The disappointment in his eyes vanished and a sexy twinkle took its place. The twinkle brought out the gold flecks in his irises, which she used to admire so much.
"Why?" he asked. "Does it bother you?"
She glared at him. "Don't go there." Then to make her point even clearer, she held up her pinky at him. "I might have powers you don't want to mess with. And since I don't know how to use them, I could really mess a person up. By accident, of course."
He held up his hands in complete submission. "I won't go there. I swear." But the sexy grin on his lips remained as he started buttoning his shirt.
Freaking great, Kylie thought. He'd probably read her emotions and assumed she still found him attractive. Which she did, but not in the way he thought. Okay, so it was in the way he thought but it didn't mean anything. Or so she tried to tell herself as she took off for the front door.
Derek followed right behind her.
When they walked past her two roommates still tossing threats at each other, Kylie didn't even look back. If they were really going to tear each other's body parts off, they would have done it by now. Right?
* * *
"Don't panic," Holiday said after Kylie walked in, pointed to her forehead, and explained she might have pulled off a bit of abracadabra and changed Socks back into a kitten.
"Panicking is never good." But she couldn't stop staring at Kylie's pattern.
It might not be good, but Kylie could see panic in Holiday's eyes. Well, maybe it wasn't so much panic as it was sheer befuddlement. No doubt Kylie shared the same expression. Though hers probably was panic. And not all because she'd turned into a witch. It was more about seeing Holiday, and the images of the vision that were now popping up like flash cards in her mind. The vision Kylie still sensed she didn't need to share with the camp leader.
"Okay, exactly what happened?" Holiday asked.
"Just what I said." Kylie plopped down in the chair across her desk. "Miranda was trying to change him back with all these fancy spells, but not having any luck. I was concerned about Socks; he didn't want to be there. So I pointed my pinky at him and blurted out something like, 'Why can't you just say, change back into a kitten.' And it happened."
Holiday nodded and continued to stare at Kylie's pattern as if she expected it to change.
"Am I really a witch?"
The fae's brow puckered. "Yes. But ... yesterday you were a human and before that you were ... a pattern no one could recognize."
"So you think it'll go away?"
Holiday looked apologetic before she even spoke. "I don't know for sure but ... more than likely, you're a witch. I mean, if you really have powers."
"But the powers could go away, too." Kylie sighed.
"But ... if you have powers then you obviously have the witch DNA. Unlike a pattern, DNA is pretty permanent," Holiday said, but she didn't sound sure of anything. "Then again, witches don't have speed the way you have when you run, or sensitive hearing. Most wouldn't have the type of healing gifts you have, either. And very few of them dreamscape." Now Holiday was thinking out loud more than talking to Kylie. "Of course, it could all be related to you being a protector. Or it might be because of the hybrid mix. Some hybrid mixes have-"
"How about ghost whispering? Do witches have that?" Kylie asked.
"A few have it, but not all." Holiday touched her chin, as though completely puzzled. "But what's really odd is that you're appearing to be a hundred percent witch now. But I guess your being a protector could maybe ... affect that."
She slumped back in her chair as if stumped. "Have you tried to see if you could do anything else?"
"Do what?" Kylie asked.
"Magic?"
"No," Kylie said. "What if I screw something up? Like Miranda does. I could turn someone into a kangaroo or even something worse."
"I doubt you would do that. Why don't you just try to move something?" Holiday pushed a leather, heart-shaped, sand-filled paperweight to the edge of her desk.
"I don't know." Kylie bit down on her lip. "It's totally freaky."
"Not really. Just try." She made a funny face. "And be prepared to duck if we have to."
"Oh, that makes me feel so much better," Kylie said.
Holiday grinned. "Try it."
Kylie took in a deep breath. Then, pointing her pinky at the red heart, she said, "Move."
Nothing happened. Kylie exhaled and grinned. "See, I'm not a witch."
Then the paperweight started to jiggle ... or beat. At least that's what it looked like it was doing. Beating, pumping, as if it were a real heart.
"Shit!" Kylie said, and either there was an echo in the room or Holiday spurted out the same word. "Did I make it come alive?"
Holiday didn't answer; she was too busy watching the throbbing heart. Then the thing floated up and shot across the room. "Duck!" Holiday screamed.
Kylie dropped to the floor just as the paperweight whizzed past.
Unfortunately, Burnett walked into the room.
The heart went right for him.
Chapter Twelve
The heart paperweight hit him in the chest. Shocked, he tried to catch it, but missed. It bounced off his wide, masculine upper body and whizzed off. It stopped in the middle of the room, hung in the air like something filled with helium, and then it rocketed forward, aiming again for Burnett. And like the first time, it didn't miss.
But this blow was much ... much worse.
Right in the crotch. Or as Della would say, his "boys" took a direct hit.
"What the hell!" he growled. He doubled over in pain. The heart moved back, and he snatched the leather-covered, sand-filled paperweight from the air, and squeezed it until it burst. Unfortunately, when the sand exploded from his tight fist, it regrouped in the shape of a heart and managed to hover in the air.
"Is Miranda in here?" Burnett growled, still doubled over.
Kylie, realizing the screwed-up witch he sought was her, raised her hand and said, "Stop." When nothing happened, she remembered to extend her pinky. "Stop!"
The sand fell to the floor and scattered like ... well, like sand.
Holiday sat back up in her chair, looking too stunned to speak.
Burnett, fist still pressed into his thigh, rose up to his full height.
"Damn!" Holiday muttered finally.
"Damn!" Burnett echoed.
Kylie looked from the shocked Holiday to the hurting vampire. Kylie thought his outburst was due to the pain, but nope. He stared at her forehead.