My Blood Approves (22 page)

“
You guys are really
vampires?” They had been explaining stuff to me for a long time,
but I still couldn’t wrap my head around it. Jack laughed and
leaned on the counter.

“
That was my reaction at
first, too,” he grinned.

“
I think that was
everyone’s,” Mae agreed.

“
But … this is a normal
house. I mean, it’s really nice, but it’s normal. And you guys are
just like a family. And you-” I pointed at Jack. “-you sit around
playing video games all day. In a house the suburbs of Minneapolis,
Minnesota? Come on. Vampires are cooler than that.”

“
Thanks a lot,” Jack
laughed loudly.

“
Well, you know what I
mean. You guys have eternity, and you spend it like
this?”

“
Exactly. We have forever.
How would you spend it?” Jack cocked his head at me.

“
I don’t know,” I admitted.
I had never really thought of it before. Trying to figure out what
I wanted to do with my measly little human life had always seemed
like enough. “But something more glamorous than this.”

“
Peter and Ezra have seen
everything, at least a hundred times, and Mae doesn’t really wanna
go anywhere,” Jack shrugged. “I mean, I’ve traveled a little bit,
but I’m not in any rush. I’ll be able to see it all one day. I went
to the pyramids with Peter a couple years ago.” He rolled his eyes.
“He’s been there like thirty times. He’s like ‘oh big triangles in
the sand, whoopee.’ So that was kind of the end of my traveling,
for now, at least.”

“
So you just sit here and
play video games?” I asked incredulously.

“
What do you expect us to
do?” Jack laughed. “We just have more time than you. What do you do
with your life?”

“
I don’t know.” I lowered
my eyes and thought about it. “This all just seems weird to
me.”

“
Of course it does, love.”
Mae gently stroked my hair. “It’s a lot to take in.”

“
You guys aren’t gonna eat
me, are you?” I didn’t sound afraid, because I wasn’t. I was merely
curious, and Mae laughed.

“
No, of course not,” she
smiled reassuringly at me.

“
But Peter wanted to last
night,” I pointed out. “And Jack really wanted to tonight, before
the car crash.”

“
Jack!” Mae gasped, glaring
over at him. Funny, she didn’t look even remotely appalled when I
told her Peter wanted to.

“
I did not!” Jack insisted,
but he was a bad liar.

“
Jack, you know you can’t
do that,” Mae growled, and I wondered what the big deal was. They
said that when they bit people it didn’t hurt and it didn’t kill
them. So what did it really matter if Jack bit me?

“
It wasn’t my fault!” Jack
said defensively. “She was getting all crazy thinking about Peter.
And you know what? I didn’t bite her. So. You can just wipe that
look off your face.”

“
Why does thinking about
Peter make me more delectable?” I asked, and they both lowered
their eyes. “Come on! I know you’re vampires! What’s
left?”

“
Delectable,” Jack mused.
“That’s a very good way to describe it.”

“
Why are you even telling
me this?” I narrowed my eyes at them. “Why did you tell me you were
vampires? Isn’t it like some big secret or something?”

“
Hardly,” Jack snorted. “I
hate it that in movies when they’re all like, you can’t tell anyone
that we’re vampires or the high council of snooty vampires will
kill us all! There’s no high council. There’s not a big vampire
society. There isn’t one council governing every human on
earth.

“
And you know what?” Jack
continued. “People don’t believe in vampires. Do you think that we
have to hide anything about us? Did I ever really try to hide
anything with you?”

“
No, but you wouldn’t tell
me things,” I told him pointedly.

“
Yeah, cause I liked you.
The first day we met, if I had told you that I was a vampire, you
would’ve thought I was insane and wrote me off.”

“
Why did it take so long
for you to tell me?”

“
I wanted to make sure you
trusted me, so you wouldn’t just think I was insane and never want
to talk me again.” Then he got a pained expression on his face and
sighed. “I was gonna tell you that night in the park. Then that
stuff happened with that damn dog. And you got so upset when I
killed it, and I thought if you react like that to me hurting a
dog, how are you gonna feel when you find out that I bite
people?”

