"Why?"

Because you could die. "Because..." Kylie struggled to explain the situation until she remembered she had a real reason. "Because Holiday is bringing Burnett's computer over for me to use."

"Why would you need his computer when we have one?"

"To send an e-mail to ... It's a ghost thing. I'm sending an e-mail to a deceased woman's family, trying to clear up their heritage, and Burnett has an untraceable e-mail address," Kylie said.

"Oh." Della fell silent. Funny how mentioning the word ghost was a conversation killer.

"So, what time is she showing up?" she asked finally. "I might run to the swimming hole while she's with you."

And you could get killed. Nope. Not happening. "But you're my shadow."

"Holiday let Jonathon leave early when she was there."

"But that was before the sinkhole." Her explanation sounded convincing, and the knot in Kylie's stomach relaxed. She might not be able to tell Della about Fate's premonition or whatever it was Holiday called it, but it wouldn't stop her from watching out for Della.

"Okay," Della said, but she didn't look happy about it. Which was fine with Kylie. An unhappy but alive Della was better than the alternative.

A group of campers rounded the corner and walked past them. Kylie felt the cold stare practically slap her, and when she recognized one of the girls as a werewolf, she figured she knew whose cold stare gave her shivers.

Another glance at the group confirmed her suspicions.

Fredericka.

Kylie kept walking past them, hoping to ignore-

"Hey, blondie," Fredericka called out.

Closing her eyes for a second, Kylie willed herself patience. When she turned, she found herself staring Fredericka right in the eyes. The were had silently moved in and stood so close that Kylie could count Fredericka's eyelashes. The were smirked in an unappealing way. And that's when Kylie had an epiphany.

She wasn't afraid.

Fredericka with her I'll-rip-you-to-shreds attitude didn't scare her anymore. She annoyed Kylie to no end, made her feel something akin to jealousy-although she trusted Lucas not to cheat-but nope, there wasn't an ounce of fear.

"What do you need?" Kylie put her hand out to stop Della from getting between them. Della, probably livid at being held back, growled and exposed her canines. Fredericka's eyes turned a bright pissed-off orange.

"I thought you'd like to know that Lucas phoned me and told me he's not returning until late tomorrow night," the were said in a sickly sweet voice. "He's having issues with his dad. Sad stuff. Poor guy. He needed someone to talk to."

Kylie knew the only reason Fredericka told her this was to annoy her.

And it worked.

But Kylie's pride had her smiling and pretending everything was great. But darn if there wasn't a part of her that didn't want to kick Fredericka's ass and worry about the consequences later.

"Thanks for letting me know. I'll look for his call in a bit." She smiled extra sweetly right back at Fredericka and walked away.

Fredericka caught her by the arm. Her fingers dug into Kylie's elbow. Kylie almost attempted to pull away. Then she remembered that if everyone was right about her being a protector, she wouldn't have the power to take on the were.

The only way Kylie could take on Fredericka was if she tried to hurt someone Kylie cared about.

And considering that other person was Della, and there might be a death cloud hanging around her and every other vampire at Shadow Falls, Kylie wasn't about to let Della get involved.

Kylie would have to use her wits to get out of this. Did she have enough?

"Do you want to let go of my arm?" Kylie pretended like it didn't feel as if her bones were about to be crushed under the were's grasp.

"Not really," Fredericka growled.

"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you. Because I've got this spirit hanging around and she's been in a piss-poor mood for about thirty years." It was a lie. Pure lie. But Kylie wasn't above using what she could. "Ever since she was killed by a rogue werewolf, she's been aching-"

Fredericka's hand dropped. "Go to hell."

Kylie smiled. "Thanks for the invite, but I almost went there yesterday and didn't like it all that much." Kylie then wrinkled her nose. "Is that skunk I smell?"

Fredericka's eyes turned burnt orange and Kylie knew she'd pushed too far. The were's hand clamped down on Kylie's elbow and tightened. Someone darted out of the woods. From the corner of Kylie's eyes, she saw it was Will, Lucas's friend.

He cleared his throat, and the she-wolf didn't even look at him. She just dropped her hold on Kylie and took off with a tail-tucked-between-her-legs kind of look.

Kylie didn't like realizing that Will had been hounding her footsteps, unseen. The fact that neither Kylie nor Della had sensed he'd been hounding them told her he was good at it, too.

Della glared at him, but Kylie did the right thing. "Thanks."

"No problem." He disappeared back into the woods.

"What the hell did you say 'thank you'? We didn't need him intervening. I could have opened a can of whoop ass on that she-wolf and she'd have been whimpering like a hungry pup."

And she might have killed you.

They had gotten only a few feet away when Kylie remembered what Fredericka said about Lucas calling her. Pausing, she pulled out her phone to see if she'd missed his call.