Whispers at Moonrise (Shadow Falls #4)(46)

"Wait. Why would they do that?" Della asked.

Kylie frowned, and looked again at Holiday standing across the dining hall. Kylie noted how the camp leader's gaze kept moving to Kylie and she suspected the phone call had to be about her.

Again.

Great. What was it this time?

"Earth to Kylie," Miranda snapped.

Kylie glanced back at her two roommates. "I'm not sure it proves anything at this point."

"But why would they chase Lucas's sister?" Della asked.

"I don't know." Then suddenly Kylie did know. "To get me to enter the woods. They've been calling me for a few days now but I thought ... I thought it might be Mario and his friends and I didn't go. But I'll bet my grandfather knew if I thought someone was in danger, I'd-"

"Do they even know you're a protector?" Miranda asked.

"I don't know." Kylie's mind raced. "I know that Burnett talked with him, but I don't know what all he told them."

"I'm not buying all that," Della said. "Maybe it is Mario pretending to be your grandfather and aunt. Maybe this is just a trick to get his hands on you."

"I don't think so," Kylie said. "And right now I have to follow my gut. I've got too much going on, and it would be nice to get some answers about something."

"What else is going on?" Concern made Della's brows tighten.

Kylie hesitated. "Ghost issues."

"Which means we're not gonna be any help there," Della countered.

Exactly what Kylie thought, too. When it came to ghost issues, it was either Holiday or she was on her own. She recalled Derek, who'd told her he was willing to help her even though chances were he felt the same way about the spirits as the other supernaturals did.

Della piped up again. "But I thought your grandfather was supposed to come see you tomorrow. Why are they turning themselves into fog and sneaking in to see you if they could just show up tomorrow? And how did you know the fog was them?"

"He was supposed to come," Kylie answered. "But since then he's shut off his phone and hasn't contacted Burnett at all. And right when I left the fog took on human form and..." Kylie wasn't sure how to put it. "I recognized my grandfather and my aunt. I'm sure of it."

Della's expression hardened. "But if you're wrong, and if we go out into the woods and shit happens-"

"Go into the woods?" Miranda blurted out. "Oh, crap, no! Burnett said she wasn't to go into the woods. To not let her get close to the woods."

"I know," Kylie said. "But if I want answers to what I am, I'm going to have to go to my grandfather, and I don't think he's going to just walk into the camp, not when the FRU is crawling all over Shadow Falls. And after what the FRU did to my grandmother, I can't say I blame him for not trusting them. Heck, even Holiday doesn't trust them."

Miranda bit into her bottom lip. "But if you're wrong..."

"I'm not." And just like that, Kylie realized she couldn't put her two best friends in danger. The guilt she still harbored over Ellie swelled in her chest. "But just in case, I'm going in alone."

"No way!" Della said.

"All I want to do is walk a little ways into the woods. You guys can just stand at the edge. If I don't feel anything, I'll come right back out."

"And if you do feel something?" Miranda asked.

"Then I'll know it's them and I'll meet them."

"Oh, hell no! You are not going in alone," Della declared. "You're a protector. In case you've forgotten, that means you can't protect yourself."

"Della's right," Miranda said. "If you go, we all go."

"I don't think any of us should go!" Della said.

Holiday started walking over and, knowing the fae would be able to read the mood, Kylie looked at her two best friends. "Think happy thoughts. Quick. Before Holiday reads..." She let her words fade as Holiday drew near.

"What's up?" Holiday asked.

"Nothing," the three of them answered at the same time.

Kylie smiled and tried envisioning Lucas to instill a happy emotion, but Derek's image and his loyalty to her ghost issues popped into her mind. And instead of being happy, more angst filled her head.

Holiday quirked an eyebrow that read as disbelief, but she appeared to move past it and said, "That was Burnett. He's not going to make it back until right before the event and has insisted we postpone the trip to the falls until tomorrow. Is that okay with you?"

"That's okay," Kylie said.

And it was okay. Maybe now she could take that walk into the woods and get some answers-if they were still there. She just needed to figure out how to do it without Della and Miranda freaking out.

Chapter Sixteen

Kylie stood on the edge of the path, ignoring Della and Miranda as they argued over who was going into the woods with her and who was staying at the path. Little did they know, neither of them were going.

She couldn't put them in danger. Even if there weren't any danger, if Burnett found out, he'd give them hell. And hell from Burnett felt pretty dangerous. Somehow Kylie was going to have to figure out how to sneak away and do this on her own.