It took a bit of cajoling on Galen’s part—especially since he’d said he had no intention of telling his mother what he was—but he did manage to convince Luc to join them for lunch.
At first Lydia was cool toward Luc, as if she blamed him for Galen’s becoming a dhampir. That is, until he pointed out to her, “I understand why you’re not too happy with me.”
“Do you?” she responded doubtfully.
“Yes. You have the feeling, if he and I had never met, he could have continued as always with no knowledge of what’s out there. It’s not true. He would have seen them, like he did the night of his birthday. But—” Luc paused to be certain she was listening, “—he wouldn’t have known what he was sensing. That could have put him in grave danger if he ran into an Old or Ancient one. They would have known i
