Awake at Dawn (Shadow Falls #2)(12)

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 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 immensely. 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 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.

"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.

Della and Miranda said they'd wait outside. Kylie walked over to Holiday.

"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?"