Awake at Dawn (Shadow Falls #2)(95)

Their eyes would meet. Kylie would remember how much she missed him while he appeared annoyed.

"You want to talk about it?" Holiday had asked the last time it happened.

Kylie had agreed to spill her guts, but only over ice cream. She'd eaten all of Miranda's stash and needed more. So Kylie and Holiday took the afternoon off and went back to the ice cream parlor where they ate their weight in cold creamy scoops of bliss.

"Why does ice cream go with a broken heart?" Kylie asked.

"Because if you eat enough of it, it freezes the heart and numbs the pain for a bit," Holiday answered, and they both laughed.

Daniel hadn't visited since the day her mom had broken into the camp and had to be erased, but her stepdad had called twice. Kylie had taken his second call. They talked about his job, about the weather, and then he mentioned the possibility of Kylie attending the Shadow Falls boarding school. He hadn't been positive or negative and said it was up to her mom.

When she hung up, she realized that her mom and dad must be talking for him to know about the boarding school. Kylie wasn't sure how she felt about that. Was her mom ready to forgive him? Kylie almost called her mom and asked, but with parents weekend less than one week away, Kylie figured she should wait and do it in person.

Miranda seldom mentioned Perry anymore. Not that it stopped Perry from watching Miranda. Anytime he was within a hundred feet of her, he had his gaze locked on her. Kylie knew that Miranda noticed it. She chose to ignore it. Not too hard considering her stress about the upcoming competition that her mother had entered her in during parents weekend. If she wasn't practicing for the event, she was attempting to solve the puzzle of what happened to Socks.

After two weeks, Socks didn't seem to mind being a skunk. He seemed to understand the power of his tail, and he'd raise it up in a threat at the least provocation. He even had Della walking a line. Thankfully, he hadn't sprayed again.

Della dreaded going home. And now she dreaded coming back to the FRU job waiting on her. Going undercover to find out if her cousin was responsible for the murders wasn't going to be easy for Della. A grumpy Della and a stressed-out Miranda meant the two were at each other's throats. Kylie often wondered if she didn't intervene if the two would really kill each other. But she loved the two of them too much to chance it.

The PI had finally discovered that Kent and Betty Brighten had taken a long vacation in Ireland. So Kylie's quest to discover what she was had been temporarily put on hold. Wasn't that just lovely?

The one good thing that happened lately was Kylie no longer felt that strange sense of being watched. She wondered if Tabitha had been the cause of it. But when she'd recall Tabitha, Kylie would remember what the girl said about an old vampire hanging around. For some reason, that bothered Kylie. Not enough to mention it to Holiday, because in doing so she might get Miranda in trouble. And after the Burnett incident with Della, getting friends in trouble was the last thing Kylie wanted to do. On Tuesday morning, Kylie woke up with what felt like an extra chill in the air. Either the ghost was trying to send a message or Kylie had more than one spirit hanging around. Great. That's all she needed, another ghost.

"What do you want?" Kylie trembled beneath the covers.

Her phone started croaking. Either her phone's ringtone had gotten changed or Miranda had managed to turn it into a frog. Kylie grabbed her phone. It stopped making the hideous sound and went directly to her voicemail messages.

First it played the one her dad had left, then one the PI left a few days ago. Next it played one that Kylie hadn't heard. From Trey, her boyfriend from the past. How had she missed this call? He asked her to return his call, saying it was important.

"Yeah, right," she muttered. "What, did you find out my breasts got bigger and you want to see them?" She shut the phone off, but not before deleting his message.

She had no sooner laid it back on the nightstand when the cell commenced croaking.

Grabbing it, she looked at the dang thing to make sure it was off. It was. So how did it make noise? She hit the off button again. The croaking continued.

"Are you doing this?" she asked the spirit. "If so, stop. Because it's not funny. And it's not telling me crap about what I need to know."

The phone went silent. The ghost appeared at the foot of her bed. "You have to do something soon. She's dying."

Just like before, the spirit didn't offer a freaking clue as to who the mysterious "she" was.

Kylie got dressed and decided to visit Holiday. She doubted if hearing Holiday say she thought everything was going to be okay would take the edge off the fear, but she had to try.

She hadn't even gotten to the office porch when she heard the voices ringing in her ears.

"Tell me it isn't dangerous?" Holiday insisted, sounding furious.

"I can't tell you that," Burnett said. "This work is always dangerous."

"Then no. He can't go."

"I didn't come to ask you," Burnett said, sounding equally annoyed. "He's gotten permission from his mother. He'll be leaving today around noon."

Kylie turned and started walking in the opposite direction. She would have covered her ears, but that had never worked before, so she just kept walking, hoping the voices would fade.

"It's wrong," Holiday said. "First, you involve Lucas, and now Derek. I have to put my foot down."