Page 198 of Envious Of Fire
“Don’t forget Silas,” says Elias, now hugging himself with the entirety of the blanket. “Helovesyour 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 fromThem.”
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.
There’s a moment when Elias and Drake chase one another around with snowballs in hand—Elias shouting, “Come and save your boyfriend, Kyle!” and Drake laughing maniacally—that Kyle finds his eyes drifting to the house next door.
He thinks of Kaleb and his new life here. Raya, her departure from the House of Vegasyn—and from Tristan’s side. Nico and his difficult adjustment to being one of their kind now.
It’s times like these that make Kyle nearly forget the reality of the situation they’re all in. How so many citizens in Nowhere are still scared and unsure. Wondering if this is how they’re going to die, spending all the rest of their days in this town, waiting for supplies to run out. And despite all the mayor’s and Chief Rojas’s reassurances, no one truly feels reassured.
All they can do is make the most of their days—and their cold nights—by acting like they’re on a permanent vacationtogether.
A permanent vacation in the middle of truly Nowhere.
“Oh shit, I forgot about the cookies!” Drake darts back to the house as Elias and Kyle sit in the middle of the road on a mound of snow, watching him through the front window as he flies into the kitchen to salvage his babies. Kyle and Elias turn to each other as the snow gently falls.
“Do you ever feel like …” Kyle second guesses his question, changes his mind. “Never mind.”
“What?” Elias pulls away, brushes snow off the top of Kyle’s head. “Safe space, babe. Something on your mind?”
Kyle glances at the house next door again. “Something feels so different about tonight. I can’t put my finger on it. Like … this little paradise we built … is about to …”
“Fall apart?” suggests Elias too casually, then shrugs. “I hope not. I want this to last forever. Isn’t this amazing? No care in the world for what’s happening outside the shroud. All I want to do is have sex all day long, build covered walkways over the whole town so you guys can go where you want even during the day …”
“The shroud and the cold weather make it pretty overcast most of the time, anyway,” Kyle points out.
“Not overcast enough to prevent a tragic accident, and no, we won’t go there,” he adds with a laugh. “I don’t know what about today is special foryou, but I can tell you,everyday I spend with you here feels special to me. Perfect.” He gives Kyle a gentle kiss. “A part of me … hopes Cade and Layna … never figure it out.”
Kyle gazes into Elias’s eyes. “Really?”
“Yeah.” He stares off the other way down the street, where in the far distance, the edge of town resides, the place where no one can penetrate to the other side. “I can’t help but worry … what may await us on the other side of that shroud. What mightawait us out there in the world. What if it’s changed? What if a war has broken out between all matters of supernatural beings? What if the whole human race is already wiped out and there’s just …” He lets out a sigh fringed with anxiety. “… nothing left out there?”
Kyle stares off at the dark, hazy nothingness, too. He doesn’t want to consider that possibility. He wants everything out there to be okay. He wants to believe the world is still there for them—if someday the citizens of Nowhere are allowed to rejoin it.
