kylie threw up her arm to protect her face, but she felt nothing, no claws cutting into her flesh. not on her face or her arm.

she heard rustling at her feet, accompanied by a rattling noise. uncovering her face, she looked down. her breath caught. she lurched back as the eagle used his sharp beak and talons to attack the snake that lay a few inches from her feet. the rattling noise hit again. she noticed the diamondlike shapes on the back of the brown-and-tan snake, then her gaze followed the coiled reptile to the dry, tan appendage growing from its tail.

a rattlesnake.

she lunged back. the bird buried his talons into the round, thick flesh of the snake. the eagle's wings worked overtime as he carried the squirming snake a few feet off the ground. the flapping of wings, the whooshing of air, and the distinctive rattle of the reptile filled her ears. the eagle hung a few feet above the ground, his wings slapping against the air.

she stood in the middle of the path and watched as the huge bird flew away with his prey. looking back at her feet, she saw dusty marks in the path where the snake had fought for its life and lost. beside the marks, a pair of shoe prints pressed into the ground. her shoes. had the eagle not charged, would she have seen the snake? or would she now have the rattler's venom running up her leg?

was she just lucky, or had this meant something? she considered turning around and finding holiday, but logic intervened. she was in the woods in the texas hill country. her father-stepfather-had warned her constantly about snakes.

convincing herself that this was just an uncanny moment that she'd gotten to experience nature at its scariest, she took another step forward. she did glance up one more time, though. the eagle, with the snake still tightly in his clutches, circled above. she stared, her breath caught in her throat. and as crazy as it seemed, she could swear the eagle stared back.

she stood, hand shadowing her eyes, and watched him until he was a dark speck fading into the massive blue sky. a thought hit that she should be grateful to the eagle, but the cold look in the bird's eyes flashed in her mind and sent a shiver down her spine.

moving her hand away from her brow, she started for her cabin when her gaze clashed with another cold pair of eyes. fredericka. kylie remembered how angry fredericka had been when she'd caught her and lucas behind the office. not that they'd been doing anything but looking at pictures of daniel and talking.

"how does it feel to be a play toy?" fredericka's voice sounded tight with anger, the kind of anger that could bring out the claws. and the hint of orange in the girl's dark eyes said the claws were definitely an option.

kylie inhaled and reminded herself not to show any fear. "jealousy isn't becoming on you."

"i'm not jealous." fredericka flashed a smug smile. "especially now."

now what? kylie wanted to ask, but to do so would have given the bully credence, and kylie refused to do that. instead, she started walking away. she told herself to forget about fredericka, that she had other problems to chew on right now. kylie pulled out her phone to see if derek had ever returned her call about the detective. he hadn't.

"lucas's bloodline is pure, he values that," fredericka spouted from behind kylie. "the forefathers value that, too. they've made that clear. so when it comes time for him to seek his true mate, he won't dirty up his bloodline with the likes of you."

nonsense, kylie told herself, and kept walking. fredericka was just talking nonsense. she had grandparents or pretend grandparents to worry about, so she wouldn't let this she-wolf upset her. then the memory of the eagle filled her mind. maybe she should worry about that, too.

less than an hour later, still not hearing from derek, perry, or burnett, kylie sat at the kitchen table in her cabin with miranda and della. she'd told them about the snake and eagle and her thoughts that the incident was somehow more than it appeared.

"i would have smelled it if we had intruders," della assured her.

"and i would have felt it if magic was being used to cover someone's tracks," miranda said.

"see, that's why i need you guys," kylie said. "you keep me from losing it." she leaned back in her chair, wishing their confirmation had chased away all her doubts. then again, maybe it wasn't the doubts bothering her, but everything else on her plate.

kylie's pet, socks jr.-the kitten miranda had accidentally turned into a skunk-leapt up and landed in her lap. while kylie still felt caught in the tailspin of the emotional storm, doing something as commonplace as their diet soda roundtable discussions brought some solace.

miranda, up first in the discussion of their weekend woes and whines, retold everything about her witches' competition, in which she'd placed second. "i was excited that i placed so high," she said. "i thought my mom would be happy. but no." miranda hesitated. "second just means you're the first loser," she recounted her mother's words. the tone in miranda's voice told kylie how much her friend was hurting. "i wanted to impress her, and for a minute there, i thought i'd actually, finally done it. i'll never make that woman happy."

della rolled her eyes. "why would you want to make her happy?"

"because she's my mom." miranda answered with so much honesty that sadness tugged at kylie's heart. she remembered feeling much the same way about her own mom before they found their peace.

