Then she turned back to the crowd. "Everyone, I'd like for you to meet Jenny Yates. She's Hayden's little sister. So mistreat her and you might be getting extra homework assignments."
"Is she the same as Kylie?" someone asked.
Hayden took a step forward. "And the same as me."
Everyone's eyes tightened and gasps filled the dining hall. Kylie went to sit with Hayden and Jenny at what she realized was the chameleon table. A feeling of rightness filled Kylie's chest. This was part ofher quest and she'd accomplished it.
Of course, all Kylie's friends quickly joined them. Lucas included. And that was just fine-because while it was nice to have someone like you around, a person's pattern shouldn't dictate who you welcomed into your life, or at your lunch table.
* * *
Later that evening, they went down to the lake to swim because with fall upon them, the water would be too cold soon. Kylie had almost declined but when she saw Della wanted to go, she gave in. She put on her bathing suit and slipped a black coverall dress over it. As everyone swam, Kylie moved to sit on the pier and call her mom.
She hadn't shaken the feeling that John was up to no good. The conversation was short. Her mom and John were out to eat at one of the nicest restaurants in Houston.
Hanging up, Kylie stood there and tried to soak up the sunset. Just when the sun slipped away, nightfall came and turned the sky an array of colors. The birds flew from one tree to another, feasting on insects.
Kylie was about to rejoin the others by the water's edge when the spirit's cold washed down on her.
Kylie looked around and the spirit sat on the edge of the pier as if in a stupor, looking lost, looking so damn sad.
"I know who you are, Lucinda," Kylie said. "You were Mario's daughter-in-law."
I know. I've figured that part out. But things came to me one piece at a time, like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. I could almost see what my whole life was like, but when those last dozen pieces fell into place, I saw the whole picture. Her voice sounded tight, ready to break. I didn't like it.
After a long pause, she looked at Kylie. I lived a terrible life. Did terrible things. Hurt so many people. And my own son paid the price. I should have lived to be a good example for him.
Kylie looked up at the beaconing sky. The hues of gold and oranges had faded and it was now ten different shades of pink. She noted the birds were now flocking around the pier. Could they, like her, see the dead?
Looking back at the sadness in the spirit's eyes, Kylie said, "He's in heaven."
The spirit shook her head. I don't think so. I'm sure his grandfather taught him all his evil ways. He was so young and impressionable. Then his own grandfather killed him.
The mood surrounding the spirit-devastation, doom-pressed on Kylie's heart. "You were an example for him. He died saving someone else, just the way you did to save him. You taught him that. And that's what saved his soul."
The ghost's eyes grew wet with emotion. Are you sure? How do you know this?
Kylie hesitated, worried the spirit might blame her. "He died saving me."
The spirit sat as if lost in thought for a second. Then that's why they sent me here?
"Who sent you here?" Kylie asked, pretty sure she knew, but she wanted to hear it.
The death angels.
"Is that whose voice I hear every now and then?"
That would be them.
"But why do I hear them more than ... Holiday and other ghost whisperers?"
They watch over protectors closer. They have to because you can only fight to protect others."Do they want me to kill Mario, or is that just you?" Kylie hoped she was wrong about her assumptions.
At first I thought it was just me, but then I realized it was their plan, too.
Kylie's heart clutched.
He has to be stopped. You are the chosen one. No one else has been able to stop him.
"But if I can't protect myself, then ... who will I be protecting when I fight him?"
I cannot see that future.
"But what if I can't do it? I'm not that good with a sword."
Then you die trying. Sometimes that's all we can do.
Kylie knew the spirit referred to herself, too. She'd died trying to save her son. Yet as much as she felt for the ghost, fear bit down on Kylie.
"I'm not ready to die."
Then you have to practice. That's another reason I'm here. To help teach you to fight-because if you fail, bad things will happen to so many people. People you care about. People who trust you to protect them.
She felt the sting in her blood at being a protector. "Then I'll have to win," Kylie said. Because damn it, she wouldn't let Mario hurt anyone else that she loved.
"What?"
Kylie looked over her shoulder at the sound of Lucas's voice. His lack of a shirt had her staring. His hair was still wet. A few droplets of water still clung to his chest. He'd been in the water just a few minutes ago. He must have slipped his jeans over his swim trunks. She could see the edge of suit sticking out over the waist of his jeans.
Her gaze moved across that spot on his belly button where she'd run her hands to heal him, and then just to touch him.
"You okay?" he asked.
She nodded, but it was a lie. Her heart was caught on the possibility of dying, of others suffering because she couldn't rise to the challenge. And just like that, seeing him made her realize how much she wanted to live.
She looked back at the water and heard his almost-silent steps on the pier as he moved closer.
"You got company?" he asked, now standing beside her.
She looked around. "No, she's gone now."
His phone rang and he grabbed it out of his pocket as if he'd been waiting for a call. He frowned at the little screen, and then turned it off.
"Is something wrong?" Kylie asked.
"No, it's just Will."
"He still calls you?"
Lucas nodded. "He's not persuaded by the old rules."
"He's a good friend," she said.
"Yeah." Lucas slipped it back into his pocket. "I was hoping it might be my grandmother."
She saw the concern in his eyes. "About meeting with the elder?"
"That and she told me she wasn't feeling well this morning. I called a bit ago and she didn't answer.She probably went out to play bingo. She's like this bingo fanatic. Bingo and gardening, that's her life."
"You really love her, don't you?" Kylie asked, hearing the devotion in his voice when he talked about her.
He inhaled the way a guy does when he's worried something he's about to say is going to make him sound weak. "She was there for me when my parents decided I was too much trouble. She was the best thing that ever happened to me, but I didn't know it then. I felt abandoned by them. I made her life hell for a while. Then when my parents split up and my dad came to get me, my grandmother threw all kinds of hell to keep me. I wouldn't be who I am today if she hadn't done what she did."