Eternal (37 page)

“You don't want to do this,” called one officer.

Della again noticed the other guy with the gun. He wasn't supernatural. Did Damian have a human accomplice? Then she noted how the two guys shot each other puzzled looks.

Crap. What were the chances they had two criminals on one plane?

Damian looked back at the officers. “Drop your guns or I'll blow this kid's head off.”

The mother's sobs rang out with others' screams. Della's heart clutched and she felt her canines extend and her eyes stung from the oncoming brightness.

The other guy just stood there, gun out, but appearing stunned. Della glanced back at the officers, wondering which of these guys they were after. Had Damian's crimes become a human problem, or were they after criminal number two?

“Keep your head down,” she heard Chase whisper, but she could barely hear him over the screams of the crowd.

She lowered her head, but cut her eyes up, still able to see what was happening in front.

“There's four of us,” said one of the officers. “And it's not going to end well.”

Damian gave the baby girl a cold look. “Yeah, and we know who it's going to end badly for,” Damian said and lifted his head as if to sniff the air, no doubt picking up on their scents.

“He knows we're here,” she muttered in an almost silent whisper.

“Yeah, but he doesn't know who we are yet,” Chase whispered back. “So keep your head down. We'll have a better chance of overtaking him.”

Feeling her blood fizz in her veins, she could hear her heartbeat hitting her ribs as if it wanted to escape. The child's screams had her wanting to attack.

“Drop your guns or the kid dies!” yelled Damian, but he was busy looking around the crowd for them instead of focusing on the cops.

The mother screamed again and Della saw someone holding the woman back. But no one was holding Della back.

She tightened her calf muscles, ready to lunge, but Chase must have felt her slight movements. His arm came back down on her.

“Not yet,” he said in her ear.

But Della didn't see any choice. She saw Damian's finger go for the trigger. Bolting up, she dove for him, praying she got there in time.

Still airborne, she saw Criminal Number Two turn his gun toward her.

Chase dove in front of her.

The gun exploded.

Chase! Her heart stopped, but she couldn't. She had to save the baby first.

Seconds felt like minutes. She grabbed Damian's right arm and twisted until she heard it break. He dropped the baby, but the mother bolted over and caught it. Damian's gun clanked to the floor and Della kicked it and heard it skid across the tile. Then with force propelled by fury, she shoved him to the ground. His head hit the hard floor with a thud.

Another gun went off.

More screams exploded. People started scrambling.

The police rushed forward. Della stepped away as they reached Damian.

Her heart stopped midbeat as she turned to look for Chase.

People were everywhere, falling over each other to try to get out. The cops had the other guy on the ground. Another two were standing over Damian.

She shifted her gaze from left to right.

Right to left.

She couldn't find Chase.

Tears stung her eyes. Where was he, damn it?

She felt someone step behind her, but her nose said it wasn't Chase, so she ignored the presence and continued to look for him.

But then the scent hit. Not Chase, but another were.

“Are you here to help? Or part of the problem?” a voice asked behind her.

Turning her head, she saw one of the officers. She'd been so tense earlier she hadn't picked up on his scent.

But a quick glance at his forehead confirmed what her nose had already told her. He was half were, half human.

“To help. I'm … we're with the FRU.” Della turned back to look for Chase, feeling her panic climb at frightening speeds.

The officer grabbed Della by the arm. “Then you need to show me your badge.”

Before Della could cut him a sharp look, a growl sounded behind her. “Release her.”

She swung around, pulling out of the were officer's grip. Her eyes landed on Chase, and only then did air get to her lungs.

“You okay?” she asked. Then she cut her eyes down and saw blood high up on the arm of his shirt. “You're hit!”

“Just grazed,” he said, still glaring at the officer.

“I still haven't seen a badge,” the were in the uniform said.

The officer could strip naked and howl for all she cared. All she cared about was Chase. And not trusting his assessment of his injury, she reached up, found the hole in his shirt, and ripped it open to see for herself. He hadn't been lying. The bullet had just grazed his forearm.

He'd dove in front of her. He'd taken a bullet for her—put his life at risk. Her heart started pulling in about a dozen different directions, as did her emotions. She wanted to slap him for doing something so stupid, she wanted to kiss him because he was okay.

“Happy?” he asked, looking down at her.

“Yeah,” she said. Only then did she look back to the were wearing the uniform and waiting for answers. “I'm a junior agent, working under Burnett James. He and several other agents should be here in less than ten minutes. We'll be taking Damian Bond.”

He must have recognized Burnett's name, because his eyes that had started to brighten faded back to their hazel green. “Well, they'd better hurry. And have the proper paperwork. They,” he nodded to the other officers, “aren't going to just let him go. And if you two don't want to be dragged into this, you'd better disappear.”

Chase looked at Della. “I think that might be best.”

Della frowned. “Not until Burnett has Damian.” He was their last link to Natasha and Liam, and Della wasn't going to risk losing him.

Chase looked back at the officer. “I guess we'll be staying a while.”

*   *   *

An hour later, they were all at the FRU headquarters. Burnett had arrived at Cooper Airport less than five minutes after everything went down. He was followed by two official cars, and three other agents, who showed off their badges, and their authority, managing to piss off the Oak, Texas, police department.

Face it, this was probably the first time their tiny police department had caught a bad guy, especially two at once, and they hadn't wanted to lose any of the credit.

However, Burnett, with paperwork in order, wasn't about to walk away empty-handed.

He also got Della and Chase out of having to go down and give their statements—insisting the local police leave them out of the paperwork and media hype because they worked undercover. But before they left, the mother of the child who Damian had held hostage came up to her and offered a tearful thank you.

A sense of rightness filled Della right then. This was what she wanted to do. But was she willing to lose Chase for it?

