He jumped out of the bed and frowned down at her. "I'm sorry."
She bit down on her lip to keep from telling him it was okay. To keep from asking him to get back in bed. Instead, she whispered, "I'm not sorry."
He gazed down at her. "You are so damn beautiful. And if I don't leave now..." He started out.
"Lucas?"
He turned around. "Yeah?"
"Thank you for the roses."
"You're welcome." He looked back at the door. "I should probably go before I run out of time."
"Out of time?" she asked.
He shrugged. "I told Della to kick my ass out if I stayed more than twenty minutes." He looked at his watch. "And knowing her-"
"Time's up!" Della pounded on the door with so much force, Kylie was amazed the door didn't break down.
Lucas grinned. "I knew I could count on her."
Kylie laughed.
Once he'd gone, she leaned back in bed, stared at the ceiling, and just breathed in the scent of roses, trying to remember every word he'd said. She wanted to remember this night forever.
* * *
Several days later, with her stomach gnawing on her backbone and Jonathon, her shadow of the day, in tow, Kylie set out to the dining room to get some breakfast.
Life had calmed down. A little, anyway. With the full moon behind them, Lucas was back to his normal, patient self. And he was being amazingly attentive, too. But if Kylie were honest, she sort of missed hearing his hum.
Not that she didn't enjoy his sweet side. He'd even brought her more roses last night. If Mrs. Parker didn't have reason enough to dislike her, Kylie figured the she-wolf's decimated rose garden would seal the deal.
Even Kylie's ghost was calmer. Jane Doe still made regular visits, but the ghost was back to giving Kylie the silent treatment. Which was fine for now.
Kylie ducked under a low-hanging branch on the trail and picked up speed.
"No! And I can't believe you'd even suggest it!"
Holiday's voice rang in Kylie's ear a good three hundred feet from the office. Kylie stopped and looked around to make sure the camp leader wasn't standing nearby.
She wasn't.
It must be the gifted hearing again. It had come and gone several times since her mom and Holiday's little discussion during Parents Day. Curious, Kylie looked at Jonathon to see if he'd heard it, too.
"What is it?" he asked.
"I thought I heard something. Did you hear it?"
"Hear what?" He started looking around. "That damn blue jay isn't back, is it? I'm telling you, it's a sick bird."
The bird had returned three more times. Jonathon had been present for two of them. "No. I thought I heard Holiday."
Jonathon tilted his head to the side as if putting his own sensitive hearing to the test. "I don't hear her."
So, was her hearing stronger than a vampire's? What did that mean? Especially when she still had the brain pattern of a human.
"It's not like I have a choice," Burnett said.
Great. They were fighting again. About what this time? Kylie wondered, and continued on to the dining hall. If she had to guess, Holiday was just finding another excuse to try to put some distance between her and Burnett. Since Kylie had walked in and found them kissing, she hadn't seen the two within fifty feet of each other.
"You have a choice," Holiday said. "You go back and tell them that I said hell, no."
"It's a couple of tests. They wouldn't take long and they could clear up everything."
"I said, no!"
"Now I'm hearing Holiday," Jonathon said. "She doesn't sound too happy."
"Don't you think this should be Kylie's decision?"
"What should be my decision?" Kylie muttered, and changed direction and started walking toward the office.
"No!" Holiday said.
"She wants answers. And this could give them to her."
Kylie moved faster. What answers? It didn't matter, she realized. She'd take any answers she could get.
"I won't allow it!"
"Won't allow what?" Kylie stormed into the office, leaving Jonathon behind.
Holiday and Burnett swung around. Holiday pointed to the door. "Get out!" she told Burnett.
"No!" Kylie stepped in front of him. "He stays. This is about me, and I need to know."
Holiday looked at Burnett with anger, then she looked at Kylie. "You wouldn't understand this."
"Why don't you try me?" She looked at Burnett. "Start talking."
He cut his gaze to Holiday.
"The FRU wants to run some tests on you," Holiday said. "To see if they can figure out what you are."
Hope rose in Kylie's chest. "I thought there weren't any tests that could tell me this?" She remembered asking Holiday that question before.
"There aren't!" Holiday said. "They just want to play around in your brain to-"
"I'll do it," Kylie said.
"No!" Holiday looked horrified. "I refuse to let them use you as some kind of lab rat. There are no guarantees that these tests are safe, and they may not even work."
Kylie looked at Burnett. "Are they safe?"
Burnett stared at Holiday, his eyes getting a pissed-off amber color. "I wouldn't let them do anything to her that's not safe," he growled. "Do you have that little faith in me?"
"I have that little faith in the FRU. History repeats itself."
"What kind of tests would they be?" Kylie asked.
"Just some CT scans," Burnett said.
"No!" Holiday turned back to Kylie. "They'll use you as a guinea pig."
"They're not going to hurt her," Burnett said.
"I know, because she's not agreeing to it."
The cold came into the room so fast that Kylie's breath sent tiny flakes of ice falling from her lips. Jane materialized, and at the same time, the three light bulbs in the fixture overhead burst. Shards of glass rained through the air.
"What the hell?" Burnett looked up and took a step closer to Kylie.
Holiday's crystals hanging throughout the room started swaying, sending rainbow colors spiraling around them.
The laptop computer on Holiday's desk started beeping, making serious malfunctioning noises.