Chapter 31

Onyx pushed his hair out of his eyes. He had promised the twins he would make cookies for the school bake sale. Barbie bounced into the kitchen.

“Cool! Are those for the bake sale?” she asked snatching one from the cooling racks.

“Yes, they are. So, you may not have anymore. Besides I don’t want to you to spoil your dinner.”

“What are we having for dinner, Nyx?”

“We are having UGH with sides of Blech! and WhatIsThat?”

She giggled and nibbled on her cookie. “Seriously, what are we having?”

“Your favorite, homemade Macaroni and Cheese with a salad on the side.”

“You’re the best!” She hugged Onyx and skipped out of the room after snagging another cookie. He smiled and said nothing because he knew she would actually give the cookie to her sister. Even after all this time, it amazed him how well he got along with the twins.

He sighed and began loading the dishwasher. Ice had been gone for two years and Onyx had taken on more of the childcare responsibilities. Aaron had begun drinking heavily after the police told them not only was there nothing they could do but there was nothing that they were willing to do about Ice’s disappearance.

Onyx firmly believed that vampires were somehow responsible. Snow would talk about their society at times, believing Onyx to be completely under her control (which he had been). His promise to Ice not to talk about vampires to Aaron meant that Onyx could not help Aaron cope with Ice’s disappearance. It was easy for young, untrained vampires to unknowingly addict humans to their presence especially if the vampire regularly fed from the human. Sex reinforced this dependency. Onyx had been a virgin by choice when Snow found him, rather than one due to lack of opportunity. He had dated in high school and observed his classmates’ relationships as well. He was a couple of years older than Aaron and actually remembered going to school with him. Onyx was outgoing and popular and had several girlfriends and boyfriends; Aaron was a loner and barely had any friends at all. As far as Onyx could tell, Ice was Aaron’s first and only boyfriend.

 

Onyx had just finished putting the dishes away when Aaron stumbled in.

“Do we have any clean glasses?”

“Yes, of course.”

Aaron grabbed one, opened a bottle of nectar and filled the glass. He downed the glass in one gulp and refilled it.

Onyx leaned against the counter. “Don’t you think you’ve already had enough?” he asked mildly.

“You’re not my mother,” Aaron snarled, “I am perfectly capable of determining if I’ve had enough.” He picked up the glass and bottle and stormed out of the kitchen.

Later that evening Onyx went into Aaron’s bedroom and collected the empty bottles. He glanced over at Aaron sprawled face down on the bed and grimaced, disgusted with his behavior.