He tightened his brows and stared at Kylie's pattern. "Your brain has developed quickly. Most chameleons aren't able to bring forth one pattern and utilize those powers until they are in their early twenties."
"I may be developed, but I'm clueless. I don't know how to do it-how to change my pattern or how to control it."
"Which is why you must come with us." He frowned.
"I can't, but I still need to understand." She looked up and this time she knew it was Perry. "A while back, I showed a human pattern and then I'm sending paperweights around a room and ... Well, it's not good. But maybe I developed early because I'm a protector. Or they think I am. The truth is they don't know what to think of me."
Her aunt smiled. "We heard rumors that you were a protector. That is a huge honor."
"I guess." Kylie wasn't sure how any of this was going to work out.
Her grandfather stared at her forehead again. "If you aren't in control of it, then you must be forming patterns instinctually. Normally, it's a learned talent that can take years to master. I would assume you needed the power of speed and intuitively you initiated the change."
"Speed?" Kylie asked, confused. "It wasn't about speed. My friend kept messing up her spell and-"
"Spell?" he asked.
"I'm a witch right now." Kylie said the obvious.
"Not anymore you're not," he said.
Chapter Twenty-three
"You're vampire," her grandfather said.
Kylie's first impulse was denial. She couldn't be vampire. But why would he lie? She touched her arm to check for the lack of heat. She didn't feel cold, but if her core temperature had changed, she wouldn't feel it. Then she remembered how hot the two of them had felt.
Then came another realization. She'd literally flown to the cemetery after casting a net onto Perry and Lucas.
Lucas!
Her next breath shuddered as it went into her lungs. What would Lucas say about her new pattern? He hadn't been exactly pleased when he thought she was a witch. If he thought she were a vampire ...
"Is something wrong, dear?" her aunt asked.
Kylie stood frozen, trying to come to terms with being vampire. Trying to imagine, or rather, trying not to imagine how Lucas would react. Then she wondered if she'd have to start drinking blood.
At just that thought, her mouth started watering. The tangy, ripe, sweet flavor was tattooed in her memory.
"Dear?" her aunt asked again. "Maybe you should sit down. You look pale."
"Am I?" Was that another sign of vampirism? Instantly, she ran her tongue across her teeth and nearly cut her tongue on her sharp canines. Oh, crap! She was vampire!
Even as the fear of change tumbled around inside her like tennis shoes in a dryer, she remembered how cool it had been to fly through the forest. She supposed that kind of power could be addictive. But what good was a power if you couldn't control it? It would be like her sensitive hearing-neat to have, but if you couldn't call upon it when you needed it, it was virtually useless.
She didn't want to be useless.
"How do I control this?" Kylie asked. "Explain it to me."
Her grandfather sighed. "It's not that easy. You have to train your mind. It isn't something I can tell you how to do; it's something that must be learned over time. It could take years. And until then, you could be a danger even to yourself."
"I will be okay at Shadow Falls."
A frown brightened his eyes. He lifted his head into the air as if to catch a scent. He made a sound, a low growl. The growl and even the way he sniffed at the air reminded her of Lucas.
"Someone came with you." He sounded disappointed in her.
"They tried to follow me. I lost them, but it's possible they've found me now."
His expression grew concerned. "Come with us. We'll help you understand everything. You need to learn who and what you are, Kylie. You can't do this alone."
She slowly shook her head. "I can't come with you."
"But you are one of us. We share the same blood. A chameleon alone will not survive. Look at your father. His death was so unnecessary. Do you think your father would not want you to come and know who you are?"
She inhaled. "I think my father would tell me to follow my heart. And right now, my heart says that Shadow Falls is the right place for me."
His frown deepened and he looked at her aunt. "We must go. Someone is coming." He turned to Kylie. "Do not speak of being a chameleon. Let them think what they may. The less we are talked about, the less we are persecuted."
"Wait," Kylie said. "How can I get in touch with you? I still have so many questions."
"I'll contact you," her great-aunt said, and joined hands with Malcolm.
"How?" Kylie asked. "How will you-?"
Her aunt never answered. It was like Perry had said the day he'd followed them. They just went poof.
Kylie stood there, in both frustration and in awe. How would her aunt contact her? How had they done the poof thing? Could she do that? She heard fast footfalls from behind, someone running toward her. She swung around, expecting to see Burnett. But it was even worse.
Lucas slowed down. He exhibited a tightness to his gait, a sense of anger, and an even greater sense of unease.
When he got closer she noticed his eyes shined bright orange. Of course he would be furious at her for tossing a net over him and Perry. She looked behind him, expecting to see Burnett appear. Expecting to get a tongue-lashing from the vamp.
Then she remembered she was also a vampire. She swung away from Lucas, afraid of what he might say, afraid to see distaste for her in his gaze.
"That was foolish," he ground out.
She knew what he meant. "Not so foolish." She kept her gaze away. "It was my grandfather."
"And?" he asked.
"And I got some of the answers I needed." She started walking. He moved beside her.
"Do you distrust me so much that you couldn't tell me you were coming here?" he asked.
She shrugged but didn't meet his gaze. "I trust that you'd have tried to stop me. And you proved me right."
"You could have reasoned with me, instead of casting a stupid net." His words came out with a light growl.
"I didn't have time to reason."
"Which is why you should have told me earlier. The idea that you didn't trust me infuriates me."
Like he didn't trust her. "I know exactly how you feel," she said, letting him figure out what she meant.
"It's different," he answered, his figuring-things-out ability right on target.