Born at Midnight (12 page)

“Why does it have to be you? Why can’t one of them step up to the plate?”

Miranda sighed. “It doesn’t work that way. It’s me or the honor goes to Britney Jones.”

“Wow, talk about keeping up with the Joneses.” Kylie gave the joke a stab, hoping to make Miranda feel better.

“Yeah.” Miranda’s tone implied the joke fell short.

“Sorry,” Kylie said. “So what would it take for you to pass the tests?”

“Only to overcome dyslexia. Which is basically impossible,” Miranda said. “Ohh, ohh, look to your left—I mean your right. Your purring breast-loving kitten is here. And he’s blushing. You know, it has to be terrible on his ego to have been tossed out on his ass by you.”

“I hope so.” Kylie spotted Perry, and he did appear rather red-faced.

Good.

“You didn’t tell Holiday about him, did you?” Miranda sounded concerned. The girl obviously had a soft spot for the twerp.

“No.” Kylie frowned. “But I might if he does it again.” She didn’t know if Perry had super hearing, but she hoped so.

They were almost to the dining hall, just past the camp office, when the two black suits from yesterday came barreling out of the door.

Kylie slowed down and studied their body language. They weren’t happy. Watching them hotfoot it to the parking lot, Kylie couldn’t help but hope that their little visit today had to do with the closing of the camp.

Right then, the bigger of the guys stopped and swung around. He stood frozen in one spot, staring and twitching his brows at her.

He leaned down and whispered something to the other man and then they started forward. Right toward Kylie.

Crappers.

Chapter Sixteen

Kylie felt like a trapped animal in the Black Suit’s snare.

Dad-blast it. Why was everyone picking on her?

Better question, what in Hades could they want with her? She wasn’t even a card-carrying supernatural person yet. And she hoped she got tossed out of the club before she got rubber-stamped.

Lucky for her, at about twenty feet away, the big guy’s phone rang. He paused and answered it. Then he turned to his partner and said something and they both shot off.

She let out a held breath. “Thank God.”

“What?” Miranda asked, and studied her in confusion.

Remembering that Miranda wasn’t a first-timer, she asked, “Who are they?” She nodded to the retreating black-suited men who were now getting into a black sedan.

“Who?” Miranda asked, staring at another group of boys.

“The Black Suits?” Kylie asked.

“Gross, they are way too old for you.” Miranda pulled a hair band from her pocket and put her multicolored hair up in a ponytail.

Kylie shot her roommate a glance.
Honestly, were boys the only things Miranda ever thought about?

“I’m not interested in hooking up,” Kylie said, and started walking again. “I’m just curious.”

“Oh. They’re from the FRU.” Miranda fell into step beside her.

“And who are they?” Kylie asked.

“It stands for the Fallen Research Unit. You know, like Fallen, Texas? The city we passed through to get here? The FRU is basically a part of the FBI. The part that deals with supernaturals.”

“What?” Kylie stopped and grabbed Miranda by the arm. “You mean, the government knows about vampires and such?”

Miranda made a face. “Of course they do. Who do you think funds the camp?”

“I thought our parents did.” Kylie started moving again when she noticed a couple of people staring at them.

“Well, they pay some, but it takes a lot more to keep this place up.”

“But why is the government behind this?”

“Well, that depends on who you ask. The camp has caused a lot of controversy in the supernatural community. Mostly just a lot of bigots mouthing off, if you ask me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Some of the elders in each species, mostly old farts who don’t believe in interracial relationships, claim the camp encourages it and they want the camp closed down. To their way of thinking, each species should stick to their own kind. To me, it’s the same thing as race. They say we should maintain the purity of the species, but that’s a bunch of bull. The species have been crossing since the beginning of time.”

Kylie tried to digest it. “So the government has the camp because they want the species to get married?”

Miranda laughed. “I don’t think the government cares who we hook up with. They’re doing it to try to promote peace between the species so we don’t go bat-shit crazy one day and try to wipe each other off the face of the planet. Humans included.”

“Are there problems between the species?”

Miranda looked surprised. “You really are ignorant to all this, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” Kylie admitted, and didn’t even feel bad about it. She hadn’t even known other species existed when she’d climbed on board the bus. How could she be informed?

