Taken at Dusk (Shadow Falls #3)(105)

"I tried to save her," Kylie said. "I really tried."

Derek suddenly jolted up. "What happened?"

Kylie stood. Derek looked at her and then pain filled his eyes. "Ellie?"

Kylie put a hand over her mouth and more tears flowed.

Derek ran out and found Ellie's body. He knelt beside her and Kylie saw his eyes fill with tears of rage. "Who did this?"

Guilt swelled in Kylie. "It was the old vampire, the one after me."

Holiday and about a dozen of the others came moving around the bend of the ledge. Kylie looked for Lucas, wishing he were here to hold her, but then she remembered he'd gone to see his grandmother.

She turned and faced the cave, her emotions too raw. She heard several of the campers gasp and some cry. No doubt they were seeing Ellie's body.

Holiday moved in and placed a hand on Kylie's shoulder.

Tears streamed down her face; she held out her bloody hands and gazed at Holiday. "What good is this gift, if I can't save those I want to save?"

Holiday didn't try to answer; she just wrapped Kylie in her arms and held her close.

"We need to go before it gets dark," Holiday finally said.

Derek picked up Ellie's body as though she were a rag doll, then Kylie saw him reach back down for her LITTLE VAMP cap. He tucked the cap under his arm and carried Ellie down the steep path.

They walked for about five minutes; no one spoke. Derek dropped Ellie's cap, and the wind blew it past Kylie. Kylie heard him ask someone to pick it up. At the very back of the single-file line, and feeling numb, Kylie turned to go grab the cap. She saw it only about twenty feet away. She moved in, almost ready to reach for it, when a big gust of wind moved it closer to the edge.

Kylie moved another couple of feet. The wind took the cap to the very edge. It hovered there, half on and half off the ledge.

Only then did Kylie sense the unnaturalness of the breeze.

She wasn't alone.

The sound of a dry branch snapping had never sounded scarier. Someone stood behind her. And less than two feet in front stood ... death. She had no idea how deep the cavern went, but she suspected the fall would be fatal.

Breath held, thinking any second she would feel someone give her that fatal push, she turned. The old vampire Mario and two other elderly supernaturals stood there staring at her with cold, calculating gazes. All three were dressed like monks, their dark robes stirring in the wind.

"Kylie Galen," Mario said. His voice sounded as aged as he looked, but the sense of power could not be overlooked. Was this really what she was? She studied Mario; closer, his eyes were black, coal black. She saw only evil, and the idea that she shared anything in common with these people disgusted her. "So we meet again."

She took a small step back, closer to the ledge. "Much to my misfortune," Kylie said, and she felt the heel of her tennis shoe find the edge of the embankment.

"'Tis true, my dear," he said. "Although, if you are so inclined as to save yourself, join us now. Pledge to us your allegiance and you will live. My grandson will make you a good husband."

"What are you?" She tightened her brows and saw into their patterns. Mario was vampire, the bearded one was warlock, and the other carried the pattern of a werewolf. But all three patterns were dark and ominous.

"Join us and you will have your answers."

Kylie swallowed and sent up a little prayer. She prayed for help. Then she prayed for forgiveness for anything and everything she'd ever done wrong. Then she prayed for courage. She took another step back until her feet hit nothing.

Chapter Thirty-six

Gravity grabbed Kylie from below. Her breath caught at the same time a hand caught her arm. Her heart throbbing in her chest, she looked up into the face of her rescuer. Red.

He jerked her back to safety.

She found her footing, beside him. But her mind raced as she realized he'd saved her. "Hello, Kylie," the rogue said.

She just stared at him, not sure what to say.

"She made her choice," said the bearded man standing beside Mario. His dark brown robe fluttered in the wind as he raised his hand and pointed those long, aged fingers at her. She stared in something akin to horror as flames came from the tips of his fingers.

Red jumped in front of her, and the old man's flames stopped. "I told you I would change her mind. Give her time. She's too good to kill."

"She has made her choice," Mario said. "Her time is up. Move out of the way. Let her plummet to her death."

"No," Red said.

Kylie stared at Red, confused by his willingness to protect her. And yet hadn't he been doing it all along?

"You dare to disobey me in front of my peers?" Mario growled.

"I dare," Red said. "I've spent my entire life living by your rules. You murdered my mother. You forced my father to run away. I've accepted that all my life, and I have asked nothing of you but this. Spare her. For me."

"She cannot be spared," said the other old man. "She will bring us down."

"She won't. I'll take care of her," Red said. "I'll change her mind, I'll convince her." There was pleading in his voice.

"The decision is made," the bearded man said.

The second old man raised his hand, and a surge of wind picked her up from the ground and knocked her back toward the edge.