Eternal (36 page)

Six men sat behind a long table. Della's gaze shifted fast, taking in each of their faces, searching for one face. The face of her father. Or rather, her father's identical twin.

He wasn't there.

Disappointment stirred in her already nervous gut. Though, why she thought it would be that easy was beyond her. But that didn't mean her uncle wasn't behind this.

Chase introduced her. He didn't give the names of the men individually, just calling them the Vampire Council. And she supposed that was all she was going to get.

They didn't stand up, but nodded their heads appropriately. Each of them had a brown mug set in front of them. She'd bet it wasn't coffee in those mugs.

She studied them each briefly. Not one of them was Asian. Two looked Hispanic, one Native American, one African-American, and the other two were Caucasian. Their ages ranged from early thirties to early hundreds. Or at least, that one Hispanic dude appeared older than dirt.

For some reason, she remembered finding herself in the courtroom with the FRU judge and jurors.

In front of the long Benny's table were two chairs.

“Miss Tsang, Mr. Tallman,” the oldest of the group spoke. “Please sit. Would you like something to drink?”

Della found her mouth a little dry, but didn't think her stomach would take anything. She forced herself to move to the chair and to speak. “No, thank you.”

“We have heard wonderful reports from Mr. Tallman about you,” another of the men said.

“I'm sure he exaggerates,” Della answered.

“I doubt that,” said another of the six, one of the blond guys who looked around her father's age.

“She is everything I told you,” Chase spoke up.

The older dude added, “We were delighted to hear you wanted to meet with us. And we shall not pretend that our hope isn't that you intend to join us as one of our agents.”

Okay, this was going to be very tricky.
“I can't say that is my intention at this time. However, I've always been one to like options.”

“Disappointing, but well delivered, young lady,” said another of the six.

“So, what is your intent in meeting us?” asked the eldest.

“I guess you might say curiosity.”

“About us?” the eldest questioned.

“Yes. And more.”

“The ‘more' being?” asked the youngest of the council.

She stiffened her spine and heard Chase shift in his chair beside her. She hadn't gotten this far to be too afraid to ask. “I'm curious as to why you would send an agent to ensure my cousin and I would get though the rebirth?”

“We offer sympathies for your cousin's death,” said the talk dark man on the council.

Sympathies?
She realized she might not be able to be angry at Chase for being unable to save both her and Chan, but … “Could you not have sent two Reborns to help us and saved him as well?” She glanced back to the youngest of the group, who seemed more opt to answer.

“Unfortunately, we do not have the staff to do that,” he said.

“Then how do you have the staff to check on every possible Reborn?”

When he didn't answer right away, she said, “Is there a reason you sent someone to check on my cousin and me?”

“It's apparent that someone with your talents and abilities would be an asset to our team of agents,” answered the youngest of the council again.

“So, you
do
have a list of all potential Reborns?” she asked. “And you send someone out to all of them?”

“We make it our business to stay informed,” said the eldest again.

Della got the sense he wasn't answering her questions as much as placating her.

He waved his aged hand and continued. “We strive to offer help to all those possible.”

But they hadn't strived that hard to save Chan. If they were that concerned, they could have sent two agents, couldn't they?

She heard Chase say something under his breath, but she ignored him. “So who informed you about me and my cousin?”

“You are indeed filled with curiosity, Miss Tsang,” the eldest spoke again. “And if you were working for us, you would have access to a colossal amount of information.”

Della stiffened. Why did that almost sound like a bribe, the same one Chase had offered earlier?
Go work for them and she'd get her answers.

“Considering that I
am
in a sense working for you, I thought you might respect me enough to answer my inquiries now.”

“And we did,” said the eldest.

Bullshit!

“Is there another question you would like to pose?” the man continued. “Perhaps one that might encourage you to join us in our struggles to help provide justice to our kind? If not, I think we shall call this meeting over.”

Something about his tone came off as condescending. “I don't think you've really answered—”

“Enough,” Chase whispered, and reached over and squeezed her hand. Then he stood up. “I appreciate you taking the time for us.”

Della sat there debating the wisdom of speaking out one more time. They hadn't actually done anything to prove her right, nor had they done anything to prove her wrong.

“Good luck finding the missing vampires, Chase. And you, Miss Tsang,” said one of the blond men.

Chase nodded, then looked at her and motioned for her to stand. When she didn't move, he reached down. She stared daggers at his hand, which was literally pulling her up and out.

“Miss Tsang?” one of the council spoke. She looked back over her shoulder, not caring that her eyes were probably bright from fury.

“If you change your mind about working for us, you will find there is a place for you here.”

She swallowed the retort she wanted to give, something about a cold day in hell. Then, without another word, she left the room and restaurant so fast, she probably appeared as a blur to the patrons eating in the front.

It wasn't even five-thirty, but the sun had already set and it was almost dark. She leapt into the passenger seat of the car and waited for Chase to open his door and slide in with a calmness that downright irritated her.

“That was bullshit!” she told him.

“They answered you, Della.”

“They did more talking around my questions than answering them.”

“And you think the FRU is better? You think if I went in there asking questions to the bigwigs of the FRU that I'd get straight answers?”

She remembered her little encounter with those FRU bigwigs. “Maybe not, but why couldn't your council just have told me instead of…?”

“I seem to recall one telling you that you had talent and abilities that we could use. That seemed pretty straightforward to me.”

“Then why didn't it feel like the truth?”

“Maybe you just don't want it to be.” He paused and looked out the front of the car as someone passed by. “What is it you're hoping to learn?”

When she didn't answer, he asked, “Do you want to put blame on them for Chan's death?”

