Before Kylie spoke, she saw in her grandfather's expression that he already knew her decision. And she saw the pain she was causing him. She felt it, too. His pain.
"You won't lose me. Where I live won't change anything. I'll always be your granddaughter. But I think Burnett has made some good points. I need to go back." It was, she thought, the only choice she could make.
Shadow Falls was her home, but that was only half the reason for her decision. Deep down she knew that Burnett was right. As gifted as her grandfather and his compound of chameleons were, they had spent the majority of their lives avoiding confrontation, not preparing for it. They were no match for Mario and his murdering kind.
Problem was, Kylie wasn't sure Shadow Falls could take on Mario, either. And if they did, how many more like Helen would be hurt, or worse, killed? It wasn't as if it hadn't happened before.
As she matched Burnett's steps to the front gate, they remained quiet. Night was encroaching on them. Part of the western sky, with shades of pink, hinted at the sun's departure. When they arrived at the gate, he looked at her. "I'll call your grandfather to set up a time to pick you up tomorrow."
Kylie nodded; she had insisted she have time to say good-bye to her grandfather. But now her heart didn't want to see Burnett leave. They hadn't really gotten to talk. That last fifteen minutes had been her grandfather asking how Burnett had found them. Burnett explained that it had been through the real estate office. When her grandfather had sold his house, Burnett was able to find out who had handled the sale, and through sales records he'd discovered another property her grandfather had owned.
Now with good-bye on her lips, she wasn't ready. "Promise me that Helen's really okay."
"It is as I told you. She will heal."
"And things with Della's mission are going okay? She's not in any danger?"
"My last communication with her confirmed everything is well."
Kylie nodded. "And Holiday's okay?"
"She's worried. But she's always worried about you guys. It's her natural state of being."
"But things between you two are ... good?"
He smiled. "Yes. Very good."
Burnett's smiles were few, so she could guess how good it was.
"And Miranda?" Kylie asked.
"Lonely," he said. "With both her roommates gone, she's feeling rather out of sorts. She, as well as many others, will be happy to hear you are returning.""Right. With no one there with evolving patterns to check out, I guess it's pretty boring."
Burnett shrugged. "I think you would be amazed how many people have inquired about you. You aren't nearly as unaccepted as you perceive, Kylie."
"I miss everyone, too," she admitted. "Can I hug you good-bye?"
He arched a brow in disapproval, and Kylie immediately knew why. Burnett wasn't one to completely let someone off the hook.
"I didn't think I warranted a good-bye hug," he said, reminding Kylie that she hadn't said good-bye to him when leaving the camp.
"I was wrong," she said, accepting she deserved this comeuppance. "I just knew that you would argue with me. It would have made leaving even harder."
"I would have argued. I would have insisted it was wrong," he said. "And I would have been right."
"Maybe not all right. I have learned some things. Plus, he's my grandfather and she's my great-aunt. My time here hasn't been a complete mistake."
"I understand your need to learn about yourself and I agree, there is a time to reunite with family, but not when your life is in danger."
Kylie looked at him. "So one's welfare is more important than ... family. Like Holiday's your family?"
She knew she had him.
He didn't even try to bullshit his way through that one. "I concede."
"Wow, this is a rarity." She smiled.
"Well, enjoy it," Burnett said. "Then again, you knew my one weakness and used it against me."
"Loving someone isn't a weakness," Kylie said. And then concern chased the levity of the moment away. "How certain are you that Mario did this to Helen?"
"Enough that I'm here," he said. "And enough that I will have guards monitoring this place tonight.
Mario has seen your power, Kylie. You threaten his existence."
And yet, she felt powerless against him. She looked past the front gate and saw two figures. Two figures she recognized as Lucas and Derek. They stood a good fifty feet apart as if they weren't even together. Or as if ... they were stationed to ... Were they going to serve as guards? The idea that Lucas might be the one watching out for her, when he'd been the one to hurt her so deeply, sent another wave of pain to her chest.
"Not Lucas," she muttered.
"Not Lucas what?" Burnett asked.
Kylie felt a little childish for feeling the way she did, and even more for voicing it, but she didn't want to have to think about him being this close tonight. She'd have to deal with him being close tomorrow when she returned to Shadow Falls, but not tonight. "I don't want Lucas guarding me."
Burnett opened his mouth to say something, then shut it as if he thought better of it. Then, with a frown, he nodded.
Kylie ignored the look of disapproval and went in to collect her hug.
Burnett's embrace, even cold because of his vampire core body temperature, sent a warm feeling right to her chest. Knowing that tomorrow she would go home made letting go easier, but knowing that she would be forced to be in Lucas's presence made thoughts of her homecoming bittersweet.
