Taken at Dusk (Shadow Falls #3)

Taken at Dusk (Shadow Falls #3) Page 15

Lucas didn't answer. Instead he just tugged on her arm, and she let him pull her back inside the dining hall. But the more she thought about what he'd said, the more she wanted answers. For a minute back there, she'd felt almost drunk with ... passion. Did werewolves, like faes, have the ability to manipulate a girl's feelings so she would ... give him anything he wanted?

Kylie stared up at Lucas, who was holding her hand and leading her back to the place where they'd sat earlier. Mentally, she sorted through her emotions.

She wasn't angry at Lucas; she didn't even regret their slow dance in the moonlight. On the contrary, she'd loved every second of it. So, what was the problem?

A tiny internal voice answered the question. The problem was she didn't want to think that someone other than herself could persuade her to do something that she might not have done otherwise.

And yet, another little voice whispered, wasn't that what passion and seduction were about? All the magazines talked about how women wanted to be seduced. So was it a bad thing?

Okay, so she was confused. She looked at her hand where Lucas's fingers locked with hers and tugged her along. She followed him through a small crowd of campers to get their seats. Finally settled in their chairs again, she wondered when any of this was going to get any easier.

"You want something else to drink?" he asked, having to raise his voice for her to hear him over the music and the crowd of voices.

"I'm fine."

"Pizza?" he asked.

"Not now." She almost asked for an explanation about what he'd said earlier. Then she realized that the noise and the crowd would make having a lengthy and private conversation impossible. She glanced at Lucas and found him studying her, staring deep into her eyes-almost as if he were trying to read her thoughts.

He leaned in and rested his forehead against hers. "Are you upset with me?"

"No," she said honestly, and meant it. It wasn't anger she felt, just uncertainty, confusion. Because even if Lucas had the ability to seduce her to do certain things, he hadn't done it.

Blinking and offering him a smile, she decided tonight, at least at the party, might not be the time to talk about this. However, before she did any more moonlight dancing or make-out sessions by the creek, she needed answers.

She recalled Holiday's words weeks earlier when they were talking about boys and sex: What I'm asking is that when you decide to do something, that it's something you've thought about and decided to do. Not a spur-of-the-moment decision that you might regret later.

Did Holiday's words of wisdom have more meaning to them than Kylie had guessed?

An hour later, they'd indulged in pizza and drunk enough diet soda to drown an Italian fish. The number of couples dancing had dwindled; now, almost everyone was eating and mingling. Even the lights had been brightened. When people started stopping by to chat, Kylie had expected Lucas to disappear, but he hung in there and was even very friendly, which was so out of character for a werewolf. He was doing this for her, and she appreciated his effort.

Both Della and Miranda had stopped by and said hello as they got drinks and pizza. Kylie wanted to ask them if all "pact" things were going well, but she couldn't find a way to do it without being overheard, so she decided to wait until later to get an update.

As soon as the pizza disappeared, someone lowered the lights again and several couples started making their way back to the makeshift dance floor. As Kylie's vision adapted to the change of light, her eyes lit on Della being led to the dance floor by ... Chris.

Kylie immediately did a sweep of the room for Steve, and she was pretty sure he was the guy in the black T-shirt, standing in the shadowy corner talking to a couple of girls, one of whom was Fredericka. The other looked like ... Ellie.

Kylie's gaze moved around the room for one quick second, searching for a certain fae. She didn't find him and wondered if he hadn't come because he knew she'd be here.

I'm not thinking about Derek. She closed her eyes and repeated those words to herself as if they were her new mantra.

When she looked back up to find Della, Kylie spotted Miranda moving on the dance floor with Clark. Kylie didn't know Clark that well, except that he was a warlock and known to be a bit of a troublemaker.

What were Miranda and Della doing? What happened to their pact? Why weren't they going after the right guys?

"Something wrong?" Lucas asked.

She glanced over at him and realized she was frowning. "Not really. It's just..." She looked back at the crowd, stalling, trying to figure out how much she could tell him. Before she could come up with an appropriate answer, she spotted Perry. Perry, who looked angry enough to chew nails and spit out staples. His gaze met hers, and then he started walking to the door.

"Give me just a minute, please," she told Lucas, and shot up and took off after Perry.

By the time Kylie got outside, Perry was nowhere around. Then she saw him. Well, it had to be him. One of those big prehistoric-looking birds stood in front of the main office.

