"God damn it!" Burnett's words rang out. "Kylie! Where are you!"

"I'm going to talk to him," Kylie said to Hayden. "You stay invisible." She released his hand and willed herself to be seen.

Burnett's scowl landed on her immediately. "Where is he?" he bit out.

"He's here. We're still talking. In private, like I asked."

"You can make others invisible?"

She nodded. Not that I had to make Hayden invisible-him being chameleon-but Burnett doesn't know that.

"This is foolish. I want answers!"

"And you'll have them if you allow me this time!" she demanded, not backing down. "I'm asking you to trust me as you have asked me to do so many times in the past."

He growled and turned his gaze to the ceiling as if pleading for patience. Kylie willed herself invisible again.

"I'm right here," Hayden's voice came beside her. "So exactly what all do you want to tell him?"

"Everything," Kylie said to an empty spot, but she trusted he was there. "That you were sent here by my grandfather and that you're a chameleon. And that you want to stay on here." She paused. "And it wouldn't hurt to add how impressed you are with this place. If we can get him to see you as our ally thenmaybe..."

"Maybe what?" Hayden asked.

"I don't know if it's possible, but I was thinking that a lot of the younger chameleons like Jenny could benefit from Shadow Falls."

"I've entertained that thought myself," Hayden said. "But the elders wouldn't-"

"Okay, time's up!" Burnett snapped, and started moving around the room. "Get your asses back here now."

"One more minute," Kylie insisted. "We're almost done."

"He can't hear you," Hayden said.

"Oh, yeah." She paused, questions for Hayden racing through her mind, but Burnett was about to flip.

And a flipping Burnett wasn't easy to deal with.

"Are you ready?" Kylie asked. "I have so much more to talk to you about, but for now ... I think we should deal with this. Wait!" Kylie snapped. When she didn't hear him, she called for him. "Hayden?"

"Yes?" he asked.

"Do you think my grandfather was in on the plan to kidnap me and keep me from Shadow Falls?"

"No. I don't think he was. He's been very worried about you-even called six times until you arrived."

Relief fluttered through her. "Will you tell him I'm sorry for ... not saying good-bye?"

"I will."

"Kylie!" Burnett growled.

Taking a deep breath, she willed herself visible again. Hayden appeared at her side.

Burnett didn't look impressed. He came at Hayden and grabbed him by his shirtfront. "Disappear again and I'll see that you disappear permanently."

"Calm down." Kylie moved beside Burnett. "Hayden isn't the enemy. It's because of him that we were able to find Holiday when Warren had her. He's actually the reason I was able to escape tonight." Kylie saw Hayden look at her as if surprised she knew this piece of the puzzle.

Burnett released Hayden and then studied his forehead. "You are a chameleon?"

Hayden's body posture stiffened. "You say that as if it's an insult."

Burnett's shoulders grew tighter. "I say that as if you've been lying to me."

Hayden brushed off his wrinkled shirtfront. "I came here to make sure Kylie wasn't being sold out to the FRU by someone who has a problem throwing around his authority."

Burnett frowned. "I am the authority here. And I ran a background check on you. Everything states that you are half vampire, half fae. You are even registered as such."

"I am," Hayden said.

"But it's not true."

Hayden didn't blink. "It is how I choose to live my life."

Burnett shook his head, as if trying to understand. "But according to my research, Kylie's grandfather is listed as human by the FRU. And the few chameleons I saw outside the compound wore the human pattern.

I thought that's what all of you let the world think. For that matter, why do you choose not to live in the compound with the others? Are you rogue?"

Hayden's posture tightened. "Are you rogue because you do not live within a community of vampires?

One should live their life as they choose, is this not so? I simply prefer to live on my own and I chose to live it as a supernatural and not a human.""So you just picked a species and fake that pattern?"

"I haven't done anything wrong to be judged by you," Hayden said.

Burnett still looked confused. "How many like you exist? Living as a different type of supernatural?"

"Not enough for us to feel comfortable with coming forward," Hayden said. "Not when history has proven what can happen."

Kylie saw Burnett try to absorb what he was hearing and file it away. "So when you saw I held no threat to Kylie, why didn't you come forward then?"

"So you could send me packing, or worse, have me arrested?"

Burnett might throw his weight around more than Hayden, and even outweigh him by quite a bit, but verbally Hayden held his own. And that fact wasn't appreciated by Burnett.

"You work for Kylie's grandfather?" Burnett asked.

"Work for him? No. Was I assisting him? Yes. As you know from the checks you ran on me more than once, I worked as a regular high school teacher for three years in Houston."