Born at Midnight (Shadow Falls #1)(30)

"Is she awake?" The hauntingly familiar masculine voice fil ed her ears and Kylie could hear echoes bouncing around her head. She shifted her gaze to the left.

Holy crap.

Holiday moved the damp cloth across Kylie's brow again. "Hey, you with us now?"

Kylie wasn't listening, or looking at the camp leader. She gazed at ... Lucas Parker-cat kil er extraordinaire. And protector from bullies, Kylie's subconscious pointed out. Though why her subconscious wanted to defend him was beyond Kylie. What was going on?

Lucas leaned down as if to touch her. Kylie shot up, pushed the cloth from her face. "What happened?" And then, just like that, it al came back at once.

The ghost.

The blood. So much blood.

Then she was hit by another mind-boggling piece of information. She must have passed out. How geeky was that?

"You fainted," Lucas said, his big voice fil ing the smal room and making it feel even smal er. Did he have to point out the obvious? And why was he here anyway? Wasn't there some of kind of "no boys in the bedroom" rule? If not, Kylie needed to see about getting it added.

She glanced over at Holiday.

"It happens sometimes," Holiday said. "When the ghosts start getting closer."

"I'm fine now." She lunged out of bed and doggone if the room didn't start spinning on its axis. Round and round. Lucas caught her elbow. His touch was tight, but not enough to hurt.

His touch was warm and somehow warm tingles danced up her arm and made her even more light-headed. But at least things quit spinning. Her first impulse was to jerk away, but afraid that would be too tel ing, she forced herself to appear calm. Of course, if he could read her heart rate like Del a, she was pretty much screwed.

And speaking of Del a, where were ... Kylie shifted her focus to the doorway. Del a and Miranda stood there, shoulder against shoulder, peering in as if Kylie was the nightly entertainment. Oh damn, how embarrassing. She could just imagine them running from their hiding spot-because she had the vague memory of hearing running footsteps-and them finding her on the floor. But how had she gotten in the bed?

Kylie glanced away from her roommates to Lucas. Had he picked her up? Held her in his arms? Her heart rate started climbing again. That's when she realized that he was stil touching her.

"I'm fine." She gave her arm a quick jerk.

He released her, one finger at a time, as if afraid she might fal on her face again. Right before his last finger let go, she noticed his gaze sweep downward. While her pajamas weren't indecent, she became instantly aware of how thin her top was-and even more aware of how the scoop neck of the tank scooped lower than most of her tops. Or as Sara would say, her girls were trying to peer out and say howdy a little more than usual. Kylie took a step back and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Why don't you let me talk to Kylie alone," Holiday said to Lucas, who stil hadn't stopped staring, though his gaze had shifted from her chest to her face with a cold indifference.

He nodded, but she saw his dark brows twitch ever so lightly. So he was stil trying to read her, was he? Right now, she was relieved knowing that he wouldn't get anything.

And just like that, another memory from the past surfaced and she remembered Lucas Parker doing the eyebrow thing when she was young. Had he tried to read her then? That thought brought up the question that had been bouncing around her head since she'd first spotted him. Did Lucas remember her?

"We can finish our discussion tomorrow," Holiday said to Lucas as if dismissing him.

"Okay," he said, offering Holiday a smile. Then he walked out.

Del a and Miranda moved away from the doorway to let him pass. Kylie didn't miss the unfriendly way Del a and Lucas exchanged glances. Was Del a worried that Lucas had told Holiday about her cousin Chan's surprise appearance at camp? Probably.

"Shut the door," Holiday added as Lucas was almost out.

Kylie looked back at the camp leader, feeling as if she was about to be chastised for ... for what? Fainting? Or had Lucas told her about Chan and now Kylie was in trouble for not speaking up?

"You don't have to be afraid of Lucas," Holiday said.

Kylie studied her. "Can you hear my heartbeat, too?"

Holiday grinned. "I read emotions, not heartbeats, but I also read your fear from the way you turned white as a sheet when you saw him."

Kylie almost blurted out what she knew about Lucas, but she didn't. It felt too much like tattling. Instead, she asked a question. "Why was he here?"

"He was in the office when Miranda came to get me."

Kylie looked at the clock; it was almost one in the morning. She couldn't help but wonder exactly what Lucas and Holiday were doing at that hour. Sure, the camp leader was older, but not by many years.

"Are you and he ... close?"

"Depends on what you mean by close." Holiday arched a brow. "This is his third time here. He's assisting us with some things and even training to work with us next year. But that's al ." Then she asked, "What happened tonight?"

Kylie swal owed, stal ing. How much should she tel ?

"The ghost appeared again, didn't he?" Holiday asked in the beat of the indecisive silence. Kylie nodded, yet more than anything, she wanted to deny it. "Yes, but Miranda and Del a said that people who are a little loony sometimes give off the same mental image of not being human. So maybe I'm not gifted and maybe the ghost is just a powerful one, like you said sometimes happens. Or I could even have a brain tumor."