Born at Midnight (8 page)

Trying to prevent emotional overload, Kylie reached for her glass of diet soda and watched Della pull the pepperoni off the pizza and pop it in her mouth. The very tips of her sharp canines caught Kylie’s attention and her thoughts skipped past Trey issues and landed on living-with-a-vampire issues.

As another piece of pepperoni disappeared down Della’s throat, Kylie realized that the girl was eating. From the fictional books she’d read, she’d assumed vampires didn’t eat. They only drank … Kylie’s gaze slammed against Della’s glass filled with some red, thick liquid.

“Oh crap.” Kylie’s stomach heaved, and she placed a hand over her mouth.

“What?” Della asked.

“Is that … blood?” she muttered, and looked around the dining hall, noticing the glasses filled with the red substance that were occupying the tables in the room.

Miranda leaned in. “It’s gross, isn’t it?”

“Hanging out with toads is gross.” Della’s voice came edged with anger.

“I don’t hang out with toads,” Miranda snapped, her hazel eyes grew bright with what appeared to be embarrassment. “I put a spell on this guy. He deserved it, of course, but now I can’t seem to reverse it so whenever he misbehaves, he automatically turns into a toad and pops in to see me.”

Desperation echoed in Miranda’s voice, but Kylie barely paid it any heed. For some reason the fact that Miranda could turn people into toads didn’t bother Kylie near as much as the fact that Della was drinking blood. But holy hell. What kind of blood was it?

Della looked at Kylie and read her disgust. “Seeing dead people is gross, too. This”—she picked up her glass and took a big gulp—“is not gross.”

When Della pulled the glass away, a couple of red drops beaded right below her bottom lip. Della’s pink tongue shot out and caught the droplets.

Kylie’s stomach knotted and the pizza, now a lump in the bottom of her gut, wanted to find its way up.

“Of course”—Della’s smile came off wicked—“you guys will find that out when you have to try it.”

“I tried it last summer and it was gross,” Miranda said. “It tastes like a dirty penny smells.”

“What?” Kylie swallowed hard. “I have to drink blood? I’m not doing it. Nope. Not me.” She put her hand over her mouth and concentrated on not barfing.

“Not drink it, just taste it,” Miranda said. “We all have to learn about each other’s cultures toward the end of the summer. We, the witches, put on a ceremony and show some of our magic; the werewolves, last time we actually saw Lucas Parker transform himself. It was scary. Whatever you do, don’t piss off a werewolf.”

Kylie’s mind stopped fixating on drinking blood and fixed on Lucas Parker transforming into a wolf. Then she remembered their little meet-up during lunch. The one where she’d probably pissed him off.

Of course, she didn’t need to hear Miranda’s warning. She knew firsthand what he was capable of doing. Then for some crazy reason, she found herself trying to find him in the crowd. He either wasn’t there, or had his back to her.

“Werewolves aren’t as badass as vampires,” Della said, defending her species with enthusiasm. “Werewolves only have full power once a month. Vampires—we’re a hundred percent twenty-four/seven. It’s
my
kind that you don’t want to piss off.”

Kylie sat there trying to digest the conversation while her shaky stomach worked on digesting the pizza.

“And then the shape-shifters—that was weird, but not scary,” Miranda continued.

“What did the Fae do?” The question came from a deep, obviously male voice.

Kylie recognized Derek’s voice before her eyes found him. And when she did find him, she realized he’d found her, too. He stared right at her.

Her already knotted stomach knotted some more. Only these knots, like the flutters, weren’t all unpleasant. Yup, she was going to have to be extra careful with Derek where her emotions were concerned.

“Well,” Miranda said, her tone a little higher pitched than normal. “Because fairies have different gifts, each one did a short presentation.” Miranda gave her hair a twirl and smiled extra wide.

“What’s your gift?” Della asked Derek as she pulled another piece of pepperoni off the pizza and slipped it between her lips. Lips that had just drunk blood.

A long pause followed the question. Derek’s posture stiffened. “Who said I even have gifts?” His tone implied he didn’t like to be questioned. Or could he be like her, and wasn’t too thrilled to have his gift?

“One of the fairies last year could read people’s thoughts,” Miranda continued, obviously not picking up on Derek’s mood. “Can you read my mind now?” She bit down on her lip and sent him a sultry look.

Kylie’s gaze shot back to Derek. Could he read minds? No, she didn’t think he could, because he’d asked earlier what she was. Or was he just making conversation?

