the right height. Had Kylie mistaken her for…?
“Was that you?”
“Was what me?” Jenny asked.
Kylie looked again at Jenny’s features, a straight nose, square chin, and light grayish green eyes, and remembered the vague feeling that she looked familiar. Not like she knew her, but just that she looked like someone she knew. “You … were in the woods?”
“I … guess. I was coming from our house.”
Kylie envisioned a quick glimpse of the person she thought was Monique. It hadn’t been Jenny—or had it? “Did you see anyone else?”
“No. Why? Was there someone else out there?”
Kylie looked back at the woods. “Probably not,” she said, but she wasn’t completely convinced. Being werewolf, Monique could be very quiet if she willed it. Or very fast getting away. Kylie returned to walking, her mind racing faster than her pace.
“So … do you mind?” Jenny asked.
Lost in her thoughts, Kylie glanced up. “Mind what?”
“If we talk,” Jenny said, and she gripped her hands together as if worried about something.
“I…” Kylie looked back up at the house. “I need to speak with my grandfather and aunt now, but why don’t you stop by in a bit.” Kylie noted again Jenny’s worried expression and she found it odd that she was even asking to speak with her. Jenny hadn’t been rude to Kylie during her time here, but she hadn’t been friendly, either. “Is something wrong?”
“The rumor is that you’re leaving. Are you?”
Kylie nodded. “Yes. Why?”
Jenny nipped at her bottom lip as if nervous. “When?”
“Tomorrow,” Kylie answered.
Voices came from her grandfather’s house. Kylie looked toward the door.
“I … gotta go.” Jenny darted off in a hurry. Kylie turned back to the house and noticed that on her grandfather’s porch stood the four other elders, as if they’d just stepped out to leave.
Kylie looked back and tried again to convince herself it was Jenny and not Monique she’d seen. But she wasn’t completely buying it.
As she headed to the house, the elders passed her. All nodded a quick hello and kept walking, but just in passing Kylie felt the tension radiating from them. Somehow Kylie sensed that they had been at her grandfather’s discussing her. While she’d been relieved that her grandfather had made at least some level of peace with Burnett, it didn’t mean the other elders had. And that, Kylie realized, could mean trouble. If not for her, for her grandfather.
* * *
Kylie hesitated as she stepped into the house. Having been here thirteen days, she still felt as if she should knock. Not that her aunt or grandfather made her feel unwelcome, but she just didn’t have the sense of belonging. Maybe because, deep down, she knew she didn’t fit in here. She belonged at Shadow Falls. She recalled Burnett saying that her coming here was a mistake. And even though it didn’t feel right, she wasn’t prepared to call it that.
Voices drifted from the dining room and she moved that way. As she entered the hallway, the voices stopped. Stopped too quickly, as if they knew she was there and didn’t want her to hear them. She paused at the threshold. Her aunt and grandfather sat at the table looking at her. She wished she knew the right thing to say. Yet a part of her knew that no matter what she said, it was going to hurt them. Maybe Burnett was right. Coming here had been a mistake. If for no other reason than the pain she’d brought on her grandfather and aunt.
“I’m sorry if I’ve caused problems. I’m sorry that—”
“No worries, child. Sit down,” her aunt said. “Do you want me to heat your pizza?”
“No, I’m not hungry.” Kylie sat down and gazed at her grandfather. “Are the elders upset at what happened? Are they upset at me, or you?”
Her grandfather sighed. “Upset, yes, but not at a particular person. They do not like change, and lately there has been a lot of change.”
And mostly because of me. Kylie bit