The one good thing that happened lately was Kylie no longer felt that strange sense of being watched. She wondered if Tabitha had been the cause of it. But when she'd recall Tabitha, Kylie would remember what the girl said about an old vampire hanging around. For some reason, that bothered Kylie. Not enough to mention it to Holiday, because in doing so she might get Miranda in trouble. And after the Burnett incident with Della, getting friends in trouble was the last thing Kylie wanted to do. On Tuesday morning, Kylie woke up with what felt like an extra chill in the air. Either the ghost was trying to send a message or Kylie had more than one spirit hanging around. Great. That's all she needed, another ghost.
"What do you want?" Kylie trembled beneath the covers.
Her phone started croaking. Either her phone's ringtone had gotten changed or Miranda had managed to turn it into a frog. Kylie grabbed her phone. It stopped making the hideous sound and went directly to her voicemail messages.
First it played the one her dad had left, then one the PI left a few days ago. Next it played one that Kylie hadn't heard. From Trey, her boyfriend from the past. How had she missed this call? He asked her to return his call, saying it was important.
"Yeah, right," she muttered. "What, did you find out my breasts got bigger and you want to see them?" She shut the phone off, but not before deleting his message.
She had no sooner laid it back on the nightstand when the cell commenced croaking.
Grabbing it, she looked at the dang thing to make sure it was off. It was. So how did it make noise? She hit the off button again. The croaking continued.
"Are you doing this?" she asked the spirit. "If so, stop. Because it's not funny. And it's not telling me crap about what I need to know."
The phone went silent. The ghost appeared at the foot of her bed. "You have to do something soon. She's dying."
Just like before, the spirit didn't offer a freaking clue as to who the mysterious "she" was.
Kylie got dressed and decided to visit Holiday. She doubted if hearing Holiday say she thought everything was going to be okay would take the edge off the fear, but she had to try.
She hadn't even gotten to the office porch when she heard the voices ringing in her ears.
"Tell me it isn't dangerous?" Holiday insisted, sounding furious.
"I can't tell you that," Burnett said. "This work is always dangerous."
"Then no. He can't go."
"I didn't come to ask you," Burnett said, sounding equally annoyed. "He's gotten permission from his mother. He'll be leaving today around noon."
Kylie turned and started walking in the opposite direction. She would have covered her ears, but that had never worked before, so she just kept walking, hoping the voices would fade.
"It's wrong," Holiday said. "First, you involve Lucas, and now Derek. I have to put my foot down."
Kylie stopped. First Lucas and now Derek ... what?
"They are both exceptional boys," Burnett said.
"And that's my point. They are boys, Burnett."
"I was sixteen when I went to work for the FRU. Lucas is eighteen. Derek is only a few months shy of that. And he's an eraser, Holiday. Do you know how few there are of those?"
"I don't care about that. I care about him."
"He'll only be gone a month or less. Back in time for the school year to begin."
"Assuming he's not killed trying to do the government's work," Holiday snapped.
"I'm sorry," Burnett said, and there was regret in his voice. Kylie heard a door slam. Burnett had left but she didn't move. She stood there on the trail, digesting what she'd just heard. Derek was leaving.
He was going to work for the FRU. He wouldn't be back for a month. Assuming he's not killed trying to do the government's work. Holiday's words played in Kylie's mind. Her heart froze. She took off down the trail toward Derek's cabin.
Chapter Thirty
Kylie got to Derek's cabin a minute later. She spotted Chris walking out of the cabin, dressed for his morning jog, and stopped. She would have jumped into the woods and hidden, but Chris was vampire, which meant he'd probably already heard her. So she started jogging and hoped he wouldn't stop and ask any questions.
When they ran past each other, she waved. He smiled and kept going.
She continued down the trail past the cabin until she felt he wouldn't be in hearing range. Then she spun around, ran into the cabin, and went straight into Derek's room.
He was in bed, still asleep. His wide chest was bare. The sheet came low around his waist and Kylie wasn't sure if he had anything on beneath the sheet. She'd heard rumors that most boys slept in the buff. But she'd seen him naked and that didn't scare her away.
"Derek?"
He dropped his hand over his face.
She moved over to the bed and touched his shoulder. "Derek?"
His eyes popped open and he shot up. He stared at her but didn't look awake. "You've got your clothes on, so this isn't a dream." He flinched as if he realized he'd said that aloud and then he dropped back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling.
"It's not a dream." She sat beside him. "I heard what you're planning to do and I don't want you to go. Please, don't go."
He looked over at her with heavy-lidded eyes, but she could tell he was awake. "How did you find out?"
He hadn't answered her question, so she didn't answer his. "Were you not even going to say good-bye?" Tears filled her eyes.
He sat up and pulled the sheet around his waist. "I was going to say good-bye."
She blinked away the emotion. "You're doing this because of me, aren't you?"
"No. Not completely." He touched her arm and the floodgates of emotion really started pouring.
"Please, don't go," she said in tears.
"I have to. I need to get my head on straight." He blinked. "You were right. Well, partially right. I still think you have issues you need to resolve about Lucas. But ... you were right about me being jealous. My ability to read emotions is getting stronger. And I don't know why, but with you, it's as if I feel everything you feel but ... more. I don't know if it's because I care about you so much or what. But when you feel something I don't like, an attraction for another guy, anger, or even disappointment at someone, I ... I go crazy inside. It's like someone is shooting me up with emotional adrenaline." He raked a hand over his face. "I've either got to learn to deal with this or..."
"Or what?" she asked. He didn't answer, but Kylie knew what he meant. He either had to learn to deal with the emotions she unleashed inside him, or walk away from her. But wasn't that what he was doing? Walking away?