Flutter Read Free

hand as we went downstairs where Mae and
Ezra waited with his luggage. On the table, a small duffel bag was
full of special containers.
    We survived mostly on blood donations, thanks to a
set of clinics they ran similar to the Red Cross. People donated
blood thinking it was for blood transfusions in humans, but really,
they were sustaining almost the entire species of vampires.
    When traveling with blood, we used special equipment.
Airport security would find it suspect if Ezra boarded the plane
with bags of blood. He used metal cans that looked like shaving
cream, lined to make it impossible for dogs to sniff out. We could
each only take one can with us, but it just had to be enough to
last me the flight. We’d get more when we landed.
    Ezra stood next to Mae, sifting through the papers to
make sure they were all in order. As soon as I had turned, he got
all the documentation set up so I could live my life with them
without any suspicion.
    That had been a source of contention since I had
insisted on keeping my last name Bonham instead of changing it to
Townsend, like the rest of them. Nobody had actually cared except
for Jack, but he didn’t understand why I wouldn’t want his last
name, especially since that was Milo’s last name too.
    Someday, I’m sure it would change, but for now, I
wanted to hang onto every part of myself that I could, even if it
was just my name.
    On the plus side, Ezra changed my age to eighteen, so
it’d be easier for me to do things if I wasn’t a minor. They did
the same thing with Milo, even though he was only sixteen, but he
looked closer to nineteen.
    All of Ezra’s information said that he was
twenty-nine, even though he had actually been twenty-six when he
turned, but it was that way with all of them. Jack was really
twenty-four, but his license said he was twenty-seven, and Mae’s
said that she was thirty-one, even though she was three years
younger than that when she turned.
    They’d lived this life, this name in this house, for
four years already. They wouldn’t be able to pull off their ages
for much longer, though, which meant that they were going to have
to move very soon. As it was, Jack didn’t really pass for
twenty-seven, and he would never make it as thirty.
    “When was the last time you ate?” Ezra asked me but
didn’t look up from my passport. It was brand new, and he inspected
it for any mistakes. As soon as I’d turned, Ezra had gotten me all
the paperwork I might need, including a driver’s license, birth
certificate, and passport.
    “Um, yesterday,” I said.
    There was a constant thirst with me, but it wasn’t
the same as being thirsty when I was human. My mouth wasn’t
parched, and my stomach didn’t feel empty like I was hungry,
either. I just felt this need inside me, coming from everywhere and
nowhere all at once.
    The closest feeling I could recall is when I ran too
fast in gym, and my muscles would start to ache from the oxygen
depilation. It would be this slow, swelling cramp that permeated
through me. Except now the relief came from blood, accompanied by
frantic lust.
    I managed to have reasonable control over my
bloodlust. Both Milo and I had a stronger grasp of that than most
vampires, something that bewildered Ezra and Mae. Our relationship
to vampires constantly surprised them, and Ezra thought there was
something deeper going on than merely my bond with Peter and
Jack.
    “Hmm.” Ezra eyed me over. “I don’t want you to get
tired just yet. We’ll have to wait until you’re on the flight. Do
you think you can handle being around people that much on an empty
stomach?”
    “I think so,” I nodded, but I wasn’t as certain as I
tried to sound.
    Since I was so newly turned, blood had a very strong
effect on me. Eating felt amazing, but after, I’d be very drowsy
and out of it. Usually, I’d just pass out and sleep it off for
awhile. Eventually, drinking blood should give me more energy
instead of knocking me out, but that was awhile off