Miranda leaned forward. "Don't be hard on yourself. I haven't gotten there, either. Hey, don't get me wrong. I came close, but as my uncle would say, this isn't horseshoes, right?"

Both Kylie and Miranda turned to Del a, who looked paler than usual.

Miranda slapped her palm on the table. "Spil it, Vamp. We did."

Kylie gave Miranda a light nudge with her elbow. "Del a doesn't have to spil anything if she doesn't want to." Kylie leaned back in her chair and decided a change of subject was needed. "Fredericka caught me saying good-bye to Trey."

"Oh, crap," Del a said, some of her color returning. "What did she do?"

"She basical y threatened to tattle on me, and then Holiday stepped out of the dining hal right then."

"Did she tel her?" Del a asked.

"No, I decided to do it myself and not give that bitch the pleasure."

"What?" Miranda asked. "You told Holiday you brought a normal into camp without permission? Did Holiday come unglued?"

"No. She told me not to do it again," Kylie said.

Del a cleared her throat. "Did you tel her I was the one who brought him to your cabin?"

Kylie rol ed her eyes in grand Sara fashion. "I wouldn't do that, Del a." She stood to go check her e-mail on some off chance that her mom had answered her.

"You know what I heard?" Miranda leaned in as if she had a piece of juicy gossip to share. "I heard Fredericka's parents were rogue. Someone had to do some serious arm pul ing to get her in here."

"What do you mean by rogue?" Kylie asked, remembering Burnett of the FRU suggesting her parents could be rogue, as wel .

"People who refused to adhere to the rules. For werewolves, it mostly means they hunted food that wasn't on the approved list."

"By ... not on the approved list, do you mean like ... humans?" Kylie asked, getting a chil .

"Or other supernaturals and livestock. Even pets."

Kylie's mind shot straight to Lucas Parker and his parents. Was that why Lucas and Fredericka were buddies? Because their parents were rogue werewolves?

Del a stood and went to the fridge. "Want something to drink?" She glanced back.

"A Diet Coke, please," Kylie said.

"Miranda?" Del a asked.

"Diet Coke sounds good."

Kylie stared at the "No new mail" message. "I asked my mom what time she and my dad were born."

"And?" Del a set a soda beside the computer.

Kylie picked up her Diet Coke and went back to the table. "Mom couldn't remember, so she said she'd check the birth certificates. She's supposed to e-mail me. When she gets around to it." Kylie dropped back into a chair. "Knowing her, that could be next year sometime."

"Yeah, that's like when they say 'maybe' and they real y mean 'no.'" Miranda moved to the desk to check her own e-mail. Del a dropped back in her chair, popped the top of the soda, and took a long sip.

"You can have soda?" Kylie asked.

"Yeah." She frowned. "Why?"

Kylie shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, I saw you eating pepperoni, but I thought vampires could only drink ... you know."

"Blood?" Del a finished, sounding annoyed that Kylie couldn't say it.

"Yeah. Blood." She pushed the word out of her mouth and tried not to turn green.

"No, I can have other stuff. It doesn't supply my body nourishment and nothing tastes as good as it used to taste. Oh, and some things have real y bad effects on me. Like broccoli."

"What happens if you eat broccoli?" Kylie asked.

"Explosive, real y bad gas."

Kylie made a face. "I think that happens to everyone."

"Nope." Miranda looked over her shoulder. "She's right. Nothing is worse than a vampire fart. Except..." She looked at the screen and started typing. "Except a witch's fart after she eats a bean burrito."

They al laughed. When the moment passed, silence rained down on them again. Del a turned her soda can in her hands. "I did it."

"Gross, you farted?" Miranda covered her nose.

"No," Del a said. "I had sex."

There was like this reverent pause.

"And?" Miranda final y asked, and turned in the chair.

"It was nice. Real y nice. Lee and I had been dating for a year. I loved him. It felt right." Tears fil ed Del a's eyes, but even without them, the pain rang in her voice. "But then I turned into a vampire."

"He couldn't accept you?" Kylie's chest ached for Del a, and she remembered how hurt she'd been when Trey dumped her. Del a wiped her eyes. "I didn't actual y tel him. I was going to, but..." She bit down on her lip. "I went to see him after I was turned, and when he kissed me, he pul ed away. He said I was cold and that I must stil be sick and he ... didn't want to kiss me until ... until I felt warm again."

"What a jerk," Miranda said.

Del a inhaled. "How do you tel the guy you love that you'l never be warm again?" Del a's chin trembled. Kylie rested her hand on Del a's. "Maybe you should have tried to tel him. Maybe he could have understood if he knew-"

"No." Del a shook her head and her sleek black hair moved in a wave around her face. "I don't think so. He's a wonderful guy, but he's so straightand-narrow second-generation Chinese-like his family and my dad's family. He almost broke up with me when he realized my mom was EuroAmerican."