Taken at Dusk (Shadow Falls #3)(75)

"Okay, let's get something out in the open. I know you had sex with Derek." Her voice seemed to bounce from tree to tree.

"Damn!" Perry said, and grinned. "This is gonna be better than I thought."

Chapter Twenty-five

Kylie glared at the shape-shifter.

Perry's smile vanished.

Kylie arched a brow. "Do it."

He frowned. "Not the deaf cat again," he pleaded. "I can't hear. My equilibrium is thrown off. It's like I'm in a vacuum."

She didn't look away until the sparkles started popping off like fireworks. Then she turned and faced Ellie, who stared wide-eyed at the cascading sparkles around Perry.

"Holy shit! I've never seen a shape-shifter transform before. I mean, I heard about what happens when they shift, but that is so cool."

"Did you hear what I said?" Kylie crossed her arms over her chest as fury built in the pit of her stomach.

"Did you see him change?" Ellie asked.

Kylie tapped her tennis shoe in the moist, rocky soil. "I said I know you had sex with Derek."

Ellie continued to stare at Perry, who was now a white, blue-eyed feline. There was a sudden silence in the woods. Kylie ignored it and focused on Ellie.

"Yeah, I heard you," Ellie said, still not looking at her. "And I'm purposely stalling, so I can figure out how to answer you." The dark-haired vamp released a deep breath and looked at Kylie. "Derek told you?"

Kylie nodded.

Ellie shook her head. "Just like Derek. He's one of those nice guys who think the truth is the best policy."

"You would have lied to me?" Kylie asked, searching for a reason to really dislike the girl. As if having sex with Derek weren't enough of a reason. But then again, Kylie and Derek hadn't had a commitment; they hadn't even gone out on an official date. And Derek and Ellie shared a past.

"Yup. I'd have lied," Ellie said. "Not for spite or anything. Just because ... well, what happened between me and Derek didn't mean crap, so what would be the point of letting that cause a bunch of shit?"

Kylie frowned. "If it didn't mean crap, then why did you do it?"

She shrugged. "Because I wanted it to mean something."

"That doesn't make sense," Kylie accused.

Ellie frowned. "Okay, look. I like Derek. A lot. I mean, he's hot, he's sweet, and so damn great. But ... there are just no sparks. Like before when we were dating. We had a lot of sparkless sex. I'm sure you've dealt with that, right?"

Kylie didn't correct her. Admitting she was a virgin to a stranger didn't sit well with her.

"So when he appears at this party, I'm feeling a tiny bit scared, slightly vulnerable, and he shows up like a knight in shining armor. And he looks hot, and I think maybe this time there'd be sparks." She shook her head. "But no sparks."

Kylie felt the air grow cold around them. Dead cold. Please not now, she said in her head.

"If he told you about the sex," Ellie continued, "then he also told you that as soon as it was over, we both were like ... 'God, that was a mistake.' And five minutes later, he's telling me about some girl he met named Kylie."

Kylie stared down at the ground, and she could swear it had just shifted beneath her feet. She glanced over at Perry, who sat on a tree limb, swatting at a butterfly.

"You do know he really cares about you, right?" Ellie asked.

The ghost materialized right in front of Kylie, and she looked panicked, scared.

Please ... not now!

Kylie ignored the spirit and studied Ellie. Suddenly the whole conversation seemed silly and totally unnecessary. She had no right to be upset that Derek and Ellie had sex. None. Zilch. Zero.

"I'm sorry," Kylie said. "I shouldn't have-"

"Yeah, you should have. If some chick had sex with a guy I liked, I'd be pissed, too. It's cool that you just spoke your mind. I respect that."

"No," Kylie said. "I mean, it's not like ... that with me and Derek. Yeah, Derek and I were almost something, but then..." He just ended it. She stopped herself. She didn't want to go into that. "It's over."

"Right. Over." Ellie rolled her eyes. "Seriously? Every time we walk into a crowd of people, do you know what he does? He looks for you." She chuckled. "Which is silly. And so I asked him about it. I go, 'You say you can feel her a mile away, so you know she's not here, so why do you look for her if you already know?'" Ellie grinned. "You know what he said to me? He said, 'Hope lives eternal.'"

Kylie recognized the words she'd offered Perry a little while ago.

"The guy's got it bad for you," Ellie said.

Kylie shook her head again. "No, it's over. He ended it. I'm going out with someone else now."

"You are?" Shock widened Ellie's blue eyes. "Does Derek know?"

"No. I mean, I'm going to be going out with someone else." Feeling like a dork, she added, "Lucas asked me to go out at breakfast. But I didn't get a chance to say yes."

Ellie raised her eyebrows in suspicion. "So, you didn't say yes."

Kylie frowned, and the dead cold seemed to crawl against her skin. "We were interrupted."