"It doesn't work like that," Derek said ten minutes later, wearing his shirt completely unbuttoned. No doubt Kylie had banged on his cabin door after he was already undressed.
Kylie glanced at his chest and noticed that his scratches were healing. "What do you mean, it doesn't work like that? I thought you could communicate with animals."
Derek closed the cabin door and moved her off the porch as if he was afraid one of his roommates might be listening.
"It's not like I can ask them questions. I hear or, should say, sense their emotions. And not even al of them."
"You said the lion told you he didn't like how you smel ed."
"He didn't tel me. He thought it." Derek shook his head. "It won't work, Kylie."
"But it has to." Her throat tightened. "They're going to close down the camp, Derek. I'm just getting a grip on the whole non-human stuff, I can't leave now."
He studied her face for a moment. "I know, but-"
"It's not just about me, either. You've seen what's been happening at the camp. Everyone is turning on each other. Everyone says the camp is what helps keep peace among al of us. If they think the various supernatural gangs are bad now, think of-"
He put a finger to her lips and she fought the desire to slip her hands inside the opened shirt and hug him. "I'm not disagreeing with you. But I just don't think it wil work."
Right then she remembered. For Derek to be able to turn off his gift, he had to continue to shut them out. Yet he'd saved her from the lion. She hadn't even considered his sacrifice until now. How could she have forgotten that?
"I'm sorry." She closed her eyes a second. "It's because of your gift, because you have to stop using it. I forgot-"
"No," he said. "Okay, yeah, maybe a little."
"It's okay, Derek," she said, seeing guilt in his eyes. She remembered that only a few weeks ago she would have eaten worms to send her gift packing. "It's not fair of me to ask you to do this." She turned to leave.
He grabbed her by her arm. "Wait." His gaze met hers. "I was serious when I said it was only a little part of why I'm hesitating. To be honest, I'm this close to saying the hel with it and playing the Tarzan role."
She saw from his expression that he told the truth. "Hey," she said. "That Tarzan role saved my life. Don't belittle it."
"I know, and that's why I'm thinking about accepting it. But this is ... over the top. It's not like I can sit down and have a chat with the animals. It doesn't work that way."
"How do you know?" Kylie asked. "Have you tried?"
"No, but ... others have this gift. And if I could actual y do that, Holiday would have said something."
"Holiday has said a thousand times that everyone's gift is different. Look, I know you said that so far al you hear are their thoughts, but somehow you communicated with that lion not to make hamburger meat out of us."
"Okay, if by some miracle I can actual y communicate with them, it stil won't happen. That FRU James guy wouldn't let me near the animals. He had me in the office again today. He thinks I'm involved. He even accused me of doing it to impress you."
Kylie considered going to Holiday right then, but she knew Holiday would worry someone might get hurt and would say no. She tilted her chin back in defiance. "Then we don't ask him to let us in. We sneak in."
"Sneak by a vampire? That's like trying to fool Superman."
"Yeah, but I happen to know what his kryptonite is."
"He has a kryptonite?" Derek asked.
"Yup. And her name is Holiday."
Kylie admitted this might be a long shot, but when it was your only shot, you made the most of it. And that's what she and Derek had done. They had to acquire a little help to pul it off, but she was dang proud of her plan.
Kylie and Derek waited a few hundred yards away from the wildlife park gates, hidden behind some trees. According to Del a, that distance would be far enough that Burnett couldn't smel them. Kylie clutched the maps of the park she'd printed off the Internet from the computer in Holiday's office.
Once Burnett was out of the way, getting into the camp was going to be a piece of cake. Wel , it was when you had a certain eye-color-changing shape-shifter helping you out. And to make sure they didn't run into any unexpected surprises, Del a would make a sweep of the park, and then stand as lookout.
Their biggest concern was if Derek's ability would al ow him to learn anything from the animals. He was skeptical. Kylie wanted to believe in miracles.
Her phone rang. "Done," Miranda said.
Which meant Miranda had managed to get Holiday's cel phone and send Burnett the 911 message, a ruse Kylie knew he would not be able to resist. Helen, gracious enough to help, was right now having a meltdown by the creek that required Holiday's help. The longer Burnett searched for Holiday, the more time Derek would have with the animals.
However, first they needed Burnett to leave. And he did a few minutes later, when he slammed the door to the office and disappeared into the night.
"Looks like he's in a hurry," Derek whispered.
"I think he real y cares about Holiday." Kylie's heart pinched with guilt for scaring Burnett. To make up for it, if things calmed down, Kylie might help get the two of them together.
"Ready?" Derek asked.
She nodded. They ran toward the park, knowing the clock was ticking.
