Аманда Хокинг - Flutter

“I know,” I lied. “I just wish I knew where he was.”

“He’ll turn up soon,” Ezra assured me. “He’s not the kind to stray very far.”

Ezra said very little else on the car ride to V. Since we were in a hurry, he sped crazily, and I wondered if all vampires had problems with speed limits, or just these ones. Downtown was a madhouse. There were people everywhere, dressed in all sorts of wacky garments. Most of the girls’ outfits could barely count as

“clothing,” and it seemed like everyone was drunk or high or just certifiably insane.

I had to jog to keep with Ezra, and I felt weird going to the clubs with him. He was probably dressed more fashionably and appropriate for a club situation than I was, but it was weird thinking of him going clubbing. Even as attractive and as young as he looked, he never seemed like the kind of person that would frequent a place like this, and as far as I knew, he never had. Mae and Peter had used to go to V years ago, and Jack did somewhat, but nobody ever mentioned Ezra going. I was a little surprised that even knew where it was, but he probably knew where everything in the whole world was.

In the block before the club, he had to fend off several very drunk girls. I mean he literally had to push them off of him, and by the looks of the last one, she wasn’t exactly drunk. The fading pink marks on her neck made me think that was just leaving the club we were going to. A couple guys made a pass at me, and I didn’t really care, except for the fact that I was starting to get hungry. I hadn’t even really felt until we were in a crow d of people, and I wondered if this is what it would be like always.

Ezra held the door open to V for me, and the two giant bouncers were still manning their post. They nodded at Ezra and exchanged some kind of look with him. It made me wonder if he was actually acquainted with him, but I didn’t really have time to ask. Jane was in trouble, and it didn’t really matter who Ezra did or didn’t know.

The dance floor was completely packed. Michael Jackson’s hit song “Thriller” was blasting out over the stereo, and at least half of the floor was doing in the dance that went along with it. It would’ve been a sight to behold, but Milo and Bobby were waiting by the doors for us, reminding me of the business at hand.

One of Milo’s wings looked damaged, but with the floor being as crowded as it was, I was surprised that his costume had stayed as intact as it did from the dancing.

“It’s crazy here tonight!” Milo shouted over the music.

“I don’t understand how they all know the moves!” Bobby commented, watching the Thriller dancers with some fascination.

“Yeah, great. Where’s Jane?” I asked.

“In one of the backrooms,” Milo nodded across the dancehall to the vampire bar section of the club.

Blue lights flashed over head, and Ezra looked around the room with an unreadable expression. “I don’t know which one for sure, but I thought you could find her!”

“As long as she’s still alive, I probably can!” I admitted.

Milo grabbed Bobby and started making his way across the dance floor. I pushed into the crowd after him, but they were impossible to get through. Apparently, I wasn’t even as forceful as Jack.

Ezra came up behind him, and putting his arm around my waist, he started pushing our way through them.

I was strong enough to do it, but I felt bed about pushing people out of the way, even in the case of an emergency. Not that any of them seemed to mind. Humans and vampires alike seemed to enjoy being touched by Ezra a little too much.

The dim lighting and muffled sound of the bar came as a huge relief. Even in here, it was incredibly packed. Usually there were just a handful of couples of, but tonight, every available surface was covered with vampires feeding on people or making with each other. There were even two vampires lying on the bar in the corner, grinding up against each other in a very provocative fashion. Milo, Bobby, Ezra, and I stood out for the simple fact that we were standing and weren’t sucking off somebody’s face.

“Which hall did she go down?” I asked Milo quietly. There were seven different hallways that went off the main bar, and I’m not even sure how many rooms are down each hall. I went down one before, and it seemed to go on forever. A cold chill went over me as I realized that there were nearly an infinite amount of places that Jane could be hiding with her vampire boyfriend.

“I think that one,” Milo pointed to one on the far side of the room.

“Are you sure?” Bobby squinted. The red lights in here weren’t the best for his eyesight. “I thought it was the one just to the left of that.”

“You’ve got be kidding me,” I groaned.

“Ezra Townsend!” Olivia squealed, and pushed an unconscious girl onto the floor. She moaned a little when she hit her head on the floor, but that was the only sign she gave that she was still alive. Olivia’s tight leather uniform seemed much more appropriate with the Halloween crowd, and she was smiling widely at Ezra in her usual drugged out way. I expected him to look appalled by her, but instead, he smiled back at her, and when she reached him, they actually hugged. “It’s so good to see you!”

“Likewise,” Ezra agreed when they stopped hugging. This was the most shocking display I had ever seen Ezra perform, and I glanced at Milo and Bobby to see them gaping at him too.

“It really has been too long,” Olivia touched his arm and laughed. “I didn’t even know you were still in the area! I thought you’ve would’ve left years ago.”

“Well, I tried, but the wife has roots down here,” Ezra shrugged. The wife? I had never heard him call Mae his wife ever, and it seemed particularly strange given their current circumstance.

“She’s not-” Olivia looked at me distrustfully for the time.

“No, no, Alice isn’t mine. She’s my brother Jack’s,” Ezra explained, and Olivia nodded and smiled again at me.

“I was gonna say. She’s a little tart, isn’t she?” Olivia was looking at me in a way that would’ve made me blush if I wasn’t busy trying to figure out how we’d find Jane if Milo and Bobby couldn’t decide what hall she went down.

“Perhaps,” Ezra looked at me, and I was pleased to see it was affectionate. I think I had been kind of expecting him to hate me after all the trouble I was causing between Jack and Peter, but Ezra didn’t seem to be one to hold a grudge either.

“You should’ve told me you were with Ezra!” Olivia exclaimed and touched my arm. “I would’ve given you the special treatment.” I had a feeling she was already giving me special treatment, but I just smiled.

“Sorry. I didn’t realize you two knew each other,” I said. I wanted to not be talking to them anymore, but I wanted Ezra to help me, and I didn’t want to be rude to her. After all, she had helped me out a couple times.

“That’s just like Ezra,” Olivia rolled her eyes. “He never talks about his past.”

“I don’t mean to be rude, but we’ve got a missing friend,” Milo interjected, saving me from some long, semi-drunken conversation. Olivia might not be able to drink alcohol, but she drank more blood than a vampire needed too, leaving her act and feel rather drunk.

“Same one as before?” Olivia raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, and we’ve got to find her. So, if you’ll excuse us.” Milo had Bobby’s hand in one hand and he took mine in the other. Olivia nodded at us as we started making our escape, but Ezra stayed with her. I wanted to have him come with us, but he was nearby, and he was catching up with an old friend.

“So you know which hall it is?” I asked as Milo drug me to the other side of the room.