Total pages in book: 209
Estimated words: 196141 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 981(@200wpm)___ 785(@250wpm)___ 654(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 196141 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 981(@200wpm)___ 785(@250wpm)___ 654(@300wpm)
There’s a third presence in that house. Nico’s energy runs hot and cold. He hasn’t adjusted well to being a demipire. His moods are all over the place and unpredictable. He sometimes won’t even wake up for the night, preferring to sleep straight through for days without eating. Kyle and Kaleb have had many conversations about what to do. Raya seems to be the only one who can get Nico to talk, and even then it’s a tricky endeavor.
Sometimes, Kaleb catches Nico crying in his sleep.
Nico keeps insisting he’s fine.
Drake slips out from under the blanket, heads for the kitchen. “I’m gonna bake a big, fat batch of cookies to take with us to the bar. We’re still going, right? No, don’t stop me,” he clips before Kyle or Elias say anything. “I don’t care how many of them Nico refuses to touch, I’m gonna keep making them until he finally decides to forgive me for saving his life and gets his booty out of that house one of these nights. I mean, it’s December. There’s a ton of snow. How does that not scream ‘come out and play’?”
Kyle slips from the blanket, too, then stands at the archway leading into the kitchen, watching Drake as he opens drawers and cabinets, pulling out all sorts of bowls and spoons and mixes. “He just needs time,” says Kyle. “It took me years before I was finally okay with my transformation. And I even asked for it.”
“I was fine the day it happened to me.” Drake drops a spoon on the floor, picks it right back up. “Five second rule.” Then he goes to the fridge for eggs. “Anyway, I already told the three next door to come to the bar tonight. It’s up to them. But cookies won’t eat themselves. Should I put chocolate chips in them? Cade and Layna love them. So does Jer. At least he seems to. Would be easier to know if he could speak or communicate at all.”
“Don’t forget Silas,” says Elias, now hugging himself with the entirety of the blanket. “He loves your chocolate chip cookies.”
“Who cares about that brat?” mumbles Drake as he cracks an egg over a bowl. “He’s been getting too close with Layna.”
“Was sure she and Jer would get back together,” says Kyle.
“Oh, you know teens,” says Elias. “Break up one sec, make up the next. What do you expect when your universe gets shrunken down to a small town you can’t leave? They’re playing musical chairs. Silas, Logan, Layna, Jeremy, Mariah. Just a matter of time before they all date each other. Hey, aren’t you guys cold??”
Kyle and Drake share a look. “Must be a demipire thing,” says Kyle with a shrug. “Yep,” agrees Drake. “I’m not cold at all. Still considering going out there right now and dancing in the snow.”
Elias narrows his eyes. “Demipire.” Shakes his head. “Still not a fan of the word. Sounds too much like the full thing. Or like you have a vampire mom and a human dad or something.”
“Well, Raya likes it,” says Kyle, “and we need to call ourselves something to distinguish us from Them.”
After saying that, Kyle peers at Drake, who is now busy at the counter stirring ingredients. He wonders suddenly if Drake might feel odd whenever he talks that way, casually referring to Lazarus and the other vampires as “Them”, as if his family is something to be detested, to be separated from, to be reviled.
Kyle has found himself wondering lately how many families of vampires are out there in the world. Or loners who don’t wish to belong to any family. Is it thousands like Lazarus believes?
“What do you think?” asks Kyle, coming up to the counter.
Drake shrugs. “I don’t care what we call us, as long as these cookies come out badass. And also that Silas chokes on one.”
Moments later, cookie dough sits spread out on two trays in the oven. Every cookie looks different, lumpy and uneven. Some blobs with just one or two chocolate chips. Others with too many.
Kyle and Drake stand back, watching them bake.
Then Drake sighs. “Yeah, fuck this, let’s dance in the snow.” He grabs Kyle’s hand and drags him to the front door despite his protests, Elias watching them as they fly outside, wide-eyed.
That’s how two men end up dancing in the snow covering the street in the dead of night. Kyle shouts out while Drake holds him by both of his hands, spinning around, then letting go, sending them flying back. This happens too many times, but soon, Kyle is laughing more than protesting, and then it’s him instigating the fun. A moment later, Elias comes out of the house bundled up in a puffy jacket, beanie, and scarf, and the dancing quickly converts into a snowball fight. The three men laugh as they battle each other in the street under the misty, starless night sky.