She recalled thinking some private thoughts about his body, comparing it to Trey. Oh, great. How embarrassing would that be if he knew she’d imagined him without his shirt? Then she realized she was doing it again. Kylie felt her face flush and Derek, still staring, didn’t miss a thing.

“Another fairy could move objects with his mind,” Miranda said louder as if trying to get Derek’s attention on her. “Of course, witches can do that, too.”

“Really?” Della sounded honestly amazed. “Do it now. Move my plate.” She leaned back as if to give Miranda room.

Miranda’s gaze shot to Della and she frowned. “I can’t. It’s against the rules.”

“Rules? Screw the rules,” Della said. “Do it. No one is going to know but us.”

“I can’t.” Miranda’s cheeks turned pink, almost as pink as the streaks in her hair. It was good to know Kylie wasn’t the only one who suffered from blushing.

“Why not?” Della argued. “Just because of some stupid rule?”

Miranda glared at Della. “Why don’t you just go drown yourself in blood?” Miranda glanced at Derek, who she’d obviously wanted to impress, and turned pinker.

“Oh, stake me!” Della snapped.

“Be careful, or I might,” Miranda shot back, her expression passing embarrassment and going straight to anger.

Kylie’s gaze shifted from Miranda to Della as they took turns slamming each other with insults.

Great. Now her two roommates were going to be trying to kill each other.

“You two should chill,” Derek said, as if he’d read her mind.

“I’m already as chilled as I can get,” Della said, and focused on Miranda. “Somebody’s got a chip on her shoulder. And you’d best be careful, because I’d be more than happy to knock it off for you.” She jumped up and before Kylie could focus on her, she was gone.

“Cool,” a new voice in the crowd said.

Perry, aka Weird-Eyed Boy who’d turned himself into the unicorn, stood beside Derek. Kylie stared at his black eyes, and her heart raced to the tune of panic.

“Hey,” Perry said to Miranda. “I’d love to watch you two go at it and rip each other’s clothes off.”

“In your dreams,” Miranda said.

“Yeah.” Perry chuckled. “Especially the clothes off part.”

“Grow up.” Miranda grabbed both hers and Kylie’s trays and shot off to drop them off.

“Thanks,” Kylie said to her, but looked from Derek to Perry, not sure which one made her more nervous—Derek who made her feel things she didn’t want to feel, or Perry who just plain freaked her out. Her phone buzzed. She pulled her cell from her purse, hoping it was Sara with not-pregnant news and not her dad. A sigh escaped her lips when she saw Sara’s number.

“Later,” Kylie said to the guys. Then, eager to escape, she took off outside where she could have a private conversation. Though who the heck knew how far she’d have to go so the super-hearing supernaturals couldn’t listen in?

Chapter Twelve

“Just don’t panic,” Kylie told Sara thirty minutes into their conversation. “It’ll probably be fine.” Kylie couldn’t say that with a huge amount of enthusiasm, but she gave it a shot. That’s what friends did. Yet deep down, Kylie knew if Sara was pregnant, and there seemed to be a good chance she was, it wouldn’t be fine.

“Thanks, Kylie,” Sara said. “What am I going to do without you all summer?”

“Survive,” Kylie said. “That’s all I’m planning to do, too.”

Kylie had spent the entire conversation hiding behind the office, sitting on the ground, leaning against a tree and trying to calm Sara down.

Sara’s mom had canceled her lunch and insisted her daughter spend the day with her, going to the art museum and then shopping. The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston was great and Sara actually liked art. As for the shopping, who wouldn’t love that? But not with your mom while you’re afraid you were pregnant.

“I totally can’t believe this is happening,” Sara continued. She hadn’t even picked up a pregnancy test yet. She was too freaked.

Not that Kylie wasn’t up to her eyebrows in her own issues, but talking to Sara about her problems helped Kylie not to focus on her own. Plus, focusing on Sara was pretty much the norm for them. Face it, when Sara was upset, and sometimes even when she wasn’t, Sara tended to be a tad self-absorbed. Kylie never minded. She’d always preferred listening to other people’s problems than blabbering about her own.

Good thing, Kylie supposed, since right now she couldn’t talk about what was going on. Well, not to any normal person, anyway.

“Well, I should go,” Sara said.

One of the last sprays of the day’s sun shot a golden glow around the green scenery. With dusk closing in, the heat index no longer felt so suffocating.

