Flutter (38 page)

“Why would they even think we were involved?” I
asked. I had my back to Jack, and he wrapped his arms around my
shoulders. I leaned back against him, and he kissed the top of my
head.

“Because the Lexus is still there.” Ezra opened the
bag of blood and took a long drink. “I’ll have to get it from the
impound. I just hope that I have chance to sleep before they come
looking for us.” His expression changed, growing perplexed. “That’s
funny. I saw Mae’s car in the garage. I thought she’d be wondering
where we all were.”

“Maybe she’s in bed,” I shrugged. The sky had already
started to lighten slightly already.

“Maybe,” Ezra didn’t look convinced. He finished his
blood quickly, then cocked his head. I listened, but I couldn’t
hear anything. Not even Mae, but the night had left me exhausted so
all my senses were dimmed.

I heard the garage door open, and a few seconds
later, Peter walked into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes. Milo and
Bobby followed right behind him, and thanks to that nice, long nap
Bobby had, he didn’t seem to feel any of the weariness the rest of
us did. He was following right on Peter’s heels, asking him a
million questions.

“So you cut off his head using a cross?” Bobby was
completely wide-eyed. “I’m Jewish, and even I think that’s pretty
damn awesome!”

Bobby noticed me in the room, and he gave me a weird
look. It wasn’t adoration, exactly, but I returned some of the
sentiment. It made Milo bristle and put his arm possessively around
Bobby.

“I just need to take a hot shower, and be done with
this night,” Peter grumbled and walked out of the kitchen. He
hadn’t looked at me or Jack since everything had ended, and I
wondered if he ever would again. I had nearly been killed tonight
because of how much he loved me, but then again, that wasn’t the
first time.

“Me, too,” Milo said. He looped his arm around
Bobby’s waist to start leading him out of the kitchen, but Bobby
stopped and looked confused. “What?”

“Where’s the dog?” Bobby asked. “She’s always
knocking me over when we get home.”

“Where is the dog?” I echoed, and
Jack tensed up. She
always
greeted Jack after he’d been away. I couldn’t keep
her away from him.

“Matilda?” Jack called her and stepped away from me.
“Mattie? Where are you, good girl?”

Matilda barked loudly, and it was coming from Mae and
Ezra’s room. She scratched at the door, and Jack and Ezra exchanged
a look. Mae shushed her, and she opened the bedroom door, letting
Matilda come charging down at us, and Mae immediately shut the
door.

“That was weird,” I said. Jack had bent down to start
praising Matilda, but he looked just as surprised as the rest of
us.

“Something’s going on,” Ezra said, more to himself
than us. He tossed his empty blood bag in the garbage can and
walked down to his room. “Mae?” He started to open the door, and
she pushed it shut. “Mae? What is going on?”

“Nothing!” Mae shouted. “Go away!”

“Mae, open the door
now,
or I’ll open it for
you,” Ezra said. When he talked like that, his voice was one of the
most intimidating sounds I’d ever heard.

Slowly, the bedroom door opened, and Ezra stepped
inside. There was complete silence, and Bobby took a step forward,
trying to get a better look. Milo stopped him from going
farther.

I looked up at Jack to see if he had any insight, but
he just shook his head. We all waited expectantly, but Ezra never
said anything. A minute later, he just turned and stormed out of
the room.

“Get that out of my house!” Ezra growled walking
away.

“She’s not a
that
!” Mae ran after him, almost
pleading. “And we can’t travel right now! Not when she’s like
this.”

“I don’t care!” Ezra roared, and he wouldn’t even
look at her. “I want her out!”

“We just need two, three more days
tops, and then we’ll be out of your hair forever!” Mae insisted
desperately. He had his back to her, seething. “Ezra, please! If
you love me, you can give me three more days!
Please
!”

“Fine,” Ezra said grudgingly. “But if you stay one
day longer, I’ll take care of her myself.” He walked back towards
the garage. “I’m going to the station now to deal with the car.
Don’t wait up.”

“What happened to you?” Mae gasped, noticing us for
the first time. We were all tattered and bloody, and Bobby had
scratches and bruises.

