Whispers at Moonrise (Shadow Falls #4)(79)

"I belong at Shadow Falls," Kylie said, and then flinched when she realized she'd spoken her thought aloud.

"Of course you do." Holiday sounded confused. "Are ... you okay?"

"Fine," she lied. "Just worried about you."

"Don't worry," Holiday said. "And Kylie, I love you, too. We'll talk tomorrow, okay?"

Holiday hung up. Five minutes later, melancholy still had her in its grips when Burnett called and asked if she'd spoken with Holiday. "I did," Kylie said. "I asked if I could come over, but she said she wanted to be alone."

"She told me the same thing," he muttered.

"Then we should respect her wishes," Kylie said.

Burnett exhaled. "Do you think she still loves him?"

While the question was a complete conversational U-turn, Kylie followed it perfectly. The fact that Burnett trusted her enough to show his vulnerability surprised her. The realization made her feel slightly guilty for keeping things from him. But she didn't have a choice, did she?

"No," she said, certain that Holiday loved Burnett. But it wasn't Kylie's place to say it.

"I'm going to have to bring him in to interview him," Burnett said.

"I know," Kylie said. "But you can't mistreat him or assume he's guilty just because he used to be with Holiday."

"You think I'd do that?" Burnett asked.

"Yeah," she said honestly. "I saw the way you looked at him this morning."

He remained quiet for a second. "Have you spoken with Hannah again?"

"Not yet."

"It would be helpful if she could tell us more," he bit out.

As if Kylie didn't realize it. "It's a shame they don't always cooperate."

"If she shows up, ask her to ... come talk to me."

"Are you sure?" Kylie recalled how he'd reacted to the whole ghost issue.

"Hell, no, but I'll do it if it will help Holiday." The line went silent again. "Before I forget, Derek's going to come to your cabin and walk you to the office at six in the morning. We'll go to the cafe ... to see if we can find anything out on Cara M. I've checked and there isn't a Cara M. listed as missing. Do you think maybe you read it wrong?"

"No, I've seen it several times."

"Okay," he said. "We'll go and see what we can find first thing in the morning. Then we'll have to rush back here before the parents start showing up."

Oh, joy, Kylie thought. She had almost forgotten that was tomorrow.

As soon as Kylie hung up with Burnett, she heard a tap at her bedroom window. She expected the blue jay, but was wonderfully surprised when she saw Lucas pushing open her window.

"Why can't you people use a door?" Della called out from the living room.

"'Cause I didn't come to see you," Lucas called out, and smiled at Kylie.

His smile did all kinds of wonderful things to her mood. He moved in, sat on the edge of the bed, and then leaned down and kissed her. It was warm, soft, and, she sensed, purposely short.

"I can't stay long." His gaze lingered on her lips. "No matter how much I want to."

"What's going on?" she asked.

"My dad summoned me again."

She frowned. "I don't like your dad," she said, and then felt bad for having said it. "Sorry, I didn't-"

He put a finger over her lips. "I don't like him very much, either." Then he smiled. "I have to go, but ... maybe later, you can dream of me." A sexy twinkle filled his eyes.

She frowned. "I tried last night and couldn't. I think it's because I'm vampire."

He frowned. "I knew being a vamp would be the pits."

Kylie rolled her eyes.

"I heard that," Della shouted.

"Can you hear this?" Lucas shot a bird toward the door.

Kylie jerked his hand down. "Don't get her started," she muttered to Lucas, and then called out, "Go to bed, Della."

Lucas exhaled. "I need to go." He leaned down and kissed her again.

The kiss was the last thing Kylie thought about when she drifted off to sleep. She tried again to dreamscape, but nothing happened. So instead, she just dreamed. Dreamed how it could be when she understood everything about who and what she was. Dreamed of when Lucas was free of trying to appease his pack.

* * *

Kylie woke up the next morning around 4 AM. The room was cold, so she knew someone else was here, but they never manifested, which was just rude-like playing Peeping Tom. Sitting up, she whispered, "Hannah, is that you?"

No one answered, but the cold somehow felt different.

A shiver ran down Kylie's spine. She pulled the blanket up around her shoulders and sat there, breathing in the cold air. Was this one of the girls buried with Hannah, or was this someone new? It felt new-unfamiliar. Had someone from the graveyard followed her back? As always, when a new spirit appeared, Kylie pretty much went back to feeling anti-ghost.

Kylie listened to her clock mark off two minutes before the cold faded. Socks moved from under the bed and leapt up onto the mattress and curled up into a tight little knot on her lap. "You're a little anti-ghost, too, aren't you?"