Taken at Dusk

Chapter Eight

  "What was that?" Della demanded.

  Kylie stared at the bird. It didn't move. Didn't make a noise. Was it. . . ? Her heart squeezed.

  "Screw this! It's raining dead birds. Now I'm freaking out. Can we leave, please?"

  The spirit looked from the blue jay to Kylie. "Is it dead?" She knelt and stared at it. When she looked up, she had tears in her eyes. "It's dead. Just like me. Just like the death angels warned. Someone lives and someone dies. "

  "No one is going to die. "

  Kylie picked up the limp bird. Its neck flopped to one side. She remembered seeing the bird so full of life just moments before. What happened? She looked back at the spirit. "Did you kill it?"

  "No, I didn't kill it," Della said. "Wait, you aren't talking to me, are you? Is this a death angel or just a ghost?"

  "No. " Jane looked around as if she were as frightened as Della. She moved closer. "The others did. They're not nice. "

  Kylie shivered from the ghostly cold. "What others?"

  "Shh. " The spirit lifted her finger to her lips. "They're coming. " She faded away.

  Della stood back and continued to stare. Kylie cupped her hands around the blue jay. She'd healed Sara. Was it possible that she might be able to. . . ?

  Kylie closed her eyes and tried to think healing thoughts.

  The bird started quivering. Kylie opened her hands and its wings spread. Its feathers, a bright royal blue and white, caught a spray of sunshine and shimmered in the light, then the bird lunged to its feet and flew away. Kylie watched it disappear into the tops of the trees, her emotions ambivalent. On the one hand, she'd given something life, and that was cool. On the other . . . Well, it was just too freaky.

  "Did you do what I think you did?" Della asked. "Did you just bring that dead bird back to life?"

  Kylie looked up. "I'm not sure. " Suddenly silence filled the forest. The spirit's words echoed in Kylie's head. They're coming.

  The lack of noise seemed ominous.

  She looked at Della. "Can you sense anyone here?"

  Della sniffed the air. "No. But it's too damn quiet. "

  "We should go," Kylie whispered.

  "You don't have to ask me twice. " Della tore out.

  Kylie was right behind her, hoping to outrun the silence, the feeling of danger, and another startling realization about her powers.

  * * *

  "You sure it was dead?" Holiday asked.

  "I didn't listen to its heartbeat. " Kylie paced the small office. "But do birds regularly fall out of trees unconscious?"

  Holiday bit back a smile. "I don't think so. "

  For some reason, this news didn't seem near as startling to her camp leader as it did to Kylie.

  Kylie, still winded from her run, had left the woods and come straight to find Holiday. Della, who took the job of shadowing seriously, waited outside.

  "The ghost was there. Do you think her presence did this? Maybe it had nothing to do with me. The bird came back to life when she left. So maybe it was just her. "

  "It could be. However, I've never heard of a ghost's presence killing wildlife, even temporarily. Maybe the bird was just stunned. Maybe all this is a clue. "

  "To what?" Kylie asked, frustrated.

  "Her identity, maybe. "

  Kylie stopped in front of the desk. "How is a bird dying going to tell me who she is?"

  "Sometimes the spirits have crazy ways of communicating. "

  Kylie rolled a few things around her already confused mind, and then she remembered. "Jane Doe has no brain pattern. Nothing. It's blank. "

  "Blank?" This time Holiday appeared genuinely puzzled.

  "Yeah. I kept trying to refocus, thinking I was . . . just not seeing it right. Because I thought we all had brain patterns, like fingerprints. " Kylie dropped in the chair across from the camp leader.

  "I've never seen one that's blank, but. . . "

  "I think she's supernatural. " Kylie chewed on the side of her lip.

  "Why would you think that?"

  "Because she knew about the death angels. "

  Holiday appeared to consider it. "She probably heard you talking about them. "

  "Maybe. But . . . she's really scared of something. "

  "Dying can be scary if you're not ready. "

  "I think it's more," Kylie said.

