Miranda shrugged. "She'll get over it. You know how she is. Now tell me what happened."
Kylie shook her head. "I ran off and..."
"But why did you run off? Why did you ... drink the blood like it was a cold beer on a hot Friday night?"
Kylie looked down at her shoes. She didn't want to talk about this, not now. "I don't know."
"You liked how it tasted, didn't you?" Miranda sounded offended. The most Kylie could do was nod.
"Okay, then what happened?" A frown marred Miranda's expression. Kylie swallowed the tightness down her throat.
"Come on, give it up," Miranda snapped.
"I ran and then I felt someone there-a vampire someone. And then I heard Derek. I think he scared off whoever was there. I took off running and found Derek and then we just..."
"You what?" Miranda asked, hanging on to her every word. Started making out. "Nothing. Burnett showed up."
A whisk of air blasted them as Della came to a sudden stop beside Kylie. "And you told him you thought it was Chan, didn't you?" Della obviously had been listening the whole time.
Kylie looked at Della. "No. I didn't."
"Who's Chan?" Miranda asked.
"Nobody," Della snapped at Miranda. "Mind your own business."
Obviously, Della didn't want anyone to know her vampire and scoundrel cousin had broken one of the biggest Shadow Falls rules: no visitors without permission passes. That especially went for those who were against the FRU's attempts to govern the supernaturals.
Miranda, unhappy, glared right back at Della.
"Was it Chan?" Kylie asked, not caring if Miranda overheard. Kylie understood Della's loyalty to Chan. He'd been the one who'd helped Della get through the painful change. However, it made sense that if Chan had broken the rule once, he very well might break it again.
"I told you he wouldn't come back," Della snapped.
"But how can you be so sure?" Suddenly Kylie remembered how frightened she'd been in the woods when she'd met Della's smug cousin.
She folded her arms over her middle and took on a defensive posture.
Just because Della believed Chan wasn't a threat, didn't mean crap. He could be a part of the Blood Brothers gang as far as Kylie knew.
"Because I trust him, unlike other people. I thought you and Miranda were friends. All I asked was that you respect the fact that tonight was important to me. That-"
Kylie's frustration level peaked. "Damn it, Della. Why does everything always have to be about you?" The words hadn't fully left Kylie's mouth when she spotted the look in Della's eyes. The same look her friend got every time her parents came to visit. The look that told Kylie that Della felt like an outcast.
Kylie dropped her attitude. "I didn't mean to show disrespect. I just freaked out, okay?"
"Why?" Della's anger sounded in her voice, but it was hurt that colored her eyes.
"Why what?" Kylie asked, but deep down she knew what Della was asking her. She just needed a few seconds to figure out how to word it so it wouldn't sound so bad.
Della moved an inch closer. "You freaked out because you don't want to be a vampire, right? You think I'm a monster, don't you? You're scared to death that you might become like me. That's why you freaked out, wasn't it?"
Kylie opened her mouth to answer but no words came out. Probably because she couldn't lie to Della. The vampire would know the truth. Della turned to leave. Kylie reached out to stop her, but Della was gone.
"Where did she go?" Kylie searched the dining room twice and still couldn't find her. The room was filled with excited campers milling around.
"Just let her go cool off," Miranda said.
"I can't." Kylie knew how much this hurt Della.