Awake at Dawn (5 page)

sensed the distance her mother kept between them, knew there was something keeping her mom from bonding with her completely.

“Is everything okay?” The familiar female voice came from behind Kylie.

Kylie and Della looked over at Holiday.

“Yeah,” Kylie and Della said at the same time.

Holiday gave Kylie’s arm a squeeze. “We need to talk about what happened tonight, and we will just as soon as things calm down.” Kylie nodded and while Holiday’s touch offered a small amount of comfort, she couldn’t help but wonder if Holiday hadn’t touched her just to check her temperature—to find out if she’d changed into a vampire.

“Later, okay?” Holiday asked.

“Yeah.” Kylie did want to talk to Holiday, yet she sensed the camp leader would tell Kylie the same thing she always did.
I don’t have the answers. I think this is something you must find out for yourself.

But how was Kylie supposed to find the answers? Her plan of getting information from Daniel had been flushed down the toilet. Where did that leave her?

The chirp of Holiday’s cell phone brought Kylie back to the present.

Holiday yanked the phone to her ear. “Burnett?” Holiday’s expression hardened. “No. You have the wrong number.” Kylie heard the frustration in Holiday’s tone. No doubt the camp leader was worried about Burnett. A little of that worry wiggled into Kylie.

She’d been the one to run off from the vampire event—if anything happened to Burnett it would be Kylie’s fault. Looking off at the log walls of the dining room, she tried to deal with the guilt.

Then Kylie remembered that Burnett was probably the last person in the world who couldn’t take care of himself. The man was six foot three of hard muscle and his vamp powers were some of the strongest. Or so Della had said. Since Burnett had stepped in as a temporary assistant, Della had become a bit of a Burnett fan.

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“I’m sure he’s fine,” Kylie offered, and leaned into a dining chair.

“No one stands a chance against him,” Della insisted.

But neither Kylie’s nor Della’s comments helped. Holiday’s brow remained pinched with worry. And it was more than normal concern, too.

Kylie sensed the attraction between the two of them the first time she saw them together. Just because Holiday didn’t want to get involved, didn’t mean she didn’t care.

Holiday dialed a number and then snapped her phone closed.

“Why would he turn off his phone?” Holiday’s eyes tightened. “He has to have known I would want to talk to him.”

“I can answer that,” Della said. “You see, when you’re out in the woods looking for someone, hoping to find them before they find you, nothing takes away your advantage more than a ringing phone.” The truth of Della’s words only brought a deep frown to Holiday lips.

“He could have called before he left. He’s just being … difficult. I swear, I can’t wait until they hire someone else. I simply cannot work with that man.”

Della grinned. “You can’t work with him, you say you don’t like him, but look how worried you are about him.”

“I’m not worried … I mean, I am worried, but not … It’s not like…”

“Like you really care about him,” Della finished off Holiday’s sentence, and then continued. “Like you have the hots for him? Or do you have the hots for him? You know one might assume—”

“You got the hots for me?” Burnett’s deep voice rang out as he moved to stand behind Holiday.

Holiday’s face blushed—from anger or embarrassment, Kylie wasn’t sure. Then Holiday swung around and confronted the tall, dark vampire.

Burnett’s eyes briefly met Kylie’s and he nodded.

Kylie recalled what she’d been doing the last time Burnett’s presence had startled her, and was sure her face reddened right along with Holiday’s.

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“So you’re alive,” Holiday snapped. While her voice expressed anger, her expression told another story—genuine, heartfelt relief. Seeing the emotion, Kylie forgot about her own embarrassment. No doubt about it.

Holiday cared a lot about Burnett. Probably more than she wanted to admit.

“You never answered,” he said. “You got the hots for me, or not?” His dark eyes lit up with a smile.

Squaring her shoulders, Holiday started talking. “Della assumed I might have the hots for you. And you know what they say about assuming, right?”

“It makes an ass out of you and me,” Della answered, and gave Kylie the elbow. “Get it. A. S. S. U. M. E.”

Holiday cut her eyes to Della in visual reprimand, then started walking away. She got three steps and swung back around. “Are you coming?” she snapped at Burnett.

“You didn’t ask me to,” he answered.

