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  Then, refusing to be childish, he read the message. “Text me that you’re okay.”

  He gritted his teeth, fighting back the sense of betrayal. He felt like an idiot for being jealous. He’d always thought jealousy was a fool’s emotion. If people wanted to be with someone else, it simply meant they didn’t want to be with you and they weren’t worth hurting over.

  Yet, here he was … hurting. Feeling insecure. Another emotion he wasn’t accustomed to feeling. The last time he remembered feeling like this was with Tami, when he’d been fourteen.

  Was this what it was like when you really cared about someone? Damn, he cared about Della. And the thought of Steve putting his hands on her did a number to his gut.

  Realistically, he knew the guy probably hadn’t had his hands on her. Chase hadn’t smelled Steve on Della. The shape-shifter’s scent had just been on Baxter. But from the look in Della’s eyes when he mentioned Steve, he knew the two had been together.

  He had started to text her back when he heard someone in the distance. Putting his phone away, he listened. Was Burnett still having him tailed?

  When the noise came from the shed, he relaxed and pulled his backpack off.

  He moved toward the small building that he knew was the back entrance of the prison. Then Leo stepped out of the small door.

  “Hey?” Chase walked up. The African American man, ten years older than Chase, stood about four inches taller than him and had the body of a football player.

  Leo shook his head. “I don’t know if I think you’re stupid or if I’m impressed.” He opened the shed’s door, where a staircase led down.

  “Let’s go with the first one.” Chase followed the guy down. The smell of unwashed bodies permeated the air. Leo got halfway down and turned, his eyes a brighter blue. “Is that O blood I smell?”

  Chase nodded. “One for you and a couple for bribes.”

  Leo smiled and continued down. Their footsteps echoed through the concrete halls as they made their way to the small office. There stood a huge metal door with some serious locks on it.

  “You been here before, right?” Leo asked.

  “Yeah.” Once. At the time, they’d only had two prisoners locked up.

  “We supply soap and water, but they don’t bathe. They know the smell gets to us.”

  “I’ll deal with it.”

  “We lock ’em in their cells, but those bars are cheap metal and don’t hold up to some of those prisoners. We’re supposed to get upgraded bars next month.” He looked at a small screen. “From what I can see, no one has gotten loose. But every time I go down, I go with the notion that someone is loose. It’s saved my life.”

  Leo reached over to the desk. “This here’s a Taser. You ever work one?”

  “No,” Chase said, tempted to tell him he wouldn’t need it. His hands, with his Reborn strength, could cause plenty of damage. But he decided to take it. He wasn’t afraid, but he wasn’t stupid, either.

  Leo pulled off the tip of the gun to show him how to load it. “Just pull the trigger.” He grabbed a few extra cartridges. “Put these in your pocket. Whatever you do, don’t let them get their hands on it. It hurts like a mother. I learned the hard way.”

  “Got it.” Chase tucked the extra cartridges in his pocket.

  “Be extra careful of the weres. Tomorrow’s their night and they’re at their strongest. If one gets out, don’t hold back. They are planning on killing you and you best be planning to do the same. They’re all on death row anyway.” Leo shook his head. “Seriously, kid, we’ve lost two guards and a visitor this year. You sure—”

  “They have visiting privileges?” Chase asked.

  “Yeah. The visitors sign waivers and pay for their burial before they go down. And it’s nonrefundable. I always take my wife something nice when we get anyone stupid enough to visit.”

  Chase smiled. “Then I’m sure she wishes there were a lot more stupid people in the world.”

  Leo nodded. “Didn’t you say it was Douglas Stone you were looking for? The same one the council is looking for, right?”

  “Yeah,” Chase said.

  “Then you are wasting your time, they already checked out that lead.”

  “What lead?” Chase asked, unaware there’d been a lead.

  “One of the guys had a cousin come see him. He put his last name down as Jones, but I heard the prisoner call him Stone. After he left, I recalled a Stone on the wanted list. I called it in, and was told they would look into it. Later, when the same dude came back, I called again and they said this guy had checked out and wasn’t our guy.”

