Awake at Dawn (28 page)

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“Please,” Derek said.

His plea echoed in his voice and she felt herself giving in. On top of just wanting to make Derek happy, she remembered that she could read everyone’s brain patterns and realized seeing everyone all together would be fun. She could compare one brain pattern to another.

“You had a rough day,” Derek said. “You deserve some fun in the sun.”
I’ve had a rough few months.
“I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Really?” he asked, almost shocked that she’d given in. Didn’t he know how much he meant to her?

“Really,” she said, and smiled. The smile warmed Kylie inside and out.

The memory of how he’d stood up for her even to her dad played in her mind. And that’s when she knew that the next time Derek asked her to go out with him, she’d say yes.

* * *

When she realized how much time had passed, she tore out the door.

The shortest route to the swimming hole was through the woods, so she took it. The speed with which she moved shocked even her. Her foot-eye coordination of where to step and how to miss the trees flabbergasted her.

While speed and agility had never been something she longed for, she found herself feeling a sense of pride at her new talents. If only she knew from what species these new talents stemmed.

She was over halfway to the swimming hole when she felt it. Felt that sensation of being followed. The hair on the back of her neck stood up.

And wouldn’t you know that’s when she recalled Burnett’s warning about staying on the paths and out of the woods.

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Listening, hoping to hear something other than the sound of feet pounding against the earth, she felt better when the normal sounds of the woods filled her ears. Whatever presence loomed close by wasn’t so ominous that birds and insects stopped their songs.

Not that she should stake her life on the wisdom of the birds and insects. The feeling hit stronger … someone was here. What should she do?

Logic said for her to keep going; turning back would only put her farther away from the help of the others if trouble struck. Her mind went to the girls who’d been killed in town and amazingly, she found herself running even faster.

The clearing in the woods appeared in less than a minute. The bright sun hit her eyes and she could hear the other campers laughing and splashing in the water. When nothing attacked her, when no evil presence appeared wearing a bloody shirt and tried to yank her back into the woods, she wondered if this feeling of being watched wasn’t all in her head. Could she be that paranoid?

She stopped in the clearing beside a tree and tried to catch her breath, feeling completely winded from her run. She almost had her breathing back to normal when she saw Derek coming toward her. He wore only a pair of swim trunks. His chest was bare and wet like the other night in the shower. The trunks were regular boy trunks, a little loose on him, even hung a little low on the waist, but they were wet so they molded against his form. Since she knew what he looked like without them, she found herself feeling breathless again.

“Hey,” he said, and when his gaze fell to her mouth, she could tell he wanted to kiss her. He looked around and saw that they had an audience.

So instead of kissing, he reached out and took her hand. “Come on, the water feels great.”

It did feel great. And for the next hour, Kylie played water volleyball, splashed around, studied everyone’s brain pattern, and completely forgot about the problems pressing on her shoulders. The only downside was 233/375

watching Perry watch Miranda. She looked really good in her bathing suit and Kylie wasn’t the only one who noticed, either. The guys were all steal-ing glances, even Derek, and then Perry would cut them glances, and not the friendly kind of glances either. His eyes would turn jet black, reminding Kylie of some kind of serpent.

Nevertheless, between the water and the laughter, Kylie hadn’t had so much fun in … well, forever.

Then all the fun came to a jarring halt when she spotted Holiday running out of the woods in a panic and heading straight for the lake.

Her expression grew tighter with each hurried step. What was wrong?

Holiday’s gaze found Kylie’s and suddenly she knew that whatever was wrong involved her.

Kylie started moving out of the water, but her toes sank into the mud at the lake’s bottom the closer she got to shore. All the stresses in her life lined up like dominos in her mind, and she wondered which one this new problem involved.

Selynn appeared behind Holiday and her gaze shot to Kylie, as well.

This wasn’t going to be good.

Kylie met Holiday at the edge of the water and purposely ignored Selynn. “What’s wrong?”

“We have a problem.” Holiday’s gaze shot back to the water and she waved someone else in. Kylie turned and saw Derek swimming in to join them.

“What is it?” Kylie asked again, still ignoring Selynn, who had moved in.

“You’re coming with us,” the werewolf spouted out. Her hand clamped down on Kylie’s wrist. “Now.”