  "More like what?"

  "I don't know yet. But it's . . . something. "

  "Wait. " Holiday pressed a hand on the desk. "Didn't you tell me she had some kind of brain operation?"

  "Yes. " Kylie touched her temple. "She has stitches and her head is shaved. "

  "It's probably a tumor. I've never seen anyone with one, but I've heard tumors can make one's brain pattern do strange things. "

  "But can a tumor make it disappear?" Kylie asked. "And what about her getting freaked out when I asked her what she was? I really think she's supernatural. "

  "I'm not saying she isn't one of us, but . . . rarely do we supernaturals hang around long after we pass. In all my years of dealing with ghosts, I've only had three supernaturals. "

  "But my dad hung around. "

  "But he had a very big reason to hang on. To check in on you. "

  Kylie pulled her leg up in the chair and hugged her shin. Her mind zipped from the ghost to her dad to the ghost again. "I don't know . . . There's something about her that's . . . different. Remember, she told me she had messages from others. "

  "That's not unusual. I often get spirits who tell me something for someone else. " Holiday rolled a pencil between her hands.

  "But from the death angels?" Kylie asked.

  "No, but like I said, she could have heard you mention the death angels and simply be confusing things. Has she mentioned the message again?"

  "Yeah. Every time, like it's important. " Kylie frowned. "She keeps saying that someone lives and someone dies. And I don't like the die part. " She hugged her knee tighter.

  "Me either," Holiday said. "But as you've learned, ghosts aren't the best communicators. So don't panic. Just keep asking questions and watching for clues. "

  "Is it possible that the only reason she's here is to give me this message?"

  "Rarely. She's probably here for something else. "

  Kylie frowned. "Then how the heck am I going to help her if she doesn't even remember who she is?"

  Holiday dropped her chin in the palm of her hand. "I think this might be a difficult one. "

  "As if any that I've had have been easy. " Kylie tightened her hold on her leg. "There's one thing I want to check out. "

  "What's that?"

  "Fallen Cemetery. I know you said she could have come from anywhere, but I still find it odd that this is where she popped into my mom's car. "

  Holiday pinched her brows together. "I'm not going to tell you not to go, but cemeteries aren't the best place for a ghost whisperer. By now you should be able to see more than just one ghost, and a lot of ghosts hang around the cemeteries for a long time. "

  Kylie remembered. "At Nana's funeral I got a terrible headache. "

  "That was probably them trying to get through to you. And that was before you could see them. Sometimes they can come at you all at once and it gets . . . difficult. "

  "But if that's the only lead I have, I have to try. "

  "You don't have to," Holiday argued. "In the beginning, I wouldn't have ever refused to help a spirit. But I learned that sometimes you have to say no for your own sanity. "

  "But they'll just keep coming back. "

  Holiday tilted her head a bit. "Don't you remember us talking about how to shut them out?"

  Kylie frowned. "I remember, but I haven't mastered that so well. "

 
"We could go over it again, but. . . " Holiday looked at her watch. "I have an appointment-"

  "I want to help her. There's something about her. " Kylie might not have amnesia, but there was so much about her life she didn't know, things she wanted to know.

  Holiday nodded. "I understand. And I'll support whatever you feel is right. But just make sure you check with me before going, and . . . as Burnett said earlier, you're not to go anywhere without a shadow. "

  "I'm not too keen on the whole shadow thing," she said.

  "Just until we see how things go. "

  Kylie bit down on her lip, remembering the other things she needed to discuss with Holiday. The whole healing and protector issues. Not to mention the questions she had about her sudden overpowering effect on Derek's emotions.

  Then there was . . . She would never get rid of the shadows if she confessed her other concerns. But to not discuss them was stupid. And Kylie wasn't stupid. "Are our security cameras set for . . . shape-shifters?"

  Holiday leaned forward. "I'm sure they are. Why?"

