Awake at Dawn (Shadow Falls #2)(52)

"Just seconds." Della's color grew paler. "It wasn't Chan, was it? I mean, it didn't smell like him, but ... all I could mostly smell was blood."

"No." Kylie grabbed her shirt and yanked it over her head. Her mind flashed the image of the blood dripping from the guy's hair.

"So you did see him?" Della asked.

Kylie poked her head through her T-shirt and met Della's eyes. "It was ... it was that creep that we fought at the wildlife park. The one who grabbed me."

Della lifted her nose in the air. "Oh, shit!"

"Is he coming back?"

"Somebody is." She grabbed Kylie by the arm and hurried her out. When they walked out of the dressing room, Miranda was taking the package from the woman at the checkout counter. Della motioned her to follow and she did without questioning. Obviously, Miranda could see panic in both of their eyes.

"What's going on?" Miranda asked.

"We have to get back to camp," Della said.

"Is he here again?"

"Let's just go," Della snapped.

The moment they stepped out of the door, a black SUV came to a screeching stop in front of the store. Della growled and then pushed Kylie and Miranda behind her.

The window lowered and Burnett stared out. His own eyes were a fierce golden color. "Get in."

"What about the car we drove?" Kylie asked, though she didn't know how she could even think, let alone drive responsibly with the panic still bouncing around her gut.

"Get in!" Burnett's tone demanded obedience.

And they complied.

"What's going on?" Della asked Burnett once they'd all piled into the backseat.

Burnett didn't answer. He focused on driving. The SUV took off before Kylie realized someone was sitting in the front seat with him. It was a dark-haired woman around Burnett's age. She looked familiar and Kylie realized she'd been among the crowd of FRU the night of the fight at the wildlife park.

"Toss them the scrubs," Burnett told the woman.

Three plastic bags with what looked like a pair of hospital scrubs tucked inside each were thrown in the backseat. "What are these for?" Kylie asked.

"Take your clothes off," Burnett ordered. "Put all your clothes back in the bag. Shoes, socks, underwear. Everything. Then put the scrubs on."

"Do ... what?" Kylie asked.

"You heard me," he snapped.

"Why?" Kylie and Della asked the same question.

"Do it," the woman ordered.

Della and Miranda started to undress, but Kylie grabbed their hands and stopped them.

"No. We're not taking our clothes off until you explain why. And it better be a damn good reason because I don't take my clothes off just because someone tells me to. Just ask my ex-boyfriend!"

The woman turned in her seat and glared. Her eyebrows twitched as if trying to get a reading on Kylie. Too bad it wouldn't work.

Not that the woman gave up immediately. She continued to stare. Her amber-colored eyes grew a bit brighter, and somehow Kylie suspected that she was werewolf. Pissed-off werewolf. "Do it," the woman insisted.

"No." Amazingly, Kylie didn't feel intimidated. She glared right back. She even did her own twitching and tried to see the woman's brain pattern.

It didn't work, but the were didn't know that.

"Do as he said! Or I'll do it for you," she ordered.

Burnett caught the woman by the shoulder. "Selynn, let me handle this." His gaze shot to the mirror and Kylie met his golden reflection. "Kylie, please..."

"No!" Kylie honestly didn't know where her newfound gumption stemmed from, but it felt good. It gave her some small sense of control.

She really needed to feel in control to help combat the feeling of being victimized.

"Do you realize what you're asking?" Kylie continued to hold both Della's and Miranda's hands. "For us to take our clothes off in a car with a man sitting in the front seat with a rearview mirror. And you aren't going to explain why?"

Burnett reached up and ripped the mirror from the car's window. "Damn!" Miranda said.

"Two girls were killed in town," Burnett said.

"Shit," Della said.

"Oh, hell," Miranda said.

The only thing that came out of Kylie's mouth was a gasp.

Burnett continued, "I need your clothes to prove that you three weren't involved with their murders. The FBI and FRU will demand it. So, please, do as I say."

Kylie let go of their hands and started undressing. In a few minutes, all three of them sat in green scrubs, looking like surgical doctors. No one said a word during the process.

Miranda collected the three bags and handed them to Selynn. "Here."

"Do you really think anyone will think we had anything to do with this?" Kylie asked, remembering the blood all over the rogue vampire's head and shirt.

"No," Della said. "But they'll believe I did." She sounded hurt. "It was a vampire kill, wasn't it?"

"Yes," Burnett said. "But I don't believe you did this. I'm just taking precautions until we know who did."

"We already know who did it," Della said. "Kylie saw him."