Blood Ties Read Free Page A

the bright red ribbon shot toward Oliver. “Think fast, bro!”
    Oliver barely got his hands up in time to slap it away. He scowled. “Knock it off, foot rot!”
    Bane just laughed. “Ooh, watch out.” He spun and thrust his other arm, like he was throwing the Coke can—
    â€œWhu!” Oliver cringed.
    â€œHa! Gotcha. Dork.” Bane snapped open the can and began chugging it.
    Oliver watched as, once again, Phlox said nothing. It used to be that she would scold Bane for acting this way, but Bane was the favorite son now. Was he unstable and moody? Sure, but Bane was also a real vampire, who had fought alongside his father against the Brotherhood in the Space Needle.
    â€œHow many nights until we leave, Mom?” Bane asked.
    Phlox looked up from putting away a selection of long cutting blades. “Just three, honey. I know you can wait a little longer.”
    â€œBarely,” Bane scowled. “I gotta get out of here.”
    Bane was referring to their upcoming vacation. The Nocturnes had been invited by Sebastian’s employer, the Half-Light Consortium, to go to Isla Necrata, an elite, invitation-only resort that always changed locations to be near a large natural phenomenon of some kind: preferably a volcanic eruption, but an earthquake or a tsunami was fine, too. Isla Necrata’s location was always kept secret to insure a private resort experience, but it would no doubt be somewhere interesting. Oliver was excited about the trip—he enjoyed travel—and he couldn’t imagine anywhere he could be right now that would be worse than Seattle, considering how things had been going for him.
    â€œDestruction and devastation!” Bane cheered to himself.
    â€œNow, Charles, just because you get to carouse with your cousins does not mean that you’re going to lose control, does it?”
    Bane smiled devilishly, then unleashed a mammoth belch. “Of course not, Mom.”
    Phlox nodded, again with all the patience in the world for Bane’s antics. She sighed. “Well, at least one of us is looking forward to seeing your relatives.”
    They were leaving for Isla Necrata a few days early to see Phlox’s extended family along the way, in the Underworld city of Morosia. It was hard to say whether that part of the trip would be any fun. It was always nice to see the grandparents. And Bane would be preoccupied with running wild and raiding human towns and such with their teenage cousins, so Oliver wouldn’t have to deal with him.
    But still, since Oliver didn’t have a demon, he would be left behind with his parents, who would be enduring endless torment from their disapproving parents. That part was kind of enjoyable to watch, because Oliver’s grandparents had a pleasant double standard: On the one hand, they spoiled Oliver and treated him like the world’s greatest thing, while on the other hand, they constantly criticized Phlox and Sebastian for their New World ways, even though it was those ways that had led to Oliver’s existence. In the Old World, there were no children, only teens who had been sired and had demons. But the fun of watching his parents get treated like bad kids was tempered by the bad mood it put them in, which Oliver then had to deal with.
    â€œSpeaking of the trip,” said Phlox, turning to the counter, “you should get started on this right away.” She pushed the math homework toward Oliver.
    â€œCan’t it wait?” Oliver couldn’t help whining a little. “Vacation just started.”
    â€œNo rest for the morons!” Bane called, and ducked out of the room before Phlox could reprimand him, though Oliver doubted she even would.
    â€œOliver,” Phlox said, her eyes on the refrigerator as she opened it and began gathering bags of pre-drained blood to make dinner. “You need to take your studies seriously.” She sounded exhausted as she said it. “I’d