Anna looked at Jenna in surprise.
"Do you know about Genevieve?"
"What's to know? She's dead. Whatever her secret was, it's buried with her."
"Genevieve was raised by a family of werewolves, right?" Anna asked, remembering the vision she'd had of Maxwell and Genevieve together.
"Yes. She was."
"Why? What happened to her parents?"
"Nobody knows. Genevieve was left in the forest. I think to die. They found her and raised her."
"How bizarre."
"Yes."
"But why didn't the werewolves leave her in some human orphanage?"
"I don't really know what motivated them to raise a human among them, but the family that adopted Genevieve loved her like a true daughter, and Genevieve was raised in luxury. When she got involved with Adam, even though he was much younger than her, the adoptive parents didn't approve, and they went to live in DreamStone."
"They didn't know she'd gone through two transformations... I don't understand. Genevieve was turned into a werewolf. Is she a hybrid now?"
"No. Genevieve is just a vampire. Every werewolf is part human, and the first part that died is the werewolf. Because the supernatural part is stronger and regenerates faster, the werewolf died to allow the human to die too."
"Got it. Genevieve already had her werewolf part dead when she was turned. But what if Max bites a werewolf?"
"He regenerates."
"So... Another good solution, so that we have food without killing humans, is to suck the werewolves dry."
Jenna was silent for a while.
"I'd never thought of that. They'll probably line up at our door to save the humans from their thirst." Jenna said sarcastically. "God! Anna! Where do you get these absurd ideas? They're our enemies!"
"They're not our enemies. They're the enemies of vampires, you're not a vampire and I don't feel like a vampire. And, like humans, they may not have a choice. Vampires can paralyze them."
"Yes. But then what? Will you keep them hypnotized forever? Werewolves are strong, savage and lethal, Anna. If the vampires started something like this, they'd be even more furious. They'd kill us all. What would you do if the werewolves forced you to give them food from your own body? Do you see a happy ending to this situation?"
Anna looked at Jenna with a smile.
"You talk like a vampire." She said and stood up. "I'm leaving. Tell Henry to call me, or come to the mansion tomorrow, so we can work out the details of the trip." Anna said and after talking to Jenna some more and saying goodbye, she went back into the house. It was silent. She closed her eyes and could hear the quiet, gentle breathing of the children. They were asleep.
She closed the window and when she turned back to the bed, Maxwell was standing with his arms crossed behind his head, watching her in silence.
"The children were presented with something that made them very restless, right?" Anna said casually, as she undressed.
Maxwell stood up and hugged Anna, kissing the top of her head.
"Anna... You mustn't use Bruma's resources. I know that so much power is tempting, but it won't do you any good."
"You don't have to worry, Max. I'll never do anything to harm or hurt you."
"I'm not worried about me. You think that the mental freedom of supernaturals isn't a bad thing, but you're wrong."
"You shouldn't be listening to other people's conversations. We all have the right to be free from fear, in the privacy of our own thoughts."
Maxwell turned away from Anna, who watched his manly body with desire. He was only wearing a sweatshirt that she had the feeling would come down around his waist at any moment.
"It's my right to delve into vampires' minds. It's the price of being young and living forever."
"Did they all agree to that? I don't remember being consulted about it. Genevieve didn't get the chance either."
"Someone who loves a person can make that choice for them. In Genevieve's case, it was Ian. And in your case, it was me who made the choice. If you're not satisfied, or anyone else, you shouldn't put an end to the dreams of your fellow human beings. You can still choose death."
Anna looked sadly at Maxwell.
"Dream of my fellow human beings? Max, wake up! My feelings want to be free. They don't want to be your slaves for life."
Maxwell looked at Anna, deciding whether to tell her the truth she didn't know.
"Anna, their dream is life. They don't know it, none of them do, but there's a secret behind that authority, that manipulation and that ability to read other people's thoughts."
"You'll say anything not to lose that." Anna said with contempt.
Maxwell glared at Anna.
"There's more than a leader's connection to his fellows, Anna. I don't really mind if you do the magic that interrupts that connection. But there is no way to break that connection without breaking our link too."
"That's perfect!"
"Perfect for whom? As soon as you break that link, vampires and werewolves are no longer supernatural. We lied that if the link was severed, they would turn into wild animals, so that they would conform, but maintain the hope that they could be free, but the truth is... They become human again, Anna. For vampires, they will only know death, because those who were transformed were on the brink of death and they have returned to that state. All vampires will die as soon as the link is broken. But... Do you know what will happen to werewolves? It's much worse. Have you ever seen Ian ill? No, right? He's been spared disease because of the werewolf gene. But as soon as the link is broken, all the diseases will attack the fragile human child's body at once. All the diseases that he should have, but was spared by his werewolf gene, will manifest, because they are hidden inside him. The werewolf gene keeps these diseases to serve as antibodies. Are you prepared to see Ian die?"