"We wait on Burnett."
"We get the hell out of here now!"
Kylie slowly became aware of the voices. Who? Wait on Burnett for what? Questions rolled around her confused mind. Where was she? Who was holding her so...?
She heard the sound of a rhythmic thump. A heartbeat? But not her own. The warmth, the heat of someone pressed close felt like heaven. She'd been so cold. Why? If she focused she could figure it out.
But part of her didn't want to focus; part of her wanted to stay just like this. Unaware, warm, and feeling safe in the arms of someone holding her close.
Holding her tenderly.
Holding her as if she were treasured.
"We can't leave," one of the voices said. The voice in the distance. Not the one holding her.
"He could come back. We should leave while the leaving's good." She heard the words vibrate deep in the speaker's chest.
"I don't think so. You said Burnett was on his way. We don't leave."
"Just because you're afraid-"
"I'm not afraid, damn it. I'm being rational. Kylie came here for a reason. The spirits, I'm betting they're the ones who sent that bastard packing."
Kylie recognized Derek's voice.
Everything came rushing back. Her grandfather's betrayal, Jenny's assistance, Derek finding her, Mario showing up, the fight, and Lucas ... The familiar feel of the arms wrapped around her told her who held her, whose warmth she now absorbed. Stiffening, she pushed herself off Lucas's chest. "Put me down."
His dark blue eyes, now glowing light orange, no doubt still sensing danger, shot to her face. "Can you stand on your own?"
"I can," she said, and when she saw the bruising around his neck, her heart clutched. Dear God, she'd almost killed him. She'd had her hands around his neck, squeezing the life out of him, and had almost finished the job.
Tears stung her sinuses, but she blinked them back. Now wasn't the time to fall apart. Later, she'd let that happen. Later, she'd have a good, long pity party. She deserved one. Just not now. Not now, she repeated in her head, trying to fight the emotional overload.
"Are you hurt anywhere?" Lucas asked.
"She asked you to put her down," Derek insisted, his tone tight, no doubt reading her battling emotions.
"I heard her," Lucas growled, and Kylie glanced up from his bruised neck to his face. His dislike for Derek made his eyes a brighter orange. "I'm making sure she's okay."
"I'm fine," she lied, her emotions ping-ponging all over the place.Betrayal.
Fear.
Her gaze shifted to his bruised neck.
Guilt.
"Please put me down," she insisted.
He did as she requested. Her knees felt weak, but she focused on not letting them turn to Jell-O, and was able to remain standing.
Lucas kept his hand out as if to catch her if her legs wouldn't hold her up. She didn't want to need him to catch her. Why was he even here? Hadn't she told Burnett not to put him on guard duty? Then she remembered thinking she'd seen Monique. Had it been her?
Her emotions did an about-face and she realized how unimportant that was at this time. Right now, she had to make sure they got back to Shadow Falls safely. Like the pity party she'd mentally scheduled, she could spend time mourning over Lucas and her issues later.
"Are you up to heading back?" Lucas asked her.
"We're not leaving here until Burnett shows up," Derek snapped again.
Kylie looked at Derek and then back to the gates, which were now closed. The spirits stood guard, their faces peering out between the rusty metal bars. "Derek's right. We stay here until Burnett shows up."
A flash passed by Kylie and then another.
Burnett, along with about three other FRU people, as well as several of the campers, Perry included, suddenly surrounded them.
"I'm here," Burnett said. His bright eyes seemed to say he was prepared to fight. He glanced around as if checking for danger, before focusing back on them. "And someone better tell me what the hell's going on."
When no one spoke up fast enough for his impatience, his gaze zeroed in on Kylie. "I was supposed to come get you in the morning." His gaze shot to Derek. "You were supposed to be guarding her at her grandfather's place." He glanced at Lucas. "And you told me you were going to your father's."
"Well, I lied," Lucas bit back, never one to take a reprimand easily. "I wanted to make sure Kylie didn't need me. And she did."
"What happened?" Burnett asked again, his tone implying he was losing patience.
"Mario," Kylie answered.
Burnett's eyes brightened and he glanced around again. "Are you sure it was him?" he asked.