Milo started explaining the night to her, but I
brushed past him. I thought I knew what was in her room, but I had
to see it for myself. Mae tried to pay attention to Milo, but I
felt her watching me as I walked by. I pushed open her bedroom
door, and it was exactly what I thought.

In the soft mass of Mae’s bed, a small girl twitched.
Her blond curls were sticking to the sweat on her forehead. She was
pale and sick, but she was still adorable. She looked like a
pint-sized version of Mae, with cherub cheeks.

She was still in the first phases of the turn, and
the worst of it hadn’t hit her yet. Matilda ran past me and jumped
onto the bed next to her, licking the little girl’s clammy face.
She smiled a little at that, and Matilda settled down next to
her.

“She really likes Matilda,” Mae said from behind me.
She walked over to the child. Jack stood behind me, taking the
whole thing in, but he didn’t say anything. “I’d like you to all
meet my great-granddaughter, Daisy. I’m going to be taking care of
her now.”

“Oh, Mae,” I looked at her sadly.

“No, don’t do that,” Mae shook her head. She sat down
on the bed next to the girl, pushing her hair back from her
forehead. “I did the right thing, and I know I did. I had to save
her. After Jane left, I realized I wasn’t upset about her. I had to
save Daisy.”

“Well, Jane is fine, by the way,” I sighed. “But… you
did what you had to do.”

“I did. Isn’t she precious?” She looked adoringly at
the child, and I could see that there had really never been any
choice for her. Even if she had to give up Ezra and everyone else,
that child meant so much more to her.

“You’re not taking my dog,” Jack said finally. “Come
on, Matilda.” Reluctantly, Matilda jumped off the bed and followed
him out of the room.

“So you’re leaving?” I asked.

“It seems that way,” Mae said wearily. “I thought
Ezra might change his mind when he saw her, but… It’s alright,
though. I already have a plan.”

“What’s that?”

“Australia,” Mae smiled at me. “I’ve never been.
Vampires don’t like it there because it’s warm, but it’s
comfortable enough, and there’s plenty of uninhabited outback for
us to hide away. There’s active blood banks in places like Sydney,
though, so with a drive, we can get stocked up.”

“So, the two of you are gonna spend the rest of
existence hiding out in the outback?” I raised an eyebrow. I had
always wanted to go there, but it just seemed like a horrible
scenario for this.

“For awhile.” Mae nodded and went back to staring at
her bundle of joy. “But we won’t be alone, at least not at first.
Peter is going with us.”

“Peter?” I hadn’t realized that Peter really wanted
that much to do with Mae, but then again, he did like running away
from me and suicidal missions, like caring for a child vampire.

“He offered a few days ago,” Mae said. “We’ll be
okay, love. Don’t you worry about us.”

She might’ve been talking to me, but she was looking
at Daisy, and I think that was all meant for her. The second she
got Daisy, the rest of us really ceased to exist for her. I watched
her for a moment longer, fawning over the child, but I had
somewhere to be.

When I went upstairs, Jack was already taking a hot
shower. I was desperate for one myself, so I got undressed and
climbed in with him. He smiled at me, but I just wrapped my arms
around his waist and pressed my head against his chest. There was
nothing sexual about it. I just loved being that close to him, his
bare skin on mine, his heart beating in my ear.

He kissed the top of my head and held me to him.
After everything the night had brought, I couldn’t help but cry.
Out of sadness and exhaustion and relief. I had never seen anything
as brutal as what I witnessed tonight, and I hoped to never see it
again.

“It’s going to be okay, Alice,” Jack assured me,
rubbing my back gently.

“How can you say that? After what happened tonight?”
I looked up at him. His soft blue eyes were full of nothing but
love and optimism, and he smiled at me.

“Because you’re here with me,” Jack said. “Any night
that ends with that can’t be that bad.”

“I can’t argue with that logic,” I admitted, and he
laughed, sending delighted tingles all through me. I held onto him
tighter, pressing my head against his chest, and relished the feel
of his arms around me. There was no place in the world I’d rather
be.

# # #

Read an excerpt from the fourth installment in
the
My Blood Approves
series:

Wisdom
– available August
2010!