  “Really?” Chase asked. “Who did you talk to on the council?”

  “I don’t know for sure, but maybe the blond guy?”

  “Kirk Curtis?” Chase asked.

  “Yeah, maybe. It’s been a while.”

  Chase tried to wrap his head around that information. If Kirk had a lead, he would have told Eddie. Or maybe he didn’t because it didn’t check out. Still, something about this didn’t feel right.

  “How often does this guy come to visit?”

  “Not that often. He came a couple weeks ago, though.”

  “What’s the inmate’s name?”

  “Edward Pope,” Leo said. “He’s in cell number eleven. Ugly bastard. He likes to bite.”

  “Thanks for the warning.”

  “There’s one main corridor. Cells on both sides. Stay in the middle, some of those guys are like octopuses and have tentacles with a long reach. They get you, they choke you to death if they don’t have a makeshift knife to do the job.”

  “In the middle,” Chase repeated.

  Leo exhaled. “Don’t get me wrong. I’ve heard you’re badass, kid, but there’s nothing but mean sons of bitches down there.”

  “I’m told I’ve got a mean streak in me too,” Chase said.

  Leo put his hand on a lever. “You step in; as soon as I lock this door, I’ll unlock the second gate. To get out, you have to lock the second gate. I have a peephole here.” He waved to the metal flap. “When I confirm it’s just you behind the gate, I’ll open this exit.”

  “Got it,” Chase said.

  Leo frowned. “I’ve got cameras, but I’ll have to cut them off or I’ll get my ass in a jam for letting you in. So I won’t know if you’re in trouble. You’re on your own.”

  “Don’t worry.”

  The door groaned as if it weren’t accustomed to opening. Chase moved in and a wave of cold washed over him. A chill ran up his spine. Was this just the normal cold, or the deadly kind of cold?

  The iron door closed with a loud, bone-chilling clank. He supposed this place had seen its share of deaths. But even the dead weren’t going to stop him.

  The noise rang louder. The second set of bars creaked as the last gate slowly opened. The smell of filth filled Chase’s nose and he had to concentrate on not gagging.

  Leo’s voice echoed from the peephole. “Welcome to Hell’s Pit.”

  Chapter Twenty

  “Is she gonna talk or take a nap?” Miranda asked.

  Della raised her head. She didn’t know where to start, but then the words just fell out. “My dad knows I’m vampire.”

  “Damn,” Miranda said.

  “Crappers,” said Kylie.

  “I’m going to lose them.” Emotion tightened her throat. “He’s going to tell my mom and sister and then they’ll never want to see me again.”

  “I don’t think that would happen,” Miranda said. “You just prove to them that being vampire doesn’t make you a bad person. Everyone’s scared at first. I’m a witch and I was frightened, and look at Kylie. You used to make her cry whenever you were in the same room.”

  “I didn’t cry,” Kylie said.

  “They’ll never understand,” Della said.

  “You don’t know that for sure,” Kylie said. “What did he say to you?”

  “He didn’t say anything.” Della told them about the Chis’ murder and how her father looked at h
er as if she’d done it. Then she told them what her mom had said about him being hospitalized after his sister’s murder. “Why would he need to be hospitalized if he hadn’t seen anything?”

  Miranda made a face. “Because his sister was killed. I mean, that could be upsetting by itself.”

  “Maybe,” Della admitted. “But if you could have seen how he looked at me. He’s afraid I’m going to kill him or my mother and sister.” Tears stung her sinuses and a lump formed in the back of her throat.

  “So are you going to confront him?” Miranda asked.

  “And say what?” Della snapped. “Hey, so you know I’m a monster?”

  “You’re not a monster,” Kylie said.

  “Right.” Della swallowed down a lump of pain. “But I am the one who brought this whole court case down on him. What if they convict him? He could get the death penalty.”

  “Don’t think the worst,” Kylie said. After a second she asked, “Did Chase turn your uncle in?”

  “No, he says he doesn’t know where he is. But he also says my uncle didn’t kill my aunt. That it was another vampire.”

