Born at Midnight (Shadow Falls #1)(60)

Kylie stared at the back of Miranda's head. "Are you serious?"

"Serious." Miranda turned around and she didn't appear to be joking. "Come on, touch your nose three times and say Miranda is a goddess."

"And you won't turn my mom into a toad?" Kylie held her left index finger in front of her nose.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Del a warned.

Miranda scowled at Del a. "I pinky promise not to mess up." She held out her pinky.

"And if I do this, I'l get my mom's e-mail?" Kylie couldn't believe she was considering this, but ...

"Yup." Miranda grinned. "Or you could just come check the computer. Because you just got an e-mail from her."

Kylie jumped up and literal y pushed Miranda out of the chair. Holding her breath, Kylie reached for the mouse. She could be one click away from knowing for sure that she was a supernatural.

One click. God, she was so scared.

Chapter Twenty-eight

"Open it already," Del a shouted from behind Kylie.

Kylie looked over her shoulder, from Del a to her right to Miranda on her left. Taking a deep breath, Kylie looked back at the e-mail and clicked open.

Hey hon, I was wrong. I wasn't born at eleven o'clock, it was ten p.m. Ten twenty-three to be exact. Your dad was born at nine forty-six a.m. Did you call your ...

Kylie stopped reading. Neither of her parents was born at midnight. Emotion did cartwheels inside her chest. Heavy emotion. Was this relief? It should be relief.

It meant she wasn't a supernatural.

"See, I told you guys. I'm not one of you." Her chest clutched with a heavy emotion that didn't feel like relief. She didn't want to be one of them, did she? Or maybe what she felt was just disappointment for not fitting in. Again. Wasn't that the story of her life?

Deep down, you've always known you were different. Holiday's words played in Kylie's head. And for the first time, she admitted to herself that Holiday was right. Kylie had always felt different. Always felt like the outsider. But she wasn't ... different. Wel , she might be different. She just wasn't a supernatural.

This was the proof.

"I don't believe it." Del a spoke up first.

Then Miranda piped in. "Holiday mentioned it does skip generations."

"Only in rare situations," Kylie said.

"Maybe your mom's lying," Del a added.

Kylie looked back at the vampire. "Why would she lie?"

Del a shrugged. "Maybe she's just in a pissy mood because she's getting a divorce. I don't know."

"Your parents are getting a divorce?" Miranda asked.

"Yeah," Kylie said, not even the tiniest bit upset at Del a for mentioning it. She may have only known them for a few days but she trusted these two.

"Sucky." Miranda pressed a hand on Kylie's shoulder and squeezed.

"Yeah." Kylie stared back at the e-mail.

"Why are they divorcing?" Miranda asked.

"I don't know. Mom's so..."

"Bitchy." Del a tossed out the word.

Kylie almost nodded, then stopped. "No. She's not real y a bitch, she's just ... cold, distant. About as warm as a popsicle. I actual y heard my dad tel her that a while back."

"So your dad's having an affair," Del a said matter-of-factly.

Kylie turned in her chair and stared at Del a. "No."

Del a made a face. "Believe me, if he accused your mom of being a popsicle, he's found some young 'warm' thing to screw."

"He's not like that," Kylie said with conviction. Right then she realized what she said about her mom being cold.

"And by cold, I meant ... emotional y, not-"

"I know," Del a said. "Don't go thinking you've got to tiptoe around my feelings." But her eyes said differently. Kylie knew al about pretending to be tough. She'd had a crash course in it these last few weeks. Kylie looked back at the screen. "Mom, she's just ... hard to live with sometimes. I don't blame my dad for leaving her."

"So are you going to live with your dad?" Miranda asked.

The question took Kylie back to the day she'd stood in the driveway, begging her dad to take her with him. As much as it hurt to remember, she had to accept the truth-that day, it felt as though when he decided to leave her mom, he'd also decided to leave her.

"It's late and I'm tired." Kylie got up and went to the bedroom and unlike earlier, this time she was able to cry.

* * *

The next morning Kylie marched into her meeting with Holiday and placed a copy of her mother's e-mail on the table in front of the camp leader.

"See, I told you so," Kylie said. "Now maybe you can just cal my shrink and have her tel my mom to bring me home."

The idea of going back home wasn't nearly as life-altering as it had felt a few days ago. There was even a part of her that didn't want to go-but considering she wasn't supernatural, she real y didn't belong here, either.

"What's this?" Holiday glanced back at the note, and her eyes widened when she read it. Looking up, she met Kylie's gaze. "Okay, I admit I'm surprised, but it doesn't real y change the facts."

"Why not? You told me that only in very rare circumstances would it skip a generation."