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thinking about… things.” He squeezed my hand
back, and that felt reassuring somehow. “But it’s still true.
Sharks are brutal.”
    The instant we were free to move about, Ezra grabbed
the cans of blood from the overhead bin and led me back to the
restrooms. We got a lot of weird looks from the other passengers
and the flight crew, but nobody stopped us. I doubted that any
humans ever stopped Ezra. He was too beautiful and confident.
    There was hardly enough room in the bathroom for one
person, let alone two, so he swiftly lifted me up and set me on the
sink. He set the cans on my lap, and I imagined that I could smell
it and trembled with hunger.
    “You are so pale,” Ezra murmured to himself. He
pushed a strand of hair out off my face and looked at me fully in
the eyes, inspecting them for their level of hunger. “I’m going to
give you two cans, okay?”
    “Yeah, whatever, fine,” I nodded quickly. I didn’t
care at all what he said as long as I got the blood.
    “This is gonna hit you hard, but I need you to walk
back out to your seat, okay?” Ezra said. “And you can pass out as
soon as you sit down.”
    “Okay!” I snapped.
    He pursed his lips but unscrewed the can. The small
room instantly filled with the scent, and I ripped it from his
hands and guzzled it down. As soon as it slid down my throat, ease
grew in my muscles. Even though the blood was very cold, it spread
hot through my body.
    Before I even finished the first can, Ezra opened
another one. He wanted me to get them down me as fast as possible,
so we had a chance of me making it back to my seat before I blitzed
out.
    After I drank them both, he shoved the empty cans in
the garbage. I licked my lips clean, but he inspected me for any
blood on my face. The world already had that hazy glow to it, and a
wonderful tranquil feeling wanted to take over.
    With Ezra so close to me, I had the strangest urge to
kiss him. That was just the blood talking, so I lowered my head
before I could act on it.
    We walked back to our seats, him with his arm on me
to steady me. It took all my strength to keep from stumbling or
doing anything ridiculous. All the colors seemed to shine brighter.
My green sweater looked like grass, and I wanted to pet it, but
Ezra was sliding me into the seat.
    “How are you feeling?” he whispered as he buckled me
back in.
    “Dreamy,” I murmured with a dazed smile on my
lips.
    Before he could put the bag back in the overhead
compartment, I passed out. Even with his new threats about sharks
and the gnawing ache for Jack, I slept soundlessly the entire way
to Finland.
    Ezra shook me awake, and while I’d been sleeping,
he’d gotten me a pillow and blanket. He had a blanket folded on his
lap, and I wondered if he’d slept at all.
    “We’re about to touch down in Helsinki,” Ezra
informed me.
    “Really?” I yawned and stretched, then looked out my
window. It was dark out, but the city was aglow with twinkley
lights. “What time is it?”
    “It’s ten o’clock, Wednesday,” he said.
    “Oh.” My brain scrambled to figure when we left, but
it didn’t seem right. “Wait. Didn’t we leave at ten on
Tuesday?”
    “There’s a time difference. You might suffer a bit of
jet lag,” he said.
    “I hope not.” I didn’t even really know what jet lag
was, but it didn’t sound like something I’d want to suffer
from.
    A flight attendant came to collect our blankets, and
the captain came on, saying things about making the descent into
Helsinki. He repeated the same message in Finnish, or at least I
assumed he did since I didn’t understand a word of it.
    As we got closer, the city looked much more stunning
than I expected. In my mind, it had been more of a cold, desolate
place, but in reality, it was glamorous and historical, the way I
imagined Paris or London might be. Not that I had ever seen either
of them to have any real comparison.
    “This is where Peter went to live off the grid?” I
asked as I admired the