Perry had the gate open for them when they arrived. "See ya." Because his presence might upset the animals, he took off, sparkles fal ing around him as he transformed into an eagle and disappeared into the dark sky.
"It stil freaks me out to see that," Del a said, stopping at Kylie's shoulder.
"What did you find?" Kylie asked, knowing their time was short.
"One guard, human-sleeping on the job-in the back office." Del a paused. "Are you sure you don't want me to come, too?"
Kylie shook her head. "I think the less people involved, the more likely the animals wil communicate with Derek. Go back to the camp and let us know when Burnett heads back. Hopeful y in time for us to get out."
Having already studied the maps, Kylie and Derek took off to the section cal ed the "lion's den" first. Lion's den? That so didn't have a good ring to it.
While there were some stars out, the moon, as if stingy with its light, only peered out from behind a cloud every now and then. Even the animal sounds seemed more ominous than usual, or maybe Kylie's perception was warped because she knew they were trespassing-basical y breaking the law. Either way, she found herself moving closer to Derek.
"The lions are right around the bend here," he said.
She wasn't sure if it was cat urine or something else, but the stench hit her nose. "I can smel them." The odor took her back to being trapped in the room with the beast. Her emotions started jamming to the tune of panic.
"Relax," Derek said.
The fact that he could read her emotions stil unnerved her. "I'm trying."
"There's something I need to know," he said at the same time as a lion's roar rang out.
"What?"
"What are you going to do if we learn that Lucas is behind this?"
"I'l do the same thing I'l do if we discover someone else is behind it. Tel Holiday." She paused. "But that's not what we're going to find."
"You seem real y sure he's innocent."
She could feel Derek studying her. "And you seem real y sure he's guilty."
"That's because the evidence says he is."
"It's al circumstantial."
"For someone who was scared shitless of the guy, you sure have changed your tune."
Kylie realized where this conversation could lead and she wanted to cal it over. "I just want to find out who's doing this and pray it stops them from closing down the camp."
"Me, too," he said.
Feeling a blast of icy wind brush against her, she wrapped her arms around herself.
Derek studied her. "Is the ghost here?"
"Maybe." She looked around and didn't see him. "He's only come back a few times since the lion incident and he never stays but a few seconds."
"Maybe he'l help us out the way he did then."
"Maybe, but I'm hoping we don't need any help," she said, and the coldness left as quickly as it had appeared. They stopped at the fence. "This is it." Derek peered through the chain-link fence.
"Are they here?" She couldn't see them.
"Yeah. Behind the tree and beside the pond over there."
"Do they know we're here?" Kylie asked.
"Hel , yeah."
She took a smal step back from the fence. "How are you going to do this?"
He chuckled. "I was waiting for you to tel me."
"You're serious?" she asked.
"Partly," he said, sounding a tad insecure.
"Okay." She bit down on her lip. "Can you read them?"
"Right now, al I'm getting is that they see us as a threat."
"Why?" Kylie asked at the same time as another wild animal noise-maybe an elephant?-fil ed the night. "Surely that's not al they're feeling."
"They're males." He snickered. "We don't elaborate on feelings."
"Real cute," she muttered.
"I thought so." He grinned.
"This is serious." She nudged him with her elbow.
"I know." His smiled faded. "I told you I didn't know if this would work."
"Just concentrate," Kylie said. "Ask them what they're afraid of in your mind."
He leaned his head on the fence and closed his eyes. She watched him. Time crept by, one minute, two. She had to bite her lip to keep from asking him if it was working.
Then thinking if she concentrated, too, maybe it would be better, she moved against his back and placed her hands on his sides. Why do we scare you? Why do we scare you? She repeated the question in her mind.
"Kylie?" Derek whispered.
"You getting something?" she asked, hoping.
"I was until..."
"Until what?" she asked.
"Until you pressed your breasts against me. And thinking about them beats lion chatter hands down." He chuckled. "You're going to have move back."
She stepped back and gave him a swat on his back.
He laughed, but then went back to concentrating.
She heard a rustle behind the fence. "I think one of them is coming."
"Shh," he said.
She hushed, but when the lion pounced on the fence, she let go of a scream as loud as his roar. Jumping back, heart pounding, she landed on her butt.
"That's the same lion, isn't it?" she asked, staring at the creature who stared at her. She would never forget his eyes, golden and hungry. Derek didn't answer. He didn't even turn around to offer her a hand up. Then she noticed how he stood frozen, eyes open, staring at the beast as if ... as if they were having a mental chat.
Staying where she was on the ground, so as not to disturb them, she lifted her hands to dust off the gravel. She hadn't given her hands one dusting when she felt herself being lifted off the ground.
