Awake at Dawn (32 page)

to Holiday to save every one of her campers from the dark side of the supernatural world. Even Fredericka.

Kylie wasn’t sure the she-wolf was worth saving or even if she was sal-vageable. But Kylie didn’t want to be the one to make that call. Besides, she didn’t want Holiday having to solve Kylie’s problems. She got a mental image of how she’d managed to toss Fredericka out the door. Maybe, just maybe she was capable of taking care of herself.

Giving the still-scared Socks a good scratch behind his ears, Kylie said,

“It’s not a big deal. Socks didn’t like Fredericka and Fredericka didn’t like Socks. No one was hurt.”
Yet,
a little voice echoed inside Kylie, but she ignored it. “I’m sure we can work it out.” When Kylie looked up, she spotted Della standing behind the camp leader in the doorway mouthing the word “Liar.” Holiday looked at Della and then faced Kylie again. “You’re sure?” Kylie nodded. It felt less like a lie.

Holiday gave Kylie a hug and then took off. Miranda came out of her room, and Kylie dropped Socks to the floor and started picking up the mess. Miranda and Della did the same.

“You don’t have to help,” Kylie said.

“Please,” Miranda said, and they continued to straighten chairs. Della lifted the microwave back on the counter. She plugged it back in and when the light came on, she said, “Good as new.” When the room was put back together, they all sat down at the kitchen table. “Okay,” Miranda said. “Give us the details and don’t leave out the good parts. And by good parts, I mean when little Miss She-wolf got sprayed in the face. Something tells me that that is going to be my favorite part. Heck, I’ll bet you’re even glad I turned Socks into a skunk now, right?”

Kylie leaned back in her chair and told them the whole story, including the part about Fredericka telling Derek about Lucas’s letters and even 267/375

the part about Fredericka halfway admitting she’d been the one to put the lion in Kylie’s bedroom.

“Why the crap didn’t you tell Holiday?” Miranda asked.

When Kylie didn’t answer right away, Della piped up. “Because she’s too damn nice.”

“It’s not that,” Kylie said. She bit down on her lip. “Okay, maybe that’s part of it, but it’s Holiday I’m worried about—not Fredericka. Plus, I want to deal with this myself.”

“Now, that part of it I can respect.” Della crossed her arms over her chest. “Then there’s the saying about how you should keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.”

Miranda frowned. “Fredericka’s meaner than a rattlesnake. Are you sure you can handle her?”

“If she can’t, I’m always up for kicking a little werewolf ass,” Della said.

Emotion swelled in Kylie’s throat and she barely managed to swallow it. “Is Lucas here, too?” Kylie recalled the hurt in Derek’s eyes. The emotion in her throat doubled.

“Not yet,” Della said. “I heard Fredericka say he was showing up tomorrow.”

Kylie blinked, hoping to contain her tears. Then she recalled the dreams and how hard facing Lucas would be.

Miranda leaned in. “Do you think Derek’s serious about breaking up?”

“He didn’t break up with her,” Della corrected in a harsh tone. “They weren’t going out.”

But he might as well have, Kylie thought, and that’s when a couple of tears slipped out. Standing up, she said. “Thanks guys, but I’m … I just want to—”

“You still feeling pissy?” Della asked.

“Yeah,” Kylie answered. Her gaze shifted to the computer showing her grandparents’ phone number. She was even too distraught to deal with 268/375

that right now. Tomorrow. Kylie got to her bedroom, shut the door, and dropped facedown on the blue-and-white bedspread. She had just closed her eyes when she heard Miranda sigh. A sigh Kylie shouldn’t have been able to hear through her closed bedroom door.

“Do you think she’s werewolf ?”
Miranda asked.

Kylie grabbed a pillow and covered her head, but it didn’t stop Della’s answer from filtering through the foam to reach Kylie’s supercharged hearing.

“Probably,”
Della answered.
“But I’m not going to hold it against her.

She’ll be the nicest werewolf that ever existed.”

“Me, either,”
Miranda said.
“Not all weres are bad. Not that I’ve ever
been close to any of them.”

Great, Kylie thought. Her friends seemed certain she was doomed to a life of nasty moods and howling at the moon. Kylie tried to imagine what it would be like to morph into a wolf. Then she remembered that Fredericka was going to be waiting with bated wolf breath for a chance to get even with her when—okay, if—she did turn.

