Whispers at Moonrise (43 page)

The ceremony was taking place at another state park around five miles from there. As a were, Kylie could make that run fairly quickly. All day, she considered whether or not to tell Holiday and Burnett, but decided she’d rather ask for forgiveness than for permission. And speaking of forgiveness … She swore if Fredericka was lying, she’d never forgive her, never trust her again.

But if she wasn’t lying … Kylie wasn’t sure she’d ever forgive Lucas.

The ceremony was supposedly happening at midnight. Which made it easy to get away.

Kylie tiptoed out of her room. Della yanked open her bedroom door.

Easier to get away, but not easy
.

“Where are you going?” Della snapped, her gaze moving up and down on Kylie. “And all dressed up?”

Kylie didn’t know what one was supposed to wear to a betrothal, but her black dress and low black pumps would have to do.

“I need to go somewhere,” Kylie said, stating the vague truth. She hadn’t told Della or Miranda about this. At first, Kylie thought it was because it just hurt too much. Then she thought it was because they’d try to talk her out of going. Right now, she realized it was because she was worried they might say, “I told you so.”

They hadn’t been pro-Lucas lately.

Not that Kylie totally believed it yet. But she obviously believed it enough to sneak out of Shadow Falls to find out. But how could she not be suspicious? Lucas never told her anything. And damn, that hurt.

“You’re meeting your grandfather?” Della asked, studying Kylie with suspicion.

“No,” Kylie said.

Della frowned. “You’ve been acting weird since you walked off with Fredericka.”

“I need to go,” Kylie said.

“I’ll come with you.”

“No,” Kylie pleaded. She needed to do this alone.

Della’s chest puffed out. “Then tell me where you’re going.”

“You’re not my shadow anymore,” Kylie countered.

Della’s scowled. “No, I’m your friend.”

The honest emotion in Della’s voice pulled at Kylie’s heart. “Look, I’m going to try to meet up with Lucas.” It was the truth—or a form of it.

“I thought you hadn’t heard from him,” Della said.

“Fredericka told me where he was.”

Della made a face. “You trust her wolf ass?”

“Not really,” Kylie said. “But I’m going anyway, and as your friend, I’m asking you not to stand in my way.”

“I don’t like it,” Della said.

Kylie paused in thought, trying to find a way to get Della to understand. “I don’t like that you’re doing work for the FRU, but I respect your wishes.”

Della frowned. “But I’m not doing it alone.”

Yeah, Della was going with Steve, not that she was thrilled with it, but that wasn’t the point. Convincing Della to let Kylie go was what mattered. Right or wrong, finding out the truth about Lucas once and for all felt crucial. She had admitted to loving him; now she needed to know if she’d given her heart away foolishly.

It took some time, but Della backed down.

And ten minutes later, when Kylie jumped over the fence leaving Shadow Falls property, she knew Burnett might come running. It was another chance she took. However, since she suspected that several of the weres might be attending the ceremony—if there really was a ceremony—she hoped Burnett would assume she was one of them. Then again, she
was
one of them, she reminded herself.

As Kylie ran, she felt an odd kind of power flow through her. Different than the strength that came with being vampire. The way her limbs moved seemed less human. The power of a wolf, she supposed.

Her chest tightened, remembering Lucas telling her how he wanted to run with her as a wolf.
Please, please let Fredericka be wrong.

Trying not to break all her promises to Burnett, Kylie avoided the woods whenever possible. But as she drew near the park, she wasn’t going to have any other option. As she moved in a lithe run, her gaze kept shifting to the moon. She felt it calling her, like water to a person left in the sun too long.

When she entered the line of trees, the darkness grew blacker. The moon was no longer visible through thick foliage. The night air was warm, almost too warm. She felt a sense of danger sting her skin.

Ignoring it, she kept running. She didn’t stop. Not even when she realized she wasn’t alone.

Chapter Thirty-eight

The cold finally started to impair Kylie’s speed and she glanced over to see who the spirit was keeping pace at her side.

The ghost, a woman, the one who appeared in the classroom right before the vision, moved with powerful strokes. Her white gown flowed around her, and her long brown hair danced in the wind.

