Taken at Dusk

Chapter Twenty-seven

  For a second, it felt as if someone had turned the lights off. Kylie could feel Holiday's hand on hers, but the cave was pitch black.

  Then the lights came back on. Kylie looked around, feeling confused. They were no longer in the falls. Instead, she sat in an uncomfortable folding metal chair outside in a clearing under some kind of dark-colored awning. The wind smelled like rain. It was a cloudy day, and she felt sad. So much sadness.

  What happened to the serenity of the falls? What the heck had just happened?

  It took her a second to realize this was a vision. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to see this time, but she didn't care. She didn't want to see it.

  Kylie tried to pull herself out of it. She wanted to be back, back where everything felt right, where calm was all around her, where the sound of water soothed her mind.

  When that didn't work, she tried to figure out where she was. Her breath caught when she saw a casket sitting in front of the enclosure. Quiet tears filled her eyes, and she knew someone she cared about lay in that box.

  "No," she whispered. "Please, no. "

  Someone touched her hand. Kylie recognized Holiday's touch before she looked over to see the camp leader sitting next to her. She wore somber black clothes, no makeup, and unshed tears made her sad green eyes look brighter than usual.

  Then someone started talking from up near the casket. Kylie looked up, and Chris, the lead vampire, the one who did the Meet Your Campmates hour, stood beside the coffin. "We lost one of our own today. It's our custom when a vampire dies that. . . "

  "No," Kylie whispered again, and suddenly she realized she was standing up, back in the falls. The sadness filling her chest now came with a less painful emotion, one that made it easier to breathe, but it still hurt.

  She looked at Holiday, who sat on the rock, her arms holding her knees tight to her chest. The tears in her eyes told Kylie that Holiday hadn't just been in Kylie's vision. She'd actually experienced it herself.

  Someone lives and someone dies. The words seemed to flow from the rock themselves and bounce around the stone walls.

  Kylie looked at Holiday. "What does this mean?"

  Holiday blinked and Kylie saw her attempt to put on a brave face. "Whatever happens, we'll be okay. "

  "We will," Kylie said, fighting the calmer feeling and letting the feeling of grief take the lead. "But someone here isn't going to be okay. We have to do something to save her. Or him. "

  It's our custom when a vampire dies that . . .

  Chris's words tore at her heart. When a vampire dies . . . Oh, God. Please say it's not Della, or Burnett.

  Holiday shook her head. "There's nothing to be done, Kylie. " She inhaled. "Can't you feel it? Acceptance. " Tears filled her eyes again. "It breaks my heart, but that's what they are telling us. Someone we love will die, and we have to accept it. "

  "But I don't want to accept it. " Kylie turned and walked through the wall of water to the sunlight.

  The instant her gaze landed on Burnett, all the calm from the falls shattered around her. The acceptance she'd felt earlier was little more than a vague memory.

  Please not Burnett. Please not Della. Please not Burnett.

  She repeated the mantra over and over in her mind, as though wishing would make it so. She wanted to run to him, to grab him by his hands and make him swear to her that he would be careful, that he wouldn't take any unnecessary risks.

  But even as she thought those thoughts, she knew in her heart that nothing, and no one, would stop Burnett from being himself. And that meant him taking risks.

  Kylie felt Holiday come to a stop beside her. Kylie glanced at the camp leader. Her gaze was locked on Burnett, and Kylie knew she'd been having the same thoughts about his safety that Kylie had.

  Someone lives and someone dies. The words repeated themselves in her head.

  * * *

  "Are you guys ready?" Miranda called out on Friday evening from the living room.

  Kylie sighed. Miranda was nervous. Tonight was her big date with Todd, the cute warlock, and Kylie and Della were going to go wait with her at the main gate.

  "Just about. " Kylie grabbed her hairbrush and gave her hair a few strokes, not really caring if her hair looked as though a bird had taken up residence there.

  The last few days had passed by her in a haze. Accepting that someone was trying to kill her was bad, but trying to accept that someone she cared about, a vampire, was about to die was impossible.

  She and Holiday had butted heads about trying to stop the vision they'd shared from becoming a reality. What if it was Della? Didn't Holiday care that it could be Burnett? Kylie had mentally gone through a list of all the vampires at camp. Some of them she didn't know all that well, but they didn't deserve to die. Kylie had come within a breath of telling Della about the vision, but just as she was about to say it, a wave of knowing passed over her. She couldn't tell.

  For reasons Kylie didn't understand, she simply knew it would be wrong.

  Holiday kept pointing out that Kylie was forgetting the message came with two parts. Someone lives. But what about the someone who dies? "You can't change Fate," Holiday had insisted.

