Awake at Dawn (22 page)

You know who his victims were. So is any of this
really
necessary?” She gritted her teeth and tried not to start crying again.

“We decide what’s necessary,” Selynn answered in her haughty tone, moving in behind Burnett.

181/375

Kylie glared up at the werewolf, not trying to hide her contempt.

Selynn’s tone annoyed Kylie even more than Burnett’s harsh tenor. At least with Burnett, she heard real concern. With Selynn, it seemed to be all about power. She liked having it and enjoyed using it.

“You think we did this, don’t you?” Kylie asked Selynn.

“I think—”

“Stop.” Burnett frowned at Selynn, then glanced back at Kylie. “Kylie, I know you didn’t do this. And I know this isn’t easy. However, blood patterns might tell us if he was killing for sport or for food.” His statement made her stomach churn. “And why does that make a difference? Those girls are dead no matter what his reasons were for killing them.”

“I think she’s had enough questions.” Holiday placed her hand on Kylie’s wrist, offering moral support and a strong surge of calm. The rush of peaceful energy slowed Kylie’s heartbeat and lessened the tightness in her chest. Not that it could make it all go away. Kylie didn’t think that power existed.

Burnett looked at Holiday, then at Kylie. “It won’t change what happened. But right now, we need all the information we can get on this creep to be able to catch him. To stop him before he does this again.” Burnett’s words shifted around inside her head and pulled at her conscience. Two girls had died. Violently died. Was it too much to ask for Kylie to suffer through a few more minutes of questions? No, it wasn’t.

Taking in a breath, she sat up straighter.

Holiday stiffened. “For a vampire, your hearing is really bad. I said she’s had enough.”

“It’s okay.” Kylie turned her palm over and gave the camp leader’s hand a squeeze. “If it helps stop this guy, I can do it.” But she didn’t let go of Holiday’s hand.

182/375

Ten minutes later, apparently when Burnett felt he’d drawn every detail about the incident he could out of her, he stood up and looked down at her. “Thank you, Kylie. I know this wasn’t easy.” She nodded and after she let herself breathe in and out a couple of times, she decided it was her turn to ask the questions. “Do you think he wanted it to look as if we’d killed these girls? Like they tried to frame someone at the camp for killing the animals?” Burnett shook his head. “No. There’s nothing to lead us to conclude that.”

“Do you think … do you think he followed us into town?” He considered her question for a second. “No, I don’t. I think it was a coincidence that he ran across you.”

Holiday squeezed Kylie’s hand. “I told you, this isn’t your fault.”

“No, it isn’t,” Burnett said. “This has nothing to do with you, Kylie.”

“Then how come it feels so … personal?” Kylie asked. “I mean, he keeps showing back up. At the park and then last Friday. I didn’t actually see him then, but I’m assuming it was him. And even after that I … I’ve felt as if someone was following me.”

“When did you feel this?” Burnett asked.

“Yesterday morning when I came to the office before breakfast. At first, I thought it was the wolf but—”

“Wolf?” both Burnett and Selynn said at the same time. While Burnett looked concerned, Selynn immediately started twitching, trying to read Kylie again. It took everything Kylie had not to reach up and cover her forehead. Maybe even give the woman the finger.

“When was this?” Burnett asked.

“A couple of days ago,” Holiday answered. “It wasn’t a werewolf. Kylie said it appeared to be semi-tame. Nonthreatening.”

“Was it a shifter?” Burnett asked.

“I’m … not sure. But I know it wasn’t Perry.” Kylie hesitated and then recalled what this conversation was really about. “But the wolf isn’t 183/375

important. Two girls are dead and I … I feel as if it’s somehow my fault. I think he was after me, not them.”

Burnett dropped back down in the chair facing her. “I can understand how you might feel that way. But if he was out to hurt you, he could have done so the other night in the woods. I don’t think this is personal. Not toward you. To the camp as a whole … maybe.”

“Then why does he keep coming to see me? It doesn’t sound like a coincidence.”

Burnett frowned. “It’s not a coincidence. You put yourself in situations that offered him the best opportunity with the least of amount of risk.