With Kylie’s attention on the spirit, her foot caught on a root and she tumbled down onto the earth—hard—landing facedown.

Pushing up with her arms, breathing in the scent of moist dirt below her, she stared at the spirit looming over her. “Who are you?”

“I’m not important. You are.”
She held out her hands and instantly a long, bloody sword appeared.
“You must kill him.”

Kylie got to her feet and stared at the spirit’s bloody hands; red liquid flowed onto the sword, then dripped to the ground. One slow drop at a time.

For the first time, Kylie understood a symbol connected with the spirit world. This ghost had blood on her hands. And now she wanted Kylie to do her bidding.

Drawing herself to her full height, Kylie spoke in her mind,
I don’t know what you heard, but I don’t … I haven’t killed anyone, and I’d kind of like to keep it that way.

She stared at Kylie with gray, dead eyes that held no emotion, no soul. Fear raced up Kylie’s spine. Something about this spirit was different from the others. Something scary.

“Then you, too, will die,”
the ghost said as if it didn’t really matter. Without warning, the spirit faded. But the spot where she’d stood was coated with ice. Dark, black ice.

“Couldn’t you have told me that first?” Kylie muttered, and then inhaled. “No!” She fisted her hands. “I’m not going to think about this now.”

Her heart pounded in her chest and she commenced running, running to Lucas, or rather, to the truth about Lucas.

She remembered the last time he’d kissed her, the way he’d held her, the way she’d felt so loved. Fredericka was lying. She had to be lying.

A few minutes later, Kylie sensed others around her.

Other wolves.

She wasn’t sure how she knew, she just did. Not wanting to draw attention to herself, she stopped running and started walking. Hoping to hide the windblown look, she pulled the band from around her wrist and put up her hair.

As she moved closer to the park, she heard voices. Happy voices. She thought she recognized Will’s voice. She stopped beside a tree so as not to cross paths with him or any other of the Shadow Falls campers. The last thing she wanted was to be recognized.

Only when Kylie couldn’t hear anyone moving around her did she continue on. When she left the line of trees, she saw the crowd, standing in rows. A hundred or more wolves gathered together. A few in the back line turned and looked at her. Thank goodness they weren’t from Shadow Falls.

Fredericka’s warning rang in her ears.
Just make sure you keep your were pattern on or someone will rip your heart out before they ask questions.

She felt a few of the bystanders checking her pattern and she prayed it was still were. Her breath hitched in her lungs until they turned around as if content she was one of them.

But Kylie didn’t feel as if she belonged. Her heart ached at knowing Fredericka hadn’t been lying. She almost left, but stopped herself. Maybe this wasn’t even about Lucas. Maybe Fredericka sent her here hoping she’d see the crowd and believe the lie.

Stiffening her spine, she moved in and stood in the last row. Obviously weres didn’t need to sit down, because no seats were provided. Her view of the front was blocked, but that meant people up front couldn’t see her, either.

A voice suddenly started speaking, welcoming everyone here. Kylie’s chest ached when she recognized the deep tenor.

Not Lucas, but his dad.

Her chest started to burn with the idea of Lucas getting engaged to someone else.

“Tonight I present to you my son and his bride-to-be,” Lucas’s father said. “You will witness their vows, their promise to each other.”

Kylie closed her eyes. As betrayal filled her chest, music filled the dark night. The slow bell-like music was unlike anything Kylie had ever heard.

A young woman, dark hair pinned up with flowers, wearing a long black evening gown, walked down the aisle. The attendees oohed and ahhed over her beauty. Even Kylie couldn’t deny it.

The crowd in front of her shifted, and Kylie saw Lucas’s father. Standing beside him was … Lucas. The air in her lungs shuddered. He wore a dark gray tux that fit his hard frame just perfectly. Tears stung her eyes when she saw him reach out and take his future bride’s hands.

The crowd shifted again, and she lost the view, but she could still hear. Words were spoken.

Vows.

Promises.

Lucas Parker gave his soul to Monique.
His soul.

The sound of Lucas’s voice cut into Kylie like a dull knife. She wanted to run, to escape, but to leave now would draw attention.

