Almost Midnight (7 page)

She frowned, not liking that her feelings about her parents had been so visible. “You're not fae, you can't read my emotions. So stop trying.” She took two steps and then looked back. “I'm calling it a night.”

He dropped his chair down. “It's still early.” Their gazes met. “I'm sorry I said what I did. I just thought … I told you about my parents and … We don't have to talk about that. Choose a subject and we'll talk about whatever.”

Ignoring the soft pleading in his voice, she went to the Walmart bag she'd dropped on the sofa. She pulled out one sheet, one blanket, and snagged the other pillowcase. “We have to be up at three thirty. Don't bother me.”

*   *   *

She sprayed the bed three times with disinfectant, made it, and then used the old bedding to make it look like she was under the blanket. If he peeked in, he'd hopefully assume she was out cold—pun intended.

It was, Della thought, the thing she hated most about being a vamp. Drinking blood she could handle, but when someone accidentally brushed up against her and flinched at her body temperature, she felt … like a monster.

She knew why, too. It had been the thing that kept Lee from touching her after she'd been turned.
You just don't feel right,
he told her.
You're cold. I think you're still sick.

A crazy thought came. Would Steve not like how she felt? She pushed the thought away, because seriously, it didn't belong in her mind. Tilting her head to the side, she listened for the shape-shifter. When she'd been making her bed, she'd heard him doing the same to the sofa. He must be sleeping now, because she could only hear the very subtle sound of someone breathing.

The conversation they'd had earlier about his parents floated through her head and whispered across her heart with a tug of emotion. He almost sounded resigned to the bad relationship with his parents. Or was he just pretending—like she so often did?

Realizing she'd let Steve consume her thoughts, she blew out a deep whoosh of air. Then moving to the window, she quietly raised it. She stood there just a second, listening to the night's song, before she climbed out. She perched on the ledge a long second before she took off.

The dark September air felt cool, cooler than her skin. Her hair whipped around her head and scattered across her face, occasionally obscuring her vision. A sound, a slight wisp of air came from her left. Was something following her? She raised her head to catch any scents. She didn't sense any other creature, but with so much wind coming at her, she wasn't sure if her sense of smell was accurate.

Without slowing down, she glanced back. Nothing but the night chased her.

She considered how close she was to the vampire compound and the rogue gang. Fear danced on her skin, but she pushed it aside. If it was them, she already had a cover for being there. Surely they would ask questions before they attacked. She hoped.

In a few minutes, she spotted the lake that ran by her parents' house and started descending. Her heart shifted from fear to something even more uncomfortable. Grief.

She came down a block from her house at the neighborhood park. Her black jeans and black tank top helped her blend into the darkness.

Moving in the shadows so no one would spot her, she saw lights on in her parents' dining room. Either her family was eating late, or they were playing board games. Her mom loved board games.

Easing between the bushes and the house, the neighbor's dog, the crotch-smelling canine Champ, barked from the neighbor's backyard. Then Della heard laughter.

Her father's laugh.

Her heart gripped and her throat tightened. She hadn't even seen him smile since she'd left for Shadow Falls. Easing in ever so carefully, she looked into the window.

The scene looked like something from a movie on the Family Channel, a family spending time together. A family she really didn't belong to anymore.

Tears prickled her eyes when she saw them. Her mom, her sister, and her dad playing Scrabble. They looked so happy, so … complete. Didn't they miss her, even a little bit?

A twig snapped behind her, and her heart rose to her throat. Della swung around. Champ, a mix of Lab and German shepherd, stared at her, or was he staring in the window? His tail slowly started thumping.

“How did you get out?” she whispered to the dog as she felt a tear slip down her cheek. He lowered his head, whimpered, and rubbed his snout against her knee. “What? No crotch smelling tonight? I'm hurt.”

The canine looked up at her as if he actually missed her. How could that be, a neighbor's dog missed her when her own family didn't?

Moving out from behind the bushes, Della gave the dog another scratching behind his ears. She brushed a lingering tear from her eye and took off.

