Chapter 91

   Blade reached into his pocket and pulled out the envelope. He slipped it into the mailbox. He knew that Onyx always checked the mail first thing in the morning, so Aaron would receive it then. Now Blade only had to wait to see if Aaron mentioned it to them.

   The next morning Onyx handed the incriminating letter to Aaron. He glanced at it and went pale. Aaron excused himself from the room. Blade followed him.

   “Bad news?” he inquired.

   “Um, no not really. It’s nothing important.” Aaron replied somewhat guiltily.

   “Really? Because it looks like it’s from a law firm. That hardly makes it ‘nothing important’. I would think it would be very important. So what did those leeches have to say?”

   Aaron laughed uneasily, “That’s funny, a vampire calling someone else a leech. It doesn’t concern you.” He tried to slip past the vampire.

   Blade moved to block him. “Aaron, you are a terrible liar. Even a human would be able to tell. So what gives?”

   Aaron stared at his feet. Blade gently raised his face so their eyes met. “Please tell me what’s wrong?”

   “I can’t,” he whispered.

   “Why not?” was the soft query.

   “Because,” Aaron licked his lips, “because I did something that I shouldn’t have and now I have to deal with the consequences.”

   “So you’re not going to tell me what the letter says?”

   “No. It’s none of your business.”

   Blade sighed. “I know what the letter says. I was hoping you would just tell me. Why weren’t you going to tell us you fathered a child on a woman?”

   Aaron shoved him angrily. “You read my mail! How could you invade my privacy? You had no right!”

   “Considering this whole mess with Ice and the PPP, I was concerned that you might have become involved. Besides you’ve been lying, sneaking around and drinking. Those are never good signs. Why didn’t you tell us as soon as you knew? As soon as you cheated?”

   “Because I felt guilty for drinking, guilty for cheating. How could I tell you that?”

   “Tell us that you’re human, that you make mistakes. Aaron, we love you. Yes, we would have been hurt for awhile, but we would have gotten over it. Now, it will be harder  and take longer to forgive you for lying and cheating.”

   Aaron turned away from the vampire. Blade wrapped his arms around him. “I forgive you. I just want an explanation.”

   “Not here. Someplace private. My garden.”