  Kylie still wanted to kick Fate's ass. The acceptance that had filled Kylie at the falls occasionally returned and tried to numb the ache. It helped, but not completely.

  "I'm waiting," yelled Miranda again.

  So am I. Kylie looked at the ghost sitting on the edge of the bed.

  "One more minute," Kylie answered Miranda. The ghost was pregnant again, and she just sat there, holding her round belly as if to protect it.

  "We have to talk, you know," Kylie whispered.

  The spirit didn't answer.

  "If you want me to help you, we have to talk. "

  She still didn't speak.

  "I know the other ghosts think you did horrible things, but I don't really believe it. I'm trying to prove it, but I don't know if I can do it alone. I need your help. "

  More silence met Kylie's pleas. Then she heard Miranda calling again.

  Kylie looked at the ghost. "I have to go now. " She reached for her door and inhaled, knowing she needed to put on a front for Miranda, who was excited about her date with Todd. Never mind that the girl had asked Kylie at least ten times to tell her the story about how Perry had saved both her and Ellie from the sinkhole.

  Miranda needed to make up her mind. But people who lived in glass houses shouldn't throw rocks. And she'd spent a lot of time in that particular glass house herself, trying to decide between Derek and Lucas.

  Not anymore.

  And she meant it, too. She did.

  She missed Lucas. And when he came back, she was telling him straight out that she wanted to go out with him.

  Last night, she'd even tried to find him in her dreams. Had Lucas been awake at the time, or could the pack somehow stop her from reaching him? She didn't know. So this morning, she'd found another way to contact him. Through that all-powerful thing called a cell phone.

  He couldn't talk about what was happening there. She couldn't tell him about the issues with Fate. And telling him yes to going out with him just seemed like something she wanted to do in person. But they talked for about twenty minute about other things, like the vacations they'd had as children.

  He'd visited about every foreign country Kylie had ever heard of and some that she hadn't. But he hadn't ever been to Disney World or to a real amusement park, for that matter, and she'd told him all about them. They'd decided to make that their first real date.

  Just as soon as Kylie was removed from someone's hit list and free of her mandatory shadow.

  Walking out of her bedroom, Kylie found Miranda pacing by the door. She looked pretty; she wore her hair swept up, with only a few soft blond strands falling around her neck. The diff
erent colors in her hair hardly showed when she wore it up.

  She wore a sleeveless yellow sundress that had a few ruffles around the bottom and a pair of matching yellow sandals. The outfit was very feminine without looking too cute, sexy without looking slutty, and dressy without looking overdressed. For just a second, Kylie envied Miranda and her evening out. She wished Lucas were here and they could go somewhere away from the camp.

  Somewhere she could forget about Fate snatching away one of her own.

  Della stood up from the computer desk. Kylie's heart knotted at the mere possibility that it was her in that casket, and then she remembered bits and pieces of the conversation she'd had with Holiday this morning.

  "Everyone is going to die sometime, Kylie. "

  Kylie could tell that Holiday tried to be brave for her. But if the camp leader's eyes were any indication, she'd cried as much as Kylie had and hadn't slept any more than Kylie, either.

  "Fine," Kylie had retaliated. "But why tell us this? Why, if we can't prevent it, just to torture us with knowing it beforehand?"

  "For some reason, they thought we needed to be warned. "

  "Well, they thought wrong!"

  "They are seldom wrong, Kylie. "

  "Well, there's always a first time, isn't there!"

  "Earth to Kylie!" Della yelled, bringing Kylie back to the present. "What is it with you? Did your little trip to hell mess up your mind?" Della grinned.

  "What are you talking about?" Kylie asked.

  "You keep staring at me and going blank. You've done it for almost two days now, and it's freaking me out a bit. "

  "I'm sorry. "

  "It's probably because she misses her hunky werewolf. " Miranda placed a hand over her heart. "She's heartsick. Her aura is all grayish. She's gone without his kisses for almost two days. " Then Miranda opened the front door and waved them out.

  "Poor little thing," Della said.

  Kylie rolled her eyes and followed them out. Good thing she liked her roommates, or she might really be pissed.

  They hadn't stepped off the porch when Ellie, with a couple of other vampires, walked past.

  Ellie shot over to Kylie. "How are your scratches?"

  "Gone. " Kylie held out her arm.

  "Good. " Just a bit of awkwardness moved in, and Ellie apparently noticed. "I'll see you. "

  "Yeah," Kylie said, and Ellie turned to go. It dawned on Kylie that in the vision, the person in the casket could have been Ellie. "Ellie?"

  She swung around, and Kylie didn't know what she wanted to say; she just didn't want Ellie to leave thinking she'd been rude. "Thanks," Kylie blurted out.

