Read Online Born at Midnight by C. C. Hunter - Free Book Online Page A

Kylie tried not to flinch when Della joined them, and the three of them walked to the line together.
    Della ended up behind Goth Girl from their bus and they started talking.
    Derek turned and focused on Kylie.
    “Boyfriend?” he asked.
    “Huh?”
    “The phone call?”
    “Oh.” She shook her head. “Ex.” Instantly she remembered how several of the other kids had looked at her when Della had asked what she was. She leaned closer to Derek. “Could you hear me on the phone?” She lowered her voice. “Could everyone hear me?”
    “I couldn’t. It was just … your body language.” He seemed to note how she looked out in the crowd. “But yes, some of the others have super hearing.”
    “But not you?” She hoped he would tell her what she wanted to know. That he’d tell her what he was.
    “Not me,” he said, and they moved a few steps forward. His arm brushed up against hers and for a second, she didn’t know if she wanted to back away or lean closer. The fact that he wasn’t cold seemed to make closer an option. When her arm met his again, something so comforting spread through her.
    “So what are you?” she asked, and then bit her tongue. It wasn’t fair for her to be asking questions that she herself didn’t want to answer. “That’s okay, you don’t have to answer that.”
    She looked away, embarrassed, and listened to the chatter of the crowd. Unlike earlier, when silence had reigned, now if she tried really hard, she might convince herself that she was in a room filled with regular teens.
    And that’s when Kylie knew that she’d stopped trying to deny it.
    Laughter along with a few of the more feminine squeals filled her ears. She should have found the “regular” thought comforting, but she couldn’t push away the truth. The truth was none of these people were regular or normal.
    Not even her.
    That thought shot a wave of panic into her stomach and she wondered how in the hell she would manage to eat anything now.
    “I’m half Fae.” Derek’s voice came close to her ear. The tickle of his breath sent flutters to her stomach. Not the kind that stemmed from fear, but something different. Pushing that aside, she tried to concentrate on what he said.
    Fae? The synonym search in her brain started spinning through files until she recalled reading once that Fae was French for fairy.
    Her mind started spitting out data. Holiday was fairy. Holiday had said Kylie might be fairy.
    She turned and met his green eyes. In a voice so low it barely came out a whisper she asked, “Do you … do you see ghosts?”
    “Ghosts?” His eyes widened as if the question were unbelievable. But duh, how could that seem crazy when … when …
    Her train of thought came to an abrupt halt when Kylie felt someone behind her. Her heart raced to a fast song and she feared it would be Soldier Dude. But the cold, the one she’d suddenly realized always came when he was near, didn’t seem to be present. She watched Derek’s gaze rise over her shoulder. He nodded.
    She turned her head and her breath caught when she found herself staring into the light blue eyes of Lucas Parker.
    “I think you lost this.” His voice reminded her of a radio announcer—deep with a rumbling quality that made it unique—memorable. A quality that made him sound older than he appeared.
    Aware that she stared, she jerked her gaze to his hands where he held out her Coach billfold that her grandmother had splurged to get her last Christmas.
    Immediately, Kylie looked back at the table where she’d left her purse. It sat on top just as she’d left it. How had he gotten her billfold?
    She took her wallet from his hands and fought the temptation to make sure her mom’s credit card was still tucked safely inside. Her mom would be so pissed if she lost it.
    Torn between doing the socially acceptable thing of saying thank you or questioning him on how he’d gotten his feline-murdering hands on her possession, her mind spun. Then because