He grinned. "Apparently, I have the ability to shock their systems with emotional overload. It was pretty cool, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was," she said.

He studied her. "Your ghost was there, too. Wasn't he?"

"Yeah," Kylie said, not real y ready to share the whole out-of-body experience thing.

Their gazes met, held. "It worked didn't it?" Kylie said. "You communicated with the animals. That's how you knew about Sky, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah. You were right."

She thought she heard something in his voice-like regret. "Are you upset that it happened?" Like flies on a bad banana, guilt buzzed around her chest. He'd done it for her. "If you are ... I mean, I'm sorry that-"

He reached out to put a finger over her lips. "You don't need to apologize. I'm glad I did it. To be honest, it felt right. Tonight felt right." He pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear and left his hand there. "We did good. We make a good team."

"You've saved my life twice now. Three if you count the snake." She looked up at him, at his soft smile. His hand touching her neck felt so good. So right. Without thinking, she moved up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his.

He wasn't the one who started the kiss.

Nope. She did that.

He wasn't the one who deepened the kiss.

Nope. She did that, too.

He wasn't even the one who moved in closer.

Nope. That would be her.

Not that he seemed to mind.

But he was the one who moved his tongue inside her mouth. Deep inside her, she heard a little voice say, "Oops."

She pul ed back. They were both breathing hard. She wasn't sure either of them had breathed this hard when they'd been fighting rogue vampires.

He opened his eyes and looked at her. "Wow."

Kylie inhaled, stil trying to catch her breath, trying to clear her head. She stared down at her shoes, because looking him in the eyes right now seemed too much. She hadn't meant that to happen. Or had she?

He ran his finger under her chin and tilted her head up. Damn. He was going to make her look at him. Then he'd probably ask the question she couldn't answer.

"What was that, Kylie? Just a thank-you for saving your life ... or was it more?"

Yup, that was the question she was afraid he'd ask. "I don't know," she answered honestly. "Maybe just a weak moment."

He laughed. "Do me a favor." He leaned closer.

"What?"

"Whenever you're feeling weak, come see me."

She went to give him a thump in the chest, but he stopped her. He brought her hand up to his lips, his green gaze never shifting from her eyes, and he gently kissed the top of her hand. The moisture of his lips sent a shiver, a wonderful kind of shiver, al the way down her spine. For some unknown reason, that second kiss wreaked more emotional havoc than the first had. And that's when she noticed how beautiful the sky was. It appeared ... enchanted. The stars twinkled like something out of a Disney movie. Was Derek doing this? Was he using his gifts and making her see things differently? And did it matter if he was? She didn't have the answer. "I should ... should probably go. Tomorrow is parents day."

"I'l walk you to your cabin." He arched a brow.

"I'm not kissing you again," she blurted out, before she thought about it.

He laughed. "I bet you wil ."

She knew he was right, but ... "Not tonight."

"I figured that. Good thing I'm patient."

* * *

Derek's kiss and maybe everything that came before it had helped Kylie not think about seeing her mom-about what she would or wouldn't say about seeing her dad making out in the middle of town. Then there was the other question she had to ask. The question that made Kylie's entire insides twitch.

The question Kylie hadn't let herself think about.

But now, standing in the dining hal , waiting for her mom to arrive, Kylie wondered if she shouldn't have been thinking about it. Face it, some things just weren't meant to be blurted out.

Her mom walked in and Kylie saw her scanning the room for her. Kylie took the second to just notice her mom. Like her brown hair, her brown eyes. Like how Kylie didn't look anything like her. Except for the nose. She'd for certain gotten her mom's little ski-lift nose.

"I almost didn't find you," her mom said as they sat down at one of the least crowded tables. Her mom's butt wasn't on the seat when she said,

"You haven't been getting enough sleep, have you, Kylie?"

Was it some kind of mother radar or something that made a mom know these things? "Just restless," Kylie lied. Her mom leaned over the table and whispered, "You aren't having those dreams again, are you?"

"No," Kylie said.

Her mom cut her eyes in that don't-lie-to-me stare.

"I swear."

"Okay," she said.

"Hel o, everyone," Holiday said at the front of the hal . "I know I don't normal y address you on these visits but I've got some news I'd love to share. First, I'm sorry to have to tel you that due to family issues, Sky Peacemaker, my co-leader of the camp, has to take an unplanned leave of absence."

Kylie had to admit, Holiday managed to explain it without real y lying.

"However," Holiday continued, "we are in the process of looking for a replacement. Until then, we have a temporary-just temporary-