* * *Kylie started back to the house, but as she drew closer she grew leery of the conversation that would no doubt take place inside. Needing a few minutes to come up with a way to help her grandfather and aunt understand, she passed the house and started toward the gazebo. The sky glowed a hot pink and the setting sun bathed the scene before her in a golden hue. As she moved between the live oak trees, her gaze caught on the Spanish moss swaying ever so gently in the breeze.
She wondered if her grandfather would feel compelled to move now that Burnett had explained how easy it had been to find him. She hoped not. As discontent as she'd felt here this week, the beauty of the property hadn't gone unnoticed. The echoes of nature seemed to announce the coming of nightfall-a bird, a few crickets.
Then the pre-night seemed to hold its breath and the peacefulness of the moment shattered at the sound of a snapping twig. Kylie's heart skipped a beat as her gaze shifted toward the line of trees. Why the slight noise felt intrusive, she didn't know. It could have been just an innocent creature making its way back home before dark.
Yet it didn't sound innocent.
Suddenly a shadow appeared and then disappeared between the trees. Kylie couldn't explain it, but instead of running from the figure, she felt compelled to go to it.
Starting for the trees, she saw the figure again, a feminine silhouette, darting in and out of the shadows.
For a flash of a second, Kylie thought she recognized her.
Kylie came to an abrupt stop.
How could that be? How could she be here? What was she doing here?
She'd followed him. She had to have followed Lucas. Why else would his fiancee be here?
Unsure if she wanted to confront this girl, she turned to leave. She got only a few steps before she heard someone's feet hitting the soft earth even with Kylie's own steps.
"What do you want?" Kylie bit out, without looking at the person who now moved beside her.
"To talk," the person answered, but the voice wasn't right. It wasn't the light flowery tone she'd heard promise her soul to the person Kylie loved. It wasn't Monique.
Kylie stopped and looked at Jenny, the seventeen-year-old chameleon from the compound. She had dark hair, and was the right height. Had Kylie mistaken her for...?
"Was that you?"
"Was what me?" Jenny asked.
Kylie looked again at Jenny's features, a straight nose, square chin, and light grayish green eyes, and remembered the vague feeling that she looked familiar. Not like she knew her, but just that she looked like someone she knew. "You ... were in the woods?"
"I ... guess. I was coming from our house."
Kylie envisioned a quick glimpse of the person she thought was Monique. It hadn't been Jenny-or had it? "Did you see anyone else?"
"No. Why? Was there someone else out there?"
Kylie looked back at the woods. "Probably not," she said, but she wasn't completely convinced. Being werewolf, Monique could be very quiet if she willed it. Or very fast getting away. Kylie returned to walking, her mind racing faster than her pace.
"So ... do you mind?" Jenny asked.Lost in her thoughts, Kylie glanced up. "Mind what?"
"If we talk," Jenny said, and she gripped her hands together as if worried about something.
"I..." Kylie looked back up at the house. "I need to speak with my grandfather and aunt now, but why don't you stop by in a bit." Kylie noted again Jenny's worried expression and she found it odd that she was even asking to speak with her. Jenny hadn't been rude to Kylie during her time here, but she hadn't been friendly, either. "Is something wrong?"
"The rumor is that you're leaving. Are you?"
Kylie nodded. "Yes. Why?"
Jenny nipped at her bottom lip as if nervous. "When?"
"Tomorrow," Kylie answered.
Voices came from her grandfather's house. Kylie looked toward the door.
"I ... gotta go." Jenny darted off in a hurry. Kylie turned back to the house and noticed that on her grandfather's porch stood the four other elders, as if they'd just stepped out to leave.
Kylie looked back and tried again to convince herself it was Jenny and not Monique she'd seen. But she wasn't completely buying it.
As she headed to the house, the elders passed her. All nodded a quick hello and kept walking, but just in passing Kylie felt the tension radiating from them. Somehow Kylie sensed that they had been at her grandfather's discussing her. While she'd been relieved that her grandfather had made at least some level of peace with Burnett, it didn't mean the other elders had. And that, Kylie realized, could mean trouble. If not for her, for her grandfather.
Kylie hesitated as she stepped into the house. Having been here thirteen days, she still felt as if she should knock. Not that her aunt or grandfather made her feel unwelcome, but she just didn't have the sense of belonging. Maybe because, deep down, she knew she didn't fit in here. She belonged at Shadow Falls.
She recalled Burnett saying that her coming here was a mistake. And even though it didn't feel right, she wasn't prepared to call it that.
Voices drifted from the dining room and she moved that way. As she entered the hallway, the voices stopped. Stopped too quickly, as if they knew she was there and didn't want her to hear them. She paused at the threshold. Her aunt and grandfather sat at the table looking at her. She wished she knew the right thing to say. Yet a part of her knew that no matter what she said, it was going to hurt them. Maybe Burnett was right. Coming here had been a mistake. If for no other reason than the pain she'd brought on her grandfather and aunt.
