Anna frowned. She didn't want to put her son's life in danger, but why didn't Maxwell talk about the triplets? They probably weren't human either.
"Don't you care about your other children? Tayme, Donald and David?"
"I care, but I don't worry. They can't have inherited the werewolf gene, and if they have inherited the vampire gene, they're safe, because vampires don't have the same defense system as werewolves. My other children have been vaccinated and cared for like humans. The most that can happen is a bad cold."
Anna looked at the window.
"How do I know you're not lying?"
Maxwell squeezed her around the waist, fitting their bodies together.
"You know it's true, Anna."
Anna snuggled into Maxwell's arms.
"I'm going to Avallon, Maxwell. I'm not going to interfere with that... authority you and Adam have over your subordinates, but I'm going to take it away from myself. I don't want you reading my thoughts."
Maxwell brought his lips close to hers.
"What do you want to hide from me?"
"Nothing. I just want to know that I'm alone when I do my thinking, or when I plan ways to kill you, when you make me angry." Anna said and saw the amusement in Maxwell's eyes. "What pleasure would I get from torturing someone who already knows in advance everything I'm going to do?"
Maxwell closed his eyes and when he opened them again, they were showing all the desire he felt.
"Are you going to torture me by refusing to lie with me?"
"Oh, no, Max! That punishment I would suffer together, perhaps even more than you."
Maxwell took her in his arms and led her to the bed.
...
Anna came down for breakfast, and the children were excitedly talking about their motorcycles to her. They insisted that they didn't want to go to school that day, but Anna was adamant that they not.
After coffee and all the excitement, the children left and the house fell silent.
Maxwell took refuge in his office, sorting out his business and discussing the offer of a judgeship in that country.
Jasmine had disappeared. Anna didn't see her at the coffee table, and no one seemed to miss her.
Henry arrived almost at lunchtime and was greeted by Anna.
"You took your time, Dad. What are you up to?"
"I still have business, Anna. My life doesn't revolve around your life."
"You should retire. Adam will run roughshod over anyone who dares to have a mafia all to himself. He wants to take over the whole world."
Henry sat down, his face tired.
"He's already overtaken me, Anna. I, and everyone else, work for him now."
Anna was surprised and sat down next to her father.
"He's dominated this world market, then?"
"Yes."
"Does that mean something bad for us?"
"I'm afraid he won't stop there. Adam may want to exterminate the humans to see the vampires starve. He still hasn't gotten over that attack..."
"He wouldn't exterminate humans, Henry. He's not like that."
"Don't you know Adam's ruthlessness, Anna? He's going to turn against humanity soon. I... I'm going to keep working for him, because that's the only way I'll be able to gather enough resources."
"Resources?"
"Weapons against the werewolves, Anna."
"Your grandson is a werewolf."
"Ian will fight alongside us when the time comes. He will become the last of the werewolves."
"That would make him master of an incalculable fortune."
"Yes, it won't hurt not to have to work for a living."
Anna looked at her father in silence. He was the essence of greed and selfishness, and she realized that with each passing day, she enjoyed his company less. But she had to endure it in order to go to Avallon.
"What about our trip?"
"The ship leaves tonight. I don't want to put it off any longer than we already have."
Anna nodded.
"What about Jenna? I've noticed that she looks tired..."
"Don't mind her, Anna. Some days I love, and some days I hate that woman."
"Did something happen?"
"Jenna is very loving and loyal, but I think those two virtues should be devoted only to me. Today, before I left the house, I overheard her talking to Jasmine. I don't have a problem with Jasmine, but it bothers me that two enemy species behave like allies."
Anna rolled her eyes.
"I think you'd better cut Jenna out of your life, Dad. You don't love her. This feeling of possessiveness is a disease. Jenna has faced enough problems in our family. Leave her free to find a man who really deserves her. You're definitely not that man."
Henry glared at Anna.
"Do you think Jenna deserves someone better than me? What if I told you that she and Jasmine were plotting something against you?"
"Did you hear their conversation?"
Henry thought.
"No. I only heard 'Avallon' being mentioned. I tried hard to hear and understand their whispers, but it was in vain."
Anna remembered Jasmine hinting that there was a secret on the island. A secret that would make Henry wish Jenna dead.
"I'm going to pack my bags. I'll see you at the port." Anna said, getting up.
"I'm going to wait for my grandchildren. Don't take too many clothes, my child. Jenna says you're a kind of queen to the people of Avallon. You'll be welcomed that way."
Anna looked doubtfully at her father. The island of Avallon had been destroyed and lay in ruins. She doubted that anyone there would welcome her as their subject, but she chose not to say anything and went to her room.
She pulled out her suitcase and when she threw it on the bed, she saw a piece of tissue paper wrapped in a pink ribbon. She picked it up and unwrapped it. The words had no magic, but they had so many feelings that she cried.
'When longing hurts, and makes my heart bleed, when loneliness hurts, and begins to eat away at my soul, so that I don't think of you, and resist the need to see, hear and touch you, I look for other ways to survive. I lie to my heart and force it to believe that I don't love you anymore. What other recourse do I have? You've made your choice. If there is ever a moment when your memories lead you to think of a happy part of the times we lived together, I ask you please, in honor of that moment, not to seek me out. Don't try to see me or talk to me. And I will pretend that you never existed in my life, that you never crossed my path. The memories I have of you, time will erase. I'll pretend that there was no pain or tears when you left me. I know it's an absolutely impossible task, but I'll find another love. Someone I can love desperately and when I tell her that I love her and want her, that feeling will finally be reciprocated. I'll live the fantasy that one day I'll touch a woman, without trying to feel her body or smell her. But my life will never be spent thinking about you."