“Call me when you get the test,” Kylie said.

“I will. And thanks.”

Kylie closed the phone and her eyes. Leaning her head against the tree, she recalled her newfound hope that maybe Holiday was wrong about Kylie being a supernatural. She also remembered the two black-suited guys saying the camp could be closed down if “it” didn’t stop—not that Kylie had any idea what “it” was. But if both of those hopes came true, Kylie could almost see her life being tolerable.

Or at least somewhat tolerable. The issues of her parents, Nana, and Trey almost felt manageable now. Amazing how one’s perspective altered after learning you might not be human.

Holiday’s voice played through Kylie’s mind:
The truth … the truth is we don’t know what you are. It could be fairy, it could be you are a descendent of one of the gods. It could be—

Kylie recalled interrupting the camp leader, and now she wished she’d hadn’t. Even though she hadn’t given up on being normal, she couldn’t help but wonder what else she might be.

Trying to stop the emotional jitters from making her stomach twitch, she concentrated on not thinking and just listening. A late-afternoon breeze stirred the leaves of the tree, crickets warmed up for their night song, a baby bird called to its mama. Kylie remembered the hiking trips she’d taken with her dad. Should she call her dad back now?

Later, she told herself. Maybe then she would know what to say to him about why he hadn’t come to get her at the police station when she called him. For now, she was just going to sit there and absorb nature and almost relax. She closed her eyes and slowly the tension faded.

Kylie wasn’t sure how long it had been, ten minutes or an hour, but something jarred her awake. Her eyes sprang open to darkness. She sat very still, listening. Not even the crickets breathed. Fighting the fear of the unknown, she remembered real monsters existed.

A deep, sinister roaring, like a lion, filled the dark silence, and then came the howling of dogs … or were they wolves? She glanced up at the black sky. The moon, not a full moon, looked blurry from the smear of clouds crawling past it. The sudden need to go somewhere where she felt safer shot through her. Before she moved, she heard a twig snap.

She wasn’t alone.

Her heart raced and she considered her options—scream or run. Maybe both. Before she could do either someone spoke up.

“Still afraid of me, huh?”

She recognized Della’s voice and her heart stopped most of the racing. Most of it. “Not as much as before.” Kylie looked up. The vampire loomed over her.

Della laughed. “I like the way you mostly tell the truth.”

“You can really tell when people are lying?” Kylie asked.

“Not everyone. Depends on how good of a liar they are. The good ones can control their pulse enough so I don’t hear it. Then there’s the people for who lying is so second nature it doesn’t affect them.”

Kylie stood and dusted the grass and twigs off the butt of her jeans. She’d have to be careful and not lie to Della. Or either get better at it.

“Holiday sent me to sniff you out.”

“Sniff me out?” In the dark, Kylie could barely make out Della’s expression, but she could tell the girl was smiling. Her white teeth seemed to almost glow in the night.

“You can smell me?” Kylie brought her arm up to her nose.

As if Kylie was a communal sniffing project, Della leaned in and sniffed. An appreciative moan left the girl’s lips.

The tips of Della’s sharp canines appeared at the corners of her mouth and Kylie jerked her arm back. Della’s smile faded. Kylie got the odd impression that the vampire honestly didn’t want Kylie to be afraid of her. So vampires had feelings, too. Somehow, realizing that made the girl more human and less scary.

“Everyone is at the campfire.” Della started walking.

Kylie moved in step with her, not an easy task since Della’s pace wasn’t for wimps. “Do I really smell good to you?”

Della didn’t look at her. “Do you want me to lie so you’ll feel better? Or do you want the truth?”

“The truth … I think.”

Della stopped and her tone came out huffy. “There’s blood in your veins, I really like blood, so yes, you smell yummy. But it doesn’t mean … Let me put it like this. Imagine you’re hungry and you go into a hamburger joint. Every table is filled with people and their plates of big juicy hamburgers and greasy fries. The smell is ambrosia. So … what do you do?”

“Hurry and order,” Kylie answered, not getting the point.

“You mean you wouldn’t go steal any food off anyone’s plate?”

“No,” Kylie said.

“Okay, so if stealing someone’s lunch is bad, you can imagine stealing a few pints of blood might create a tad more of an issue than swiping a Big Mac. I’d have to be really starving. Or really angry before I’d do that.”

The girl came off pretty dang angry. Kylie asked, “Do you get
really
angry a lot? Have you ever got that mad?”

