Awake at Dawn (Shadow Falls #2)(85)

Opening her eyes, she saw the wolf lurching toward her. Mostly white with hints of gray and tan, its eyes glowed a bright golden. Its lips curled under and its sharp teeth were bared. This was no ordinary wolf. It was a werewolf.

Kylie tried to stand, but her muscles trembled and refused the command.

The wolf seemed to notice her weakness. Its posture became more aggressive. The coarse hair on its back stood up and when Kylie looked it in the eyes, she knew. Knew with certainty the wolf was Fredericka. The she-wolf's growl deepened and then she charged.

Kylie found the strength to bounce to her feet, ready to run, when another wolf, even larger, crashed between two trees. Fredericka stopped.

At first, Kylie thought she was about to be attacked by two beasts instead of one. But the second wolf, a dark gray in color with eyes that glowed a lighter gold, whipped around and growled at the oncoming wolf.

Kylie heard the competing growls and saw the two converge upon each other. She heard the sound of teeth clicking, and then, recognizing this as a chance to escape, she tore off through the woods. She ran, not as fast as before, for her energy had been spent, but she forced herself forward and didn't stop until she reached her cabin.

Collapsing on the porch steps, she forced air into her lungs. When she looked out at the woods, a pair of light golden eyes stared back Her next intake of air brought recognition. She wasn't sure how she knew, but it came with such clarity that she didn't question it.

Lucas was back.

The next morning, Kylie got her daily wake-up call with the dropping of the room's temperature. She groaned, rolled over, and glared at the clock, not wanting to believe it was dawn. But yep. It was 4:59 a.m. The spirit was right on time.

It didn't seem fair, and not just because she didn't want to face Lucas yet. Hadn't she just put her head on the pillow? She'd never had three hours pass so quickly. It had been two a.m. when she'd collapsed in her own bed.

When Kylie ran inside her cabin after seeing Lucas, Holiday had been waiting on her to make sure she was okay. Della and Miranda were waiting with the camp leader at the kitchen table, all of them looking somber. Her two cabin mates looked shocked when Kylie arrived. No doubt they seriously thought she'd made the change into werewolf. But Holiday hadn't seemed so surprised.

After thinking about it, Kylie couldn't help but be suspicious. Did Holiday know something she wasn't telling Kylie? She loved Holiday, but her belief in the self-discovery crap, the idea that a person needed to find their own answers, was chewing on Kylie's last nerve.

The cold filling the room brought her back to the present. "You have to save her."

Speaking of last nerves ...

Kylie groaned and sat up. The ghost stood at the foot of her bed. The sweet smell of blood assaulted Kylie before she saw the ghost had donned her bloody gown again. The spirit met Kylie's gaze and clutched her abdomen as if she was going to be sick.

"If you're going to throw up," Kylie said, "would you mind stepping away from the bed?"

The cold, uncaring sound of her own voice hit Kylie like a slap across the face. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm just ... I want to figure it out and it's frustrating not to be able to."

The ghost rested a hand on Kylie's foot. Even beneath the blanket, the icy chill took hold. "You have the ability to stop it. Please make it stop."

"Make what stop? Has it already started?" Kylie asked, her chest tightening.

Was someone she loved already suffering? Kidnapped and being tortured by the Blood Brothers, or something even worse?

"Damn it, answer me!" Kylie yelled. "Or at least give me a vision I can understand. I don't even care how scary it is, just do it."

The one of the funeral still made no sense.

The ghost faded and so did the coldness of her touch. But then Kylie felt tingly warmth spread down the tendons to her toes and up the arches to her ankle. Kylie pressed a hand against her foot. She'd never felt that before with Daniel. Was that supposed to mean something?

Frustration welled inside Kylie, but the sound of cascading water filled her head. Was this the death angels way of saying it would be okay?

Kylie's phone beeped, announcing she had messages. There were three: one from the private investigator, one from Sara, and one from her mom.

Recalling the fear that whatever might happen could already be happening, and not caring about the hour, Kylie dialed her mom's number.

Later, at eight o'clock that morning, Kylie dropped her breakfast tray on the table and sat down beside Della and Miranda, purposely not looking around because she was afraid she might see him. Or both hims. She wasn't any more eager to see Derek right now than she was to see Lucas.

Derek's avoidance of her last night still stung. Oh, she knew she'd avoided him only a couple of weeks ago, but it had been different. She hadn't avoided him because she didn't want to be with him; she'd done it because she'd wanted to be with him too much.

Staring down at her runny eggs, which were about as appetizing as roadkill, Kylie recalled her conversation she'd had with her mom. Frankly, Kylie didn't know if her mom believed the whole "I woke from a bad dream and didn't realize the time" spiel. But when her mom confessed she'd been having some really bad dreams lately, too, Kylie couldn't help but wonder if this was because of the erasing. Were her mom's nightmares about what she'd seen at Shadow Falls?