Instantly, she realized that the entire room had gone deadly silent. Damn! Had she really screamed that out in the middle of the entire camp and their parents?

She glanced out at the crowd. Staring at her and her father. And from the look on everyone's face, yeah, she had.

Okay, now she really, really wished she'd taken her dad's hint about lowering her voice. Turning around, not looking at her dad, not looking at the crowd, she walked out of the dining room, hoping she could get outside before she started crying in earnest.

She would have run, but exhibiting her superfast supernatural running skills would have caused even more of a scene.

So she walked slowly toward the exit and pretended she didn't feel the tears gliding down her cheeks.

She pretended her heart wasn't breaking.

She pretended that she didn't know that about one hundred pairs of eyes were watching her go.

But pretending could only take her so far.

This ... this was too damn real, and it hurt her too much.

Chapter Twenty-one

The knock sounded on her bedroom door not three minutes after she crawled into her bed and pulled the covers over her face and continued to cry. "Go away," Kylie called out.

The door opened. She yanked the cover from her face, expecting to see Holiday. But nope, Derek stood there with a heck of a lot concern for her shimmering in his eyes.

Seeing it only made her start crying harder. She cried because of her dad, and she cried because she felt bad about the dreams she'd had about Lucas. Derek rushed over to the bed and pulled her against him. If he read any of her emotions about guilt, he didn't say it. He just held her. And she loved him for doing that, too.

She buried her head on his shoulder and continued to sob in his arms. She didn't care that she was getting tears and snot all over his shirt. His arms felt so good wrapped around her and while he didn't say it, the way he held her said he didn't care about his shirt, either. Good thing, because when she got through crying, it was really going to be a mess.

"Hey?" Another voice came from the open door.

Kylie pulled away and saw Della and Miranda standing there.

"I could turn him into a toad if you want," Miranda said, waving her pinky. "Or maybe a skunk. I could use the practice."

Socks, who'd been sleeping at the foot of the bed, raised his head, meowed loudly as if in agreement, and then shot off to hide under the bed.

Della snarled. "I could pick him up and drag him up a tree and then drop him on his head a few times until he comes to his senses."

Kylie cried harder and then for some reason she started laughing. She wiped her eyes and looked at three of the most beautiful people in her world right now. "Did I really say that in front of all your parents?"

"Yup. I think my dad had a stroke," Della said, grinning from ear to ear. "It came just at the right time, too. He'd been grilling me about drugs again."

"My mom passed out cold," Derek teased.

Then they all started laughing. Kylie collapsed against Derek again. When she pulled back, she wiped her face and looked up.

And that's when it happened. That's when Kylie's whole world opened up in a way it never had opened up before.

She blinked. At first, she thought there was just something wrong with her eyes. But nope. There was no mistaking it. She could see inside their foreheads. She could see into them the way she'd seen into Daniel's head in the vision. She, Kylie Galen, could finally see supernatural patterns. "I'm doing it, guys! I'm finally doing it!" She started bouncing up and down on the bed. "Holy crap, I'm really doing it."

"Doing what?" a familiar voice asked from the doorway.

He didn't call her pumpkin this time, but she recognized her dad's voice. He stood beside Holiday, who glanced at Kylie with a huge apology in her eyes. Obviously, her father had demanded she bring him here. "Can I have a word with my daughter alone?" He stepped inside her bedroom.

"Only if that's what she wants," Derek said, sounding defensive and older.

Kylie rested her hand on Derek's arm. "It's okay."

Derek stood from the bed, but he didn't stop glaring at her dad for one minute. To her dad's credit, he just stood there and took Derek's angry stare as if he knew he deserved it. Della actually growled, and Miranda twitched her little finger at him. Kylie hoped she remembered to give each of them a big hug later. "Come on, guys," Holiday said, and motioned for them to leave. They all stepped out of the room. Then Holiday reached in, her concerned gaze meeting Kylie's eyes right before she closed the door.

Kylie pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her shins. Her heart must have dropped to her stomach because she could feel it pound in the pit of her gut. She stared at the top of her jeanscovered knees and not at him, because looking at him hurt too much.

Besides, if she looked at him, she might start crying again, and she didn't want to do that.

He sat down beside her on the twin bed. From the corner of her eye, she saw him fold his hands together in his lap. She heard him breathe. She heard herself breathe, too.

She closed her eyes.

Sooner or later, one of them had to talk. But for once Kylie decided not to be the bigger person here. Let him do all the work.

"I screwed up," he finally said. "I never dreamed I could screw up so badly."

Opening her eyes, she forced herself to look at him. The first thing she noticed was that he looked like her dad again. He wasn't wearing those tight jeans. His hair was combed like it should be and not spiked. He still had the highlights in his hair, but alone, they weren't so bad. "I don't blame you for being furious at me, but I do love you, Pumpkin."