He shook his head as if she exasperated him. "You really are a protector, aren't you?"
"Maybe I'm just a good friend." For some crazy reason, she sensed he preferred she not be a protector. Why? Did her being a protector mean she had less a chance of being a werewolf?
Burnett looked back at the crowd of campers watching them. "You guys go back to your cabins. Party's over."
As soon as they left, he fixed his gaze on Miranda. "You so much as twitch that finger at me again and I'll..."
"Della says she'll rip it off," Miranda said, and giggled, not the least bit intimidated by Burnett. Burnett let go of a growl, not appreciating Miranda's candor.
"She didn't mean to turn you," Kylie and Perry said at the same time.
"It was Clark she was aiming at," Perry added, frowning at Burnett.
"I don't care," Burnett said. "It will never happen again. You understand that?" He glared harder at Miranda.
Miranda nodded. "Understood. I'm sorry."
Kylie could tell she had to work to look reprimanded, but the apology rang sincere. And that was when Kylie knew all the campers had accepted Burnett as one of the leaders. He might not have Holiday's easy, somewhat loving method of connecting with the campers, but he made up for it in other ways.
Burnett folded his arms over his chest. "Now, all of you go back to your cabins."
They all turned to leave. Lucas slipped his hand in Kylie's, letting her know he'd be walking with her.
But then Burnett added, "Everyone but Kylie."
Oh joy. What now? Kylie stopped moving and turned around to face Burnett.
Chapter Sixteen
As soon as the sound of the heavy wooden front door closing echoed in the empty, still smoky dining hall, Kylie decided to confess and get it over with.
"I know, it's my fault. I apologize. I thought I was helping."
Burnett, arms still crossed over his chest, stared down at her. "What's your fault?"
"This," she said, suddenly wishing she hadn't been so gung ho to take the blame. Then again, accepting responsibility was right.
Burnett stared down at her as the seconds passed, which only intensified Kylie's growing need to fill the silence. "Okay, look," she said. "I'm the one who told Perry to cut in on Miranda and Clark."
He nodded. "Yeah, I heard that. I was in the office."
Kylie frowned, wondering if he'd also eavesdropped on her conversation with Lucas.
He dropped his arms to his sides, making him appear less intimidating. "But that doesn't make it your fault."
"So you didn't have me hang back to read me the riot act about starting this mess?"
"No." He reached down and snatched two chairs upright and motioned for her to sit down.
"Am I in trouble for something else?" she asked as she sat down.
He flipped the chair around and straddled it. "No. I just wanted to talk to you." His palms curled around the back of the chair. "Is your hand okay?"
She held out her palm for him to see. "Yeah."
He looked down at her hand, then up at her face again. "Holiday called and was worried about you."
"Why?"
He seemed to struggle to find the right words. "I told her what you'd asked about the bird."
"What did she say?" Kylie leaned in a bit, ready to get at least one answer to her long list of questions.
"She said you shouldn't be worried. If you did bring the bird back to life, it would only cost a very, very small piece of your soul."
"But I did give some of it away?"
"Possibly," Burnett said.
Kylie hesitated to ask, but she needed to know, so she just did it. "Did she say anything about the bird stalking me?"
"Stalking you?"
"Yeah, it was flying around me today, but I wasn't so sure it wasn't just some fluke. But then it came to my window earlier today and tapped on it."
Burnett's eyes widened a little in surprise, and then his inscrutable expression slammed down again. "Are you sure it's the same bird?"
"No, but it's too much of a coincidence not to be, don't you think?"
"Perhaps," he said. "Did you feel any kind of threat from the bird? Like you did with the eagle and the deer?"
"No, nothing. It was all peaceful and serene."
"Good." He stared down at his hands as if he had something else to say and it wasn't going to be easy. "Look, about the FRU library..."
"What about it?" she asked, immediately feeling nervous.
"I don't want you to think I was lying earlier. I wasn't. However, considering that I work for the FRU, I'm only allowed to say so much."
"So you did lie to me?" she asked.
"No." He tightened his lips as if frustrated. "I told you as much as I could. The truth is that there are some books there I'm not allowed to see."
She felt suddenly cold, the kind of a chill that came from being afraid of where their conversation was headed. Of being afraid to discover the truth about herself.
"There are books about ... others like me, aren't there?" she asked. "Others who don't know what they are."
He hesitated again and laced his fingers together in a tight ball. "I don't even know what all is there, but if they were there, I doubt very seriously that I could obtain permission to allow you to read them."
"Why?"
"The FRU considers ninety percent of what they have collected as classified."
Frustration built in her chest. "What's the big secret? I mean, the key to understanding what I am could be in that library. And you're locking me out-it's so frustrating. It's like you're deliberately trying to keep me in the dark about my powers, my identity."
"You're not being kept in the dark, and the key to understanding what you are is much more likely to be elsewhere-here in the outside world-than in that library. There's a lot of classified information at stake, but there's nothing we're trying to hide from you."
"It sure as hell feels that way," she said. "Tell me the truth, please. Do you know what I am?"
"No," he said again, and her instincts told her he wasn't lying. "Look," he said. "The only reason I brought this up is that I don't want you to stop trusting me. I'm as perplexed by you as ... well, as you are."
Kylie slumped in her chair, resigned to the fact that he wouldn't, and maybe even couldn't, give her anything more. "Fine."
He nodded and then looked around the dining hall. "You think we might convince everyone not to tell Holiday about this disaster?"