Kylie hated to let both her friends down, but right now she couldn't worry about their problems, not when it might even be one of their lives on the line. "I'm not going to be asking for favors. I just need to see if they can help the ghost communicate better with me. I've got to figure this out."
Miranda hurried her steps, still struggling to keep up. "Do you really believe it could be one of us that the ghost is trying to warn you about?"
"I don't know." The words the ghost had said replayed in Kylie's head.
"You have to do something. Soon. You have to do something. They killed me. Killed me and they will kill her, too." That's when Kylie realized that for the first time, the ghost had referred to the person with a pronoun. She said her. Hope that more answers would soon be revealed began to build in her chest as she continued toward the falls.
"Okay, this place is totally freaking me out," Della spouted the moment they stepped through the clearing and got their first glimpse of the falls.
"I agree." Miranda took a step back. "I don't think we should be here. I feel it."
Kylie kept moving, her gaze moving left and right, trying to soak it all in. It was ... beautiful. No, more than beautiful. It looked picturesque.
It looked photoshopped, as if someone had spent hours adding details.
All those tiny details added up and created an ambience. The emotional essence of this place seemed as alive as the trees. As Kylie took in the fragrant air, it took her a minute to define what she felt. But she finally got it. The place breathed reverence-like an old temple or church.
Maybe it was the way the sun streamed through the trees as if spotlights from heaven. Maybe it was how the cascade of water tossed out tiny droplets of water that danced in the air and turned silver in the rays of light. Or how the verdant plant life glistened with all the pinpoints of dew. Or perhaps it was the noise. The rush of water filled her ears until she felt the same vibration in her blood. Or it could be the way the moist air tickled her throat and filled her chest with warm emotion. Not bad emotion. Acceptance.
"Okay, we said we'd come here with you. We did. Now let's go."
Miranda took a step back.
"Not yet," Kylie said, unable to move her eyes from the rush of water falling from fifty feet above. Then, without thinking, as if she were being lured, she stepped into the creek bed. Just walked in, didn't even stop and think about removing her shoes, or rolling up her jeans.
"Whoa. I'm not following you," Della called out. "Really, we need to get back for breakfast. Let's leave, okay?"
"Just wait on me. A few minutes." Kylie didn't look back. Her shoes and jeans soaked up the shin-deep water like a sponge. She took another step and then another.
"Are you sure you should go in there?" Miranda's voice tightened with concern. "Come on, Kylie. Let's go, okay?"
"If you go in there, you might not be able to come out," Della warned. Kylie didn't answer, not when she could swear she saw someone or something move behind the spray of glistening water. The figure shifted again. Someone was definitely there. She just hoped that it was someone with answers. And not someone ready to make her spontaneously catch fire for any past sins. But just to be sure, as she took her next step, she sent up a prayer for forgiveness for anything bad she'd done.
The tiny droplets of moisture sprayed on her face as she drew closer. She took the final step. The gush of water splattered on her head and shoulders.
Walking through the falls into the cavern-like darkness, she wiped a hand over her face, waiting for her eyes to adjust. Her skin pickled with goose bumps, not the kind of goose bumps that came from ghosts; no, they were the kind that came from fear. She stood completely still and hoped with the return of her vision came a bit more courage.
The sound of the falls echoed and closed off any noise from the outside world. When she blinked, the darkness suddenly didn't seem so blinding. She realized that the mouth of the falls was really a cave. Just when her eyes seemed to distinguish shapes, she saw someone dip behind a rock wall.
"Hello?" Her voice seemed lost in the rush of the water. When no one answered, Kylie continued, "I know someone is here."
"Then I guess I'll just come out," a voice boomed from behind the rock. It took Kylie a few minutes to recognize the voice, and she did recognize it, but she still couldn't believe it when she saw him step forward.
Chapter Ten
"What are you doing here?" Kylie asked.
His tall masculine figure kept moving toward her and Kylie actually took a step back. She wasn't so much frightened as she was surprised. And perhaps still awestruck at everything she felt. The whole reverent ambience felt even stronger in here.
"Probably the same thing you're doing here," Burnett answered.
"Curiosity."
It wasn't her reason. She'd come for help, but she didn't correct him-and not because she didn't trust him. She met his gaze. If she were being completely honest with herself, she knew she hadn't gotten over being intimidated by him, but she'd grown to respect him as had most everyone else in the camp. She respected him enough that she wished Holiday would reconsider her no-vamp rule where men were concerned.
The two of them would make a great couple. His dark side to her light. His seriousness to her teasing manner.
She felt him watching her and knew he was expecting an answer.
But she had her own questions. She took a deep breath. "Curious about what?" she asked.
"The whole ghosts thing. The legend." He tucked his hands into his jean pockets and looked around.
"That's strange," Kylie said.
"What's strange?" He turned and looked back at the cave as if checking his surroundings for safety. Oddly enough, Kylie wasn't worried about her own. The warm, good feeling filling her chest convinced her not to worry. She was safe here.
"Your being curious about ghosts. I thought ... I mean ... most supernaturals prefer to sort of stay in the dark about it all."
"Yeah, but Holiday's so fixated on them, I just thought..." His words faltered. "That maybe understanding ghosts would help you understand her?"
Kylie asked, somehow certain that she'd read him right. Again, she got a feeling that Burnett really cared about Holiday.
He nodded as if admitting it out loud might ding his macho ego. "Personally, I think she talks about it so much just to scare me."
"Probably hoping to scare you off." Kylie bit her lip when she realized she'd said that aloud.
He looked at her. "That, too." He paused a few seconds and then asked, "You wouldn't be willing to enlighten me on any of the reasons why she'd be doing that, would you?" Apparently he'd decided his macho ego could be damned.