"I think he likes you," Miranda whispered.

Realizing she and Derek had drawn attention, she glanced away. "He's probably just curious about me like everyone else," she whispered back.

"Nope. He's hot for you," Del a said, reminding Kylie of the supernatural hearing of some of the campers. "When he was sitting by you at lunch, he oozed so much testosterone that it was hard to breathe. He wants your body," Del a teased.

"Wel , he's not getting it," Kylie said.

"So you don't like him?" Miranda asked, sounding thril ed.

"Not like that, I don't." It felt like a lie, but she ignored it, because she knew any feeling she might have stemmed from his looking like Trey. She had enough stuff going on in her life right now. She sure as heck didn't need to start fal ing face-first into another relationship, especial y one based on a lie. Derek wasn't Trey.

And Trey wanted her back. Or at least he'd insinuated that on the phone earlier. With al the other stuff she'd been zapped with today, she hadn't had time to consider how his confession made her feel. Happy? Sad? Angry? Maybe a little of al three?

Trying to prevent emotional overload, Kylie reached for her glass of diet soda and watched Del a pul 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 Del a'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 Del a's glass fil ed with some red, thick liquid.

"Oh crap." Kylie's stomach heaved, and she placed a hand over her mouth.

"What?" Del a asked.

"Is that ... blood?" she muttered, and looked around the dining hal , noticing the glasses fil ed 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." Del a'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 spel on this guy. He deserved it, of course, but now I can't seem to reverse it so whenever he misbehaves, he automatical y 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 Del a was drinking blood. But holy hel . What kind of blood was it?

Del a 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 Del a pul ed the glass away, a couple of red drops beaded right below her bottom lip. Del a'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"-Del a's smile came off wicked-"you guys wil 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 smel s."

"What?" Kylie swal owed 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 al 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 actual y 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," Del a said, defending her species with enthusiasm. "Werewolves only have ful 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 al unpleasant. Yup, she was going to have to be extra careful with Derek where her emotions were concerned.

"Wel ," 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?" Del a asked Derek as she pul ed another piece of pepperoni off the pizza and slipped it between her lips. Lips that had just drunk blood.

A long pause fol owed 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 thril ed to have his gift?