The room is warm and cozy and yet some part of him feels like his entering it now despoils it. He's steeling himself for the worst. If she says go, he will without a word of protest.

"It involves him because, in the world we came from, I owned Max as a slave. In our vampire culture, he was referred to as a Human Pet. I'm sure you agree the difference is negligible." No point in mincing words. Better to get that brutal truth out in the open.

"The situation is complicated, and before all else I want you to know that I did what I did to save his life. But it is not hard to understand why that boy holds such anger against me, given what I've done."