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thinking about the consequences, she flung herself into the mix,
grabbed
the larger lion by its mane, and yanked as hard as she could.
 Don t do that, Della yelled out, and while Kylie couldn t see her, she
suspected Della was talking to her. And just when Kylie actually
considered
listening to Della s advice, the huge cat stood up on his back
paws, bringing Kylie up with him. With her two fists knotted in the
orange
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hair of the lion s mane, Kylie s feet swung in the air. The beast
opened its mouth, blood dripped from his teeth, and it roared with
fury
unlike anything Kylie had ever heard. The feline s angry eyes cut back
at
Kylie. She saw the eyes turn from a deep gold to purple. And somehow
she knew this was Perry.
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 Put me down and stop fighting! she yelled.
Right then the other lion rammed Perry in the side. The hit jolted
Perry back and Kylie almost lost her hold on the mane. She looked to
the
ground a good six feet below. The fall would no doubt hurt, might
break a
bone, but she would survive. However, the fall would also put her right
in
the path of Kevin s angry swipes and snapping jaws. Surviving that
might
be a little harder, so she tightened her hold on the mane and hung on
for
dear life.
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Perry started shaking his head as if to rid himself of her presence. She
swung from the right to the left like a not-so-loved stuffed animal in
the
hands of an angry child. Kylie s fingers started to slip. She glanced
back
down, trying to figure out an escape route, but her thoughts shifted
when
she saw Kevin s jaws sink into Perry s soft lion underbelly. Tightening
her
hold on the thick mane, she raised her foot and kicked the attacking
lion
right in the eye to stop him from killing Perry. Kevin let go, but when
he
retreated, Kylie saw blood dripping from his mouth.
Perry roared, from pain or fury Kylie wasn t sure. Maybe both.
Kylie heard Della yelling something. Next, Kylie felt her friend flying
past as if in an attempt to rescue her, but each time she passed, Perry
would shift direction, moving Kylie out of Della s reach.
 Enough! Kylie screamed at the lions.  Both of you, stop it! Stop it or
I ll get the death angels here.
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The words no more than left her mouth when Kylie felt the
temperature
drop around her. The air in her throat felt icy. Her idle threat rang in
her ears. But then she couldn t help but wonder & Did she have the
power to call forth the death angels or was this just Daniel or another
ghost making their presence known at an inopportune time?
Or maybe an appropriate time.
Hadn t Daniel helped her in the past? Suddenly it didn t matter,
because
she saw bright orange sparkles appearing around Kevin. Perry
drew back his right paw as if to attack Kevin during his morphing
stage.
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 Don t do it, Perry, Kylie demanded.
Perry roared as if complaining, but he came back down on his four
paws. Kylie let go of his mane and dropped. Still a couple feet off the
ground, she landed off balance on her feet and then fell flat on her
butt.
When she looked up, there were sparkles appearing around Perry and
she
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saw his human form take shape. With clothes, thank goodness.
He looked down at her, his eyes glowing bright yellow, and fury still
filled his expression. But he wasn t bleeding.  That was stupid of you.
Never, never ever get in the middle of a fight with shape-shifters. You
could die.
 You re scolding me? Kylie asked, flabbergasted that he had the nerve
to reprimand her.  I wasn t the one trying to maul a fellow campmate.
And I was trying to protect you. She leaned on one hip and rubbed
her
bruised backside.
 I didn t need protecting. His voice boomed and his gaze shot to
Miranda.
Glancing back at Kevin, Kylie realized his changing process took
longer than Perry s. As soon as Kevin appeared, he stepped away from
Perry.
 This isn t over. We ll finish this later, Perry said to Kevin, his voice
sounding more like a roar.
 Fine. Kevin stared Perry right in the eyes, and Kylie almost thought
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they were going to start again, but Kevin turned and walked off.
Kylie realized it took nerve to turn your back on Perry when you d just
taken a chunk out of his belly. But somehow the fact that Kevin was
the
one to walk away, that he never once looked at Miranda, left Kylie with
little doubt which of the two held more power.
* * *
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When Kevin disappeared into the woods, Kylie waited for Perry to say
something to Miranda. But no one spoke. The birds in the distance
started
back on their song.
 Are you okay? Miranda asked.
Kylie looked up to assure Miranda that she was fine, but then she
realized
that Miranda wasn t talking to her, but to Perry. Kylie shifted her
gaze to him. He looked fine. Not a scratch on him. Which meant that
when shape-shifters changed back into human form they healed from
any
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injuries they d received. And that meant Kylie had thrown herself in
the
middle of the fight and gotten a bruised ass for no good reason at all.
She
could have let them rip each other to shreds. She should have.
Just friggin great. Still sitting on the ground, propped up on one side
of her hip, she gave her backside another rub and watched as Miranda
moved closer to Perry.
 Why did you do that? Miranda sounded half honored he d fought for
her and half pissed because, well, he d fought for her.  Tell me. She
took
another step toward the source of her anger.
 I felt like it, Perry growled back. Indeed, his anger became apparent
in the way his body changed the moment she stepped closer. His
posture
hardened as if he was unable to bend. His blond hair hung scattered
over
his sweaty brow. His eyes were blue for a second, then changed to
bright
green.
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He still personified the fierce appearance of an angry lion gone was
the jokester, the guy who always had something funny or sarcastic to
say.
And for the first time, Kylie understood why everyone was a little
frightened of him.
 You didn t do it because of me? Miranda asked, obviously not
picking
up on the fury he wore like an outer skin.  Because you were jealous?
Perry didn t answer Miranda. He just stared at her and asked his own
question.  So it s true?
 What s true? Miranda said.
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 You kissed him, Perry said.  I didn t believe him when he told me. I
thought he was just trying to piss me off, but he wasn t making it up,
was
he? You really did it. You kissed him.
Miranda s eyes grew a tad larger.  Yes.
Silence hung in the hot morning air.
 No, she blurted out, and shook her head, sending the streaks of pink,
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black, and green in her hair intermingling with each movement.  I
didn t
kiss him. He kissed me.
 But you kissed him back, he accused.
Kylie held her breath. Della came to stand beside Kylie and extended
her hand. Kylie accepted Della s help and, once upright, she reached
back
and gave her rear end another rub.
 Answer me, Perry demanded.
Kylie s gaze shot back to Miranda and Perry. The tension radiating [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]