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happened?”
    “I…” How did he explain this to his mother, who had spent his entire lifetime warning him about the dangers of vampires? Sighing, he decided the only way was to jump right in. “I had her over for dinner tonight. I was going to warn her off, convince her to leave Taylorsville immediately.”
    Silence filled the connection for a long minute. When she spoke again, her voice was low and quiet. “And what changed those plans?”
    He hesitated, bracing himself for her reaction. “I realized she’s not dangerous.”
    “Not dangerous!”
    He did hold the phone away from his ear then as she exploded just as he’d predicted she would. She ranted and yelled for a good two minutes before he grew impatient and put the phone back to his ear. “Mother, if you’ll stop shouting and listen to me for just a minute, I’ll explain.”
    She huffed. “Fine. Though what you could possibly tell me to change my mind about her kind, I couldn’t possibly imagine.”
    So he told her how Chrissy had raved about Lorena for a week, ignoring his mother’s hiss of fear and fury. Then he quickly moved on to tonight’s events. Hoping the end result would convince Lorena not to be angry with him for the breach in her confidence, he relayed the gist of their conversation. “And Mother, I would swear on the life of your granddaughter that Lorena had no idea about the vampire kiss beforehand.”
    “Before…before you kissed her?”
    He grimaced, pressing fingertips to his burning eyelids. Damn, he hadn’t meant to mention that part of the evening. “Yeah, I did. But that’s beside the point. The real point is she’s never even bitten anyone. She views being a vampire as if she had a disease she’s just trying to learn to live with.”
    Silence filled the phone.
    “Don’t you get it? She didn’t ask for this. She was attacked one night, and now she’s stuck with this problem she can’t get away from.”
    “Yes. The problem of wanting to drink other people’s blood for her survival.”
    He growled. “You’re being purposefully obtuse.”
    “I’m being smart and certainly a lot more clearheaded than you are right now, son. Do you know what your father would say if he were still alive?”
    He glared up at the ceiling. “I have an idea, yes.”
    “I’m calling the elders.”
    “No, Mom, wait. Have you ever considered that maybe, just maybe, we’re being hypocrites about this?”
    “Excuse me?”
    “Think about it. What would the public do if they found out about The Clann, about what we can do? Why have the elders and everyone else always taught us to be so careful not to reveal our powers?”
    She stayed quiet.
    “We’re just as outside the norm as any vampire. And the only descendants who can truthfully say they’ve never used their powers on anyone else are the ones who have completely turned away from their abilities. And even those probably had a few accidents here and there.”
    “Maybe so. But we don’t hurt others.”
    “Neither has she.” Funny how he sounded exactly like Lorena now. The thought made his mouth twitch with the urge to smile. “Look, her company is only going to be here for three more weeks. Why not just let her be, leave her alone and let her dance? It’s all she wants to do. And when they’re done, they’ll move on.” The idea made his chest ache. Frowning, he continued. “There’s no reason to ruin her life just because we’re afraid of what she might or might not do. It’s not like so many descendants live here and would be in danger from her. And the few who do know what to do in case of a vamp attack.”
    His mother remained silent for a while longer before she sighed. “I understand what you’re saying. And you’re right. We descendants are almost as dangerous as she is. Though one could argue that we have better control over our abilities.”
    He opened his mouth to argue, but she stopped him. “However, if she is trying to be as good as you claim, then