“I know why you’re upset and I don’t blame you.” His voice was low and apologetic. “But Milo has to learn. He’s still so volatile. In all honesty, I should’ve waited, and if I had, I probably wouldn’t have had to physically demonstrate.

“But I didn’t want to wait,” he said. “I want to get through all of this as quickly as possible, so he can be independent, and you can turn. I did this so you could hurry up and come live with us.”

“I’m not going to turn,” I said, and my words came out harsher than I meant.

“What?”

“I talked to Ezra the other day.” I finally opened my eyes and glanced over at him, and his blue eyes swam with confusion and pain. “He said that I still have to hold off for a couple years. It’s not safe or healthy for Milo. I don’t think you can rush through this, no matter how hard you try.”

“But…” He stared off at nothing, digesting it all.

“Maybe this is all a sign,” I said thickly when he didn’t speak. “I don’t mean just tonight. Everything with Milo and Peter. It’s like everything in the universe is saying that this won’t work for me.”

“Two years really isn’t that long,” Jack said quickly.

“Jack! You know that’s not the only thing!” I leaned my head back on the seat.

“Alice…” He breathed deeply. When he spoke, his voice was barely a whisper. “When I called, it was because something felt off. I knew something was going on with you. And by the time I got to the exit, I knew exactly where you were at. I could feel you, scared and alone. I can’t just turn that off. You can’t just throw this away.”

“What am I supposed to do?” I asked.

He looked at me desperately, and a longing radiated from him. The alcohol was either wearing off or he was overpowering it. A panicked need overtook him because he thought he was losing me.

I leaned over and pressed my lips against his, and he gave into it. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me as close to him as he could without hurting me, and his mouth worked ferociously against mine. He tasted amazing, and his skin burned hot.

We’d only been kissing for a few seconds when abruptly, he stopped, and pushed me back from him. Gently but firmly, he held me at arm’s length and struggled to catch his breath.

“Alice, that’s way too dangerous,” he panted.

“You’re really not helping the case, you know?” I pulled away from his arms and slunk down in the seat.

“The only reason I have any restraint is because I just ate,” Jack said, leaning back. “Otherwise, that could’ve been very bad.”

“Thanks for reminding me about that,” I grimaced.

“You can’t really talk. At least what I did, I did because it’s how I survive and it was to help your little brother. You just did that… for fun. And you can’t use being drunk as an excuse because you wore a purple thong. That was premeditated.”

“It was not! I wore the panties cause I wanted to feel fun and dangerous!”

“You’re dangerous alright,” Jack muttered.

“Whatever.” I slammed the car door shut. “Just take me home.”

“Can do.”

Neither of us spoke the rest of the way home, because that seemed like the safest bet. I was hurt, angry, and disappointed in both of us, and he felt pretty much the same. When he finally pulled up in front of my apartment, he sighed and turned to me.

“Look, Alice, I don’t want you to go home mad.”

“Neither do I,” I said. “So. Fix it.”

“Okay,” Jack laughed. “Since you can’t turn right away anyway, I can stop rushing Milo. That means that I can put less time into getting him ready, and I can make more time for you. You won’t feel so shut out.”

“Thank you.” I bit my lip and looked at him gratefully.

“I don’t know if this helps any, but I really, really wanna kiss you right now,” Jack said with a sad smile. “And yeah, I did wanna see your purple thong.”

“I don’t know how that helps,” I smiled. It stung a little, because I knew it couldn’t happen, but it made me feel better knowing that he still wanted it to.

“Yeah, I guess it doesn’t really.” He pushed a hair off my forehead, and he looked at me intently. When he breathed in deeply, his eyes went wistful. “Go. Before I give in.”

“Okay,” I nodded and opened the car door.

“I’ll call you. Tomorrow. I promise.”

Jack waited outside until I was safely in the apartment. When I went into my bedroom, I looked out the window, and he was still waiting outside. I watched him for a few minutes, but then he finally pulled away.

After sleeping fitfully, “Time Warp,” Jack’s ringtone, woke me up first thing in the afternoon. When I rolled over and picked up my phone, I found a text message that sent a nervous shiver through me.

Text me as soon as you get this. That was all it said.

- 12 -

I assumed the worst. Like Milo had gone on a rampage or Mae had developed vampire cancer or something.

What’s wrong? Is everything okay? I texted Jack.

Nothing. Everything’s great. I just wanted to get you here as soon as possible. Jack replied almost instantly.

Why? Did something happen? I texted back and sat up in bed.

The sun hadn’t fully set yet, and reddish light streamed in through a gap in my curtains. He was up early, at least for him. Something had to have woken him, and he wanted me over there. My mind raced, trying to figure out what it could be.