Whispers at Moonrise (Shadow Falls #4)(63)

This ... this was magic. The kind she could do without screwing up.

* * *

That night, Kylie lay in her bed with her clothes on, waiting to hear Miranda come in from her nightly outing with Perry. Their evenings were getting later and later. Not that Kylie could blame them. Pulling away from Lucas after their little make-out session had been hard-even with her grandfather's e-mail waiting for her.

Lucas had been humming with desire, and she'd been humming right along with him. The ability that male weres had to seduce their mate had bitten into her heart and soul. His touch had felt so good, she hadn't wanted to stop. It was getting harder not to give in. And yet ... she did stop.

Maybe because of the e-mails.

Maybe because she didn't want the hint of any unresolved issues to be involved with her first time. And while she understood that Lucas was following his quest, deep inside, it still stung.

Then again, probably the biggest reason she hadn't given in was because Della and Miranda had been sitting outside on the porch. Yup, that was for certain the biggest reason she'd found the willpower to stop things from going any farther than they had.

The fact that she and Lucas had ended up lying on the sofa, kissing, while her two best friends were on the porch, had her blushing when she'd faced the two of them after Lucas had left. Making it worse was knowing Della could smell the pheromones they'd put out.

However, that blush and those pheromones were, hopefully, going to help make tonight's plan work. The plan Kylie had come up with as soon as she'd read her grandfather's e-mail requesting that she meet him-alone-at Fallen Cemetery.

Had her grandfather learned the truth? That until recently his wife, Kylie's grandmother, had been buried there in a mismarked grave?

Her e-mail back to him had been brief: I'll do everything possible to be there at 1 AM. The fact that she hadn't heard back from him bothered her very little. He'd asked. She'd answered. What more was to be said? But it hadn't stopped her from checking her inbox every fifteen minutes.

The biggest downside to this whole thing was the lie she'd have to tell her roommates. A lie that was only going to work if Della wasn't automatically tuned in to hear Kylie's heart beat fast at the white lie. If Kylie could state the untruth and Della automatically believed it, she might not even check Kylie's heartbeat. Or at least Kylie prayed it would work that way.

A few minutes later, Kylie heard Miranda and Perry on the porch. Kylie got out of bed. Quietly, she moved into the living room, waiting for Miranda to come inside. Kylie knew Della was probably already aware that she'd risen from bed.

The door opened. When Miranda saw her she gasped.

"It's just me," Kylie said.

"What are you doing up?"

Not chancing lying twice, she commenced with her plan. "Did you see him?" Kylie asked.

"See who?" Miranda studied her. "Are you having one of those weird vision things again?"

"No. Did you see Lucas? He's supposed to meet me and we're ... going somewhere to be alone." Shooting to the window, she glanced out. "I see him," Kylie lied, and felt the guilt. "Gotta go."

Miranda grabbed her elbow. "Are you going to...?"

Perhaps it was Kylie's imagination, but she could swear she heard Della getting out of bed.

"Tell Della for me. Tell her I want to be with Lucas. Tell her I said to please let us have this time." If Della was listening now with her sensitive hearing, she'd recognize that as the truth. Kylie did want to be with Lucas.

Knowing it was imperative she leave before Della arrived, Kylie skirted out into the darkness, leaving Miranda standing there with her mouth slightly agape.

The late August air held a hint of coolness as Kylie bolted off the porch and ran as fast as she could away from the cabin.

Please let this work. Please let me make it. She repeated the words like a litany. Her body tingled with the knowledge that she followed her heart.

With each footfall that took her farther away, her confidence built. Even hearing Burnett's warning of never entering the woods alone, she knew that route offered the quickest escape, and she took it. Moving between the trees, she accepted the risk. Mario, or someone on his side, could be waiting.

But it was a risk worth taking, she told herself, and ignored the sensation of being followed. Ignored the wiggle of guilt she felt for lying to her two best friends.

She had to lie. This was her quest. And the risk should belong to her, not one of her friends who felt compelled to join her. She wouldn't put anyone else in Mario's path.

Suddenly, the phone in her pocket dinged with an incoming text. She slowed down enough to check the message.

Derek.

"Damn," she muttered, her voice whispering in the night air.

No doubt Derek had sensed her emotions and was concerned. But if she told him, like Della or Miranda, he'd think he had to come with her. She pocketed her phone and then pushed herself to move faster.

As she dodged limbs and jumped over thorn bushes, she listened to the night noises-finding peace in knowing that the darkness hadn't fallen silent. If Della had followed, she would have been here by now. Kylie could only surmise that her plan had worked. Della had relented to Kylie's wish to be with Lucas.

Aware of how far she'd gone, she knew she drew near the fence where the Shadow Falls property ended. Her heart knotted with fear that this was where her plan would get upended. Burnett could come running.