Ashes of the Day by P.G. Forte Read Free Book Online Page A

stern glance. “Marcus, did you not hear what I said?”
    For the space of a few more heartbeats, Marc stubbornly met his gaze, then he shrugged and went off to do as Damian had asked. Damian picked up the spatula and began to transfer the cookies onto a cooling rack.
    “Don’t you like cookies, Uncle Damian?” Julie asked after a moment. She sidled closer until she was leaning right against him, a worried expression on her face.
    Damian looked at her in surprise. “Why, yes, child. At least, I think I do. It’s been a while, and I’ve never had these particular treats, but I remember, when I was very much younger, being quite fond of such things. Why do you ask?”
    “You’re frowning at them like they’ve made you angry.”
    “Am I?” Damian made a conscious effort to relax his face. It was good that vampires could not get wrinkles from such things, he supposed. “Oh. Well…it’s nothing. It’s just that these cookies are still very hot and I’m wondering when they’ll be cool enough for you children to eat without burning yourselves.”
    Julie’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “But the other ones are cool now, aren’t they? Can’t we eat those while we wait for these ones to cool?”
    Damian sighed. “Of course. You’re quite right, chica . I was forgetting about that.”
    “Grandfather says we’ll eat later,” Marc announced, running back into the room. “He and the lady he’s with are very busy right now.”
    “How nice.” Mindful of Julie’s narrow-eyed gaze, Damian unclenched his jaw and resisted the temptation to grind his teeth. “Well…in that case, let’s have cookies, shall we?”
    A few minutes later they were all seated at the table with cookies and milk. Marc eyed his milk with a dubious eye, but gulped it down gamely.
    “I think I like these ones the best,” Julie said around a mouthful of chocolate chips.
    “Do you? Buenisimo .” Damian frowned sternly at her. “But wait until you’ve finished eating, please, before you tell us any more about it. You can’t expect anyone to understand you if you talk while there’s food in your mouth. Besides which, it’s rude. And you might choke.”
    “The other children never choke,” Marc observed.
    Damian sighed. “Just because you haven’t yet seen something, Marc, that doesn’t mean it can’t happen. One thing you can count on happening, however, is that if you don’t listen to what I tell you, there will be no more cookies for either of you. And I don’t just mean tonight.”
    Marc eyed him speculatively, as though calculating how seriously to take his threat. Damian braced himself for another battle of wills. But Marc’s next question took him completely by surprise. “Is that lady here to be our new mommy?”
    “What? No, of course not.” Damian shook his head. “Wherever did you get that idea?”
    “What lady?” Julie asked, sounding just as surprised as Damian. “The one with grandfather?”
    Marc nodded. “All the other kids have mommies. I thought maybe that’s why Grandfather brought her home?”
    Ah, if only he were so altruistic . Damian sighed. “I know how much you want to be like other children, Marc. And it’s very sad that you two should have lost your mother before you ever had the chance to know her. But you can’t just get a new mother to replace the one that’s gone, no matter how much you might wish to do so.”
    “Yes, you can , Uncle Damian,” Marc insisted. “You can too do that. I know you can. A lot of the other kids have more than one mommy. They said so.”
    “But we don’t even know that lady.” Julie sounded worried. “What if we don’t like her? Besides, I’m hungry. Why does she have to be our mommy? Why can’t she just be here for dinner?”
    “Because we don’t need her for dinner.” Marc pointed at the plate in the center of the table. “Eat more cookies if you’re hungry.”
    “I don’t want more cookies,” Julie snapped, her fangs once more extending past