Holiday spoke up again. "I don't see any reason for someone to involve them. However, Perry is following them. If anyone tries to harm them, he'll take care of things."
"Yeah, Perry could seriously kick ass if he has to," Della said.
"And I'm sure the P.I. is working a hundred different cases," Lucas said. "The P.I. being attacked doesn't mean it's linked to Kylie. It could be one of his other cases. Private investigators piss people off all the time."
"True," Holiday said. "But Burnett was concerned enough to want the Brightens away from the camp. We need to be cautious."
Kylie's mind took a U-turn and parked on the fact that it was Perry, one of the resident shape-shifters, following the Brightens. "What was Perry when he took off after them?"
The last time she'd seen Perry in an alternate form, he'd been some kind of pterodactyl creature that looked as if it had stepped out of the Jurassic age. Of course, Kylie supposed that was better than the SUV-sized lion or the unicorn he'd turned into before that. Oh hell! If he wasn't careful, Perry could end up giving the elderly couple heart attacks.
"Don't worry," Holiday said. "Perry won't do anything ridiculous."
Miranda chose that moment to join the group. "Please, Perry and all things ridiculous go together like toads and warts," she said, and pushed her tricolored dyed hair over her shoulder as if to punctuate her attitude.
Miranda was one of seven witches at Shadow Falls, and she was also Kylie's other roommate. From Miranda's tone, it was clear she wasn't ready to forgive Perry for being cruel to her when he'd found out another shape-shifter had kissed her ... especially when she'd apologized. The witch's gaze shot around the group.
"What?" Miranda asked. "Is something wrong?" Concern tightened her eyes, proving that while she might not be over being mad, neither was she over caring for the shape-shifter. "Is Perry okay? Is he?" She reached up and caught a strand of pink hair and twirled it around her finger.
"Perry's fine," Holiday and Kylie said at the same time. Then Kylie's mind returned to her concern for the Brightens-if they really were the Brightens.
She looked at Holiday. "What would anyone gain by pretending to be my grandparents?"
"Access to you," Holiday answered.
"But they seemed so genuine." And then Kylie remembered. "No. They couldn't have been impostors. I ... saw the death angels. They sent me a message."
"Oh, crappers," Della said, and she and Miranda took a step back. While Lucas didn't flinch, his eyes widened. According to legend, death angels were supposed to be the ones who doled out punishment to keep the nonhuman species in line. Almost every supernatural knew of a friend of a friend who'd misbehaved and then gotten fried to a crisp by a vengeful death angel.
While Kylie sensed the power of these angels, she wasn't so sure their harmful reputation wasn't exaggerated. Not that she was eager to test the theory. However, considering she made her share of mistakes and hadn't been burned or turned to ash, she questioned the rumors of those who had.
"What message?" Holiday asked, her tone free of any misgiving. The camp leader, another ghost whisperer, was one of the few who didn't fear the death angels.
"Shadows ... on the dining hall wall, then..."
"When we were in there?" Della asked. "And you didn't tell us?"
Kylie ignored Della. "I heard a voice in my head say to go find my destiny. Why would I get that message if they weren't my grandparents?"
"Good question," Holiday said. "But maybe they just meant this situation is what will lead you to the truth."
"She should have told us," Della muttered to Miranda.
Kylie recalled Daniel showing up, the urgency she'd heard in his tone in what little he'd communicated. Had she totally misunderstood what he'd wanted to tell her? Had he come to warn her that the couple weren't his adoptive parents? Doubt built, and she didn't know what she believed anymore.
Kylie breathed in, and another concern dove right into her worry bank. "Is the P.I. going to be okay?"
"I don't know." Holiday frowned. "Burnett said Derek was at the hospital with him now. Burnett is still investigating the crime scene."
Worry for Derek tightened Kylie's chest. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed his number.
When he didn't answer, she didn't know if it was because he couldn't or if he was back to not talking to her. Back to pushing her out of his life.
Men!
Why was it that boys said girls were so hard to understand, when she hadn't known a single guy who hadn't confused her to the point of screaming?
* * *
As everyone hung out talking, Kylie snuck away and went around back to sit beside her favorite tree. She opened the envelope and slowly went through the pictures, noting all the little things about Daniel. They way his blue eyes lit up when he smiled, the way his hair flipped up just a bit on the ends when he wore it long. She saw so much of herself in him, and her heart doubled over with grief at missing him.
When she came across the picture of her mom and him, Kylie found herself smiling at the way Daniel was looking at her mom, and the way her mom was looking at him. Love. Part of Kylie wanted to call her mom right then and tell her about the photo, but considering what Holiday and the others thought, she supposed it was best to keep quiet. But hopefully not for long.
"Hey."
Lucas's voice pulled her attention up, and she smiled. "Hi."
"Mind some company?" he asked.
"I'll share my tree with you." She scooted over.
He dropped down beside her and studied her face. His shoulder, so warm, came against hers, and she savored his closeness. "You look happy and sad, and confused." He brushed a few strands of her hair from her face.
"I feel confused," she said. "They were so nice and ... I don't know what to believe now. How could they have these pictures if they aren't really the Brightens?"
"They could have stolen them," he said.
His words hurt, but she knew he could be right. But why would anyone go that far to convince her they were Daniel's parents? What could they possibly gain by doing that?
He looked down at the pictures she held in her hand. "Can I see?"