  "It's probably nothing, but a couple of things happened. They could be nothing, but they didn't feel like nothing. "

  Holiday stopped rolling the pencil in her hands. "What kind of things?"

  "When I left to go back to the cabins, I came across a rattlesnake, but I didn't see it until an eagle swooped down and snatched it up. It was freaky. "

  "Did it go after you?" Concern darkened her green eyes.

  "No, it never got the chance. But the whole thing was just strange. "

  "Strange like how?"

  "The eagle just swooped down. " Kylie suddenly felt as if she were overreacting.

  Holiday added, "Rattlesnakes are prevalent this time of year, and I admit seeing an eagle swoop down might be-"

  Kylie didn't wait for Holiday to continue. "And then when I went to . . . run in the woods, a deer-a big buck-came hurtling onto my path. I stopped and, not a split second later, lightning struck right past the deer. If the deer hadn't stopped me, I might have been hit. "

  Holiday frowned. "I don't like the sound of this. "

  "And the deer and the eagle, they . . . looked right at me as if they were trying to tell me something. "

  Holiday's brow wrinkled. "You think you can communicate with animals?"

  "No. I don't think that. They looked evil. "

  Holiday tilted her head to the side. "The deer and the eagle appeared evil?" When Kylie nodded, Holiday looked even more perplexed and worried. "With two of these strange things happening, I can't believe they are accidents. However, if I'm understanding you, both the eagle and the deer saved you from getting hurt. How could they have been evil? If anything, they were protecting you. "

  Kylie pulled a handful of hair over her shoulder and twisted it. "I know it doesn't make sense, but it felt that way. "

  Holiday set the pencil on her desk and reached for her phone. "We'd better let Burnett . . . Wait. " She put down her phone. "Burnett left to have a meeting with the FRU. I don't want to disturb him now, but I'll tell him about this as soon as he gets back. "

  Kylie heard the front door of the cabin open.

  Holiday looked at her watch and frowned. "I have another meeting, but we need to talk more about this. Can you wait until I finish so we can continue this?"

  "I can come back later," Kylie said, not really wanting to hang out at the office. It would make her feel like a kid sent to the principal's office. "Oh, does Burnett still need the pictures of my dad? If not, I'd like to have them back. "

  "He's having them tested to see if they are originals or copies. It shouldn't be more than a few days. "

  "Hi," came an unfamiliar female voice from behind Kylie. "I'm sorry. I didn't know you had someone in here. I can wait in the-"

  "It's fine," Holiday said.

  Kylie's heart did a little tumble when she recognized the brunette as the one who'd been plastered to Derek in the picture on Della's phone.

  "Kylie," Holiday said, "this is Ellie Mason. She's signing up for Shadow Falls. "

  Showtime, Kylie thought. Time to pretend it didn't hurt. She forced a smile. "Hi. "

  "Are you Kylie Galen?"

  Kylie nodded, unsure what to expect.

  "Derek told me about you. " She smiled, then tightened her brows to check out Kylie's brain pattern. "Wow. You do have an odd pattern. " She made a funny face as if embarrassed.

  "Yeah," Kylie said. "Everyone tells me that. " Her forced smile melted.

  "I'm sorry," Ellie said. "I didn't mean to be rude. Derek has nothing but great things to say about you. "

  "Don't believe everything he says. " Kylie attempted to soften her tone because she felt like a bitch for not liking her. But how could she like Ellie when all Kylie could think about was how Ellie was most likely one of the four girls Derek had slept with? Then she wondered if a kiss was all they'd shared in Pennsylvania.

  "I always believe Derek. Especially about people. " Ellie took another step inside.

  Kylie hated to admit it, but Ellie was pretty. Blue eyes, thick brown hair, and dimples.

  Ellie's sincere smile widened. "Derek doesn't tend to exaggerate. And being half-fae, he's a good judge of character. If he likes someone, they deserve it. "

  Kylie wished she could have disagreed. Not so much because she didn't want to be considered deserving. But because Derek obviously cared for Ellie enough to bring her back here, which meant Ellie was a deserving person.

