"He just overreacted-"

"No. Not with Lucas. With your touch..."

"What do you mean? My touch?"

Other questions started buzzing around like bees gone wild. "How did you know the snake was here?"

The look, the one that said he didn't like talking about himself, returned but she wasn't about to let him off this hook. Not this time.

"Wait. Did you make that snake come here?" she asked.

He frowned. "Do you think I'd put you in danger just for kicks?"

Did she believe that? "No. I don't. But you knew it was here. You knew it was here before it showed itself."

"I only knew a second before. If I had known earlier, I'd have stopped you from getting down."

The sun sprayed a new bright stream of light through the trees and it hit her eyes, making it hard to see. "How? How did you know?"

He jumped from the rock, landing solid on his feet beside her. "It's part of my gift," he said, but he didn't sound happy about it.

"You can predict the future?" she asked.

"I wish."

"Then what?"

"I can read the emotions of animals and creatures." He tucked the tips of his fingers into his pockets.

"Wow." She attempted to wrap her mind around it. "That's..."

"Weird, I know," he growled. "Like I'm Tarzan or something. Holiday says I can shut it off, and that's why I'm here. To learn how. But Holiday's not thril ed about my quest. She thinks I'm going to be letting down some Fae god if I turn my back on my gift. But the Fae god can just go to hel . I didn't ask for this. The only Fae in my life left me and Mom. Why the hel would I want to be like him?"

Kylie heard the pain in his voice and related in a big way. "You wouldn't. I'm sorry."

She meant it, too. Not just because she understood al about parental resentment right now, but because like him, if she turned out to be supernatural, she'd be shipping the gift back to sender. While Derek's plight contained a lot of emotional baggage, Kylie's contained a heck of a lot of questions. And the unknown brought on its own emotional issues. While she knew the truth could prove to be painful, she needed answers. And standing in the middle of the woods, with the mixture of sun and shadows, feeling submersed in the supernatural world, she became determined to find those answers.

She met Derek's gaze again. "Communicating with animals can't be nearly as bad as ... some other things."

He kicked a rock into the stream. It splashed and seemed to blend in with the other woodsy noises. "Like seeing ghosts?" he asked, understanding more than she wanted him to.

"Among other things," she said honestly. "I can't imagine waking up and realizing I have to drink ... blood." Just the mention of the word reminded her of what Derek had done to get her name for this hour chat.

And she couldn't let him do it. She didn't know how to stop it, but she had to try.

She looked at her watch. "We should probably be heading back."

Reaching over, he took her hand in his and turned her wrist over so he could see the time. The feel of his hand sent a sweet electrical current up her arm and it reminded her how close she had come to letting Derek kiss her. Or had she almost kissed him?

"We have a half hour," he said, holding her hand.

She pul ed away, recal ing how his touch had control ed her emotions when she'd seen the snake. He'd probably saved her life, but that wasn't the point. She didn't like the thought of anyone trying to control her. Or manipulate her, either. "Yeah," she said, "but we stil need to see about how we're going to get you out of giving blood."

His expression darkened. "The deal's already made, there's no going back. And besides, it's not an issue."

"What if he turns you into a vampire?"

His eyes widened. "Oh, hel , you think I'm going to let him bite me? No way. It's too risky and way too gay."

She blushed, feeling ignorant. "Then how do you plan to do it?"

"The same way you give blood at a blood drive. With a sterile needle and an IV bag."

She stood there staring at him, questions coming quicker than she could line them up to ask. "You're going to a doctor's office to get it done?

How wil -"

"No." He laughed. "Most vampires carry their own supplies. They're better than most nurses at finding veins. It's one of the first things a vampire is taught. How to get blood without kil ing the donor."

Had Della brought her own blood-draining equipment? "How do you know how vampires...?"

"Feed? I've done it a couple of times." His smile made her feel even more ignorant.

"You've given blood to a vampire before?"

He nodded. "Like I've been saying, it's not a big deal."

"Who? And how did you even know vampires existed?"

"Her name's El ie. We go to school together. And you're forgetting that al supernaturals recognize each other."

Yes, she had forgotten the whole eyebrow wiggling thing. And for a darn good reason, too. She didn't "read" supernaturals, which gave her a little more hope that she wasn't one of them. Then she wondered if she had any supernaturals in her school back home. Besides Lucas for that short time.

"How many are there?" she asked, even though she was afraid to hear the answer. "How many supernaturals are there compared to humans?"