* * *
Darkness surrounded Kylie. Exhaustion pulled at her mind. Where was she? Why did she feel so depleted? So dead?
She tried to open her eyes, but the effort felt too much. Wake up! Wake up! a part of her brain demanded. The feeling of urgency filled her chest and she fought to push the cobwebs from her mind.
As the last few clouds of confusion and exhaustion were cleared, she came to. She was in someone's arms, someone who ran. Kylie's body jolted up and down with the footfalls. She forced her eyes open and looked up at ... Fredericka?
What was...?
"Put me down," Kylie demanded.
"Burnett said to carry you," Fredericka bit out. "Believe me, I don't like it, either."
"Put me down!" Kylie demanded, and the she-wolf came to a sudden stop and dropped her none too gently on the ground. The feel of her butt hitting the hard ground brought it all back.
Collin Warren had Holiday.
Holiday ... dead.
Pain filled Kylie's chest.
Bolting to her feet, she saw Burnett, holding a lifeless Holiday in his arms.
Kylie rushed over. "Let me try again!" she begged.
"You already did," Burnett bit out.
"But maybe this time-"
"Kylie! You already saved her," Burnett said. "She's weak, but she's breathing. Now, let Fredericka carry you back to camp so we can get both of you help."
"I'm fine," Kylie insisted.
"You're still glowing, Kylie," Burnett snapped. "And I don't know what that means."
Kylie didn't know either. But she didn't care. She stared at Holiday's chest, waiting to see it shift upward, bringing in oxygen. She held her own breath.
Only when Holiday breathed did Kylie draw air into her hungry lungs.
"Let's go," Burnett muttered. "I have a doctor meeting us at the camp."
Kylie pushed herself to run, but it wasn't nearly as fast as before, and damn if she didn't feel every muscle burn. Not that she was complaining. Holiday was alive and so was she. Nothing else mattered.
* * *
Kylie sat in Holiday's living room, silent and still glowing, while the doctor checked Holiday out in the bedroom. Burnett, on his feet, kept a listening ear turned to the door.
All the other students gathered in the dining hall. School had been canceled while everyone waited for news. Kylie wondered if Holiday knew how loved she was. That everyone, even Fredericka, cared.
Everyone except ... Collin Warren. Questions start flipping through her mind. Kylie looked at Burnett. "What happened to Collin?"
Burnett shook his head.
Kylie's gut knotted. She recalled tossing the man across the small shack, recalled hearing the sound of his lungs give up air. Had his soul given up as well?
She'd said she would kill for Holiday, and she would, but now the thought that she might have taken a life made her want to puke. "Did I...?"
Burnett shook his head. "Fredericka. She said he came at you with a knife. She attacked. They fought. He lost."
Kylie now recalled hearing the struggle, but the idea left her stunned. "Fredericka saved my life?" Oh, hell. She didn't want to be indebted to someone who hated her. Then she couldn't help but wonder why she'd done it. She could have let Collin kill her.
Burnett stared at Kylie as if reading her mind. "She comes off as a real bitch, but I don't think she's as bad as she lets people believe." He hesitated. "That happens when you have a rough upbringing. People think the worst of you and it just gets easier to let them think it than to try to prove them differently." He looked back at the bedroom door. "Holiday believed she was salvageable."
So did Lucas. Kylie sat there and chewed on her feelings. About Fredericka, then about Lucas. She missed him. Wished he was here.
Then she reheard Burnett's words and picked up on the personal reference in his tone. That happens when you have a rough upbringing. A piece of the puzzle of who Burnett was suddenly fell into place. She didn't know why it felt important but it did. She looked up at him. "You were raised in a foster home with Perry, weren't you?"
Burnett's gaze stayed fixed on the door. "She's going to be okay." A smile brightened his eyes. "The doctor, he just said she was going to be okay." He reached back with both hands and laced his fingers behind his neck. When he glanced at Kylie, he was still smiling. "Yeah. I was raised in foster care. Why? You thinking that's why I'm a mean bastard? Because of my rough upbringing?"
Hearing the humor and relief in his voice, she smiled. She knew if he weren't so relieved by the doctor's news, he'd probably be pissed that Kylie figured it out. Then the opportunity occurred to her. "No, but I'm thinking that's why it might be so hard for you to tell Holiday how you feel. To admit that you love her. And I think she really needs to hear that."
His eyebrows arched. "I'm not the one who's been pushing the other away."
"But you haven't told her how you feel, either. And you gotta trust me on this. A woman needs to hear that."
A few minutes passed in silence; she knew Burnett was thinking about what she said, and that felt good. But then the vamp looked back at her with questions in his eyes. "How did Hayden Yates know about Collin Warren?"
Kylie chose her words carefully. She hadn't told Burnett that Hayden was a chameleon and wasn't sure if she should.
"When I went to his cabin, he'd been out running. I accused him of being involved. He denied it. He said he'd seen Collin out and the man looked suspicious."
Burnett digested what she'd said. "Supposedly, Collin's always been socially flawed but no one saw the evilness in him until now." Burnett paused again. "How did you end up with Hayden's phone?"
"I'd forgotten mine when I left. So I ... confiscated his." She shrugged.
"Did you know he left a message with me, saying he had a family emergency and had to leave for a few days?"
Kylie tried not to let her disappointment show. "No, I didn't know that."
"Do you still think he's involved?" Burnett asked. "If you do, I'll bring his ass back here now."
"No," Kylie answered honestly. "I was wrong. He didn't have anything to do with Holiday. If anything ... he helped save her."
Burnett studied her. "And you don't see it as suspicious his leaving right now?"
"Maybe a little," Kylie said, so she wouldn't get caught in a lie. "But I'm sure he didn't have anything to do with Holiday's abduction."
"I'm still questioning him when he gets back," Burnett said.
Me too. Kylie shook her head. If he comes back. Her heart sank.