The cold finally started to impair Kylie's speed and she glanced over to see who the spirit was keeping pace at her side.
The ghost, a woman, the one who appeared in the classroom right before the vision, moved with powerful strokes. Her white gown flowed around her, and her long brown hair danced in the wind.
With Kylie's attention on the spirit, her foot caught on a root and she tumbled down onto the earth-hard-landing facedown.
Pushing up with her arms, breathing in the scent of moist dirt below her, she stared at the spirit looming over her. "Who are you?"
"I'm not important. You are." She held out her hands and instantly a long, bloody sword appeared. "You must kill him."
Kylie got to her feet and stared at the spirit's bloody hands; red liquid flowed onto the sword, then dripped to the ground. One slow drop at a time.
For the first time, Kylie understood a symbol connected with the spirit world. This ghost had blood on her hands. And now she wanted Kylie to do her bidding.
Drawing herself to her full height, Kylie spoke in her mind, I don't know what you heard, but I don't ... I haven't killed anyone, and I'd kind of like to keep it that way.
She stared at Kylie with gray, dead eyes that held no emotion, no soul. Fear raced up Kylie's spine. Something about this spirit was different from the others. Something scary.
"Then you, too, will die," the ghost said as if it didn't really matter. Without warning, the spirit faded. But the spot where she'd stood was coated with ice. Dark, black ice.
"Couldn't you have told me that first?" Kylie muttered, and then inhaled. "No!" She fisted her hands. "I'm not going to think about this now."
Her heart pounded in her chest and she commenced running, running to Lucas, or rather, to the truth about Lucas.
She remembered the last time he'd kissed her, the way he'd held her, the way she'd felt so loved. Fredericka was lying. She had to be lying.
A few minutes later, Kylie sensed others around her.
Other wolves.
She wasn't sure how she knew, she just did. Not wanting to draw attention to herself, she stopped running and started walking. Hoping to hide the windblown look, she pulled the band from around her wrist and put up her hair.
As she moved closer to the park, she heard voices. Happy voices. She thought she recognized Will's voice. She stopped beside a tree so as not to cross paths with him or any other of the Shadow Falls campers. The last thing she wanted was to be recognized.
Only when Kylie couldn't hear anyone moving around her did she continue on. When she left the line of trees, she saw the crowd, standing in rows. A hundred or more wolves gathered together. A few in the back line turned and looked at her. Thank goodness they weren't from Shadow Falls.
Fredericka's warning rang in her ears. Just make sure you keep your were pattern on or someone will rip your heart out before they ask questions.
She felt a few of the bystanders checking her pattern and she prayed it was still were. Her breath hitched in her lungs until they turned around as if content she was one of them.
But Kylie didn't feel as if she belonged. Her heart ached at knowing Fredericka hadn't been lying. She almost left, but stopped herself. Maybe this wasn't even about Lucas. Maybe Fredericka sent her here hoping she'd see the crowd and believe the lie.
Stiffening her spine, she moved in and stood in the last row. Obviously weres didn't need to sit down, because no seats were provided. Her view of the front was blocked, but that meant people up front couldn't see her, either.
A voice suddenly started speaking, welcoming everyone here. Kylie's chest ached when she recognized the deep tenor.
Not Lucas, but his dad.
Her chest started to burn with the idea of Lucas getting engaged to someone else.
"Tonight I present to you my son and his bride-to-be," Lucas's father said. "You will witness their vows, their promise to each other."
Kylie closed her eyes. As betrayal filled her chest, music filled the dark night. The slow bell-like music was unlike anything Kylie had ever heard.
A young woman, dark hair pinned up with flowers, wearing a long black evening gown, walked down the aisle. The attendees oohed and ahhed over her beauty. Even Kylie couldn't deny it.
The crowd in front of her shifted, and Kylie saw Lucas's father. Standing beside him was ... Lucas. The air in her lungs shuddered. He wore a dark gray tux that fit his hard frame just perfectly. Tears stung her eyes when she saw him reach out and take his future bride's hands.
The crowd shifted again, and she lost the view, but she could still hear. Words were spoken.
Vows.
Promises.
Lucas Parker gave his soul to Monique. His soul.
