Awake at Dawn (Shadow Falls #2)(39)

"Please don't do this now," Kylie insisted.

Holiday looked up. "Do what?"

"Hide something. It's happening to me. I have the right to know what the hell is going on."

"I'm not hiding..." Holiday stopped talking and sighed. "I don't consider it hiding anything when I'm surmising, guessing. I'm not sure if it's fair to give you information when I'm not sure."

"What's not fair is to leave me completely in the dark. Because believe me, whatever you have to tell me isn't going to be half as bad as what I'm imagining."

Holiday nodded. "Okay, but just remember ... it's speculation. Even Burnett said he didn't see it being a sure sign."

Kylie had suspected that Burnett had noted her boob increase. To his credit he'd dealt with it well, but to think he and the others were discussing it, well, it felt like overkill. Really dead stinky overkill. "You two discussed my boobs?"

"No. Well, yes, but not ... Look, he said he noticed some changes in you when he ran into you at the falls. I insisted he tell me what they were."

The mere mention of Kylie seeing Burnett at the falls had Kylie remembering she needed to come clean, but first she had to know. "What's the speculation?"

"Some female werewolves-"

"Werewolf? Oh, damn! Not werewolf. Anything but werewolf."

Chapter Twelve

"Hey!" Holiday's hand came to rest on Kylie's arm. "You see, this is why I didn't want to tell you. I knew you'd jump to conclusions."

Kylie blinked. "What is it that some female werewolves do? Grow super boobs?"

"No. Well, sort of." Holiday bit back a smile. "When they reach a certain level in maturity, when they are close to mating age, they'll fill out rather quickly."

Kylie's heart pounded and all she could remember was what Miranda had said about seeing a werewolf change into wolf form, about how painful it appeared. "But that sounds just like what is happening to me. So how is this speculation or jumping to conclusions?"

Holiday shook her head. "Unless a werewolf had been turned, most start shifting into wolves when they are four or five. It would be very rare that it would happen to you at this age. And then there's the fact that werewolves undergo some rather strong mood swings a few days before and after a full moon. Dr. Day reported that she saw you during a full moon and saw none of these signs. And I watched you on the last full moon just to see if perhaps she missed something. I didn't note any changes in your behavior."

"Maybe I'm just a late bloomer," Kylie said, not that she was hoping it was true. "And I've never been one to let my emotions out too much. So maybe you just didn't see me being moody."

"There's also ... your cat," Holiday continued. "All felines have an aversion toward weres. Not so with you."

Kylie recalled how, years ago, her cat had reacted to Lucas. She remembered how the kitten had reacted to Lucas the day he'd dropped it off. But then suddenly Kylie remembered something that might be important.

"Oh crap. The wolf."

"What ... wolf?"

"The other night ... when I ran off after I tasted blood. I ran into a wolf. He hung around me. Even showed up again later that night, but-"

"It wasn't a full moon," Holiday said. "It couldn't have been a werewolf."

"I know that's why I didn't think ... I mean, I just thought that it was someone's half-tame wolf. He knelt down in front of me and tried to crawl forward, like he wanted me to touch him or something." She had to remind herself to breathe. "Do you think that could mean something? Is it some kind of ritual that wolves hang out with werewolves before they turn for the first time?"

Holiday stared back at Kylie as if trying to think. "I've never heard of it. But I'm ... Sky was always the one who took care of counseling the weres. So I don't have all the knowledge of it. But I'll ask around. Burnett will know."

"He's not a werewolf." Kylie wished Lucas were here. Here to advise her, to help her make sense of all this. But no, he'd run off with another she-wolf. And Kylie still hadn't read his letter because she was so pissed that he'd done it.

"Burnett's not were, but his job with FRU requires extensive research on all supernaturals. Believe it or not, he's as smart as he is arrogant. And I hope you don't think ... I mean, when he spoke to me about your increase in size, there was nothing in his tone but concern about how you were dealing with these changes."

Even distraught about the idea of being werewolf, Kylie realized that Holiday was defending Burnett. Like it or not, Holiday had found some respect for the vampire. Not that this excused Kylie from the fact that she shared Holiday's private information. But couldn't Holiday see that she and Burnett should give the romance a shot? Just how mad was she going to be about Kylie telling him about her past relationship with another vampire?

"About the falls..."

"I understand," Holiday said.

"Understand what?" Kylie asked, hoping it could be that easy. That Burnett had told Holiday about his and Kylie's conversation and she wasn't upset.

"I understand why you went there," Holiday started, straightening some papers. "I go at least once a week myself. It's the best place to go to ... think, to try to figure out things. Did you get any answers about the ghost this morning?"