Taken at Dusk (Shadow Falls #3)(111)

Heidi stood up. "I have to go to my son now. I need to tell him that I love him. That's why I stayed here. To tell him how sorry I am that I gave him away."

"Why did you do it?" Kylie asked, hoping something would jog her memory. "Why did you give him away?"

She tilted her head as if to think again. "Because they wanted the little ones more than they wanted us."

"Who?" Kylie asked. "The FRU?"

"Yes," she said. "It was the only way to keep him safe. If I'd run with him, they'd have found me. So I gave him away. I told Malcolm I lost the baby. I had to do it. He trusted them. He said they wouldn't hurt our baby and they would just study him for a little while. But I didn't believe them. So I gave the baby away, I lied to Malcolm, and then I came back because I loved him so much."

"Why did they want to study the baby?" Kylie asked.

"I don't remember ... Wait, it was because we were different and they didn't like it."

"How were we different?"

She shook her head. Her brow wrinkled. "Everything is still so messed up. I remember some things and not others. Malcolm will know."

She leaned down and pressed a hand to Kylie's cheek. "I'm going to see my boy. But you, Kylie Galen, are everything I would have wanted in a granddaughter. I must go now."

Kylie wanted to scream no and beg Heidi to stay, that she had more questions. But it was too late. Heidi had already disappeared.

Fifteen minutes later, Kylie sat silently in the Mustang as Burnett pulled up to the camp. She'd told Burnett everything. About how Jane Doe was really her grandmother, and she'd given Kylie's father away for adoption because the FRU were taking children like them to study. He put the car in park and looked at her. "So you think he went to find the Brightens?"

Kylie nodded.

"I'll see if I can find Malcolm Summers in Ireland. But there's a good chance you might have to wait until he gets back."

Kylie nodded, not liking being this close and still so far away. She reached for the door handle and then looked back at Burnett. "You're not coming in?"

He frowned. "No."

She hesitated to ask but then went for it. "Are you ever coming back?"

He gripped the wheel. "I don't know."

"Why?"

He stared straight ahead. "It's what she wants. She doesn't trust me anymore."

Kylie swallowed. "Neither did I."

He arched a brow at her.

"When you were driving me to the house, I was afraid that you were taking me to be tested."

He frowned. Hurt lingered in his eyes.

"But that's because I saw what the FRU did to my grandmother. I lived bits and pieces of it through her, and when someone lives through something bad, it's hard to trust. I don't know exactly what happened to Holiday with that other vampire, she won't even talk to me about it, but it must have been bad. It scared her and now she's scared to love again. But if you just hang in there..."

"I have hung in there. I'm done."

They sat there staring at each other for several long seconds. "I should go," he said finally.

Kylie got out. As she watched Burnett pull away, the emotions playing in her heart were the same as the ones she'd felt the day she watched Tom Galen drive away with his suitcases.

Shadow Falls was her family. They'd already lost Ellie. They didn't need to lose Burnett, too. But for the life of her, she didn't know how she could change this.

* * *

Lucas met Kylie at the gate. More than anything, she needed a hug. She wanted to tell him what she'd learned, but what she got was his anger.

"Why didn't you wait on me?" he demanded.

Maybe it was because her emotions were already on the edge, but she just started walking away.

"Damn it!" Lucas said, and moved in step with her. "Why in the hell would you go back to the cemetery, anyway? And why would they allow Derek to go with you?"

"Because I needed answers. And because Derek is my friend. Just like Fredericka is yours!"

He caught her by the arm. "Do you know how worried I've been?"

"Yes," Kylie snapped. "You were as worried about me as I am about you when you run off and play wolf for a night."

He looked stunned. "I can't help what I am, Kylie."

"Neither can I, Lucas." Tears sprang to her eyes. "I don't know what I am, but I know that what I do is deal with ghosts. And if you can't accept that, then maybe you can't accept me."

"I didn't say that," he insisted. "I just want-"

"You want me to be werewolf," she said. "You want me to be werewolf so your family and your pack will accept me. But right now, it's not looking good that you'll get what you want. So maybe you need to think about that, too."

She took off.

He caught up with her. "I'm sorry," he said. "It's just I can't stand the thought of something happening to you. And ... nothing is going to change between us, no matter what you are." He lifted her chin and met her eyes. "Don't you know how I feel?"

He pulled her against his chest, and Kylie let him. She buried herself in his warmth and tried to believe that he spoke the truth, but she couldn't lie to herself. She knew Lucas wanted to believe it, but she wasn't completely convinced that it would be the case if his grandmother really got involved. Kylie wasn't even sure it was fair of her to ask him to make that choice.