And the first time, he didn’t come to you. You had gone to the wildlife park where the Blood Brothers were. And if he was here the other night, and we’re not sure it was him, then he probably spotted you when you ran off in the woods and saw it as an opportunity. And today, he was probably … hunting when he sensed other supernaturals in town. Again, you were the one alone in the dressing room. He took advantage of it.” And got himself an eyeful, Kylie thought. “But you even said that if he’d wanted to kill me the other night, he could have but he didn’t even try. So what did he want with me then?” Burnett hesitated. “I think he wanted to send a message to the camp.

To let us know that the gang hasn’t moved on. I’m sure the arrest of several of their gang members has dented their egos. If they pulled out right away, it would appear as if they lacked courage. If they stay around, they at least save face. I’m sure he realized that killing you would have brought too much trouble down on the gang.”

Kylie tried to grasp exactly what Burnett was saying. “But he killed those girls. Are you saying that didn’t cause trouble? That doesn’t make sense.”

Burnett looked at Holiday as if asking for her help.

184/375

Holiday squeezed Kylie’s hand. “When a supernatural kills another supernatural, it’s easier to deal with the offense. We have our own justice system.”

“And when they kill a human? What happens?” Don’t let them say

“nothing,” Kylie thought. Please God, don’t let them say “nothing.” She might be part supernatural, but she was still part human.

“That’s part of the FRU’s job,” Burnett said. “But as you might guess, it can make getting justice tricky.”

Kylie felt her shoulders getting tighter. “Are you telling me that he’s actually going to get away with this?”

“No.” Burnett said in a deeper tone. “You have my word, Kylie, I will do everything I can to make sure this guy pays for this.” Exactly how Burnett intended to make him pay wasn’t clear. Nor was Kylie sure she even wanted to know. But something about the way he said those words told her this wasn’t a promise he made lightly. And for that, she was grateful.

* * *

“Depending on how dense the trees are or how the wind is blowing, an intruder’s scent could go undetected.”

Della shot a grin at Kylie and then turned back to Burnett. “Maybe you should cancel parents weekend,” she suggested.

Burnett looked at Della. “That’s over two weeks away. I hope to have this problem resolved by then.”

“Hey, can’t blame a girl for trying,” Della muttered.

“I have a meeting with the High Council next week,” Burnett said. “I’m hoping I’ll get some assistance to deal with what happened here.” 185/375

Kylie leaned in closer to Della. “Who are the High Council?”

“Sort of like the Senate, made up of a bunch of elders from the different species.” Della smiled. “I just learned about it this afternoon. Chris did a talk about it in our vamp meeting.”

“A Senate? I didn’t think all the species got along,” Kylie said.

“They don’t. But neither do the Democrats and Republicans and they still meet.”

“I guess so,” Kylie said, and then another question popped up. “What kind of assistance will they offer us?”

“Depends. Chris said the council has to vote to even look into the case.”

“Vote? Two girls murdered, how can they say no?” Della shrugged. “You have to remember that not all the elders are in line with the government’s way of thinking. ”

“You mean some of them are rogue?”

Della nodded. “According to Chris, most of the elders respect the government, but don’t want to be controlled by it. So they follow some of the rules, but not all of them.” One of Della’s eyebrows rose upward.

Kylie shook her head. She had enough trouble trying to understand human politics—did she really have it in her to grasp this, too? “If they take the case, then what?”

“They either allow the council of the accused species to do the punishing and deal with things or they turn the guy over to the FRU. And I don’t want to think about what happens to them then.”

“Me, either,” Kylie admitted.

Della glanced over to the door and her mood seemed to have changed.

“I’m going to head on back to the cabin. I’ve got some stuff I want to do.”

“What kind of stuff?” Kylie remembered the obituaries she’d found on the computer screen.

“Just stuff,” Della snapped.

Kylie leaned in. “You could never do anything like this.” 186/375

Della glared at her. “I’ll see you later.”

“Do you want me to walk with you?” Kylie asked, remembering Burnett’s caution to stay together whenever possible.

“Are you kidding me?” Della asked. “If something attacked, I’d just end up having to protect both of us.”

“Hey … I’m not so helpless anymore.” After thinking about what those girls might have gone through, Kylie wasn’t so upset about her new found strength, either.