In less than five minutes, she landed at Lee's house. When the garage door opened, she flashed to the side of the house. As the car pulled out, she saw Lee in the driver's seat.

Where was he going? On a date? Her heart knew it. Her heart also said that she should just go back to the cabin. She didn't need to see it.

But she did.

Kylie had told Della a thousand times that she needed to move past Lee. Maybe this was the answer. Maybe if she saw Lee with someone else, she could let go. She could stop hoping that he'd come to his senses and would run back to her, begging for a second chance.

She followed him to a house on the other side of the subdivision. She waited for a few minutes in the shadows, still hoping maybe she'd been wrong. Maybe this was just one of his friends.

When he walked out with a girl, an Asian girl, at his side, the knot in Della's chest came back. This was the fiancée. The one he'd told Della his parents had pushed him into marrying. Seeing this should have been enough. Seeing how she clung to his arm. She should have left right then, but no. When they got in the car, she followed them to the restaurant.

The Red Dragon. It was a restaurant owned by some friends of Lee's parents. His mother had tried to get Della and Lee to go there several times. But Lee always said he didn't want to eat Chinese food. He had enough of that at home.

Why did he want Chinese food now?

She landed in front of the restaurant while Lee parked the car. She hid behind the tall dragon statue waiting to see them walk past. A hungry-looking kitten came slinking around the building. “Don't have anything. But there's a Dumpster in the back, I can smell it from here,” she whispered and then she heard footsteps.

They were holding hands and the girl, Lee's fiancée, wore a big smile, her eyes bright with laughter. As they walked in the door, Della caught a whiff of Lee's cologne.

Anger surged in her chest. She'd bought that cologne for him last Christmas. Didn't he remember? Did he even care? How could he wear it for this new girl when Della had given it to him?

She waited a good ten minutes, telling herself to leave. Telling herself it was over. But when she tried to fly away, instead she swung around and headed inside.

She told the hostess she was looking for someone and walked past her into the spicy, sesame-scented air. She walked past a large fish tank with colorful fish swimming in circles as if looking for a way out. She continued past a couple and noticed the sound of plastic crinkling as they opened their fortune cookies. Perhaps she should snag one to see her own future.

Because God only knew what she planned to do when she found Lee. Part of her wanted to rip his heart out for using the cologne she'd given him to impress another girl. The other part wanted to drop to her knees and beg him to at least tell her he missed her.

All this time she'd believed Lee was engaged because his parents forced him into it. Now she didn't know what to believe. This didn't look forced. He actually looked … happy.

Leave. Leave. Leave.
The voice of reason screamed in her head. But then she saw them at the back table. Candlelit table. Romantic table. She heard them talking. Not in English, but in Mandarin.

Della spoke Mandarin. Her father had made sure of it. But Lee had never spoken to her in that language. Right then Della knew for certain, she wasn't tossed aside because she'd turned into a vampire. She'd been tossed aside because she was half white.

She heard the girl talking about names. Names they would give their first child. Lee leaned in and kissed her. A romantic kiss that kicked Della right in the gut. From the happiness she heard in Lee's voice, and the way he kissed the girl, Della suspected this choice had been as much his own preference as his parents'.

A waiter must have dropped a tray of food because a loud clatter sounded right behind Della. She knew she should turn and flash away at the sound of the crash, but it was too late. She watched in horror as Lee pulled his hand away from his fiancée's and looked up. She saw his eyes widen at the sight of her. Was it a good widen or an “oh shit” widen? She didn't know.

Leave! Don't stand here and look pathetic.
But her feet felt concreted to the restaurant floor and pathetic was all she could feel. Her gaze locked on his as he stood up and started moving toward her. Right toward her. And she knew she looked even worse than pathetic.

She looked pitiful.

Sad.

She looked alone and heartbroken.

Embarrassment and shame washed over her. But she didn't have time to let it engulf her. Someone grabbed her around the waist and pulled her close. Shocked, she looked up at … at Steve. He smiled down at her.

