My Blood Approves (24 page)

“
What do you mean?” I
crinkled my forehead, trying to understand.

“
For starters, you’re
human.” Ezra gave me an even look, and I shook my head. “We’re
never intended for humans. Both Peter and Elise were vampires when
they met, and so was Mae when I met her. We’re not callous,
exactly, but we just don’t feel attachments to humans the way we do
to other vampires.

“
When Jack came home and
said he’d met you, we couldn’t figure it out,” Ezra went on. “He
connected with you instantly, but he didn’t feel that… physical
need, the way we do.”

I nodded, knowing exactly what he’d meant. I
felt it the instant I saw Peter, and it only got more intense with
time.

“
But the connection was
something we all understood,” Ezra explained. “Because Peter is of
my blood, I felt connected with Elise, and both Peter and Jack feel
connected with Mae.”

“
Do you feel connected with
me?” I thought that I felt connected with him, but it was hard to
tell what was a real connection and not just falling under the
spell of his perfection.

“
Yes.” Ezra smiled warmly
at me, and I flushed. “I feel more connected to you than I have
with any human since I’ve been a vampire.”

“
Jack said my safety was
top priority for you,” I mumbled dazedly. It was insanely
flattering and intimidating knowing that I had fallen into Ezra’s
favor.

“
He wasn’t exaggerating,”
Ezra grinned wider. “You are in a very unique position.”

“
Is that what the issue is
about biting me?” I asked.

“
Yes and no.” Ezra tilted
his head. “Remember when I said that we were possessive and
territorial? As soon as Peter met you, you were his. He felt it
inside him, the way you do.

“
Peter lost Elise, and it
devastated him completely,” Ezra continued. “He vowed never to feel
that way again. To be perfectly honest, I doubt that he could
survive it.” Ezra exhaled, looking rather sad. “He doesn’t want to
want you. It doesn’t change the way he feels, because nothing
can.

“
On top of everything,
you’re so fragile.” He eyed me up seriously. “When you’re with
someone, the way we are, we frequently drink each other’s blood.
But for you, it is dangerous, especially with Peter feeling the way
he feels. It would be very easy for him to get caught up in the
moment and take things too far.

“
He ran the other night
because he didn’t want to hurt you,” Ezra continued. “It’s not
supposed to be this hard, Alice. It’s usually a very simple, clean
process. But this is much, much more complicated.”

“
Because of
Elise?”

“
Yes, and because you’re
human.” He had a drawn expression and he sighed. “And because of
Jack.”

“
Because Jack wanted to
bite me last night?”

“
It’s more than that.” Ezra
looked at me knowingly. “Alice, Jack’s fallen in love with
you.”

“
What?” Startled, I blushed
randomly. I had considered the possibility that I was falling for
him, but as Ezra had just explained, vampires didn’t fall in love
with humans. “I-I didn’t think that was possible.”

“
Neither did I,” Ezra
admitted soberly. “He shouldn’t feel anything for you. You’re
human, you’re meant for Peter, and you’re not his. Maybe it was
because he spent so much time with you before you met Peter and
fully melded with him.”

“
So… what does this mean?
Does it transfer? Can I just be with Jack instead of Peter?” I
asked, and Ezra looked very shocked by my questions.

“
You would want that?” He
looked at me evenly. “You want to be with Jack instead of
Peter?”

“
I don’t know,” I confessed
uneasily. “I mean, if Peter doesn’t even want me, it just seems
stupid to force something.”

“
Peter still wants you,”
Ezra was quick to clarify.

“
Then why isn’t he with
me?” I demanded. “Why was Jack the one I wanted last
night?”

“
I don’t know,” Ezra said
at length. “Peter will be home soon, and hopefully, we can get some
of this straightened out then.”

The car had started gliding into familiar
territory, and I knew we weren’t far from their home.

“
What about Jack?” I asked
softly.

“
Peter can’t know how he
feels or how close he came to biting you last night,” Ezra warned
me. “And he can never bite you. Peter will be able to smell him on
you, and that won’t be good for either of you.”