“Just because you broke one door in, and don’t lag behind when hiking through the woods, doesn’t mean crap.” She grinned, letting Kylie know she was mostly teasing. “I’m fine. I’ll see you later.” Della took off, and Kylie watched her go. Her heart ached for Della.

Then she saw her vampire friend turn and give a couple of boys the finger. No doubt they’d probably said something rude and crude.

“Hey.” Holiday stopped beside Kylie. “Is Della okay?”

“I hope so.” Kylie realized that ever since they’d returned from town, the distance that had seemed to come between her and Holiday because of the whole Burnett issue had vanished. Had they bridged a gap, and could Kylie keep it from reappearing?

“Are you doing okay?” Holiday asked.

“I’ve been better,” Kylie said honestly. “I just keep thinking about those girls.”

“Maybe Sunday we can take a walk to the falls,” Holiday said.

“That sounds good.” The thought of going there with someone who could feel the same thing Kylie did seemed nice.

Right then, Burnett looked over at them and Kylie saw Holiday notice it, too. Kylie cringed, worrying that Holiday would remember she was mad at her.

“I should apologize,” Holiday said, obviously reading Kylie’s emotions again. “I … I overreacted about the whole thing with Burnett.” 187/375

Shocked, Kylie looked at her. “No you didn’t. I was wrong to say anything to him.”

“Maybe, but your heart was in the right place. When we care about people, we sometimes overstep our grounds. I of all people should know that. I’m a famous overstepper.” Holiday’s voice tightened. “Today when Burnett first came to me and said they had two teens down and I thought … Well, let’s just say our issue really felt stupid.” Holiday put her arm around Kylie and gave her a sweet, sisterly hug.

“Thank you.” Kylie fought the swell of emotion in her throat. “But you are going to make me cry.”

Holiday looked up toward Burnett. “Hey, if you cry, maybe it will send him running again. If I knew all it took were a few tears to get him to leave, I’d have been crying for the last seven weeks. ” Kylie grinned and when she looked up at Burnett, she saw Selynn walk up to him and say something. “What’s she still doing here?”

“Don’t know for sure,” Holiday said in a whisper. “I’m sure she wants something. And I bet it starts with a B and is tall, dark, and good-looking.”

Burnett listened to something Selynn said and then walked out the door with her. “And she may have just got it,” Holiday said, her voice revealing rejection.

Kylie hesitated to ask, but then it just popped out. “Are those two …

you know?”

“Dirtying up the sheets?” Holiday said.

“Yeah.” Kylie mentally added that to Della’s list of ways to say getting it on.

“This afternoon he came into my office and made the announcement,

‘I know how things looked between Selynn and me. And it’s not that way.

Or at least not anymore.’”

“So they were together and they broke up?” Kylie asked.

“He said they ended it two months ago. That they were never serious.” 188/375

Kylie raised her eyebrows. “And how long ago was it that you met him?”

“Two months,” she said.

“Hmm,” Kylie said.

“Hmm, what?” Holiday asked.

“Just a meaningless hmm,” Kylie lied. “So what did you tell him?”

“I told him that I didn’t have a clue why he felt as if he needed to tell me about Selynn.”

“Could he tell you were lying?” Kylie asked.

“Yup,” Holiday chuckled. They just stood there for a minute looking out at the crowd. “Any more info from the ghost lately?”

“Nothing,” Kylie said. “It scares me that … I’ve messed up somehow.”

“I don’t think that’s it at all. She’s probably trying to figure out how to tell you what she needs you to know.”

“I hope so,” Kylie said.

Angry sounds exploded from across the room. “What did you call me?” a loud voice boomed. Kylie and Holiday looked up. Two werewolves stood nose-to-nose, about to go fist-to-fist.

“My work is never done,” Holiday said, and took off to break up the fight.

Kylie watched her go—watched her calm the tempers of two very high-spirited boys. After a few minutes of feeling a bit like a lone ranger, she spotted Miranda hanging with her witch sisters. She knew Miranda wouldn’t mind if she joined them, but Kylie decided against it. Helen and Jonathon sat at a table playing chess. She could go watch Helen embarrass Jonathon again with her natural talent for chess, but for some the reason, the two seemed to be enjoying being alone.