Free Born at Midnight by C. C. Hunter Page A

asked, hoping her reaction to Della didn’t show.
    “Are you scared of me?” Della blurted out, axing all of Kylie’s hopes of hiding the fact that Della scared the pee out of her.
    “Why … why would I be scared of you?”
    “Because I have sharp teeth?” She opened her mouth and exposed her pearly whites that did indeed showcase two sharp canines. “Because I might suck your blood out?”
    It took effort not to cringe at Della’s words, especially when the girl ran her tongue over her lips.
    “Quit teasing her.” Miranda laughed and rolled her eyes.
    “That’s just it.” Della waved at Kylie. “Her heart is racing and her pulse is running off the chart. Look at the vein in her neck, it’s throbbing. I don’t think she knows I’m teasing.”
    The fact that Della mentioned Kylie’s veins had her blood pumping harder. “Of course I do,” Kylie lied. “Holiday said everyone here was good … people.”
    “And you believed her?” Della’s black eyes accused Kylie of being dishonest.
    Kylie decided right then that Della’s ability to read her vital signs surpassed her ability to lie. “I want to believe her. But I’ll admit it, I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that … that supernaturals exist.”
    “But you’re a supernatural,” Miranda said. “How could you not know—”
    “Holiday thinks I’m a supernatural.” Yeah, somewhere in the last few minutes Kylie had gone back to hoping Holiday’s analysis was meritless.
    “You are a supernatural,” both Miranda and Della said at the same time, both their eyebrows twitching ever so slightly.
    “Or at least, you aren’t all human,” Della said. “We can tell that by looking at your brain pattern.”
    “And you guys are never wrong?” Kylie clutched her knees tighter to her chest.
    “Everyone’s wrong once in a while,” Miranda said.
    “But not very often,” Della added.
    Nevertheless, their answer spurred Kylie’s hope. “But it does happen. Right?” The heaviness in her chest lightened.
    “Yeah, there are the people with brain tumors,” Della added.
    Kylie dropped her forehead on her knees. She was either a supernatural or dying of a brain tumor; she didn’t know which was worse.
    “And a few whose brains are just loopy,” Miranda added.
    Kylie raised her head. “Loopy?”
    “Yeah, like a frog’s hair from being loco.”
    “Then maybe I’m just loopy. I’ve been accused of that before.”
    “No, wait,” Miranda said. “Didn’t Holiday mention you had gifts?” Miranda and Della both raised inquisitive eyebrows.
    Kylie shrugged. “Yeah, but that could just be because I’m dealing with a super-charged ghost.”
    “Ghost?” Miranda and Della said in unison.
    Kylie could be wrong, but both girls looked appalled and scared. Their shock reminded her of Derek’s reaction earlier when she’d asked if he could see ghosts.
    “You can see the dead?” Della stepped back from the bed. “Oh, hell. I do not want to room with someone who has ghosts hanging around. That’s too freaky.”
    Even Miranda popped up off the foot of the bed. Kylie stared at them, completely befuddled. “You’re joking right? You two are scared of me? You’re a witch.” She pointed at Miranda. “And you’re a vampire.” She wagged her finger at Della. “And ya’ll are calling me”—she poked herself in the chest—“freaky?”
    Miranda and Della exchanged a look, but neither girl denied what Kylie had just said.
    “Fine, forget it then,” Kylie said, hurt by their attitude. “But just for the record, I don’t talk to them.” Then she realized that both girls were looking at her the same way she’d been looking at them all day. The bitterness of tasting her own medicine had Kylie turning things over in her mind.
    “So they just hang around you?” Della started eyeballing the room. “Please tell me there’s not any here right now.”
    “There’s not,” Kylie snapped, but her anger wasn’t directed at