Taken at Dusk (Shadow Falls #3)(57)

"I wouldn't have been disturbed," he said, sounding disappointed. "I thought maybe you'd come to me because you needed something."

"No. I'm still learning how the dreamscaping works. I woke up ... there."

He paused. "So you don't need me?"

"No. I'm fine." She closed her eyes and tried not to let the caring sound of his voice lure her into wanting things she couldn't have. He was with Ellie now. Or maybe not with Ellie. It didn't matter. What did matter was that he'd ended their relationship. He hadn't even wanted to try to fix whatever it was that made it hard for him to be with her.

And she'd moved on. She was with Lucas-maybe not actually going out, but practically. And he'd been here for her. He wanted to be here for her.

"Okay, I just ... wanted to check on you. I do care about you, Kylie." His voice dropped, and for a moment he sounded like the old Derek. The Derek who'd cared about her. The Derek who'd have done anything to make her happy. "You know that, don't you?"

She swallowed before answering. "Yeah," she said honestly. "I care about you, too." And then she forced herself to ask, "How's Ellie doing?"

He was quiet for a second, as if he knew what she was doing. Reminding him that they were just friends. "She's good. Adapting."

"Good," Kylie said. "I met her briefly the other day. She seems nice." And very pretty. She bit down on her lip.

"She is nice," he said.

"Yeah. Well, I'm happy for you." Kylie wasn't sure how true it was, but she wanted it to be true, and for that reason it didn't feel like that big of a lie.

"I told you we're not really together," he said, sounding frustrated.

"Yeah," she said, and when he didn't say anything else, she decided to do the right thing. "I need to go. I'm supposed to call Holiday."

"Okay," he said.

She disconnected the call and pushed away the melancholy. She did need to call Holiday, and then she had to figure out what the ghost had meant her to learn from the vision.

* * *

Even though she was sleep-deprived, Kylie called her mom first thing the next morning. She had to know what happened.

"So?" Kylie dropped back on the bed.

"So, what?" Her mom sounded as if she were still sleeping.

"Was it a business lunch or a date lunch?"

"Oh. It was..." Her mom's pause told Kylie more than her mom probably wanted to share. "It was fun."

"How fun?" Kylie tried not to let her emotions leak into her voice as she knotted a handful of sheet in her hand.

"Just fun. I enjoyed myself, that's all. I don't mean ... It's not as if ... Look, baby, we had a good time, but I'm not sure anything will come of it."

"He didn't ask you out again?" Kylie petted Socks, who had jumped up to get some attention.

"He said he'd call. But you know men always say that. And they never do."

Kylie tightened her hold on her phone. "If he calls, will you go out with him?"

"I don't know," her mom said. "Oh, someone's knocking on the front door. I'd better run." The line went dead.

Kylie sighed. She had a sneaking suspicion nobody was at the door. Her mom just didn't want to talk about it. Not that she could blame her.

Seconds ticked by, but Kylie didn't move. She just lay there, stretched out on her twin mattress, staring up at the ceiling. Ambivalence filled her chest. Did this mean her mom and her stepdad would never get back together?

* * *

A quick shower later, Kylie walked out of the bathroom with a towel around her to find Miranda standing attentively in the hall, as if waiting on her.

"What's up?" Kylie asked.

"I'm your shadow," Miranda announced proudly.

"I thought Della-"

"You don't think I can protect you?" She held out her pinky. "I have powers, girlie."

Actually, Kylie had doubts about Miranda's protecting abilities, but she wouldn't dare say that. "No, I just remember Burnett saying it was Della this morning."

"She went to her sunrise ceremony and I'm supposed to get you to the office, where Della will meet us in about five minutes. So let's go."

Kylie looked down at her towel. "Can I get dressed first?"

"Someone's not a morning person this fine day." Miranda made a funny face, and Kylie took off to her room to get dressed.

A few minutes later, they walked out the cabin door. Miranda turned back to the door, waved her arms around, and began to chant. The last time Miranda did that, she felt unwanted visitors; it turned out Mario and Red had been hanging out, watching Kylie.

"What are you doing?" Kylie asked. "Do you sense someone's here again?"

Miranda frowned. "A little." She pinched her right thumb and forefinger together.

"A little?" Annoyance snaked through Kylie. "How can you sense someone here just a little? I mean, they're either here or not, right?"

"Don't wig out on me," Miranda said. "I just got a feeling and I thought it couldn't hurt to do a protection spell."

"Have you told Burnett?" Kylie asked.