Della cut him a cold look, but Steve shrugged. Burnett sighed.
Right then Burnett’s phone rang. He yanked it out of his jeans pocket. “Shit,” he said when he looked at the number. He turned around and took the call. “Agent James.”
The way he answered told Della it was official. She tuned her hearing to listen to the caller.
“We’ve got two bodies right outside Fallen city limits. Looks as if our killer is vampire.”
“Damn it,” Burnett spouted out. “They passed by here. What’s your exact location?” Burnett got the address. “I’ll be right there.” He hung up and faced Della and Steve.
“Do you want me to come?” The possibility of going on a live mission sent a shot of adrenaline through her. This was what she wanted to do, what she felt she was meant to do.
“No. Stay here and keep an eye out. Call Lucas, Derek, Perry, and Kylie and have them join you and Steve, and all of you be on guard. Call me first thing if anyone passes by again.”
Disappointment spiraled through Della. “But I caught the scent, and only I’ll know if it was the same person.”
Burnett sighed. “It’s not pretty, Della.”
“I never was fond of pretty.”
“Fine.” He turned to Steve. “Call the others and you guys patrol the grounds.”
Steve nodded.
“Meet me at the gate, I need to go grab a shirt.” Burnett took off.
Della started to take flight behind him, but Steve caught her arm.
“Be safe,” he said. Della could see the worry in his gaze. Before she knew his intent, he’d leaned down and kissed her again. She kept it brief. As good as it felt to know he cared, it was just another reminder that this thing between them had gone too far.
Nodding, she took off. She’d only gotten a few feet when she caught another scent. A familiar one—Chase. Glancing down, she spotted him in the trees. How long had he been there? Had he been spying on her and Steve? She almost went down to give him hell but knew Burnett wouldn’t tolerate her being late. So she passed Chase by and went to meet Burnett by the front gate.
But later, she and the panty perv would have a chat, and she didn’t expect it to go nicely.
Della told herself she could handle it. She wasn’t a kid. Blood didn’t bother her, it made her hungry. The second time she threw up, she wondered how she could have been so wrong.
But blood wasn’t food when it came with dead bodies. It was ugly. It was emotional. It was death and murder. And that was so wrong.
She felt a touch on her shoulder. Her hearing must be going on the fritz again. Growling, she swung around, angry and embarrassed that someone had witnessed her weakness. Her growl came to a quick halt when her gaze landed on Burnett.
She’d fled from the scene under the bridge and hid behind some trees. Obviously, she hadn’t hidden well enough.
“I’m okay.” She jerked away from his touch. “I just ate too much human food when I was at my parents’.”
He arched an eyebrow, leaving little doubt he’d heard her heart lie, but when she glanced up into his eyes, it wasn’t condemnation she saw, but empathy. That pissed her off even more. “I’m fine,” she snapped.
He leaned in and spoke quietly. “I puked every time my first year working cases like this.” Honesty rang from his voice in the silent night. “Actually, if you hadn’t gotten sick, I would have worried about you.”
His words of comfort had her nose and throat stinging with tears that she’d be damned before she let fall. Unbidden, the image of what she’d just seen sprang to mind. Two victims right outside their car. Their throats torn. Their eyes open wide in horror. And all that blood—like they’d been bathed in it. What they must have felt as their lives were wrenched from them. “How could … how could anyone do that?”
He exhaled. “Sometimes it’s hunger, a recently turned vampire not having someone to help them through the change. Other times it’s a lack of respect for humankind.”
Della inhaled deeply and fought the need to throw up again. “We’re monsters,” she said, not meaning to say the thought aloud.
“No, we’re vampires. And we’re no more monstrous than any other species. Humans included. Good, bad, and evil isn’t species-specific. Don’t you ever question that.”
She blinked, hating that she’d expressed her insecurity to the one person she longed to impress more than the others.
He reached out and squeezed her shoulder. She nodded and looked away.
“Did you get a trace of his scent?” Burnett asked as if he sensed her need to change the subject. “Or was it too contaminated?”
Della looked back toward the bridge before facing the camp leader. The glow from the crescent moon reflected off his black hair. His dark eyes still held a touch of empathy, but he was back to being a tough FRU agent.
“I can’t be a hundred percent sure, with all the scents of the others, but I think it was the same vampire who passed over Shadow Falls. There’re traces of what seems like the same scent.”
He shrugged. “Which means you coming here was futile. I’m sorry I allowed you—”
“I’m not,” she said. “I want this, Burnett. I want to be a part of the FRU. It’s what I’m meant to do. I can handle it. I can. Even you said you got sick at first.”
He nodded. “Yes, but … there are easier ways to make a living, Della.”
“I don’t want easy. I want to catch the bad guys. I want to make a difference.” The words rolled off her tongue with honesty and sincerity.
He arched one brow. “You sure you just don’t want to kick someone’s ass?”
“Well, there’s that, too,” she admitted, and almost smiled, hoping that would ease the tension.
“That’s what worries me,” he said with a tone so dead serious that it wiped the half-assed smile from her face. “You’re tough, Della, I know that. But you’re going to run into bad guys who are tougher than you, and with your attitude you’ll end up like our Jane Doe back there. Being willing and eager to fight doesn’t make you a good agent. Knowing how to avoid a fight that you’ll lose, and being able to set your pride aside are better qualities. Qualities you haven’t developed yet.”
She tilted her chin upward and bit back her urge to argue with his opinion of both her toughness and her character. “I’ll learn.”