“
Am I still allowed to be
around Jack?” My heart broke at the thought of a life without him,
even if I had Peter.

“
Yes, of course. You both
must be very in control of yourselves.”

“
Are you sure that I am
meant for Peter?” I asked him carefully as we pulled into the
driveway.

“
Yes.” Ezra answered
definitively. The garage door closed behind us, but we stayed in
the car. “Something’s off this time, but there’s no other
explanation.”

“
Oh.” It was strange how
one sentence could exhilarate and devastate me.

“
Are you in love with
Jack?” Ezra’s voice was barely above a whisper, as if he was afraid
of someone hearing.

“
I don’t know,” I admitted
honestly. Tears welled in my eyes, and I bit my lip.

“
Alice, listen to me very
carefully. If you care anything for Jack, you mustn’t act on it.”
His deep brown eyes settled on me, conveying the severity of his
words. “I’m not trying to frighten you, but… it’s just the way
things are, and I am very sorry.”

“
It’s alright.” I wiped my
palms across my eyes, trying to smear away the tears.

“
Are you okay to go in?”
Ezra asked.

“
Yeah, I’m fine,” I said.
He waited for me to open the car door and start getting out before
he got out. “So, does Mae like me so much cause of the whole blood
thing and her being yours and all that?”

“
No. Mae loves you because
she’s Mae, and that’s what she does.” Ezra smiled brightly me,
relieved to talking about a subject he was quite fond of. Putting
his hand on the small of my back, we walked into the house.
“Honestly, are we what you envisioned when you thought of
vampires?”

“
Hardly,” I scoffed, and he
laughed warmly.

“
You’re home!” Mae shouted,
running into the entrance and throwing her arms around me. For the
first time, Matilda didn’t run and greet us, but I realized that’s
because Jack wasn’t with me. “I was a little afraid we’d scared you
off last night.”

“
You can never scare me
off,” I said into her shoulder. She finally released me and cupped
my face in her hands, staring at me as if to make sure I was
real.

“
Oh you look so tired! Did
you sleep at all?” Her eyes were anxious, so I nodded and forced a
smile. “You know what you need, love? A nice warm bath. We have a
fabulous Jacuzzi tub in our room, and I’ll get some bubbles going
and you’ll be as right as rain.”

“
How right is rain really?”
Jack wondered dryly, and I pulled my head away from hers to look
over at him.

He leaned against the doorway, smiling
crookedly at me. My heart swelled just at the sight of him. Last
night, I had been so afraid that he would be gone forever, and I
couldn’t contain myself. I rushed over to him and threw my arms
tightly around his waist.

“
Hey, I’m okay, I’m okay.”
He gently pushed me off, holding his hands on my shoulder until I
was a foot away from him. “Okay? I’m okay.”

“
I was just worried.” I
blinked rapidly, fighting back tears, and swallowed
hard.

“
Yeah, you look like it,”
Jack said quietly, and his concern washed over me.

“
She just needs a nice warm
bubble bath!” Mae wrapped an arm tightly around my waist so she
could pull me away from Jack, and it did require some effort on her
part. “We have some wonderful lilac bath salts that just melt the
tension away.”

Mae continued telling me all the amazing
features of her tub as she led me away, but I glanced back over my
shoulder at Jack.

“
You’ve really got to be
more careful,” Ezra warned him.

“
I didn’t even do
anything!” Jack protested, and I wondered dully how this all could
possibly work out in the end.

The hot Jacuzzi wasn’t quite as magic as Mae
had professed it would be, but it really did help relax me at
least. All of this seemed so bizarre. In a time not so long ago, I
hadn’t even known these people, and now it would be impossible to
imagine the rest of my life without them, however long that life
might end up being.

When I finally pulled myself out of the
relaxing waters of the tub, I wrapped myself in one of their
gigantic plush towels. Mae had filled her bedroom with lilac
scented candles, and it was all aglow with candle light.

