Аманда Хокинг - Flutter

“It’s too late!” Ezra got up quickly and blocked Peter’s path. “They’ve already seen us! They know we’re after you! Just taking you won’t be enough anymore!”

Peter looked at the floor and tightened his lips into a thin line. His jaw clenched tightly, and I could tell his mind was working furiously to find fault with Ezra’s logic. I shuddered underneath the blankets, knowing that he was absolutely right. It was be impossible for the lycans not to put the pieces together, even if Leif didn’t narc us out, and I was inclined to think that he wouldn’t.

“Let me go talk to them,” Ezra said, watching Peter struggle with his reasoning. “I’m certain that if I talk to them, we can arrange something.”

“There’s nothing they want! Except to hurt me!” Peter flashed his wounded green eyes at Ezra.

“Well, then I’ll convince them that whatever I’m giving them is hurting you,” Ezra decided.

“You can’t talk to them! They’re just going to kill you!” Peter was almost pleading with him now.

“They won’t hurt me,” Ezra assured him. “The lycan are intimidated by me, except for Gunnar, and I’ve met with him before. He won’t kill me. Not now, not like this.”

Peter shook his head again, growing irritated with Ezra’s unfailing certainty. Absently, he scratched his head and tried to think of argument that would counter Ezra. Before the discussion had even take place, Ezra already had his mind up, though. He had tried to pass it off as a spontaneous, reluctant idea, but he had only been reluctant to admitting it. There was no other option for him, and Peter could think of nothing to change his mind.

On the same token, Ezra couldn’t change Peter’s mind, and Peter wouldn’t freely let Ezra go on what he believed to be a suicide mission. They stood next to each other, trying to change the other’s mind and unwilling to back down themselves. Eventually, one of them would have to give, but I didn’t see how. When it came to protecting each other, they were tireless.

“I’m not thrilled about either of your plans,” I interjected when they had been standing for an uncomfortable length of time. “So maybe we should just come up with something better.”

“She has a point,” Ezra allowed, softening his a stance slightly.

Peter crossed his arms over his chest and shifted his eyes between the two of us. He was skeptical about Ezra’s ease at conceding, even momentarily, and I had to admit, so was I. Ezra had seemed absolutely certain about his intentions, until I chimed in with the smallest idea.

“Why don’t you take a shower and clear your head? Then we’ll talk after,” Ezra suggested.

Chewing the inside of his cheek, Peter mulled it over. Despite being obviously suspicious, he was in dire need of a shower. He was a rather particular person to begin with, so his current level of hygiene had to be driving him insane. That’s probably what finally tipped him over the edge.

“Alright,” Peter nodded, looking at Ezra severely. “I’ll get cleaned up. But we’ll talk after.”

“Of course,” Ezra agreed.

Peter gathered some clothes that Ezra had brought for him, then went into the bathroom.

As soon as the we heard the water running in the shower, Ezra rushed about the room. He grabbed the keys to the Rove Rover Ranger and his cell phone, and I jumped off the bed before he had a chance to slip on his shoes.

“What are you doing?” I demanded nervously.

“I have to go talk to them.” Ezra pulled in his shoes and glanced at the bathroom, making sure that Peter couldn’t hear us, then lowered his voice. “Stay here, and make sure he doesn’t leave.”

“But Peter doesn’t think you should go, and I think he’s right!” I insisted, and for some reason, I did my best to keep my voice low enough so Peter couldn’t hear.

“He’s not. He’s just paranoid,” Ezra brushed it off. “But he needs to stay here. They will kill him. Our best bet of getting us all out of here alive is bartering with them. I’ve got to try. And they won’t hurt me.”

“How can you be so sure?” I asked.

“I just am,” Ezra said simply, looking at me deeply. “You’re just gonna have to trust me.”

I bit my lip and looked over at the bathroom door. If I yelled for him, I knew that Peter would come rushing out and stop Ezra from going. But Ezra had never given me any reason not to trust him, even if Peter was convinced that it wasn’t safe for him to go. If Ezra thought it was our best chance, then it probably was.

And I had to think about more than just Ezra, Peter, and myself. We had a family back at home that could be just as susceptible to the lycan if we didn’t put a stop to it while we had the chance.

“Hurry. And be careful!” I told him emphatically.

“I will,” Ezra nodded once and smiled wanly at me. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. But you both need to stay here until I get back. Understood?”

“Yes.”

He nodded again, then swiftly and silently disappeared out the door. That left me standing in the middle of the hotel room with a teal comforter wrapped tightly around me, wondering if I did the right thing letting him go. Ezra wouldn’t think twice about sacrificing himself for Peter, or any of us really, and there was a good chance that he would lie to me about his true intentions to keep from stopping him.

At the same time, I had didn’t have any other plans, so I did have to just trust him.

When I heard the water shut off in the bathroom fifteen minutes later, I winced. Peter would come out any minute, and he’d expect an explanation for things. I scurried to think of some kind of argument that would keep in the hotel room with me, instead of chasing after Ezra and the lycan. My head was swimming, and I bit my lip apprehensively.

Peter came out of the bathroom, shirtless, and I tried not to be wowed by the perfection of it. He wore drawstring sweats that were a little too big and ran a towel through his long tangles of dark hair. As soon as he looked over at me, still standing in the middle of the room, he knew, and he looked incredibly pissed off.

“He left?” Peter growled, his green eyes glowering at me.

“He said everything’s going to be fine!” I insisted desperately.

“Bullshit.” Peter tossed the towel aside and immediately started searching for a shirt.

“Okay, Peter, you can’t go!”

“Watch me,” Peter snapped as he tore through one of Ezra’s dresser drawers.

Since I couldn’t think of any Peter that shouldn’t go except that Ezra implicitly told me not let him, I hurried over and put my hand on his arm, stupidly attempting to physically stop him. Some part of me still half-expected that electrical jolt I always got from touching him, and when there wasn’t one, I felt oddly lacking. His skin still felt warm and soft under my hand, but it was nothing to write home about.

“Alice.” Peter rolled his shoulder and gently pushed my hand off.

“You can’t go!” I repeated and let my hand fall to my side.

“You keep saying that but you’re not telling me why!” Peter exclaimed wearily.

“Because of me!” I shouted randomly.

It got his attention, which is all I really wanted. He was holding a shirt in his hands, but instead of putting it on, he turned back to look at me skeptically. The shower, along with eating and sleeping, had done wonders for him. He hadn’t shaved yet, and there was that thick stubble on his face, but it didn’t look horrible. In fact, he actually looked really good, but Peter always looked good, even unshaven with longer hair.

“What do you have to do with anything?” Peter continued eyeing me dubiously.

“Well, okay, let’s say you go after Ezra, leaving me here,” I fumbled with an answer. “And you’re going because he’s going to get himself killed. If that’s true, like you say it is, you won’t be able to change that.