She glanced up. Was he reading her emotions or her mind? "Ghost problems," she said.
"What kind of problems?"
Of all the campers, Derek was the only one who didn't run away at the mention of ghosts. "This person isn't dead."
"So it's not a ghost." Derek looked confused.
Kylie bit down on her lip. "Yes ... I mean, at first the spirit had the whole zombie thing going on-hanging flesh, and worms-but then it changed. And when it did, the face turned into someone I know."
"How could that be?" he asked.
She paused. "I don't know. Maybe it's a trick."
"Or not," Derek said. "You don't think someone's going to die?"
Not anyone else, she wanted to scream. "I don't know." She yanked a few blades of grass from the ground.
"Who is it?" he asked. "Not someone here, is it?"
Kylie's chest tightened. She didn't want to say it-afraid that if she said it aloud, it would make it so. "I just need to think it through."
Derek paled. "Oh, crap! Is it me?"
"No." She tossed the blades of grass and watched them whirl in the wind on their descent.
When she looked back at him, she could feel him reading her emotions, deciphering their meaning. "You care a lot about this person." His brows pinched. "Lucas?" She heard the pain in his voice from just saying the name.
"No," she said. "Can we drop it? I don't want to talk about it. Please."
"So it is Lucas?" Derek asked.
"What's Lucas?" A deep, irate voice suddenly spoke up.
Kylie looked up and saw Lucas step out of the trees. His eyes were an angry orange color. She flinched with guilt for a just a second, then fought it back. She hadn't been doing anything wrong.
"Nothing," Derek bit out when Kylie didn't speak. He stood up and took one step toward the office. Pausing, he looked back at her, and then glanced at Lucas. "We were just talking. Don't go all were on her."
Lucas growled. Derek walked away, appearing unaffected by Lucas's anger. Kylie grabbed another handful of grass and yanked it from the ground.
"I don't like this." Lucas stared down at her.
"We were just talking," she said.
"About me."
"I was telling him about a spirit and that ... it looked like someone I care about, and he asked if it was you. You should feel good that he knows I care about you."
Lucas's scowl deepened. Was it because of Derek or because she'd mentioned ghosts? Lucas's inability to accept her working with the spirits hurt.
"He has feelings for you," Lucas countered.
I know. "We were just talking."
"It makes me crazy." His eyes glowed a deep, burnt orange color.
"What makes you crazy? Me talking to Derek, or me talking about ghosts?"
"Both." His voice rang with such honesty that she found it hard to condemn him for it. "But mostly it's the thought of you spending time with that fairy."