Kylie frowned and shook Selynn loose.

“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on.” Kylie’s gaze went back to Holiday who watched Derek step up onshore. “Will somebody please tell me what is wrong?” Holiday glanced back. The line of stress furrowing the camp leader’s brow told Kylie this was serious. “It’s your mom.”

“My mom?” Kylie took a deep breath. Bits and pieces of her mom’s conversation filled Kylie’s mind. Then the ghost’s warning echoed like a bad song in her head.
“You have to stop it. You have to stop it or
someone you love will die.”

Oh, God, no.

“What’s wrong with my mom?” The words barely spilled from her lips.

She remembered her mom was flying home sometime today. Kylie’s heart clutched as she envisioned a plane crash. Oh God, was her mom…?

“She must have come to see you.” Holiday said. “Late. For some reason, the new security alarm on the gate didn’t work. And she got in without anyone knowing.”

“She’s here?” More than Kylie wanted air, she wanted to know her mom was alive and well. That her plane hadn’t crashed. That some freak hadn’t kidnapped her and was torturing her the way the dreams seemed to imply.

“Yes. She’s here,” Selynn said in her haughty tone. “Against school policy. Visiting hours were over hours ago.” 235/375

Kylie’s gaze went to Selynn. What was the she-wolf saying? Was her mom okay or not? Kylie looked back at Holiday.

“What happened?” Kylie repeated her question. “Is she okay?”

“She’s … upset.” Holiday’s frown deepened. “She was trying to find your cabin and got turned around. She … she saw some things she shouldn’t have.”

“What?” Kylie remembered how stunned she’d been when she first saw Perry change into a unicorn. “What did she see?”

“She needs to be erased,” Selynn snapped. “And quickly.”
Erased?
“What … is that supposed to mean?” The she-wolf grabbed Kylie by the arm and started pulling her toward the woods.

Kylie put on the brakes.

“What does erase mean?” she asked again, not anywhere close to understanding, but miles from liking how it all sounded. She yanked her arm away from Selynn and then took a step closer, so close Kylie could count the woman’s eyelashes.

“You better not lay a finger on my mother!” Kylie growled, and the sound of her voice seemed unnatural to her own ears. It was deeper.

Coarser.

“Kylie, listen to me.” Holiday’s hand came down on Kylie’s back, sending a surge of calm into her tense shoulders. Kylie might have listened, might have even accepted the calm emotion from Holiday if Selynn hadn’t been there.

“We don’t have time for this,” Selynn snapped. She grabbed Kylie by both arms, her fingers digging into Kylie’s biceps hard enough to bruise.

When Kylie tried to pull away again, Selynn tightened her hold.

“She’s human,” Selynn said. “She has to be dealt with. Now.”

“Dealt with?” Fury, anger, and fear for her mother’s safety threatened to overwhelm Kylie. “Damn you, where’s my mother?” Kylie’s voice sounded deeper than before.

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“Stop it, Selynn!” Holiday said. “You’re upsetting her. She doesn’t understand what is going on.”

“Yeah, stop it!” Derek’s voice rang out.

Kylie felt Holiday’s touch come against her shoulder again. The fairy attempted to fill Kylie with a peace-inducing emotion, to curb her fury, but Kylie somehow rejected the flow from moving inside her.

“Your mom is going to be okay,” Holiday said, her voice seeming to echo from some other place. “She’s at Helen’s cabin right now. She—” Once Kylie heard her mom’s location, she again tried to pull away from Selynn’s grip. But the she-wolf tightened her hold, her fingernails cutting into Kylie arms. Kylie recognized the pain, but it felt as if it was happening to someone else.

“Let go!” Kylie hissed in Selynn’s face.

When the woman didn’t release her. Kylie, acting on some instinct she didn’t even recognize, grabbed the woman by her shirt and slung her out of the way.

Several gasps echoed around her. One might have even been from Kylie when she saw Selynn flying like a rag doll through the air before she landed in the water with a loud splash. The werewolf came up covered in mud and spitting mad. She roared and started swimming back to shore, and once on dry land, she locked gazes with Kylie, slung her head back, growled, and charged.

Holiday jumped in front of Kylie and held out her hand. “One step closer and I will summon the wrath of the death angels. And if you think I’m joking about that, you don’t know me very well.” But Selynn didn’t stop. She kept coming.

