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“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.”
