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“Now I just have to convince my mom that going the supernatural route to medicine is what’s right for me.”
“I’m sure she’ll be proud of you either way,” Della said.
“Oh, hell, no. She’s doing everything she can to try to get me to enroll in regular medical school. I know she means well, but I just don’t understand why she can’t let me follow my own dreams.”
“Most parents don’t understand.” She thought about her parents, her father, and wondered what he thought he understood … what he believed. In her mind, she saw the way he looked at her these last few months. Was he really afraid of her?
“How are things at your home?” Steve asked, as if reading her mind.
“Crazy,” she said. “I’m guessing you heard about my dad.”
“Yeah. I’m sorry. I know that has to be hard.”
She nodded.
After a moment, he asked, “What changed?”
“What do you mean? I thought we weren’t going to talk about us.”
“No, I didn’t … I mean you coming back to Shadow Falls. I heard you went back to try to help out.”
She gave Baxter a slow pass of her hand across his back. “My being there wasn’t helping. It made things worse.”
“Not intentionally, I’m sure,” he said.
She stared at the dog. “No.” A bird called out in the night. “I think my dad knows.”
“Knows what?”
“That I’m vampire.” She glanced up, unsure why she’d told Steve this. She hadn’t even told Kylie or Miranda yet. Chase knew, but only because he’d eavesdropped. But the second she looked into the shape-shifter’s eyes, she understood her reasons. This was Steve. He’d always been so easy to talk to. He was safe. Even safer than before, she realized.
Perhaps he’d always been safe, but it hadn’t always felt that way. Now it did.
She didn’t have that need to run away, or to keep him at a distance. She wasn’t the least bit afraid. That, she realized, was what had changed.
And just exactly what did that mean?
* * *
Chase finished up with the sketch. Once outside the headquarters, he pulled out his phone and checked the time. Looking around, he spotted a bird in a tree. Was it just any bird, or was Burnett still having him followed?
Was he taking a chance?
He remembered the kiss he’d shared with Della. The one that she’d initiated, not him. And damned if that hadn’t felt good. Sooner or later, she’d understand that they were perfect for each other. She had to, didn’t she?
Maybe after she got her dad off, then they could start all over. A fresh start—one where she knew he was her choice, one where kisses and having a half-naked Della in his arms weren’t so uncommon.
And tonight’s little excursion might bring that about sooner. It might lead him to Douglas Stone. Burnett would get pissed, but, in a way, it had been his suggestion.
He dialed Leo. “We still on for later tonight?” he asked as soon as the guy answered the phone.
“Yeah, but Chase, are you really sure you want to do this? I’m sneaking you in, so I can’t send the guards in with you. I’ll be the only one covering the back entrance, which means I can’t go in.”
“I know,” he said. “I’ll be fine.”
“We’ve lost three people this year. They thought they would be fine, too. And they weren’t in there alone.”
“Let me worry about that.”