  Ellie looked puzzled. "For what?"

  "For . . . being considerate enough to ask about my arm. " Okay, that sounded so lame.

  "Oh. You're welcome. " Ellie walked backward, waved, then swung around and ran to catch up with her group.

  "What was that all about?" Della asked when Ellie was out of hearing range and they were down the porch steps.

  "Yeah," Miranda said. "I mean, if I'd found out someone had boinked my boyfriend, I wouldn't be so nice. "

  "Derek wasn't my boyfriend," Kylie said.

  "Yeah, and bears don't do it in the woods, either," Della said.

  Kylie held up her hands. "Stop it, okay? I don't care what happened between Ellie and Derek. "

  Della mouthed the word liar and then said, "Truth is, I don't like the chick. I hate the way she's so friendly and nice. Gives my kind a bad name. "

  Kylie frowned at Della. "Don't mistreat her because of this. I'm serious, Della. She didn't know about me when it happened. "

  "Okay," Della said. "That means she's not devious. But it still makes her a slut. "

  Miranda laughed and Kylie moaned. "I don't think she's like that. " Kylie hesitated and then added, "She jumped in the sinkhole, willing to risk her life to save Perry and me. "

  "Yeah, she did do that," Miranda said. "But it doesn't change the fact that-"

  "Damn it! Can we just not talk about it," Kylie said.

  "Man," Miranda said. "It must be time for your lunar PMS, because Della's right. You haven't been yourself lately. You're like majorly grumpy. "

  Kylie wished Miranda were right. That her mood hinged on nothing more than her being a werewolf, instead of her other long list of problems.

  And if she ended up being a were, Lucas would be happy. Really happy.

  * * *

  "Shit!" Miranda muttered thirty minutes later.

  They were still waiting for Todd, who'd gotten lost and had called Miranda and told her he was three minutes away.

  "Shit what?" Della asked, but then said, "Oh, shit. "

  "What?" Kylie asked, obviously the only one in the dark.

  Then she saw it, or rather him, and she completely agreed with the assessment. "Oh, shit. "

  "Hey," Perry said as he moved in. Kylie couldn't help noticing that he'd gotten his hair cut and wore a tighter-fitting shirt and jeans. Something about his haircut made him appear older, more of a man than a young teen. The way his shirt hugged his upper torso accented his broad shoulders. His eyes were blue, and the way they twinkled when he looked at Miranda had Kylie's heart melting. Confidence seemed to ooze from his smile. Even his body posture spoke of a coolness she'd never seen him exude. For the first time, Kylie spotted what it was that Miranda found so attractive about Perry.

  "Looking hot," Della said, obviously noticing the same thing.

  "Why, thank you. " His blue eyes sparkled as he shifted his gaze back to Miranda. "But I'm not the only one looking good tonight. Really good. "

  "Thanks. " Miranda looked at Kylie as if begging her to do something.

  Kylie glanced at Della, who just grinned.

  "Uh, Perry. . . " Kylie started talking, not sure how she would fix this. "We were just sort of talking, privately, about-"

  "About Miranda's date," Perry said.

  "Oh, shit," Della said again.

  Ditto, Kylie wanted to say.

  Perry focused on Miranda. "I know about your date. "

  Miranda shot Kylie a look as if accusing her of spilling the beans.

  Kylie shook her head no and refocused on Perry. His eyes changed from blue to bright green, but if Perry was about to wig out on them and change into some kind of warlock-eating monster, he gave no other indication. "I just wanted to tell you that while I don't like it, I'm hoping you'll give me the same chance you're giving this asswad . . . I mean, this guy. "

  Della chuckled.

  "Go out with me tomorrow night," Perry went on. "Let me prove to you that I'm the guy you want. "

  Miranda opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Kylie couldn't talk either, because she felt a lump in her throat-a lump of emotion and pride for Perry.

  "I . . . I guess I could go out tomorrow night. " Miranda sounded shocked and a little swept off her feet.

  Then, from the corner of her eyes, Kylie saw something move at the office window. When she looked back, she spotted Burnett and Holiday standing there high-fiving each other. No doubt Burnett was listening to the conversation and sharing the details with Holiday.

  Kylie should have guessed someone had helped out Perry. She was a little embarrassed she hadn't tried this herself. He so deserved his shot with Miranda.

  Perry nodded, stepped closer, and then pressed a quick kiss on Miranda's cheek. It had to be the most romantic thing Kylie had ever seen.

  If only the tan truck, with a personalized license plate that read TODD, hadn't pulled up right then.

  "Oh, shit," Della said again.

  Ditto.