Chosen at Nightfall (Shadow Falls #5)(8)

Derek's words rang in her head. Chameleons were her own kind. Her grandfather was blood. Yet Burnett and Derek were ... they were family, too.

Out of nowhere, another figure appeared, this one snatching her grandfather off Burnett in an extremely rough manner. Her grandfather managed to stay on his feet but swung at the newcomer.

Feeling forced into action, even before considering what she was doing, she moved in, grabbed the newest member of the fight by his T-shirt, and tossed him away from her grandfather. The helpless figure was about ten feet in the air and making his way down to the ground-fast-when his blue eyes found hers and Kylie realized who she'd tossed.

Lucas.

So he had come.

The memory of him kissing his fiancee flashed in her head and echoed painfully in her heart. And for a flicker of a second, she wished she'd tossed him twice as hard.

She turned away, barely managing to catch her breath, when her gaze found Derek, still struggling against the two chameleons who held him. "Let him go," she seethed to the men. She recognized them as part of her grandfather's group, but it didn't matter. She wouldn't let them hurt Derek.

Her words hadn't completely left her lips, when suddenly the guys who held Derek dropped to the ground like dead flies. Derek scowled down at their bodies and stood straighter, almost with a sense of pride that he'd accomplished something.

Seeing the lifeless bodies on the ground brought on a wave of panic. What had Derek done? She'd wanted them to release Derek, but she hadn't wanted them ... She remembered Derek's ability to mentally knock people out, but leave them basically unharmed. Or at least she hoped they were left unharmed.

Swinging back to her right, she refused to look at Lucas, but she heard him getting to his feet, and she felt him staring. Felt his gaze begging for just a glance. He could beg all he wanted; he wasn't getting it.

Yet less than two weeks ago, she would have given him her heart. Who was she kidding, she had given him her heart. That's why this was so hard.

Blinking, she refocused on her grandfather, who looked prepared to charge Burnett again.

Burnett, blood oozing from his lip, stood up. His expression and body language held ferocity; he was a man about to even the odds, but the one hand he held out suggested an attempt at peace. Thank God someone had sense, because with her broken heart replaying a painful song over and over in her head, she didn't think she was completely in control.

When her grandfather took another step forward, Burnett spoke up. "You and I have no fight between us. Stop this before someone gets hurt."Kylie, realizing she needed to react, rushed to her grandfather's side. "He's right," she said. "Stop, please!" She wrapped her hand around his arm. Heat filled her chest. The warmth traveled down her arm and into her fingers. Then she felt it flow from her touch into her grandfather. She instinctively knew that she had passed the emotion of calm to her grandfather. And it was obviously working, because he dropped his head down and breathed in as if to collect himself. Chin still lowered, he must have spotted the men Derek had caused to pass out, because he hurried to them.

"They're fine," Derek said, and stepped away from her grandfather as if he half feared the man might come at him. But the signs of aggression her grandfather had worn minutes earlier were gone.

Kylie recalled the calming touch she'd passed him. Had she instinctively transformed into fae? She had to have, hadn't she?

Lucas took a step closer, not that she gazed at him directly, but from her peripheral vision she noted his movements. She attempted to tap into some of the serene emotions that she'd just passed to her grandfather. But it didn't work. The pain of Lucas's betrayal rose in her heart, crowded her better judgment, and knotted in her throat.

Her grandfather spoke up. "Everyone leave but Kylie and Mr. James."

"So you can attack him again?" Lucas asked, his tone hard, angry. And yet she could swear she heard remorse in his tone, too. She imagined his expression, his eyes filled with shadows of regret, but she still didn't look at him.

"Do as he says," Burnett ordered. Kylie could tell that, like her, Burnett recognized that her grandfather had seen reason.

People started walking away. Kylie again sensed Lucas moving, but his footsteps faltered as he moved in behind her. His scent filled the air she breathed, and his whispered question reached her ears. "Do you hate me so much that you can't even look at me?"

If only she could hate him, Kylie thought.

Then he continued in a voice meant only for her. "I never cared about her. Only you." The sound of his footsteps moving away sounded like the last beats of a sad song.

Physically he had left, but his words hung on. They filled Kylie with wave after wave of emotion. She knew Lucas spoke the truth-knew because, still being fae, she felt his sentiments-felt them seep into her skin, slip into her heart, and swell to the point of pain. But knowing he spoke the truth didn't change anything.

Whether he'd intentionally set out to hurt her or not didn't alter the fact that he had. How could he not have known how devastated she would be to learn he'd promised himself to someone else? Could he not see how hurt she'd be, knowing that for the months they'd been together, he had been seeing this girl, and at least pretending to care about her?

Right then, someone else's footsteps moved behind her. She felt the light touch of fingertips brushing across her shoulder blades. A slow, soft touch, not meant to seduce, not meant to draw attention. Meant only to soothe.