“Okay, here’s a quick history slash political lesson,” Miranda said. “Vampires and werewolves have been waging war against each other for, like, forever. What do you think the Civil War was really about?” She hesitated. “My own ancestors aren’t much better. The Black Plague was set off because they wanted to annihilate fairies.”

“You’re kidding me, right?” Kylie asked. And to think she’d listened to her history teacher when he’d said it had been spread by infected rodents.

“Serious as a heart attack. However, in defense of my own kind, witches are the species who are succeeding best at conforming into the human world. There’re less covens that actually live in groups. But of course, that’s also because our lifestyles are easier to blend with the human lifestyle. We also aren’t involved in near as many gangs, causing problems for the humans.”

“Gangs? You mean like the vampire gang?”

“So you’ve heard of the Blood Brothers?” Miranda asked.

Not wanting to mention Della’s cousin, Kylie shrugged. “Della just mentioned that gangs exist.”

“Exist? Oh, yeah. Of all the gangs, the Blood Brothers are probably the worst. They’re into everything, all kinds of crimes. A good mix of everything. Murder, robbery.”

Stealing Big Macs.
The concept rolled around Kylie’s brain. “But how come we don’t hear about these gangs or crimes on the nightly news?”

“You do. You just don’t know they’re not human. The crimes are always explained by serial killers, just murders, then there’s the missing people. Haven’t you heard how many people go missing every year?”

“I guess so.” Kylie felt a chill straight through to her bones. She wrapped her arms around her chest and shivered.

“To rogue vampires or werewolves, the rest of us are food,” Miranda said.

Kylie thought about Della’s cousin calling her a snack and wondered if he was rogue. Then she thought about Della’s blending issues and concerns about leaving her family. “This is so screwed up.”

“Not any less screwed up than the human race,” Miranda said.

“I guess not,” Kylie admitted, remembering she had her own human issues happening at home.

Right then she remembered another and more immediate problem she had to contend with. “What’s the Meet Your Campmates Hour really about?”

“Oh, it’s kind of cool.” Miranda grew animated again. “Half of us write our names on a piece of paper and the other half draws. We are paired together and spend an hour getting to know each other. Of course, it’s always better if you get a hot guy.”

Great, with Kylie’s luck, she’d get stuck with Perry. She felt her face grow red when she remembered she’d checked his genitals.

*   *   *

After breakfast, Kylie stepped out of the dining hall to talk to Sara who’d gone to the drugstore to buy a pregnancy test earlier that morning. Unfortunately, she’d bumped into her mom’s best friend at the checkout counter. Sara had been able to ditch the test before the woman noticed it, but the whole encounter had brought her right back to where she started—with no idea if she was pregnant or not.

“How’s it going at the camp?” Sara asked.

“Just peachy,” Kylie answered. She would have loved to have talked to her best friend about everything that had happened but she knew better. No way would Sara understand when Kylie herself didn’t.

“That bad, huh?” Sara replied. “Aren’t there any cute guys?”

“A few,” Kylie answered, and then she changed the subject back to Sara, and they talked for another ten minutes about Sara’s dilemma.

Kylie still had her phone in her hand when her mom called a second after she’d ended her conversation with Sara.

“How was your first night?” her mom asked.

“Okay,” Kylie lied, still undecided how to deal with her mom and her questions.

“No night terrors?” her mom asked.

“No,” Kylie answered.
No, as in I didn’t wake up screaming bloody murder. I just passed out when a bloody ghost showed up for a visit. After a visit from a shape-shifting kitten and a perverted toad.

“That’s good,” her mom said. “So what all are you doing today?” Her mom’s voice had that fake cheeriness that Kylie always hated because she knew it wasn’t real.

“I have meetings with one of the camp leaders, a meet-and-greet hour where you meet one-on-one with another camper, and then I think there’s some kind of art program and a hike this afternoon.”

“Sounds like a full day,” her mom answered.

“Sounds boring,” Kylie retorted.

Her mom ignored her remark. “Have you spoken with your dad?”

Kylie hesitated. “He called and left a message, but I haven’t had a chance to call him back.” Another lie. She’d had a chance, she just didn’t know if she could lie as well to him as she did to her mom.

