‹ Prequel: Bound to You
Blanket of Fear
Chapter Nineteen
“Babe, we’ve been over this. I don’t mind him being here. He’s your flesh and blood,” Eliza murmured into Zacky’s chest later the next day, holding onto his shoulders as she looked up at him. He frowned as he looked down at her, honestly not believing her. He was angry, though it wasn’t at her. It was because of Matthew.
Somehow, Eliza had been left alone in the house with his elder brother. He hadn’t wanted that to happen. He might trust Matthew enough to be with him here, and he might believe that he wasn’t working with Castro any longer, but he didn’t trust him enough to be left alone with Eliza. He didn’t want to lose anymore people he loved, and especially not to his brother, a man who had taken a lot from him in life.
“I know, Elizabeth. I just don’t want you to be around him when I’m not here. I worry for you,” he muttered, pushing her hair back off of her neck before leaning down to press a kiss to the soft skin there. He felt an urge to bite and take blood from her, but he wasn’t going to do that. Not now; not when they weren’t in the comfort of their own bedroom and away from the prying eyes of others.
“I don’t like it when you call me by my full name, Zack. It makes me remember Sean,” she muttered, glaring at him softly before resting her head on his chest. “I just don’t understand why you’re making a big deal out of it. I can handle myself when it comes to protecting myself, and if anything bad happened, one of the guys would have been there as soon as they could.”
“But that might not be soon enough, Eliza,” he sighed. He understood that his girlfriend didn’t like being treated as if she was weaker, especially since she was human, and technically inferior to most everyone here, because most everyone was vampiric. But he also knew that he needed to keep her safe. And that meant that he needed to keep Matthew away from her. He was a threat, and he’d be damned if he let something bad happen to her.
“Just…” she started, shaking her head. “Let’s not argue about this now, okay? We obviously have different opinions on this,” she muttered. He groaned, knowing that she was upset with him, and watched as she stepped back from him. Neither of them said a word as she walked out of the kitchen and towards the back yard to play with Sparrow and Harlow, who were playing tag from the looks of it.
Zack watched her leave, feeling almost a little guilty for having brought it up. He didn’t like treating her like this, because he knew that, in a way, it reminded her of how their relationship had first started out. He hated himself for how shitty he had treated her to begin with, and now more than anything, he hated that he couldn’t go back and change that. He loved her, and he knew that she knew that. But sometimes, he just wanted to make extra sure that she knew he did things like worrying over her to protect her.
He groaned, and then turned around to see Jimmy standing there, Leana next to him. He smiled at both of them, glad to see that at least someone was happy. “You know, she’s right. Johnny was here. He wouldn’t have let anything happen to her,” the blue-eyed man told Zack with a small frown. “You can’t keep her sheltered forever, Zacky. I know you two love each other, but she needs space too. She’s a tough girl; she can hold her own.”
“Not against vampires,” he frowned at his friend. “Not against someone like Matthew. I’ve seen what he can do, Jimmy. The destruction he can cause and the pain he can make people feel…I don’t want him to get a chance to hurt Eliza. I know he says one thing, but the last time I trusted him, my parents and sister ended up being slaughtered.”
“Time changes people,” Leana said softly, giving him a reassuring smile. “You just have to start seeing the good in your brother instead of all the bad. I know that what he did to you is painful, Zack. More painful than anything I can imagine. But what you’re doing to Eliza is only going to push her away, and right now, she doesn’t need that.”
Zacky thought about her words and then nodded before letting a soft sigh fall off of his lips. He knew that his friends were right. In a time as dangerous as this, it was crucial to keep everyone together and safe. He didn’t want to make her feel like he was confining her. If that meant letting her be more vulnerable every so often, it was something he would have to do. He didn’t like it, and he’d make damn sure that he did everything he could do to keep her safe, but he was going to do what he could to make sure that she realized he was only trying to love her.
He decided there was only one thing he could do now. He needed to confront Matthew once and for all and have it out. He would try to keep himself civil and not fight with him—he knew it would upset Eliza if he did—but he needed to make absolute sure that his elder brother wasn’t going to hurt Eliza. He needed to be sure, otherwise he couldn’t sleep soundly at night knowing that someone was in the house that had taken his whole world from him.
-x-
Eliza knew that Zacky was only trying to do the best he could for her. She knew that he only wanted to keep her safe, and that he loved her more than he’d ever loved before. She was just getting tired of being confined. She didn’t like the feeling of being trapped, and with Zacky keeping boundaries on her, that was exactly what she felt like he was doing.
She sighed as she walked out into the back yard to play tag with Sparrow and Harlow. Nicole was already outside with them as well, playing with them and making sure they were safe, and she saw both Benji and Joel a little ways away on either side of the yard, obviously making sure that the three of them were safe. When Joel saw Eliza walk outside, he gave her a friendly wave before going back to watching, and she smiled. She had never envisioned her life would be like this back in San Diego. Before she’d gotten here, she’d never thought that she could fall in love with a man as strong headed and opinionated as Zacky, or make best friends with a group as diverse as the rest of them. But the one thing she had never counted on was the fact that her ex-boyfriend was trying to kill her.
