Аманда Хокинг: Fate

Jack lived in beautiful house, that was really more of cross between a mansion and a castle.

There was a five stall garage at the end of a short, winding driveway. The house had been done in some kind of pale sandstone, and would have otherwise be a rather conventional square house, if not for the gorgeous black iron balcony coming out of a massive second story window.

The large front door was located in the turret, that connected the house to the garage. As many times as I had been here, it never really stopped being intimidating. Everything in the house was luxurious and perfect. Jack had a massive white Great Pyrenees, but there never even seemed to be any white hair on the furniture.

The house was settled onto a gorgeous lake that swept out back from the stone patio. We had spent a great deal of the summer in the backyard, either lounging on the patio or swimming in the lake or taking out the Jet-Ski’s. In fact, Milo and I had spent so much time on the water that Mae had bought us several swimsuits that she kept at the house for us. Mine consisted of three different kinds of bikini’s, which I wasn’t exactly thrilled about. I felt self-conscious enough around their perfection when I was fully clothed, but she insisted that I was beautiful and there was nothing I should ashamed of. There is nothing weirder in life than being complimented by someone who is clearly so much better than me.

I changed into my suit, carefully keeping the towel wrapped around me when I came out of the bathroom, but Milo had already changed. He was sitting at island in the kitchen, munching on some grapes and drinking water, and talking amicably to Mae. In people years, Mae had been the eldest when she turned, at twenty-eight. Her skin was flawless white porcelain, and her light brown waves of hair had been pulled up into a loose bun. Wearing only her bathing suit and an apron, her warm, honey-colored eyes danced as Milo instructed on her how to make the snack she was preparing. As a vampire, she didn’t eat and had lost all sense of cooking.

My brother, on the hand, was an excellent cook, so he had rapidly become her sous chef, helping her prepare all the meals she made for our benefit. When I had first started coming over, there hadn’t been any food here, but with Milo and I all but living here this summer, the house had been fully stocked. I would’ve protested all the extra work and expense Mae put into it, but it was obvious that she relished this sort of thing. Taking care of a family was all she really wanted to do.

“Where’s Ezra?” I asked, walking over to the island and stealing a grape from the bunch. By the looks of what was laid on the island, Mae appeared to be making some kind of fruit dip with cream cheese and yogurt, and slicing up apples, pears, and strawberries.

“He’s taking a nap, ,” Mae informed me in her warm, British accent. “He’s probably a little jet lagged because he just got back from the trip.”

Out of the three boys, Ezra was probably the most attractive, although I couldn’t help but be more attracted to Peter, thanks to our mutual bloodlust. Ezra’s eyes were deep mahogany, and like Mae, they were infinitely warm. His skin was the same tanned color as Jack and Peter’s, but his sandy hair had soft blond highlights. Not like a hairstylist had done them, but like someone who has spent a lot of time in the sun and got sun kissed streaks through it. The most powerful thing about him was his voice. It was low and resonated through everything. He had a faded accent that I was told came from being born in England, but he hadn’t lived in Europe in over twohundred years, it had definitely muted over time.

“Now just add a little brown sugar,” Milo instructed Mae as she mixed the fruit dip.

Out the glass French doors that lined the dining room wall, I could see Jack rollicking about with his dog, Matilda. Shirtless, the bright patio lights revealed the taut, tanned muscles of his chest and back, which even I had to admit was rather stunning. He rolled on the stones of the patio without hesitation. The hard surface should’ve left him battered and bruised, but I knew that he’d have nothing to show from his battle with Matilda.

“Alice, do you wanna try it?” Mae asked, pulling me from my thoughts and my gaze away from Jack. She held out an apple slice towards me, covered in dip, but I just shook my head.

“I’m getting pretty chilly. I think I’m gonna head outside.” My arms had started to stand out in goose bumps, and the warm night air would soothe them, but I could tell by the skeptical look that Milo gave me that they didn’t exactly buy that as my reason for wanting to go outside.

“I’ll be out in a minute,” Milo said through a mouthful of the fruit he had sampled.

“Okay,” I murmured and headed out the French doors into the night.

Jack had ventured a little off the patio in his pursuit of Matilda, but I could see him easily in the light of the full moon. Although it was much warmer outside than it had been in the house, I kept the towel wrapped securely around me as I made my way down the patio onto the small lawn that separated the house from the lake.

Matilda caught sight of me and bounded towards me. There was a very good chance she would knock me over, since she was used to vampires who could handle her lunging at them at full speed, but Jack overtook her and playfully tackled her before she could do any damage. Then he stood up, brushing the grass from his swim trunks, and grinned broadly at me.

“Are you gonna go swimming with the towel too?” Jack mocked my propensity for modesty, something he was hoping I would soon get over.

“Maybe.” To spite him, I pulled the towel more tightly around me, and he laughed. Matilda came over and sniffed me heartily before concluding that it was just me, and then sauntered off, wagging her tail slowly behind her.

“Suit yourself.” A mischievous glint caught his eye, and I knew I was in trouble. After spending a summer getting thrown in the lake, I knew exactly what that look meant.

Dropping my towel, I quickly turned and ran towards the dock. Jack trailed a few steps behind me, even though he could easily sprint past me. My legs were going as fast as they could, but the sport was in the chase for him. Most of the time, he’d wait until I reached the end of the dock before grabbing onto me and tossing me into the water. It really seemed like a moot point to me since I was about to jump in anyway, but it thrilled him endlessly.

I had barely made it to the edge when I felt his strong arms looping around my waist. I squealed happily and let him twirl me around once before he released me, sending my soaring into the air and landing in the lake with a loud splash. Under the bright moonlight, I saw him take a running jump and leap out, flying over me and splashing way out in the lake. He howled excitedly when he jumped, as if he hadn’t made that same jump a million times.

“Jack!” Mae leaned out the French doors and shouted out at him. “You’ve got to keep it down so the neighbors don’t call the police again.” It was after midnight on a Wednesday, and the neighbors weren’t big fans of the noise on the lake.

“Yeah, Alice,” Jack teased, swimming over to me.

“Oh, whatever,” I rolled my eyes. “As if I’m even half as loud as you are.”

Jack laughed, taking long strokes out farther into the black water. He deliberately swam slow circles around me, but I was content to float on my back, staring up at the full moon and the stars shining down on us.

Besides, I had never really had the courage to swim to far from the shore when the water was so dark. I always had these horrible visions of being eaten by some unseen some monster coming up from the depths of the lake. It really doesn’t seem like that silly of a fear when I consider that this midnight swim takes place with a vampire.