“No. I want…” She almost told him then about her uncle, about the murder of her aunt, then she heard his words from earlier in the car
: If you came to work for them you could ask all kinds of questions.

He swore he hadn't been implying anything, but … she still had a tiny whisper of doubt.

“Maybe I don't know what I want,” she said, and there was some truth in that. Did she really want to find her uncle now that she suspected he'd killed her aunt?

Chase pulled out of the parking lot. “We should probably just head to the airport. Do you know where we're supposed to meet Burnett?”

“He said he'd call.”

Her phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket. “Speak of the devil.”

“So you're admitting he's the devil,” Chase said with a touch of humor.

She cut him a smartass look and answered the phone. “Hey, I was wondering when—”

“Where exactly are you?” Burnett barked.

“About fifteen miles outside of Fallen, we were just heading toward Houston.”

“Where?”

Della recalled the street signs she'd just seen. “We're in the twenty-nine-hundred block of Howell Street.”

“Hold on,” he said, then she heard him say to someone else, “They're close.” And then, “Della, do you know where Cooper Airport is?”

She looked at Chase and he nodded.

“Yeah. Chase knows. What's wrong?”

“We put a man on the plane with Damian Bond. Ten minutes ago, he realized the guy sitting in that seat is only a lookalike. He confessed to our agent that Damian took an earlier flight, a smaller plane that should be arriving at Cooper airport in fifteen minutes. We're pretty sure it's flight ten-twenty-six on Token Airlines. We're already in Houston. Even flying it's going to take us twenty to get there. You might make it in ten if you ditch the car and fly. Both of you should have just gotten his mug shot on your phones.”

Della heard both of their phones ding. Chase looked around for a place to park.

“Stay away from any major streets,” Burnett continued. “It's not quite dark enough, and I don't want you getting spotted.”

“We won't,” Della said.

“And don't … do
not
 … confront Damian. Just follow him. He carries a Glock and he likes using it. You got that?”

“Yeah,” she said.

“Do you understand, Chase?” Burnett barked.

“Yeah,” Chase answered, and he grimaced as he pulled over in a drugstore parking lot beside a patch of trees.

Perfect for taking off.

The line went dead. Della pushed a button and stared at Damian Bond's face.
Ready or not, here we come.

*   *   *

Nine minutes and thirty seconds later, they landed in a wooded lot a half block from the airport. It was the first time since being Reborn that Della had flown that fast. If she wasn't so worried about what they were about to do, she would have really enjoyed it.

The sun had completely faded, only the corner of the western sky held a touch of color to bid the day good-bye.

They didn't speak. No time. If the plane came in early, their last lead to finding Natasha and Liam could be gone. Her blood zinged through her body, preparing to do whatever it took to keep Damian in their sights.

She ran her hand through her winded hair as they headed out of the woods toward the one-story airport.

“Look.” She spotted the lights of a plane already on the ground and rolling in to the airport.

“That's probably him,” Chase said. They hurried their steps, trying not to call attention to themselves as a couple of cars pulled into the airport parking lot. Walking into the building, which was mostly glass, there were about two dozen people standing around waiting for passengers.

Della noted a mom and her two red-haired kids. Burnett's idea of just following Damian seemed like a good one, the last thing she wanted was someone innocent to get hurt.

Following Chase through the crowd, she could see the plane through the glass doors. Passengers were disembarking and waiting at the foot of the steps for their luggage. But so far, she hadn't seen Damian.

She pulled out her phone again to study his face and then slipped it back in her pocket.

“There's Daddy,” said the woman with two kids who'd moved up to the glass. “Wave at Daddy.”

Della glanced at Chase. “We just follow him,” she whispered. “I don't want trouble here.”

“I know.” He glanced at the woman, obviously knowing exactly what Della was thinking.

“There,” he said and her gaze shot to the were walking out of the plane. The light on the outside of the building pointed toward the plane, giving Della a good view. Early thirties maybe, Damian wore jeans and a black jacket, probably to cover his gun. His dark hair was slicked back, reminding her of some mobster. His eyes were too far apart. His mouth too thin. A woman walked out of the plane at the same time, and their suspect, not exactly a gentleman, cut her off to make the steps first. No doubt, he was as ugly as he was mean.

“Let's pull back,” Della said, afraid he would spot two vampires and know they were onto him. Sure he'd smell them, but if they weren't too close he might not suspect they were here for him.

They moved behind the crowd, but Chase stayed between two groups of people so he could keep an eye on their suspect. Della shifted a little to the right behind an older lady so she too had a line of vision. The passengers started moving inside. The noise level in the mostly glass room grew as people greeted each other.

“Shit!” muttered Chase.

“What?” she asked, looking at him and realizing that he wasn't even looking at Damian, but behind them.

Della twisted and saw exactly what had him panicking. Two police cars screeched to a halt in front of the airport. Their lights whirled around giving everything and everyone a blue cast.

“Did Burnett call the police?” Chase seethed.

“I don't think so,” Della said as she watched four officers rush inside the building.

Della grabbed her phone to call Burnett, but before she could dial, a woman screamed. A child cried out.

Then a gunshot.

 

Chapter Thirty-nine

The bullet ricocheted off something metal and binged around the room.

“Police,” screamed one of the four officers behind them. “Get down!”

“Drop your weapon,” ordered another.

Everyone plummeted to the floor. Della and Chase went down on their haunches, both prepared to launch off if needed. Then he put his arm around her, holding her down, and preventing her from seeing. Refusing to be blocked, she knocked his arm away.

Damian and one other man stood in front of the glass wall. Both of them had guns. But Damian had something the other didn't. He held the red-haired baby girl dressed in pink, about the same age as Hannah. He pressed his gun to the screaming child's head as the mother on the floor sobbed.