The sound of Lucas's voice cut into Kylie like a dull knife. She wanted to run, to escape, but to leave now would draw attention.
She waited. Her breath held, and she kept staring directly in front of her. The crowd shifted, and the view opened up again. Not a sound filled the night as Lucas pulled the girl into his arms and kissed her. Kissed her like he'd kissed Kylie.
Her breath caught. Anger and betrayal filled her.
She swung around to escape; not realizing another line had formed behind her, she slammed into someone.
"Sorry," she muttered.
"Kylie?" She heard someone say her name behind her.
She tried to dart around, but suddenly the crowd seemed to close in as everyone started applauding, cheering on the kiss.
"Excuse me," she said, pushing through another line of weres.
"Kylie?"
She heard her name again. And this time, she glanced back and saw Clara moving in.
She darted though the crowd, only to land in the midst of another close-knit group of weres. She looked back one more time. Lucas had his arms around the woman. He looked happy. Genuinely happy.
More than anything, Kylie wanted to disappear, to vanish. Then she realized she could disappear. She wished it, wished it with all her heart. Clara charged through the crowd, stopping beside Kylie. The girl looked around ... and looked right through Kylie.
"Did you see the blonde that was here just a second ago?" Clara asked.
Kylie inhaled and left. Now, merely a wisp in the air, she took off running.
She didn't look back again. She couldn't.
She was crying when she entered the woods, crying when she left them.
Perhaps this was fate, she told herself. Because now she knew the right thing to do.
When she jumped the fence back into Shadow Falls, she didn't go to her cabin, she went to Hayden's. She didn't know if she was visible until he opened the door and stared at her. At her, not through her.
"What happened?" he asked, sounding urgent.
"Tomorrow." She forced the words through her tight throat. "Tomorrow I'll leave."
He ran a hand a through his mussed hair, sleep still filling his eyes. "We could go now. It would be easier."
"No." She shook her head. "I have to say good-bye."
He frowned. "They won't let you go."
She inhaled a breath of resolve. "They can't stop me."
When she got to her cabin and saw who waited on the front porch, her heart stopped.
She started to run away, but realized running wouldn't accomplish anything.
He still wore the tux, but he'd unbuttoned his shirt and the bow tie was gone. When his blue gaze met hers, regret filled his eyes.
She moved up the steps, and he studied her every move. He could probably tell she'd been crying, but she refused to cry in front of him now.
"Go back, Lucas," she said. "You're missing your own party."
"Don't do this," he growled. "I told you I was doing what I had to, that it didn't mean anything. It doesn't mean anything."
It sure looked as if it meant something. "Well, it should have meant something." You gave her your soul. She waved him away from the door. "I'm tired, do you mind?"
"Damn it, Kylie. As soon as I'm on the Council, I'll call off the engagement. I had to do this before my dad would give me his approval for the position. You said you understood."
She bit down on her lip. "How long have you been seeing her?"
He closed his eyes. "Dad's had it planned for a few months. He's been bringing her around, but I haven't-"
"Stop!" She shook her head. "Of all the things I considered you were hiding from me, I never imagined this."
"Try to see this from my point of view," he pleaded.
"I do see it," she said, and God help her, but there was some truth to her words. "You did what you had to do. As hard as it is, I understand that." Lucas belonged with his pack, his people.
And so did she.
He reached for her. She stepped back. She couldn't let him touch her. It would hurt too much. She held out her hand. "No."
He shook his head. "Please, don't do this. Damn it!" He swung his fist, closed his eyes and when he opened them, he looked at her. Right at her. "I love you."
Now he told her. Now! She lifted her chin. "I think you vowed your love and soul to Monique tonight."
She darted around him, entered the cabin, and shut him out. Then, leaning against the cold door, she wrapped her arms around herself. Her heart felt swollen, inflamed.
Don't ever fall in love, princess. It hurts too much. Her stepfather's words whispered through her broken heart. He'd been so damn right.
When she heard Lucas leaving, her breath caught.
"He's a piece of wolf shit," Della roared. Kylie looked up. Miranda stood beside Della in the kitchen. Had they heard everything? More tears filled her eyes.
"Sit down." Miranda pulled a chair out. "I'll get you some ice cream."
