"Don't be silly! Don't you know your own daughter? I'm curious to see someone try to change that little witch's mind. She's intelligent, and despite her young age, she knows what she wants in the smallest details of her life. I like this niece of mine... And I can tell you that I'm going to attend the meetings so that I can keep in touch with her." Adam said calmly.
"She says she's going to marry you! Is she being too thorough, or did you plant that seed in her fertile mind?"
Adam looked thoughtfully at Anna.
"She admires my resemblance to her father and... Now that this subject has come up, I'm reminded of your mother's account... You can see your future companions, and Tayme had her vision. But the person she described to me, although very similar to me, is Ryan!"
Anna rolled her eyes.
"Ryan? Your cousin? I would never allow anything like that. And Tayme isn't Bruma. If any son of mine inherited that bond, it was Ian." Anna said and Adam remained silent, but his eyes were amused. He knew something she hadn't realized.
"Bruma, it has to be a girl, my child." Henry said, picking up his cup and bringing it to his mouth.
Anna turned to him.
"She's too young to have a vision of the man she's going to be in a relationship with. She's only three! She must have overheard our conversation, and..."
"My child, don't be skeptical. All of us here know that a child of Max's cannot be human, and we don't know if what you've given birth to could be more dangerous than the werewolves themselves. I'm beginning to think that you fulfilled Dester's dream when you became pregnant with three of Max's children."
"My children, with the exception of Ian, are human."
"How can you be sure of that, Anna? Your children are three years old, you've been with Max for about four years, can you tell us what he is?" Henry asked as if he were talking to someone with immense difficulty in thinking and this irritated Anna.
Max heard everything but didn't say anything. Anna understood that she couldn't know his secret, but would she understand when she realized that her last three children weren't human? Would she understand when drastic measures had to be taken to protect that secret? Would she understand the children's hunger? He couldn't say anything. The two boys were content with just a little each day, mixed in with their milk, but Tayma... at just three years old, she was already a murderous Oewuena. And he would need to contain all her power very soon, and he was still finding a way to convince Anna to allow him to send her to a special school before she realized what Tayme was. He had no choice. His mother was there to help take Tayme, and time was running out. Soon, she would become impossible to contain.
Oblivious to each other's thoughts, they remained silent.
After a while, Suzy decided it was silence.
"Adam. Son." She looked at him and spoke with emotion. "It's so good that you're here. The whole family is together, after many years... For me, that's a sign that things are going to get better. Please come and visit us more often."
"I don't think we're a really happy family. What brought us to this meeting wasn't any kind of affection on my part. But I'm willing to try... I'll accept the invitation, but don't get all mushy on me. You have Max for that."
Max stared at his brother, wanting to punch him, but his mother seemed happy with his answer, so he decided it was best to let it go. He noticed Tayme's confidence in talking to his uncle and wasn't fooled. What Adam wanted was to be able to be closer to his daughter. Adam knew that, as well as being a creature with unknown gifts, she was also a child full of her own unprecedented power and a strong personality, and he would be a fool to try to stop his daughter. She could see the prohibition against approaching her uncle as a form of defiance. And he didn't want to delude himself. If she chose her uncle's path, there would be nothing he could do, but he would certainly do everything he could, without her even realizing it, to show her the world she could conquer. Tayme was an unknown creature. They couldn't underestimate her. Until he knew everything she was capable of, he would need something to contain her.
"Beth and her fiancé sent us letters. They've set the date for the official church wedding for the same day, and they want you as their maid of honor. Your father will be best man." Max said, and only then thought that this could be Anna's chance to free herself from Adam. After all, the date was a few weeks away. Exactly when the deadline Ian had set for Adam would expire.
Ian secretly told Maxwell that every day he marked off the days on the calendar to end his stay at his uncle's house."
"Maybe we will." Adam answered for Anna. "Don't ever think that she'll be out of my life again. I'll kill her before that happens. And who is Beth?"
"And when is the wedding?" Anna asked, purposely ignoring Adam. Her mind traveled, rambling with plans, which she had just conceived.
"It's a few weeks away." Maxwell said with satisfaction. He knew from his wife's response that she would be there.
"I need to use the restroom." Adam said suddenly and left.
Anna found his attitude strange. It wasn't like him. And she was afraid of what might have been going through his mind. Were his plans transparent?
"Anna! Are you all right? You know you can tell us." Her mother-in-law asked in a whisper, looking concerned but also complicit.
"I'm fine. I'd like to talk to you, Jasmine. You were my mother's friend, and I need to understand how I can use my Bruma status to free us. To protect my family. Can you help me?"