Born at Midnight (Page 72)

Kylie walked back into her cabin, stopping to sniff the air for beast smel s. Nose stil up, she felt her foot being attacked by Socks. Scooping the little fel ow up in her hands, she brought him to her face.

Whenever Socks was running amok, Kylie figured the cabin was free of beasts and ghosts. Daniel had only dropped by a few times-each of which would send Socks scrambling under the sofa. Not that Socks had to stay hidden long; Daniel was back to short visits and he’d stopped talking.

"So the coast is clear, huh?" Kylie asked Socks.

"Except for a very happy witch," Miranda said, barreling out of her bedroom to give Kylie and Socks a hug.

"Let me guess," Kylie said. "Perry final y grew a pair and kissed you."

"No," Miranda said. "I’m beginning to wonder if he ever wil . But forget about him right now, because I final y did it. Wel , with your help, of course."

"You did what?" Kylie asked.

"I got rid of Mr. Pepper."

"Of who?"

"My piano teacher."

"Oh gawd, tel me you didn’t let Del a cook him."

"No. I figured out what I messed up with the curse, and reversed it. I used those books to help me figure out what I could have gotten backwards-

words, letters. It was like a puzzle, but I final y figured it out." She held her arms up in the air in victory. "I’m toad free."

Kylie laughed.

"And…" Miranda continued, "the best part is that Mr. Pepper checked himself into a mental hospital."

"Because he has a thing for young girls?"

"No, because he’s been dreaming he’s a toad, but … he confessed to the doctor that he was worried about his attraction to little girls." Miranda laughed. "I sort of dropped in on his first session. But what’s important is maybe he’l get some help."

"You did good," Kylie said.

"No. We did good. I wouldn’t have done it if not for you. And while I’m not sure I’l ever make High Priestess, I stil might be in the running. You’re my hero, Kylie Galen."

"And I’m not?" Del a asked, walking out of her bedroom.

"Sorry," Miranda said. "You’l have to try harder next week."

Kylie put Socks down so he could attack Del a. For some reason, the kitten loved her Donald Duck slippers. Kylie watched the kitten take swats at Donald’s bil and then reality wormed its way into her good mood. "We may not have next week. They real y may shut the camp down if they don’t find out who is terrorizing the wildlife park. We’ve got to stop pointing fingers and do something. I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t want to go home."

"Did something else happen?" Del a asked.

Kylie told them what she’d learned when she’d stopped by Holiday’s cabin. "They almost snagged the white tiger."

"How?" Del a asked. "I thought that vamp from the FRU was guarding the place."

"He is, but someone broke into the lion’s fences again, and while Burnett was investigating that, someone cut the fence to the tiger’s cage."

"Poor animals," Miranda said.

"Yeah," Kylie answered, remembering Derek saying the lion that had shown up in her cabin had been confused and scared. "Wait," Kylie said.

"Why didn’t I think of this before?"

"What?" Del a and Miranda asked at the same time.

"I think I know how to get to the bottom of this."

Chapter Thirty-nine

"It doesn’t work like that," Derek said ten minutes later, wearing his shirt completely unbuttoned. No doubt Kylie had banged on his cabin door after he was already undressed.

Kylie glanced at his chest and noticed that his scratches were healing. "What do you mean, it doesn’t work like that? I thought you could communicate with animals."

Derek closed the cabin door and moved her off the porch as if he was afraid one of his roommates might be listening.

"It’s not like I can ask them questions. I hear or, should say, sense their emotions. And not even al of them."

"You said the lion told you he didn’t like how you smel ed."

"He didn’t tel me. He thought it." Derek shook his head. "It won’t work, Kylie."

"But it has to." Her throat tightened. "They’re going to close down the camp, Derek. I’m just getting a grip on the whole non-human stuff, I can’t leave now."

He studied her face for a moment. "I know, but-"

"It’s not just about me, either. You’ve seen what’s been happening at the camp. Everyone is turning on each other. Everyone says the camp is what helps keep peace among al of us. If they think the various supernatural gangs are bad now, think of-"

He put a finger to her lips and she fought the desire to slip her hands inside the opened shirt and hug him. "I’m not disagreeing with you. But I just don’t think it wil work."

Right then she remembered. For Derek to be able to turn off his gift, he had to continue to shut them out. Yet he’d saved her from the lion. She hadn’t even considered his sacrifice until now. How could she have forgotten that?

"I’m sorry." She closed her eyes a second. "It’s because of your gift, because you have to stop using it. I forgot-"

"No," he said. "Okay, yeah, maybe a little."

"It’s okay, Derek," she said, seeing guilt in his eyes. She remembered that only a few weeks ago she would have eaten worms to send her gift packing. "It’s not fair of me to ask you to do this." She turned to leave.

He grabbed her by her arm. "Wait." His gaze met hers. "I was serious when I said it was only a little part of why I’m hesitating. To be honest, I’m this close to saying the hel with it and playing the Tarzan role."

She saw from his expression that he told the truth. "Hey," she said. "That Tarzan role saved my life. Don’t belittle it."

"I know, and that’s why I’m thinking about accepting it. But this is … over the top. It’s not like I can sit down and have a chat with the animals. It doesn’t work that way."

"How do you know?" Kylie asked. "Have you tried?"

"No, but … others have this gift. And if I could actual y do that, Holiday would have said something."

"Holiday has said a thousand times that everyone’s gift is different. Look, I know you said that so far al you hear are their thoughts, but somehow you communicated with that lion not to make hamburger meat out of us."

"Okay, if by some miracle I can actual y communicate with them, it stil won’t happen. That FRU James guy wouldn’t let me near the animals. He had me in the office again today. He thinks I’m involved. He even accused me of doing it to impress you."