Taken at Dusk (Shadow Falls #3)(11)

It wasn't her avoiding direct eye contact that gave it away, more like the emphasis on the second "nothing" that hinted at the truth. Miranda shot Kylie a quick look that said she'd heard it, too. The little vamp was holding back ... as usual.

While Kylie debated the wisdom of trying to push Della into giving more, Miranda, who spoke first and seldom thought things through, knocked wisdom out the window and went for it.

"Liar," Miranda accused. "If I could hear your heartbeat right now, I bet it would prove it, too. What happened? What are you not telling us?"

Della snarled at Miranda. Kylie could feel the fragile truce shattering.

"Chan didn't show up, did he?" Miranda asked.

Kylie hadn't thought about that. "Did he show up?" Kylie seconded Miranda's question-not out of curiosity, but out of concern.

Chan, Della's cousin, was also a vampire and had helped Della through the turn. However, Chan was also under suspicion of murder by the FRU. After meeting the wild-eyed Chan when he'd broken school policy and dropped by for a visit several weeks earlier, Kylie wasn't completely sure he wasn't guilty of the crime. Not that Kylie would tell Della that.

"No, he didn't show up," Della said. "But he e-mailed me."

Miranda made a funny noise. Kylie looked at her.

"Frog in my throat," Miranda said, and returned to glaring at Della.

When no one said anything, Della looked at Kylie. "Your turn. It's much more exciting than what happened to me."

"What do you mean by 'what happened to you'?" Kylie asked.

"I knew it!" Miranda leaned forward. "Something did happen. 'Fess up. Did it involve a boy? Tell us! Spill your guts, vamp."

Chapter Four

"No, it's my turn." Kylie, regretting her inquiry, held up her hand, hoping to prevent an out-and-out war between her two best friends. She took a deep breath. "I already told you most of it when we talked on the phone. But what I still can't get over is that I healed both Lucas and Sara. Which means another ability you can add to my hodgepodge of gifts. Any idea what it could mean? Because I'd really like to figure out what I am."

"We can't figure you out," Miranda said. "You're just a weirdo." She snickered, and even Della cut a quick smile.

Kylie frowned.

Miranda wiped the humor off her face. "Just joking. But seriously, you are ... different. Just the fact that no one can see deep into your pattern, and that it changes, well, it's not normal." She squinted her eyes and stared at Kylie's forehead. "I've never seen a brain pattern shift like that, unless it was a shape-shifter during a shift."

Kylie bit into her lip and considered the wisdom of asking the question now needling her brain. But if she couldn't ask her two best friends, whom could she ask? "What do you know about protectors?"

Silence filled the room. Then Miranda exchanged a quick glance with Della.

"Why?" Miranda asked.

"Shit!" Della said. "Oh, my friggin' God! You're a protector? I mean, I've never met one, but from what I heard they are like ... super, super rare."

Kylie held up her hand to stop Della from jumping to conclusions. "I don't know anything for sure, but Holiday seems to think it's possible. She said that would explain how Daniel died-because he couldn't protect himself. And it would also explain why I couldn't help myself with the vampire."

"You did help. You broke down a concrete wall," Miranda said.

"Only after I heard the rogue beating Lucas."

Miranda's eyes widened. "And you were only able to take on Selynn when you thought she'd hurt your mom. Holy shit, I'm rooming with a protector. I mean, nobody will mess with me anymore because you'll kick their ass." Her voice rose. "I'm friends with a protector. Do you know how cool that makes me?"

Miranda and Della gave each other a high five.

Kylie stared at them. "Do you know how much more uncool it makes me?"

"That doesn't make you uncool," Della said. "It makes you amazing. You wouldn't believe all I've heard about protectors. It would mean that when you get all your powers, you would be even stronger than I am." A frown appeared in her dark, slightly slanted eyes. "I don't know if I like that, but it's still amazing."

"But I don't want to be amazing. I just want to figure out what I am and then go through my hybrid supernatural life with my not-so-grand gifts. Help a ghost out here and there and, yeah, it will be neat to heal a few people. I'd be fine with that. Because..." Kylie hesitated, unsure about being completely honest, but then decided what the hell. "Maybe it's not so much that I don't want to be amazing, it's that I'm not so sure I can live up to ... amazing. I'm not like you." She pointed to Della. "I'm not fearless and I'm certainly not brave. I like things easy, low or no risk."

Miranda cleared her throat as if waiting for Kylie to add her to the declaration.

"I'm not like you either," Kylie said. "I'm not-"

"Don't worry," Miranda said. "I know I'm not a kick-ass girl."

"You're still braver than I am. And you're never afraid to speak your mind. You don't care what people think. I wouldn't ever dye my hair out of fear that people wouldn't like it."