“Well, when you do, check and see if he plans to come up Sunday for parents day. If so, I’ll wait until next week.”

“You two can’t even be in the same room together now?” Kylie asked, not trying to hide her feelings. Her throat tightened with emotion. “Couldn’t you two have at least stayed together until I left for college?”

“It’s difficult, Kylie,” her mom said.

“Yeah, on everyone.” The emotion grew in her throat, but when she looked up she saw Della walking toward her and she fought back the need to cry. “I’ve gotta go.”

“Okay,” her mom said. “Have a good day and call me tonight, okay?”

“Yeah.” Kylie closed the phone just as Della stepped up beside her.

“Hey,” Kylie said. “I looked for you during breakfast.”

“I ate earlier.” She rubbed her stomach and Kylie tried not to think about what Miranda said about the vampire rituals. But the thought was already there, making the half of the Danish she’d consumed feel heavy in the pit of her stomach.

“You’ll get used to it.” Della grinned as if she knew what had caused Kylie’s frown.

“Maybe,” Kylie said. Then, remembering to be honest with Della, she added, “But I doubt it.”

Della chuckled, then her smile faded. “Sorry about your parents. How long have they been separated?”

“Do you make it a habit of eavesdropping?” Kylie slid her phone in her pocket.

“I wasn’t trying to listen in.” Resentment rang in Della’s voice. “It just, you know, happened.”

Kylie bit down on her lower lip and let go of her frustration when she remembered that Della had confided in her about her own family issues. “I’m sorry. It’s just hard. It happened last week.”

“I can imagine.” Sincerity creased Della’s forehead. Then her expression changed. “Oh, I almost forgot what I came to tell you. Remember I told you Derek had a little thing for you? I was wrong. It’s not little. It’s a big thing.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because Brian, the blond vampire, just drew your name for the Meet Your Campmates Hour and Derek asked him to swap.”

Kylie compared spending an hour with a strange vampire to spending an hour with Derek, who made her miss Trey, and she didn’t know which was worse. “What did Brian say?” she asked, unable to stop herself.

“He said no … unless Derek was willing to pay for it.”

“No way. Tell me he didn’t give him cash to get my name.”

“Okay. He didn’t give cash to get your name.” Della laughed and leaned in as if she had some juicy secret to tell. “He’s paying in blood, Kylie. A pint, to be exact.”

“Blood?” Kylie stood there shocked. The shock quickly turned into disgust. “He can’t do that,” she said.

“He can and he did. They made a deal. And believe me, you never go back on a blood deal with a vampire.”

Kylie shot off to the dining hall to find Derek.

She could not, would not, let him do this.

Chapter Seventeen

Derek came through the door just as Kylie rushed in to find him. “Hey, I was coming to look for you.” He held up a tiny strip of paper. “I got your name.” He smiled.

His smile came off so warm, that if Kylie wasn’t so furious, and disgusted, she could have gotten lost in it.

“Yeah, I know. I heard.” She squinted at him in disapproval.

He studied her and then cautiously added, “I thought we’d take a walk. I found a great spot when I went hiking yesterday.”

“Look, I’m flattered but you can’t do this, Derek,” she snapped.

“Do what?” A frown replaced his smile.

“I know what you did to get my name. And I can’t let you do that.”

“It’s nothing.” He started walking away from the door, and then looked back at her when she didn’t follow. “You coming?”

“It’s blood,” she seethed, and closed the two steps separating them and grabbed him by the forearm. “Come on, I’m gonna make this right.” She gave him a tug, but he didn’t budge. That’s when she noticed how solid his arm felt under her hand.

He leaned in. “It’s done, Kylie. Let’s just go spend our hour together, okay?” His scent—a combination of spicy men’s soap and Derek—wafted over her.

“You’ve already … done it?” Her gaze shot to his neck.

“No, but the deal’s done.”

“I’ll undo it,” she said, trying to ignore his scent and how much she liked it … and how much she liked him. Realizing she still held his arms, she let go. Touching him caused her to recall how she used to touch Trey. How much she liked Trey, missed Trey.

Derek’s frown tightened. “You can’t undo it. So just come on. Please.”

She stood there staring at him. “At least let me try.”

He closed his eyes for a second, and then he lowered his head closer and whispered, “Please trust me on this, Kylie. There is nothing you can do to change it.”

