Authors: C. C. Hunter
Her kiss with Lucas had been … hotter, but nothing about it had felt safe. Maybe that was even why it had been hotter. Risk and passion seemed to go hand in hand.
Kylie stared at the letter. Was there anything that Lucas could say in that letter that would change the fact that he’d left, that he was with Fredericka—a girl he admitted to having sex with? A girl he’d even admitted caring about.
No, Kylie thought. There was nothing Lucas could say to change that. Any more than her dad could change what he did to her mom. Or what Trey had done to her.
The music seemed to call out to her. There was a party going on and she should be there. She folded the letter and put it in her pocket. She deserved to just enjoy tonight. Later, she’d find out what Lucas had to say.
She stood up, turned to leave. The cold hit her so fast, her breath caught, then, the room filled with a thick fog.
Okay, this was different.
The thought no more went through her head when Kylie knew how different. This wasn’t Daniel.
She tried to relax. But face it, this ghost business was going to take some getting used to. “Daniel?” She said his name almost hoping she was wrong.
A section of fog slowly lifted. A woman, no more than thirty, with long dark hair, stood there. She wore a beautiful white gown, or it had been beautiful at one time.
Kylie’s heart thudded against her chest bone as she took in the bloodstains. The woman looked at Kylie with dead eyes, eyes filled with so much hopelessness that Kylie wanted to cry.
“Stop him,” the woman said. “Stop him, or he’ll do it again.”
“Who?” Kylie asked. “Who did this?” Kylie gripped her hands together and wished Holiday hadn’t left. “Are you looking for Holiday?”
The woman didn’t answer. Instead, she faded into the fog. Kylie stood there, hugging herself against the cold, as the fog rose and disappeared into the ceiling. Slowly, the temperature crept back up.
“That is so unfair,” Kylie muttered.
“What’s unfair?”
Kylie swung around. Derek stood in the doorway. Dressed in faded jeans and a light blue shirt, he looked … good. Safe. She met his eyes and she saw the affection he held for her.
Right then, she decided that for tonight she was going to forget.
Forget about the letter in her pocket.
Forget about not knowing what she was.
Forget a certain woman wearing a blood-soaked gown.
Forget that she still hadn’t made the trip up to the falls.
Even forget that her mom still hadn’t agreed to let Kylie stay at the school.
Tonight, she just wanted to listen to some music, and sit next to Derek—shoulders touching.
“You going to the party?” she asked.
“I’ve been there. Waiting on you.”
“Then let’s go.”
Kylie started moving toward the dining hall, and Derek followed her. She paused at the threshold, and he bumped into her. Hit with déjà vu, she remembered almost the same thing happening the first time she’d walked through these doors.
She’d been so scared, so certain that she would hate it here. Then again, she’d also sensed that her life was going to change. And yeah, she had been right about that.
“Are we going inside?” Derek asked, brushing up against her. His breath felt warm against her neck.
She nodded, but she just stood there wanting to take it all in. She saw Miranda chatting with Perry. The shape-shifter had yet to admit he liked Miranda, but Miranda was patient. Helen sat with Jonathon who played a game of chess with another vampire.
Della, sipping a glass of blood, stood watching the game. Since learning about the Shadow Falls Camp turning into a boarding school, Della had seemed to lose some of her pent-up anger. Not all of it, but some.
“You okay?” Derek asked, leaning even closer to her ear. He felt solid and so warm standing behind her and right now that was what she needed.
“Yeah.” Kylie spotted Holiday sitting with Chris, listening to him play his guitar.
Looking across the room, Kylie found Burnett leaning against a wall, his attention so locked on Holiday that the world could end and he wouldn’t notice. Yup, Holiday was his kryptonite, all right.
A sense of belonging filled Kylie’s chest. She looked back at Derek and smiled. “Yeah,” she repeated. “I’m okay.”
Kylie’s story continues!
Read on for a preview of the next book in C. C. Hunter’s Shadow Falls series
Awake at Dawn
Available from St. Martin’s Griffin in October 2011
copyright © 2011 by C. C. Hunter
“You have to stop it, Kylie. You have to. Or this will happen to someone you love.”
The spirit’s ominous words flowed from behind Kylie Galen and mingled with the crackle and pop of the huge bonfire about fifty feet to her right. The frigid pocket of air announced the spirit’s presence loud and clear, even if the words were only for Kylie’s ears and not for the thirty other Shadow Falls campers standing in the ceremonial circle.
Miranda stood by Kylie in the human chain, completely unaware of the ghost, and gripped Kylie’s hand tighter. “This is so cool,” Miranda muttered and looked across the circle at Della.
Miranda and Della were not only Kylie’s closest friends, but her cabinmates.
“We give thanks for this offering.” Chris, or Christopher as he referred to himself tonight, stood in the middle of the circle and raised the sacred goblet up to the dark sky as he blessed its contents.
“You have to stop it,” the spirit whispered over Kylie’s shoulder again, hindering her concentration on the ritual.
Closing her eyes, Kylie envisioned the spirit the way she had appeared to her several times now: mid-thirties, long dark hair, and wearing a white gown—a gown covered in blood.
Frustration bounced around Kylie’s already tightened gut. How many times had she pleaded with this spirit to explain, to tell her who, what, when, where, and why? Only to have the dead woman repeat the same warning.
Long story short, ghosts just coming out of the closet sucked at communication. Probably as bad as beginner ghost whisperers sucked at getting them to communicate. Kylie’s only option was to wait until the ghost could somehow explain her warning. Now, however, wasn’t the optimum time.
I’m kind of busy right now. So unless you can explain in detail, can we chat later?
