Chosen at Nightfall (Shadow Falls #5)(41)

"I think he'd make an excellent dad."

"I know he would. He'd probably be a tad overprotective, like most vampires, but still fabulous."

Thinking of another vamp who could be a tad overprotective, Kylie asked, "Is Della back yet?"

"Not until tonight," Holiday said. "But she's fine," she added, as if reading Kylie's concern. "Burnett spoke with Steve again this morning."

Kylie nodded. "And Helen's okay?"

"They let her out of the hospital late yesterday. Her parents wanted her to come with them for a while.

Just to make sure she's okay. Of course Jonathon is having a fit."

"I'll bet he is," Kylie said, remembering how the two of them were practically superglued at the hip.

Holiday and Kylie came to Hayden's classroom. Kylie saw someone moving behind the curtain. "He's here."

Holiday agreed to wait outside, and Kylie walked in.

Hayden, alone in the room, sat at his desk with a phone in his hand.

"Hey," Kylie said.

Hayden glanced up and dropped the phone. "I was about to try and call you to see if you were okay.

And check on my phone? Please tell me you haven't spoken with my girlfriend this time."

"No, I haven't spoken with anyone but my mom."

"And you're okay?"

"Yeah." Kylie pulled the phone out of her pocket. "I wanted to drop your phone off. Thanks for letting me borrow it."

He nodded. "You didn't call your grandfather?"

Kylie's mood went a notch down. She shook her head. "I don't know what to say to him. I'll call him in a day or so." Yes, she was procrastinating, but she decided to give herself a little break on this issue.

"Have you told him that Burnett knows everything?"A frown pulled at his eyes as he nodded. "I had to chance it and use the office phone, since I didn't have my phone," he said.

She shot him an apologetic look. "Is my grandfather ... okay with it?"

"He's not happy." Hayden paused. "I still don't think he was in on any of the ploy to try to stop you from leaving. And he seemed eager to speak to you about it."

"I know. I believe you, it's just ... I feel as if I hurt him by leaving, and now he's going to be upset that I told Burnett about you. The thought of him being angry with me is ... just too much."

"I explained the reasons we had to tell Burnett." Hayden leaned back in the chair. It squeaked. "Your grandfather cares about you. I know he can be hardheaded, but he's lost so much in this life-his kid, his wife. Now, he's scared he's going to lose you, too."

"I know. And yet ... even if I didn't belong here at Shadow Falls, I couldn't live like they want me to live. Isolated from the world."

"I know. It's not easy." The sudden stiffness in his shoulders told Kylie just how hard it had been on him.

"How old were you when you ran away?"

He picked up a pencil. "How did you know I ran away?"

"I was guessing," Kylie answered.

He hesitated. "Seventeen."

"Have you seen your parents since?"

He shook his head. "Your grandfather keeps me abreast of how they're doing and ... he started letting me talk to Jenny when..."

"When what?" Kylie asked.

"When he started getting worried she was planning to run away."

"Is she?"

"I think I've calmed her down. She just has to stay there another year or so. She's almost mature."

"Mature?" Kylie asked.

"Yes. When you are able to change your pattern. The rule is that if you leave after maturity, then you're not excommunicated. You're frowned upon, but you can visit. But the elders are trying to push her into getting married. It's just another ploy by the elders to try to keep her living on the compound."

Kylie felt Hayden's pain and she felt for Jenny, too. "Don't they see that they're pushing the young people to leave? It's like one of those cults that forces kids to live like it's the eighteen hundreds."

"They think they're protecting them," Hayden said. "And perhaps in the elders' day it was the right thing to do. But things have changed and they can't seem to see that. I've managed to create a life for myself and I'm not living in danger."

Kylie nodded, but she couldn't help but wonder how good of a life it was if he had to hide his true identity. Nevertheless, she supposed it was the better option. "Are you going to stay here?" She held her breath with hope.

He leaned back in his chair. "Burnett hasn't gotten back to me."

"But if he says you can stay, will you?"

He picked up a pencil and rolled it in his hand. She jumped in. "Please. I'd kind of like it if you stayed.

I still have questions and it would be really nice to have you around. And ... I think I want to try to changethings. You know, help the other chameleon teens. I haven't mentioned it yet to Holiday or Burnett, but I'm just waiting for the right time."

"I'll give it some thought," he said. "But let me just say that your friend Burnett makes leaving sound like the better deal."