“Vampire.”
Imani’s jaw dropped and then she seemed to reject her own surprise.“Vampire.Of course he is.He’s too pretty.”
“Funnily enough, that’s what I first thought when I met him.He was too pretty, he had to be either vampire or Fae.”
“And that story he told us, of how you met?”
“Perfectly true, word for word.He just neglected to explain that the ‘difficult customers’ who came through the gas station were all supernatural of some sort.They liked that gas station because it was open all night and in neutral territory of all four clans.”
Imani spluttered, one of her hands locking onto his knee.“And you were dealing with all of them alone?!”
“Mama, you can’t take a vampire whimpering for Gatorade and aspirin seriously, okay?Or a werewolf who drags himself in, exhausted, because he’d been dating three women and they’re all chasing him for revenge.None of them were a danger to me.They try not to cause trouble, in fact, as it brings about unwanted attention.Glenn meant it when he said he admired my customer service skills.I handled them calmly, and it was that skill he needed for his own people.”
Imani sat there for a long moment, staring at the floor and not saying a word.The wheels were visibly spinning in her eyes as she processed everything she’d learned.Ross took that moment to stealthily take his phone out and tap out a quick text to Glenn:Mom’s here study.
“I suppose it makes more sense now,” Imani finally said.“Why you were so secretive about what you did.Why the job pays so well.But you meant to tell me about this.”
“Yes.Gradually, so as not to break your brain.”Ross gave her a rueful smile.“I forgot completely about cookiepalooza and that you do all the baking on the twentieth.”
“I figured you had.I thought I’d drop off a plate for you, so at least you had some goodies in between all the things you were doing here.”Imani sucked in a deep breath.“Does Levonn know about this, too?”
“No.I wanted to tell you first.”
Imani looked a little pleased to have a secret her eldest son didn’t know.Then she laughed.“Son, just how many times are you planning to come out to me?You trying to break a record?”
Ruefully, he agreed, “It sure looks that way, doesn’t it?”
The door opened and Glenn slid through, coming quickly to their side.He was elegant in a dapper, dark blue suit, his favorite that he wore so sparingly.The white masquerade mask was pushed up and onto the side of his head, and worry was on his face.“Mrs.Young.How are you faring?”
“Overwhelmed,” she answered honestly.She tilted her head up to look at him with new eyes.“At least I understand now why you’re so pretty.”
This amused him, and Glenn chuckled even as he came to sit next to her.“My looks didn’t change when I was turned, you know.And not all vampires are handsome.”
“Lies,” Ross drawled.“Lies and slander.I have not met a single ugly vampire.Even the kids are cute.Mama, I think you’ve been hit with a lot tonight.If you’d like to go home and think about it, sleep on it, I’ll take you back.”
Imani opened her mouth to respond, but paused before a word left.Then a stubborn expression flashed over her face.“No.No, I can’t wrap my head around it if I bury it in the sand.I want to see it all.This is your world right now.I can’t help you, or be a good mother to you, if I don’t understand what you’re doing.”
Ross really felt like taking a step back and processing was a better life decision.He got no chance to argue the point.
“Then come back into the party with us,” Glenn encouraged, already standing.He offered her a hand.“I’ll introduce you to my clan.The food is good, the wine excellent.You can dance and party until dawn.”
“I haven’t done that since I was twenty.”Imani looked at his hand, visibly tempted, before she abruptly took it.“Lead on, clan leader.”
“With pleasure.”Glenn tucked her hand into his elbow and led the way.
Ross followed with severe misgivings.Was this a good idea?
No.No, it was not a good idea.
Because the clan was absolutely not prepared to face his mother.
Somehow, in the course of an hour, Imani had managed to get into the dwarven mead, talk Dunham into shifting in front of her, back and forth, so she could see the process, have Annabella ‘play-bite’ her so she could feel what it was like to have a vampire drink your blood, and got into a heated debate with Keane and Maria about how gender-locked magician terms were.
And that was only with one glass of wine.
Ross shuddered to think of what would happen if she actually got dwarven mead in her.
Now she was laying against Dunham on the floor, in his full wolf form, and was petting him lovingly.Dunham was flat against the floor, eyes closed in bliss, tail twitching like a pendulum of happiness.She had an empty glass in her hand that she kept sitting down, picking up to drink, making a face when finding it empty, and then setting it down again.
