"He doesn't sound so wonderful," Kylie said.

Del a shook her head again. "It's not al his fault. It's his upbringing. We're raised to believe we're supposed to be perfect. Make the best grades, go to the best schools, get the best jobs. We're not..." She bit down on her lip. "We're not supposed to be monsters."

"You're not a monster," Kylie snapped, appal ed that Del a would say that. And yet deep down, hadn't Kylie considered Del a that in the beginning? And even worse, wasn't Kylie afraid she might learn she was a freak of nature herself?

"She's right," Miranda said.

Kylie gave Del a's cold hand a gentle squeeze. "If he doesn't love you, then you'l find someone else who wil . You're young. You're beautiful. You've got the rest of your life ahead of you." The question formed in Kylie's head and before she could stop it, it spil ed out. "Are you immortal? Or are you already..."

"Dead?" Del a finished for her.

Kylie flushed with embarrassment. "Oh gosh, I'm so sorry. That was so rude. I'm trying to make you feel better and I ... It just slipped out."

"It's fine," Del a assured her. "I'm not dead. Vampires' bodies function differently, that's al . Don't believe everything you read in those teen novels. We're not immortal; we only live to about 150."

"That's a pretty good deal." Kylie looked over at Miranda. "How about witches?"

"Life expectancy is about the same," Miranda said, never looking away from the computer.

"And other supernaturals?" Kylie wondered if she discovered she too was a supernatural, if she'd have an expanded life expectancy.

"Fairies live the longest." Miranda talked while she typed something into the computer. "I think there's one old dude that's like five hundred or so."

"Are you hoping you're fairy, now?" Del a asked.

Kylie put her right elbow on the table and dropped her chin in it. "No. Oh, hel , I don't know," she muttered, letting go of a pent-up sigh. "This just sucks. Why can't my mom just answer me for once in her life? I hate not knowing anything."

Kylie looked back at Miranda. "Can't you help me out?"

"How?" Miranda asked, her concentration stil on her e-mail.

"You are brave," Del a giggled, understanding what Kylie meant. "Don't you remember she screws up her spel s?"

"A gift for you." Miranda shot Del a a one-finger salute over her shoulder.

Del a laughed harder. "At least it's not your pinky."

Kylie ignored Del a and their gestures. "Can't you do a spel that makes my mom find the birth certificates and e-mail me the info? Seriously, if you can make a peanut butter and jel y sandwich appear from nowhere, why can't you do this?"

"Wel ..." Miranda continued to stare at the computer. "I tel you what. Touch your nose three times and say Miranda is a goddess."

Kylie stared at the back of Miranda's head. "Are you serious?"

"Serious." Miranda turned around and she didn't appear to be joking. "Come on, touch your nose three times and say Miranda is a goddess."

"And you won't turn my mom into a toad?" Kylie held her left index finger in front of her nose.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Del a warned.

Miranda scowled at Del a. "I pinky promise not to mess up." She held out her pinky.

"And if I do this, I'l get my mom's e-mail?" Kylie couldn't believe she was considering this, but ...

"Yup." Miranda grinned. "Or you could just come check the computer. Because you just got an e-mail from her."

Kylie jumped up and literal y pushed Miranda out of the chair. Holding her breath, Kylie reached for the mouse. She could be one click away from knowing for sure that she was a supernatural.

One click. God, she was so scared.

Chapter Twenty-eight

"Open it already," Del a shouted from behind Kylie.

Kylie looked over her shoulder, from Del a to her right to Miranda on her left. Taking a deep breath, Kylie looked back at the e-mail and clicked open.

Hey hon, I was wrong. I wasn't born at eleven o'clock, it was ten p.m. Ten twenty-three to be exact. Your dad was born at nine forty-six a.m. Did you call your ...

Kylie stopped reading. Neither of her parents was born at midnight. Emotion did cartwheels inside her chest. Heavy emotion. Was this relief? It should be relief.

It meant she wasn't a supernatural.

"See, I told you guys. I'm not one of you." Her chest clutched with a heavy emotion that didn't feel like relief. She didn't want to be one of them, did she? Or maybe what she felt was just disappointment for not fitting in. Again. Wasn't that the story of her life?

Deep down, you've always known you were different. Holiday's words played in Kylie's head. And for the first time, she admitted to herself that Holiday was right. Kylie had always felt different. Always felt like the outsider. But she wasn't ... different. Wel , she might be different. She just wasn't a supernatural.

This was the proof.

"I don't believe it." Del a spoke up first.

Then Miranda piped in. "Holiday mentioned it does skip generations."

"Only in rare situations," Kylie said.

"Maybe your mom's lying," Del a added.

Kylie looked back at the vampire. "Why would she lie?"