Whispers at Moonrise (Shadow Falls #4)(111)

"Kylie, you get the pleasure of Fredericka's company."

Oh, great. The were had saved her life only to kill her later.

"I can follow you if you want," Della whispered, her eyes bright.

Kylie shook her head, tired of always being under someone else's protection. "No."

Fredericka walked up. "You wanna walk to the lake?"

"Sure," Kylie answered. Why not? The lake would be a nice place to die.

"I'll see you later." Della's tone came with all kinds of warnings for Fredericka.

As they started walking, neither Kylie nor Fredericka talked. Kylie listened, but amazingly, she barely heard their footsteps. The ability to move in silence must be part of being were. Her mind chewed on what Fredericka really wanted.

Or it did until her friendly blue jay showed up and did a song and dance right in front of them.

Fredericka frowned. Kylie shooed the bird away. "Go!"

As they continued on, Kylie did some thinking. She didn't believe the she-wolf really wanted to kill her. Then again, hadn't she already tried once? Putting a lion in Kylie's bedroom several months back hadn't been an act of kindness. But if the girl really planned on murder, would she have let the whole camp know they were together?

Then another thought suddenly hit. Was Fredericka pissed that Kylie hadn't said thank you for saving her life?

She'd planned on doing it. She really had. But she'd spent all her energy on stopping herself from glowing this weekend. Nevertheless, she should have done it first thing this morning. Was it too late?

Better late than never.

"Burnett told me you saved my life," Kylie said. "I should say thank you."

Fredericka's dark black hair swung loose around her shoulders. She was at least three inches taller than Kylie, and probably outweighed her by twenty pounds. Not that Kylie was seriously frightened anymore.

"I probably did it more for Holiday than you," the were said.

Probably? "I figured that," Kylie said, "but thanks anyway."

Fredericka nodded and remained quiet for the next few minutes. Kylie hated the tense silence. "Did you pay blood to get Chris to match us up?"

The were nodded. "Three pints. He said since he might get in trouble for pairing up enemies, I had to pay more."

"That's a lot of blood," Kylie said, when she couldn't think of anything else to say. Then the thought of blood had her remembering how she'd felt when she thought she'd killed Collin Warren. Fredericka had to feel the same, didn't she? Kylie's gratitude suddenly grew. "I'm sorry that ... you had to ... ki-Do it."

"It was nothing." She glanced at Kylie. "I've killed before."

Kylie couldn't swear on it, but something told her that if she'd been able to hear the girl's heartbeat, it would have told a different story.

"It still can't be easy," Kylie said.

"I'm over it," she snapped, but her tone said she wasn't.

And I'm still sorry.

More silence hung in the air. Fredericka finally spoke again. "You were wrong to sic your skunk on me."

"I didn't sic him on you," Kylie said, being honest. "You attacked him."

"It still wasn't nice," she said, and growled.

"Neither was putting a lion in my room." There, Kylie had thrown that bone out for them to chew on.

"I guess so." Fredericka looked away, but not quick enough.

Kylie saw the truth. "You didn't do it." She shook her head. "Why did you lie and say you did?"

She didn't answer for a long time. "I heard rumors that you thought I did it. I figured, why not let you believe it? I didn't like you."

"And now?" Kylie asked, still wondering why the were had paid three pints of blood to have an hour with her.

"Still don't like you," she said matter-of-factly. "But after I saw what you did for Holiday, I don't hate you as much."

"Well, there's a compliment I'll savor," Kylie said, letting a little humor slip into her voice. Fredericka didn't respond.

They arrived at the lake, and the girl stood there and looked out at the water. "I love Lucas," she confessed.

Kylie inhaled and tried to figure out how to play her cards now. Honesty seemed the only way. "So do I."

The were looked at Kylie, anguish filling the girl's eyes. "I know. That's why I wanted to talk to you. While I don't like you, I like her even less. And at least I know he cares about you. Even before you showed up here, he'd mentioned you to me. I was jealous of you even then."

Kylie shook her head, trying to play catch-up with Fredericka's conversation. "I'm not following you."

"I'm talking about Monique. I know he's told you that he can get out of it. But I'm not sure he can. I don't think you should let him do it."

"I'm still not following you," Kylie said, but she already had a feeling she didn't like what Fredericka had to say.

Fredericka just stared. "Shit. He didn't tell you? He said he did and you understood. That damn dog lied to me."

Frustration welled up inside Kylie. "Lied about what?"

"Lucas's betrothal ceremony is tonight."