“I missed you already,” he said and then he kissed her. Not a simple sweet first kiss, but one that involved tongue and … lots of desire.

 

Chapter Three

Della felt the embarrassment seep out of her as something else seeped into her. And it wasn't just Steve's tongue. It was … passion. It was the feeling of being alive. It was hope that her sad little life wasn't over. Since being a vampire, since she'd lost Lee, she'd thought she couldn't feel this anymore. Or maybe she just thought she wouldn't feel it anymore.

Someone cleared their throat. Realizing the familiar disapproving sound came from Lee, she put a hand on Steve's chest and reluctantly pulled back.

She met Steve's eyes briefly. She knew he'd kissed her to save her ass, but she also knew he'd enjoyed it as much as she had. The evidence was there in his warm brown eyes. Even with one of those eyes bruised, she saw the just-been-kissed heat in his gaze.

She turned to Lee. Only to realize she still didn't have a clue what to say to him. “Uh, hey. I…”

“What are you doing here?” Lee asked. “Besides making out in the middle of a restaurant?”

Hadn't he just been kissing his date?

As crazy as it was, Della saw something in Lee she hadn't seen before. Her dad. Or at least his disapproving attitude. Had Lee always been that way and she just now noticed? Or had he changed?

“What's wrong? Can't you talk?” he asked.

His words ran amok around her head and she couldn't decide how they made her feel or how to respond. And if she did decide she wasn't sure her tongue could take speaking orders, it was still in shock at having just had company—Steve's tongue.

“We were having dinner,” Steve answered for her. “Actually, we're celebrating our three-month anniversary.” His gaze went to Della.

“Three months?” Lee asked as if annoyed she'd started dating so soon. But hell, the guy was engaged. Where did he get off thinking … She opened her mouth to say something again but Steve jumped in first.

“I'm sorry,” Steve said. “I didn't introduce myself. You must be an old friend of Della's. I'm Steve…?”

Lee ignored Steve and looked at Della. “I thought you were at that school.”

That school?
Could he not even remember what school she'd been attending? “I am.” She finally got two words out. “We … just slipped out.”

“So you met him at school?” Lee asked and damn if he didn't sound upset. Anger started to spark inside her again. He had no right to be upset. None!

Steve spoke up again. “Love at first sight.” He glanced at her and ran his warm hand around the curve of her waist and pulled her a little closer. His gaze shot back to Lee. “Still don't know how I got so damn lucky.” If so much honesty didn't resonate from his voice, it might have sounded false. For a second she wished she had listened to his heartbeat—another little vampire talent. Had Steve been interested in her at first sight?

Lee's fiancée rose from her chair behind them and stopped at his side. Della couldn't help but notice how pretty she was—pretty in a very traditional Asian way. Her hair was longer, sleeker, and blacker than Della's. Her facial features were doll-like. Beautiful and perfect—a tiny nose, a bow-like mouth, and slanted black eyes that sparkled with intelligence. No doubt, Lee's parents had chosen well.

Or had Lee chosen her? Had he planned to break up with Della all along? He'd seemed pretty happy sitting next to her until Della showed up.

Not that he looked too happy now. He frowned when the girl slipped her arm through his, but he did the right thing and introduced them. “Mei, this is Della, and her … friend.” The word
friend
came out sounding like a four-letter word. “Her friend who obviously likes to fight, if his black eye is any indication.”

Della tensed, ready to tell him that Steve got that black eye standing up for her. Something she suddenly realized that Lee had never done. Not even with his parents.

“Actually,” Steve spoke up again, “we were just wrestling around in bed and Della got me in the eye with her elbow.”

Lee's shoulders tightened and all Della could think was,
Go Steve.

Mei looked up at Lee and seemed to see his reaction. A tightness pulled at the girl's brow as she glanced back at Della. Della recognized that tightness as plain ol' jealousy. She'd felt it tug at her own brow every time she thought of Lee with someone else. Oddly, now Della felt … What did she feel? Angry. Hurt. Sad. But she didn't feel jealous. That meant something, Della knew that, but now wasn't the time to contemplate it.