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.For a few seconds, the words made no sense.Gay, straight, bisexual, vampires had no use for suchlabels.They slept with whomever they wanted, and that was the extent of the thought they put into it.But byraising a child, Andrew and Nicholas had inserted themselves into the human world.And being remindedthat this was what the human world was still like, even more than a century after Nicholas original time, waslike a punch to the stomach.To realize that Jacob had to deal with such nonsense was even worse. Kiddo, I  I thought everybody knew, Jacob cut in as though Nicholas hadn t said a word. It s not like you twoare discreet or anything when you come to open house or plays or whatever.But apparently she didn t know.And then once I mentioned my dads, and she got really quiet. I m sorry, Nicholas offered softly.Jacob turned a fiery look toward him.Nicholas had never seen Jacob s eyes shift to molten gold likevampires eyes did, but sometimes, when he was angry or agitated, Nicholas could have sworn sparks wereflickering in those green depths. I m not, Jacob said, his tone flat with the simplicity of truth. If she has a problem with it, it s herproblem.Not mine. But you liked her, Nicholas insisted.As Jacob inclined his head and answered, Nicholas tried to find pain in his words, in his voice, and wasrelieved when he found none. I liked her until I found out she wasn t as smart as I thought she was.There are plenty of girls not asclosed-minded as she is.The casualness in Jacob s voice sounded forced, and Nicholas peered at Jacob curiously.Was that thebeginning of another blush, high on his cheeks? Really.Does that mean you found a new girlfriend already?It was definitely a blush, and the way it darkened as Jacob s eyes widened a little was already answerenough.Jacob was saved from having to give an actual answer when the bell rang, three chimes announcingthe first guests.He high-tailed to the door, and five or six kids filed in, already exclaiming on the decorationsand music.Andrew finally came back down, wearing dark blue wizard robes and a pointy hat straight out of astorybook.Nicholas hid a grin behind his hand, but Andrew scowled at him anyway. Why do I have to wear this stupid costume, he muttered,  and you get to wear&  He frowned atNicholas, looking him up and down. What are you anyway? A cowboy?Nicholas ran his hands down his button up shirt and slipped his thumbs behind the belt of his gunholster. I m a space cowboy, he said, grinning. Don t you remember that show I tried to make youwatch?Judging from Andrew s confusion, he did not, in fact, remember, but Nicholas had not expected him to.He reached up to straighten Andrew s hat.Jacob s idea, but Nicholas had picked the color to matchAndrew s eyes not that Nicholas intended to say as much. Do you know your kid s awesome? he said as Andrew batted his hand away. You sound like him when you use words like  awesome. And of course I know he is. Pride filled thequick look Andrew threw toward Jacob. What did he do?Nicholas shook his head. I ll tell you later.Did you lock your office? Lock it? Andrew frowned. The door is closed.You don t think they d&  His frown deepened a littlemore, his body suddenly even more tense than before. Right.Lock the office.I m on it.As Andrew went to lock Julie s office and his own, Nicholas answered the doorbell, opening the doorfor another small group of kids.Before they had all stepped in, another minivan was already pulling up thealley, and Nicholas remained at the door.Before long, the entire first floor was invaded by what looked likeat least half the kids in Jacob s school, and they all seemed to be having a good time.Nicholas recognized afew, mostly the hockey players, but they all pretended to be oblivious to anyone who wasn t their own agewhich suited Nicholas just fine.As the party progressed, Nicholas lost sight of Jacob first, then Andrew, who seemed to be having ahard time keeping the sugar-high guests on the first floor and away from the locked weapon cabinets.Nicholas was patrolling the party under the assumption that the kids wouldn t dare do anything their parentswould disapprove of if an adult was close by.As it turned out, the one thing that stopped him in his trackswas a couple, enlaced in the recessed nook beneath the staircase.One half of this couple was extremelyfamiliar, with a crossbow now askew on his shoulders [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]