Chosen at Nightfall (Shadow Falls #5)(64)

She ran her hand up and down her leg before talking. "Because of me he won't get on the were Council.

He won't be able to change all the things he wanted to change with his own people. His own pack will probably disown him. Sooner or later..."

"But he chose you, Kylie. He made that choice. You didn't force him to."

Kylie nodded, but looked him in the eyes. "Maybe it was the wrong choice."

He leaned in, and his shoulder brushed hers with warmth. "I'll bet he wouldn't think so."

She shook her head. "Being a were means everything to him."

Kylie's phone in her pocket chimed with an incoming text; a second later Derek's did the same. She pulled it out and saw Burnett's name on the screen as the sender. She glanced at Derek, who looked at her at the same time.

"A text from Burnett," Derek said.

"Oh, crap," Kylie said, hitting the button to read her text.

Get to the office now! his text read.

Holy hell, Kylie thought. What could be happening now?

* * *

Burnett's message to Derek had read almost the same: Get Kylie to the office now! So Kylie and Derek ran to the office. She could have moved quicker if she'd left Derek in the dust, but she held back. What was a couple of seconds?

Nevertheless, by the time she got in front of the office, her heart was thumping in her chest. From exertion or fear of what awaited her, Kylie wasn't sure.

She hadn't made it up the office steps when she heard the voices. Shit, Kylie thought, what was her stepfather doing here?

"It's my stepdad," Kylie said to Derek. "I'd better handle this alone."

She hurried inside and found Burnett, Holiday, her stepfather, and Jonathon in the office. What the heck was Jonathon doing in here? Tom Galen stood in the middle of the room, facing Holiday's desk. Holiday sat relaxed like the essence of calm, but her stepfather's posture wasn't picking up on Holiday's mood.

His shoulders were tight, his hands clenched.

And like her stepfather, Burnett appeared a little tight, but she could tell he was trying to contain himself. But Jonathon ... the vampire just looked guilty. And Kylie got a bad feeling.

Holiday's gaze shifted briefly to Kylie, as did Burnett's, but her stepdad didn't realize she was standing there.

"What kind of school are you running?" Tom Galen bit out.

"The same kind of school that the state is running," Holiday answered, her voice tranquil. "We have a security gate for a reason. You went through it and set off alarms. You were mistaken to be a threat."

"I'm not a goddamn threat. I'm a student's father.""Fathers don't usually try to break into a school," Burnett insisted.

"What happened?" Kylie asked.

Her father swung around and at least some of his tension subsided at seeing her. "I jumped the gate instead of pushing the button and you would think I'd just broken into Fort Knox. I was tackled by this wisecrack of a kid."

Holiday glanced up and Kylie could see from her expression she was trying to play nice. "Jonathon saw your father and made a bad judgment call. Instead of asking questions as he possibly should have, he detained-"

"Detained? He knocked my ass on the ground." Her stepdad rubbed his side. "And let me tell you, for a skinny kid, he has one hell of a tackle."

"We're sorry," Holiday said. "Aren't we, Jonathon?"

"Very much so, sir," Jonathon spoke up.

"Dad," Kylie said. "Jonathon's girlfriend was mugged last week. You could understand how he might now be a tad overprotective."

Jonathon nodded. Holiday glanced at Kylie as if to say, good move. Burnett seemed to agree.

Her father sighed. "I'm sorry to hear about your girlfriend. Is she going to be okay?" he asked Jonathon.

"Yeah," Jonathon said, then flinched as if remembering his manners. "Oh, I mean, yes, sir, and thank you."

With most of the tension lessening, Kylie looked at her dad. "What are you doing here, Dad?"

He frowned. "I came to see you. I e-mailed you late last night and called this morning. You would have known I was coming if you had taken my call or read my e-mail."

"I'm sorry," she said. "It's been a crazy morning."

"She is attending school," Burnett added.

Her stepfather looked apologetic. "My company sent me down here for a meeting with a sister company that's not happening until two this afternoon, and I thought maybe I could steal you away and we could grab brunch together."

Behind Tom Galen, Kylie spotted Burnett scowl. The vampire had made it clear she wasn't leaving the school without him until they knew Mario wasn't in the vicinity. Burnett looked directly at Kylie and shook his head with determination. He wasn't just saying no, he was saying hell no!

"Uh, I already had breakfast," Kylie said.

"Well, we'd just grab something to drink," her stepdad said.

Kylie shot Burnett another quick glance. The man was still shaking his head a firm hell no.

"I ... I have classes," Kylie said.

Disappointment filled her stepdad's eyes. She hated hurting him. Today she'd already hurt Lucas, then Derek, now her stepdad. This wasn't a good day.