"I hope you're rich, because that's the only reason I can think my mom might like you."

Her mom gasped, and so did Kylie. Why was she saying these things? Oh, shit, she needed to shut up. What was wrong with her? Had going invisible addled her brain? Or was being vampire making her as ballsy as Della?

"You're being quite rude, young lady." John looked at Kylie's mom.

"She's not being rude!" a deep voice sounded behind Kylie.

The voice rang all kinds of familiar bells, but Kylie couldn't think straight to know who it was, so she turned around to put a face to the voice.

Oh, shit! Could this get any worse?

"I happened to witness it as well. And frankly I agree with my daughter. It was inappropriate." Her stepdad shot her mom a stern look.

Her mom's face turned even redder, but Kylie recognized that red-faced expression, and it wasn't embarrassment. She was pissed!

"How dare you tell me what's appropriate!" her mom snapped.

Shame filled her stepdad's expression. He looked at Kylie. "I didn't know Kylie was there. I wouldn't have done it if I had. I've apologized a hundred times. But two wrongs-"

"Let's all take a walk," Holiday said again. But no one took a step.

It took Kylie about a second to realize what her stepdad meant. She opened her mouth to say something, but what? Don't worry, Dad, Mom doesn't know that I watched your young skank rub herself all over you and practically give you a handjob in the middle of downtown Fallen?

Nope, that didn't sound like the right thing to say. So she ceremoniously shut her mouth and started praying for a miracle, because it would take one right now to fix this mess.

"You wouldn't have done what?" her mom asked, and when her stepdad didn't answer, her mom's fury focused on Kylie.

"What did you see?" she asked in her speak-or-be-grounded tone.

And grounded sounded like the best option.

Guilt fluttered in Kylie's chest. But for what? she asked the unwelcome emotion. Not telling her mom had to be the right thing, didn't it?

"Why don't we walk outside," Holiday piped up again, and put a hand on Kylie's mom's shoulder.

Her mom's expression softened. Thank God for Holiday's emotion-altering touch. The panic blossoming in Kylie's gut lessened. Leave it to Holiday to save the day.

But then Kylie saw the way John stared at her stepdad. And when he opened his mouth, Kylie questioned if Holiday could pull off a miracle.

It didn't help matters when Lucas came to a sudden stop beside Kylie, his eyes glowing a shade of pale protective orange. Not that she didn't love that he cared enough to protect her, but the last thing she wanted to have to do was explain his eye color to her stepdad, her mom, and the man who was having sex with her mom. And thinking about that had Kylie's eyes stinging. Shit! Were they glowing now?

"You have no right to judge her after what you did." John took a defensive step toward Kylie's stepdad and her own protective instincts sparked to life.

"No wonder your daughter lacks respect," John quipped.

Lacks respect? Kylie felt her fangs grow a little longer, and she was so mad, she'd missed Derek joining the crowd, but Lucas hadn't missed it, because he growled.

Holiday moved in, and keeping one hand on Kylie's mom, she rested her other palm on John's shoulder. For a second, the tense energy sucking up oxygen diminished.

Kylie sent up a silent prayer of thanks. Then she noted the expression on her stepdad's face. And she immediately recanted her gratitude.

"Who the hell do you think are? Don't you dare insult my daughter," her stepdad said. Holiday looked from her mom to John and back to her stepdad. Poor Holiday had only two hands. Before anyone could stop it, her stepdad's fist made contact with John's nose. Blood poured. All the vampires in the room, including herself, breathed in the sweet scent.

Lucas tried to move her back, but she wasn't budging. Kylie's mom screamed. John started swinging his fists at her stepdad, missed, but knocked Holiday over in the process.

Burnett flew across the room and tossed John to the floor. And everyone ... everyone in the room, all the campers, all the campers' parents, all the new teachers, especially Hayden Yates, stared at the foolhardy chaos that was her life.

Refocusing on the mess before her, she felt as if she were the star on some new reality show: Parents Behaving Badly. She watched in complete mortification as the scene continued.

John rose to his feet and apologized to Holiday.

Her mom seethed.

Her dad tried to talk to her seething mom.

Holiday tried to touch everyone.

Burnett continued to glare green daggers at John, proving how hard it was for a vampire to accept an apology. Not that she blamed him. Kill him. Kill him. She cheered the vampire on.

Lucas hadn't stopped scowling at Derek and Derek hadn't stopped ignoring Lucas.

Everyone reacted in one manner or another. Everyone except Kylie. She didn't move, not even to breathe. She stood frozen in the same spot, and concentrated ... concentrated really hard on not wishing she could vanish-because down deep, that's exactly what she wanted to do.

Chapter Thirty

Burnett ushered everyone involved in the dispute out of the dining hall. Kylie moved with him like a robot, one foot in front of the other, still not wanting to let her emotions rise to the surface for fear of what might happen. Meaning, she'd either start again with the wiseass comments-channeling Della's attitude-or she'd vanish. Both could cause irreparable damage.