She waited. Her breath held, and she kept staring directly in front of her. The crowd shifted, and the view opened up again. Not a sound filled the night as Lucas pulled the girl into his arms and kissed her. Kissed her like he’d kissed Kylie.

Her breath caught. Anger and betrayal filled her.

She swung around to escape; not realizing another line had formed behind her, she slammed into someone.

“Sorry,” she muttered.

“Kylie?” She heard someone say her name behind her.

She tried to dart around, but suddenly the crowd seemed to close in as everyone started applauding, cheering on the kiss.

“Excuse me,” she said, pushing through another line of weres.

“Kylie?”

She heard her name again. And this time, she glanced back and saw Clara moving in.

She darted though the crowd, only to land in the midst of another close-knit group of weres. She looked back one more time. Lucas had his arms around the woman. He looked happy. Genuinely happy.

More than anything, Kylie wanted to disappear, to vanish. Then she realized she could disappear. She wished it, wished it with all her heart. Clara charged through the crowd, stopping beside Kylie. The girl looked around … and looked right through Kylie.

“Did you see the blonde that was here just a second ago?” Clara asked.

Kylie inhaled and left. Now, merely a wisp in the air, she took off running.

She didn’t look back again. She couldn’t.

She was crying when she entered the woods, crying when she left them.

Perhaps this was fate, she told herself. Because now she knew the right thing to do.

When she jumped the fence back into Shadow Falls, she didn’t go to her cabin, she went to Hayden’s. She didn’t know if she was visible until he opened the door and stared at her. At her, not through her.

“What happened?” he asked, sounding urgent.

“Tomorrow.” She forced the words through her tight throat. “Tomorrow I’ll leave.”

He ran a hand a through his mussed hair, sleep still filling his eyes. “We could go now. It would be easier.”

“No.” She shook her head. “I have to say good-bye.”

He frowned. “They won’t let you go.”

She inhaled a breath of resolve. “They can’t stop me.”

*   *   *

When she got to her cabin and saw who waited on the front porch, her heart stopped.

She started to run away, but realized running wouldn’t accomplish anything.

He still wore the tux, but he’d unbuttoned his shirt and the bow tie was gone. When his blue gaze met hers, regret filled his eyes.

She moved up the steps, and he studied her every move. He could probably tell she’d been crying, but she refused to cry in front of him now.

“Go back, Lucas,” she said. “You’re missing your own party.”

“Don’t do this,” he growled. “I told you I was doing what I had to, that it didn’t mean anything. It doesn’t mean anything.”

It sure looked as if it meant something.
“Well, it should have meant something.”
You gave her your soul.
She waved him away from the door. “I’m tired, do you mind?”

“Damn it, Kylie. As soon as I’m on the Council, I’ll call off the engagement. I had to do this before my dad would give me his approval for the position. You said you understood.”

She bit down on her lip. “How long have you been seeing her?”

He closed his eyes. “Dad’s had it planned for a few months. He’s been bringing her around, but I haven’t—”

“Stop!” She shook her head. “Of all the things I considered you were hiding from me, I never imagined this.”

“Try to see this from my point of view,” he pleaded.

“I do see it,” she said, and God help her, but there was some truth to her words. “You did what you had to do. As hard as it is, I understand that.”
Lucas belonged with his pack, his people.

And so did she.

He reached for her. She stepped back. She couldn’t let him touch her. It would hurt too much. She held out her hand. “No.”

He shook his head. “Please, don’t do this. Damn it!” He swung his fist, closed his eyes and when he opened them, he looked at her. Right at her. “I love you.”

Now he told her. Now!
She lifted her chin. “I think you vowed your love and soul to Monique tonight.”

She darted around him, entered the cabin, and shut him out. Then, leaning against the cold door, she wrapped her arms around herself. Her heart felt swollen, inflamed.

Don’t ever fall in love, princess. It hurts too much.
Her stepfather’s words whispered through her broken heart. He’d been so damn right.

When she heard Lucas leaving, her breath caught.

“He’s a piece of wolf shit,” Della roared. Kylie looked up. Miranda stood beside Della in the kitchen. Had they heard everything? More tears filled her eyes.