Аманда Хокинг - Flutter

Stupidly, I looked up at Peter, and I couldn’t hold it in anymore. Unwanted tears started streamed down my cheeks, and roughly, Peter pulled me into his arms. Burying my face in his shirt, I sobbed hard, desperate to get it all out before Ezra came out of the bathroom. He hugged me tightly, and there are times in life where nothing feels better than being held. Ezra could attest to that.

“Thanks. And sorry,” I mumbled when I managed to get myself under control and pull away from Peter. He kept his hand on my arm, as if severing contact with me completely would reduce me to tears.

“Don’t worry about it. I saw how hard that was on you,” Peter reassured me as I wiped the tears from my face.

“He’s not even crying.” I hated myself for being a baby. Ezra had clearly been through much worse, and he wasn’t acting like me.

“It’s different for him. He’s been through this before, although I don’t think it’s ever been this bad.

I’ve never seen anything like this with him.” Peter’s eyes got hard, no doubt thinking about how this was his fault.

“What do you mean he’s been through this before?” My head shot up, looking at him sharply.

“That’s what his old ‘master’ used to do, Willem, and he was a bad, bad man,” Peter explained, staring off into space. “But Willem was just one man, not a pack of rabid monsters. I’ve been bit before, by something less than them, and it’s…”

“What?” I pressed when Peter trailed off into silence.

“My blood burned coursing in my veins. My body tried to reject it, and I was mostly drained as it was.

But it was all tainted, and I was trying to get rid of it. Physically, it’s almost bad as turning.

And on top of that, the emotions it gives you. It makes you want things you don’t want. You feel disgusting and

….” Peter shook his head, unwilling to elaborate further. “It’s torture, absolutely. And he went through several times what I went through.”

“Will he be okay?” I asked plaintively, not enjoying Peter’s far off expression.

I’m not sure how Peter would’ve answered because Ezra came out of the bathroom, changing our attention completely. He looked much better than he had before, but he definitely didn’t look good. He had changed his clothes, and the marks on his neck and wrist had finally healed. His skin was still pale and his expression grave, but he was moving around okay.

He barely said anything to either of us on the way to the airport. I saw how rigid he was, and he was struggling to hold back what pain was left. On the plane, I sat in between him and Peter, and he mumbled several apologies to me, all of which I brushed off. I had barely done anything for him, and it was nothing that he wouldn’t do for me. He just wasn’t used to being the weak one, the dependant one, and I think he was ashamed of being caught in that position. If anything, the whole thing made me gain even more respect for him. Whatever made him crack at all had to be so horrendous that it would’ve killed anybody else, but he had pulled through it. On the rest of the flight back to America, he kept his eyes shut tightly and his lips pressed together. I couldn’t stop staring at him, though, terrified he would fall apart or die if I did.

By the time we landed at the Minneapolis airport, Ezra had returned to something that resembled his normal self. Admittedly, a very subdued version, but he could talk and walk without grimacing. His body wasn’t tensed up at high alert anymore. Thanks to my preoccupation with Ezra, I hadn’t texted anyone at home to let them know that we were coming. Even Peter hadn’t thought to call them, but he rarely talked to any of them, so it wouldn’t occur to him anyway.

We took a cab home, deciding that a surprise return was probably better at this point. Jack would be too happy to see me to really be angry. Once he found out everything that happened, I’m sure he’d be pretty pissed off, but he lacked the ability to really hang on to anger for any length of time. As soon as the cab pulled into the driveway, I could hear Matilda barking inside the house, and it was still weird getting used to my improved hearing.

Ezra climbed out of the cab carefully. Peter grabbed our bags out of the trunk, even though I was perfectly capable of carrying them myself, but I was too excited to mind. As soon as we’d touched down in Minneapolis, I had started feeling this pull in my heart. After days and days of a dull ache at being away from Jack, it screamed with pleasure, knowing how close he was. It was all I could do keep from running through the front door… then I realized that I could run and saw no reason not to.

I dashed through the front door, knowing that Ezra and Peter were following me at much slower pace. After spending so long getting trampled by Matilda every time I came in, I brushed past her, knocking her fluffy white body over. Jack had just rounded the corner to the entryway, his blue eyes wide with surprise.

There was this odd nervousness that hit me as I suddenly became afraid he wasn’t as happy to see me as I was to see him. I stopped where I was, smiling sheepishly at him, then he broke out in a gigantic smile and his eyes sparkled. That was all the encouragement I needed.

I dove into Jack’s arms, wrapping my arms tightly around his neck. He caught me easily, holding me to him with that perfect warmth he always did. I could feel his heart beating through my chest, and that was the connection I had been so sorely missing. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, I felt complete and contended again. Squeezing my eyes shut on happy tears, I wanted to stay that way forever.

Then I felt Jack’s muscles tense around me, and I realized that Peter had just walked in the house.

From the side of me, I could hear Mae and Ezra talking, but Peter didn’t say a word. I opened my eyes regretfully, knowing I would have to untangle myself with Jack and act in a civil manner around people. In truth, as close as he was, I didn’t feel close enough. I wanted to cover him in kisses and… and well, a lot more than that. Instead, I’d have to deal with the whole Jack and Peter thing.

As I mentally prepared myself for that scene, I looked over Jack’s shoulder to a whole other surprise.

Standing directly behind us looking curiously at the scene unfolding was my brother Milo and some kid I had never seen before. I use the term “kid” loosely. He was probably older than me, with black hair falling across his forehead and almost an olive skin tone. Shorter than Milo had even been as a human, he had tattoos visible on his chest below the low v-neck of his shirt and all down his arms. Sure, he was foxy, but that wasn’t even what caught my attention. If I hadn’t been so distracted in my excitement over Jack I would’ve noticed it sooner.

His veins were pulsing with hot blood, human blood. It was all I could smell and hear, and I realized belatedly that it had been twelve hours since I ate last. Spending all that time with people lately had left me with more self-control than I before, but I wasn’t accustomed to it in my own home. Here the only blood was vampire or dog, and neither of those really appealed to me, except for Jack’s.

“Who is that?” I hissed, finally releasing Jack so he would lower me to the ground. Milo moved protectively in front of that kid, which made something flare.

“That’s Bobby,” Jack explained. He had put me on the ground, but he kept an arm looped around my waist, and I doubt it was just because he missed me. Tension from Peter along with my confused reaction to this Bobby person made the room feel unstable. “I told you about him on the phone.

Remember?”

“You didn’t tell me he was human,” I sniffed, crossing my arms over my chest.