"Perry!" she called out, and ran to catch him.

His wings, a span of about five feet, were spread open, and he appeared ready to take flight.

"Don't just run away," Kylie snapped.

"I'm not running. I'm flying. And for a damn good reason. If I have to stand there and watch her flirting with all those guys, I'm gonna end up hurting someone."

Kylie watched the bird's beak move up and down as it talked. "First, turn yourself back into human form before you speak to me. Second, you don't have to just stand there. Go ask her to dance."

Diamond-shaped sparkles started appearing around the bird. From where Kylie was standing only a foot from him, the air seemed to get thin. She wasn't exactly sure what happened when Perry shifted, but it had to do some weird stuff to the ozone.

One of the sparkles floated up; on its descent, it brushed against her arm and popped like the blow bubbles she'd played with as child. But instead of a tickling sensation, Kylie felt a jolt of electricity run up her arm.

Suddenly Perry stood there instead of the pterodactyl. His eyes were red, angry. "Ask her to dance so she can reject me in front of everyone? Do I look like an idiot to you?"

"No, right now you look like a coward afraid to take a chance on what you want."

"I'm not a coward!" he growled. "I have more power in my pinky finger than ten of you supernaturals."

"Then prove it by standing up for yourself." He didn't looked convinced, so Kylie added, "I have a feeling she won't reject you."

He just stared at her, disbelief shining in his eyes as they changed from red back to his normal blue.

"Trust me," Kylie added.

She could see he wanted to give in. But then he waved a hand back toward the door. "She's already dancing with someone else."

"Then cut in." Kylie frowned when she saw Lucas standing in the shadows. Then she remembered he was her shadow. He had to follow her.

"Cut in?" Perry asked, as if he weren't familiar with the term.

"Go tap on the guy's shoulder and just say you want to cut in."

"And he'll just step aside and let me dance with her? Where the hell did you get that idea?"

"It's not an idea. It's proper dancing etiquette. When someone wants to dance with someone who's already dancing, you're supposed to tap on the guy's shoulder and just say you're cutting in."

Perry frowned. "And what happens if he says no?"

"He's not supposed to say no."

Perry rolled his eyes. "In the human world, maybe, but-"

"Oh, for Christ's sake." She held up her hands in frustration. "Just try it."

"Fine," he said. "But if he gives me any shit, I might end up hurting him." His eyes turned red again. Blood red.

"No, you can't hurt-"

Before she could finish, Perry shot back inside. She took off after him. Oh, friggin' great. Maybe this hadn't been the best idea.

Lucas called to her, but she didn't slow down.

Kylie had barely made it back inside when she heard the commotion. She took off toward the dance floor.

"I said I'm cutting in!" Perry's voice rose over the music and chatter of the other campers.

Kylie tried elbowing her way through, hoping to get to them in time to prevent things from escalating, but a crowd had already started to circle and her elbows must not have been sharp enough because everyone just grunted and ignored her.

"And I said go to hell!" a voice, obviously Clark's, answered back.

"What about what I want?" Miranda said.

Kylie stood on her tiptoes to get a better view but still couldn't see anything.

The sound of a scuffle filled the room. Most of the female campers started squealing, while the males just started cheering the fight on.

"Stop it!" Kylie yelled, and started jumping up and down, hoping to see what was happening.

"Watch out!" someone screamed, and like a wave, everyone dropped to the ground as a fireball the size of a volleyball shot through the air.

"Crap!" Kylie yelled, and took advantage of everyone's position to move in. By the time she'd stepped over two or three people, apologizing when she felt fingers or feet beneath her step, she spotted Miranda giving Clark hell.

"I said I wanted to dance with him!" Miranda yelled.

Perry stood there watching, listening to Miranda with a big smile on his face.

Miranda continued her rant, and Kylie couldn't make it out because of everyone else's chatter, but she could see Clark's face turning angry red. Miranda poked him in the chest. Clark retaliated by shoving Miranda back and calling her a name.

Miranda hadn't caught her balance when diamond sparkles started popping off like fireworks. A huge green dragon the size of an eighteen-wheeler appeared where Perry had just stood. Smoke billowed up from the dragon's long, bumpy snout. Most of the campers started running like cockroaches in a Raid commercial.

