Page 74 of Lucien

“Shall I make us un café?” His mom shut off the sink where she’d been washing her hands and hustled over to the espresso machine Eric had gotten her the Christmas before.

Jamie murmured his assent, less out of a desire for actual coffee and more from the knowledge that it was almost impossible for her to stay still for any prolonged amount of time, except when watching her shows at night. As if that was the one time of day when she’d finally tired herself out enough to relax.

“Where’s Luc today?” his mom asked.

“He’s…working.”

She hummed at that, tamping down the espresso. “I like him, your new man. So polite.”

Jamie grinned. “I like him too. I…well, I love him, I think.”

Jamie didn’t just think—heknew—but as far as his family was concerned, he’d barely met the guy, so he was trying his best to play it cool and not come off like an entirely bonkers, impulsive mess of a person.

His mom chuckled at that. “Diving in headfirst, I see. No surprises there, mijo.”

Okay, maybe he hadn’t played it as cool as he’d thought.

She set two cups on the table, then turned to grab the sugar from the counter. With her back to him, Jamie couldn’t exactly read her face, so her next words came as a complete shock.

“He isn’t human, is he, Jamie?”

Jamie’s surprise had him giving out a startled bark of laughter. “What?”

“Luc.” His mother sounded shockingly calm for someone discussing their son’s potentially not-human lover. “He’s something else. Something…more? Or at least, different.” She took a seat at the table, spooning sugar into her espresso and giving him an open, curious look.

Jamie was the one who’d wanted to start this conversation, and now here his mom had gone and beaten him to the punch, but now that it was happening, he found his mouth was dry, and he couldn’t stop tapping his fingers on the table. “Um…yes? Yes to more. Yes to—to different.”

“Hm.” She nodded, sipping at her coffee. The cup shook a little in her hands. “I thought so. It’s those eyes.”

Jamie reached for his own coffee before bringing his hand back, realizing he’d slosh it all over the table in his current nervous state. “The contacts bit didn’t fool you?”

His mom waved her free hand in dismissal. “It’s not just the eye color. It’s something else. The way he looks at the world around him, it’s…predatory. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“But even so, you…like him?”

“I do.” She shrugged. “He may look at the world like a predator. But the way he looks at you? He looks at you likeyou’rethe world.” She smiled at Jamie then, tender and a little sad. “If anyone deserves to be looked at like that, it’s you. Of course, I might be a little biased.” She covered the back of his hand with her own, halting the tapping of his fingers. “My special Jamie.”

Jamie turned his hand up so that his palm was touching the warm, dry palm of his mother. “And if I was even more…special? If I was different too?”

Jamie didn’t elaborate onhowhe would be different, and his mother didn’t ask him to. She just gave his hand one firm, loving squeeze. “As long as you’re still you, I will love you. That could never change.”

Maybe Jamie had been wrong before, in what he’d said to Luc. Maybe unconditional love wasn’t as rare as he’d thought.

They sat for a while, sipping their coffees, Jamie’s nervous energy slowly dissipating from his body in his mother’s calming presence.

“Would you want to live forever, if you could?”

“Me?” His mom laughed in surprise at his question. “Ah, no, mijo. I like my life the way it is. But you?” She looked him over with her discerning gaze. “You’ve always been meant for more, I think. I never understood why you stayed so close, when you have such a hunger for the world. You knew this was coming, didn’t you?”

Jamie shrugged. “I knewhewas coming.”

She nodded in response, and Jamie let himself breathe easy. He was more than a little stunned by the ease of this conversation. It wasn’t that he’d ever doubted his mother’s love, but maybe he hadn’t fully realized the depth of her understanding.

He debated going into more detail then, the down and dirty logistics of it all. When was the right time to tell her that her son was going to stay young forever? That he might no longer be able to eat her cooking? Or perhaps they should just take those things as they came. How much did a verbal warning really prepare someone for their family member becoming a vampire?

Maybe there was pamphlet out there somewhere.

But before Jamie could decide, his vision whited out.

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