Kylie suddenly became aware of two birds soaring overhead. A shimmer of fear ran down her back, and she looked out toward the patch of trees to see if she could spot Perry.
He didn't seem too worried. He'd found a patch of sunlight spilling through the trees and had stretched out, as if to soak in the warmth. "Who's your shadow?" Helen asked, following Kylie's gaze but obviously not noticing the cat.
"It's Perry. I had him turn himself into a male white cat with blue eyes."
Helen arched a brow with understanding. "So he couldn't hear us. Good one." She brushed an ant off her knee.
They sat there for a few seconds in silence, both of them gently pumping their legs back and forth.
Finally, Kylie spoke. "I was hoping you wouldn't mind answering a few questions about healing?"
"That's right, I heard you healed your friend," Helen said. "And then Lucas, too. Pretty cool."
Kylie bit down on her lip. "Yeah. It's cool. I mean, I'm still trying to wrap my head around it, but I like knowing I did it. That's what I wanted to ask you about. I really don't know how it works."
Suddenly, a thousand questions started running rampant in her head. Could she heal anyone? Could she go to the hospital and just heal everyone?
"Holiday hasn't talked to you about it?" Helen pulled one leg up.
"She tried. I just wasn't ready to hear about it. And then she had to leave. Her aunt died, but she's supposed to be back this afternoon."
"That's sad," Helen said with sincerity, then she added, "Holiday said that we two were going to start meeting with her on occasion to discuss healing as a group. I've read up on a lot of it, but I've barely made a dent in all there is to know about the gift."
"There are books on supernatural healing?" Kylie asked, surprised.
"Yeah, there's a whole library on all different supernatural subjects."
"Really? I never heard about them."
"Oh, yeah. There are tons of books on just about every subject."
Every subject? If that was the case, Kylie couldn't help wondering if there might be some information somewhere about anomalies like herself. "Who...? I mean, where do you get them?"
"From the FRU library. If you can call it a library. More like a vault with books. It took almost a month before I was approved to check out the books I got. Burnett finally went in and got me approved."
"Why would they not want you to read up on healing or ... any subject concerning supernaturals?"
"Beats me."
Kylie chewed on that for a few minutes and then asked, "So what did you learn about healing?"
"A lot of it's about the homeopathic. But some of it covers the basics like the different kinds of healers."
"There are different kinds?"
Helen nodded. "And different levels."
"Is any of this based on what type of species you are?"
"Yeah, some. The gift is most common to fairies and witches. But it's found in all sorts of half-breeds, too. I even read one book that said some half-breeds can have more healing powers than full-bloods."
Kylie tried to absorb everything Helen was saying. "What are the different kinds?"
"Well, some of us can just ease pain, but not really heal. Some witches can cure things by mixing up brews and performing certain rituals. Then there are those who heal internal diseases like cancer through touch. And then there's a few of those who are like you."
"Like me how?" Kylie asked, confused.
"Who can heal internal issues, like cancer, as well as physical injuries, like you did with your friend Sara's cancer and Lucas's injuries."
"You can't heal physical injuries?" Kylie asked.
"No. I wish. Jonathon fell a while back and cut his hand. I tried several times to heal it, and got nothing."
Kylie tried to absorb the new information. But mostly what she absorbed was the fact that once again, she was an anomaly. For once, couldn't she fit nice and neatly into a niche?
"You look worried," Helen said, looking at her.
"A little," Kylie admitted. "I'm still overwhelmed, I guess."
"Hey, just be glad you're not like the real freaky type."
"What type is that?"
"The kind that can raise the dead. And every time they do it, they give up a piece of their soul in the bargain. That would be off-the-chart weird, don't you think?"
A chill of fear settled around Kylie's heart. "Yeah. That would be super weird."
* * *
Kylie got a text from Holiday on her walk back to her cabin. Problems. Can't make it bk til tomorrow. U ok?
Am I okay? Kylie nearly laughed out loud. Hell, no, she wasn't okay! She'd given away a piece of her soul to a blue jay and didn't know what it meant.
As soon as Perry's shadow duties ended and he was replaced by Della, Kylie snatched her phone and started out of her cabin, feeling desperate. Holiday wasn't here, but Burnett was. He might not have any answers, but at least she could personally tell him she wanted a library card to the FRU's source of books. If there was even the slightest chance that their library held something that would help her figure out what she was, then Kylie would keep her nose in a book for years.
"Where are we going?" Della asked, following Kylie out.
"To talk to Burnett about my problem."
"What problem?"
"You got a problem?" Miranda asked as she, too, joined them on the cabin porch.
"It's just crazy shit," Kylie said, unsure she wanted to explain it, and started walking.
"What kind of crazy shit?" Miranda asked. "Does it have anything to do with Perry being in love with you?"
"What?" Kylie spouted out, low on patience.
"I saw the way he was hanging around all day."
"Please! He was hanging around me because he was shadowing me." She met Miranda's gaze head-on. "Okay, look. I'm gonna say this once. Perry's in love with you. But if you don't stop playing hard to get, you're gonna lose your shot with him."
"Amen, sister!" Della said.
Miranda's face tightened and she glared first at Della and then at Kylie. "Since when are you two taking his side?"
Kylie closed her eyes in frustration. "Fine, he was wrong when he did that, but you admitted that you were a little wrong in kissing Kevin, too. It's time to get past it or get over him."