Well, everyone but Kylie, Miranda, and Clark. Kylie moved in and grabbed Miranda's arm, hoping to get her out of the way of danger. But the little witch slipped out of Kylie's hold and stood there staring up at the dragon with what looked like admiration.

"Oh my, he's beautiful," Miranda muttered.

Kylie gazed up at the huge green beast, and while she couldn't agree with Miranda, she decided to forgo speaking her mind. Especially when Perry swiped his fifteen-foot tail around the room, knocking down several of the daring onlookers and tossing a few others across the room. The building shook again, and then everyone left standing moved back.

Della swooped in and screamed at Kylie and Miranda to get back. Miranda ignored Della, too. And until Kylie could get Miranda out of harm's way, she wasn't leaving.

"He won't hurt me," Miranda snapped, and then she turned her angry eyes on Clark. She started wiggling her pinky and chanting.

Unfortunately, right then Burnett swooped in, landing directly in front of Clark. He looked mad enough to kill innocent puppies. He opened his mouth, no doubt to give them all hell, but before he spoke a swirl of rainbow colors started swirling around him like ribbons. Then the hard-as-nails vampire vanished into the smoke-filled air and standing in his place was a very pissed-off kangaroo.

"Oh, shit!" Kylie said.

"Oh, shit!" screamed Miranda.

Burnett, now a very unhappy kangaroo, started hopping around like a marsupial on speed. Miranda, shaking and dancing from one foot to the other, had her pinky in the air, muttering out chants so fast that Kylie couldn't catch one word.

Perry, aka the large, out-of-control dragon, took a step toward Clark.

Clark, looking about ready to crap his pants, started tossing more fireballs. One missed and hit the dining hall wall. One slammed into the trash can containing the pizza boxes, which immediately burst into flames. Another went sailing through the air, heading right for ... Miranda.

Kylie felt her blood fizz and rush to her brain. Without thinking, without even realizing what she planned to do, she jumped into the fireball's path, caught it, and tossed it to the other side of the room.

Perry released an ominous sound, half roar, half cry. Smoke shot out of his nostrils. Clark tossed another fireball. Before Kylie could stop this one, it hit Perry-in dragon form-and singed the green scales on his side.

The smell of burned dragon, along with burning pizza boxes, scented the air. Smoke rose to the ceiling.

Perry reared his head back and roared so loudly that it shook the whole dining hall to its rafters. It wasn't so much a cry of pain as a cry of warning and of complete and utter fury.

Lucas suddenly appeared beside Kylie and caught her hand in his. He looked at her palm. Then, appearing perplexed, he grabbed her by the elbow and started yanking her away. She pulled free and leapt over some turned-over chairs to grab Miranda.

Just as Clark tossed another fireball, Della swooped back in and was hit by a cylindrical flame in the hip. It knocked the little vampire back a good five feet, and she landed in a dead heap on the floor.

Kylie screamed, Miranda chanted louder, Perry snorted more fire, and Kylie bolted back over the chairs to get to Della.

Before Kylie got to her side, Della popped back up, apparently unharmed. But Kylie had never seen her so pissed. Her eyes glowed bright green, her fangs extended past her bottom lip, and if looks could kill, Clark was worm bait. Growling with raw anger, Della shot across the room after Clark. Burnett, in all his kangaroo glory, jumped in front of Della, blocking and preventing her attack.

Perry let loose a breath of fire that shot clear across the room and left black marks on the log walls and the ceiling.

Miranda, pinky still in the air, chanted louder. Then another swirl of rainbow colors flew across the room, and Burnett zapped back to vampire form. Not a happy vampire, either.

With eyes glowing neon red, he let loose a scream that matched Perry's dragon roar. "Everyone stop! Right now!"

The commotion stopped. Even the crowd standing at the front of the building ceased jabbering. Silence reigned.

Burnett looked first at Clark. "Throw another fireball and you'll be expelled from Shadow Falls until the day I die. And I plan to live a very long time." He turned his gaze to Lucas. "Can you please put the garbage fire out before this whole place goes up in flames?" Whirling, he faced a very angry Della. "As much as I'd love to let you rip this guy's head off"-Burnett glared at Clark-"I think Holiday would disapprove. So, go cool off somewhere." He pointed toward the door.

Before he lowered his hand, Della was gone, leaving only an angry blur in the air.

Taking a deep breath, Burnett aimed his angry gaze at the dragon. "Change back this instant!"

