Born at Midnight (30 page)

“Oh man, you smell 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. Pulling back her leg, she let go with everything she had and kneed that bastard in the balls.

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 doll. 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 fallen to the ground like the one earlier.

“Kylie, you okay?” Derek suddenly appeared standing over her.

“She’s mine,” said a gravelly 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 pull 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 fell to the ground. Kylie recognized Della 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 Della in sparring with the vamp she’d kneed in the balls. The taste of the guy’s mouth still 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 Della 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?

Chapter Forty

Looking down at her clothes, Kylie realized she wore army fatigues. She was … she was in Daniel Brighten’s spirit body again—just like in the dream.
Did that mean she wasn’t dead?

She looked back at her own body and saw that Derek was fighting off two more vamps to keep them away from her. Della swooped in to help.

Remembering she could help them as Daniel’s ghost, Kylie took a step toward them. But just like that, she realized she was back in her own body. She pushed herself off the ground, determined not to just lie there. Moving, however, caused her a ton of pain.

Someone else suddenly appeared and fought beside Derek and Della. Kylie squinted at their newest ally.

Sky?

Floodlights flared to life. The night’s darkness, along with several of their attackers, scurried away like rats.

Burnett, along with a few other FRU-looking people, seemed to come at them from all sides. They grabbed a couple of the vamps and locked them in handcuffs at both their wrists and ankles.

Derek rushed over to Kylie. “Are you okay?”

She nodded, although her body was hurting in places she didn’t know could hurt.

“What the hell happened?” Burnett demanded of Derek. He reached for Derek as if prepared to slap a pair of cuffs on him.

“It’s my fault,” Kylie insisted. “I made him do this.”

“She did not,” Derek insisted.

“No, it was my idea.” Della surged forward.

“No, they’re all lying. It’s not their fault.” Sky moved in.

Everything seemed to go silent for a long moment, and then Derek spoke up. “Sky planted the blood that you guys found that led back to the camp. She helped those rogues take the animals. But she came to our defense in the end.”

Kylie knew Derek had learned this from his mind meld with the lions. The lions had talked to him, just as she’d hoped they would. A tiny bit of happiness about being right swiveled through the chaos of the moment, and she let herself savor it.

“He’s telling the truth.” Sky held out her arms to be cuffed.

Burnett put the cuffs on her. “Why?” he asked, staring at her as if disgusted.

“They…” she said looking at the captives, “have my sister. Threatened to kill her if I didn’t help them get the camp shut down.” Sky glanced at Kylie. “I could do it when that was all they wanted, but this … They promised no one would be hurt. I don’t know how the lion got in your cabin, Kylie, I swear. I was told to take the witches out for a hike. I knew they were planning something, but hadn’t thought … They said no one would be hurt.” She shook her head and looked back at Burnett. “I was only trying to save my sister.”

“They? Who are ‘they’?” Burnett growled, and looked at the two vamps cuffed on the ground. One of them growled at Burnett and fought against the handcuffs. Two of the other FRU men subdued him.

Kylie suddenly realized the red-haired vampire, the one who’d first grabbed her, had gotten away. And for some reason that thought sent chills down her back.

“The Blood Brothers,” Sky answered. “The vampire gang.”

“And why did they want the camp shut down?” Burnett asked.

“They feel as if the camp is corrupting potential members,” Sky answered. “And from what they said, they aren’t the only ones thinking it. Most of all the rogue gangs are starting to rebel against the camp.”

“Do you know where they’re keeping your sister?” Burnett asked, and Kylie heard the slightest hint of sympathy in his voice for Sky’s dilemma.

“No. But my father’s hired someone to find her.”

Holiday came rushing forward. Her gaze shot to Sky wearing cuffs. “What are you doing?” she asked Burnett.

“My job,” he answered, and started walking Sky away.

Holiday shot forward. “You let her go—”

“He can’t, Holiday,” Sky said. “He’s right. I screwed up. I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?” Holiday asked.

