“That was weird,” I said. Jack had bent down to start praising Matilda, but he looked just as surprised as the rest of us.
“Something’s going on,” Ezra said, more to himself than us. He tossed his empty blood bag in the garbage can and walked down to his room. “Mae?” He started to open the door, and she pushed it shut. “Mae? What is going on?”
“Nothing!” Mae shouted. “Go away!”
“Mae, open the door now, or I’ll open it for you,” Ezra said. When he talked like that, his voice was one of the most intimidating sounds I’d ever heard.
Slowly, the bedroom door opened, and Ezra stepped inside. There was complete silence, and Bobby took a step forward, trying to get a better look. Milo stopped him from going farther.
I looked up at Jack to see if he had any insight, but he just shook his head. We all waited expectantly, but Ezra never said anything. A minute later, he just turned and stormed out of the room.
“Get that out of my house!” Ezra growled walking away.
“She’s not a that!” Mae ran after him, almost pleading. “And we can’t travel right now! Not when she’s like this.”
“I don’t care!” Ezra roared, and he wouldn’t even look at her. “I want her out!”
“We just need two, three more days tops, and then we’ll be out of your hair forever!” Mae insisted desperately. He had his back to her, seething. “Ezra, please! If you love me, you can give me three more days! Please!”
“Fine,” Ezra said grudgingly. “But if you stay one day longer, I’ll take care of her myself.” He walked back towards the garage. “I’m going to the station now to deal with car. Don’t wait up.”
“What happened to you?” Mae gasped, noticing us for the first time. We were all tattered and bloody, and Bobby had scratches and bruises.
Milo started explaining the night to her, but I brushed past him. I thought I knew what was in her room, but I had to see it for myself. Mae tried to pay attention to Milo, but I felt her watching me as I walked by. I pushed open her bedroom door, and it was exactly what I thought.
In the soft mass of Mae’s bed, a small girl twitched. Her blond curls were sticking to the sweat on her forehead. She was pale and sick, but she was still adorable. She looked like a pint-sized version of Mae, with cherub cheeks.
She was still in the first phases of the turn, and the worst of it hadn’t hit her yet. Matilda ran past me and jumped onto the bed next to her, licking the little girl’s clammy face. She smiled a little at that, and Matilda settled down next to her.
“She really likes Matilda,” Mae said from behind me. She walked over to the child. Jack stood behind me, taking the whole thing in, but he didn’t say anything. “I’d like you to all meet my great-granddaughter, Daisy. I’m going to be taking care of her now.”
“Oh, Mae,” I looked at her sadly.
“No, don’t do that,” Mae shook her head. She sat down on the bed next to the girl, pushing her hair back from her forehead. “I did the right thing, and I know I did. I had to save her. After Jane left, I realized I wasn’t upset about her. I had to save Daisy.”
“Well, Jane is fine, by the way,” I sighed. “But… you did what you had to do.”
“I did. Isn’t she precious?” She looked adoringly at the child, and I could see that there had really never been any choice for her. Even if she had to give up Ezra and everyone else, that child meant so much more to her.
“You’re not taking my dog,” Jack said finally. “Come on, Matilda.” Reluctantly, Matilda jumped off the bed and followed him out of the room.
“So you’re leaving?” I asked.
“It seems that way,” Mae said wearily. “I thought Ezra might change his mind when he saw her, but… It’s alright, though. I already have a plan.”
“What’s that?”
“Australia,” Mae smiled at me. “I’ve never been. Vampires don’t like it there because it’s warm, but it’s comfortable enough, and there’s plenty of uninhabited outback for us to hide away. There’s active blood banks in places like Sydney, though, so with a drive, we can get stocked up.”
“So, the two of you are gonna spend the rest of existence hiding out in the outback?” I raised an eyebrow. I had always wanted to go there, but it just seemed like a horrible scenario for this.
“For awhile.” Mae nodded and went back to staring at her bundle of joy. “But we won’t be alone, at least not at first. Peter is going with us.”
“Peter?” I hadn’t realized that Peter really wanted that much to do with Mae, but then again, he did like running away from me and suicidal missions, like caring for a child vampire.
“He offered a few days ago,” Mae said. “We’ll be okay, love. Don’t you worry about us.”