Taken at Dusk (Shadow Falls #3)(79)

The geologist they'd called in to look at the pit was calling it a freak of nature, a sinkhole. Kylie knew better, as did most of the campers at Shadow Falls. Amazingly, the size of the hole had shrunk before the scientist arrived. Magic, bad magic, was involved. This much Kylie knew, and Miranda had confirmed it, too.

Because of the weather and the thicket of trees, the security alarm hadn't picked up on any intruders. Burnett had been over-the-top pissed about that, too. Not at anyone in particular, but at the situation in general. She'd heard him on the phone with the FRU, telling them he needed a better security system ASAP.

But since whatever happened apparently came from underground, Kylie didn't know if a system existed that would detect underground intruders.

Powerful underground intruders who, for reasons Kylie didn't understand, wanted her dead.

Kylie breathed in the serenity of the falls. Amazing. Even the thought of being on someone's hit list couldn't ruin her peaceful mood.

Leaning back on her hands, she studied Holiday, who was doing the same. "You know, we should bring all the campers up here."

Holiday opened her eyes. "I wish it was that easy."

"What do you mean?"

"You don't bring someone to the falls, Kylie. They have to be called. Remember?"

Kylie did remember and was suddenly curious. "So why does the falls call some people and not others?"

"Don't know," Holiday said. "But it's said that they call less than half of one percent of all supernaturals."

"Are all of the ones called ghost whisperers?"

"All of the ones that I know of are. There are legends of the falls that go back thousands of years. The Native Americans called it sacred grounds and decreed that only the chosen could enter."

"Burnett entered," Kylie said.

"I know, and that shocks me."

"Because you don't think he's chosen?" Kylie asked.

"No, because he can't see spirits."

"You should have seen him watching you when everyone was greeting you at dinner the other night," Kylie said, acting on impulse. "I think he loves you, Holiday."

Holiday arched a brow. "Still trying to play matchmaker, huh?"

"Maybe I'm just trying to help out a couple of friends."

"Or maybe you're concentrating on someone else's problems so you don't have to think about your own."

"Perhaps," Kylie said with a shrug, "but right now my problems don't seem very bad." She gazed at the rock ceiling, marveling at the beauty of the rock's patterns.

Holiday chuckled. "It's amazing what happens in here, isn't it?" She inhaled. "I wish I could bottle it up and keep it in my purse to take a shot of when I needed it."

"Too bad we can't live in here," Kylie said.

"Have you seen the ghost since the incident?" Holiday stretched out her feet.

Kylie nodded. "She woke me up last night. I did what you said and asked if there was another body in the casket with her."

"What did she say?"

"Nothing. But she got that look again."

"What look?" Holiday asked.

"Like I'd jogged her memory or something. Whenever that happens, she disappears on me."

"Maybe she doesn't want to remember," Holiday said. Kylie heard the implication in the camp leader's voice: that Jane Doe didn't want to remember because she'd murdered innocent children.

"I think she's scared to remember," Kylie said, "but not for the reasons you believe."

"Then why is she so scared?"

Kylie hesitated. "Maybe it's the same reason I'm scared."

Holiday glanced over at her. "What are you scared of?"

"Of discovering the truth. Discovering what I am."

"Why?" Holiday asked as if confused.

"Because it's the unknown. Because it's been kept a secret from me all this time. Because it will probably change my life forever." Kylie sat up straighter. "It's not that I don't want to know the truth. I do. I want to know it so bad I can taste it. Sometimes it's all I can think about. But I'm still scared. The day the Brightens, or the people we thought were the Brightens, came here, I was so scared my insides shook. I almost ran away. If Lucas hadn't come along, I probably would have."

Kylie swallowed hard. And that's when she decided to ask the question she'd longed to ask Holiday and hadn't had a chance to. "Have you seen any new spirits? Do you know if the elderly couple that came here that day died?"

"Their spirits haven't come to me, if that's what you're asking," Holiday answered.

Kylie bit down on her lip. "I can still remember how the old lady's hand felt on mine. For some reason, I don't think they were here to hurt me."

"Why else would they have been here, then?"

"I don't know." Kylie closed her eyes. "But just like I know that Jane Doe isn't a murderer, I kind of know that they weren't bad."

Holiday sat up and pulled her knees to her chest. "Maybe this is just your way of refusing to see the bad in people."

Kylie considered the theory for a second. Then she recalled the two times she'd seen the eagle and then the deer. She wasn't blind to evil. She could recognize it when she saw it, and it wasn't there with the faux Brightens. "Nope," she said. "That's not it."