Blood or Love Ch. 03

Some of her tears made it out of her eyes and rolled down her face. She wiped them away. "I love you, Jack."

He pulled her into a hug.

When he let her go, she said, "You better be pumped full of that antidote the next time I see you." Her brown eyes were wide. "I mean, what you did to Matt...I guess he totally deserved it. But, just your speed and strength--you're getting it all back, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am. My other senses have improved a lot too." He ruffled her hair. "Cheer up, Benny. It'll all be over soon."

He got out of the truck and shut the door, giving it a couple thumps on the side as Benny pulled away.

He knew she was removing the wooden stake from the back waist band of her jeans-the stake she thought he didn't know was there.

* * *

As he checked in for the flight and walked to his gate, he felt the stares. Again, it was the strange vibe he gave out, though he was acutely aware of one set of eyes watching intensely, purposefully. But when he looked around, he couldn't narrow in on them.

He bought a cup of hot tea and a newspaper and took a seat away from the large windows. Nobody sat nearby, so he had plenty of empty seats around him. He barely paid attention to the other waiting passengers as they talked on cell phones, typed on laptops, or read their magazines.

Finally, they boarded. Luckily it wasn't a full flight, and all the people who had seats around him got up and moved elsewhere. He didn't have to wonder why.

He pulled all the nearby window shades closed and settled back in his seat for the flight. He was incredibly sleepy. They were still gaining altitude when he dozed off.

Jack awoke suddenly, feeling a presence. He turned to find a pair of dark brown eyes staring at him from a narrow face, mere inches away.

Startled, Jack barely resisted the impulse to throw his hand through the kid's face. The tan, lightly freckled teenage boy jerked his hand around, and that's when Jack looked down and saw the sharp pencil pointed at his chest.

It was the second time he'd been threatened with a staking in 24 hours. He reached out and flicked the pencil out of the boy's hand, launching it away in the cabin.

"Hey!" the boy protested. "I was using that." He held up a crossword puzzle book.

Jack focused his tired eyes on it and then groaned, wiping his hands over his face a few times. Damn, he almost pounced some poor kid. He was getting paranoid.

But why was the boy sitting right next to him? Even the flight attendant hurried past Jack without stopping, though he didn't want anything she had to offer from the beverage cart anyway.

"Sorry, kid," he said. "You shouldn't get up in people's faces and stare at them while they're sleeping."

"Heh." The boy smirked, and his deep brown eyes penetrated Jack's. "I bet you do that all the time."

Jack cocked his head, eyes narrowed at the kid. "Excuse me?"

A long, slender hand extended toward Jack. "I'm Chamey. What's your name, vampire?"