Kylie turned and looked at Miranda. "He did?"

"Yeah. I think he hoped we would try to talk to you about him. Convince you to forgive him."

Kylie refocused on the ceiling and reached for the teddy bear and hugged it. "I'm sorry he bothered you."

"He didn't bother us," Miranda said. "I don't know if you want to hear this, but ... he was really hurting. I'm not saying you should forgive him, but he swore to us that the only reason he was going through with the engagement was to get on that stupid were Council."

"I'm not sure the reason is important," Kylie said. "It's the fact that he did it. And behind my back. Not that I would have accepted it if he'd told me, but..." Her throat tightened. She hugged Miranda's teddy bear closer.

"I know." Miranda paused. "Della pretty much told him the same thing. And she gave him hell. The kind of hell only Della can dish out. Told him he was a piece of monkey shit and that he should go have himself castrated." Miranda let go of a deep sigh. "When Della first started unloading on him, I thought I was going to have a were/vamp fight on my hands. I mean, I thought he was going to come unglued. Weres don't often take lip off of a vampire, not that kind of lip. But he didn't even react. He stood there and took everything she said. Later, even Della said she couldn't help but admire him for taking his punishment like a man."

The knot in Kylie's throat doubled. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay." Silence filled the room. Miranda finally spoke up. "Then let's talk about something else.

Something good. Did you know Holiday and Burnett are planning on having their wedding here at the camp?"

"No, I didn't know." That news did make Kylie feel better. "When is it planned?""They haven't set a date yet. I got the feeling she was waiting on you to come back. However, it will probably be soon. I went to see Holiday the other night, and Burnett's things were all over the place. I think he's staying there now. They're so hot for each other. I'll bet they have sex three times a night."

Kylie made a face. "Do people really do it that much?"

"I don't know," Miranda said, "but I hope so."

They both started giggling. A warmth filled Kylie's chest. "Burnett and Holiday deserve to be happy."

"Don't we all?" Miranda said, and then sighed again. "I'm gonna say this and then I'll shut up. I know you are really angry at Lucas and I don't blame you for it, but ... maybe you shouldn't completely give up on him. You wouldn't let me give up on Perry."

Kylie shook her head and frowned. "Two weeks ago you were telling me that I should give him the boot and go back to Derek."

"That was before I saw how hurt Lucas was. I think he loves you."

Kylie shook her head. "I really don't want to talk about it. I don't want to think about it. I just want ... I need to call my mom and then I want to go to sleep. Will you hate me if I leave now?"

"You aren't going to school today?" Miranda asked.

Kylie gave it a thought. "No, I think I'm going to play hooky. I haven't been to bed yet."

"Oh, then go to sleep." Miranda looked at her. "Why do I get the feeling you're not telling me everything that happened?"

Kylie frowned. "Because I'm not, but I'm just too tired to get into everything now. I'll tell you every horrible detail later."

Miranda nodded. "How horrible?"

"Really horrible."

"Okay." Miranda frowned. "But I may pop in and just look at you every now and then. I've really missed you."

Kylie smiled. "I missed you, too."

"You can borrow Teddy if you want." Miranda smiled.

"I think I will." Kylie reached over and squeezed Miranda's hand. "Thanks." She stood up and walked out, holding on to the oversized stuffed animal as if it could be her salvation.

If nothing else, she could use it to hide her face so she didn't have to look at severed body parts.

Chapter Three

"Stop this!" Kylie felt her protective mode start to kick in, the familiar fizzy-like feeling moving through her body, but for the life of her, she didn't know where to apply the strength. Torn between two loyalties.

Derek's words rang in her head. Chameleons were her own kind. Her grandfather was blood. Yet Burnett and Derek were ... they were family, too.

Out of nowhere, another figure appeared, this one snatching her grandfather off Burnett in an extremely rough manner. Her grandfather managed to stay on his feet but swung at the newcomer.

Feeling forced into action, even before considering what she was doing, she moved in, grabbed the newest member of the fight by his T-shirt, and tossed him away from her grandfather. The helpless figure was about ten feet in the air and making his way down to the ground-fast-when his blue eyes found hers and Kylie realized who she'd tossed.

Lucas.

So he had come.

The memory of him kissing his fiancee flashed in her head and echoed painfully in her heart. And for a flicker of a second, she wished she'd tossed him twice as hard.

She turned away, barely managing to catch her breath, when her gaze found Derek, still struggling against the two chameleons who held him. "Let him go," she seethed to the men. She recognized them as part of her grandfather's group, but it didn't matter. She wouldn't let them hurt Derek.