“What is he talking about?” Jane asked and met his eyes in the rearview mirror. “Are you okay?” He locked on her eyes, and I saw her breathing change, getting deeper and more sensual.
“No, Milo, let’s go back to the house,” I said. I gripped the headrest of the passenger seat so tightly, my fingers hurt.
Ignoring me, Milo put the car in drive. Instead of turning out onto the road, he drove behind the gas station, where everything was hidden in darkness. He went somewhere private, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up when he parked the car.
“Milo, come on. There’s other things,” I begged him, but his mind had been made up. His hunger was too strong to ignore.
“Alice, shut up,” Milo told me quietly. His eyes rested briefly on me, and they were all primal thirst, and nothing else. “Close your eyes. Or get out if you need to. This will only take a minute.” Then he fixed his eyes on Jane, who stared at him with stupid adoration. “Jane, do you trust me?”
“Yes,” she nodded, sounding like a brainwashed zombie.
He turned to face her and placed a hand on her neck, rubbing her veins with his thumb for a second. Abruptly, he yanked her to him. He was half leaning in between the seats, and with extraordinary swiftness, he sunk his teeth into her neck.
She inhaled sharply, and I heard the subtle sound of tearing flesh. Closing my eyes, I pressed my back up against the door as far as it would go. Jane moaned softly, and I wanted to throw up or cry or scream or laugh.
It started feeling like forever, but I’m sure it couldn’t have been that long. I stayed in the car because I wanted to be sure that he didn’t go too far. I opened my eyes, and somehow, in my reflexive urge to escape, I ended up standing on the backseat. I was all crouched down, with my knees bent and my back against the window with my head pressing against the ceiling.
Jane’s eyes had rolled in the back of her head, but I could hear breathy moans, so I knew she was still alive.
Milo’s fingers were knotted in her hair, pushing her neck hard against his mouth. He was turned away from me, so I couldn’t see his face, but I saw the way his mouth was on her, the way the blood leaked around it.
All I could think of was the time I saw a starving dog eating a dead raccoon on the side of the road. The way the dog held the leg in his mouth was the exact same way Milo held her neck.
“Okay, Milo, that’s enough.” My words came out small, sounding nothing like myself.
I had been bitten before, but it was an entirely different thing to watch a vampire bite someone else. It was terrifying and nauseating.
When he ate, it became obvious to me for the first time that vampires weren’t human. They may have possessed the appearance and some semblance of humanity, but that – my brother – feeding on Jane, that was pure animal.
“Milo! Stop!” I repeated. Jane’s eyelids fluttered, and her breath got shallower. She was passing out, and death wouldn’t be that much farther behind it. “Milo! You’re killing her! Stop!”
When he still didn’t stop, I knew I had to take action, but it scared the hell out of me. Tentatively, and almost gently, I slapped him on the shoulder. I figured that like a wolf, Milo would turn to snap at me and take my entire hand off.
He didn’t seem to notice though, so I slapped him again, harder this time. And again and again, until finally, he dropped Jane and collapsed back into the front seat.
Jane fell heavily onto the seat, hitting her head against the door, and she moaned softly. Milo had his eyes closed and looked like somebody that was incredibly, wonderfully high.
Absently, he wiped at the blood on his chin with back of his hand, and he mumbled something incoherent. All his features had softened, and he looked younger than he had in years. Resting his head on the driver’s seat, he faced my direction, but he was barely conscious.
“Jane?” I leaned over her and lightly slapped her cheek, trying to wake her. The bite on her neck was already pink and raised, beginning the first steps in healing. I slapped her face again, but she just turned her head away from me.
“Jane? Are you okay? Can you hear me? Jane?” Weakly, she slapped at my hand, trying to push it away.
I collapsed back on the seat, pressing my back against the cold window, and that’s when I finally cried. A pair of vampires had very nearly killed me. Jane and I had the scratches to prove how close Violet had come to hauling us off into the night.
I survived all that to have my brother consider killing both of us, but he just ended up feeding on her. They both promptly passed out, leaving me the only one awake in a locked car sitting in the dark behind a gas station in the middle of the night.
Meanwhile, we had no idea what happened to the vampires chasing us.
“Alice, Alice,” Milo mumbled without opening his eyes. “Don’t cry. We’re…” He trailed off and reached out for me, but before his hand got anywhere near me, he let it drop.
- 20 -