"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?
Remembering something she had learned, she yearned to be visible again, and when she appeared, Derek just eyed her in a bit of amazement. She leaned in and whispered in his ear. "They're close by."
She took his hand and laced her fingers through his. Normally, Kylie wouldn't worry so much about facing the guards. Chameleons weren't known as fighters, but the feeling of fear that still pricked her skin said she shouldn't take chances. Not now, not when they were so close to escaping.
She leaned closer to his ear. "I'm going to make you invisible with me. You have to be very quiet, because while they can't see us, they will be able to hear us. You understand?"
"Wait? You're going to make me-"
She cut off his words by pressing a finger to his lips. Then, not really knowing if she could do it, she closed her eyes tight and thought of nothing but disappearing-and taking Derek with her.
Slowly, her legs started to fade, and then she saw Derek's hand start to shimmer. She heard his light gasp when he saw it, too. It didn't occur to her until right then that the whole invisible thing might not work the same for non-chameleons. What if this hurt him? She almost let go of his hand, but instead she listened to her gut and her gut said it was okay.
Dear God, she hoped her gut didn't let her down now.
As the vanishing slowly climbed up her body, she saw his arm completely disappear. She held tight to his wrist and felt him brush his thumb on the back of her arm. When she looked up into his eyes, she saw his gaze was directed at her mouth. He leaned in just a bit. Oh, crap! Thankfully, before his lips pressed against her, he was visually gone. And so was she. As she felt his breath on her lips, she shifted back just a bit.
"Can you hear me?" She breathed the words, her mind still on the kiss that almost happened. Why did it feel so wrong? She didn't need to be loyal to Lucas now. But she did need to be loyal to what felt right, and that almost kiss hadn't felt right. Maybe not all wrong, but not right, either.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
She heard his quiet reply. "Yeah. This is so cool."
Odd, how different people interpreted situations. The first time this happened to her, she'd freaked. Of course, she hadn't had anyone with her, or even known it was possible.
"Don't pull away from me or you'll become visible," she whispered. At least that's how she thought it worked. Oh, great. What if it wasn't that simple?
"Holding on to you is easy," he whispered, and he brushed his thumb over her wrist again. "I never wanted to let go of you."
"Now's not the time..."
"I know." A bit of guilt sounded in his tone.Kylie tried to calm her racing mind that darted between the almost kiss to the fear that turning him invisible could have done some damage. Thankfully, he appeared to be fine. Now she just prayed undoing this was as easy as making him vanish. God, she hoped this hadn't been a mistake.
"Now what?" he asked in a voice barely audible, and she felt his breath against her cheek. She shifted back.
"If I understand what Jenny meant, the guards walk the property. I can hear footsteps, and I'm assuming it's them now. They aren't too close, but it sounds like there are two of them. I'm hoping they will walk on by."
"Sounds like a plan."
It sounded like a shot in the dark, Kylie thought.
They stood completely silent and invisible. The footsteps drew nearer. Close.
Then closer. But they remained invisible. The sound of their breathing echoed too loud in the night air.
Kylie tried to listen to see if their own breaths sounded.