"Positive." Kylie shivered, remembering the wickedness she'd felt from him. She recalled the sensation that he'd enjoyed toying with her-like a cat with a mouse. But the mouse had won this time.
Thanks to the dead, no one had died at Mario's hand, but what about next time? She heard Mario's threat ring in her head. You will come to me, Kylie Galen, come to me willing to die, to suffer at my hands for my pleasure, because the price will be too great!
He spoke with certainty as if he already had a plan in place. Fear tiptoed up her spine.
Burnett continued to glance around. After a few more seconds of putting out his feelers, he looked back at Derek.
"He's gone now," Derek said.
"I can see that."But was he really gone? Being a chameleon, he could turn invisible. He could still be here. Kylie almost said something to that effect, but remembered the other FRU members. And her lack of trust in them kept her mouth closed. The less they knew about her and the chameleons as a whole, the better.
"What were you even doing out here?" Burnett asked, seemingly getting more frustrated the longer he considered things. "The orders were to wait for me until tomorrow. Why do I give orders around here if no one listens to them?"
"We couldn't. They weren't going to let her leave," Derek said, and looked at Kylie as if knowing how hard the truth was for her to hear. And he was right. The ache in her chest tightened.
"They?" Burnett asked. "Who was not going to let her leave?" His gaze shot between Derek and Kylie.
"The chameleons," Derek answered.
Burnett's focus landed back on Kylie, and her chest constricted, knowing Burnett was laying the fault on her grandfather.
"My grandfather wasn't aware of it," Kylie said, but for the life of her she couldn't say it with certainty. And she knew Burnett read her white lie for what it was.
His expression softened for a fraction of a second, as if he could relate to her pain. "You should have called me." Burnett glanced back at Derek.
"He tried," Kylie spoke up again, unwilling to let Derek take the blame for this. "We had to hurry to try to beat the guards and then ... then when he tried to get you, Mario ... he fried Derek's phone."
All of a sudden, the night's blackness was sliced by the beam of headlights. A car came to a screeching halt. Holiday's car.
She barreled out of the Honda, her red hair hanging loose as if she'd just risen from bed. And when her teary-eyed gaze lit on Kylie, she muttered, "Thank God," and put her hand over her lips.
Seeing the emotion in Holiday weakened Kylie's resolve to wait until later to fall apart. She ran up to Holiday and fell into her arms.
As Kylie buried her head on the camp leader's shoulder, she heard Burnett scold, "I thought I told you to wait at the camp."
Kylie felt Holiday tense at the reprimand, and then she raised her head. "And I thought you knew I don't follow anyone's orders."
"Does anyone listen to me around here?" Burnett asked, his frustration making his tone sound almost comical.
"Obviously not," one of the FRU agents said, and chuckled.
Burnett groaned, but Kylie heard his sheer relief. She knew he saw the protection of everyone at Shadow Falls as his personal responsibility. And she loved him for it, too.
"What happened?" Holiday asked, tightening her comforting embrace around Kylie's shoulders.
"Let's discuss it later," Burnett said. "We need to get back to Shadow Falls now."
Kylie knew that discussion would include accusations toward her grandfather. Even as she hurt thinking of that conversation, right now with Holiday's warm, comforting embrace around her, and even hearing Burnett and Holiday bicker, made this moment feel right. It felt like she was almost home.
And that felt really good.
* * *Walking back through the Shadow Falls gate sent a warmth right though Kylie. This was where she belonged. Even the next hour of facing Burnett's questions didn't completely chase away the sensation of being home.
"I'm sorry I have to do this now," Burnett said several times. He'd already gone over everything with Lucas and Derek, while Kylie sat in the office with Holiday. They hadn't talked about what happened tonight because she knew Burnett would want to be present, so they talked about what she'd learned while with her grandfather.
When Burnett came in, the mood grew more serious. "I know you haven't slept at all tonight, but statistics say the longer the wait the more likely you'll forget something."
Kylie, sitting on the sofa beside Holiday, nodded. "I know." She bit into her lip and tried to focus and fill him in on everything that happened. She covered Mario and his parting threat. Then she started at the beginning again and told him about Jenny coming to the window.