And then she recalled Derek saying that he didn’t want her to be a werewolf because she’d have that in common with Lucas. Was that why he’d pulled away? Gawd, why did life have to be so damn hard?

* * *

Kylie stayed in her room the next few hours. Feeling an emotional storm rage inside her, she tried to think of anything that could take the edge off.

She’d napped, actually fallen asleep, but had awoken when the temperature dropped in the room. She looked around for the ghost, but the spirit didn’t materialize. Remembering the ghost’s appearance after Fredericka left, Kylie asked, “Do you have something to say?” Her question vibrated in the still coldness of the room. Kylie hadn’t expected an answer, but asking was her job, right? Staring at the ceiling, she jumped when something crashed to the floor. Turning around, she 269/375

saw her phone had fallen from the nightstand. When she picked it up, she heard someone on the line.

“Hello?” Kylie recognized Sara’s voice.

“Hey,” Kylie said.

“What’s up?” Sara asked.

Kylie huddled under the covers to ward off the cold. “Nothing. Did you call me?”

“No. You called me,” Sara answered.

“Oh.” Kylie glanced at her cell. “My phone fell off the nightstand. It must have dialed you accidentally.”

“Oh.” The awkwardness rang louder than Sara’s voice.

“Where are you?” Kylie asked, just to chase away the uncomfortable silence because just hanging up felt too rude. It wasn’t as if Kylie could say what’s on her mind like,
Hey guess what? I just tossed a werewolf
out of my cabin for trying to kill my kitten that’s now a skunk, and tonight, I might turn into a wolf myself.
Right then Kylie realized she’d been blaming Sara for the distance in their relationship, claiming Sara had changed. Well, hell, now look who had undergone the most change.

“At the mall with Tina,” Sara answered, her voice sounding strangely tight.

“Tina?” Kylie asked, hoping to show interest in Sara’s life.

“Tina Dalton. She just moved here.”

“Is she nice?” Was Tina Sara’s new best friend?

Sarah chuckled. “Not really, but her brother is hot.”

“Hmm,” Kylie teased. “Good thing I didn’t have a brother or I’d think you were just interested in him all these years.” Sara laughed and Kylie joined in. A little of the awkwardness faded.

“It was strange that you called,” Sara said. “I was just thinking about you. Do you remember when we were thirteen and you did that backward flip and knocked both of us off the trampoline? Our moms took us to the 270/375

emergency clinic by our neighborhood because they thought you had broken an arm and I had a goose egg on my head.”

“Yeah,” Kylie said. “What made you think about that?”

“Who knows,” Sara answered with the same tight voice.

Kylie leaned back on her pillow. “You thought the doctor was cute.”

“He was cute.” Sara sounded normal again. “Any hot guys at the camp?”

“Yeah.” Kylie took in a deep breath and when she released it, it came out as a fog. Strange. She’d thought the spirit had left but she was moving closer.

“You hooked up with any of them?” Sara asked.

Kylie’s heart tugged. “Kind of, but … we sort of … called it quits.”
Or he
called it quits
. A shiver ran down Kylie’s back and she looked around again for the ghost. She still hadn’t materialized, but her chill filled the room.

“That sucks,” Sara said, and in the background Kylie heard someone call out Sara’s name. “Hold on a sec.”

The line went silent as if Sara had covered the receiver. But Kylie’s ears picked up Sara’s intake of air. Whether Sara had moved her hand, or if it was Kylie’s hearing abilities, she wasn’t sure. She still didn’t grasp how this whole gifted hearing thing worked. It came and went. Just like her strength.

“No, I’m not using my insurance.” Sara’s voice filled the line. “I’m pay-ing cash. Of course my mom knows. Look, is the doctor going to see me or not?”

Kylie frowned when she realized that Sara had lied about being at the mall. The reasons for the lie filled Kylie’s head. Had she run out of birth control pills? Or did she think she was pregnant again? Tightening her grip on the phone, Kylie was reminded of how different they were. How sad was it that they couldn’t share things—neither werewolves or sex?

“Kylie,” Sara said. “I need to go.”

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“Okay. Bye.” Kylie put her phone back on the nightstand. When she looked up, the ghost sat at the foot of her bed, appearing incredibly sad.

Kylie started to speak but the spirit faded.

