"Damn," she said. "Run. Just keep going south and you should come to the edge of the property. You should make it before the guards do if you hurry."

"But-"

"Go! I promised my brother I'd get you out of here!"

The urgency in Jenny's tone had Kylie bolting, but she only got a hundred yards when her chest constricted with a bad feeling. A bad feeling about leaving Jenny. Kylie felt the subtle change in her body at even the slightest thought that someone might be in danger. She wasn't leaving the girl, not until she made sure whoever hurdled toward her wasn't a threat. Swinging around, she started back.

"Damn it!" a gravelly sounding voice exploded in the dark of the forest. A voice that sounded familiar.

"Get off of me."

"Leave her alone," Jenny screamed. "She's going back where she belongs."

Kylie's feet pounded harder against the ground as she hurried to the edge of the trees. She hadn't come to a complete stop when she recognized the voice. She saw Derek with a very angry Jenny clinging to his back, her hands over his eyes and her legs wrapped around his waist.

Derek yanked her hands from his eyes, but Jenny just shifted her hold around his throat.

"Where is Kylie?" he growled, and whirled around, as if half attempting to find her and half trying to throw off his assailant.

Kylie almost smiled at the sight of Jenny clinging to Derek's back. The smile faded when she saw him become still and close his eyes as if concentrating. She knew he was about to do that thing in his mind that would leave Jenny unconscious. "Stop. I'm here," Kylie belted out.

"You know him?" Jenny asked, her legs still clinging to Derek's back.

"Yes. I know him. Get off of him," Kylie suggested, not completely sure Derek understood Jenny wasn't a threat.

Jenny slipped down and then quickly stepped back, as if now the moment of panic was over, she felt asense of fear. Derek turned, no doubt scowling at the girl, if Jenny's expression was any indication. After only a second, his angry posture weakened. The two of them clashed gazes, neither of them looking happy, but assessing each other.

"Then ... then go, both of you." Jenny waved her arms and quickly diverted her gaze away from Derek.

"Go before the guards find you."

"What's going on?" Derek asked, and finally looked away from Jenny to Kylie. She saw his gaze cut to the suitcase in her hand.

"She says the elders are going to try to stop me from leaving." Kylie felt the pinch of betrayal as she said it. Was her grandfather in on this or not?

"But Burnett said-"

"You do not have time to talk about this!" Jenny snapped.

Derek looked at Kylie as if waiting for her to make the call.

"We should go," she said, and sadness fluttered inside her about leaving this way. About not knowing if her grandfather had betrayed her or not.

She cast Jenny one more look. "Thank you," she said.

Jenny offered Kylie a shy smile and nodded right before she and Derek took off.

She kept her pace even with Derek's, knowing he couldn't keep up. The suitcase in her hand felt light in her firm grip, but the bouncing back and forth felt cumbersome.

"I could've knocked her off. You know I just didn't want to hurt that girl."

"I know." Kylie bit back a grin. What was it with guys and their egos?

Their footfalls seemed to bounce off the trees and fill the darkness. But the mood suddenly felt different. While she couldn't explain it, her skin felt ultra sensitive and her blood seemed to pulse a bit fast. Fear. Danger. It built inside her, like a slow fire, and the scent of it seemed to fill the air, stinging her flesh.

And from the quick glance Derek shot her, Kylie knew she wasn't the only one feeling it. Their pace suddenly increased.

* * *

They got within a hundred yards of the gate in less than five minutes. Kylie could have made it in half that time, but Derek couldn't. As they drew closer, Kylie spotted the gate. They could easily jump over. Kylie was about to tell Derek the plan, when suddenly she remembered. Just because she couldn't see the guards didn't mean they weren't there.

She grabbed Derek's arm and pulled him behind a tree. "Wait," she whispered under her breath.

"It's clear," he said, and looked back around the oak's trunk.

"We don't know for sure," she said. "They're chameleons."

His gaze shot back to the fence, his brow wrinkled with puzzlement. She saw the exact second he realized what she meant.

"How could we know if ... they're invisible?" he asked.

Kylie suddenly recalled that while she couldn't see anyone when she was invisible, she could hear them. "Let me check on something." She closed her eyes and concentrated on disappearing. For a second she feared it wouldn't work, but then the odd kind of tingling started with her feet and went to her knees.Derek's eyes grew round as she faded. The second she couldn't see herself, she concentrated on listening. Her gaze moved between the trees, trying to see anything in the dark. Beside her, she could hear Derek breathing. She glanced at him, saw him still staring as if finding her disappearing act a bit too much. Then she heard it. Footfalls.

Shit.

Someone was coming upon them. It had to be the guards.

Panicked, she searched for the right thing to do. They could hear her whether she was invisible or not.

But at least she couldn't be seen. But what about Derek?