasha?”
”I do,” she said. ”And so does the ghost. She's the reason I knew it was werewolves that the rogue was scared of last night.”
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