“Well, I assumed you would know I needed to discuss what happened.”

He arched one dark brow upward. “And what did you just say about assuming?”

Della grinned and appeared totally entertained by Holiday and Burnett, but Kylie’s thoughts went in another direction. She cleared her throat. “Didn’t you guys agree to be forthcoming with all of us from now on? So why do you have to leave? Why can’t we all hear this?” Holiday frowned.

“She’s right.” Burnett held out both his hands. “You did say that at the meeting. I believe it was the same one at which you called me a jerk,” he added.

Holiday’s eyes brightened with frustration. Obviously the man didn’t know when to keep his mouth shut.

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“Fine,” Holiday said between her closed teeth. The two of them stared at each other, and neither of them blinked. When the silence became long, Holiday let go of a deep breath. “Why don’t you address everyone then?” She waved at the front of the room. “The floor is all yours.”

“I think I could do that,” Burnett answered, but his expression said he didn’t really like addressing the group. Kylie also got the feeling that Holiday knew it.

Holiday shot off, and Burnett watched her go. “I don’t know which is worse, talking to everyone or talking to her alone.” He looked up at Kylie and flinched as if he hadn’t meant to say that aloud. Then before he moved to the front, he looked at Della. Kylie could swear she saw him mouth the words “Thank you.”

When he left, Kylie studied Della. “How long did you know Burnett was in the room?”

“Pretty much from the time Holiday walked over here.” Della grinned.

“Hey, we vampires have got to stick together.” She nudged Kylie with her elbow as if saying Kylie was one of them. Kylie wasn’t so sure she was.

Then again, she wasn’t sure she wasn’t, either.

The door to the dining room swished open. Kylie looked that way.

Derek walked into the dining room, and his gaze went straight to her. The sweet smile he sent her reminded her of the kisses they’d shared earlier.

A warmth brought on by the memory filled her abdomen at the same time an unnatural coldness brushed her skin.

Goose bumps popped up on her arms when she heard the words again.
“You have to stop it. You have to. Or this will happen to someone
you love. Soon. Soon. It will happen soon.”

“Who? How soon?” Kylie muttered under her breath. The spirit materialized only a foot from Kylie’s face. She still wore the blood-soaked gown, only this time the blood dripped from the hem of her gown and pooled around her feet. Kylie’s breath caught, and while it was the last 41/375

thing Kylie wanted to think, her mind took her there. To the sweet, addictive flavor of blood.

“Soon what?” Della asked. Kylie looked from the ever-growing puddle of blood to Della’s slightly slanted eyes that hinted at her Asian heritage.

Then she watched those eyes widen with fear. Della shivered and took a step back. “You’ve got company again, don’t you?” Della ran off. At the same time several other campers standing close by started backing away as if they had figured out what was happening as well. Feeling ostracized, Kylie’s throat tightened and her sinuses stung.

She fought to keep the tears from filling her eyes. When she looked back to the spirit, it had faded and the air had lost its chill.

Kylie’s lungs swelled with frustration. Frustration, no doubt, brought on by all her unanswered questions. Her whole freaking life was one big unanswered question.

“Excuse me.” Burnett’s deep authoritative voice filled the room. “Can everyone give me your attention? I know you’re all curious as to what happened tonight. And since Kylie reminded Holiday and me that we said we’d be more forthcoming with situations, I figure I’d best explain.” Chapter Four

Hearing Burnett speak lessened the emotional lump in Kylie’s throat.

Everyone looked toward the front.

“We had an uninvited visitor to the camp this evening,” Burnett explained. “A vampire.”

“Was it from that gang? The ones who attacked you guys at the wildlife park?” Helen asked, and glanced over at Kylie.

Kylie moved a little closer to the front, not wanting to miss Burnett’s answer.

“I don’t know for sure.” He looked around the room as if searching for someone. A second later, his gaze settled on Holiday and his expression softened.

“But,” Burnett continued, “I don’t think they were here to hunt. If he or she were here to kill, he had a chance at easy prey and didn’t take it.” His gaze shifted to Kylie, making it clear, at least to Kylie, that she was the “easy prey.”