And then there was the fact that Leigh had started acting strange again. She’d started becoming more of a recluse than she already was, and she had a haunting look on her face that would have scared Eliza if she didn’t know the girl wasn’t a threat. Johnny couldn’t even get through to her, and it was worrying to everyone. Zacky had mentioned to her that he thought it might be side effects of whatever perverse experiments Sean had conducted on her, but Eliza didn’t think that was it. Or, at least, she didn’t think that was entirely what was going on with the strange girl.
She just wished that things were simpler, when it came right down to it. She knew that her life would never be what it had been in San Diego. She was in love with a vampire, after all. But things had been less complicated even in the beginning stages of her relationship with Zacky. She wanted those days back, like the day she’d been swimming in the lake outside of his mountain home. Things had been a hell of a lot less confusing then, and even if things were good now, she still wanted those days back.
She blinked when she felt someone tugging on her leg, and she looked down with a small smile to see Harlow looking up at her with a bright smile, holding a ball. She took it from the small girl and started to play catch with the little girl, and she couldn’t help but wonder if she and Zacky would ever have the kind of family that Jacoby and Kelly, and Joel and Nicole had.
Thinking about Zacky as a father made her smile. She had no doubts that he’d be a good one, with his protective attitude and his loving personality. Sure, he was a little rough on the outside, and he put up a ‘tough as nails’ exterior, but she knew that if he had a fragile, innocent baby of his own, all of that would melt away. She knew that now wasn’t the right time to be thinking about a family; not in the midst of all of the chaos, but a girl could dream, right? Maybe someday, after all of this bullshit with Sean, the two of them could settle down into a home of their own without the others, and raise their own little family.
She looked towards the window and saw Leigh looking out at her, that same creepy look on her face, and she let off an involuntary shudder before turning away. She was getting more spooked by Johnny’s girlfriend with every day that passed, and she wasn’t sure how much longer she was going to be able to take it before mentioning something to Zacky. She knew that Leigh was walking a tightrope as it was, but now, she wasn’t beginning to wonder if Zack had been correct in his assessment that Leigh was somehow still helping Sean, even if she wasn’t meaning to.
She just hoped that wasn’t the case, because she didn’t want to see Johnny get hurt. And that would most undoubtedly happen if his girlfriend was some kind of spy for the man that was trying to kill them all.
Somehow, Eliza had been left alone in the house with his elder brother. He hadn’t wanted that to happen. He might trust Matthew enough to be with him here, and he might believe that he wasn’t working with Castro any longer, but he didn’t trust him enough to be left alone with Eliza. He didn’t want to lose anymore people he loved, and especially not to his brother, a man who had taken a lot from him in life.
“I know, Elizabeth. I just don’t want you to be around him when I’m not here. I worry for you,” he muttered, pushing her hair back off of her neck before leaning down to press a kiss to the soft skin there. He felt an urge to bite and take blood from her, but he wasn’t going to do that. Not now; not when they weren’t in the comfort of their own bedroom and away from the prying eyes of others.
“I don’t like it when you call me by my full name, Zack. It makes me remember Sean,” she muttered, glaring at him softly before resting her head on his chest. “I just don’t understand why you’re making a big deal out of it. I can handle myself when it comes to protecting myself, and if anything bad happened, one of the guys would have been there as soon as they could.”
“But that might not be soon enough, Eliza,” he sighed. He understood that his girlfriend didn’t like being treated as if she was weaker, especially since she was human, and technically inferior to most everyone here, because most everyone was vampiric. But he also knew that he needed to keep her safe. And that meant that he needed to keep Matthew away from her. He was a threat, and he’d be damned if he let something bad happen to her.
“Just…” she started, shaking her head. “Let’s not argue about this now, okay? We obviously have different opinions on this,” she muttered. He groaned, knowing that she was upset with him, and watched as she stepped back from him. Neither of them said a word as she walked out of the kitchen and towards the back yard to play with Sparrow and Harlow, who were playing tag from the looks of it.
Zack watched her leave, feeling almost a little guilty for having brought it up. He didn’t like treating her like this, because he knew that, in a way, it reminded her of how their relationship had first started out. He hated himself for how shitty he had treated her to begin with, and now more than anything, he hated that he couldn’t go back and change that. He loved her, and he knew that she knew that. But sometimes, he just wanted to make extra sure that she knew he did things like worrying over her to protect her.