Della let out another exasperated huff. “I’ve never killed anyone that I can remember. Is that what you want to hear me say?”

“Yeah.” Kylie smiled. “So vampires really aren’t a threat to humans?”

“I didn’t say that,” Della said.

“Meaning?” Kylie asked.

“Meaning just like there’s good and bad humans, there are good and bad vampires. And really bad vampires who belong to gangs and purposely try to cause havoc everywhere they go.”

“What kind of havoc?” Kylie asked.

“Let’s just say they’d steal your Big Mac. Or worse.”

“Okay,” Kylie said, pretty sure she knew what “worse” meant, and she didn’t like it one bit.

“Then there are the betweeners,” Della continued.

“Betweeners?”

“Like humans who have been known to get into some trouble, but aren’t totally bad. Vampires can be like that, too.”

Kylie nodded. They started walking again and her curiosity grew. “What are your gifts? If … you don’t mind me asking?”

“Heightened senses. Heightened strength. And—oh, shit! I just remembered your gifts.” She came to an abrupt halt. “There aren’t any ghosts around here, are they?”

Kylie did a quick check for coldness. “Nope. But seriously, I don’t think I’m really gifted.”

“You don’t want to be gifted, do you?” Della asked.

“No,” Kylie answered, coming close to lying. Then she remembered Della was a human—make that a “nonhuman”—lie detector.

Kylie realized they were heading into the woods; a spray of clouds passed over the moon and darkness cloaked the area. That’s when Kylie heard it again, the deep roar of what sounded like a jungle cat.

“Did you hear that?” she asked.

“You mean the white tiger?”

“The what?” Kylie reached out and grasped Della by the elbow. The coldness of her skin had Kylie letting her go even quicker than she grabbed her. The roaring stopped but the temperature of Della’s skin sent a chill up her arm. Were vampires really dead? She didn’t think she could ask that question.

Della looked back at her as if she knew the coldness repulsed her. Kylie looked down and tried to pull free a twig that had clung to her jeans, hoping to keep Della from seeing too much.

When Della started moving again, Kylie remembered what they’d been talking about. “This is Texas. We don’t have white tigers.”

“You do at wildlife parks. There’s one a few miles from here. It’s both a refuge and a park. Like a zoo. Visitors can drive through and even feed the tamer animals.”

“I went to one once,” Kylie said. “I just didn’t know there was one here.”

“Yup.” Della raised her nose in the air and sniffed. “And most of the animals need their litter boxes cleaned. Stuff stinks. Especially the elephants’ crap.”

Kylie inhaled, fearing the stench, but only the scent of the woods, of moist earth and green vegetation filled her nose. She supposed having a heightened sense of smell wasn’t always a good thing.

Each step took them deeper into the woods. Thorn bushes caught on her jeans. She had to speed walk to keep up.

“Where is the bonfire?” Kylie asked, feeling winded.

“About a fourth of mile. A little farther than our cabin.”

“Why didn’t we take the trail?”

“It’s quicker this way.”

Maybe for a vampire.
They continued on for another three or four minutes without talking. Kylie thought of all the questions she’d like to ask Della, but didn’t know if she would be offended.

Concentrating on the ground to avoid the largest thorn bushes and stumps, Kylie plowed right into the back of Della.

“Sorry—”

Della swung around so fast, Kylie only saw a blur, but there was no mistaking the girl’s cold hand pressing over Kylie’s mouth. “Shh.” Della’s fierce expression added a menacing touch to her warning. Then she swung back around, her head tilted as if listening.

Kylie tuned her own ears to hear. But like earlier, when Kylie had just awakened, only silence filled the woods—no insects, no birds. Even the trees held their breath.

Why?

A blast of cold air shot past as if something had flown by. But nothing was there. Then Della made a low guttural growl.

Kylie looked up. The girl’s eyes were glowing, and a lime green color beamed from her face, making her look anything but human. Fear took up residence in Kylie’s chest, crowding out her heart and lungs.

The whisk of wind passed again. Kylie looked back over her shoulder, and when she looked back around, she saw him. He stood far too close—taking up half of her personal space. Blinking, she took in his jet-black hair and Asian eyes. Eyes similar to Della’s, but his eyes glowed gold not green.

His surreal stare focused on Della. “Hey, Cuz.”

He cut his cold, gold gaze back to Kylie and leaned in. His nostrils flared. “I see you brought us a snack.”