Flutter (My Blood Approves 3)

“It’s so good to see you!”

“Likewise,” Ezra agreed when they stopped hugging. I glanced at Milo and Bobby to see them gaping at him too.

“It really has been too long.” Olivia touched his arm and laughed. “I didn’t even know you were still in the area! I thought you would’ve moved on years ago.”

“Well, I tried, but the wife has roots down here,” Ezra shrugged.

“She’s not-” Olivia looked at me distrustfully.

“No, no, Alice isn’t mine. She’s my brother Jack’s,” Ezra said, and Olivia nodded and smiled again at me.

“She’s a little tart, isn’t she?” Olivia was looking at me in a way that would’ve made me blush if I wasn’t busy trying to figure out how we’d find Jane.

“Perhaps,” Ezra looked at me, and I was pleased to see it was affectionate. I think I had been kind of expecting him to hate me after all the trouble I caused between Jack and Peter, but Ezra didn’t seem to be one to hold a grudge either.

“You should’ve told me you were with Ezra,” Olivia said and touched my arm. “I would’ve given you the special treatment.” I had a feeling she was already giving me special treatment, but I just smiled.

“Sorry. I didn’t realize you two knew each other,” I said. I didn’t want to talk to them anymore, but I wanted Ezra to help me, and I didn’t want to be rude to her. After all, she had helped me out a couple times.

“That’s just like Ezra,” she rolled her eyes. “He never talks about his past.”

“I don’t mean to be rude, but we’ve got a missing friend,” Milo interjected, saving me from some long, semi-drunken conversation. Olivia might not be able to drink alcohol, but she drank more blood than a vampire needed too, leaving her to act and feel rather drunk.

“Same one as before?” Olivia raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, and we’ve got to find her. So, if you’ll excuse us.” Milo had Bobby’s hand in one hand and he took mine in the other. Olivia nodded at us as we started making our escape, but Ezra stayed with her. I wanted him to come with us, but I couldn’t force him.

“So you know which hall it is?” I asked as Milo drug me to the other side of the room.

“Nope, but it’s got to be one of these two halls.” Milo let go of my hand, but he still hung onto Bobby’s. In another circumstance, it would’ve been a very funny sight to see a black glittery fairy leading a rather short Han Solo by the hand.

They led the way, but once we were in the hall, they slowed down considerably. Milo didn’t really know how to track Jane, not as well as I did anyway, but it was going to be impossible. There were too many people tonight.

Everything smelled like blood, and I was incredibly impressed with my current level of self control. My stomach burned a bit, and I was really thirsty, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle. It did, however, make it hard to distinguish different scents and sounds. Blood overpowered everything else.

I was about to give up on the whole thing when I finally got something. I froze in the middle of the hall, and Bobby bumped into me. It was too dark for him to see that I had stopped moving. Very faintly, I could smell her perfume. Her blood wasn’t as distinct to me as I thought it would be, but her perfume was.

“It’s this one,” I whispered, gesturing to the door in front of us. Milo moved in front of Bobby, putting himself between him and any possible attack.

After the way Jonathan had reacted the last time we busted in on him with Jane, I figured we should take the necessary precautions. This time, I decided against busting in. Very slowly, I turned the knob and pushed the door open.

Jonathan didn’t hear us because he was feeding on Jane. He knelt on the bed, her body hanging limp in his arms, and he gnawed on her neck. It wasn’t the gentle bites that Olivia always gave her girlfriends, or like the ones I’m sure Milo gave Bobby.

This was intensely animalistic, reminding me of the shark attacks I watched on TV. Jane appeared completely unconscious, and when I listened for a heartbeat, I couldn’t hear one. Only the sounding of his, pounding strong and fast.

Without thinking, I flew at him. He was killing her, and I had to stop him while there was still time, if there was still time. I jumped onto his back, and he snarled and threw Jane to the ground. It would’ve been easier for him to just drop her on the bed, but he purposely chucked her away, like a piece of garbage.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, but he reached back and grabbed me by my hair. He lifted me by it, and I screamed. I kicked and clawed at him, and he threw me against the wall.

The pain stopped instantly. Hitting the wall hurt like hell, but it was over right away, and I was back on my feet. I dove at him again, punching at him. I had never been in a fight before, so I was just doing whatever I could think of.

Theoretically, I should be really fast and strong, but I did not feel like it. He blocked every move before I even made it, and when I was resorting to simply scratching and kicking, he turned me around. He wrapped his arms tightly around me, pressing my back to his chest, and I couldn’t move.

“Drop the meat!” Jonathan roared at Milo, and I looked over at him. Milo had carefully picked Jane up off the floor, but he didn’t want to leave me alone with Jonathan.

“Get out of here!” I shouted. I didn’t really want him to leave me, because I had a feeling that I couldn’t win this fight, but this was his only chance to save Jane. “Go!”

Milo was indecisive, and Bobby stood in the hallway right out the door, looking pale and afraid. I struggled against Jonathan but didn’t accomplish much. He tired of the stand off, and in a ridiculous move, he bit into my shoulder.

I yelped, and I could feel the blood flowing hot and strange from the wound, but he didn’t drink from me. He could’ve bitten my throat and caused real damage, but he was doing this just to hinder and annoy me. Losing blood weakened me, and I wasn’t that strong of a fighter to start with.

“Alice!” Milo shouted.

“Drop the girl!” Jonathan snarled, and threw me to the ground. My shoulder had already stopped hurting, and it tingled from healing, but I could feel the blood seeping out of me. It was incredibly nauseating.

“Run, Milo!” I yelled, and Jonathan turned back to glare at me.

He stood right by me, where I lay on the ground, and an idea occurred to me. He kicked me, and I let him, and Bobby shouted at me to get up. If Jane wasn’t unconscious, Milo probably would’ve handed her to Bobby and helped me himself.