  “Do you believe it?” Miranda asked.

  “I don’t know what I believe anymore,” Della sighed. “Tomorrow we’re getting my dad’s case file from the DA.”

  Kylie turned the soda can in her hand. “Maybe you’ll find out what he told the police and then you’ll know for sure if he saw the murder.”

  “Yeah.” Della looked again at her phone, and when she glanced up both Miranda and Kylie were studying her.

  “Who are you dying to hear from?” the witch asked.

  “I’m not. I … Oh, hell!” She pulled in a pound of oxygen. “Chase is doing something stupid.” She told them about Chase’s visit to the prison.

  “And you’re not going to call Burnett?” Kylie asked.

  “No, because if the situation were reversed and he told Burnett on me, I’d never tell him anything again. He’s working my father’s case. I need him to trust me.”

  “But if something happens to him, you’ll never forgive yourself,” Kylie said.

  “Do you see what a position he’s put me in?” Della snapped.

  “Well, maybe you told me and then I told Burnett. It wouldn’t be your fault.”

  “He’d still be pissed.”

  “But at me more than you,” Kylie said.

  Della looked at her phone for the hundredth time. “Give him thirty more minutes. If he doesn’t contact me, then you can call Burnett.”

  Miranda turned her Coke in her hands. “Have you seen Steve?”

  Della frowned. “Yeah. He heard about me going to identify some bodies and he came to see if I needed to talk about it.”

  “That’s sweet,” Miranda said.

  “Yeah,” Della said. “Steve’s sweet.”

  “But?” Kylie asked.

  “But she cares more about Chase,” Miranda said, putting words in Della’s mouth.

  “No.” Della felt her heart thump to the tune of a lie. “I would be just as worried about Steve if he was in danger.”

  “Would you?” Kylie asked.

  “Yeah,” she said, but that came with a tremble of her heart as well. “And if I wasn’t, it would be because of the bond. So that wouldn’t count.

  “Because … because … It wasn’t my choice to care.” But she heard Chase’s words: You still have a choice.

  Did she?

  “Everything in my life feels like I don’t have a choice. Everything is changing and I don’t get a say in it. It’s my friggin’ life, and all I am is a spectator.”

  “I’d have to disagree with that,” Kylie said. “I’ve never met anyone who fights as much as you do against anything.”

  “Yeah, but just because I fight doesn’t change anything. I was turned into a vampire and no amount of fighting changed that.”

  “It didn’t change it, but you’re here at Shadow Falls because you had the nerve to call Holiday,” Kylie said. “We can’t always change what happens, but we always have control over how we deal with those things.”

  “You’re channeling Holiday again and spouting all that psychoanalytical crap,” Della accused.

  “Sorry,” Kylie said, smiling. “Sometimes her wisdom just takes me over.”

  “Nobody likes a wiseass,” Della smarted back, only half serious.

  “Did you kiss him?” Miranda asked.

  “Duh, you saw it,” Della said.

  “Not Chase, Steve. Did you kiss Steve?”

  “No,” Della said. “We just talked.”

  “Did you want to kiss him?” Miranda asked.

  Della squeezed the can. “I … I don’t know. I didn’t think about it.”

  “But you thought about it with Chase, right?”

  “No,” Della snapped. “I didn’t think about it. It just happened.”

  “Hmm,” said Miranda.

  “Don’t ‘hmm’ me,” Della said. “Things between Steve and me are different now.”

  “Different how?” Miranda asked.

  Della tried to define it and finally said, “He’s … He feels safer.”

  “Safe is good,” Kylie said.

  “Is it?” Della wasn’t sure. She hadn’t had a lot of time to think about it since she’d been dealing with the cat/dog disaster right after he’d left.

  Speaking of “safe” had her checking the time. Was it time to let Kylie call Burnett?

  * * *

  Chase stepped into the long corridor, where only two low-voltage lights lit up the space. The sound of feet shuffling echoed as the prisoners came to gape from behind the bars. The cold in the room held on, but Chase decided to worry about remaining with the living instead of looking for the dead.

