"Do we know for sure that Hannah didn't just leave for a while and then..." He paused and sympathy flowed out of him in waves.

"And then was killed," Holiday said, and the words no more left her lips than the grief floated off her and filled Kylie's chest. Kylie had always been empathetic to others, but this was so much more intense.

Not a cakewalk, Kylie thought. Being fae would take some getting used to, but at least she could go back to eating food again. Then she thought about Derek and how he'd said her emotions had felt supersized. That must have been so hard on him.

Burnett moved in. "The police are investigating her disappearance. They have a suspect-old boyfriend-but they couldn't prove anything. I'll go over their files, but considering what we know, I don't think this is tied to her personally."

"What else did you learn?" Kylie asked, remembering Burnett's glance at her during the call.

"I had another check done on Hayden Yates."

"And?" Kylie asked, but even before he spoke she felt his discontent at having to tell her.

"He's clean. There's nothing in his background that points to him being anything other than what he says he is."

Kylie exhaled, not sure she believed it. She'd been so sure there was something hinky about him. Then she remembered ... "Can you check out my mom's boyfriend?"

"You think he's behind Hannah's murder?" Burnett asked, confused.

"No, nothing to do with Hannah. I just ... don't like him."

"I don't, either," Burnett clipped, "but that doesn't mean he's a criminal. There's a lot of people out there that I don't like."

Kylie frowned. "He gives me the creeps and I'd feel better if-"

"I'll do it," Burnett said, but she felt his emotions and knew he believed it was a waste of time.

"There's something else I want to talk about," Kylie said.

"Why do I have the feeling I'm not going to like this?" Burnett asked.

Kylie glanced at Holiday, who looked equally concerned. "I think it's time to call a halt to the whole shadow thing," Kylie said.

"No!" Burnett's expression grew grim.

Kylie sat up straighter and felt her backbone stiffen. "I'm tired of never being alone."

"You're alone in your room when you go to your cabin," he countered.

"Della's listening to every move I make. I can't do it anymore. I want my life back. Mario hasn't tried anything else for weeks now. Miranda said she doesn't feel any unwelcomed presence. I don't feel his presence. Maybe he's given up."

"People like him don't give up. He's waiting for the opportunity to strike."

"I promise to be careful, and if I feel anything, you'll be the first person I tell."

"No!" he said again.

Kylie felt an odd kind of energy building in her gut. Everything inside her said she was right, that they couldn't force this on her. She didn't understand the ball of vigor, or her lack of fear at standing up to them right now. If she wasn't so mad at his out-and-out refusal, she might have been more afraid that something else weird was happening to her.

"I'm not a prisoner here," she said. "I have a say in this."

"A say in if you get yourself killed or not?" he asked in anger.

"I'm not going to get killed." She tilted her chin back and looked at Holiday, hoping she'd see reason in the camp leader's eyes.

"This is because you want to see your grandfather again, isn't it?" Holiday asked, and while she saw Holiday's disapproval, Kylie also felt Holiday's compassion.

"Partly." Kylie didn't even consider lying. There was just a sense of rightness to her request. "But that's not all it's about. I'm tired of being babysat."

Burnett went to speak again, but Holiday intervened. "Would you promise to stay out of the woods?"

"She's already broken that promise," Burnett said.

"I promise." Kylie ignored Burnett.

Holiday leaned forward. "Will you promise to confirm with us when you meet your grandfather?"

"Will you promise not to stop me?" Kylie asked.

"I promise we will assess the situation and only stop you if we feel your life's in jeopardy."

"By whose judgment?" Kylie asked. "Some people's idea of safety is not reasonable." She didn't even flinch when she looked at Burnett-who, by the way, looked even more furious. And she felt every bit of his anger.

"This is insane. My job is to protect you," Burnett snarled.

"No," Holiday corrected him. "Our job as school administrators is to teach Kylie how to survive in the human world. Like it or not"-she glanced at Kylie-"she has the right to leave. And that is the last thing we want to happen right now."

Somehow, Kylie knew that the ball of energy in her gut had been about projecting how serious she was on this issue. Was that a fae talent, or was that from her chameleon abilities? Kylie didn't know. But it was pretty damn cool, even if it scared her.

"Do I have a choice in the matter?" Burnett bit out.

"No," both Kylie and Holiday said at the same time.

Burnett's phone beeped in an odd kind of way. He grabbed his device and pushed a few buttons. "Someone just jumped the front gate." He turned to leave, but stopped when a figure flashed in the doorway.