“Great,” Kylie muttered. “Communicating with spirits is almost as bad as communicating with old friends.”

* * *

At eleven thirty that night, Kylie walked with Della and Miranda to the campfire. Her heart swelled with the fear of what would or wouldn’t happen to her tonight, but she refused to show it. Of course, Della pretty much knew what she was feeling because she kept studying Kylie with an enormous amount of sympathy.

The moment the three of them cut through the clearing, Kylie spotted Derek standing in a group of four other fairies. He glanced at her. The full moon offered enough light for her to see the soft concern in his eyes.

No doubt he could read her fear. Stopping, she muttered to Della and Miranda to go ahead and let her talk to Derek. Her two roommates walked off.

Kylie waited for Derek to come and offer her his comforting touch—just a touch to ebb the fear from her heart. She could really use a little of his calm right now, not to mention his touch. His gaze met hers, but instead of moving over, he glanced back at his circle of friends. That’s when Kylie got the first hint of how things would be between them from now on.

Obviously, being
just
friends meant no more kisses and touches.

Kylie’s first impulse was to beg him to stop this nonsense. Her second impulse didn’t involve begging. Anger crowded out some of her fear. Even though she knew Derek was partially right—in the beginning, there was some truth to her confusion with Lucas stopping her from going out with him—didn’t Derek trust her enough to know she wouldn’t cheat on him?

His lack of faith in her just plain ol’ made her mad. Really, really mad.

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Sure, it might be her uncontrollable werewolf-related aggression bringing on the fury, but she felt it all the same. And once again, being mad felt better than being hurt, even better than being frightened, so she clung to the anger and hoped Derek would read it. She even stepped closer, giving him ample opportunity.

She knew it worked when he turned back around and his green eyes met hers. She didn’t blink, didn’t attempt to look away, wanting to make sure he read every bit of her anger. A frown tightened his brows and he walked away, probably wanting to get out of emotion-reading range.

While tempted to follow him and cloak him in her emotional state, she didn’t.

Just go.
Her chest tightened as the hurt crowded out the anger.
Just
remember, I wasn’t the one who called it quits.

Taking a deep breath, she looked around until she spotted another lone soul who looked almost as miserable as she felt. Perry stood by himself, leaning against a tree and watching Miranda chatting cheerfully with a group of guys—one of whom was Kevin. Knowing misery loved company, Kylie went to join Perry.

Perry snarled at her when she walked up. “What? Are you going to tell me how much she likes me again?”

“Nope,” Kylie said. “I’ve come to the conclusion that anything to do with the opposite sex should be banned and considered illegal.” Perry studied her through his brown eyes. “Trouble in paradise?”

“Yup.”

He sighed. “Maybe we should hook up and teach a few people some lessons.”

“In your dreams,” Kylie said.

“Not even there.” He frowned. “The only girl appearing in my dreams lately is the girl who is too busy flirting with everyone to even say hello to me.”

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Kylie gaped at Perry. “I can’t believe you.” Where did he get off thinking Miranda should talk to him when he’d been the one to call it quits?

Like Derek.

Before she voiced her opinion, Luis, the were in charge, called for everyone’s attention. Kylie’s anger with Perry and over Derek dissolved and she fell right into the lap of fear again.

Her heart thudded. She felt the moon’s rays on her as if it were the sun. Her skin actually stung and it took everything she had not to stop and stare up at the huge orb in the sky and scream for it to stop.

“It’s not as scary as you think,” Perry said.

Kylie met his gaze. “Does everyone know what’s going on with me?”

“Pretty much.” His eyes, now a bright blue, studied her. “It’s not bad.” They moved closer to where the ceremony was taking place and she looked up at Perry and gave him credit for his sincere concern for her “I didn’t think shape-shifters and werewolves were the same thing.”

“We’re not,” he said. “But we both shift and I’ve spent a lot of time talking about it with others. They all say the same thing, ‘It’s not a big deal. Like a muscle cramp.’”

She bit the inside of her cheek and recalled Lucas describing it the same way. Unfortunately, she’d never been fond of muscle cramps. A thousand questions started stirring in her head. Why hadn’t she found more answers? She felt her heart stop, start, then flutter like a trapped butterfly.

Swallowing fear, she searched the crowd for Fredericka. “Will I know who I am?” she asked Perry. Her lungs felt too tight to breathe even though she didn’t spot the she-wolf.