Then Derek and Della tackled her, sending the she-wolf tumbling to the ground with a grunt.

Kylie didn’t stick around to hear or see what happened next. She took off through the woods, her blood pumping through her veins as she ran with everything she had to reach her mother.

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As she moved with inhuman speed, she felt a blast of air pass by her and she spotted a blur of movement. The sudden silence of the woods told her it was vampire. Not that she cared.

She only wanted to reach her mother before anyone touched her. If anyone hurt one hair on her head …

Kylie heard her mother’s screams right before she exited the woods near the path that led to Helen’s cabin. Panic clawed at Kylie’s chest like a wild animal seeking escape. She cut through the last of the trees, flew over the path, and arrived at Helen’s porch.

Burnett, with a windblown Holiday at his side, stood there blocking the door. And Kylie knew Burnett had brought Holiday here.

“Let me out of here!” Her mom’s scream reached Kylie’s ears.

The rich berry scent that she now knew as blood filled her nose. She stared at Burnett. “Move!”

“Kylie.” Holiday jumped in front of Burnett. “Listen to me, okay? Your mom is fine. She’s very upset and we’re going to have to calm her down.”

“She’s hurt.” Kylie struggled to breathe and fought the desire to break through Burnett and the door to get to her mom.

“She’s not hurt,” Burnett insisted.

“I smell blood,” Kylie seethed.

“That’s not her blood,” Burnett answered, his eyes turning a burnt orange color.

“I swear,” Holiday said, and attempted to touch Kylie, but Kylie jumped back. Holiday lowered her hand. “Your mom isn’t hurt, Kylie. I promise you. Please calm down. We’re going to fix this. But we need your help.”

“Trust them, Kylie,” a voice said at the same time a familiar coldness invaded her breathing room.

Kylie turned to see Daniel standing next to her. “Trust them,” he repeated.

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Tears filled Kylie’s eyes as Daniel wrapped her in his cold embrace.

“It’s okay.” His icy breath came at her ear, as comforting warmth filled her chest.

An awesome sense of peacefulness flowed though her body. The same kind of peacefulness she’d felt at the falls. The kind that said things weren’t as bad as she thought. The kind that said she should have faith.

She raised her head to look at Daniel, but he was gone. Feeling overwhelmed, her legs wobbled and she dropped to her knees on the porch.

Holiday crouched beside her. “She’s going to be fine, Kylie. I promise.” Kylie looked at Holiday. “What … what did my mom see? Perry…?”

“No.” Holiday brushed Kylie’s hair from her face. “I had given permission for Helen to donate a pint of blood to Jonathon. He was bleeding her, and against my rule he was…” Holiday paused and then firmly added, “He was drinking from the tube when your mom stepped in. I’m sure it looked really bad to her. She panicked.” Kylie dropped her face into her hands. “Oh, God.” How the hell was she going to explain this to her mom?

“Jonathon was startled,” Holiday continued. “He grabbed her and pushed her into Helen’s bathroom, shoved the dresser against the door, and sent Helen after me. I got Burnett here as quickly as I could.”

“I didn’t hurt her,” Jonathon said, stepping up on the porch. “I probably should have handled it differently, but I swear, I didn’t hurt her. I’m sorry this happened.”

Kylie looked at Jonathon. His shirt had stains of blood, Helen’s blood, she told herself, not her mom’s blood. Following him up the steps was Derek.

“Here’s what we have to do,” Burnett said. “It’s called erasing.”

“No,” Kylie said, instantly being reminded of her emotions and her fight with Selynn.

“It’s not a bad thing,” Holiday said. “Erasing means that the memory is removed from her mind. It won’t hurt her. But the calmer she is, the 239/375

easier it is and the more successful it will be. And right now she’s not calm. I think if you talk to her, you can calm her down.”

“Talk to her? She saw someone drinking blood from an IV tube. What am I supposed to tell her that will calm her down?” Kylie asked. “Oh, don’t worry, Mom, they’re just vampires?” Holiday looked Kylie right in the eyes. “She’s worried about you now more than she’s scared,” Holiday assured her. “Just let her know you’re fine and then Derek will come in—”