  “I smell fresh meat,” a were said, his eyes already gold. With the full moon tomorrow, he would be at his strongest. He reached his arm out, and came within a few inches of touching Chase. He sensed another prisoner’s arms reach out behind him. Leo wasn’t joking about staying in the middle. One step to one side or the other and Chase would be within a prisoner’s reach.

  Still, Chase didn’t react. He knew they could smell fear.

  “Young meat,” another prisoner said.

  “I smell blood,” said the occupant of cell six, his face pressed against the bars. Chase studied his forehead to see his pattern. Vampire.

  He kept moving until he got halfway down the long hall, where he spotted cell eleven. The room was in shadows. Chase thought he could make out a man on the cot, but he wasn’t sure.

  “Yes, I’ve got blood.” Chase pulled his backpack off his shoulder. That brought a few more of the prisoners shuffling to the bars. “And I’m sharing with anyone who can tell me what I want to know.”

  “For some of that there blood, I’d give you my mama,” said a man in cell eight.

  “I’m looking for a man named Douglas Stone. Vampire, probably in his mid- to late forties.” Chase kept watching cell eleven, hoping Mr. Pope would show his ugly face and some interest. Chase unscrewed the top of the bottle.

  The scent filled his nose, almost hiding the stench of this place, and he knew the others could smell it as well.

  “I know him,” said the guy in cell eight. “I’ll tell you exactly where to find him as soon as you pass me that there bottle.”

  “Where do you know him from?” Chase listened to the man’s heartbeat. And had to concentrate over the sound of one of the weres bending one of the bars. Chase just prayed the bars held up long enough for him to get the information.

  Chase took a long sip of the blood. “Anyone else want to try?”

  “Why are you looking for him?” The voice came from cell eleven.

  “Got a few questions for him.” Chase looked into the cell.

  The man stepped out of the shadows. Jet black hair and dark blue eyes. His nose looked like it had been broken more times than it could be fixed. A scar ran from his eye down to his lip.

  It must have been a dirty fight. Litera
lly dirty, because vampires healed quickly and didn’t normally get scars. They were sort of like cats, and if the wound was dirty it would get infected and abscess, requiring the wound to be reopened. From the looks of things, Pope’s face had to be reopened several times.

  The vamp inhaled as if just breathing in the scent of blood fed his soul. Leaning forward, he wrapped his fists around the bars, giving Chase an even better view of his scarred face.

  “You know where I might find Mr. Stone?” Chase took another sip of blood, hoping Pope would be compelled to answer before Chase downed the entire eight ounces.

  “I might be inclined.” The prisoner licked his lips and his eyes turned light green from the smell.

  “Do you know where he lives?” Chase listened to the man’s heart.

  “I know where he hangs out. He never lives in one place.” He put his hand through the bars. “Hand me that blood and I’ll tell you what I know.”

  “I told you, I know,” yelled the guy in cell eight. His arm came through the bars. “Give it to me.”

  Chase ignored the older vampire. He drank all but the last few precious drops and only then did he hand it to Pope. “Here’s a taste. If your info sounds legit, I got another one in my bag.”

  The man snatched the bottle.

  Chase could hear him swallow, trying to suck down every last drop.

  He heard the grunting and growling sound of the were in cell one as he attempted to bend the bars. Chase’s time was limited.

  “He buys and sells houses all over Houston,” Poke said. “Now hand me the damn blood.”

  “I need more than that.” Chase looked back at the were’s cell and saw that he had his arm and part of his shoulder through the widened bars. Thankfully, his chest didn’t quite make it.

  Growling, he looked at Chase. His eyes glowed an evil orange color and he latched on to the bars and went back to working on the metal.

  “There’s a Douglas Stone somewhere in the old part of the Heights,” said Pope. “Now give me more.”

  “Where in the Heights?” Chase pulled the Taser out from the waist of his jeans, just in case the were freed himself before Chase had the info he needed. Then with his other hand he pulled out the other bottle of blood.

  “Last bottle,” he said, unscrewing the top. “And I’m thirsty.”