Kylie kept the words in her mind, hoping the ghost could read her thoughts. Thankfully, the chill running down Kylie’s spine evaporated and the night’s heat returned—Texas heat, muggy, thick, and hot, even without the bonfire.
Thank you.
Kylie tried to relax, but the tension in her shoulders remained knotted. And for a good reason. Tonight’s ceremonial event, sort of a show-and-tell, was another first in her life.
A life that was so much simpler before she knew she wasn’t all human. Of course, it would help if she could identify her non-human side. Unfortunately the only person who knew the answer was Daniel Brighten, her real dad. She hadn’t known he existed until he’d paid her a visit a little over a month ago. And he’d obviously decided to let Kylie deal with her identity crisis all on her own.
He seldom visited anymore, bringing a whole new meaning to deadbeat dads. Yup, Daniel was dead—died before she was born. Kylie wasn’t sure if they offered parenting classes in the hereafter, but she was tempted to suggest he find out. Because now, when he did drop by, she would catch him watching her and just when she started to ask him a question, he’d fade away, leaving only a cold chill and her unanswered questions.
“Okay,” Chris said, “release your hands, clear your mind, but whatever you do, do not break the circle.”
Kylie, along with the crowd, followed his directions. Yet as she released her hands, Kylie’s mind refused to clear.
Was her deadbeat dad afraid she was going to ask for sex advice or something? That always had her mom disappearing from a room—running around in search of another give-this-to-your-teen pamphlet. Not that Kylie had actually asked her mom for sex advice. Honestly, she was the last person Kylie would go to for
that
kind of advice. The mere mention of her being interested in a boy sent her mom into a panic as the letters S-E-X practically flashed in her mom’s eyes. Thankfully, since Kylie had been shipped off to Shadow Falls Camp, the supply of sex-related pamphlets had declined.
Who knew what she’d missed this last month? There might have been a few STDs discovered that she didn’t know about. No doubt her mom was stockpiling them for when Kylie went home for a visit in three weeks. A visit she wasn’t looking forward to, either. Sure, she and her mom had sort of mended their not-so-good relationship since her mom had confessed about Daniel being her real dad. But the new mother/daughter bond felt so fragile.
Kylie couldn’t help but wonder if their relationship wasn’t too delicate to actually spend more than a few hours together. What if she went home and found things really hadn’t changed? What if the indifference with her mom still existed? And what about things with Tom Galen, the man Kylie had believed to be her real dad all her life, the man who had walked out on her mom and her for a girl only a few years older than Kylie? Kylie was mortified at seeing him sucking face with his way-too-young assistant. So much so, she hadn’t even told him.
A late-night breeze brought the smoke from the roaring bonfire into her face. She blinked the sting from her eyes, but didn’t dare step out of the circle. As Della had explained, to do that would have shown a lack of respect to the vampire culture.
“Clear your mind,” Chris repeated and handed the goblet to a camper on the other side of the circle.
Closing her eyes, Kylie tried again to follow Chris’s directions, but then heard the sound of falling water. Jerking her eyes open, she looked toward the woods. Was the waterfall that close? Ever since Kylie had learned about the legend of the death angels at the falls, she had felt driven to go there. Not that she longed to come face-to-face with any death angels. She had her hands full dealing with ghosts. But she couldn’t kick the feeling that the falls called her.
“Are you ready?” Miranda leaned in and whispered, “It’s getting closer.”
Ready for what?
was Kylie’s first thought. Then she remembered.
Was Miranda freaking kidding?
Kylie stared at the communal goblet being passed around the circle. Her breath caught when she realized it lacked only ten people from being placed in her hand. Drawing in a deep, smoke-scented gulp of air, she tried not to look disgusted.
Tried. The thought of taking a sip from a container after everyone had smacked their lips on the rim landed somewhere between gross and nauseating in her mind. But, for sure, the biggest yuck factor was the blood.
Watching Della consume her daily nutrition had gotten easier this last month. Heck, Kylie had even donated a pint to the cause—supernaturals did that sort of thing for their vampire friends. But having to taste the life-sustaining substance was a different matter all together.
“I know it’s sickening. Just pretend it’s tomato juice,” Miranda whispered to their friend Helen, standing on the other side of her. Not that whispering helped in this crowd.
Kylie looked across the circle of supernatural campers, their faces cast in firelit shadows from the bonfire. She spotted Della, frowning in their direction, her eyes glowing a pissed-off gold color. Her acute hearing was only one of her gifts. No doubt, Della would call Miranda on her “sickening” remark later. Which basically meant Kylie would have to convince the two of them not to murder each other. How two people could be friends and fight so much was beyond her. Playing peacemaker between the two was a full-time job.
She watched another camper raise the goblet to her lips. Knowing how much this meant to Della, Kylie mentally prepared herself to accept the glass and take a sip of blood without barfing. Not that it stopped Kylie’s stomach from wanting to rebel.
Gotta do this. Gotta do this.
For Della’s sake.
Maybe you’ll even like how blood tastes,
Della had said earlier.
Wouldn’t it be cool if you turned out to be a vampire?
Not,
Kylie had thought, but wouldn’t dare say it. She supposed being vampire wouldn’t be any worse than being werewolf or shape-shifter. Then again, she remembered Della practically crying when she talked about her ex-boyfriend’s repulsion to her cold body temperature. Kylie preferred to stay at her own temperature, thank you very much. And the thought of existing on a diet that mainly consisted of blood…? Well, Kylie seldom even ate red meat, and when she did … cook that cow, please.
While Holiday, the camp leader and Kylie’s mentor, had said it was unlikely for Kylie to start exhibiting any huge metaphysical changes, Holiday had also said anything was possible. Truth was, Holiday—who was full fairy—couldn’t tell Kylie what her future held, because Kylie was an anomaly.