Authors: C. C. Hunter
“I said what?” he asked.
“I gotta go.” Kylie closed her phone and shot through the doors seeking a place to be alone. Only she wasn’t alone. She felt the cold presence following her all the way to the cabin. Anger and hurt filled her chest so full, Kylie could hardly breathe. Hand on the doorknob, she paused. The cold seemed to press against her back, so she peered over her shoulder.
Not only was he there, but like her, he was crying. Only the tears rolling down his face were the color of blood.
Fear tried to find room in her chest, but her anger knocked it out of the way. “Go away!” she yelled at the ghost. “Leave! Me! Alone!”
Chapter Thirty
The next morning Kylie stepped out of her bedroom and was shocked to find Della typing at the computer. Della was never here in the mornings.
“You didn’t have an early morning thing to attend?” Kylie asked.
“Not really,” Della said. Her mood came off as somber. Actually, all three of them had been pretty somber since yesterday. They hadn’t even participated in their usual before-bedtime-chat at the kitchen table. No doubt, after parents day, they all had demons to deal with, and demon-dealing was usually best done solo. Not that Kylie had been alone for a big part of the night.
Soldier Dude had popped in and out all night. She hadn’t seen him exactly, but she’d felt his cold presence. She only hoped that she caught on to the whole meditation thing soon so she could put a stop to this.
Della’s hands paused on the keyboard and she looked over at Kylie. “I’m sorry if my dad was rude to you. And thanks for coming and getting me like that.”
“He wasn’t really rude to me.” It was you he was rude to, Kylie almost said, but decided Della probably already knew that about him and didn’t need to be reminded.
“Yeah, well, he’s hard to take sometimes. But believe it or not, he means well.”
“At least your dad showed up.” Kylie remembered how she’d walked a thin line between lying and changing the subject last night to avoid telling her mom that her dad hadn’t come. Her mom would have had a fit if Kylie had told her about his no-show. And her mom’s fits weren’t pretty. Still, a part of Kylie almost wished she had.
After all, her dad had acted as though he’d never promised to be there.
“Do you want to check your e-mail?” Della asked. “I think you got one from your dad.”
Kylie’s chest gripped. “No. I’ll … check it later.
Or not.
Right now she wasn’t ready to hear any excuses. Kylie looked around. “Where’s Miranda?”
“She’s outside. She’s hoping to catch a glimpse of Chris but she said she’d wait for us. You ready to go?”
Kylie nodded. “Sure.”
Seconds later, she and Della stepped out the door to find Miranda standing at the side of the cabin.
Miranda glanced toward them. “Hey guys, there’s a baby bird that looks like it fell from its nest. Oh crappers, I think its wing is broken, too. Poor thing.”
Della and Kylie hurried over to join her. Miranda, palms outstretched, had the small bird held up to her face. One of the bird’s wings was hanging at an odd angle.
“Can’t you just zap it well?” Della asked.
“I wish. But I’m afraid I would … screw that up, too,” Miranda said, her tone filled with a bit of self-loathing—no doubt a result of her visit with her mom.
Miranda looked at Kylie. “Do you think that girl … the one who scanned you for a tumor … might be able to heal it?”
“I don’t know,” Kylie said, and noticed how the bird’s eye color had gone from black to blue. Then she noted how the bird stared at Miranda. Call Kylie suspicious if you want, but she’d seen that gaga-look before on a certain shape-shifter’s face. She glanced at Della, who met her gaze and then rolled her eyes.
Oh, yeah. It was definitely Perry.
“I think the humane thing to do is break its neck,” Kylie said.
“Oh, definitely,” Della echoed.
Kylie edged closer. The bird turned his head to peer at her and actually flinched.
That’s right, you little twerp, you’d better be afraid of me.
“You’re so cruel.” Miranda brought the bird to her breasts, then tucked her chin down to talk to it. “Don’t you worry, Miranda’s gonna take care of you,” she cooed.
“Why don’t you check its sex to see if it’s a boy or girl?” Kylie couldn’t help but snicker.
Miranda’s poor-thing expression twisted upside down as she finally caught on to what Kylie was saying.