Sky looked back at Derek. “Tell her,” she said.

Burnett looked at Holiday almost as if to say something, and then he nudged Sky to start walking.

Holiday looked back at Kylie, Della, and Derek. “Someone better start talking. And fast.”

*   *   *

Holiday had a doctor rush to the camp and go over everyone inch by inch. Other than a few scrapes and deep bruises, they were pronounced fine. It was after two in the morning at that point and Kylie’s muscles ached like a bad devil and she wanted nothing more than to go to bed. But apparently Burnett had other plans.

Kylie and her partners in crime—for some reason, Helen, Perry, and Miranda had all confessed to being part of Kylie’s plan—were told to wait in the dining hall. Holiday and Burnett walked in. Kylie saw the shadows of pain in the camp leader’s eyes; no doubt Sky’s betrayal had cut deep.

Burnett started the dialogue, or you could call it the chewing down. He referred to what they’d done as stupid and foolish. He told them they were lucky that none of them had been killed. Yada yada yada.

And he was right.

But Kylie would have done it again in a heartbeat.

She sat there and took her punishment like the rest of them. Yes, she knew sneaking into the park hadn’t been without some risk, but she hadn’t planned on going to war with a vampire gang. All she’d wanted to do was get Derek to the animals so he could possibly get some answers.

Which, by the way, had worked. Not that Burnett mentioned that in his ass-chewing.

“Did you even realize that they had outnumbered you by five? I can’t believe…” He continued his rant, reminding them they were supernaturals and they were supposed to be smarter than that.

A question popped into Kylie’s mind and before she could stop herself, it slipped out of her mouth. “Are you still going to close down the camp?”

Burnett, not happy about being interrupted, frowned. “If this is the kind of behavior we can expect, we have no choice.”

Enough. Enough. Enough.

When the word scraped across Kylie’s mind the third time, she stood up. “We did the only thing we knew to help.”

She hadn’t a clue where her assertiveness came from, perhaps exhaustion, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself.

“You seem to have forgotten that we didn’t plan to get into an out-and-out brawl with a vampire gang. All we wanted was to get Derek close enough to communicate with the animals and find out what the hell had been going on.”

“You should have come to us,” Holiday said.

While her heart went out to the camp leader, Kylie had a point to make. Since she’d already pissed Burnett off, she might as well keep going.

“Why should we come to you?” Kylie asked. “You didn’t trust us enough to tell us what was going on. Yes, we know you’re the camp leader, but we’re not in kindergarten here. You say we’re here to learn how to cope in the outside world but then you try to shield us from anything that might be the least bit unpleasant. And let’s say if we did come to you with this, I don’t think you’d let us do it because you’d be worried it could be dangerous. And then there’s you.” Kylie pointed to Burnett.

“That’ll be enough,” Burnett snapped.

Not hardly.
“Even if Holiday had agreed to let us do it, there’s no way you would have let Derek in the park because you thought we were all suspects.”

“Ditto,” Derek said.

“Amen,” Della said.

“You go, Kylie,” Miranda snapped.

Everyone else in the room nodded their heads in agreement.

“That’s not important,” Burnett charged.

“Yes, it is.” Holiday held up a hand to silence the tall, dark, and menacing vampire. “Kylie’s right. I don’t like it, but she’s right.”

Holiday took a deep breath. “I have the tendency to be a tad overprotective.” She looked at Burnett. “And you have a tendency to be … well, a jerk.”

Burnett’s expression was a cross between shock and anger.

“I’m just being honest.” Holiday glanced back at Kylie and the rest of them. “And to answer your question, Kylie, Burnett has already informed me that thankfully the camp will not be closed down.”

Everyone in the room let out a yelp of victory.

“As a matter of fact…” Holiday glanced at Burnett as if almost asking permission to continue. He frowned but nodded. “As a matter of fact, Burnett has also just informed me that my request to turn Shadow Falls Camp into Shadow Falls Camp Academy has been granted.”