“
Oh.” I thought back to
that night, and I remembered the way he had threatened to end our
friendship because I was crying. It had seemed rather harsh at the
time, but in retrospect, that must’ve killed him. “Well, I know
now. And I don’t think you’re a monster.”

“
Good.” Jack was genuinely
relieved. He rubbed his bare skin. “I’m gonna go put on a shirt.
I’ll be right back.” Jack darted out of the kitchen and I heard his
feet pounding up the stairs.

“
You doing okay with all of
this?” Mae looked at me earnestly, and I nodded. She touched my
cheek gently, cupping my face, and then kissed my forehead. “Good.
Did you need more water?”

“
Yeah, sure,” I nodded, and
she picked up my glass and took it over to the fridge to refill it.
“There’s just one thing that’s bothering me.” That was a lie. There
were about fifty things bothering me, but there was only one that I
wouldn’t let go for tonight.

“
And what’s that, love?”
She brought the glass of water back of to me, looking
curious.

“
Why did Peter leave?” I
asked, and her expression faltered and she lowered her eyes. “Jack
told me it was because of me.”

“
Jack doesn’t know what
he’s talking about,” Mae replied tersely.

“
Mae.” I stared at her
until she’d look at me and then she sighed.

“
This really is a
conversation for another day.” She forced a smile at me. “I’ve had
a very long day, and I’d really just like to take a hot bath. I’m
sure that you and Jack can think of something to amuse yourselves
with.”

“
Always!” Jack beamed,
suddenly bursting into the kitchen wearing a fresh tee shirt and
shorts.

“
And behave,” Mae warned
him as she walked past him. “I mean it.”

“
Yeah, yeah,” he muttered.
When she had her back to him, he stuck out his tongue at her. Then
he waltzed over to me, grinning like a fool. “I am so glad you
know. Do you have any idea how hard it is keeping anything from
you?”

“
Not really, no.” I still
didn’t know everything, but it didn’t bother me anymore. Jack was
in an incredibly good mood now, and it was taking me over as well.
“Do you have any idea how hard it is to have things kept from
you?”

“
Yes!” Jack insisted, still
smiling. “Ezra and Peter keep stuff from me all the time. They
think I’m too young for anything. If they had it their way, I
probably still wouldn’t know that I was a vampire.”

“
You’re forty?” I wrinkled
my nose.

“
Does that freak you out?”
He held his chin up high, checking for my response.

“
No. It doesn’t. I know
that this all should completely freak me out, but it doesn’t. I
feel stupidly safe with you.”

His lips curled mischievously, and I knew
that I had accidentally dared him to scare me. He twirled the stool
around so my back was to the island, and then he stood in front of
me, placing his arms on either side of me, trapping me between him
and the island. His face was right in front of me, and his eyes
were dancing.

“
What about now? Are you
scared?”

“
Nope. Am I supposed to
be?” I smiled back at him.

“
You probably should be.”
His voice had gone low and husky, and his eyes were almost
translucent as he studied mine.

Then I saw his eyes lower, looking at my
neck, and my heart, beating of its own accord, sped up. I breathed
in deeply, and he smelled so clean, like Ivory soap and mint
toothpaste. His expression changed, growing more somber, and his
face inched closer to mine.

- 14 -

“
You can hear my blood,” I
said softly. He didn’t answer but slowly pulled his eyes away from
my throat so they met mine again. His hunger rolled off him,
filling me with a strange desire. “What does it sound
like?”

“
It sounds like…” He let
out a breath that sounded suspiciously like a moan.
“…music.”

“
What does it feel like?” I
whispered. “When you’re bitten? What would I feel?”

His eyes got that wistful look, almost like
the one Ezra had when he thought about Mae, and my heart fluttered.
A look of pleasure passed over Jack’s face, and for a moment, I
felt flush with the warmth of his hunger and adoration.