Something about his voice seemed to reach deep inside her and scramble her thoughts. Or perhaps it was how his breath whispered against her jaw line, the soft, sweet tickle right below her ear that made it impossible to think.

Impossible to tell him no.

“Okay.” But even as she cratered to his wishes, she told herself she had to be careful. Derek, for whatever reasons, had some kind of power over her and that could be dangerous.

His green eyes focused right on her baby blue ones and he smiled again. “Let’s go.”

He held out his hand. She almost took it, but managed to refrain at the last second.

“I’ll follow.” She stuck her hands in her pockets.

Disappointment weakened his smile, but he nodded and started walking. And she did what she told him she’d do. She followed.

They didn’t talk for the first five minutes as they started up a trail. Then he turned off the trail and led her up through a thick patch of trees and bushes. Between yesterday with Della and now this, it would be a miracle if she didn’t come down with poison oak. Or worse, chiggers.

Just when she was about to say something, she heard the soft sound of running water, as if they were about to come across a small stream.

“It’s right here.” He glanced back at her, his eyes carrying a smile even when his lips didn’t.

She followed him for a few more feet and then stopped and stared at the stream and the humongous boulder, about the size of a twin-size bed, perched on the edge overlooking the trickling water. The morning sun streamed through the trees, making everything seem so green, so lush. So alive.

Kylie inhaled the air, which smelled just like everything looked—fresh, verdant, and wet. In the distance she could hear what she thought was a waterfall—Shadow Falls. It had to be. The sound of cascading water filled the silence and somehow seemed to call out to her.

“Is there a waterfall around here?” she asked.

“Yeah, but it’s prettier here.” Derek hopped up on the rock. “Come on.” Once settled, he held out his hand to help her up.

She moved in but before she took his hand, the question popped out. “Why did you do it?”

He looked down at her. “Do what?”

“You know what,” she accused.

“Are we still stuck on that?” He shook his head. “It’s not a big deal, Kylie. Now come up and sit down. This place is even more amazing when you look at it from this angle.”

She took his hand and with hardly any effort he pulled her up. Letting go as soon as she had her footing, she found her spot, careful not to sit too close.

Not that it helped all that much.

Feeling his gaze on her, she looked out at the stream and tried to refocus. “Wow,” she muttered. “You’re right. It’s prettier from up here.” And it was. The extra height offered a better view of the flowing water. The streams of light sneaking from the trees hit the water and made it twinkle. From this angle, the whole place seemed to be bathed in a mixture of shadows and light, and it reminded her of something she might have seen in fairy-tale book. Almost … magical.

“Why?” she asked again without looking at him.

“I was curious about you. I’ve been curious ever since I saw you standing by your mom before you got on the bus. You were so sad and…”

She remembered Miranda saying that some fairies could read your thoughts and before he could continue, she spoke up. “Can you read my mind?” Turning to him, she felt her face heat at some of the more embarrassing thoughts she’d had about him.

“No.” He smiled and in this light, his green eyes with golden flecks literally sparkled. “Why are you blushing? What have you been thinking about me?” He leaned a tad closer until his forehead rested against hers. Her heart did a flip and her next breath tasted sweeter. Realizing she was staring, she remembered what he’d asked.

She didn’t answer his question, just asked another one. “Then how did you know I was so sad?”

He hesitated and his smile faded. “I can’t read thoughts, but I can read some basic emotions.”

She looked at him and sensed he was telling her the truth.

“For some reason I cause a mixture of emotions in you. Some positive, some not so positive, but I’m not sure why.”

He was being honest, and Kylie felt she owed him the same in return. “You … you remind me of someone I know.”

He picked a twig off of a tree and studied it. “A good someone, or a bad someone?”

“Both. He’s my ex-boyfriend.”

“I see.” He waited for a minute and then asked, “What happened between you two?”

“He broke up with me.”

“Why?” he asked.

She’d offered him some of the truth, but not about this. “You’d have to ask him.” It was a lame answer and she knew it the moment the words spilled.

“But he’s not here and you are.” He took the twig and brushed the leaves across her cheek. Then he followed the path with his finger. He was coming on to her and she didn’t exactly know how to stop it.

