Flutter (My Blood Approves 3)

“Why do I feel like you’re making this up?” I asked.

“Because Olivia is easily underestimated, but that’s part of her strength,” Ezra said. “She’s one of the strongest and oldest vampires I’ve ever met. She must be… nearly six hundred years old.” He looked at me in the rearview mirror. “And she’s quite taken with you.”

I might have found that more amusing, but Jane made a sound in my lap. Ezra sped up, probably deciding that there might actually be hope for her. He carried her into the house, shouting for Mae as soon as we got in the door. For the second time in a matter of days, Ezra’s expertise with blood was called into action.

Much to Peter’s dismay, Ezra kicked him out of his room, and Mae and Ezra went about making Jane comfortable in there. I tried to help, but I was too upset to be useful, so they sent me downstairs. Milo was in the main bathroom, tending to Bobby’s lacerations, and I went in under the guise of helping, but really, I wanted a distraction.

I sat on the edge of the bathroom tub and watched them. Bobby had a few minor scratches across his chest and shoulders, and a bite wound on the back of his neck. The bite was already healing, thanks to vampire saliva’s healing properties, but it hadn’t been that bad in the first place. Still, that was the wound that concerned Milo the most. He rinsed off all the rest of them, but he cleaned off Bobby’s neck with peroxide.

Bobby winced. He sat on the bathroom counter with his head tilted over the sink as Milo scrubbed mercilessly at the swollen bite mark on the back of his neck. The peroxide fizzled white, and Milo rubbed at it with a damp rag.

“That really stings!”

“It needs to be clean,” Milo said through gritted teeth.

“I don’t think it’s that dirty,” Bobby grimaced. “You bit me all the time and never washed them at all.” Milo didn’t say anything, and Bobby tired of it, so he pulled away from Milo. “It’s clean enough.”

“No, I don’t think it is!” Milo reached up for Bobby’s neck again, but Bobby grabbed his wrist and stopped him. Milo could easily overpower him, and he looked like he was considering it. “Please. Just let me clean it a little bit more.”

“Milo! No! It hurts, and it didn’t hurt until you started messing with it!” Bobby held onto Milo’s wrist because if he let go, Milo would immediately start cleaning his neck again.

“That’s because I’m getting all his saliva out!” Milo pushed Bobby’s hand back, but Bobby jerked back in the corner and pressed his back against the mirror so Milo couldn’t reach it. “Bobby! Just let me clean it!” If he got any more aggressive, I’d have to intervene. “You still smell like him, and I have to get it out!”

“No!” Bobby shouted. “You’ll have to deal with it! I just got attacked by a vampire, and I’m feeling bad enough without you clawing out the back of my neck!”

“Fine.” Milo sighed and threw the bloody rag in the sink, then he had a change of heart. “You’re right. I’m sorry. You had a really bad night, and I’m just glad you’re alive and that you still want to put up with me.” Ashamed of his behavior, Milo stared down at the sink.

“I’ll always want to be with you,” Bobby smiled at him and gently touched his face.

Milo lifted his head and they kissed, just long enough for me to feel embarrassed that I was in the same room with them. I cleared my throat, and Milo blushed when they stopped.

“Sorry about that.” Milo dried the cuts on Bobby’s chest and shoulder so he could apply giant Band-Aids.

“So all those scratches, those are from Jonathan’s fingernails?” I nodded at Bobby’s chest.

“Yeah, I think so,” Bobby said, watching as Milo bandaged a particularly nasty one that ran down his collarbone. Hopefully, none of them would leave scars, or they would damage his tattoos.

“That’s weird. Clawing at you seems like such a girlie thing to do,” I wrinkled my nose. Sure, that is how I had fought against Jonathan, but I was a girl, and I was openly a terribly fighter.

“Maybe, but our fingernails are more like claws,” Milo said absently. “It’s a weapon we have, so why not use it?”

It wasn’t until he said something that I looked down at my own nails. Before I had turned, I had bit them all the time, but I lost the urge. They were longer than I had them before, but I hadn’t really thought about them being stronger. I tested one out on my arm and winced.

Milo and Bobby continued talking, getting more flirty and lovey, so I tuned them out. Milo had gotten awfully freaked and possessive because Jonathan had bit Bobby, and he hadn’t even drank his blood. It surprised me because Milo had never been the possessive type, but I suppose that had nothing to do with who he was as a person. It was all part of being a vampire, but I had never gone through it because nobody else had bitten Jack since we’d been together.

Or at least that I know of. I had no idea what he was doing now. For all I know, someone could be biting him. Lots of someones could, or he could be biting lots of people. He could be doing anything, and I had no idea when or if he would ever be back.

After Milo finished getting Bobby cleaned up, they went back up to his room so they could change out of their costumes, and Milo needed to wash off all his makeup. Ezra and Mae were still up in Peter’s room with Jane, so I sat on the steps and waited for someone to tell me what was going on. The night seemed to drag on forever, but finally, Ezra descended the stairs towards me.

“How is she?” I got up but held onto the wall, bracing myself for bad news.

“I don’t know,” Ezra shook his head. “She’s been doing this for too long. Part of the reason her bite looked so terrible was because she had scar tissue building up. He had to gnaw through it to get to her veins.”

“Oh my gosh!” I gasped, feeling disgusted.

“But the good news is that she hadn’t lost as much blood as I’d originally thought.” He gave me a weak smile. “I didn’t give her any blood, although we did give her IV fluids.”

“You have IV fluids just lying about?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“In a houseful of vampires and the occasional human, someone is going to lose too much blood eventually, and its best to be prepared,” he said. “Your friend is resting now, but only time will tell how well she will do. Mae is giving her vitamins and plenty of water, and that’s the best we can do.”