"No ... not now." Kylie didn't have any strength to explain or to even talk.
"Tomorrow." She went into her room. Socks looked out at her from under the bed, and then disappeared. Even her cat betrayed her. It was the last straw. Kylie dropped on the bed and cried herself to sleep.
Not that she stayed asleep for long. At four in the morning, Kylie knocked on Miranda's door. "I need to talk to you."
Della had already gotten up and stood by the kitchen table, staring sleepy-eyed and suspicious at Kylie.
When Miranda came out, wearing her duck slippers, she pushed a curtain of hair from her face. "What time is it?"
"Early," Kylie said. "I'm sorry, but ... I have to talk to both of you." Make it short and sweet. Short and sweet. She'd told herself all morning.
She'd tried talking herself out of this, but she couldn't. Leaving Shadow Falls was the right thing to do. But the right thing didn't always feel right. Coming to Shadow Falls had felt wrong, yet it had turned out to be a step toward finding the truth. This was just another step-a needed step.
Someday, Kylie hoped her choices could be made by what she wanted, and not by what she needed. But that time hadn't arrived yet.
"No," Della said.
"No, what?" Miranda asked.
"She's going to tell us she's leaving." Della's eyes filled with emotion.
"No, she's not," Miranda smarted back.
Short and sweet, Kylie thought again. "Della's right. I need to go live with my grandfather for a while. Not forever. I'll be back." God, she hoped so.
Miranda stared, her expression one of disbelief. "You can't do that. What will your mother say?"
"I haven't figured that out. But I will. I just need you guys to understand, and not be mad. And..." Tears filled her eyes. "And take care of Socks because he doesn't want to ... go with me."
"You're leaving us," Miranda said. "You can't leave us. We're roommates, we're best friends."
Della stood there, stoic, tears glistening in her dark eyes, and she swiped away every drip of moisture that slipped from her lashes.
Kylie went to hug Miranda first. The witch started crying and Kylie's heart hurt so much she couldn't breathe. When Kylie turned to Della, the girl held up one hand. Anger flashed in her eyes.
"Oh, hell no," Della screamed. "You're freaking leaving us. I don't hug people who walk out on me." The vamp stormed back into her bedroom. Kylie felt the door slam all the way to her soul and it hurt so damn bad.
She walked into her room, picked up her suitcase, and left, before it got harder. Inside, Kylie felt raw. Sooner or later, it would stop hurting, she told herself.
Derek stood outside her cabin. He looked as if he'd woken up, pulled clothes on without thinking, and came running. His jeans weren't snapped, his shirt unbuttoned.
She wasn't sure how he knew, but he did. She saw it in his green eyes.
"Why?" he asked when she walked up to him.
"Because I have to figure things out."
"But you've already figured a lot out while you've been here."
"I know," Kylie said. "But it's time to take the next step."
He didn't try to talk her out of it. He didn't speak on the walk to the office. But she felt him reading her every emotion. When they arrived at the office, she looked back at him. For some reason she recalled the first time she'd seen him-sitting in the back of the bus, not very happy to be there.
She dropped the suitcase and hugged him. Tight. They had something special. She wasn't sure what it was, or if it should have been more, but she knew she cared about him. Probably always would.
He touched her cheek. He didn't say anything, but that touch said so much. He still loved her.
She picked up her suitcase and walked up on the porch. She left her suitcase by the door, then looked out toward the exit. She'd called Hayden earlier and told him to meet her at four thirty. She suspected he was already here. He didn't seem like the kind of guy who'd be late.
"Holiday." Kylie called out her name when she walked in.
"In the office," Holiday called back. "I just poured you a cup of coffee."
Kylie moved to the door. Holiday sat at her desk, her red hair hanging loose. She looked ... happy. She wore her love for Burnett very well.
"You're up early ... again," Holiday said.
Two cups of coffee waited on the desk. Had Holiday known she'd be here? Kylie went and sat in the chair. "How-?"
"Lucas came by late last night," the camp leader confessed.
Kylie swallowed. Short and sweet. She didn't want to talk about Lucas right now. "I have to go live with my grandfather for a while. Just until I figure out who I am."
Desperation entered Holiday's gaze. "You can't..."
