Lena’s mother asked, a slight frown on her face. Lena could feel her eyelid start to twitch again. She loved her parents, but so help her God, she was about five seconds away from laying into them both. “Mom,” Lena said and ground her teeth. Her mother frowned at her. “What? How am I supposed to know? They say a lot of things on the news. It’s hard to know.” She waved. “It’s not exactly like I’ve known a lot of these hybrids types.” Varius placed his hand on Lena’s in her lap, likely trying to stop her from squeezing them so hard they popped. “Yes, cooked is preferable, Sue,” he said. Relief spread across her mother’s face. Apparently she was happy their house guest wasn’t some raw meat-consuming monster. The tension in the room thinned a bit. Although now that Varius had his sunglasses off, Lena caught them staring at his unusual eyes. Not that Lena could blame them for that. They were amazing, and she sometimes found herself getting a bit lost in them. Her mother passed the food around and took one of the smaller steaks from the plate.
