Maniac by Onley James

Author:Onley James [James, Onley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Onley James Books

It took about an hour to explain it all. Aiden stood beside Thomas, holding his sweaty palm, as he did his best to get through all the painfully intimate details of his childhood with a somewhat clinical efficiency. It was like he hoped he could spare his sons some of the horror if he could just get through it without any type of emotion.

But that wasn’t the case. It never would have been the case. Noah and the rest of the feelings faction were in tears. Jericho’s boys were quiet, attached enough to Thomas to be sad for him but not enough to have any overt reaction to the story. Besides, they all had similar trauma and were far closer to it than anyone else in the room.

But Thomas’s sons…they were seething. Aiden hadn’t expected that. He had expected a level of anger at Thomas for lying to them, but the fury was palpable. They wanted to kill. If Aiden had learned anything over the years, it was what his former brothers looked like when they smelled blood in the water. They were ready to go to war.

“Do you have any questions?” Thomas asked, looking two seconds away from collapsing.

Hands shot up around the room, but Aiden shook his head. “No. No questions. It’s after midnight. We’ll pick this up in the morning.” To Thomas, he added, “You need to go upstairs and see the girls. Then go to bed.”

Thomas opened his mouth like he was going to argue but then nodded, expression grim. Before he left, he said to Noah, “You’ll make sure everyone has a place to sleep tonight?”

“Yeah, of course,” Noah promised. Thomas gave another heavy nod, then left. When he was gone, Noah asked, “Did you just send Dad to his room?”

Noah was still calling Thomas Dad, just as Aiden had expected he would. It was clear that Thomas’s childhood trauma had only solidified their bond, not broken it. Well, it was clear to Aiden. Maybe not so much to Thomas.

Aiden sighed. “He’s exhausted and he can see how upset everyone is.” Turning to Jericho’s kids, he said, “Can I talk to the Mulvaney clan alone for a bit?”

As they all stood, Arsen looked to Noah. “Are we still going to the basement?”

Noah nodded. “You can start setting up.”

They left, taking Arlo and Dimitri with them. Calliope stayed seated, giving Aiden a stubborn look. It was fine, he hadn’t meant her anyway. She was family, too.

“What’s happening in the basement?” Aiden asked, unsure he wanted to know.

“Mario Kart tournament,” Noah answered.

The level of compartmentalizing in this family was staggering. Their family was under attack. Someone was literally threatening to expose them as killers, and yet, Aiden had no doubt Noah was about to lead the others in a Mario battle that would last long into the morning. Maybe it was how the feelings faction blew off steam? Whatever it was, it was clear that the neurotypicals held no ill will towards Thomas for doing what he had to do to survive.

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