Chosen at Nightfall (Shadow Falls #5)(54)

"No, there's the other thing."

"What thing?" Kylie asked.

"The thing about you needing to forgive Lucas."

"Look, you asked for my advice, I didn't ask for yours." She started moving faster down the path that led to her cabin. A nice, quick run.

Fredericka matched her pace, footfall for footfall. "He loves you. Don't you get why he walked away from getting engaged? He gave up so much for you. Maybe even his own pack."

Kylie came to an abrupt stop and faced the she-wolf. "Why did you tell me? Why didn't you just let him go through with it? Damn it! He shouldn't have done it!" And right then Kylie accepted that this was part of her angst over Lucas. She hadn't wanted to admit it. She hadn't even allowed herself to really let it soak in. But it was there, the truth right under all the betrayal she felt. Lucas had lost everything for her.

His dreams. His quests. Even if she did forgive him, sooner or later, he was going to hate her for this.

"Why?" Fredericka threw the question back at her. "Because, you fool, if he'd gone through with it, he'd have lost you. And whether you believe it or not, you are more important to him than getting on the Council. It's you that matters most to him."* * * Kylie walked in a bit late to her first period class with Perry right behind her. She plopped down in the empty seat right in front of Della. Sitting her book on the desktop, she opened it and pretended to read.

She felt Lucas's eyes on her. She ignored him. Or tried to. Her heart started breaking all over again the second she felt his gaze fall on her.

She had a lot of thinking to do. But damn, she was still so confused.

Still so damn mad at him.

Still so much in love with him that she could hardly breathe.

"Miss Galen, it's so good to have you back with us," Miss Cane said.

Miss Galen? Kylie glanced up, but didn't speak. A nod of appreciation was all the lady was going to get. She hoped she'd be happy with it. Refocusing on the page in her English book, she didn't want to look anyone in the eye. Like Derek, who sat three seats away from her and was studying her with a shitload of worry because he could read her emotional state.

Then she felt Della lean in behind her.

"What's wrong?" the vampire whispered. "Do I need to bite some she-wolf's ass after class?"

"No."

"Your face is all splotchy. And that means you've been crying. What's up?"

"Allergies," Kylie muttered, and wished she'd skipped class. Was it too late? Too late to just get up and walk out?

"You'd think you'd know better than to try to lie to me," Della whispered.

Kylie clenched her jaw and whispered back, "And you'd think you'd stop asking questions that would put me in a position to have to lie!"

"Okay," Della said. "We'll just chalk this conversation up to Miss Galen being in a pissy mood."

Chapter Nineteen

Kylie's day hadn't gotten much better. But it hadn't gotten much worse either. She found herself finding things to be thankful for. Nana used to say whenever you start feeling like the world is taking a bite out of you, bite back by counting your blessings.

And number one on Kylie's blessing list was being back at Shadow Falls. Even with all the issues, she belonged here. Every hour or so, she'd recall how it had felt to be at her grandfather's place. And while she missed the man, and even her great-aunt, she didn't miss the cumbersome feeling that being there brought-the feeling of being in the wrong place.

Number two on that list was that the sword hadn't decided to magically appear again. Of course, it could be waiting for her back at her cabin right now, but she was thankful she didn't have to explain it to anyone for the moment. And last, but not least, on her list was that Mario seemed to have crept back under some dirty, slimy rock again.

At least Kylie didn't feel him, and Miranda agreed that she didn't sense any strangers lingering around.

A part of Kylie wanted to believe he'd just stay there, but part of her still wanted to believe in Santa Claus, too.

Mario would be back. The question was, would she be ready? For the life of her, she didn't have a clue how one prepared to take on someone that powerful, that evil.

Waiting for the last bell to ring and school to be over so she could leave history, she looked up at Mr.

Cary Cannon. He pointed to the written assignment on the board. His starched, white shirt stretched across his broad chest.

Giving Fredericka credit, the teacher wasn't hard on the eyes. If he would lose the tie and dress pants, and put on a T-shirt and pair of jeans, he could look like a student instead of a teacher. Tall, dark, with black eyes, he carried himself well. And taught even better. He obviously had a passion for history, because it came across in his lessons. For a werewolf, he was amazingly friendly. Probably something he'd learned in school.

Kylie had even seen the guy cut his eyes to Fredericka at least a dozen times. That told Kylie that the infatuation wasn't one-sided. She hoped so, for Fredericka's sake at least.

Three minutes later, school over, Kylie stepped out of class. Della, her official shadow, walked beside her. Kylie hadn't gotten a foot out the door when someone grabbed her around the forearm. She almost yelped, but the warmth of the touch told her it was Holiday before she looked back.