Miranda glared suspiciously at the bird. “Perry, is that you?”
The sparkles started popping all around Miranda’s hands. Miranda jerked her palms from beneath the bird. Landing right on his butt was a red-faced Perry.
“I was just flying by. I didn’t … I didn’t do anything wrong. I wasn’t even looking in the windows.” His gaze shot to Kylie. “And don’t you touch my ears or my neck.” He got up and ran off.
“I should turn him into the rat he really is,” Miranda said, apparently embarrassed she’d been fooled.
Kylie completely understood Miranda’s feelings, then she remembered seeing embarrassment on Perry’s face, and she knew why, too. The last person he wanted to look bad in front of was the girl he had a crush on. “You know he likes you, don’t you?”
Miranda’s mouth dropped open. “No, he doesn’t.”
Della snorted but didn’t say anything.
“Yes, he does,” Kylie said. “You should have seen him the other day when you ran off with Chris for the Meet Your Campmates Hour. He looked like a whipped puppy. And the whole time we were together, he kept asking questions about you.”
Miranda stood there, her mouth agape. “If he likes me why hasn’t he said something? We were even here together last year.”
Kylie glanced at Della. “You wanna help me out here?”
“Nah,” she said with a grin. “I think you’re doing okay on your own.”
Kylie turned back to Miranda. “I wasn’t here last year, but…”
“But what?” Miranda asked.
Kylie shrugged. “I don’t think he knows how to tell you he likes you,” she said.
“Oh, please. He’s not shy.”
“He’s not shy being a class clown or the class smart-ass. But when you get him alone, he comes off pretty tongue-tied. Honestly, he wasn’t half as annoying, either. I personally think the downside of being able to change into anything is the fear that you don’t know who you really are.”
Kylie stopped and considered her own words. “Gosh, I actually sounded smart right then. Didn’t I?”
They all laughed and started walking to breakfast. They were halfway there when Miranda swung around to face Kylie. “You really think Perry likes me?”
Kylie chuckled. “Yes.”
Della raised her chin up and sniffed. “I smell loooove in the air.”
“I’m not…” She paused and then said, “Did you smell it on him?”
“No,” Della admitted. “But that’s because shape-shifters don’t put out the same pheromones. I’m not attuned to what a horny bird smells like.”
They all giggled and then started walking again.
“He’s cute, though, isn’t he?” Miranda asked.
“In a way,” Kylie said.
“Maybe a little,” Della offered, and then asked, “so, what are you going to do about him?” She placed her hand over her heart to add drama to the question.
Miranda shrugged. “Wait and see if he makes a move.”
“Why wait? If you want him, go get him. Don’t be a wuss.”
“Right.” Miranda flipped back her hair and put it up with the band she had on her wrist. “I don’t see you putting the moves on any guy.”
“That’s because I’m not pining over anyone here.”
“Liar,” Kylie said.
“Please,” Della said. “Who do you think I got the hots for?”
“Steve, the tall shape-shifter with sandy-colored hair,” Kylie said matter-of-factly. “You couldn’t stop looking at his butt the other day.”
Della’s mouth dropped open and she rolled her eyes. “You are so wrong.” She fanned herself with her hand. “But the boy is eye candy to the max.”
They all chuckled. “What about you?” Miranda asked Kylie.
“I don’t have time to pursue anything.”
“You got the same amount of time we do,” Miranda said.
“No, I don’t.” Kylie stopped walking. She hadn’t told them about her two-week deal with Holiday, and for good reason. They weren’t going to like it. “I … Holiday agreed to talk to my mom about my going home after two weeks.”
“Why?” both her friends asked at the same time.
“Because I don’t belong here. I’m not one of you.”
“Bullshit!” Della said. “You just don’t want to be one of us. You still think we’re freaks. I see it every time the word
blood
is mentioned.”
Okay, she might have had a point about the blood.
Kylie still shook her head. “It’s not—”
“You can’t go,” Miranda said, interrupting her. “Who’s going to stop Della and me from killing each other?”
