C. Hunter - Reborn

The hair stood up on the back of her neck. Her headache retuned. She continued forward, seeing a thick patch of underbrush. Her instincts said the intruder hid there. A tad spooked by the negative déjà vu, she took a deep breath, giving Burnett one more second to show up.

Suddenly, realizing her pause to be a sure sign of weakness, she surged forward, landing in the middle of the brush, growling. Nothing scurried out. But she saw something in the midst of the thorns. A blue piece of cotton. A shirt. Had the scoundrel removed his shirt to throw her off the scent?

Yeah, he had. Unfortunately, it had worked. She lifted her face into the air to find another trace. The scent hit the same time the voice did. Coming right behind her.

“You looking for me?”

Della turned, feeling her canines extend even more. A dark-haired boy with pale, pale green eyes stood a few feet away. He wore a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, probably an undershirt to the one he left in the brush. Her gaze whispered down the white cotton spread tight over a sinewy chest and wide shoulders. Not that his chest or his shoulders mattered, she reminded herself, and cut her eyes back up to his face.

She’d been certain of his vampire scent, but the facts that his fangs weren’t extended and that the situation hadn’t colored his eyes had her squinting at his forehead to check his pattern. Definitely vampire. She saw him checking out her pattern, too. But he still didn’t react to the situation at hand.

Didn’t he know enough to be afraid?

“You are trespassing on Shadow Falls property,” she barked.

He quirked an eyebrow at her. “You think so?”

His smartass demeanor ticked her off and she bolted forward, giving his muscled chest a good push. He landed on his ass. Hard. Shock filled his expression.

Satisfied, she tilted her head to the side. “Yeah, I think so.”

He popped up, flew across the few feet separating them, and landed inches from her. He leaned down and put his face right into hers. “You’re feisty for a little thing, aren’t you?”

She had to give him credit for his bravery. Or perhaps stupidity. Sure, he stood a head above her. Not that his size intimidated her.

And to prove it, she went to give him another shove, but he caught her. His fingers locked around her wrists like vise grips. She went to jerk away but he held her tight. His eyes brightened and she saw a touch of his canines appearing below his upper lips.

Good. At least now he knew she meant business. “Release me!” she seethed.

When he didn’t do it instantly, she went into full attack mode. She swung her knee up to smash his balls. He released one of her hands to catch her rising knee. Which had been her hope all along. She didn’t like being that close to anyone’s genitals—especially someone she didn’t know. She caught his free arm and slung him about twenty feet in the air. In spite of being caught off guard, he landed on his feet, his canines now fully extended, his eyes a bright yellow.

“What is it you are trying to prove?” he asked, moving toward her without an ounce of fear.

That I have what it takes to be an FRU agent. “That scum like you doesn’t belong on Shadow Falls property,” she said, and swayed from the balls of her feet to her heels, her plan to shoot forward again. Only this time she was going for blood.

“Stop, Della!” a deep voice commanded behind her.

She recognized the voice instantly.

“What took you so long? I found this rogue trespassing,” she said, cutting Burnett a quick glance back, glad he’d gotten the chance to see her in action.

“Did you bother asking him if he was trespassing?” Burnett spat out the question.

“Sort of.” Bullcrappy! Della flinched with the knowledge that it sounded like she’d screwed up.

Burnett’s stern gaze shot to the other vamp. “Did you tell her you weren’t trespassing?”

So was the guy like a new student? She didn’t ask, because that would be the only thing that made sense.

“Did you?” Burnett repeated his question.

The nontrespassing piece of crap shrugged. “Sort of.”

Burnett held out his hands as if exasperated. “Then I guess it’s sort of both of your faults for starting this shit,” he fumed. “Can I trust you enough to go back to what I was doing, or do I need to babysit you two?” His gaze flipped from the brown-haired boy to her.

Della frowned, only willing to accept part of the blame for this. She stared right at the camp leader. “You should have told me you had someone new on the premises.”

“I would have told you if you hadn’t run off.” And with that, Burnett flew away.

She turned and faced the newcomer. A half-assed apology sat on the tip of her tongue, but then she remembered that sensation, the feeling she’d come across him before. Inhaling, she knew now that his trace was definitely in her sensory bank. But from where? And why did his scent stir up negative feelings in her?

She almost asked him if they’d met, but she suddenly didn’t feel like talking to the guy whose butt she’d wanted to kick a minute ago. Without a word, she turned and started back to her cabin.

“Nice to have met you,” he called out in his smartass tone.

She didn’t turn around, or say a word, but she shot her hand back and gave him the third-finger salute.

His laughter only managed to piss her off more.

Della went right to bed, her heart still hurting from the visit with her family. In spite of thinking she wouldn’t, she managed to sleep. She’d still be asleep if Kylie and Miranda hadn’t come in and started pounding on her door. What part about vampires sleeping better during the day didn’t they get? Then again, she was eager to see them, too. As long as she had her friends, who cared what her parents thought about her. Right?

“Coming,” she said when their pounding started up again.

She swung open the door and Kylie and Miranda rushed in for a hug. Not a hugger, she wanted to insist. Instead, she rolled her eyes and let them get it out of their systems. And damn it if she didn’t draw some pleasure from it, too.

“Why didn’t you call us?” Kylie asked, concern filling her eyes and voice. The blonde, a chameleon, was a rare supernatural who could transform into different species. On top of that, Kylie was a protector—meaning she couldn’t protect herself, but if anyone tried to hurt someone she cared about, her powers were phenomenal. Majorly phenomenal.

“Because my phone died and I forgot to bring my charger,” Della explained.

“You never forget anything,” Miranda, the witch, said.

Miranda was right. Della didn’t forget stuff. What was wrong with her? She’d felt off for the last week. She reached back and touched the pimple that had brought on the weird nightmares. It was almost gone. Good.

Realizing they were both staring at her, she made a face. “So shoot me for forgetting something just this once.”

Kylie sighed. “We were just worried. How bad was it?”

“Did they make you take some more pregnancy tests?” Miranda asked.

“No.” Della sighed. “But I’ll need a Diet Coke if I’m going to spill my guts.” She started toward the fridge. “How was y’all’s weekend?”

“I’ll need a Diet Coke, too,” Miranda said. “I swear my mom’s the biggest B with an itch in the world. All she talked about was her friend’s daughter winning all the Wicca competitions. Please, I don’t want to win those stupid contests. So what if Little Miss Suzie can turn a grasshopper into a firefly. I’m glad I’m dyslexic.”

Della had just grabbed three sodas from the fridge when she heard the little witch’s heart race to the untruth. Gritting her back teeth, Della fought the urge to squeeze one can until it exploded. It totally pissed her off that Miranda wanted to please her mom so badly. She wished Miranda would tell her mom to go climb up a broom’s ass.