I nodded absently, half convinced she had a small set of claw marks on her back, somewhere she couldn’t see or feel. There was just no other explanation for how she could be one of us, if no one else in her family was.

From the hall came a knock on the door, and I nearly jumped off the bed, startled half out of my wits. I’d been so absorbed by my questions and Kaci’s answers that I hadn’t heard anyone approach.

“Faythe?”

Marc. My pulse spiked, and I flushed, trying to ignore the curious arc of Kaci’s eyebrows as she watched me.

Marc knocked again. “You ready to go?” He sounded tense, and I glanced at the door in concern. Of course, he’s worried. He’s just been kicked out by the only family he’s known for the past fifteen years.

“Yeah. Just a minute.” I didn’t bother to shout, because I knew he could hear me. Like the guard in the hall, he’d probably heard everything we’d said for the last several minutes. Hopefully. That way I wouldn’t have to repeat it.

“Who’s that?” Kaci asked, grinning at me around the last slice of pizza as she bit the point from it.

“Marc Ramos.”

“Does he work for your dad, too?”

My eyes closed, denying the tears that threatened to come. “He did.”

“You like him.” Her statement held an odd innocence, like she pictured me and Marc exchanging notes in the hall between homeroom and gym, clearly the extent of her own experience with boys. Kaci’s shy smile and the tone of her voice set me at ease regarding her refusal to deal with the tomcats. If she’d had a recent bad experience with a man, she wouldn’t blush so sweetly as she teased me.

She’d shied away from Dr. Carver and Malone because she didn’t know them. Not because of anything tragic. Thank goodness.

“Yeah. I like him a lot.” I smiled, seeing no reason to ruin the girl-to-girl moment with the bleak facts, even if she’d overheard some of them earlier. “Marc and I are going into town to get some stuff for you. Clothes, shoes and other essentials. What size shoes do you wear?” I was sure I could guess her other sizes.

“Five.”

“Thanks. We’ll be back soon. I’ll tell everyone to leave you alone, if you want. But if Dr. Carver comes back in, please be nice to him. He’s the one who treated your hand while you were sleeping, and he may want to check on you, to make sure you’re feeling good. Okay?”

She nodded slowly, and I relaxed a little more. “He’s nice,” I said. “I promise he won’t hurt you.”

“Okay.” Kaci hugged her knees to her chest as I stood and piled the empty soda cans on the stacked plates.