“Oh, screw it,” Della said, frowning, and looked at Miranda. “Let her go back to her safe little world where the only thing she worries about is if her daddy loves her. If she doesn’t want to be friends with us, I certainly don’t want to be friends with her. Hell, I didn’t like the bitch anyway.”
Della shot off so fast Kylie didn’t see her go. Miranda stood there staring. “She’s just mad. She didn’t mean that.”
“I know.” Kylie bit down on her lip, but Della’s words still hurt.
Miranda twirled her ponytail. “I hate to say this, but I don’t blame her. I’m mad at you, too.” And then Miranda took off.
Just great, Kylie thought. On top of everything else, she’d managed to piss off her two new best friends.
* * *
When Kylie got to the dining hall, Miranda and Della were sitting at a different table from where they usually sat. Kylie got the message loud and clear. They didn’t want to be near her.
Fine.
Picking up her food tray, Kylie moved to her normal table, feeling a tad self-conscious about being alone. The door opened and Kylie looked up just as Derek walked in. His lips spread into a warm smile, one of his special smiles, that made her heart swell with appreciation. He started walking toward her, and relief filled her chest. She could really use a friend right now.
She continued watching him, suddenly aware that his eyes and smile didn’t seem fixed on her. Sure enough, he didn’t stop at her table. Kylie counted to ten and tried to wipe the pain from her eyes before she turned to see where he’d gone.
Peeking over her shoulder, she spied Derek cozying up with Mandy, his shoulder fully against hers. Swinging back around, Kylie stared at her eggs and her emotions felt just as scrambled. She liked him, she didn’t like him. What the hell was wrong with her?
Trying to decide whether attempting to eat was a mistake, Kylie heard Della’s I’m-pissed voice. Kylie looked up expecting to find Della and Miranda going at it, but she was wrong. Della had her nose in the face of another vampire chick. Then the girl pointed a finger in Della’s face and said something in a low voice that Kylie couldn’t hear.
Kylie’s first instinct was to march over there just in case Della needed reinforcements. Della had stood up for her against the she-wolf, but before Kylie got to her feet, Della took off.
After managing to down at least a half piece of toast, Kylie went out front to find Della. No Della. Instead, some of the other campers were drawing names. She was so not in the mood to chat with someone for an hour, but neither was she in the mood to go back to the cabin where Soldier Dude might appear. Deep down, she sensed that her talking to him yesterday had somehow made him more determined than ever to make contact with her.
She spotted Miranda standing by herself and walked over, hoping she might have gotten over her anger. Unfortunately, Miranda cut her a cold look. Not giving up, Kylie leaned in and asked, “What was the problem between Della and the other vampire?”
Miranda shrugged. “Don’t know, she wouldn’t tell me. It appears that when she’s mad at you, she’s also mad at me.” Miranda’s name echoed from the front and she took off without another word.
Kylie was watching Miranda walk away when she felt someone step beside her.
“You ready?” The deep male voice made her stomach drop.
Kylie glanced up into Lucas’s blue eyes. “Ready for what?”
“I got your name.” He held up a piece of paper.
And I got a headache. Or PMS. Or bad cramps. Just been diagnosed with the flu.
She had to come up with something to get out of this. But with his blue eyes focused on her, the words didn’t come out. She looked around the crowd to see if the she-wolf was sizing Kylie up for a casket. Fredericka wasn’t around.
“I know a place we can go,” he said. His hand came around her back to nudge her along.
She took a step, trying to get the words
I can’t
to slip out, but they wouldn’t come. And just like that she knew why. She wanted to know if he remembered her. Why it mattered, she didn’t know. But it did.
“You seemed interested in the dinosaur tracks.” He met her gaze. “I know where there are some more. Why don’t we go see them?” He guided her down the path that led toward the cabins, and she followed.
It wasn’t until he turned to go down one of the wood trails that Kylie sensed something was different. Then she knew what the difference was. She wasn’t afraid of him. When had she stopped being afraid of Lucas Parker? Maybe she was just getting immune to fearing supernaturals as a whole.
Questioning the logic behind her lack of fear, she recalled what she knew about him. He’d been raised by rogues. He’d killed her cat. Was it really smart of her to trust him?