  The being-a-bitch feeling hit again, and Kylie tried to push it back. "Maybe I caught him on an off day. " She attempted to put some teasing in her voice and stood up. "I should go. "

  "Kylie, why don't I drop by your cabin in about half an hour?" Holiday asked, concern deepening her tone.

  Kylie nodded.

  "And be careful," Holiday said.

  "I will. " Kylie stopped when she neared Ellie. "Welcome to Shadow Falls. " And she tried to mean it.

  "Thank you," Ellie said.

  * * *

  "Is my vampire hearing off? Did you actually say, 'Welcome to Shadow Falls'?" Della asked sarcastically when Kylie got outside. "I would have bitch-slapped her. "

  "No, you wouldn't have. " Kylie noticed the stormy weather had passed.

  "Maybe not, but I would have wanted to. " Concern shaded Della's eyes.

  "And you think I didn't?" Insecurities rained down on Kylie. "She's pretty, isn't she?"

  "No," Della said, but Kylie knew it was a lie. Ellie was pretty and nice and she'd probably had sex with Derek.

  Kylie's chest swelled with unwanted jealousy, and her mind created an image of Ellie and Derek together. Of them kissing . . . of them . . .

  She started walking toward her cabin. Walking fast. Della stayed with her, but somehow she must have sensed Kylie's mood, because she didn't say anything else.

  Kylie got to their cabin without speaking, but once she stepped up onto the porch, she faced Della. "Do you think they had sex?"

  "I. . . " Della made an odd face.

  "I know I shouldn't care. But I guess I do. And damn it, why does it seem that it all goes back to sex? I'm beginning to hate sex and I haven't had it yet. I've got these images flashing in my head. It's like a porn movie and I just keep seeing them-"

  Della pressed her hand over Kylie's mouth and shifted her gaze to a point over Kylie's shoulder.

  Kylie reached up and peeled Della's hand from her lips. "Is someone standing behind me?" She prayed the answer was no.

  Della's sassy smile told Kylie her prayer hadn't been answered.

  Swallowing a lump of embarrassment, she tried to imagine the worst person possible standing behind her. Ellie? Derek? No. She met Della's eyes again and mouthed the word Lucas.

 
Please. Please. Please don't let it be Lucas.

  Della nodded. Kylie bit back a moan. Not quite ready to face him, she stared out at the woods. Through a maze of trees, she saw the sun slip lower in the horizon. She wished she could follow it and disappear.

  "Can you give us a minute?" Lucas's voice came right over her shoulder.

  Knowing it was inevitable, Kylie turned. Her face burned when she recalled what she'd said about a porn movie and her whole "I hate sex" conversation. Great!

  "Can't," Della answered. "I'm her shadow. "

  "Well, I'm taking over," he said, almost growling.

  "It's okay," Kylie said to Della.

  Della frowned. "If something happens to her on my shift, I swear I'll be all over your wolf ass. "

  "Nothing's going to happen. " His blue eyes grew darker, and around the edges, Kylie saw flecks of burnt orange, which meant anger.

  Kylie couldn't help wondering if that was targeted at Della or-

  "Fine. " Della stormed inside. But not without slamming the door so hard, the porch shook.

  Kylie met Lucas's gaze. He still looked half-pissed.

  "Let's take a walk," he said.

  Kylie recalled how he'd stiffened earlier when she'd taken up for Derek. Was he angry at her, too? The thought of hurting him when he'd risked his life to save her made her stomach clutch. He didn't deserve that, not that she'd meant to hurt him. But neither did Derek deserve to be blamed for trying to help her.

  He started off the porch and looked back.

  His eyes were a brighter orange now. Kylie remembered a time she would have freaked out at seeing an angry werewolf. Heck, she remembered a time when she hadn't believed werewolves existed, angry or not.

  "You coming?" Lucas asked.