Olivia's mother got in on the cross-examination. "Your parents look like a very nice couple in the interview I watched on CNN. Your dad is...he's a...he's not all human, is he?"
Olivia gritted her teeth and balled her hands into fists on her lap. You are one to talk, Mom. You're a mostly white girl who married a mostly black boy. You're throwing down the species card now, huh?
"Why don't we let Hernando get on the road now?" Olivia stood up. "After all, he's representing the vehicle manufacturers of BloodDark to the auto execs here, and we don't want to keep them waiting."
Julian shook his head. Olivia sat back down. "More manufacturing jobs going out of the country—or should we say out of our world?" her father emphasized. "Talk about an imbalance of trade."
"Hernando, was your mother like the woman who wrote the expose about being a mistress to a Pure Blood ruler?" Moira wondered aloud.
"Uh, no. She wasn't. Not at all."
Olivia could tell Hernando felt uncomfortable talking about the subject in regards to his family. Darn her nosy mother! Olivia did her best to inject her comments into the conversation, but her mother wouldn't have it.
"Our neighbor's daughter read that best-seller about BloodDark, and now she wants to travel there and marry a vampire." Moira huffed and threw up her hands with a shake of her head. "I don't get it. I can't understand why anyone would want to go so far to find a husband when there are more than enough people to marry here on Earth. Perhaps you could enlighten us."
It was obvious to Olivia even T.J. felt uptight discussing the topic. "Uh, boss, we probably should be getting on the road," the big driver said. "You have a reception at seven, and you're supposed to meet with the consulate staff beforehand."
Hernando looked lost in the sea of conflicting comments. He turned to his driver and nodded."Yes, you're right, T.J." He stood and bowed to Olivia's parents. "Thank you so very much for the wonderful apple crisp and the stimulating conversation, but we must be on our way. Duty calls."
After everyone shook hands, Olivia left her parents on the porch and followed Hernando to the limousine. "I apologize for my parents giving you the third degree back there. I did warn you last time they're still a bit edgy about me not enrolling in college this term. I'm not sure how long I can put them off."
"Don't you want to go to college?" He flashed a wan smile. "I want you to go. You could learn a lot which could help both our worlds. I don't want you to give up on your chance for learning job skills. This isn't BloodDark in the old days. This is Earth in the twenty-first century. You're not forced to do as you're told without a thought as to what you want to do."
"You sure?" She shrugged. "I know I've got freedoms, but it's just that I...I don't want to upset my folks anymore than I have, and I don't enjoy being so far away from you."
"Same here." He watched Olivia's parents enter the house and the door close before leaning in to give her a kiss. "I'm getting the idea from your mother she doesn't approve of you having a vampire boyfriend."
"That stupid woman who returned and wrote her memoirs of being a bloodsucker's sex-slave has a lot to answer for!" Olivia sighed. "You're a Quadsang—you're just a quarter Pure Blood anyway, right?"
Hernando shrugged. "I guess. I can tell your mother doesn't like the idea of her grandchildren having fangs like my dad. Why that interviewer had the camera zeroed in on his smile during the television interview I'll never understand."
Olivia scowled at the memory. "I do. It's called prejudice and fear. Emphasize the differences and ignore the similarities we share." She stopped before she went off on a tirade about the unfounded bigotry many of her kind often demonstrated much to her chagrin. Instead, she smiled and stroked his cheek. "Grandchildren? Did you say grandchildren?"
He blushed. "One can dream." He pulled her into his arms and kissed her again. "Now, I really must go. This is a fairly short trip, so I'll stop by in a few days’ time unless you think it unwise."
"I don't know. I want to see you, but then it might make things even more strained between me and my parents." Olivia felt tears welling in her eyes. "Oh, Hernando, I know it's wrong, but sometimes I wish I'd never returned home. I miss the freedom I had on BloodDark, even when I wasn't quite free. I'm crazy, aren't I?"
"No more than the rest of us." He held her in his arms, tighter than he'd ever had. "Do you want me to activate the beacon?" he whispered in her ear. "Do you wish to return to BloodDark with me, right now?"
"Not here, not now." Olivia sighed. She knew if Hernando pushed the microscopic bio-transmitter hidden deep under the skin in the palm of his left hand they'd vanish in a flash and reappear halfway across the galaxy.
They'd all been put through an MRI scanner and had X-Rays done as part of the frantic reaction to their arrival, but the Pure Blood technology hadn't shown up on the primitive Earth equipment. She and he had decided they couldn't risk Earth authorities discovering Hernando possessed such a device. The cover story they'd given the government during their quarantine period was Portal transportation only occurred along a preordained schedule and from a limited number of locations on Earth. It wasn't true, but it was better to let them think so.
"You are wise. Best we are parted for a little while than reveal all our technologies." He kissed her again and then let