Perry let out one roar of protest, but then the sparkles started floating down from the ceiling to the floor. Kylie noted that everyone else knew to avoid the little bubbles of electricity. Funny how people didn't warn her about these things.

A second after it stopped raining charged, diamond-shaped bubbles, the dragon disappeared and Perry stood before Burnett. He didn't look any less angry than Burnett. Then, proving Kylie's assumption, he took a flying leap over Burnett and landed on top of Clark. Fists started swinging.

Burnett reached effortlessly into the scuffle and yanked Perry up by the collar of his shirt and held him a good five inches off the concrete floor. "No more fighting." He dropped Perry on his feet.

Perry glared at Clark and then looked at Burnett. "He pushed Miranda," Perry said, fury in his tone. "You never, ever hurt a female. You taught me that when I was six."

Six? Kylie looked from Burnett to Perry. Did that mean Burnett knew-?

"I know," Burnett said. "And I'll take that up with him later. But you have to learn to deal with things without shifting, or you'll never be able to coexist with humans."

"He was throwing fireballs!" Miranda piped in. "It's logical that Perry would shift into something that could deal with it."

Kylie saw Perry cut his gaze to Miranda. The anger in his eyes faded and he stared at her in something like astonishment. Something told Kylie that Perry wasn't accustomed to people standing up for him. Right then, her heart broke a little bit more for the shape-shifter who'd been abandoned by both his parents.

Burnett let go of a deep breath and his angry gaze went back to Clark. "Go to your cabin. I'll be there shortly to dish out your punishment."

Clark took off, but not without sneering at Miranda. For a second, Kylie thought Perry was going to attack again. So did Burnett, for he reached out and latched on to Perry. "Don't you dare shift."

Again, Kylie noted the familiarity with which Burnett treated Perry. Obviously, Perry's stint with the FRU foster program had brought him into contact with Burnett. And somehow she sensed that Burnett had taken the orphaned shape-shifter under his wing. It weakened Kylie's earlier misgiving about Burnett and the FRU library. Not that she was completely over it, but everything in her said Burnett wasn't the enemy.

Lucas returned, bringing with him a scent of smoke, and stood by Kylie's side. She looked over at the trash can that minutes ago had been shooting flames up to the ceiling. It had been extinguished, and now only a few wisps of smoke floated up from the rim of the can.

Lucas reached for Kylie's hand again, opened her palm, and studied it. Then he leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Are you really okay?"

"Yes," she said, perplexed by his question.

He stared at her hand again and tenderly ran his finger across her palm. "It should have burned you."

She remembered catching one of the fireballs aimed at Miranda. "Well, it didn't." Then she recalled how she'd felt as if her blood had turned into soda and she'd felt it fizz into her brain.

His look of awe changed into a tight frown. "Nevertheless, the next time I try to remove you from a dangerous situation, don't fight me."

She frowned right back at him. "I wasn't fighting you. I just wasn't leaving Miranda or Della."

He shook his head as if she exasperated him. "You really are a protector, aren't you?"

"Maybe I'm just a good friend." For some crazy reason, she sensed he preferred she not be a protector. Why? Did her being a protector mean she had less a chance of being a werewolf?

Burnett looked back at the crowd of campers watching them. "You guys go back to your cabins. Party's over."

As soon as they left, he fixed his gaze on Miranda. "You so much as twitch that finger at me again and I'll..."

"Della says she'll rip it off," Miranda said, and giggled, not the least bit intimidated by Burnett. Burnett let go of a growl, not appreciating Miranda's candor.

"She didn't mean to turn you," Kylie and Perry said at the same time.

"It was Clark she was aiming at," Perry added, frowning at Burnett.

"I don't care," Burnett said. "It will never happen again. You understand that?" He glared harder at Miranda.

Miranda nodded. "Understood. I'm sorry."

Kylie could tell she had to work to look reprimanded, but the apology rang sincere. And that was when Kylie knew all the campers had accepted Burnett as one of the leaders. He might not have Holiday's easy, somewhat loving method of connecting with the campers, but he made up for it in other ways.

Burnett folded his arms over his chest. "Now, all of you go back to your cabins."

They all turned to leave. Lucas slipped his hand in Kylie's, letting her know he'd be walking with her.

But then Burnett added, "Everyone but Kylie."

Oh joy. What now? Kylie stopped moving and turned around to face Burnett.