She smiled reassuringly, and the way she moved reminded Anna of Genevieve.
"The time is right, my dear. Everything your mother prophesied will happen very soon. And then, I will teach you to manifest your power, every time it is necessary."
"What did my mother prophesy? Why didn't she write about it?"
"When you come back, Anna. I'll answer all your questions."
"But I need you to understand that I will stay at Adam's mansion until my son is safe with you. Then I'll come back here. I don't know if it's safe for us to live here. I think you should go back to Scotland as soon as Ian is free. I'll meet you there."
"We can't do that!" Suzy said, as if she'd been slapped in the face. "Now that Adam is trying to get closer to his family.... He's my son. I can't just give up on him."
Anna turned to her with an icy gaze.
"You can stay, Suzy. I understand that you want the best for your son, and I wouldn't want to abandon my son either." Anna said quietly. "I can understand that. But my children, I want them safe while I'm traveling with my father. We'll go to the wedding, but then we'll leave for Scotland."
"I can't be without my grandchildren." Suzy looked at Anna angrily for the first time.
"It's a choice you'll have to make soon." Jasmine said to Suzy. "Don't be deluded, woman. When has Adam ever done anything without ulterior motives? He doesn't want to get close to his family. He never has. But something here has caught his attention, and that's why he wants to have contact with us. If you stay, you'll be alone. Adam won't receive you. I'm leaving with my grandchildren. I can't get used to this place anymore. If Adam really wants to visit you, let him go where we go. Because here, we're all alert all the time. I can't relax myself. I feel like a shadow is permanently behind me, with a dagger raised ready to be stabbed."
Suzy and Jasmine began to discuss various options for the situation.
"Anna, what did you do with Camille?" Maxwell took advantage of the fact that the mothers had gotten into an argument, and his father-in-law was watching with an amused smile on his lips.
"What are you worried about? I didn't break my toy, Max."
"I'm not worried, but I'm curious. The staff at the house where she lives came here and told me that it was your order."
"If she wants a clean house and food ready, she'll have to do it herself. I know she agreed to be your mistress with the ambition of having a comfortable life and maids around her. That's all I took from her. Now answer me, why did you buy her expensive clothes?"
Maxwell took a deep breath.
"Sometimes... What I do to her, after the act, makes me ashamed, even regretful, so I allow her to buy clothes that are to her liking."
"I can't admit that. I want her to wear a housekeeper's uniform." Anna said angrily.
"Anna..." Max said and closed his eyes, as if exhausted. "Don't be cruel. It would affect me. I don't want that. I want to fuck a perfumed woman. I want to tear beautiful clothes off her body. That's part of the pleasure..."
"Are you telling me you're going to disrespect me?"
"No, Anna. I don't owe you obedience. The maids come back to work for Jasmine. I don't want to fuck a woman who smells of something or onions, and besides, I can't allow Camille to have access to knives. The housekeepers have been trained to take care of every detail, to protect Camille's effusive integrity."
Anna felt tears welling up in her eyes.
"What a pity you spared those efforts when you could have used them to protect our family!" Anna said and turned to leave, but Maz used his speed and grabbed her by the arm. When she faced him, he touched her face.
"I can send her away right now, Anna, if that's what you want. I love you, and there's nothing I won't do to prove it. But if she goes, you'll have to be her for me sometimes. Once you've tasted this wine, you can't stop. It consumes me. I think about it all the time, and I'd really like it to be with you. But if she stays, it has to be on my terms." He said sincerely.
"You don't know what you've gotten yourself into, Max. Camille needs to be captive, forever. If she escapes, she'll denounce you, and I don't want that scandal in our family. I don't want our children to be persecuted because of what she'll tell the world."
"But if we leave... If we leave here, I won't be able to keep her locked up in her own country. There she'll have the resources to escape. Any distraction, and... We'll be exposed..."
"We'll need to keep her locked up here. And you come sometimes to use her the way you like." Anna said, thinking it was a good alternative.
"This place... There are too many humans, Anna. Camille can corrupt them, and get allies."
"I didn't say she'd stay on this estate. There's an ideal place for her."
Max looked at her puzzled, but then seemed to understand.
"You're talking about..."
"Yes. The green house."
He became thoughtful.
"Even after you come back to me, will you allow that?"
"You give me no choice, Max. She won't need to know that you've gone back to her country. She's part of our lives now... I don't want to have from you what you do to her. And I know you need that, so... Just don't fall in love. I wouldn't forgive that. And it would be better for our children not to be around. Because one day, they'll find out. Just like Tayme found out. Ah, Max... You didn't think it through when you decided to keep her in private custody. Here in the United States, that's a crime too. She just doesn't know the language and you've left her with no means of communication. There's no way to get rid of her other than to kill her. And you can't trust anyone. If you send someone who lived with her in that house away, they might turn you in. Do you understand what I'm getting at? You've practically condemned a lot of people to death. Adam won't let any of those people stay alive. I checked. They're human. And even if you don't dirty your hands with their blood, you are responsible for them. Those lives will add up on your account."
"Can you see the lilac light in the corner of their eyes?"
"Yes. Supernaturals have that light. Werewolves' are lilac, but other creatures give off different colors."
Max frowned.
"So you know what I am?"
"I know what you're not. You're not human, but you're not a werewolf either."
Max nodded.