Аманда Хокинг - Fate

Once, I had fallen in the woods, and my hand had somehow ended up in the carcass of an animal full of maggots. I wasn’t in any real danger, but that was most disgusting thing I had ever done and it totally freaked me out. That’s exactly how I felt when Lucian touched me. Like I was covered in maggots.

“Let her go!” Peter repeated and took a step closer towards us, his eyes burning with rage.

Even though Peter wasn’t very large, there was something incredibly intimidating about him. The way his jaw tightened and his fists clenched, it only hinted at the uncontrolled anger and power he had inside him. Lucian’s hands were strong on me, but I could sense a hesitation growing in him.

“What the hell is with this girl?” Violet asked incredulously.

“She belongs to me,” Peter growled, and he actually extended his hand out to me, as if he expected them to just me hand over after that statement. Like it was all some misunderstanding, and not an obvious kidnap/murder/rape situation.

“What about the other vampire she was with?” Lucian retightened his grip. He must’ve thought he’d found a chink in the armor, but he hadn’t really.

Peter already knew everything about Jack. He had to have. The dream I had the other night, that wasn’t a dream. Peter had found everything out, and he’d been laying in wait over the last few days. But for what? Suddenly, whatever Lucian had planned didn’t seem quite that bad.

“He is of no concern to you. Let her go.” Peter glared intensely at Lucian. “Now.”

“You have to be more careful with your things,” Lucian tried to sound light and playful, but Peter had unnerved him.

Finally, he let me go, and I jumped away. I think everyone kind of expected me to run into Peter’s arms, and trust me, that was rather tempting, but I didn’t. My skin was still crawling too much, so I just stood off to the side of them, closer to Peter than Lucian, and shuddered. I fought the urge to wipe at my skin and try to brush off Lucian’s touch.

“You’re the one that has to be careful,” Peter corrected him.

Before Lucian could say anything more, Peter pounced at him, reminding me very much of the way I lion pounces on his prey. Lucian made a surprised scream, and Violet yelped and jumped back from them. I stayed frozen in place, watching as the shadows blurred and disappeared in the fog. I heard Lucian yelling and Peter growling, and then there was an awful gargling sound and things that sounded suspiciously like tearing and breaking. Violet had chased after them into the darkness, and she was screaming at them to stop. Then there was a rather horrific ripping sound, followed by Violet sobbing, and I heard her lighter, high-heeled footfalls vanish into the night.

Trembling and trying even harder not to throw up, I couldn’t figure out what I was supposed to do.

Did I wait here for Peter? Did I thank him and try and convince him not to kill me? Or did I run off to my place?

Did I try to call Jack, knowing that he wouldn’t answer? There didn’t seem to be any clear answer, and on top of my rampant panic, there was that incessant longing inside me that was trying to pull me towards Peter.

When he finally emerged from the mist, I was still firmly planted where he had left me. His shirt was stained dark across the front, but his skin was completely clean, even though it looked there would’ve been some splatter. He must’ve cleaned himself up a bit, and I wondered if it was for my benefit.

My body tried to pull me over to Peter, but I refused. He ran a hand through his dark hair and didn’t look at me, but it was better that way. I tended to get lost in his eyes whenever I had the chance. A fading pink scratch ran across his face, amazing me at how quickly they healed. There were several tears in his shirt, but the skin it revealed underneath was perfect. Overly perfect, really, just like everything about him.

“What the hell you are doing, Alice?” Peter asked quietly, looking down at the sidewalk.

“What are you doing?” I stammered out in reply. It sounded like I was being glib, but I really wanted to know. What was Peter doing? Was this just a warm up for his murder attempt on me?

“Alice, I’m being serious,” Peter sighed, sounding frustrated.

“So am I!” I managed to be more forceful this time, and he looked over at me, his green eyes mixed with irritation and affection. As of yet, he wasn’t showing any signs of murderous rage towards me. So that was good.

“You do realize that giving up and dying isn’t the same as being brave?” He looked at me severely.

“What other choice did I have?” I argued, and I tried not to let him haze up my mind. “If I ran, he would catch me! He’s too strong for me to fight off!”

“So?” Peter was incredulous. “You fight anyway! You run until he catches you! This is your life, Alice! Why are you always so eager to give it up?”

“I’m not!” I insisted, but I shook my head, realizing how pointless this argument was. “What’s it to you, anyway? Aren’t you gonna kill me in like ten minutes?”

“What?” He narrowed his eyes in surprise and confusion. “Why would I kill you?”

His genuine surprise startled me. Even after he had tasted my bitter blood, it hadn’t occurred to him to kill me. He’d known about it for days, and as far as I knew, he hadn’t killed Jack yet either.

In fact, the only thing he’d done was save my life. This wasn’t exactly the picture everyone had painted for me.

“You did already try once.” I crossed my arms on my chest, trying not to let on that I was just as bewildered as he was.

“That was a mistake, and I already told you that would never happen again,” he brushed me off.

There was something almost endearingly matter-of-fact about him. Sure, he had tried to kill me, but he said he wasn’t go to again, so what was I worried about? Once facts were in evidence, it should be accepted and moved on. When he encountered something he didn’t understand, I’d half-expect him to say, “That does not compute.”

“What about Jack?” I ventured, and my voice gave away how much that made me nervous.

Peter tensed up at the mention of his name and stared off into the night. He bit his lip, thinking of something, but I had no idea what it could possibly be. There was an agonizingly long span where he didn’t even move. I was fidgeting and scared, but I was afraid that if I pressed him for an answer, it wouldn’t be one that I liked, so I waited as best as I could.

“We need to go home and get things in order,” Peter sighed at length.

“What?” My voice went up an octave.

“There’s no other way about it.” He reached out so I would take his hand, and I did, but hesitantly.

I got the same electric surge I always did, and I hated the warmth of pleasure that flooded over me. His hand, the one gripping mine, could very well cause the death of Jack, who I was certain was my one true love.

That sounds far cheesier than I meant it to, but I don’t know how else to describe him, especially considering all these other mucked up feelings I have thanks to my blood and Peter.

I let Peter lead me through the fog towards his Audi, parked across the street. I tried really, really hard not to think about how wonderful it had felt when he bit me and how I kind of really wanted him to do it again.

Instead, I tried to think of a course action so that I could somehow save Jack. Maybe I could have Peter bite me again. That would at least give Jack some time to… I don’t know what. That wasn’t really a plan.

Once inside the car, I came up with the only plan I could think of. After Peter started the car, I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket. I thought about trying to hide it from him, but he’d figure it out anyway. He didn’t say anything until after I’d hit send and we already soaring down the road.