Taken at Dusk (Shadow Falls #3)

Dressed and still fighting the feeling that something wasn't right, Kylie stepped out of her room an hour later. Either Miranda and Della had already left, or they were still asleep. Either way, Kylie was happy not to have to face them. First, she hoped to find Helen, the half-fae who also had the gift of healing. Kylie wasn't sure if the "someone will live and someone will die" message meant she could prevent a death, but she had to try. Then she planned to talk with Burnett and tell him what she knew about Holiday. Not that Kylie was doing it behind the camp leader's back.

Before they'd hung up, she had asked if she could share their conversation with Burnett. When Holiday had wavered, Kylie asked her how she'd feel if Burnett disappeared on "an emergency" and didn't explain himself.

"Fine," Holiday said.

Although she hadn't sounded happy about it.

A few minutes later, Kylie started out of the cabin, tripped, and landed half on and half off the huge black Lab that was curled up on the welcome rug in front of the door.

"What the heck?" Stunned, she scrambled to get up and, in the process, stepped on the canine's tail. The dog yelped as if in pain, and guilt filled Kylie's lungs. "Sorry."

Was the animal hurt? Once an injured dog had shown up at her doorstep when she'd been a kid. Her mom had her dad take it to the vet and they'd ended up having to put it down.

Kylie had cried and blamed her mom for killing the dog. With the emotional footprints of that memory tugging at her heartstrings, Kylie crouched down.

"Sorry," she told the dog again, and let it sniff her hand before she gave it a gentle pat. "Are you hurt? You get hit by a car or something?"

"No. You stepped on my tail, and of course it hurt," the dog said.

Kylie, still down on her haunches, fell back on her butt and glared at the talking canine.

"What?" the dog asked.

"Don't do that!"

"Do what?"

"Talk!"

Okay, the sparkles now popping all over the place and the changing eye color told her it was Perry, but seeing a dog talk still freaked her out.

She jumped to her feet and continued to scowl at the animal. Basically, she needed a kick-dog to target her frustration, and she'd just found one. A black Lab that at this moment was changing forms.

She waited until Perry was transformed. "Why the hell is your canine butt sleeping on my porch?"

"I was afraid Miranda would come out, and if she knew it was me, she'd wiggle her little pinky at me and give me zits or something."

"Okay." She tightened her gaze. "But that doesn't explain what you're doing on my porch."

"Duh, I was waiting for you," he said matter-of-factly. "I'm your shadow for the day."

"Oh, crap. I forgot about ... that." She took a deep breath and tried to resign herself to having a tag-along following her around like a ... lost puppy.

He studied her with his gold eyes. "You're mad at me, aren't you."

"No," she said, biting back her frustration. "You're right. Miranda would have zapped you with zits or something. But you just blow my mind when you're an animal and you talk." She put a hand on each side of her head. "It hurts my brain."

"No, I meant mad about the shit that happened yesterday."

Kylie just stared at him. "You're gonna have to be more specific. Because a lot of shit happened yesterday."

He grinned, but the smile faded quickly. "I mean how I lost track of the old couple who were pretending to be your grandparents." A sincere apology filled his eyes. "I failed."

"That wasn't your fault."

"Yes, it was. Who else are you going to blame it on? I was the one supposed to follow them."

"How about we not blame it on anyone?" She started walking down the path toward the office.

He fell into step beside her. "Sounds good."

They walked a few minutes in silence. Kylie noticed the sky was painted with clouds, the big white fluffy kind, and tried not to think about the elderly couple Perry had followed or exactly what it meant when they went poof.

"Do you think they're dead?" she asked.

"Who's dead?"

"The elderly couple."

His features tightened. "I really don't know. I've never seen humans disappear like that."

They both got quiet again. The morning temperature hadn't risen to the uncomfortable level yet, but she could feel it climbing.

Perry tossed his own question next. "Do you think Miranda is ever going to accept my apology?"

Kylie looked at him. "Did you apologize?"

He looked honestly perplexed. "I spoke to her. That's the same thing."

Kylie shook her head. "Oh no, it's not. Speaking to someone is not an apology, Perry. What you did-kissing her like that, then blowing her off-that was mean."

He frowned and kicked a rock. "She kissed Kevin. I was mad."

"I get that," Kylie said, and remembered seeing the picture of Derek kissing Ellie. "And I know it hurts, but it was really Kevin who kissed her. But even still, two wrongs don't make a right."

