Awake at Dawn (Shadow Falls #2)(73)

She only wanted to reach her mother before anyone touched her. If anyone hurt one hair on her head ...

Kylie heard her mother's screams right before she exited the woods near the path that led to Helen's cabin. Panic clawed at Kylie's chest like a wild animal seeking escape. She cut through the last of the trees, flew over the path, and arrived at Helen's porch.

Burnett, with a windblown Holiday at his side, stood there blocking the door. And Kylie knew Burnett had brought Holiday here. "Let me out of here!" Her mom's scream reached Kylie's ears.

The rich berry scent that she now knew as blood filled her nose. She stared at Burnett. "Move!"

"Kylie." Holiday jumped in front of Burnett. "Listen to me, okay? Your mom is fine. She's very upset and we're going to have to calm her down."

"She's hurt." Kylie struggled to breathe and fought the desire to break through Burnett and the door to get to her mom.

"She's not hurt," Burnett insisted.

"I smell blood," Kylie seethed.

"That's not her blood," Burnett answered, his eyes turning a burnt orange color.

"I swear," Holiday said, and attempted to touch Kylie, but Kylie jumped back. Holiday lowered her hand. "Your mom isn't hurt, Kylie. I promise you. Please calm down. We're going to fix this. But we need your help."

"Trust them, Kylie," a voice said at the same time a familiar coldness invaded her breathing room.

Kylie turned to see Daniel standing next to her. "Trust them," he repeated.

Tears filled Kylie's eyes as Daniel wrapped her in his cold embrace. "It's okay." His icy breath came at her ear, as comforting warmth filled her chest.

An awesome sense of peacefulness flowed though her body. The same kind of peacefulness she'd felt at the falls. The kind that said things weren't as bad as she thought. The kind that said she should have faith. She raised her head to look at Daniel, but he was gone. Feeling overwhelmed, her legs wobbled and she dropped to her knees on the porch.

Holiday crouched beside her. "She's going to be fine, Kylie. I promise." Kylie looked at Holiday. "What ... what did my mom see? Perry...?"

"No." Holiday brushed Kylie's hair from her face. "I had given permission for Helen to donate a pint of blood to Jonathon. He was bleeding her, and against my rule he was..." Holiday paused and then firmly added, "He was drinking from the tube when your mom stepped in. I'm sure it looked really bad to her. She panicked."

Kylie dropped her face into her hands. "Oh, God." How the hell was she going to explain this to her mom?

"Jonathon was startled," Holiday continued. "He grabbed her and pushed her into Helen's bathroom, shoved the dresser against the door, and sent Helen after me. I got Burnett here as quickly as I could."

"I didn't hurt her," Jonathon said, stepping up on the porch. "I probably should have handled it differently, but I swear, I didn't hurt her. I'm sorry this happened."

Kylie looked at Jonathon. His shirt had stains of blood, Helen's blood, she told herself, not her mom's blood. Following him up the steps was Derek.

"Here's what we have to do," Burnett said. "It's called erasing."

"No," Kylie said, instantly being reminded of her emotions and her fight with Selynn.

"It's not a bad thing," Holiday said. "Erasing means that the memory is removed from her mind. It won't hurt her. But the calmer she is, the easier it is and the more successful it will be. And right now she's not calm. I think if you talk to her, you can calm her down."

"Talk to her? She saw someone drinking blood from an IV tube. What am I supposed to tell her that will calm her down?" Kylie asked. "Oh, don't worry, Mom, they're just vampires?"

Holiday looked Kylie right in the eyes. "She's worried about you now more than she's scared," Holiday assured her. "Just let her know you're fine and then Derek will come in-"

"Derek?" Kylie swung back to look at Derek. "Why Derek?" Something that looked like guilt clouded his eyes.

"We've recently discovered that Derek has the gift of erasing," Holiday said.

Derek nodded and for a fraction of second, Kylie wondered why Derek hadn't told her about his new gift. She thought they shared everything. Then her thoughts went back to her mom. "But if he's new at this, then ... what if he messes up?"

"He won't mess up," Burnett said. "He's practiced on me numerous times."

Kylie looked back at Derek. She didn't know what all went into erasing someone's memory, but the idea scared her. "Don't you have someone with more experience?" Much to Derek's credit, he didn't appear offended by her request.

"He's on another case right now," Burnett said. "And the sooner we take care of this, the better it is. If we wait too long, he might have to remove more data from her mind. It could require he remove hours before what happened. Obviously, the less memory time that we have to remove the better."

"Is it at all dangerous?" Kylie looked at Holiday for the answer. Holiday shook her head. "When it's done soon enough, the biggest side effect is a headache and confusion at the loss of time."

Kylie looked back at Derek. "Promise me you won't mess this up."