Taken at Dusk (Shadow Falls #3)(100)

"He asked you to take your shirt off," Holiday said.

"I don't need to take my shirt off," Burnett snapped. "I'm fine."

His voice was loud and clear, and he did indeed sound fine.

Not that it made Kylie feel any better.

"Maybe. Maybe not," Holiday said. "We'll know as soon as you disrobe and let the doctor examine you."

In a few minutes, Holiday came out and plopped on the porch beside Kylie. She had tears in her eyes. "I don't know why I'm worried about him. He's too pigheaded and stubborn to die."

Kylie laced her hands together. "I'm so sorry."

Holiday shook her head. "It wasn't your fault."

"You told me to get rid of her when I first told you about her. I refused, and she could have killed Burnett."

"She didn't want to kill him. She just wanted to get him away from you."

"Maybe I've been wrong all along. Maybe she is evil."

Holiday put her arm around Kylie's shoulder. "She wasn't evil. I felt her presence and her emotions. She was concerned about you. She did this to protect you, Kylie."

"Yeah, but, protect me from what? Did she really think Burnett was going hurt me?"

Holiday sighed. "She probably picked up on what I was feeling. I overreacted." She tightened her arm. "I mean, I refuse to let you be tested by the FRU. But I shouldn't have wigged out like that."

"You don't trust Burnett?" Kylie asked.

She shook her head. "I don't trust the FRU."

"Why? And if you don't trust them, then why are they involved with the camp? Besides, if they can really do some simple tests and tell me what I am, I want to do it."

Holiday closed her eyes for a second. "Don't take this wrong, Kylie. I'm not against the FRU. God knows we need them to keep things right. But they have no business testing people."

"But if they can really-"

"I can't let you do it. If they want to tell me the name of the test they want done, I'll ask our doctor if he can order it. But it will be under his care and his care only."

Kylie heard so much in the camp leader's voice. So much she wasn't saying. "Okay, what is it you're not telling me?"

It took a minute before Holiday finally sighed and started talking. "It was over forty years ago. It involved only one small branch of the FRU that has been shut down, and charges were brought against a lot of people. They were doing scientific tests on supernaturals. Something about figuring out genetics. The subjects were forced into doing it, and some people never completely recovered from the tests. It's not as if I think they're doing it again, but I refuse to have you go there so they can poke and prod you to find answers."

Kylie looked at Holiday. Bits and pieces of Jane's vision started replaying in her mind like an old movie. And everything suddenly made sense. "The FRU killed Jane Doe. They killed her and then they buried her with Berta Littlemon in the Fallen Cemetery."

Holiday's eyes widened. "You can't know this for sure."

"I do," Kylie said. "In the vision, Jane was called a subject. Her husband was one, too. And the doctor was a vampire. They mentioned her not having a pattern."

Kylie pulled her knees up and hugged them, trying to wrap her head around everything as it all came together. She didn't understand how Jane's baby fit in, but on some things she was clear.

"No wonder she went after Burnett," Kylie said. "She thought he was trying to do to me what the FRU had done to her."

* * *

Kylie was disappointed that Jane Doe was a no-show the next morning. Kylie had hoped now that she knew about the FRU, she could help Jane remember other things, like her name. That together they could figure out what it was Jane needed in order to cross over.

But dead people, just like the living, rarely did what Kylie wanted them to do.

A knock sounded at her door. "Come in."

The door opened and Miranda and Della both squeezed through the opening and shut the door extra quickly behind them.

"What is it?" Kylie asked.

"There's three guys here working on putting in the heating unit," Della said.

"And they're yummy," Miranda said. The contractors who worked around Shadow Falls had become a popular subject for all the female campers. Especially when they took their shirts off in the afternoons.

"As yummy as Perry?" Kylie teased. Lately, Miranda had been spending almost every free moment with the shape-shifter.

"Not quite as yummy," Miranda said, and then grinned. "But close."

"Well, thanks for the warning. I'll get ready to be awed."

"Just don't come out wearing nothing but a towel," Della said, also grinning. "Unless you're into that."

A few minutes later, Kylie walked out fully dressed, hair combed, and the only thing she'd added in honor of their company was a touch of lip gloss.

Miranda sat at the table, sipping a glass of orange juice, Della had a glass of blood, and two of the guys were down on the floor on their knees, saws at their sides and some kind of heating vent beside them.

As much as Kylie hated to admit it, Miranda was right. They were yummy. Both were in their early twenties, had dark hair, and wore tight T-shirts that showed off their dark tans and lots of muscles.