"news flash," della said, waving her hand. "your mom's the biggest b ... witch i've ever heard of. at least my parents' attitude is because they're worried i'm hurting myself by doing drugs and not because they aren't happy with me." tears brightened miranda's eyes and anger tightened her expression as she stared at della.

kylie felt tension thickening in the air. "i think what della means is-"

"i'm sorry," della interrupted kylie. the smartass look on della's face quickly faded into a frown. "that sounded mean, and i ... truth is if my parents knew the truth, they'd probably rather me be a drug addict than a vampire." della studied miranda and sighed. "it just makes me furious at your mom. i know how hard you worked to impress her. and you took friggin' second place, which is fabulous."

"thanks," miranda said, her anger dissolving but her eyes getting wetter.

"for what?" della flopped back into the chair, as if aware she'd shown a softer side of her personality. della seldom let that side show. not that kylie and miranda didn't see it. well, kylie saw it. miranda had a harder time seeing through della's guarded front.

miranda brushed her hand over her cheek again and sat up taller. "enough about that. i've got other news. todd freeman, a warlock, came over and asked if he could have my cell number. he's like the hottest guy in my old school. so at least someone noticed i did good in the competition." she grinned. "not that i think it was my trophy he was interested in. i caught him at least three times checking out my girls."

"jerk," della said. "i hope the only thing you gave him was your middle finger."

"duh, didn't you hear me? cutest guy in school. besides, big boobs are natural guy magnets-that's just the way it is. why wouldn't i give my number to him?"

"oh, i don't know. maybe because you still want to suck face with a certain shape-shifter?"

"please, i'm so over perry," miranda snapped.

della tapped the end of her nose. "pheromones don't lie."

"no arguing on the first day back," kylie said. "tomorrow you two can threaten to tear each other's limbs off, but today ... just give me a little peace today." she picked up socks from her lap and placed him on the table. "besides ... you're gonna upset socks and then we're all gonna end up getting skunked."

della and miranda looked at socks. the little skunk/cat, uncomfortable being the center of attention, scurried closer to kylie.

"truce?" kylie asked, stroking the scared animal's trembling body.

thankfully, miranda and della nodded.

miranda leaned closer. "i think i've figured out how to turn our little stinker back into a kitten. but i need the first rays of sunshine to do it." she reached over to pet socks, but he backed away from her touch and then jumped back into kylie's lap.

"smart skunk," della said, grinning. "no telling what you'll accidentally turn him into next time."

miranda frowned. "maybe i'll turn you into a skunk."

"and maybe i'll rip your heart out and feed it to our resident pet."

"what happened to the truce?" kylie whined. socks's nose nudged deeper into her armpit.

"fine." miranda huffed and then looked at della. "your turn. give us the lowdown on your weekend."

"you mean besides constantly being told to go pee on a stick? they tested me four times. i think one was a pregnancy test. like i've been doing the dirty with anyone." della picked up her cup of blood and gave it a hard look. "the only thing we did all weekend was go see a movie, some old classic my mother loved. boring. at least i got to sleep without having to explain why i seemed so tired in the middle of the day." she exhaled rather loudly. "so that's my weekend. nothing exciting to tell. nothing." she stared back into her cup.

it wasn't her avoiding direct eye contact that gave it away, more like the emphasis on the second "nothing" that hinted at the truth. miranda shot kylie a quick look that said she'd heard it, too. the little vamp was holding back ... as usual.

while kylie debated the wisdom of trying to push della into giving more, miranda, who spoke first and seldom thought things through, knocked wisdom out the window and went for it.

"liar," miranda accused. "if i could hear your heartbeat right now, i bet it would prove it, too. what happened? what are you not telling us?"

della snarled at miranda. kylie could feel the fragile truce shattering.

"chan didn't show up, did he?" miranda asked.

kylie hadn't thought about that. "did he show up?" kylie seconded miranda's question-not out of curiosity, but out of concern.

chan, della's cousin, was also a vampire and had helped della through the turn. however, chan was also under suspicion of murder by the fru. after meeting the wild-eyed chan when he'd broken school policy and dropped by for a visit several weeks earlier, kylie wasn't completely sure he wasn't guilty of the crime. not that kylie would tell della that.

"no, he didn't show up," della said. "but he e-mailed me."

miranda made a funny noise. kylie looked at her.

"frog in my throat," miranda said, and returned to glaring at della.

when no one said anything, della looked at kylie. "your turn. it's much more exciting than what happened to me."

"what do you mean by 'what happened to you'?" kylie asked.

"i knew it!" miranda leaned forward. "something did happen. 'fess up. did it involve a boy? tell us! spill your guts, vamp."