Burnett had a doctor waiting at headquarters to look at Chase's arm as soon as they walked into the building. Of course, Chase tried to get out of it, but Burnett wasn't taking no for an answer. He told Chase to see the doctor … or leave.

Chase glanced at Della, huffed, and then went into the room to see the doctor.

After the door closed, Burnett approached her, concern etched in his frown. The airport had been crazy, and this was really the first chance she'd had to speak—not that she hadn't seen him visually checking on her—since he'd threatened her career. She felt an achy sensation, a mixture of hurt and love, right in the middle of her chest.

She looked at Burnett and her throat grew thick.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“You saved that baby's life. Seems you're good at doing that,” he said, referring to her delivering Hannah.

“Just lucky,” she said.

She looked back at the door where Chase had disappeared. “He took that bullet for me.”

“I heard. Which is the only reason I care enough to make sure he sees the doctor.”

Della nodded, but she didn't buy it. She knew he had some major problems with Chase, but somehow she also sensed a level of respect. She could only hope that came in handy when the case was over and Burnett put pressure on her to end things.

Because honestly, she wasn't sure she could.

If push came to shove, would she choose him over her career? She prayed she didn't have to make that choice.

“Go on into waiting room six, I'll be interviewing Damian in about five minutes and you can watch.”

She looked back up at Burnett and thought of Natasha again. “Make him tell us where they are.”

“That's my plan,” he said.

*   *   *

Damian Bond didn't want to talk. Burnett slammed down photos of Liam and Natasha on the table. The were refused to look at them. Della's blood pressure rose and her canines extended just watching him.

Someone had given the were a sling, and he sat there with his broken arm held as tight as his lips. Burnett, looking pissed, turned to the wall where they watched. “Do you know who's in there?” he asked.

Damian didn't respond, but Burnett answered anyway. “An agent with the Vampire Council.”

The were's eyes widened just a bit, but then he went back to pretending he didn't hear. But Della did see him glance at the photos on the table.

Did he know them?

Burnett continued. “Have you heard what they do to weres in the Vampire Council prison? It makes going to one of our facilities seem like a day at the spa.”

Della looked at Chase. “Is that true?”

“We don't believe in segregation,” he said. “And since most of our prisoners are vampire, the were will have it rough.”

Della shuttered, wondering what “rough” included.

“And if you don't talk,” Burnett continued, “we've agreed to pass you over to them.”

The were looked up at Burnett and snarled. “Good try. But since when do the FRU and Vampire Council work together?”

Burnett dropped in the chair across from him. “Since over thirty fresh turns came up missing, and were being sold into slavery. You've got three seconds to start talking, or I'm turning you over to them.”

“If Burnett's serious, we'll get the answer out of him,” Chase said.

Della swallowed and told herself it was the right thing. But the thought didn't settle well in her stomach.

Burnett looked back at the wall. “I guess you can come and get him.” He started out.

“Wait,” Damian spouted. “Okay, I'll talk. It wasn't me, though. It was my boss. Tyler Myers. He used them to hold fight matches. People paid big bucks to see them fight, and then he got a cut of the profits. But Tyler got word that you guys were aware of the operation and had closed down the Dallas branches, so he shut down. He got rid of them.”

Della's chest gripped. She felt Chase move beside her as if afraid of what Damian might say.

“You mean he had them murdered?” Burnett asked.

The air in Della's lungs turned to syrup and it took everything she had to not to let her knees buckle.

“Yeah. But I was just following orders.”

Burnett gripped his fist. “How many? And where are the bodies?” His eyes turned orange with fury and Della felt her own brighten even more.

“I don't know. The boss and the others got together and got rid of all of them. I heard something about a junkyard.”

Chase's arm came around Della.

“But I swear I don't know where it is.” Damian looked down at the photos. “But these weren't ours. They might have been with the others, but they weren't ours. I'd remember her.”

Chase took Della's hand in his and she heard him breathe for the first time. “It's still not over,” he said.

“Then why does it feel like it?” she asked and felt the knot in her throat expand.

He turned and pulled her against him. She rested her forehead on his chest. She closed her eyes and smelled blood. But it wasn't Chase's blood.

She pulled back and looked up at him. Liam, not Chase, looked down at her.

 

Chapter Forty

Della had done this numerous times—slipped into a vision, or whatever it was—but that didn't make it any easier. Especially now, when her faith that Natasha and Liam were still alive had shrunken to nothing but a tiny seed of hope.

Natasha was reclined on a dirt floor, halfway on top of Liam's naked body.

Della focused really hard and tried to force Natasha to ask Liam where they were, but all the effort was wasted because she didn't speak. She rested her chin on Liam's chest and she felt her bare breasts press against the solid feel of his abdomen.

Liam pushed her hair out of her eyes. “What is the first thing you want to do when we get out of here?”

Natasha frowned, and Della knew why. She didn't think they were getting out. But she was willing to placate him. She looked back at his chest, shifted her hand up to just below his right shoulder and traced the emblem that appeared to be part tattoo and part scar.

“What do you say we go get our tattoos removed?” She ran her fingers over his tattoo again.

Della studied the cross-like symbol. Could that mean something?

Liam chuckled. “I like that idea. How about we go listen to a band play? Do you like to dance?”

“Love to. Sometimes my friends Amy and Jennifer and I go.”

That loud noise came again. The sound of heavy machinery.

Liam put his arm on her back, as if he knew the noise bothered her. “Then we'll go dancing first thing.”

What's the noise?
Della screamed in Natasha's mind, hoping she would hear her, but her question went unanswered.

“Maybe we should take a shower first,” Natasha teased. She rested her head back down and looked around the dark room.

Della took it all in. The walls were like blocks, but the floor was dirt, and there was what looked like an open passageway into another area that appeared just as dark.