Easy prey.
Prey maybe, but
easy
? That annoyed Kylie more than she wanted to admit. Okay, sure, she wasn’t exactly Superwoman, but she’d held her own fighting the Blood Brothers that night at the wildlife park.

Granted, she’d had some help from Daniel, but nevertheless, she’d kicked ass right alongside everyone else. Didn’t she get any credit for that?

Burnett cleared his throat. “Chances are it was just someone curious about the camp.”

Kylie recalled how threatened she’d felt those few minutes back in the woods when she’d felt the vampire’s presence. It had felt like more than 43/375

just curiosity. It felt menacing. If Derek hadn’t shown up, Kylie didn’t know what would have happened, but she suspected it wouldn’t have been good.

“Or it could be the gang just wanting to let us know they haven’t run scared. It could have also have been just a friend or relative looking for someone, and they didn’t want to go through our visitor check. And if any of you have a vampire friend who might try this, please let it be known loud and clear that entering this camp without getting a visitor’s pass is considered a serious offense. If I find them, I’ll treat them like a hostile.

And that goes for all species, even humans.” Kylie hoped Della was listening. Personally, Kylie didn’t care too much for Chan, but she knew Della did, and for her sake, Kylie would hate for something to happen to him.

Burnett’s gaze grew cold with his warning before he continued. “While I don’t see this as an out-and-out threat, neither do I think we should totally let our guards down. The Blood Brothers gang was stupid enough to try something once. They might be stupid enough to try again.”

“I still don’t understand what it is they have against us,” one of Miranda’s witch buddies said.

“I’ll take that question,” Holiday said, and made her way up front. “If you’ll notice, we have more vampires here than any other species. The reason is clear. The virus can be passed down so many generations and therefore parents of a newly turned vampire may not even be aware that supernaturals exist. This makes living at home extremely difficult, which leads many of them to joining the gangs. But since the camp opened, we’ve saved more than four hundred newly turned vampires from following that dark path. We’ve obviously cut into their membership im-mensely. They see Shadow Falls as standing between them and their gangs’ growth potential.”

She paused. “Any other questions?” When no one spoke up, Holiday added, “Now, it’s almost two in the morning, so why don’t you all go back 44/375

to your cabins and try to get some rest? But remember what Burnett said.

Don’t let your guard down.”

As the crowd started to leave, Kylie went to join Miranda, who stood by herself in a corner and played a video game on her phone. When she saw Kylie, she cocked her head to the side and smirked. Which reminded Kylie of a cute but pissed-off puppy.

“Oh, so when everyone else abandons you, now you want to be around me,” Miranda said.

Kylie frowned. “I hurt Della’s feelings and I just needed to apologize.”
And I couldn’t do it with you two verbally scratching each other’s eyes
out.

“But you don’t care if you hurt my feelings,” Miranda said. “It’s good to know where I rate.”

“You don’t believe that,” Kylie said.

“I don’t?” She shook her head, her multicolored hair—pink, black, and green—shimmering around her shoulders. “Is this the way it’s going to be from here on out? Because you’re both vampire, you don’t want me around.”

“No. It’s not like that. And … we don’t know if I’m vampire.”

“You liked the taste of blood.”

“That doesn’t make me a vampire.” Frustration built in Kylie’s chest.

But when she met Miranda’s eyes and saw the insecurity lingering in her friend’s eyes, Kylie stopped thinking about her own fears. “And for the record, I’m sorry I hurt your feelings. I didn’t mean to do that.”

“And for the record, neither did I,” Della added, joining them in the corner.

“Wow,” Miranda looked at Della. “That’s almost an apology. And to a dyslexic witch.”

“Don’t push it,” Della said.

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“Fine.” A smile lit up Miranda’s eyes. “Let’s make a pact that no matter what Kylie ends up being, no matter what happens, we’ll always stick together.”

Della snorted. “What planet have you been on? We already made that pact.”

They started moving toward the door but stopped when Holiday called out Kylie’s name.

“Can I see you a minute?” the camp leader asked.

* * *

“I know you want to talk about what happened tonight, but I’d like to get my talk with Burnett out of the way first. Is it okay if I stop by your cabin and we can chat in your room?”

Kylie remembered Holiday’s comment about it being late. “If you’d like to wait and talk to me in the morning, we…”