"I'm sorry if I've caused problems. I'm sorry that-"
"No worries, child. Sit down," her aunt said. "Do you want me to heat your pizza?"
"No, I'm not hungry." Kylie sat down and gazed at her grandfather. "Are the elders upset at what happened? Are they upset at me, or you?"
Her grandfather sighed. "Upset, yes, but not at a particular person. They do not like change, and lately there has been a lot of change."
And mostly because of me. Kylie bit down on her lip. "I know someone who told me that it's when things don't change that a person should start to worry.""I'm bettir grandfather nodded. "He convinced them that you tricked him into taking you off the grounds. They still don't know what he is, and it needs to remain that way."
Kylie nodded, but she couldn't help but be suspicious. Burnett wasn't that easily tricked.
"Actually, Hayden speaks highly of how things are run at the school."
"See," Kylie said. "It's really not a bad place."
That night, not knowing what time Burnett would come for her, Kylie packed her bags. Then she stretched out in the bed with the softest sheets and down comforter she'd ever felt, flipping through the pictures of her dad. You would think being with her grandfather would make Kylie miss her real father less, but no; it seemed to work just the opposite. Seeing this man who looked like an older version of her dad made her miss him more.
Finally, after spending too much time wishing things could have been different, she lay there and stared at the ceiling. She worried about how leaving her grandfather might hurt him. She worried about Della, and even a bit about Miranda feeling abandoned by both of them. She worried about her mom off in England, probably doing the dirty with a man who gave Kylie the creeps.
Oh, goodness, she had to push that image out of her head really fast, or she was going lose what little pizza she'd eaten.
She worried about how she was going to cope with Lucas.
But you aren't worried about me?
The cold hit so fast Kylie's breath caught when the frigid oxygen hit her lungs. She grabbed the comforter and pulled it all the way up to her chin."Should I worry about you?" Kylie asked, and looked over to where the ghost stood. Her hair hung loose and dangled almost to her waist. She wore the same white gown covered in blood.
And she looked ... dead. Deader than before.
Kylie didn't understand. If a ghost had an option to look dead, or not so dead, why didn't they choose not so dead every time?
No, don't worry about me. I'm already dead. See? She pulled her skirt tight and showed a dozen or so bloody slits in the white dress. It looked as if someone had taken a knife to her and hadn't known when to stop.
"That's terrible." Kylie looked away for a second and then back. "Who did that to you?"
The ghost didn't answer; she just kept looking at the holes in her dress. Actually, it's not so terrible.
And to be honest, the person you should worry about is you. Because if you don't start listening to me, you're going to end up dead. Just like me.
"Listen to what? Listen to you go on about my killing someone, you mean?" Kylie asked, frowning.
Yeah. She continued to stare at the holes in her dress. And don't make it sound like a terrible thing.
Taking a life is not the worst thing in the world.
"Okay, I'm curious, how many people have you killed?"
The spirit looked up as if considering the question. And it seemed to take her too damn long. As if she actually had to count. "You really did it, didn't you? You killed more than just one?"
I'm up to twenty-something, but I know I've missed a few. Some didn't seem to count very much.
"What were you? A hit man ... a hit woman?"
No, well, sort of, I guess. I didn't profit from my work. I just took care of someone else's problems.
And a few of my own. Blood suddenly appeared on her hands. She held them up and stared at them. Blood dripped from her fingertips. Some of it fell onto her already bloody dress and some dripped to the beige carpet. The smell, the coppery scent, filled the room and almost made Kylie gag. She supposed she should be happy that it didn't smell good to her right now.
"Are you trying to take me to hell with you? Is that what this is about? I've heard about some evil hellbound spirits doing that. But I'm not going there, and I refuse to help you kill someone, so just give it up.
You got that?" Kylie closed her eyes and tried to think positive thoughts the way Holiday had said could prevent a ghost from getting control of you-from taking you places you didn't want to go.
She felt the cold ebb away, but the spirit's words whispered in her head. I don't want you to go to hell. I want you to send someone else there.
"Go away! Go away! Go away!" Kylie muttered both aloud and in her head. "I'm not killing anyone for you. Nope. Nope. Not me."
The cold was gone, and Kylie took in a deep breath. But the cracking sound at her window had the breath seeping out in a squeal and made her jump at least three inches off the bed.
Kylie's gaze shot to the window but she didn't see anything.
Once the initial panic slaked off, her mind envisioned the blue jay-the one she'd pulled from death.
Had the thing followed her here?
Getting out of bed, she moved to the window, and with thoughts of hell-bound ghosts still too close to her mind, she cautiously pulled back the white lacy drapes. Out of nowhere, a distorted face appeared pressed to the glass pane.Kylie screamed.