Terror ripped through me.

I had no idea where I was. I woke up
expecting the familiarity and safety of my bedroom, and this wasn’t
it. It was hot, almost unbearable. Sweat soaked my skin, but I
shivered. Disoriented, I stumbled out of bed.

I tripped over my own foot and fell onto the
floor with a heavy thud. Cursing myself, I rubbed my knee, even
though the pain had stopped. I’d been training hard to work on my
strength and grace, and I hated when my clumsiness returned.

The light flicked on in the room. I sat on
the floor and squinted up in the brightness to see who turned it on
Peter stood in the doorway, wearing only ripped jeans, and he
stared down at me.

I finally remembered where I was, but I
still couldn’t shake the panic. My heart pounded like crazy, and
that’s what summoned Peter.

“
What are you doing on the
floor?” Peter asked.

“
I tripped.”

“
Are you okay?” He walked
over to me and bent down so he could help me up.

I took his hand, and when he pulled me to my
feet, I noticed the sweat gleaming all over his chest and his arms.
If I hadn’t been so distracted by my own terror, I might have taken
the time to hate how perfect and gorgeous Peter looked. Every time
I saw him, I wished he would get less attractive.

“
What’s going on?” His
voice had taken on a protective edge that I was unaccustomed to
hearing from him. He’d been working on showing me his gentler side,
but it still surprised me.

“
I don’t know.” I shook my
head.

“
Alice, you’re terrified.”
He heard the panicked racing of my heart and no matter what I did,
I couldn’t slow it. “What happened?”

I bit my lip and pushed my hair behind my
ear. He put his hand on my arm, and his bright emerald eyes managed
calmed me a bit. I wanted to tell him everything, but I couldn’t
explain what freaked me out so much.

“
It was like a bad dream,”
I said. “But it wasn’t a dream. It was more of a …
feeling
.”

“
What kind of feeling?”
Peter asked

“
Just fear, this really
intense fear.”

“
You were just sleeping,
and then you were afraid?” He dropped his hand from my arm and
studied my face. “No images that went along with it?”

“
No.” I furrowed my brow,
trying to remember what exactly woke me up. “There weren’t images,
but I felt paralyzed. Right before I woke up, I felt really scared,
and I couldn’t move.” I shook my head again, this time to clear it.
“It’s over now, and I’m done talking about it.”

“
As long as you’re okay.”
Peter sounded reluctant to let the topic die.

“
Yeah, I’m great.” I forced
a smile. “Except I’m really hot. Why is it so hot in
here?”

“
The central air is broken.
I’ve been out back trying to fix it, but the sun is really getting
to me. And, as it turns out, I know nothing about air conditioning
units,” he sighed. That explained the grease stains all over his
jeans and the smudge that ran just above his naval, on the hard
contours of his abdomen.

“
That really sucks,” I said
and looked away from him.

“
I’ll call a repairman, but
I don’t know how long it will take them to get here.” Peter ran a
hand through his dark hair. He’d been wearing it shorter since he
moved, probably because of the continuous heat. “It’s the drawback
of living out in the middle of nowhere.”

“
Yeah, I bet,” I said. “I
think I’m gonna take a shower.”

“
It’s only
noon.”

“
I doubt I can sleep
anyway,” I shrugged.

“
I’ll see if I can find a
fan for you,” he offered and stepped towards the door.

“
Alright. Thanks,” I smiled
at him. He nodded, then left me alone in the room.

I went over to the closet to look for
clothes. It was mostly bare since I hadn’t packed that much for my
ten-day stay. As soon as we’d gotten here, Mae insisted on putting
my things away and doing my laundry.

I would’ve been fine with living out of a
suitcase, but Mae wouldn’t stand for it. With Daisy around, her
maternal instinct seemed to be in overdrive. Really, I wasn’t sure
how Peter tolerated it.

After Mae had gone against Ezra’s wishes and
turned her great-granddaughter into a vampire, he’d given her three
days to get out. They’d left in two. Peter chartered a private
plane, and he, Mae, and Daisy had escaped to the Australian
outback.