"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?
"One of the fairies last year could read people's thoughts," Miranda continued, obviously not picking up on Derek's mood. "Can you read my mind now?" She bit down on her lip and sent him a sultry look.
Kylie's gaze shot back to Derek. Could he read minds? No, she didn't think he could, because he'd asked earlier what she was. Or was he just making conversation?
She recal ed thinking some private thoughts about his body, comparing it to Trey. Oh, great. How embarrassing would that be if he knew she'd imagined him without his shirt? Then she realized she was doing it again. Kylie felt her face flush and Derek, stil staring, didn't miss a thing.
"Another fairy could move objects with his mind," Miranda said louder as if trying to get Derek's attention on her. "Of course, witches can do that, too."
"Real y?" Del a sounded honestly amazed. "Do it now. Move my plate." She leaned back as if to give Miranda room. Miranda's gaze shot to Del a and she frowned. "I can't. It's against the rules."
"Rules? Screw the rules," Del a said. "Do it. No one is going to know but us."
"I can't." Miranda's cheeks turned pink, almost as pink as the streaks in her hair. It was good to know Kylie wasn't the only one who suffered from blushing.
"Why not?" Del a argued. "Just because of some stupid rule?"
Miranda glared at Del a. "Why don't you just go drown yourself in blood?" Miranda glanced at Derek, who she'd obviously wanted to impress, and turned pinker.
"Oh, stake me!" Del a snapped.
"Be careful, or I might," Miranda shot back, her expression passing embarrassment and going straight to anger. Kylie's gaze shifted from Miranda to Del a as they took turns slamming each other with insults. Great. Now her two roommates were going to be trying to kil each other.
"You two should chil ," Derek said, as if he'd read her mind.
"I'm already as chil ed as I can get," Del a said, and focused on Miranda. "Somebody's got a chip on her shoulder. And you'd best be careful, because I'd be more than happy to knock it off for you." She jumped up and before Kylie could focus on her, she was gone.
"Cool," a new voice in the crowd said.
Perry, aka Weird-Eyed Boy who'd turned himself into the unicorn, stood beside Derek. Kylie stared at his black eyes, and her heart raced to the tune of panic.
"Hey," Perry said to Miranda. "I'd love to watch you two go at it and rip each other's clothes off."
"In your dreams," Miranda said.
"Yeah." Perry chuckled. "Especial y the clothes off part."
"Grow up." Miranda grabbed both hers and Kylie's trays and shot off to drop them off.
"Thanks," Kylie said to her, but looked from Derek to Perry, not sure which one made her more nervous-Derek who made her feel things she didn't want to feel, or Perry who just plain freaked her out. Her phone buzzed. She pul ed her cel from her purse, hoping it was Sara with notpregnant news and not her dad. A sigh escaped her lips when she saw Sara's number.