She caught him checking out her brain pattern, and she frowned. He continued walking but shifted his gaze to the ground. They didn't talk for a bit, and then Kylie just blurted it out. "Everyone says my pattern moves around like a shape-shifter now. Is it true?"

"Yeah," he said. "But ours only move when we're shifting."

She stopped walking and faced him. "Is there anything else about my pattern that looks like a shape-shifter? I mean, do you see any sign that I might be one?"

He smiled. "You want to be a shape-shifter?"

"No." Hell, no! "I mean, not necessarily. I just want to figure out what I am." She bit down on her lip and decided to plunge right into the subject. "How old were you when you started shifting?"

"Oh, I was really young, too young. Five years younger than most shifters. Like barely two years old. Try handling a terrible two tantrum with a shape-shifter. Blew my parents' minds. And their marriage."

Kylie heard the tiniest bit of hurt in his voice. "They split up?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry."

"Hey ... it wasn't my problem."

Oh, yeah, it was. Even his eyes had grown a lonely shade of muted brown. "Who did you live with, your mom or your dad?"

He didn't answer for a minute. "Neither."

She hesitated to ask, but somehow she almost sensed he wanted her to. "Why?"

"Supposedly, I was that hard to handle."

"Where did you go?"

"The FRU has a foster care program. You know, for unwanted strays. I stayed here for a while, and then there for a while."

Kylie felt she understood Perry better than she ever had. And she almost forgave him for being the smartass that he was sometimes.

"Was it terrible?" she asked, and suddenly she knew that she'd lost all her whining rights about how bad her own life had been.

"Nah," he said. "I'm a shape-shifter, I learned to fit in ... at most places. Of course, I wasn't invited back to some of them." He laughed, but as Kylie had already suspected, Perry hid a lot of pain behind his humor.

She also got a feeling there was a lot he wasn't saying. Not that she blamed him. But damn, she couldn't imagine how it must have been being passed from home to home.

"You know," he said as if he suddenly wanted to change the subject, "some shifters don't start until they're in their teens. Maybe you're one of them."

"Maybe," she said. "But I'd only be half. Do half-breed shifters ever have different gifts? Like healing and stuff?"

"Not that I've heard. I have some cousins who are half-breeds and they're limited on what they can shift into. One can only shift into a bird. I used to turn into a cat and chase him around, and one time-"

"Please don't tell me you ate him," Kylie said.

"I just tortured him a little," he said with a grin. "Hey, when he shifted back, he was fine." He inhaled and almost seemed to get lost in a memory. "You know, I should probably try to find some of my cousins."

Kylie wondered if he ever thought about finding his parents, but not wanting to pry too much, she didn't ask. "Oh yeah," she said, grinning, trying to keep it light. "I'll bet they would love to see you coming."

A few minutes later, they'd reached the end of the path where the cabins that housed the office and the dining hall were located. She glanced around to see if she could spot Helen, the shy half-fae who had checked Kylie for a brain tumor, but Kylie didn't see her.

Because Helen was also a healer, Kylie figured she would be the person to ask about the gift. Questions like "Have you ever brought something back to life?" But Helen wasn't one of the teens hanging out front of the dining hall. However, Kylie did see Burnett walk into the office and she remembered she had things to talk to him about, too.

She turned to Perry. "I need to chat with Burnett for a bit. I'll see you in few-"

"No, you won't," Perry said. "Where you go, I go. It's questionable if you can pee today." He grinned. "And I've got Burnett's permission to morph into a giant anteater and kick ass and ask questions later if anyone tries to take over my job."

Kylie rolled her eyes, knowing Burnett had been talking about Lucas. And thinking of Lucas, she looked around a second time, but he wasn't in the crowd either.

Looking back at Perry, she added, "Yeah, but I'm going to see Burnett. I don't think you have to be there then."

He tightened his shoulders. "Where you go, I go. Until Burnett dismisses me."

"Oh, hell. Come on."

Breakfast started out awkward. As had walking into Holiday's office, Perry in tow, and seeing Burnett sitting at Holiday's desk for the second time. Thankfully, Burnett dismissed Perry for their chat. Kylie asked for any update on the elderly couple who had pretended to be her grandparents and was told that nothing had come through yet.

She almost told Burnett about the dream with Red but at the last moment decided she wanted to be able to handle one thing on her own. And this was it. If it happened again, she'd talk to Holiday, but for now, she was flying solo on this mission. As crazy as it sounded, it felt kind of good, too. She wanted to believe she could take care of herself.

