Page 45 of Black Hollow: Awakening

“Really?” Will asked, astonished.

“Yep. On Blake’s mother’s side.”

“But Abby’s not a vampire,” Will said, remembering Norma mentioning that the vampirism gene was always dominant.

“She isn’t. Blake’s mother is human. You didn’t know?”

Will looked at him, shocked.

“Of course I didn’t know! And I seriously feel sorry for her if she has to listen to his bullshit about subspecies and pig comparisons every day.”

Liam chuckled.

“She doesn’t. Blake is a total mama’s boy, he’d never say something like that to her.”

“Blake? A mama’s boy?” Will repeated in disbelief.

“Total,” Liam emphasized again.

Will started to laugh. He appreciated how easily Liam had distracted him from his negative thoughts. Now he couldn’t even be that angry at Blake, because whenever he thought of him, he tried to picture him as a well-behaved little boy, nodding along to whatever his mother said.

“I’m sorry for calling you a wolf,” Will said at one point. “Back when I was arguing with Blake,” he added, as Liam looked at him questioningly. “You must have heard. He said it was offensive, and I’ve been meaning to apologize, but I didn’t really know how to bring it up.”

“It’s cool.”

“By the way, why is it offensive?”

Liam thought for a moment.

“It has to do with our past. In the old days, people justified a lot of the harm done to werewolves by comparing us to animals. The term wolf coming from a human is seen as an expression of contempt.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“You sure? You’re not mad?”

“Did you want me to be?” Liam asked with a hint of amusement.

“No!” Will assured him. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“And you didn’t. Don’t look at me like that. For your own safety, you shouldn’t use terms like that with others, because some are still very sensitive about it. But don’t worry about me. I don’t care who says what.”

“And mystery solved,” Will announced.

“Hm?”

“I mean, how you manage to be friends with Blake. Now I get it.”

Liam smiled broadly.

“Learning to not give a damn is the secret to a happy life.”

Will chuckled.

Talking with Liam put him in such a good mood that he didn’t remember the mess with KC until he got home, when the business card Kubrick had given him fell out of his pants pocket. He picked it up and looked at it with a quiet sigh. For a moment, he’d really thought something in his life was heading in the right direction. As usual, he’d been disabused of that notion.

He was about to throw the card away, but then he realized that if Kubrick was really that determined to get a test subject, Will simply not showing up for the meeting might not be enough.