"I'm not coming back," Della said, and walked toward the car.
Burnett shot Kylie a worried look and she shook her head, indicating that she was fine. When they stepped out of the cemetery property and the spirits didn't follow, Kylie sighed with relief. She'd never appreciated the blast of Texas heat that swamped her as much as she did right now.
She glanced behind her at the cemetery. The spirits were still there, staring at her wordlessly. She wondered if her promise had been enough to convince them to stay behind, rather than follow her. Or if it had more to do with whatever message Ima had been whispering to them. Kylie felt a shiver move down her spine. She ignored it and walked with Burnett and Della to the car.
The drive back to Shadow Falls was short. They didn't speak. After Burnett parked, Kylie and Della crawled out of his black Mustang. Kylie locked her gaze with Burnett and asked if she could be relieved from camp activities for the rest of the day.
He hesitated and she was frightened he was going to say no, but then he frowned and asked, "Would Holiday say yes?"
Kylie nodded. "Yes," she answered with honesty. Helping ghosts was part of her job as a supernatural. Holiday would understand that, and the toll it took on her. The camp leader was probably the only one who would understand.
Burnett still paused. "Are you okay? Do you need to talk or anything?"
"No," Kylie said.
The relief showing in his face was almost comical. Obviously the idea of having to offer advice or commiserate about spirits didn't appeal to him. Kylie might have teased him about it if she weren't so wrapped up in what she'd learned. "I just want to do some stuff on my computer and check some of the facts I learned."
"Okay," he said, and motioned Della to follow her.
"Please don't ever ask me to go back there again," Della said as they walked away. "That was super weird."
"I'm sorry," Kylie said.
"Did you learn what you needed to know?"
"Not really."
"Didn't they answer your questions? I heard you talking to them."
"It's not that easy."
For a second, Della looked ready to ask more questions; then she lapsed into silence.
Good thing, too. Kylie wasn't feeling up to explaining how communicating with the dead worked. Right now, she needed to focus on what she'd learned from her trip. She hadn't even begun to mull everything over and decide what she believed and didn't believe.
Was Jane, or was she not, a child murderer and all-around evil person? Anxious to prove Catherine O'Connell wrong, Kylie hurried her steps.
She cut through the first bend in the path, where the trees hung over, creating shade. She breathed in the scents of summer, the greenness of the forest, the heady aroma of dry earth. She had almost managed to calm her chaotic mind when the blue bird swooped down and landed right in her path. The blue jay cocked its head and chirped cheerfully as if performing just for her.
"Shoo!" Della said. But the bird, intent on watching Kylie, ignored Della.
"Shit!" Della belted out. "Is that the evil shifter?" When she started to bolt forward-to do God only knew what to the bird-Kylie caught her by her arm.
"Stop. It's just a bird."
Della's eyes widened. "Is that the same bird you ... brought back to life?"
"I don't know," Kylie said, but she knew it was a lie.
Della waved her arms, trying to scare the bird away. "This is freaky." The bird continued to sing.
"Get out of here before I break your neck!" Della bellowed.
"Just leave it alone." Truth was, the bird scared the crap out of Kylie, too, but it didn't deserve to die. Or to die again.
Besides, Kylie wasn't up to giving it another piece of her soul by bringing it back to life.
The bird finally finished its song, then flapped its wings and rose to hover in front of Kylie's face. A spray of sunshine came through the trees and made the creature's royal blue feathers glow. Then, letting out one more bit of song, it flew away. Kylie took off in a run and didn't slow down until she got to her cabin. Della followed at the same pace. Maybe after Kylie researched Berta Littlemon, she'd research blue jay stalking. Though she doubted Google would have anything on that.
* * *
"So you actually spoke to the spirits?" Jonathon asked. The vamp had taken over shadow duty for Della right after they'd arrived back at the cabin. Of course, first Della had given him the blow-by-blow account of what had happened at the cemetery. Kylie looked back at Jonathon, reclining on her sofa.
"Can I do this computer stuff right now, instead of chatting about the ghosts?" She'd been proud of herself. Instead of giving in to the desire to go straight to bed, pull the covers over her head, and have a good long cry, she'd booted up her computer.
Her screen brought up Google, and she typed in the name "Berta Littlemon." As the computer chewed on that information, Kylie looked back at Jonathon again. "I just need to get this done."
"Whatever." His tone told her he thought she was rude.
And maybe she was, but with a possible child-murdering ghost on her hands and a blue jay stalking her, she didn't have time to be polite. "Sorry," she still muttered.
Kylie read the list of Web sites that Google spilled onto her screen: Famous female murderers in Texas, Mamas who murder, Mean women in the past. Kylie's heart started to ache. She clicked on the first Web site and prepared herself to be disgusted.
She wasn't disappointed. The only thing she didn't find was a decent picture of Berta Littlemon that was clear enough to identify her.
"Some shadow you are, vampire."
Kylie swung around and found Lucas standing in the doorway, staring at Jonathon sleeping on the sofa.
Jonathon didn't move. He didn't even open his eyes when he spoke. "I heard you a block away. Smelled your wolf ass two blocks away."
Lucas growled.
Kylie rolled her eyes. Ah, the love between vamps and weres was never lost. For a crazy moment, she recalled Lucas's desire that she turn out to be a were. And she wondered what would happen if and when he discovered he was wrong. What would happen if she discovered she was vampire? Would Lucas still care about her? She so wanted to believe that it wouldn't matter to him, that he was above that type of prejudice.
But the truth was, she knew it probably would matter.
And that scared her more than stalking blue jays and amnesiac ghosts who possibly killed their own babies.
Lucas shifted his focus from Jonathon to her. "Are you okay?"
Kylie took a deep breath. She'd felt that hiding her weakness from Burnett had been a necessity. Nor had she felt comfortable sharing anything with Della or Jonathon, but one look at Lucas's caring blue eyes and she felt her throat tighten with the need for a little TLC.