She screamed, and another hand slapped over her mouth.
Derek swung around but before he could even take a step forward, a blond guy had him by the throat, pressing him into the fence. The lion roared behind him.
"Not so loud." The voice didn't sound even slightly familiar. From the coldness of the touch, Kylie knew the person who had her was a vampire, or something equal y cold-blooded.
Derek struggled to free himself. The lion's roar grew more threatening.
"What do we have here?" her attacker asked.
Kylie managed to look at him. Auburn colored hair. Red glowing eyes matched his hair. Definitely vampire, she decided, noting his fangs that hung slightly over his bottom lip.
"Looks as if someone is hungry," said Red, the vamp holding her against him. "Bet the kitty would like to eat a young tender thing like you. Problem is, so would I."
"What the hel ?" The blond guy who had Derek by the neck yel ed out, and then he dropped in a dead faint to the ground. Kylie noticed the intense look on Derek's face, and she knew he'd done something to the blond. Then Derek's gaze shot to her and Red.
"Get your hands off her," Derek said, his voice hoarse.
Kylie saw him lunge forward, but out of the sky two more guys dropped, each grabbing one of Derek's arms. He struggled.
"Excuse me," Kylie's attacker said. "I think I'l go have a snack." He jumped back at least twenty-five feet, taking her with him. They landed with a thud. Kylie's whole body jarred and she bit the edge of her tongue.
Hard.
She tasted blood as it pooled onto her tongue.
She tried to pul away but the vampire's strength made her feel as capable as a bug against a fast-approaching windshield.
"Oh man, you smel good." The vampire raised her off the ground and turned Kylie's head toward his. "Pretty, too." He studied her for a second as if reading her pattern and then his mouth came down on hers.
She knew he drank her blood and wasn't kissing her, but she wanted no part of it. No part of him. Fight. Fight dirty. She remembered dating lesson number one that her father had taught her. Pul ing back her leg, she let go with everything she had and kneed that bastard in the bal s.
She hadn't even considered if vampires had the same weak spot. But the vamp's scream proved they did. However, she could have foregone being tossed through the air like a rag dol . Her back slammed against the fence and she slid down to land with a clunk on the ground. Everything in her said she needed to stand up, get ready to fight. But unable to breathe, it took everything she had just to open her eyes. She saw the two vampires who had been holding Derek had fal en to the ground like the one earlier.
"Kylie, you okay?" Derek suddenly appeared standing over her.
"She's mine," said a gravel y voice.
Helpless, Kylie watched the vampire who kissed her snatch Derek up by the neck, and throw him across the fence and in with the lions. Kylie heard the lions roaring and envisioned them ripping Derek apart. "No!" she screamed.
The vamp looked at her as if she were the prize in the box of cereal. "What are you?" he asked, and reached down to pick her up. An enormous cold showered her. Colder than anything she'd ever felt. Icy needles touched her skin, cut through her human tissue, and found its way to her bones. For a second, her arms and legs felt paralyzed.
Then suddenly Kylie was standing. The vamp held someone in his arms. Then Kylie realized he had her in his arms. His eyes now glowed an even hotter red.
Oddly enough, she wasn't afraid. She waited for him to get closer, sensing she could deal with him. But not knowing how. From the corner of her eye, she saw Derek pul himself over the top of the fence.
"I said don't touch her." Derek jumped off the fence at Red.
Red dropped her body and knocked Derek back against the fence. "You don't know when to die, do you?" he growled. Another dark figure dropped out of the sky and hit Red so hard he fel to the ground. Kylie recognized Del a instantly. Derek turned back to check on Kylie's body, but another dark figure slammed him against the fence again. Without thinking, Kylie moved forward. She grabbed the vamp holding Derek and slung him away. She watched in a kind of daze as the vamp's body flew thirty or forty feet in the air to land in a patch of woods.
When she looked back, Derek stared right through her.
"Wow, did you see that?" she asked Derek, but he didn't answer.
He joined Del a in sparring with the vamp she'd kneed in the bal s. The taste of the guy's mouth stil lingered on her tongue and she wanted to spit. But first she moved in, found an open spot, tightened her fist, and swung. The vamp flew backwards and landed in a crumbled heap. Both Derek and Del a swung around and stared at each other as if confused.
"Kylie?" Derek screamed.
"Yeah," Kylie answered, but then she watched Derek run over to her body on the ground. He turned her over and for the first time she felt the shock run through her system. If she wasn't in her body, where was she?
Derek screamed her name and then said, "Breathe, damn it. For God's sake, Kylie, breathe." He shook her. Oh, crap. Was she dead?