Chosen at Nightfall (A Shadow Falls Novel) (21 page)

“How do you know they wouldn’t have worked things out on their own?”

Fredericka frowned. “They all sing your praises.”

Kylie shook her head. “Look, I don’t think you and the teacher is a good idea.”

“So you won’t help me?” Fredericka said. “Even after I set you straight on Lucas and saved him from having to spend his life with someone he doesn’t love?”

Kylie exhaled. “Okay, here’s my advice. Go talk to Holiday, tell her about your feelings and—”

“She’ll say hell no. She doesn’t even like me.”

“Oh yes, she does. With all the trouble you’ve caused, she’d have kicked your ass out a long time ago if she didn’t. And if you’re worried about her completely disagreeing, why don’t you start by telling her you have a thing for someone who’s only two years older and see what she says before you tell her who it is. Get her to say it’s not such a bad thing and then drop the bomb about him being a teacher.”

“You really think she’ll listen to me?”

“Listen, yes. Whether or not she’ll tell you not to do it is another matter. But she’s the fairest person I know.”

“Okay.” Fredericka seemed to be thinking. “Now what about Cary? How do I get him to…?”

“Notice you?”

“Not notice. He’s already noticed me. I know he’s attracted to me, he’s just putting up roadblocks, probably for the same reason you said. He’s a teacher and I’m his student.”

“Then why don’t you go to him and tell him that you understand that this is hard, but you really like him, and would at least like to be friends until—”

“I don’t want to be just friends.”

“Fine, but you start by being friends, and when you get the green light from Holiday, then you two can … go run off in the woods and do the wild thing, or do whatever you want to do. You’re not going to be in school but for nine more months. So the worst-case scenario, you two build a friendship, then take it to the next level when school’s out.”

She started nodding as if she agreed with Kylie. “Hell, I’ve waited for two years for Lucas, I could easily wait for nine months for Cary—if I had to.” She smiled. “See, you
are
good at this. Thank you,” Fredericka said with sincerity.

“Good, are we finished? I think Perry’s getting impatient.”

“No, there’s the other thing.”

“What thing?” Kylie asked.

“The thing about you needing to forgive Lucas.”

“Look, you asked for my advice, I didn’t ask for yours.” She started moving faster down the path that led to her cabin. A nice, quick run.

Fredericka matched her pace, footfall for footfall. “He loves you. Don’t you get why he walked away from getting engaged? He gave up so much for you. Maybe even his own pack.”

Kylie came to an abrupt stop and faced the she-wolf. “Why did you tell me? Why didn’t you just let him go through with it? Damn it! He shouldn’t have done it!” And right then Kylie accepted that this was part of her angst over Lucas. She hadn’t wanted to admit it. She hadn’t even allowed herself to really let it soak in. But it was there, the truth right under all the betrayal she felt. Lucas had lost everything for her. His dreams. His quests. Even if she did forgive him, sooner or later, he was going to hate her for this.

“Why?” Fredericka threw the question back at her. “Because, you fool, if he’d gone through with it, he’d have lost you. And whether you believe it or not, you are more important to him than getting on the Council. It’s you that matters most to him.”

*   *   *

Kylie walked in a bit late to her first period class with Perry right behind her. She plopped down in the empty seat right in front of Della. Sitting her book on the desktop, she opened it and pretended to read.

She felt Lucas’s eyes on her. She ignored him. Or tried to. Her heart started breaking all over again the second she felt his gaze fall on her.

She had a lot of thinking to do. But damn, she was still so confused.

Still so damn mad at him.

Still so much in love with him that she could hardly breathe.

“Miss Galen, it’s so good to have you back with us,” Miss Cane said.

Miss Galen?
Kylie glanced up, but didn’t speak. A nod of appreciation was all the lady was going to get. She hoped she’d be happy with it. Refocusing on the page in her English book, she didn’t want to look anyone in the eye. Like Derek, who sat three seats away from her and was studying her with a shitload of worry because he could read her emotional state.

Then she felt Della lean in behind her.

“What’s wrong?” the vampire whispered. “Do I need to bite some she-wolf’s ass after class?”

“No.”

“Your face is all splotchy. And that means you’ve been crying. What’s up?”

