"From what?"
He glanced at the two contractors, frozen, not breathing, the same as Della and Miranda. "They want you dead."
Did he mean the two guys? "Who wants me dead?"
"The others. My grandfather and his friends. The others like us."
"Like us how? And why would they want me dead?"
"They are impatient and afraid of what you might be able to accomplish if you don't join us. But I will hold them off until you come around. But you must change your mind, soon."
He pointed to the taller of the guys on the floor, still frozen, as if they were working on the vents in the floor. "This guy, he was sent here to kill you. I had a wizard friend of mine peek into the future, and learned that your other friends would have gotten here in time to save you. But"-he pointed to the table-"the little witch wouldn't have made it. And for some crazy reason, I felt compelled to stop that from happening. I knew how much it would hurt you if she died." His brows creased as if he were confused. "It was an odd feeling, wanting to save her, caring if she died, because it's not like me to care. But ... because of you, I did. I cared."
The words Someone lives and someone dies whispered in Kylie's head again.
"No!" This couldn't be happening. It just couldn't.
Then the sound of footsteps hitting the front porch vibrated the floor beneath her.
"Until later." He disappeared.
The door swung open and hit the back of the wall with a loud whack. Burnett, Lucas, Perry, and Derek rushed in.
"What the hell?" Della leapt out of her chair. Miranda dropped her juice and it splattered to the floor. Kylie's heart sighed when she saw they were okay. And yet ... somewhere deep down, she'd believed him when he'd said they would be.
But did that mean she also believed him about everything else? Was she like him? She looked at Miranda and considered the possibility that she might have died had the rogue not intervened.
"You two!" Burnett said, pointing to the two men on the floor. "Come with me."
They stood up slowly. Then the taller one, the one the rogue had pointed to, leapt at the closed window. Glass shattered, wood splintered, and then he was outside. Burnett and Lucas went after him.
Chapter Thirty-five
"It doesn't make sense," Burnett growled an hour later as he paced back and forth in Holiday's office. Kylie agreed. Nothing made sense anymore.
They had caught the guy who'd been hired to kill her. But his information offered zero help in finding the person who'd hired him. They were no closer to finding the real culprit now than they'd been before.
Kylie, however, felt closer than ever to finding answers. No, she didn't know what she was, but at least she knew there were others like her. Question was, were they all evil? Was she the only one who'd been born at midnight?
"If he had wanted to take you, why didn't he?" Burnett stopped pacing in front of Holiday and Kylie on the sofa.
"He didn't say ... exactly," Kylie said. "He said he would eventually convince them that I wasn't a danger to them. As if he thought he could change my mind about going with him."
"That's stupid," Burnett said.
Kylie decided to ask the question that had been bugging her for a while now. "How did he freeze Miranda and Della and the other two?"
Holiday answered, "There are some wizards and very strong witches and warlocks who can stop time."
"Do you think that's what he is? What I am?"
Holiday shrugged. "I've never heard of a witch or a wizard being able to change their brain patterns."
"Because it's impossible," Burnett snapped.
"Not really." Kylie pointed to herself.
Burnett closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "This whole thing is friggin' unbelievable."
Holiday stood up. "Which is why you can't report this to the FRU."
Burnett looked at her as if she'd lost her mind. "They have to be told."
"Why? They know someone is trying to kill her. We tell them about that, not about the changing brain patterns."
"Why would we keep it from them?"
Holiday crossed her arms. "Because it will give them more of a reason to take Kylie and use her as some kind of lab rat."
Kylie's gaze shot from Holiday to Burnett. "Did they ever say if they would allow Dr. Pearson to do the tests?"
Burnett's grimace deepened. "They said regular hospitals don't have the necessary equipment."
"Which is exactly what I thought," Holiday blasted. "We have no idea if those tests are safe."
"They said they were." But Burnett's tone had lost its force, and Kylie wondered if he believed it anymore.
"They killed the spirit I'm helping," Kylie said.
"You don't know that for sure."
"Yes, I do. And if you need proof, dig up the grave. Her body is in there."
Burnett swore. "The FRU is not the enemy, Kylie. I admit they've made mistakes in the past, but that was then."
"Right," Holiday said, her tone still sharp. "But they'll sacrifice one if they think it will benefit the whole." She pointed at Kylie. "One of my teens will not be that sacrifice. And if you can't accept that, then walk out of here right now. Because we can't work together."
His gaze shot to Kylie, then back to Holiday. "Do you realize what you're asking me to do? To betray my oath and keep information from the FRU?"
"It's your choice," Holiday said.
Burnett closed his eyes, shook his head, and walked out of the office. Kylie didn't know if that was his answer, but from the sheer pain on Holiday's face, she certainly believed it.
* * *
When Kylie left Holiday's office after their meeting, Lucas was waiting. He'd gotten himself assigned shadow duty. He took her down to the stream and they stretched out on the warm grass and tried to find shapes in the clouds. Between finding everything from George Washington to dinosaurs in the sky, Kylie told him about Burnett and Holiday's argument.
"Burnett wants to tell the FRU, and Holiday thinks that will give them more reason to take me in for tests."
Propping up on his elbow, he stared down at her. "How do you feel about being tested?"
"I don't know. Part of me wants to do it if they really think it would give me answers, but Holiday's adamant that it could be dangerous. And I've always trusted her." And then there was what happened to the ghost.
"More than you trust Burnett?" Lucas asked.
"Maybe a little." Kylie looked into his blue eyes. "Do you think I'm wrong?"