"Why did he ask if I was Derek?" Lucas asked.

"It's a long story." And one she didn't want to share right now. As she tied her shoes, guilt tied knots in her chest. She shouldn't feel guilty. But she did.

Shoes on, she stood up and started walking, never looking back. Her emotions ran like wild horses in her mind. Lucas held out the fence again and she slipped through-without brushing up against him this time. As soon as she knew Trey couldn't see her anymore, she stopping thinking about him and started thinking about the kiss. Needing to feel grounded, she started putting it into perspective. Yes, it had been a good kiss, but it hadn't been more than a kiss. Right?

They hardly spoke on the walk back. And she hardly looked at him, because seeing him without his shirt was ... making it hard to think. When they had almost gotten to the camp trail, Kylie realized she hadn't gotten the one answer she wanted from him. Did Lucas remember her?

She tried to find a way to ask without it sounding as if she wanted him to remember her. As if she thought what they'd shared as children had connected them. It didn't.

How could it, when he'd even suggested she forget the kiss? Her chest began to tighten just a little. God, why did his saying that have to hurt so much?

She took a deep breath. Just add that question to the growing list she'd started since coming to Shadow Fal s. While the rest could probably wait, this one couldn't.

She wanted to know-needed to know-if he remembered her.

Just blurt it out. Just blurt it out. She saw the clearing in the woods ahead and knew her time with him was short. She might not talk to him again before she left.

"You know, you kind of remind me of someone," she said.

"Do I?" He didn't look at her.

"Yeah." She waited for him to ask who.

He didn't ask. Instead he said, "I get that a lot."

They came to the clearing and stepped out on the trail. His gaze met hers. "I have to go. I'm leading another hike." He turned to leave.

"Lucas?" she cal ed after him, and he swung around. She pul ed off his shirt and handed it to him. He took it. She pul ed her damp shirt away from her bra. It wasn't completely dry, but no longer as transparent. She saw his gaze lower to her chest briefly, then he met her eyes.

Do you remember me? "Thanks for ... showing me the dinosaur tracks."

He nodded. "You're welcome." He hesitated, and then said, "I'm sorry, Kylie."

She knew he was apologizing for the kiss. First, he tel s her to forget it ever happened and now he apologizes for it. Her chest clutched. Then he took off again and Kylie stood there with one thought running through her head. She wasn't sorry. She wasn't thrilled Trey had stumbled upon them. But neither was she sorry.

* * *

Kylie had just put on some dry clothes when she heard someone come into the cabin. Stepping out of her room, she spotted Del a standing by the open fridge drinking ... something.

Blood. Kylie forced herself to accept it. Her friend was a vampire and vampires drank blood, had to have it to live. It was time for Kylie to face things. "Hey."

"I'm not talking to you." Del a screwed the top on the bottle and placed it in the vegetable bin as if to hide it.

"I don't blame you. I haven't been a very good friend."

Del a turned around. "Is this your way of saying you're not going to leave?"

Kylie tried to think how to answer that. "I don't know yet. I told Holiday I'd give it two weeks. So I guess I shouldn't say one way or another until then."

Then, before she lost her nerve, Kylie moved in and stretched out her arm, rubbing a finger over her vein in the crease of her elbow. "Do you have the stuff to do it?"

Del a's brow wrinkled. "To do what?"

"To draw blood. Derek said that you guys were trained."

"I didn't..." Her eyes widened. "I never asked..."

"I know, but you didn't ask because you knew I'd say no. Right?"

"That's part of it." Del a continued to study her.

"And the other part?" Kylie asked.

"Because you just stopped being afraid of me. I didn't want you to look at me like a monster."

"You're not a monster," Kylie said. "You're just a vampire."

"And you don't see that as a monster?" Del a asked.

"Not when I realize it's you."

Del a hesitated. "My parents would think I was a monster. Lee would think I'm a monster."

"Screw what they would think," Kylie said. "You're not a monster." She held out her arm. "You need blood to live."

"I can survive just drinking animal blood for the summer," Del a said.

"Why should you when I've got extra?"

"You'd real y do it?" There was a catch in Del a's voice.

"Wel , I heard that once you agree to it, you can't take it back," she teased.

"I wouldn't hold you to it."

"I was joking. I want to do it."

"Do what?" Miranda asked, stepping into the cabin.

Kylie looked back. "I'm giving her some blood."

Miranda's eyes widened. "Seriously?"

Kylie nodded. "She offered to fight Fredericka for me. I owe her that much."

Miranda made a face. "Oh, hel , if you're gonna do it, then I've got to do it."