Laid out on the white bedspread, she had
left satin pajama pants and a matching blue camisole for me. Since
their house generally ran cold, I put my hoodie on over it, but it
almost felt like sacrilege to put something so ordinary over her
extravagance. They lived on a whole other plane from me, in every
way possible.

“
I merely stated that you
rolled the Jeep.” Ezra’s words wafted down the hall towards me when
I opened their bedroom door. “It’s not asking that much that you
pay for it.”

“
You just want me out of
the house more,” Jack grumbled.

“
That wouldn’t hurt you
either,” Ezra said.

I made my way down the hall to the kitchen,
and they all stopped talking when I came ins. Mae stood amongst a
mass of dishes and food splayed out all over the counter tops. She
had white powder on her cheeks and some kind of red sauce dripped
all over an elegant white apron.

Jack sat on a stool pulled up to the
counter, and I’m sure he fancied himself helping, but I’d imagine
that he spent more time playing with the ingredients. As it was, he
was juggling a tomato and a lemon when I walked in.

“
Oh, you look so much
better!” Mae beamed at me. Jack dropped the tomato on the counter
and deliberately looked away from me. “Wasn’t that bath
fabulous?”

“
Yeah, it was pretty
great.” I ran my fingers through my tangles of wet hair, and I
could almost see Mae longing to play with it. Walking over to the
mess she was making, I was careful to keep a distance from Jack.
“What are you doing?”

“
Trying to make you some
kind of comfort food,” Mae smiled grimly at me. “I used to be an
amazing cook, I swear! Everyone in my neighborhood loved my
cooking!” Jack scoffed, and she reached across the counter to slap
him on the arm. “I was! You would’ve been thrilled to eat anything
I made!”

“
Whatever you say.” Jack
leaned back in the stool, moving farther out of arm’s length, in
case Mae decided to swat him again.

“
It’s just been so long
since I’ve cooked anything.” Mae looked sourly at the mess around
her, which consisted of everything from cucumbers to pears to pie
crusts. “I’ve just forgotten what everything tastes like.” A spoon
was in a bowl of something red, and she gave it one superficial
swirl, then looked apologetically at me. “I don’t think that I’ve
made anything that you can actually eat.”

“
What about this?” Jack
held up the tomato towards me, but I just shook my head.

“
I’m okay. I’m not even
hungry.”

“
Oh!” Mae shouted, her eyes
glittering. “Your brother is a cook, isn’t he?”

“
Not professionally, but
yeah, he’s really good,” I told her hesitatingly. I liked Milo and
all, but there was too much going on over here, and I didn’t really
want him to come over. At least not tonight.

“
Oh fantastic! And I’m sure
he knows all of your favorite recipes!” She overflowed with her own
genius. “Here. Why don’t you just give me his phone number and I’ll
give him a call. Oh, what time is it? It’s not too late is it?” She
glanced around for a clock, and it was only a quarter to nine.
“He’s still awake, isn’t he?”

I nodded, and Mae whipped her phone out of
her pocket, and I gave her his number.

“
Oh, Milo!” Mae smiled so
wide, it looked almost painful. “I’m so glad you answered! Oh, I
didn’t wake you, did I? I’m sorry, love. I don’t want to disturb
you.” He must’ve answered with something positive, because she
laughed lightly, and continued about making me the perfect meal to
make me feel better.

“
I’m really not very
hungry.” I lowered my voice considerably, just in case Mae might
hear, but she was talking to Milo and swooping around the kitchen,
gathering pots and pans and whatever she thought she’d needed. “Why
do you guys have pots and pans anyway?”

“
It makes us look more
normal.” Jack rolled his shoulders. “I mean, we don’t really need
kitchens, and in a household of four people, we have seven
bathrooms.”

“
Bathrooms add resale
value!” Ezra said. From his tone, I gathered that this wasn’t the
first time they’d had this argument. “We’re not going to live here
for that long, so its best if we get our money’s worth.”

“
What do you mean you’re
not gonna live here long?” I had been leaning on the counter, but I
snapped my head sharply and looked over at him.