Now with good-bye on her lips, she wasn't ready. "Promise me that Helen's really okay."

"It is as I told you. She will heal."

"And things with Della's mission are going okay? She's not in any danger?"

"My last communication with her confirmed everything is well."

Kylie nodded. "And Holiday's okay?"

"She's worried. But she's always worried about you guys. It's her natural state of being."

"But things between you two are ... good?"

He smiled. "Yes. Very good."

Burnett's smiles were few, so she could guess how good it was.

"And Miranda?" Kylie asked.

"Lonely," he said. "With both her roommates gone, she's feeling rather out of sorts. She, as well as many others, will be happy to hear you are returning.""Right. With no one there with evolving patterns to check out, I guess it's pretty boring."

Burnett shrugged. "I think you would be amazed how many people have inquired about you. You aren't nearly as unaccepted as you perceive, Kylie."

"I miss everyone, too," she admitted. "Can I hug you good-bye?"

He arched a brow in disapproval, and Kylie immediately knew why. Burnett wasn't one to completely let someone off the hook.

"I didn't think I warranted a good-bye hug," he said, reminding Kylie that she hadn't said good-bye to him when leaving the camp.

"I was wrong," she said, accepting she deserved this comeuppance. "I just knew that you would argue with me. It would have made leaving even harder."

"I would have argued. I would have insisted it was wrong," he said. "And I would have been right."

"Maybe not all right. I have learned some things. Plus, he's my grandfather and she's my great-aunt. My time here hasn't been a complete mistake."

"I understand your need to learn about yourself and I agree, there is a time to reunite with family, but not when your life is in danger."

Kylie looked at him. "So one's welfare is more important than ... family. Like Holiday's your family?"

She knew she had him.

He didn't even try to bullshit his way through that one. "I concede."

"Wow, this is a rarity." She smiled.

"Well, enjoy it," Burnett said. "Then again, you knew my one weakness and used it against me."

"Loving someone isn't a weakness," Kylie said. And then concern chased the levity of the moment away. "How certain are you that Mario did this to Helen?"

"Enough that I'm here," he said. "And enough that I will have guards monitoring this place tonight.

Mario has seen your power, Kylie. You threaten his existence."

And yet, she felt powerless against him. She looked past the front gate and saw two figures. Two figures she recognized as Lucas and Derek. They stood a good fifty feet apart as if they weren't even together. Or as if ... they were stationed to ... Were they going to serve as guards? The idea that Lucas might be the one watching out for her, when he'd been the one to hurt her so deeply, sent another wave of pain to her chest.

"Not Lucas," she muttered.

"Not Lucas what?" Burnett asked.

Kylie felt a little childish for feeling the way she did, and even more for voicing it, but she didn't want to have to think about him being this close tonight. She'd have to deal with him being close tomorrow when she returned to Shadow Falls, but not tonight. "I don't want Lucas guarding me."

Burnett opened his mouth to say something, then shut it as if he thought better of it. Then, with a frown, he nodded.

Kylie ignored the look of disapproval and went in to collect her hug.

Burnett's embrace, even cold because of his vampire core body temperature, sent a warm feeling right to her chest. Knowing that tomorrow she would go home made letting go easier, but knowing that she would be forced to be in Lucas's presence made thoughts of her homecoming bittersweet.

* * *Kylie started back to the house, but as she drew closer she grew leery of the conversation that would no doubt take place inside. Needing a few minutes to come up with a way to help her grandfather and aunt understand, she passed the house and started toward the gazebo. The sky glowed a hot pink and the setting sun bathed the scene before her in a golden hue. As she moved between the live oak trees, her gaze caught on the Spanish moss swaying ever so gently in the breeze.

She wondered if her grandfather would feel compelled to move now that Burnett had explained how easy it had been to find him. She hoped not. As discontent as she'd felt here this week, the beauty of the property hadn't gone unnoticed. The echoes of nature seemed to announce the coming of nightfall-a bird, a few crickets.

Then the pre-night seemed to hold its breath and the peacefulness of the moment shattered at the sound of a snapping twig. Kylie's heart skipped a beat as her gaze shifted toward the line of trees. Why the slight noise felt intrusive, she didn't know. It could have been just an innocent creature making its way back home before dark.

Yet it didn't sound innocent.

Suddenly a shadow appeared and then disappeared between the trees. Kylie couldn't explain it, but instead of running from the figure, she felt compelled to go to it.

Starting for the trees, she saw the figure again, a feminine silhouette, darting in and out of the shadows.

For a flash of a second, Kylie thought she recognized her.