“Allergies,” Kylie muttered, and wished she’d skipped class. Was it too late? Too late to just get up and walk out?

“You’d think you’d know better than to try to lie to me,” Della whispered.

Kylie clenched her jaw and whispered back, “And you’d think you’d stop asking questions that would put me in a position to have to lie!”

“Okay,” Della said. “We’ll just chalk this conversation up to Miss Galen being in a pissy mood.”

Chapter Nineteen

Kylie’s day hadn’t gotten much better. But it hadn’t gotten much worse either. She found herself finding things to be thankful for. Nana used to say whenever you start feeling like the world is taking a bite out of you, bite back by counting your blessings.

And number one on Kylie’s blessing list was being back at Shadow Falls. Even with all the issues, she belonged here. Every hour or so, she’d recall how it had felt to be at her grandfather’s place. And while she missed the man, and even her great-aunt, she didn’t miss the cumbersome feeling that being there brought—the feeling of being in the wrong place.

Number two on that list was that the sword hadn’t decided to magically appear again. Of course, it could be waiting for her back at her cabin right now, but she was thankful she didn’t have to explain it to anyone for the moment. And last, but not least, on her list was that Mario seemed to have crept back under some dirty, slimy rock again.

At least Kylie didn’t feel him, and Miranda agreed that she didn’t sense any strangers lingering around. A part of Kylie wanted to believe he’d just stay there, but part of her still wanted to believe in Santa Claus, too.

Mario would be back. The question was, would she be ready? For the life of her, she didn’t have a clue how one prepared to take on someone that powerful, that evil.

Waiting for the last bell to ring and school to be over so she could leave history, she looked up at Mr. Cary Cannon. He pointed to the written assignment on the board. His starched, white shirt stretched across his broad chest.

Giving Fredericka credit, the teacher wasn’t hard on the eyes. If he would lose the tie and dress pants, and put on a T-shirt and pair of jeans, he could look like a student instead of a teacher. Tall, dark, with black eyes, he carried himself well. And taught even better. He obviously had a passion for history, because it came across in his lessons. For a werewolf, he was amazingly friendly. Probably something he’d learned in school.

Kylie had even seen the guy cut his eyes to Fredericka at least a dozen times. That told Kylie that the infatuation wasn’t one-sided. She hoped so, for Fredericka’s sake at least.

Three minutes later, school over, Kylie stepped out of class. Della, her official shadow, walked beside her. Kylie hadn’t gotten a foot out the door when someone grabbed her around the forearm. She almost yelped, but the warmth of the touch told her it was Holiday before she looked back.

“Hey…” Holiday glanced at Della. “I need to borrow Kylie.”

“Okay. Are you going to deliver her back to the cabin later? Or do I need to meet you somewhere?”

“I’ll walk her back to the cabin.”

Della looked a little concerned at having her shadowing duties yanked away.

And she wasn’t the only one. “What’s wrong?” Kylie asked as soon as Della was out of hearing range.

“Nothing’s,
hiccup
 … wrong. Except that—” She pointed to her mouth. “Actually, I have a few things to discuss with you, but first things first.” She let go of a deep sigh, as if to impart bad news. “I kind of told a roundabout untruth to Burnett. And I kind of need you to back me up.”

“You want me to lie to a vampire?” Kylie asked. “Wow, you don’t ask very much, do you?”

“No, not lie.” Holiday reached back for her hair and twisted it in a knot. “He’s not going to ask you anything. I just need you to follow through with something.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Okay, here’s what happened. I told Burnett I needed to run to the drugstore and he told me he’d just pick up whatever I needed.

“So I went into this song and dance about how I’d told you that you weren’t a prisoner here and I thought you might like to get out. I said you hadn’t actually told me this, but I had a feeling you needed something from the drugstore, some tampons or something.”

Kylie gasped. “You told Burnett I needed tampons?”

“No, I told him that you hadn’t said it, but I had a feeling you might need them. And thankfully it wasn’t a lie because Miranda told me while you were away that she had to borrow some of yours.”

“Okay…,” Kylie said, still not understanding what was really going on. “So…”

“So I need you to come with Burnett and me, and when you go to buy the tampons, I need you to also …
hiccup …
buy me a pregnancy test.”