“
You…” He exhaled deeply,
then smiled sourly. “… really need to get going.” Abruptly, he
pushed back from me and turned around, walking away from me. The
sudden shift, along with the lingering desire, startled
me.

“
What? Why?” I jumped off
the stool and scampered after him. “It’s not that late.”

“
No, it’s not,” Jack
agreed, continuing out into the garage. I caught the door before it
swung shut and ran after him. “But I only have so much will power
left.”

“
You can bite me if you
want,” I offered helpfully. I knew he really wanted to, and it
didn’t really seem like that big of a deal if he did. “I want you
to.”

He stopped in front of the Jetta, and I
stood a few away from him, watching him. He laughed darkly and
turned to face me, scratching the back of his head and smiling
incredulously.

“
You’re killing me here!”
Jack shook his head, then pointed his keys at me as he walked
towards the car door. “You are far more dangerous than I
am!”

“
What?” I demanded. He had
stopped at driver’s side door, and I looked over the top of the car
at him. “Why won’t you do it?” His desperate want made me want him
too, and I didn’t understand why he wouldn’t just bite
me.

“
I just can’t, Alice.” His
expression was grave, and he dropped his eyes from mine, looking
rather ashamed. “And if you’re not going to stop, then I’ll have
Mae give you a ride home.” He shook his head. “I won’t be able to
say no.”

“
Fine, I’ll drop
it.”

Grudgingly, I opened the car door and got
inside. A few seconds later, Jack got in and started the car. I
could feel how much he wanted me, the deep hunger brewing painfully
inside of him, and the shame at feeling that way. I sat in silence,
feeling embarrassed tears sting my eyes.

“
Are you crying?” His
breath caught in his throat. “Why are you crying?”

“
Is there something wrong
with me?” I wiped at my eyes.

“
What are you talking
about?”

“
There has to be something
wrong with me. Peter can’t even be around me, and you can’t do it
either. Is my blood like poison or something?”

“
Oh my god, Alice.” He
rubbed his temple, laughing emptily. “You have no idea what you’re
doing to me.” He looked over at me again and shook his head. “I
can’t even take you home. I can’t even-” Then he just turned and
jumped out of the car.

“
What?” I scrambled out
after him, wondering what I had done to drive him away. He stood
just outside the car, trying to shake it off. “What did I
do?”

“
You’re not poison! You’re
the opposite of poison!” Jack exhaled, but it was more like he was
gasping for air. “I can’t be in that car with you. You did this
thing to me and I need to get back down, but you’re so…” He shook
his head, unwilling to say it aloud.

“
I don’t understand. If you
want me so much, then why can’t you just have me?” I felt what he
felt, so I wanted what he wanted. It was raw and pure and so
intense it was suffocating.

“
Alice…” He had his hands
on his hips and he let out a shaky breath. “Peter would kill me. He
would literally tear me to shreds. He wouldn’t want to, but he
would.”

“
What? What does Peter have
to do with this?”

I thought of Peter, feeling strangely
excited by the fact that he would express jealousy over me, and my
heart sped up. Jack’s face contorted miserably, and he shook his
head.

“
You’re thinking of him.
You’re fucking thinking of him.” He clenched his fists.

“
I’m sorry!” I cried,
trying to slow my heart down. Jack looked as if I was actually
killing him, and his agony ripped through me. “Can’t you just bite
me and make this stop?”

“
Alice!” Jack lamented. “He
is my brother! And you are his! You belong to Peter, not
me!”

“
What are you talking
about?” While there was something very thrilling about his words, I
felt like I had been slapped in the face. “You picked me out for
Peter?”

“
No, I had no choice in the
matter. None of us did.” He looked away from me, but I could see
his face breaking. “It’s the blood. Your blood, his blood. They
react to each other. It’s why you get all crazy when you think
about him. And it drives me crazy because it’s in my blood
too.”