Kylie's annoyance peaked. "Yeah, but it would have been nice if you'd called me yourself."

His gaze tightened as if he were trying to read her. "It's not like ... The only reason I called her was because Clara wanted to talk to her."

"Clara?" Kylie asked.

"My half-sister. She and Fredericka got to know each other when she went back with me before."

Great! Lucas's sister was friends with Fredericka. Kylie's jealousy inched up another notch.

He stared into her eyes. "I heard Will had to calm down Fredericka. I'll talk to her about it."

Kylie instantly realized she didn't want him talking to Fredericka. She bit down on her lip. Could she tell Lucas he couldn't be friends with Fredericka when she wouldn't want him telling her whom she could, and couldn't, be friends with?

No. She couldn't. So she just said, "Don't worry. I handled it." She stared at his chest for a second, trying to get her wayward jealousy under control.

He tilted her chin up and his blue eyes gazed into hers. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she lied. "Just ... a little worried about later. Seeing my stepdad and then Sara showing up."

"Can I do anything to help? All you have to do is ask."

Her heart tightened at his concerned tone. Lucas cared about her. She knew that. She believed it. Which meant she couldn't let Fredericka come between them. She just couldn't.

"You just did by being here." She gave him a long hug.

It wasn't until he left that she realized neither of them had said anything about him asking her out.

* * *

Kylie and Della went to the dining hall a little early to offer Holiday their help. Miranda had stayed behind to get all dolled up, in case Perry saw her.

Miranda and Della-the vamp in full moody mode, probably because she had to see her parents today-had bickered all morning. Kylie reminded them both to be on their best behavior around her mom and Sara. She honestly didn't care if they argued in front of her stepdad.

Well, maybe she cared a little, but Sara and her mom were more important.

They had just about gotten to the end of the path when someone called, "Wait up." Kylie turned, and Ellie, with a bright smile, came running up to join them.

Ellie grinned and reached over as if to hug Della. The fast embrace knocked Ellie's cap off.

Della backed up. "I'm not a hugger, Ellie. Nothing personal. But most vampires aren't huggers either."

"I'll work on that." Ellie grinned and snagged her hat from the ground. "Della voted me into her circle. I'm officially a member of the Shadow Falls vampire family."

"Cool." Kylie was happy for Ellie, but somewhere deep inside, this stood as another reminder that she didn't belong to any group. Odd, how she'd helped Ellie do something that she couldn't seem to do for herself.

Della frowned. "It's nothing. Don't make a big deal of it."

"It is a big deal," Ellie said. "I was leaving today, but you guys changed my mind. Heck, you could have saved my life." She looked ahead and saw a couple of other vamps. "I need to run. But seriously, thank you!"

Della stared after her. "I still think she's way too touchy-feely."

Kylie watched Ellie run up and chat with the others. She wasn't sure why she believed Ellie was the vamp the death angels warned would die, but the tiniest bit of hope that she'd saved Ellie offered Kylie a shimmer of reprieve from her own troubles.

Or it did until about thirty minutes later, when Kylie saw the parents start to pour in. Everyone but her dad. Had he forgotten again?

Chapter Thirty

As the room filled with parents, Kylie really began to worry her dad was a no show. Her throat felt tight, her heart started breaking. Wanting to get away from the crowd, she escaped outside and went to sit on the office porch ... to wait. If he didn't show, it wouldn't matter, she told herself. It wasn't as if he hadn't let her down before.

So why did it hurt so much?

It wasn't until she got settled in her chair that she remembered she was still being shadowed. She wasn't supposed to leave the dining hall without Holiday.

She started to get back up when she heard, "Hello, Miss Galen."

The female voice startled her and she yelped.

She turned in the chair and found herself staring at Lucas's grandmother Mrs. Parker. The fact that Lucas's grandmother knew who she was was a surprise.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you. You startled me," Kylie said, still holding her hand over her heart. "It must run in the family." She smiled. "Lucas is always sneaking up on me."

"It's a werewolf thing." She motioned to the chair. "Do you mind?"

"Of course not." Kylie leaned back in her chair and tried to appear relaxed. But she got the feeling that this wasn't just an accidental encounter. What could Lucas's grandmother want with her?

The woman sauntered across the porch. For someone who moved so slow, it surprised Kylie that she did it so silently and with an amazing amount of grace. She lowered herself into the chair, and even the wood didn't creak. She folded her aged hands in her lap, looking the epitome of propriety. She stared out for a few minutes, whether looking at the sky or the woods, Kylie didn't know.

The silence seemed awkward, but Kylie got the feeling it would be rude to rush her. For a second, she stared at the woman's hands, remembering the hands of the elderly woman who had come into the camp pretending to be her grandmother.