The thing she didn't tell him was about Jenny being Hayden Yates's sister. She wasn't even sure if Burnett had figured out Hayden was a chameleon. Then she explained one more time about Derek showing up in the woods. She purposely told him again about the invisible person she sensed there before they took off. And she reminded Burnett that she believed this person to be her grandfather and he'd been there not to stop her from leaving, but to check on her.
"But you didn't speak to him?" Burnett asked. "So you don't know for sure it was him, or even if his being there meant he wasn't behind all this."
Kylie frowned. "I know my grandfather. I don't think he'd do this. Even Jenny said he was different from the other elders. And I don't want you to start thinking of him as the enemy."
Burnett's jaw tightened. "He cares about you, Kylie. I sensed this when we spoke. But he never hid the fact that he didn't trust me or Shadow Falls. He very well could justify his actions because he felt your life was in danger. He may think he has your best intentions at heart, but he's wrong. And while I know it's difficult for you to accept this, we can't trust him anymore."
Burnett's remark had her throat tightening with emotion. She understood his point of view, but she couldn't let go of what her heart told her. And her heart told her that her grandfather hadn't been behind the attempts to keep her against her will.
"You can't trust him," Kylie said. "I've yet to make up my mind. And why are you spending so much time worrying about him when the real villain is Mario?"
"I'm aware of who the real villain is," Burnett answered. "But it's because of your ... thanks to someone's actions with your grandfather's people, Mario almost got to you."
"They had nothing to do with Mario's showing up."
"I agree, but they had everything to do with you finding yourself in a vulnerable situation."
"I made the choice to run away." She wrung her hands in her lap.
"Don't you think we should call it a night?" Holiday intervened. "Let's stop now and pick this up in the morning."
Burnett frowned at Holiday, then moved in and knelt down in front of Kylie. He placed his palm on her gripped hands. His touch was cold, but caring and tender. The knot in Kylie's throat doubled. When he looked at her, she saw the struggle in his eyes to keep his cool and not let his temper rule. He wanted to make demands, to call the shots. Yet Kylie also sensed he struggled to do what Holiday had tried to instillin him, to compromise and not dictate.
Staring at his hand over her locked fingers, she knew Burnett cared-knew his intent wasn't to hurt her, but to help her. Yet wasn't that exactly what her grandfather felt?
"Kylie, I know this is hard for you," Burnett said. "I do. But I need your promise that you won't be sneaking off to see your grandfather." He squeezed her wrist. "Please. I won't get a moment of peace unless you give me that."
"I won't." She couldn't deny him this, not when his expression practically begged for her compliance.
Yet deep down she wondered if her heart said it was an untruth, and if it did, had Burnett heard it. God help her, because if her grandfather did ask her to meet him, how could she tell him no any easier than she could Burnett? Her loyalty was truly torn. She only prayed it didn't come to that.
The eastern part of the sky was a bit lighter than the rest when Burnett and Holiday walked Kylie to her cabin. The stars sparkled in the sky as if they knew they were about to be shut down by the sun and wanted to give out a bit more light.
She should be exhausted, and part of her was, but she doubted she'd fall in bed and go right to sleep.
Her mind chewed on so many things that turning it off seemed impossible. Plus, she had an appointment to attend her very own pity party. The knot that she'd felt in her throat earlier was now caught in her heart area. In the past, Kylie had learned that nothing but a good cry could ease that kind of ache.
Obviously, the soothing effects of Holiday's touch were wearing off. Or maybe this was too much to completely be eased by a fae's magic. Some things just needed to be worked through. Things like leaving her grandfather's house without saying good-bye. Things like the fact that she'd almost killed Lucas.
Things like wondering if it was really Monique, Lucas's fiancee, she'd seen tonight. Things like missing her mom, and she was halfway across the world sleeping with some creep.
Things like having a psychotic murderer wanting to take her down.
His threat rang in her head like a bad line in a song that you couldn't forget. You will come to me, Kylie Galen, come to me willing to die, to suffer at my hands for my pleasure, because the price will be too great! Your weakness will take you down.