He groaned, and then turned around to see Jimmy standing there, Leana next to him. He smiled at both of them, glad to see that at least someone was happy. “You know, she’s right. Johnny was here. He wouldn’t have let anything happen to her,” the blue-eyed man told Zack with a small frown. “You can’t keep her sheltered forever, Zacky. I know you two love each other, but she needs space too. She’s a tough girl; she can hold her own.”
“Not against vampires,” he frowned at his friend. “Not against someone like Matthew. I’ve seen what he can do, Jimmy. The destruction he can cause and the pain he can make people feel…I don’t want him to get a chance to hurt Eliza. I know he says one thing, but the last time I trusted him, my parents and sister ended up being slaughtered.”
“Time changes people,” Leana said softly, giving him a reassuring smile. “You just have to start seeing the good in your brother instead of all the bad. I know that what he did to you is painful, Zack. More painful than anything I can imagine. But what you’re doing to Eliza is only going to push her away, and right now, she doesn’t need that.”
Zacky thought about her words and then nodded before letting a soft sigh fall off of his lips. He knew that his friends were right. In a time as dangerous as this, it was crucial to keep everyone together and safe. He didn’t want to make her feel like he was confining her. If that meant letting her be more vulnerable every so often, it was something he would have to do. He didn’t like it, and he’d make damn sure that he did everything he could do to keep her safe, but he was going to do what he could to make sure that she realized he was only trying to love her.
He decided there was only one thing he could do now. He needed to confront Matthew once and for all and have it out. He would try to keep himself civil and not fight with him—he knew it would upset Eliza if he did—but he needed to make absolute sure that his elder brother wasn’t going to hurt Eliza. He needed to be sure, otherwise he couldn’t sleep soundly at night knowing that someone was in the house that had taken his whole world from him.
-x-
Eliza knew that Zacky was only trying to do the best he could for her. She knew that he only wanted to keep her safe, and that he loved her more than he’d ever loved before. She was just getting tired of being confined. She didn’t like the feeling of being trapped, and with Zacky keeping boundaries on her, that was exactly what she felt like he was doing.
She sighed as she walked out into the back yard to play tag with Sparrow and Harlow. Nicole was already outside with them as well, playing with them and making sure they were safe, and she saw both Benji and Joel a little ways away on either side of the yard, obviously making sure that the three of them were safe. When Joel saw Eliza walk outside, he gave her a friendly wave before going back to watching, and she smiled. She had never envisioned her life would be like this back in San Diego. Before she’d gotten here, she’d never thought that she could fall in love with a man as strong headed and opinionated as Zacky, or make best friends with a group as diverse as the rest of them. But the one thing she had never counted on was the fact that her ex-boyfriend was trying to kill her.
And then there was the fact that Leigh had started acting strange again. She’d started becoming more of a recluse than she already was, and she had a haunting look on her face that would have scared Eliza if she didn’t know the girl wasn’t a threat. Johnny couldn’t even get through to her, and it was worrying to everyone. Zacky had mentioned to her that he thought it might be side effects of whatever perverse experiments Sean had conducted on her, but Eliza didn’t think that was it. Or, at least, she didn’t think that was entirely what was going on with the strange girl.
She just wished that things were simpler, when it came right down to it. She knew that her life would never be what it had been in San Diego. She was in love with a vampire, after all. But things had been less complicated even in the beginning stages of her relationship with Zacky. She wanted those days back, like the day she’d been swimming in the lake outside of his mountain home. Things had been a hell of a lot less confusing then, and even if things were good now, she still wanted those days back.
She blinked when she felt someone tugging on her leg, and she looked down with a small smile to see Harlow looking up at her with a bright smile, holding a ball. She took it from the small girl and started to play catch with the little girl, and she couldn’t help but wonder if she and Zacky would ever have the kind of family that Jacoby and Kelly, and Joel and Nicole had.
Thinking about Zacky as a father made her smile. She had no doubts that he’d be a good one, with his protective attitude and his loving personality. Sure, he was a little rough on the outside, and he put up a ‘tough as nails’ exterior, but she knew that if he had a fragile, innocent baby of his own, all of that would melt away. She knew that now wasn’t the right time to be thinking about a family; not in the midst of all of the chaos, but a girl could dream, right? Maybe someday, after all of this bullshit with Sean, the two of them could settle down into a home of their own without the others, and raise their own little family.
She looked towards the window and saw Leigh looking out at her, that same creepy look on her face, and she let off an involuntary shudder before turning away. She was getting more spooked by Johnny’s girlfriend with every day that passed, and she wasn’t sure how much longer she was going to be able to take it before mentioning something to Zacky. She knew that Leigh was walking a tightrope as it was, but now, she wasn’t beginning to wonder if Zack had been correct in his assessment that Leigh was somehow still helping Sean, even if she wasn’t meaning to.
She just hoped that wasn’t the case, because she didn’t want to see Johnny get hurt. And that would most undoubtedly happen if his girlfriend was some kind of spy for the man that was trying to kill them all.