C. Hunter - Reborn

Heck, Della wouldn’t even mind doing it for her. It was one thing having parents who were disappointed in you because they didn’t know you were vampire, but another to have a mom who just thought you sucked for real. Della had listened in to the conversations between Miranda and her mom at almost every parent meeting, and sometimes Della wanted nothing more than to go vamp on the witch’s ass and teach her a few lessons.

Couldn’t Miranda’s mom see how much her daughter wanted her approval? And considering Miranda was dyslexic, she was learning to manage her witch powers pretty well. Heck, she hadn’t accidentally turned anyone into a kangaroo or a skunk in almost a month. And for Miranda, that was good.

Della passed Kylie a soda. “How was your weekend?”

“Not terrible.” Kylie popped her can open.

The soft fizzing sound filled the room. Oddly enough, Della had started to equate that sound with their round-table discussions, which always eased any negative crap weighing on her shoulders. The bubbly popping sound meant stress relief. It meant friends who, though they might not know her sleeping or hugging habits, still cared.

“Have you told her you can turn invisible yet?” Della asked Kylie. The chameleon had actually told her mom she was only part human, she just hadn’t told all the neat things she could do yet.

“No, I’m afraid she’d freak out,” Kylie said. “It’s sort of like telling a kid about where babies come from, you have to ease them into it.”

Della laughed. “You know, I’ve actually seen a show on childbirth. It was like an accident where you didn’t want to see it, but you couldn’t look away.” Della handed Miranda her can of soda, then popped the top on her own. Letting the sparkling sound fill her senses, she dropped into a chair as her two best friends did the same. The diet-soda round-table discussions were a normal part of their lives. A part Della needed more than she wished she did. She’d become attached to her roommates, big time. Which was dangerous, because face it, if your parents could turn their backs on you, your friends could do the same.

Kylie turned the can in her hand. “I missed you guys all weekend.”

“She didn’t miss Lucas.” Miranda popped open her Coke and wiggled in her chair. The little witch always squirmed with excitement when she got to tell a piece of gossip. Not that Della didn’t trust Miranda. The three of them had a pact. What happened at the Diet Soda Round Table stayed there.

“Her mom let Lucas come over,” Miranda said, and squealed a little.

Della looked back at Kylie. “She did? Did she force you to read ten how-not-to-get-pregnant pamphlets before he showed up?”

Kylie grinned. “Only one. Did you know that only about fifty percent of teen mothers receive a high school diploma? And the children of teenaged mothers are more likely to have lower school achievement and drop out of high school, have more health problems, and be incarcerated at some time during their adolescence?” She grinned. “At least it wasn’t about condoms this time.”

They all laughed again, something they did a lot at these meetings. “Did she let you go out with him, on a date date?”

“No, we went out to eat with my mom and then Lucas and I just went up to my room to talk.”

“I’ll bet you talked. The language of the tongue,” Della teased, and ran her tongue over her lips. Kylie and Lucas were a real couple, meaning they’d done the deed. Not that Kylie talked about it. Well, other than to say it was wonderful. Della could relate to her not wanting to share. Seriously, sex was … embarrassing.

And sometimes wonderful. For one second, she recalled how things had been with her ex-boyfriend Lee. Then she recalled how close things had come to being wonderful with Steve, the sexy-as-sin Southern shape-shifter. Thank God, she’d wised up before she went down that road.

“Okay, you’ve avoided it long enough, give us the lowdown,” Miranda said to Della.

Della frowned. Spilling guts wasn’t her favorite thing to do. While it always ended up cathartic, it also felt a bit like whining, and a bit like being disloyal. Disloyal to her parents. Loyalty had been inbred in her by her father.

She recalled again the picture she’d found in the old photo album. And that’s when she remembered she’d left her backpack with the photo in the fork of the woods.

“Crap!” Della jumped up.

“What?” Kylie asked.

“I left my backpack on the trail.”

“No, you didn’t,” Miranda said. “It was on the front porch. I brought it in. It’s on the sofa.”

“Burnett must have found it and…” Then it occurred to Della. What if it wasn’t Burnett? Could the no-good vamp have done it? He didn’t know which cabin was hers, but he could have followed her scent.

Had he gone through her stuff? The possibility of him looking through her bag annoyed the hell out of her. And it wasn’t just about her padded bras, but because of the picture. If he’d bent it or … Oh, hell, why had she been so careless with the backpack to start with? Oh, yeah, she’d been an emotional wreck.

“What is it?” Kylie asked, obviously reading Della’s mood.

Suddenly extra leery, Della took a flying leap over the table into the living room and snatched up the bag. “There’s a new guy here. He might have been the one who brought this to me.”

“Yeah,” Kylie said. “Lucas told me he showed up on Saturday right after we left. He’s a vampire.”

Della scowled. “He’s a jerk!”

“Why’s he a jerk?” Miranda asked. “If he found your bag and brought it to you, what’s the problem?”

“He might’ve gone through my stuff,” Della said, not believing they didn’t understand. Who wanted a guy rummaging through your underwear or your Smurf pajamas?

She pulled the bag to her nose and sniffed it. “Damn it! His scent is all over it!”

“You met him already?” Kylie asked.

“Yeah, I met him. Burnett neglected to inform me we had a new student on board, and when I found him I thought he was a rogue trespasser.”

“Oh, my!” Miranda giggled. “Did you kick his butt?”

“I was in the process of kicking it when Burnett showed up.”

“Is he cute?” Miranda asked. “Not that I’m looking … Well, I might look, just not touch.” She giggled again.

“I told you, he’s a jerk.” Right then the image of him shirtless walking toward her filled Della’s mind. She opened her bag, looking for the photograph of her grandmother with her father and his brother.

“Is this whole bag thing a ploy just so you don’t have to talk about your weekend?” Miranda asked.

“No,” Della said. “I just want to make sure that…”

She unzipped the bag, looking for the little white envelope she’d carefully placed between her underwear and her PJs. It wasn’t there! She started tossing everything out. She even turned the bag upside down and shook it, praying it would flutter out. Nothing fluttered. No picture.

“Nooo!” she muttered, thinking she might never get it back. It was probably the only picture her dad had of his brother, too. She couldn’t have lost it. Her father would kill her.

No, he wouldn’t, the thought hit. He’d just be disappointed in her even more than he was.

“This can’t be happening,” Della said.

“What can’t be happening?” Kylie asked.

“He took it. Why the hell would he have taken it?”

“Took what?” Kylie asked.

Della didn’t answer. She had to find that piece-of-shit vamp and find her father’s picture. She flashed out of the room.

When she went into full fly mode she realized she wasn’t alone. Kylie had transformed into a vampire and was chasing the wind beside her.