"Promise?" he asked.
"Promise," she told him, and she meant it. She didn't tell him all bets were off, that she'd take him any way he came. On the Council, or off. If he didn't make it and grew to resent her later, she'd just face it then. But she loved him too much to turn away from him now.
As Kylie pulled her clothes from her closet, Della invited herself into Kylie's bedroom.
"That was a quicky," Della said, referring to Lucas's short visit.
"He just came by to tell me he's meeting his grandma."
"I know, I heard," she smarted off.Kylie frowned. "You could cover your ears and not listen in, you know."
"And you could stop buddying up with Steve!" she hissed.
Kylie just shook her head. "Look, I need to get dressed. I'm going with Hayden to confront Burnett and Holiday about Jenny."
"Burnett's gonna be pissed," Della said.
"I know," Kylie said. "But when he's done being pissed he's usually reasonable."
"Yeah," Della said. "But it's always that pissed part that scares the shit out of me."
Kylie laughed. Della eyed her. "Why would you talk to Steve behind my back?"
Frowning, Kylie answered, "What was I supposed to do? He paid blood for the hour."
"Tell him no. Believe it or not, that's usually enough to send him packing."
Maybe not anymore, Kylie thought.
"What did he want anyway?" Della dropped on Kylie's twin bed.
Kylie rolled her eyes. "You know what he wanted. Advice on how to deal with you."
"So what did you tell him? And remember I can tell if you lie."
Kylie picked up her brush and started putting up her hair. "I told him to be patient. To fight for you, because you were worth it."
"Stupid advice," Della said.
Kylie put her brush down. "Not stupid. True. You are worth it." Moving to the bed, she hugged the vamp.
"What's with all the hugging stuff lately?" Della whined.
"I love you," Kylie said, and grinned.
"You told me that already. So seriously, what's up?"
She couldn't lie to Della, so Kylie vagued up the truth. "You tell people you love them so if anything happens, they'll know how you felt." Now if she could just find the courage to go and tell Lucas.
Della looked suspicious. "What do you think is going to happen?"
"I hope nothing," Kylie said, thinking she'd lived through the FRU testing, which hadn't turned out to be nearly as scary as she'd thought, but she still had to face Mario, and that might not be quite so easy.
"What do you mean?" Della asked.
A light knock sounded on the door of the cabin and saved Kylie from having to explain. "Hayden's here. Gotta go."
As Kylie walked out she heard Della's parting remark. "Perry's right. You've got secrets. You can't hide them from us!"
Yes, she could, Kylie thought.
Soon we'll be together. Her father's words whispered through her head. She bit down on her lip.
If you don't mind, Daddy, I'd like to hang around about a hundred years first.
* * *
Hayden and Kylie walked into the office. Burnett met them at the door. Holiday was standing behind her desk looking worried.
"What's wrong?" they asked in unison.
"Nothing, really," Kylie said."We need to talk," Hayden said.
Burnett motioned for them to sit with a concerned look. As soon as Kylie and Hayden sat down, Burnett spoke. "Are the elders having a problem with you two being tested?"
"It's not that," Hayden said. "Supposedly they have contacted all the elders of the other compounds and the consensus is that it is a good thing. Of course there is still a lot of suspicion of the FRU. Something like this doesn't change overnight. There will be a lot of fences to mend. Trust to build." He glanced at Kylie. "I personally think a few of the elders are just ashamed that it took a sixteen-year-old girl to force us to face our fears."
"I didn't go in alone," Kylie said, giving Hayden his credit.
"No, but I wouldn't have gone if you hadn't set it up." Hayden glanced back at Burnett and Holiday.
"But this isn't why we are here."
"Why is it I don't think I'm going to like this?" Burnett sat down on the edge of Holiday's desk.
"Don't start projecting." Holiday touched his leg.
"First, I want to say I take full responsibility for this," Hayden said.
"No," Kylie said. "If you are going to blame someone, blame me."
"I'm still not liking it," Burnett snapped. "But I'd like to find out what it is I'm not liking, so I can do what Holiday says and stop projecting!"
"Remember when I told you that one of the other chameleons helped Derek and me escape?"
"Yes," Burnett said, and Holiday nodded.
"That girl was Hayden's sister."
"And?" Burnett said.
"She ran away."
"And?" Burnett snapped, motioning for Kylie to move faster.
"She ran here," Kylie said.
"Here?" Burnett asked. "She's here now?"
Both Kylie and Hayden nodded.
"How could she be..." He scowled. "The night the alarm went off?"
Both Kylie and Hayden nodded one more time.
Kylie saw one of the crystals in the room flicker. For some crazy reason, she sensed Jenny had walked past.
Kylie met Burnett's eyes. "Please don't get too mad and start yelling. Not for my or Hayden's sake, but for Jenny's. You make her nervous."
"She's been here all along, and now is when you decided to tell me? You let me search this whole damn camp for almost twenty-four hours and you knew the whole time who it was?" He stood up from the desk and started walking back and forth.
Holiday stood up, and as he moved past her, she placed a calming hand on his arm and brought the vampire to a halt.
"We didn't know right away. She was hiding, she..." Kylie didn't see any reason to throw Derek to the wolves. "I didn't find out about her until a day later and Hayden didn't know until I told him."
"Is she still here?" Burnett barked out the question.
"Yes," Kylie said. "And she'd like to stay here. To finish school.""Will her parents sign for her?" Holiday asked.
Hayden's jaw tightened. "I don't know how they are going to feel when they learn she's here. With the news of the FRU, they may allow it. If they don't, I'll be taking legal action to get custody of her."