“Oh, I get it. But what if he asks … Wait. He won’t ask what I bought because he thinks I bought tampons, and guys can’t stand any talk of tampons.”

“See, I knew you’d get it,” Holiday said.

“That’s clever,” Kylie said.

“You have to be smart to deal with a vampire.”

They started walking. “But wait.” Kylie stopped. “What kind of test do I buy?”

“I don’t know, I’ve never bought one …
hiccup …
but buy two of them. Different kinds. Something that looks accurate. I’ll have Burnett with me helping pick out something for my hiccups.”

Kylie tried to think. “How does an accurate pregnancy test look any different from one that’s not accurate?”

“Just buy two, but not the cheap ones.” Holiday sighed as they made their way down the path back to the office.

“Here.” Holiday handed her a couple of bills and Kylie stuffed them in her pocket with her small wallet. “Now that’s taken care of, let me tell you the other stuff.”

Oh, yeah, the other stuff. “What is it?” Kylie asked, suddenly concerned.

“Your dad called. You need to call him.”

“Okay,” Kylie said. “Can I use your phone?”

“Yeah.” She reached in her pocket and handed Kylie her phone. “And the next thing—”

“There’s more?” Kylie asked.

“Yeah. Tomorrow you’re getting visitors. If you want them.”

“Visitors? Who?” Kylie stuck the phone in her pocket.

“The Brightens. Your real dad’s adoptive parents. They are back from Ireland and got all the messages. They’re eager to meet you.”

Chills ran down Kylie’s arms. “I’d almost given up on meeting them.”

“Well, they will be here tomorrow, at two, if you agree to it.”

Kylie swallowed. “Yeah, of course I want to meet them.” And just like that, Kylie started missing her dad again. More than that, she could swear she felt a touch of cold. Cold that reminded her of him. And oh boy, could she ever use a visit from him now.

*   *   *

When they arrived at the office, Hayden and Burnett were standing by the coffee machine—not talking. The awkward silence told Kylie that they’d recently halted the conversation when they heard them coming. Meaning they were keeping secrets.

Which frustrated the fire out of her, because after all, this was about her, wasn’t it? She almost called them on it, too, but realized an argument might delay the trip into town. And Holiday needed her. So Kylie buried her frustration, vowing it would be unearthed, resuscitated, and dealt with full-force later on.

Holiday cut a glance to Kylie as if she’d read the emotional marathon happening inside her. After a few nods of uncomfortable greetings, Holiday glanced at Burnett. “You ready?”

On the ride to town, Holiday drove and hiccuped the whole way. Burnett fretted over her hiccups and kept a keen lookout as if he was worried Mario would drop in.

“We should call the doctor,” Burnett said when Holiday let out another one.

“I’ll just pick up some antacid or something,” Holiday said.

When they entered the pharmacy, Kylie started to the feminine product aisle. Burnett started after her, but when he saw her walk up to the tampon rack, he turned around.

Kylie saw Holiday pull him with her to a different aisle.

Taking a deep sigh, Kylie went to look for the pregnancy tests. Feeling rushed, she scanned the different packages but was at a loss. There were numerous kinds, each offering a different promise. Realizing she didn’t have time to read them all, she grabbed two and then just to be sure she got the right one, she grabbed another. Checking to make sure no one was looking, she bolted to the pharmacy counter to pay for them. It wasn’t until she saw the older man standing there that Kylie realized how hard this was going to be.

The man, an elderly preacher-looking type, was going to think that the tests were for her. Oh, just great. She swallowed a big lump of embarrassment down her throat. Then, thinking of Holiday, she put the three boxes on the counter.

The man eyed her purchase, then looked up. Kylie could see the judgment in his old gray eyes as a frown marred his face. Lovely! She was getting judged for being pregnant and she was still a virgin.

“Do you know how to use these?” he asked in a very condescending voice.

Kylie felt her face flush red. “I … will read the instructions.”

“Would you like my assistant Angela to speak with you about … anything?”

Like safe sex, Kylie bet he was thinking. “No,” she blurted out. When the man just kept staring at her, she added, “Thank you.”

He rang up the items slowly. Kylie’s heart beat to a nice, steady rhythm of embarrassment. She opened her mouth to say: “These are for a friend.” But what was the chance of him believing that?