Whispers at Moonrise (Shadow Falls #4)(29)

Doubt filled her. Had Daniel lied? Had her grandmother just been confused when she told Kylie's father they were chameleons? But why would Burnett have heard of chameleons if they didn't exist? Why did her life have to be so damn difficult?

"Tell me already!" Kylie insisted. "Am I a witch?"

Chapter Eleven

Derek nodded. "It's true. Your pattern says you're a witch."

Miranda folded her arms against her chest. "Don't you want to be a witch?" She sounded offended.

"Of course she doesn't want to be witch," Della mouthed off, still looking pissed at being woken up. "It's boring as hell. You don't do anything but throw herbs around and the only way you can fly is on a broom."

"It's not boring! And I do not fly on a broom! I swear, one witch did that and now we all get stereotyped." Miranda's eyes tightened with anger.

"Admit it," Della said. "If you had the power to change yourself, you'd be a vampire."

Miranda vehemently shook her head. "Who would want to be a bloodsucking, cold bitch with fangs!"

Kylie stared at the two of them verbally sparring, tossing insults so fast she couldn't even keep up. Then, too befuddled to intervene, she grabbed Socks before he wandered off in the woods.

Her gaze shifted back to the trees. The woods still called to her. What the hell was going on?

Her mind whirled as she headed to the cabin. Derek fell in step beside her. His shirt, left unbuttoned, fluttered open, exposing his hard abs. Not that she really noticed. Okay, so she noticed, but it didn't mean anything. Except that she was female and females found shirtless guys appealing.

"You're feeling confused," Derek stated.

"Yup." She didn't slow down. She couldn't. She was too annoyed that she found him so appealing. Too annoyed at the damn woods calling her like an old friend to come out and play. She didn't have any old friends. Not anyone looming in the woods.

"You're feeling betrayed," he said.

"Yup. Well, sort of." She continued to the cabin and snuggled her kitten to her chest. Her heart ached and the beginning of tears stung her eyes.

"And you're scared."

"Three out of three," she said. Yet all she felt now was ...

"Frustrated." Derek finished her thought for her.

She stopped and looked him dead in the eyes. "You don't have to tell me what I feel. I know what I'm feeling."

"And you're in a pissy mood," he added with a smile. When she didn't respond in kind, his humor faded. "Sorry. I'm just ... I want to understand."

"You know what I'm feeling; what more do you need to understand?" She stormed up the porch steps with Socks tucked under one arm, and yanked the door open so hard it made a loud banging sound when it hit the wall. Socks flinched. Derek followed her inside.

"I know your emotions, but I can only guess the reasons for them."

She dropped down on the sofa and held Socks in her lap. "Look, I'm in a really bad mood right now, and I suggest you might want to leave."

Derek dropped down beside her. He ignored what she said and continued, "For example, I know you're afraid, but what are you afraid of? Are you frustrated because you're a witch, or because your two best friends can't stop biting each other's heads off? And who are you feeling betrayed by right now? Is it me? Is it about..."

"No," she said before he mentioned Ellie and Kylie had to deal with those emotions as well. "It isn't you." Or maybe it was a little, she thought, remembering Miranda's comment about how she'd talked about Derek all the time.

"Is it about Lucas?" he asked. "You can tell me if it is. I want to help you and if it means listening to your issues with him, I'll do it."

She pulled Socks closer. "It isn't Lucas." But then she remembered their meeting last night, when Lucas had admitted to keeping secrets from her.

A long pause filled the room. Derek leaned in, his shoulder touched hers, and his emotional healing abilities flowed over her like a welcome breath of fresh air. Kylie had no doubt that the touch was on purpose, that he'd meant to help her.

She stared at Socks, then at Derek, trying to slow down her emotional overload. Trying not to be a bitch.

"Tell me what you're afraid of. I want to help." He stared at her forehead. "Does being a witch scare you?"

"I'm not a witch," she said before she could stop herself. Even with his warm calm flowing though her, she felt her frustrations build. Then she recalled Socks's magical transformation. Had she done that?

"At least, I don't think I am. It's not that I don't want to be a witch, it's ... Why would my father tell me I was a chameleon if it wasn't true? I don't think my grandmother would make that up. And why would Burnett have heard about the species, if they didn't exist?"

"Burnett heard about it?" Derek asked.

She nodded. "Nothing concrete, just read it in some of the reports." She touched her forehead. What did all this mean? "Is my pattern really showing that I'm a witch?"

He nodded, as if afraid to disappoint her, then asked, "What's going on? I woke up this morning after a terrible nightmare. I couldn't remember it, but the point of it was that you were in trouble. When I was alert enough, I realized that maybe you really were in trouble and I'd just dreamed what I was reading from you. Then I felt all these other emotions from you. Is this about the ghost? Holiday's ghost?"