Emotion lumped in Kylie's throat. "I need to figure this out."
"We can figure it out together," Holiday said, but her expression was one of sad acceptance. And it wasn't like Holiday not to fight harder. Unless ...
Kylie remembered that when Holiday died, she'd spoken with Heidi, Kylie's grandmother. "She told you I had to go, didn't she?" When confusion filled Holiday's eyes, Kylie explained, "Heidi, she told you about this."
"No, not..." She paused. "She said I shouldn't stop you from making your own choices."
"And this is my choice." Damn, it hurt to say that. "I'll be back. You know that."
Holiday pressed her open palms on the desk. "What am I going to tell your parents?"
Kylie paused. "I'll figure it out and call you."
Holiday exhaled. "Burnett is going to be so furious."
"I know. That's why I was hoping you'd just tell him about this. I don't think I could face him right now."
"I don't like this." Holiday's voice sound so tight.
Tears filled Kylie's eyes and she stood up. "Della wouldn't hug me good-bye. Please don't say you won't."
Holiday bolted up. "I'll hug you for me and Della. And Burnett."
The embrace lasted for several long seconds. "I love you," Holiday said. "And I expect a phone call from you this evening. And every day. Every morning and night."
Kylie nodded. "Thank you for not fighting me on this."
Holiday put a hand on each side of Kylie's face. "Don't think I don't want to."
"But you know it's the right thing?" Kylie asked, hating that she needed a little more confirmation. But damn, should doing the right thing feel so wrong?
Holiday inhaled. "I don't know if it's right. I won't stop you." She frowned. "But I will say this. If this is about what happened with Lucas-"
Kylie inhaled. "This isn't just about him." And it wasn't. He was just the proverbial straw that brought the camel to its knotty knees.
Holiday sighed. "Sometimes, when we're hurting, we make choices we wouldn't normally make."
Kylie shook her head. "Remember how my dad told me that we would work out these things together? I think by 'we' he meant chameleons."
Holiday frowned. "You don't know that's what he meant. You thought he was telling you that you were going to die. Maybe if we went to the falls you might-"
"No, this is right," Kylie said, and there was a part of her that believed it.
Holiday exhaled, her breath shaky. "Then I have to let you go, even if I don't agree."
They hugged again. Short and sweet. Kylie walked out.
The dad-blasted blue jay swooped in. More tears filled Kylie's eyes. "Go," she told the bird. "It's time to leave the nest. For both of us."
Turning, she spotted Hayden waiting by the gate. She picked up her suitcase, the same one she'd brought with her to Shadow Falls last June. She started walking and got a few feet from the gate when a sudden whisk of wind, a familiar whisk, flashed past, then stopped.
Della's arms embraced her. "Promise me you'll get your wolf ass back here soon. Promise me, damn it!"
Tears filled Kylie's eyes and she held on to Della extra tight, the way only really good friends do. "I promise," Kylie said. "I promise."
It was a promise Kylie intended to keep, too. Della, obviously another believer in short and sweet, flashed away. Kylie looked back one more time. She saw a crying Miranda with Perry running up from the path into the main clearing; she stopped and just waved. Kylie knew that Miranda had helped convince Della to come. Dear God, she was going to miss her roommates.
Then Kylie's gaze shifted to the office porch. Holiday stood there. But not alone. Burnett stood by her side. Even from this distance, she saw his disapproval, but she also saw how his arm tenderly circled Holiday's waist. A warmth filled Kylie's chest; she'd played a small part in helping that happen. And somehow she sensed that had been part of her destiny.
Suddenly she saw Derek standing to the side of the office. He met her gaze and smiled.
If she wasn't hurting so much, she would have smiled back. Right before she went to turn away, she felt another presence. Felt it, didn't see. Somewhere behind the first line of trees, a certain blue-eyed were watched. He was hurting, but so was she.
She turned toward the gate. Hayden had come closer. "You ready?" he asked.
No, her heart said, but her head said yes. She didn't know what awaited her at her grandfather's, but nothing, nothing would take the place of Shadow Falls.
"It's hard to say good-bye," Hayden said.
"I'll be back," Kylie said. "I swear I will."
And she wanted to believe that more than anything, too.