Chosen at Nightfall (Shadow Falls 5)

Hugging the teddy tighter, she continued, "Can't you understand that I promised my grandfather not to expose Hayden? I wouldn't have kept that promise if I thought he was bad or trying to cause any harm.

He's not a bad person. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have found you that night Collin Warren kidnapped you. And if I hadn't found you when I did, I probably wouldn't have ... been able to save you. He helped save your life."

Holiday frowned. "I'm not saying he's a bad person, Kylie. And it's not that I don't understand why you would feel compelled to keep your promise, but Burnett is right to protect you. We need to know what's going on."

"Well, now you know everything. I mean, if Burnett told you."

"He did," Holiday said.

Kylie bit down on her lip and then pushed the teddy bear aside. "Have Burnett and Hayden spoken again? Did he tell you that they were at each other's throats last night? Burnett said he was going to consider whether he was going to let him stay on. Consider! And then Hayden said he would then consider if he wanted to stay on." She let go of a deep gulp of air. "Burnett acted like a jerk."

Holiday frowned. "When it comes to protecting people he cares about, Burnett always comes off a little strong."

"A little? Really?" Kylie rolled her eyes. "You can say that with a straight face?"

A slight smiled pulled at the camp leader's lips. "Okay, maybe a lot, but most of the time, he's right."

She pulled her red hair around to one side and started twisting it.

"But he's not right about this. And here's the thing. I'd kind of like it if Burnett didn't run Hayden off. I know he lied to get hired, but it would mean so much to have ... to have someone around who understands what it means to be a chameleon. I mean, you're great. You've been there for me from the beginning, and so has Burnett, but it's like you've told me many times, you don't know anything about chameleons."

Holiday nodded. "I know it would be good to have Hayden here, and I told that to Burnett, too. And I promise you, he's taking that into consideration."

"You're going to let him decide?" Kylie asked, not liking that. "What happened to you being the head honcho around here?"

"Now that we're really together, we've decided that Burnett gets the final say on anything that impacts the security of Shadow Falls."

"Oh, hell! You know he can be so damn unreasonable at times. You just admitted that yourself," Kylie said. Had loving Burnett messed with Holiday's head? Kylie had heard that love turned you stupid; nowshe knew it for sure.

"True, he can be unreasonable. Yet I can be too easy," Holiday admitted. "And on the security and safety of our students, I'd rather err on the side of caution. But don't worry. I really think Burnett feels that having Hayden around would be good. Not just for you, but to help us figure out precautions against ...

future attacks."

Kylie pulled her knees up and hugged them. She knew by "future attacks," Holiday meant Mario. While Helen still couldn't recall anything of her attack, Kylie knew in her heart it had been Mario. A wave of doom and gloom bit down on her gut and some of last night's events flashed in her head. She looked up.

"I don't think I can handle Mario hurting someone else." She gripped her hands. "First Helen, and then I nearly got Derek killed last night. And Mario almost had me doing the killing where Lucas was concerned."

"I know," Holiday interrupted, as if she knew just repeating it would be hard for Kylie. "That has to be hard to take. But it just emphasizes what Burnett says about you being careful. He's done tons of work to the security system since you've been gone and he really thinks it's infallible."

That should have made Kylie feel safe, and it did, but ... "So I'm a prisoner here," she said, thinking if things didn't change it would get as bad as living on her grandfather's compound.

"No, not by a long shot," Holiday insisted. "I knew you would feel that way, and Burnett and I have already discussed it. You are not prohibited from leaving, but until things calm down, Burnett wants to be with you when you go anywhere. I don't know if he told you, but Mario was spotted in Fallen. So Burnett's adamant about being with you if you leave. Do you think you can handle that? He just wants to make sure you're safe, Kylie. You're special to him."

Kylie nodded. "I know, and I love him, too." She recalled her conversation with her mom. "But what about parents' weekend in a few weeks? My mom is already making plans. She wants John and me to ...

bond." Kylie's mind created an image of being forced to be polite to her mom's boyfriend for a whole freaking weekend. Good lord, the last time she saw the man, she'd completely lost it and was slinging insults at him left and right. It was like she couldn't stop herself. He brought out the bitch in her big time.

Holiday dropped on the edge of the bed. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." But Kylie saw the concern flicker in her eyes.

Kylie hugged her knees tighter. "To be honest, I wouldn't mind not being able to make that weekend. So if you can find a way to call that off, I won't fight you on it. You've got my word."

Holiday sighed with sympathy. "Now ... what's this about a spirit carrying around a head?"

Kylie rolled her eyes. "You mean your ghosts don't do that?" she asked with sarcasm.

Holiday chuckled, even though Kylie hadn't really meant it to be funny. "I had one toting around his own arm and leg for a while. He'd lost it in an accident and wouldn't put it down. It was pretty gross."

"Lucky us," Kylie said, but then she thought about the spirits at the graveyard, and felt bad for being so cynical. Most of them were simply lost souls looking for a little help.

Holiday reached over and pressed a hand on her arm. "Lucky them to have us," she said as if she'd read Kylie's mind, or at least her emotions. "But not all of them deserve our help. I've told you this before, you can send them away. You have every right to say no to some of them."

"I know, and I tried, but I guess I didn't do it right. Or maybe I didn't try hard enough."

"From what Burnett told me, I think sending this spirit away is a wise thing. What's this about herwanting you to kill someone? Has she told you who it is?"

"No. She's short on facts like all ghosts. I'm not even sure if she knows the answers."

"Does she feel evil?"

Kylie thought about it a minute. "Yes and no. I mean, she's not an angel. She admitted she's killed a lot of people. Most of the times when I see her she has blood on her hands, but it almost seems like she feels guilt for it. Or at least sometimes she does," Kylie said, remembering how callously she'd carried around the severed head. "But I don't think she's out to hurt me. I even asked her if she was trying to take me to hell."