Taken at Dusk (Shadow Falls #3)(82)

"Well, they thought wrong!"

"They are seldom wrong, Kylie."

"Well, there's always a first time, isn't there!"

"Earth to Kylie!" Della yelled, bringing Kylie back to the present. "What is it with you? Did your little trip to hell mess up your mind?" Della grinned.

"What are you talking about?" Kylie asked.

"You keep staring at me and going blank. You've done it for almost two days now, and it's freaking me out a bit."

"I'm sorry."

"It's probably because she misses her hunky werewolf." Miranda placed a hand over her heart. "She's heartsick. Her aura is all grayish. She's gone without his kisses for almost two days." Then Miranda opened the front door and waved them out.

"Poor little thing," Della said.

Kylie rolled her eyes and followed them out. Good thing she liked her roommates, or she might really be pissed.

They hadn't stepped off the porch when Ellie, with a couple of other vampires, walked past.

Ellie shot over to Kylie. "How are your scratches?"

"Gone." Kylie held out her arm.

"Good." Just a bit of awkwardness moved in, and Ellie apparently noticed. "I'll see you."

"Yeah," Kylie said, and Ellie turned to go. It dawned on Kylie that in the vision, the person in the casket could have been Ellie. "Ellie?"

She swung around, and Kylie didn't know what she wanted to say; she just didn't want Ellie to leave thinking she'd been rude. "Thanks," Kylie blurted out.

Ellie looked puzzled. "For what?"

"For ... being considerate enough to ask about my arm." Okay, that sounded so lame.

"Oh. You're welcome." Ellie walked backward, waved, then swung around and ran to catch up with her group.

"What was that all about?" Della asked when Ellie was out of hearing range and they were down the porch steps.

"Yeah," Miranda said. "I mean, if I'd found out someone had boinked my boyfriend, I wouldn't be so nice."

"Derek wasn't my boyfriend," Kylie said.

"Yeah, and bears don't do it in the woods, either," Della said.

Kylie held up her hands. "Stop it, okay? I don't care what happened between Ellie and Derek."

Della mouthed the word liar and then said, "Truth is, I don't like the chick. I hate the way she's so friendly and nice. Gives my kind a bad name."

Kylie frowned at Della. "Don't mistreat her because of this. I'm serious, Della. She didn't know about me when it happened."

"Okay," Della said. "That means she's not devious. But it still makes her a slut."

Miranda laughed and Kylie moaned. "I don't think she's like that." Kylie hesitated and then added, "She jumped in the sinkhole, willing to risk her life to save Perry and me."

"Yeah, she did do that," Miranda said. "But it doesn't change the fact that-"

"Damn it! Can we just not talk about it," Kylie said.

"Man," Miranda said. "It must be time for your lunar PMS, because Della's right. You haven't been yourself lately. You're like majorly grumpy."

Kylie wished Miranda were right. That her mood hinged on nothing more than her being a werewolf, instead of her other long list of problems.

And if she ended up being a were, Lucas would be happy. Really happy.

* * *

"Shit!" Miranda muttered thirty minutes later.

They were still waiting for Todd, who'd gotten lost and had called Miranda and told her he was three minutes away.

"Shit what?" Della asked, but then said, "Oh, shit."

"What?" Kylie asked, obviously the only one in the dark.

Then she saw it, or rather him, and she completely agreed with the assessment. "Oh, shit."

"Hey," Perry said as he moved in. Kylie couldn't help noticing that he'd gotten his hair cut and wore a tighter-fitting shirt and jeans. Something about his haircut made him appear older, more of a man than a young teen. The way his shirt hugged his upper torso accented his broad shoulders. His eyes were blue, and the way they twinkled when he looked at Miranda had Kylie's heart melting. Confidence seemed to ooze from his smile. Even his body posture spoke of a coolness she'd never seen him exude. For the first time, Kylie spotted what it was that Miranda found so attractive about Perry.

"Looking hot," Della said, obviously noticing the same thing.

"Why, thank you." His blue eyes sparkled as he shifted his gaze back to Miranda. "But I'm not the only one looking good tonight. Really good."

"Thanks." Miranda looked at Kylie as if begging her to do something.

Kylie glanced at Della, who just grinned.

"Uh, Perry..." Kylie started talking, not sure how she would fix this. "We were just sort of talking, privately, about-"

"About Miranda's date," Perry said.

"Oh, shit," Della said again.

Ditto, Kylie wanted to say.

Perry focused on Miranda. "I know about your date."

Miranda shot Kylie a look as if accusing her of spilling the beans.

Kylie shook her head no and refocused on Perry. His eyes changed from blue to bright green, but if Perry was about to wig out on them and change into some kind of warlock-eating monster, he gave no other indication. "I just wanted to tell you that while I don't like it, I'm hoping you'll give me the same chance you're giving this asswad ... I mean, this guy."