Page 85 (1/2)

Chapter One

Kylie Galen looked up from the slice of pepperoni pizza on the fine china plate and tried to ignore the ghost swinging the bloody sword right behind her grandfather and great-aunt Her newfound faood people, but a tad on the proper side And proper people probably wouldn't appreciate an uninvited ghost getting their dining room walls bloody

The spirit, a fe hair, in her early thirties, stopped inand stared directly at Kylie You kill or be killed It's really rather simple The words reverberated in Kylie's head They were co discussed, that was probably for the best

That's not si to eat, so would you ?

That's rude, the ghost said You're supposed to help spirits You need to abide by your guidelines

Kylie twisted the cloth napkin she'd placed in her lap Okay, was there sohost whisperer having to be polite to obnoxious spirits?

Oh, wait, she didn't have a freaking rule book, or guidelines She inging it Winging everything, in fact: ghost whispering, being a supernatural, being soirlfriend

Being soirlfriend!

Lately it felt like she inging her whole das, too Like her decision to leave Shadow Falls, the ca school for paranor to do at the time

Had

She'd been here at the chameleons' compound less than teeks, and she wasn't so sure anymore

True, she'd had a good reason to coet to know Malcolreat-aunt Francyne

Months after learning she wasn't all human, she'd finally discovered she was a chaanized unit of the paranorovernment, the Fallen Research Unit, the FRU, had used therandmother had died as a result And now the sa That was so not happening!

However, Kylie'sto do with the FRU, or with finding out about her heritage Nope It had everything to do with running away

Running away from Lucas, the olf she'd fallen in love with The ho had promised his soul to another olf and expected Kylie to believe itHow could he have done that? How could he have kissed Kylie with all that passion for the last month, yet every tiirl? How could Kylie stay at Shadow Falls and continue to face him?

The probleht the heartbreak with her Andnow, she wasn't just hurting over a certain olf; she was hurting becauseevery cell in her body missed Shadow Falls Okay, so maybe not really Shadow Falls, but she missed the people Friends who had become as close as fa sister Burnett, the stern vampire, the other caure wrapped into one Her two roommates, Della and Miranda, who'd felt abandoned by Kylie when she left And Derek, who'd vowed his love to her, even when he knew she loved Lucas

Oh God, she ly, she was only a few miles away from Shadow Falls, tucked away in a secluded spot in what Texans referred to as the hill country, and yet it ht as well have been across the world

Sure, she'd spoken to Holiday every day At first, her grandfather had refused her this right, but her aunt had insisted he see reason He'd relented, but only if she used a certain phone and kept the conversations very short, so the calls couldn't be traced And by no means could Kylie tell anyone where she was

Because of the carandfather didn't trust anyone at Shadow Falls