When she'd told Burnett about Holiday's aunt passing away, he'd looked shocked and ... something else. It took her a second, but she'd recognized the emotion in his eyes. Hurt.

"Why would she not tell me this?" he had asked.

"I'm sure she's just dealing with it in her own way," Kylie had tried to assure him, but she could tell her efforts were futile. And as she'd turned to leave, she didn't know what compelled her to do it, but she'd looked back over her shoulder and said, "Be patient with her. She's worth it."

Now, in the dining hall, Perry still in tow, Kylie stared at her breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast. For a change, the eggs weren't runny and the bacon wasn't raw or burned. But she'd eaten only a few bites, and after being painfully aware that everyone was staring at her forehead again, she decided she must have left her appetite at the cabin.

A symphony of noise-people jabbering, forks clinking, and trays being dropped onto the tables-bounced around the large cabin. Both Miranda and Della were missing in action, and Kylie hadn't spotted Helen or Lucas either.

Unfortunately, she had spotted Derek and Ellie.

They sat together at a table toward the back. It was only right that Derek sit with her, considering she was the new kid at camp. Last night, staring at the ceiling for a good two hours, Kylie had resigned herself not to hate Ellie or Derek, but to accept things-even if it meant seeing them come together as a couple-and move on.

Kylie had also resigned herself to making good on that promise to Della and give Lucas a chance. However, even after all that resigning she'd done, seeing Derek and Ellie whispering to each other stung like a fire ant bite between the toes.

Time, Kylie told herself. In time, it wouldn't hurt. "I need a fast-forward button," she muttered.

"A what?" Perry asked.

"Nothing," Kylie said. "Just muttering to myself." She looked up and caught another three or four people twitching their brows at her. She turned and looked at Perry. "What's it doing now?"

"What's what doing?"

"My friggin' pattern. Everyone's staring again."

Perry twitched. "Oh, shit! It's doing that shifting thing again. Only faster."

Kylie closed her eyes. "I'm so tired of being everyone's entertainment, of being the freak on display."

"You're not a freak," Perry said, sounding concerned. "You're just different." He gave her a nudge with his elbow. "But everyone likes you anyway."

Opening her eyes, she muttered, "Thanks."

"Are you going to eat that piece of bacon?" Perry asked.

"No." She pushed her tray over to him. Miranda came strolling by with her breakfast tray in her hands. Stopping, about to plop down beside Kylie, she spotted Perry.

She froze. "What is he doing here?" she asked as if Perry couldn't hear her.

"Eating breakfast," Kylie said, hoping to deter Perry from saying something smartass. Seeing him open his mouth, she gave him a good kick under the table. He flinched but closed his mouth.

"Well, I'll just join my sister witches today and let you enjoy each other's company." Miranda turned to leave.

Kylie grabbed Miranda by the arm, bringing her to a sudden halt that almost had Miranda's eggs taking a flying leap off her tray.

"Sit down. Please," Kylie begged. When Miranda looked about to argue, she added, "I could use the support." She cut her eyes toward Derek and Ellie. And it was true, she could use the support, but neither could she deny that she wanted to get Miranda over her repugnance of Perry. He really wasn't a bad guy.

Miranda relented and dropped down on the bench seat. Kylie mouthed, "Thank you," and then asked, "Where's Della?"

"Off drinking blood with the other vamps," Miranda answered just as she shoved a piece of toast into her mouth.

Kylie grabbed her milk and took a long sip while searching for a topic of conversation that would get Miranda and Perry talking.

"So," Kylie said, dropping the half-empty milk carton. "Does anyone know if Holiday has hired any teachers yet for the school year?"

Perry, as if he'd figured out what Kylie was up to, jumped into the conversation. "When I was at the office last night with Burnett, he got a call from some fae dude that Holiday had supposedly hired. I think he's supposed to show up and move into his cabin next week."

Miranda, as if she'd figured out what Kylie was up to, too, started forking eggs into her mouth.

Kylie and Perry chatted a few minutes about the fae teacher and how it would be odd to actually go to real classes at the camp in the fall. Miranda continued to shove food in her mouth as if needing an excuse not to talk.

Accepting that her last subject had proved to be a failure, Kylie reached for her milk again and went back to brainstorming topics. Finally putting her milk down, she looked at Miranda and said the first thing that came to her mind. "Did you know that Perry nearly ate his cousin when he was two?"