And working through things like that might include shedding a few tears. Who could begrudge her that?
Of course, she should probably spend some time trying to figure out what he meant by her weakness.
"How about we take a trip to the falls tomorrow?" Holiday piped up, and then as if reading Kylie's emotional status, she reached over and gave Kylie's arm a squeeze.
Kylie nodded.
"I'll figure out when's a good time first thing in the morning," Burnett added, making it clear he would be going with them.
Silence fell on them like a soft rain. The sky had turned slightly purple as if morning would be in the next hour. Burnett cleared his throat. "You do know we will have to go back to you being shadowed?"
"I figured that," Kylie said.
"Before I work out the shadowing schedule, is ... is there anyone you don't want to be shadowing you?"
"Only one," Kylie said. "And I think you know who that is."Burnett just nodded.
Their footsteps fell on the graveled path and sent out crunching sounds in the darkness. "How is Helen?" Kylie asked.
"She's much better," Holiday said.
"Has she remembered anything yet? Do we know if it was Mario or not?"
"No," Holiday answered.
"We're still investigating it," Burnett said, and a bit of frustration sounded in his tone. "But we know that Mario was spotted in Fallen that same morning. And with his appearance tonight, everything points to Mario being behind this."
They got almost to the turn in the path. In the distance Kylie could make out the cabin. Not a light flickered inside. Kylie glanced to Burnett. "Is Della back yet?"
"No, not yet," he said, and something about the way he said those three words set off alarms.
She caught him by the arm. "What happened?"
Burnett held up his hand. "She's fine. She ran into some trouble late yesterday, but everything's fine now. She should be back either later today or tomorrow."
"What kind of trouble?" Kylie asked, her concern over Della giving her a reprieve from her own problems.
Burnett hesitated to answer and that made Kylie even more suspicious.
"What happened?" Kylie insisted.
"She got into an altercation with some gang members. But-"
"Are you sure it wasn't Mario?"
"I'm positive," Burnett said.
"Was she hurt?" Kylie's chest ached. "I knew her working for the FRU was a bad idea."
"She was just bumped and bruised a bit," Burnett said.
"How bumped and bruised?" Kylie asked.
"Not so bad that I can't say that I think her ego received the most damage," Burnett replied.
"She's really fine. I promise," Holiday added. "I spoke with her myself."
Kylie inhaled, knowing she was probably overreacting, but her emotional dam was almost ready to spew over. She started walking again, hurrying to the cabin, wanting to be alone before that dam broke.
Holiday picked up her speed and slipped her hand into Kylie's, bringing her to a stop right before taking the steps to the porch. "Do you want me to come in and we can talk for a while?"
"No," Kylie said, feeling like an idiot. "I just need some rebound time." She hugged Holiday, absorbing a little more of her soothing touch. When Kylie pulled back, she started to turn for the door when Burnett cleared his throat. She looked up.
The man held out his hands. "I don't get one, too?"
Kylie saw the surprise shine in Holiday's eyes, then she couldn't help it, she grinned. "Be careful, people might think you've gone soft on us."
"I doubt that," he said, and gave her a quick embrace. With his chin pressed against her hair, he whispered, "I'm going to get the bastard. I promise you."
She didn't have to ask which bastard. She knew he meant Mario.
"Thank you," she said, and pulled back. And before she really broke down and cried, she movedinside.
The smell of the cabin filled her senses. She wasn't even sure exactly what contributed to the scent, but whatever it was, it offered some calming effects. And then she realized it smelled like the people she loved. Miranda, Della. And there was the woodsy scent that she registered. A smell that belonged to ...
No!
It just smelled like home, she told herself.
Della's bedroom door stood open-like a flashing neon sign that she wasn't here. The vamp, a very private person, always kept her door closed.
Kylie's gaze shifted to Miranda's door.
"Rebound time," she whispered to herself. If she was going to fall apart, she wanted to do it alone. She started to her bedroom, had barely opened the door when she heard the slight creaking of the wood floor.
She wasn't alone. Her gaze shot up to the corner of the room and she saw the figure standing there.
Saw and recognized the figure.
Maybe she wasn't going to get that rebound time after all.
