Kylie's chest tightened at the mention of Ellie's name. "That was different."

"How is it different?" Della asked. A low-hanging limb swung back and Kylie caught it with her arm with complete ease. "I think it adds up to the fact that all guys are scum. Maybe we weren't even supposed to mate with them."

"Derek and I weren't together."

"Maybe you hadn't said you were together. But in your heart, you were together."

Kylie remembered what Miranda had said about her talking about Derek more than she did Lucas. Suddenly she didn't want to talk about her screwed-up love life. So why not talk about Della's screwed-up love life? It seemed like the perfect diversion.

"You could have been nicer to Steve."

Della swung around, attitude in her body posture. "I was nice."

"No, you weren't. You accused him of liking the new teacher's tits."

Della resumed walking. "You should have seen him ogling her, it was embarrassing."

"It kind of sounds like you're jealous, which says you like the guy," Kylie pointed out.

Della started walking faster, her pace matching her mood. "I don't like him. But I'll admit he has a nice butt."

"And you said you were going to try to be more approachable to his nice butt," Kylie reminded her.

"I tried. It didn't work out. I guess his butt isn't that nice."

Another branch came back, and the instant Kylie caught it in her palm, she remembered. She stopped and looked up through the trees at the sky. A few stars twinkled back as if laughing at her.

"Crap," she muttered.

"What?" Della looked back over her shoulder.

Kylie glanced around. The moon's glow cast a silver shine through the trees and shadows danced on ground.

"I just remembered."

"Remembered what?"

"I'm not supposed to go into the woods." Kylie inhaled the verdant scent of the trees and the moist earth. Then she internally searched for that feeling of being lured, beckoned as she had been earlier. It wasn't there. So maybe all those feelings were just her overactive imagination. Oh, yeah, she wanted to believe that.

Nevertheless, she'd disobeyed Burnett's orders. Maybe not on purpose, but she didn't think he'd find that excuse acceptable. "We should go back."

"But we're almost there. And you've got me-a badass vampire-with you. Nothing's going to happen. And don't you want to know if Lucas and Fredericka are doing the hokey pokey?"

Kylie caught another branch coming back at her. "If Burnett finds out, he's going to be pissed."

"Then we won't tell him. Trust me. It's gonna be fine."

Against her better judgment, Kylie continued taking steps with Della. The crickets did their thing and an occasional bird called out. In the background, Kylie could even hear the sounds of the wild animals in the park. Normally when the night sang, it meant all was well. It was in the quiet that things jumped out of the shadows. When evil seemed to appear.

Inhaling the night air, she continued moving, jumping over a few patches of thorny bushes and ducking under low branches.

"Crap," Della hissed, and came to an abrupt stop.

"What is it?" Kylie asked, and that was when the forest went silent. Not dead like in ghost silent, but dead like in threatening.

"The next time I tell you to trust me, don't." Della looked back over her shoulder. Her eyes were bright green and her canines extended. "We've got company."

Chapter Eight

"We should run." Kylie's voice was nothing more than a whisper. Her heart throbbing in her chest sounded louder.

"When things run, they get chased," Della answered. "I'd rather do the chasing."

"Smart girl," a deep voice answered back. And just the sound of it sent chills down Kylie's spine.

Three silent figures stepped out from the shadows. The only noise filtering through the thicket of trees was Della's hiss. Kylie moved to stand next to Della in case they attacked. Her mind still played with the option of running. A good option. But first she had to convince Della.

The slight sound of twigs being snapped under footsteps sounded at their backs. They were surrounded.

Time to find a new option.

Even with only the half moon lighting the path, Kylie was able to check the patterns of the three men fronting them: werewolves. The edges of the patterns were dark, as if their intentions were not good natured. That could only mean one thing: rogues.

The bigger man in the middle stepped closer. Della hissed harder. Kylie felt her blood fizz with the need to protect the little vamp. As badass as Della considered herself, this was no fair match. Not that the rogues would care.

"I will kindly ask you to leave," Kylie said, not sure where her bravado came from, but it was there, and she'd be damned if she wouldn't use it. "You're trespassing. This is Shadow Falls property." She stood with her shoulders back, her chin up. Knowing they could smell fear, she tried not to let the seed of that emotion grow any bigger.

Kylie saw Della, poised to attack, and Kylie touched her elbow, hoping to convince the vamp to wait. Maybe they could talk their way out of this.

"Leave now, or I'll rip your throat out first," Della said to the man facing her.

That wasn't the kind of talk Kylie had in mind.

"We did not come here to do harm," the guy in the middle said to Kylie, and then he cut Della a smirk as if mocking her threat. "But if provoked, that could change."