Awake at Dawn (Shadow Falls #2)(10)

Finally alone, Della and Kylie stood there staring at each other. Kylie spoke first. "I'm sorry, too. I didn't mean to disrespect your culture. I really just freaked out."

Della nodded. "I get it. Didn't get it at first but ... I do now." Della sighed and a smile touched her lips. "You loved it, didn't you? The blood.

It was good."

Kylie wasn't proud of it, but she admitted the truth. "It was awesome."

Della touched Kylie's arm. "But you're still warm."

Kylie nodded. "And if I am vampire, wouldn't I already be cold?"

"I don't know," Della said honestly. "Maybe you just haven't changed yet. But you're about to."

Kylie remembered Della telling her that turning had felt like boiling water running through her veins.

"I'll be here for you," Della said as if she'd read Kylie's mind. "To help you through it. If it happens. You won't have to be alone. I think I remember most of what Chan did to help me."

"I know you will." Kylie tried to smile. Right then, she spotted Miranda staring at them from across the room, looking like a lost puppy.

Kylie felt bad asking her to leave. "So will Miranda. She will be there for me. And she'd be there for you, too. I really ... really wish you two would stop fighting."

Della shrugged. "She's just so good at pissing me off."

"And you her," Kylie defended Miranda.

"Yeah, but she's not like you. You seem to know what I'm feeling, always manage to say the right thing." Della's brow crinkled as if in thought. "It's almost as if you're an empath. You know, like Derek and Holiday and you can read emotions?"

"No," Kylie said, but deep down she couldn't help wonder. Hadn't she always been good at reading people? Like with her mom, she'd always 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.

"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.