He couldn't talk about what was happening there. She couldn't tell him about the issues with Fate. And telling him yes to going out with him just seemed like something she wanted to do in person. But they talked for about twenty minute about other things, like the vacations they'd had as children.

He'd visited about every foreign country Kylie had ever heard of and some that she hadn't. But he hadn't ever been to Disney World or to a real amusement park, for that matter, and she'd told him all about them. They'd decided to make that their first real date.

Just as soon as Kylie was removed from someone's hit list and free of her mandatory shadow.

Walking out of her bedroom, Kylie found Miranda pacing by the door. She looked pretty; she wore her hair swept up, with only a few soft blond strands falling around her neck. The different colors in her hair hardly showed when she wore it up.

She wore a sleeveless yellow sundress that had a few ruffles around the bottom and a pair of matching yellow sandals. The outfit was very feminine without looking too cute, sexy without looking slutty, and dressy without looking overdressed. For just a second, Kylie envied Miranda and her evening out. She wished Lucas were here and they could go somewhere away from the camp.

Somewhere she could forget about Fate snatching away one of her own.

Della stood up from the computer desk. Kylie's heart knotted at the mere possibility that it was her in that casket, and then she remembered bits and pieces of the conversation she'd had with Holiday this morning.

"Everyone is going to die sometime, Kylie."

Kylie could tell that Holiday tried to be brave for her. But if the camp leader's eyes were any indication, she'd cried as much as Kylie had and hadn't slept any more than Kylie, either.

"Fine," Kylie had retaliated. "But why tell us this? Why, if we can't prevent it, just to torture us with knowing it beforehand?"

"For some reason, they thought we needed to be warned."

"Well, they thought wrong!"

"They are seldom wrong, Kylie."

"Well, there's always a first time, isn't there!"

"Earth to Kylie!" Della yelled, bringing Kylie back to the present. "What is it with you? Did your little trip to hell mess up your mind?" Della grinned.

"What are you talking about?" Kylie asked.

"You keep staring at me and going blank. You've done it for almost two days now, and it's freaking me out a bit."

"I'm sorry."

"It's probably because she misses her hunky werewolf." Miranda placed a hand over her heart. "She's heartsick. Her aura is all grayish. She's gone without his kisses for almost two days." Then Miranda opened the front door and waved them out.

"Poor little thing," Della said.

Kylie rolled her eyes and followed them out. Good thing she liked her roommates, or she might really be pissed.

They hadn't stepped off the porch when Ellie, with a couple of other vampires, walked past.

Ellie shot over to Kylie. "How are your scratches?"

"Gone." Kylie held out her arm.

"Good." Just a bit of awkwardness moved in, and Ellie apparently noticed. "I'll see you."

"Yeah," Kylie said, and Ellie turned to go. It dawned on Kylie that in the vision, the person in the casket could have been Ellie. "Ellie?"

She swung around, and Kylie didn't know what she wanted to say; she just didn't want Ellie to leave thinking she'd been rude. "Thanks," Kylie blurted out.

Ellie looked puzzled. "For what?"

"For ... being considerate enough to ask about my arm." Okay, that sounded so lame.

"Oh. You're welcome." Ellie walked backward, waved, then swung around and ran to catch up with her group.

"What was that all about?" Della asked when Ellie was out of hearing range and they were down the porch steps.

"Yeah," Miranda said. "I mean, if I'd found out someone had boinked my boyfriend, I wouldn't be so nice."

"Derek wasn't my boyfriend," Kylie said.

"Yeah, and bears don't do it in the woods, either," Della said.

Kylie held up her hands. "Stop it, okay? I don't care what happened between Ellie and Derek."

Della mouthed the word liar and then said, "Truth is, I don't like the chick. I hate the way she's so friendly and nice. Gives my kind a bad name."

Kylie frowned at Della. "Don't mistreat her because of this. I'm serious, Della. She didn't know about me when it happened."

"Okay," Della said. "That means she's not devious. But it still makes her a slut."

Miranda laughed and Kylie moaned. "I don't think she's like that." Kylie hesitated and then added, "She jumped in the sinkhole, willing to risk her life to save Perry and me."

"Yeah, she did do that," Miranda said. "But it doesn't change the fact that-"

"Damn it! Can we just not talk about it," Kylie said.

"Man," Miranda said. "It must be time for your lunar PMS, because Della's right. You haven't been yourself lately. You're like majorly grumpy."

Kylie wished Miranda were right. That her mood hinged on nothing more than her being a werewolf, instead of her other long list of problems.

And if she ended up being a were, Lucas would be happy. Really happy.

* * *

"Shit!" Miranda muttered thirty minutes later.