In truth, she didn’t know if she wanted to stop it. Unlike what had been going on lately, these feeling were not so foreign to her. Not that she needed to get caught up in something else right now.

She looked away and tried to clear her head. “What’s it like being fairy … Fae?”

“Half,” he said.

She glanced back at him and remembered thinking that, just like her, he didn’t sound too thrilled by the idea of being a supernatural. She also realized this might be her opportunity to learn something about the whole fairy species. After all, according to Holiday, Kylie could be part fairy.

“So what’s it like being half fairy?”

“It could be worse, I guess.” He stared at the twig.

“Who did you inherit it from?”

He cut his eyes to her again. “For someone who doesn’t like to answer any questions, you ask a lot.”

He had a point.

“Okay, I’ll tell you about me, but then you tell me about you? Deal?”

He arched an eyebrow and actually seemed to consider it. “Okay.” He leaned back on his arms and studied her.

The position made his chest seem extra wide. She found herself comparing him again to Trey. And sorry, Trey, she thought, but Derek won the best body award. Then again, it wasn’t just his body. She studied his face. His features were … more masculine. More chiseled.

Chasing that thought out of her head before she started emitting emotion he might read, she started talking. “I don’t know what I am. I think I’m just human but—”

“You’re not human,” he said, and looked at her in that odd way everyone did here.

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I know I don’t have a normal brain reading, or whatever it is that you guys read. But I found out that normal humans can give off this same reading if they’re a little off, like halfway crazy. And sometimes I’m pretty sure I’m crazy. Or,” she admitted with less enthusiasm, “the other option is that I could have a brain tumor. And I’ve had lots of headaches lately, too.”

His expression said he was horrified by the idea. “Have you been checked?”

“No.” And until she saw the concern in his eyes, she hadn’t allowed herself to honestly be worried about it. But God, what if she really did have a brain tumor? What if …

His brow pinched as if confused. “But … what about seeing ghosts?”

“How did you know…?” She recalled asking him if he saw ghosts. “Some humans can see ghosts. Even Holiday said so.”

He tilted his head in a very disbelieving way. “So you really believe you’re just human?”

His question brought a swell of emotion to her chest. “Yeah.” She paused and then added, “Okay, the truth is, I don’t know what I believe.”

And without warning, tears filled her eyes.

“Oh, damn. Don’t do that.” He reached over and brushed a tear from her lashes. His touch was so warm, so comforting, she almost reached for his hand and held it to her face.

Instead, she moved his hand back and wiped her own eyes. “I’m just so confused. I mean, these last few months have been hell. My boyfriend breaks up with me, my grandmother dies, my parents are getting a divorce, and then I start seeing this dead soldier guy. Now I’m being told that I’m not human and…”

He pulled her against him and she didn’t fight it. She rested her head on the nice spot between his shoulder and chest and just breathed in his scent. Amazingly comfortable, she closed her eyes. Somehow just being like this made the knot of emotion crowding out her heart go away.

“I’m sorry.” She pulled away. “I know guys hate it when girls do this.”

“Do they?”

“Trey did,” she answered.

“I’m not Trey.” Then Derek added, “Actually, it wasn’t so bad.” He smiled and touched her check. “Besides, your nose is kind of cute when it turns red like that.”

She swatted his hand and grinned. She wasn’t sure, but it felt like the first real smile she’d had in weeks. “Okay, now it’s your turn. Tell me about you.”

The playfulness vanished from his eyes. Leaning back a little, he pressed his palms against the rock to hold himself up. And sitting there, his muscles in his arms flexed, his eyes all serious, he looked good. Really good.

“But you are so much more interesting,” he said, his voice low as if he could read her emotions and knew the reaction she was having to his presence.

“You promised. Besides, I told you everything.”

His tilted his head forward and looked up at her through his dark lashes. “You haven’t told me everything.” His voice held the slightest hint of an accusing tone. “As a matter of fact, there’s the thing I’m the most curious about.”

“What thing? What else is there?” she asked, and tried not to get caught up in enjoying the view again.

“What’s up between you and—”

“I’m not talking about Trey and me. That’s … too personal.”

“Okay, but I wasn’t going to say Trey. I meant what’s going on between you and the werewolf?”