“Like a full-time school?” Kylie asked.

Holiday nodded and Kylie saw her gaze seek out Della. “We’re hoping this will help alleviate some of the strain of the newly turned supernaturals who find living with normal parents impossible. It will allow them to maintain contact and hopefully prevent these families from completely severing relationships.”

Kylie grinned and glanced back at Della, who appeared as if she might start crying.

“And,” Holiday continued, “while it’s true, I did just call Mr. James here a jerk, and true, he is one, I’d also like to point out that tonight his boss informed me that … contrary to what I thought, he’s been a supporter of the school. His boss said he’s been our advocate all along. So like it or not—and for the record, I don’t like it—he is deserving of our respect.”

Burnett had his arms crossed over his chest, staring holes at Holiday. Kylie suspected the camp leader didn’t glance at him just to piss him off.

“That said,” Holiday motioned for the door, “it’s very late and since tomorrow is parents day, we have to be up and at our best in the morning, even if we have to fake it.”

*   *   *

Miranda, Della, and Kylie walked out together. “Chan wasn’t there,” Della said. “I would have smelled him.”

“I know,” Kylie said.

“Who’s Chan?” Miranda asked.

“I’ll explain it later,” Della said, and then she looked back at Kylie. “When Sky said that she didn’t put the lion in your room, she was telling the truth.”

“I thought she was,” Kylie said. But something about that whole incident still didn’t read true. Not that she’d ever really find out.

They started toward their cabin when Kylie saw Derek. “You two go,” Kylie said. “I want to say good night to Derek.”

“Do you smell those hormones?” Della asked Miranda.

Kylie frowned at Della as they walked away and then she turned to find Derek.

“Hey, wait up,” Kylie called to Derek.

He turned around and started moving toward her. When they met in the middle, he was smiling. “I liked how you stood up to Burnett and Holiday,” he said.

Kylie shrugged, unsure where she’d gotten the courage to do it, but lately she found herself speaking her mind. She didn’t think it was altogether a bad thing, either.

“And I liked how you stood up to the vampires earlier. What did you do? They kept dropping.”

He grinned. “Apparently, I have the ability to shock their systems with emotional overload. It was pretty cool, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, it was,” she said.

He studied her. “Your ghost was there, too. Wasn’t he?”

“Yeah,” Kylie said, not really ready to share the whole out-of-body experience thing.

Their gazes met, held. “It worked didn’t it?” Kylie said. “You communicated with the animals. That’s how you knew about Sky, right?”

He nodded. “Yeah. You were right.”

She thought she heard something in his voice—like regret. “Are you upset that it happened?” Like flies on a bad banana, guilt buzzed around her chest. He’d done it for her. “If you are … I mean, I’m sorry that—”

He reached out to put a finger over her lips. “You don’t need to apologize. I’m glad I did it. To be honest, it felt right. Tonight felt right.” He pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear and left his hand there. “We did good. We make a good team.”

“You’ve saved my life twice now. Three if you count the snake.” She looked up at him, at his soft smile. His hand touching her neck felt so good. So right. Without thinking, she moved up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his.

He wasn’t the one who started the kiss.

Nope. She did that.

He wasn’t the one who deepened the kiss.

Nope. She did that, too.

He wasn’t even the one who moved in closer.

Nope. That would be her.

Not that he seemed to mind.

But he was the one who moved his tongue inside her mouth. Deep inside her, she heard a little voice say, “Oops.”

She pulled back. They were both breathing hard. She wasn’t sure either of them had breathed this hard when they’d been fighting rogue vampires.

He opened his eyes and looked at her. “Wow.”

Kylie inhaled, still trying to catch her breath, trying to clear her head. She stared down at her shoes, because looking him in the eyes right now seemed too much. She hadn’t meant that to happen. Or had she?

He ran his finger under her chin and tilted her head up. Damn. He was going to make her look at him. Then he’d probably ask the question she couldn’t answer.