Whispers at Moonrise (Shadow Falls #4)(96)

But no sooner did she appreciate not being stared at than the hairs on the back of her neck started doing a two-step. When she swerved around, Hayden Yates turned his head. Her heart gripped when she saw Holiday standing next to him in the crowd. Not talking with him, but talking to the shy teacher Collin Warren.

Kylie still didn't like Hayden being that close to Holiday. She zeroed her gaze on him and when he glanced back, obviously feeling his neck hair dancing, their gazes met. I swear if you hurt her, you'll pay for it.

He looked away; Kylie kept her gaze locked on him for several moments, and she hoped like hell he understood her message, because it wasn't a threat. It was a promise.

Just thinking about the possibility of anyone hurting Holiday made Kylie's blood thicken and start to fizz-a sure sign that while her pattern might have changed, she was still a protector.

Someday she hoped to be able to say that with a total sense of pride, but right now it seemed to be just one more thing making her different from everyone else.

Kylie had no sooner turned back when she felt another pair of eyes on her, only a different kind of feeling tiptoed up her spine. Even from fifty feet away, Lucas's gaze felt like a caress. He winked. He glanced at the clock and she knew that like her he was counting down the time until they met.

"Damn!" Jonathon yelled, pulling Kylie's gaze from Lucas. "You cut yourself." Jonathon was holding Helen's hand; blood oozed from his grip.

Helen, looking a bit squeamish, had a bloody apple in her other hand and a bloody knife sitting in her lap. "It's okay." Her words lacked confidence. "It's not bad. Is it?"

Jonathon released his hold on her hand to look at it. His eyes grew bright, no doubt because of the blood, but even more apparent was his concern for Helen. "You need stitches," he said.

Helen looked up at Kylie. "Can you just fix it?"

Kylie's breath caught. It had been a while since she'd thought about her healing powers. And the few times she'd thought about them, she remembered those powers had failed Ellie. Kylie had failed Ellie.

"I ... don't know if I can." She looked into Helen's eyes, saw her pain, but a lump of fear formed in Kylie's stomach right alongside the two slices of pizza. "I couldn't dreamscape when I was vampire; I probably can't heal as a fae."

"But faes are known for their healing," Helen reminded her.

"Oh, yeah." Kylie let go of a breath that shuddered on its escape from her lips. "What if I mess up?" She could still recall how devastated she'd been when she hadn't been able to bring Ellie back from the dead. Looking at her hands, she remembered how her palms had been coated with the girl's blood.

"You won't," Helen said with complete confidence.

Looking up, Kylie remembered how Helen had helped her by checking out her brain to see if she had a tumor the first week she'd been at camp. Helen had helped Kylie, and she couldn't say no.

She stood and moved over to the chair next to Helen. The shy and trusting girl held out her bleeding palm. Breathing in, Kylie recalled that she had to think healing thoughts. Amazingly, her hands suddenly felt hot. She gently ran her fingertip over the wound. Her touch created a tiny wake around the pooled blood on Helen's palm.

Fearing failure, Kylie put her whole palm over the wound. Hesitating to check to see if she'd done it, she suddenly realized that the entire lunch room had gone silent. Not a sound echoed in the large room.

Cutting her eyes up briefly, she realized everyone stared. Everyone! Freaking great!

Helen lifted her hand away and brought it in front of her face. Wiping the blood away with her other hand, a shy smile lifted her lips.

"You did it," Helen whispered, sounding as self-conscious as Kylie at all the unwanted attention.

Kylie leaned in. "Why is everyone staring?"

Helen made a funny face and came closer. "Because you're glowing."

"Glowing?" Kylie asked.

Helen nodded.

Kylie noticed that light did seem to emanate from her skin. "Shit!"

"No shit!" said Della. "You look like a firefly. This is so freaking cool!"

More like not cool! Kylie thought.

Holiday walked over, eyes rounded, and bafflement coming off her in waves.

Kylie stared up at her, mortified. "Make it stop. Please. Pleeeassse."

Chapter Thirty-two

"Where are you going?" Della asked when Kylie stepped out of her bedroom an hour later with her hair and teeth brushed, and-thank God-no longer glowing.

She almost told Della she didn't have to report to her anymore, but decided she'd probably ask Della the same thing if she were leaving the cabin.

"I'm going to meet Lucas," Kylie said.

Della titled her head to listen to her heartbeat.

"I'm not lying," Kylie said.

"I know. I heard," Della said. "Have fun. And don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Gosh," Kylie teased, trying not to be grumpy. "That leaves my options wide open."

Della grinned. "But if you come home glowing, I'll know what you did."

"Not funny," Kylie said, and meant it. Then she took off.

Thankfully, she'd stopped glowing about ten minutes after she'd healed Helen. Out of sheer desperation, she'd asked Holiday, "Why did that happen? It never happened before when I healed someone."