"You shouldn't have done that, Adam. I wanted to take Ian and enjoy his company a bit more, since he doesn't leave your side when he's at home, and when he's not at home, he takes refuge in video games. You robbed me of a chance to spend more time with him."
"I thought that since your priorities had changed, this task would be too costly for you. And on the other hand, Ian was anxious, both to buy the presents and to deliver them."
Anna noticed Adam's meticulous attempt to get her to argue with him, insinuating that she wasn't a good mother. So she calmed down, refusing to play his game and be openly manipulated. And besides, she was anxious about Jenna's situation. She didn't want to upset herself any further.
"And how did it go there? How's your prisoner?" Adam asked after a while, when he saw that Anna wasn't going to insist on the subject of Ian.
"She's not very well. I finished with her."
"That surprises me. You were so creative... To use everything you've taken, I thought it would be a few more days before the grand finale."
"No. She was already disgusting me. I thought it best to skip a few steps and go straight to the end. When do you think she'll take her last breath?"
"Hard to say. Maybe it'll take three days, or even a week."
"Do you know that I... walled her up, alive?"
Adam looked sharply at Anna.
"Nothing the werewolves can see is hidden from me, Anna. I've made that mistake before and stipulated that I wouldn't watch through the child's eyes and for that foolishness, I lost four years of my son. I've learned my lesson. E... I was very wrong. There are many interesting things that children see and hear. Much more than adults, because nobody bothers to say what they really feel around a baby."
"That must be a nightmare, Adam. Your mind must be congested."
"If I were a frail, limited human, walled up alive, my mind would certainly be like that. But I don't blame you, Anna, for not understanding how easy it is for me. It's like breathing. After all, you're only human."
Anna understood the rebuke about Sarah, and ignored all the other insults.
"And it would still be too little for Sarah." Anna said, thinking that she was leaving, but had managed to take Jenna with her. And that's why she wanted her to live in agony for seven days before she died. "But seven days is enough. I don't want to think about her anymore. Adam, Dad told her that he was the mastermind behind Thiago's murder. And she said that Thiago is his son. Is that true?"
Adam laughed amusedly.
"Of course not! That's what your father did: it's called psychological abuse, Anna. It's a splendid form of torture. It must have left her confused and unable to think. She would have said anything after that. Did your father confirm this afterwards? Or didn't you ask him?"
"He confirmed that he had her killed, but denied that it was his father. And what he said... It hit me, too."
"Why? Even after everything, do you still feel some kind of debt to them?"
"Thiago may have been wrong, but he was my childhood friend. He was a werewolf's son, but he didn't look like a monster." Anna said and looked suggestively at Adam.
"Ah! You don't really remember him, Anna dear. Thiago was never your friend. I'd like to play doctor with you too, if we'd grown up together... I can imagine that I would play at being a gynecologist and you the patient... But to play with you like that, my father had to make a deal with Henry, isn't that a shame?" Adam said mockingly.
"You're an idiot." Anna said, trying to look indignant, but ended up smiling. In the past she had been ashamed of this fact, this truth, but now she didn't care anymore, because her great love, Ian, was born because of that "deal". Ian was the reason for her existence.
"What are you going to do after the call to see your children?"
"I don't know... I don't have any plans yet... But I don't think it would make sense to make plans, since I can't go anywhere."
"We could take Ian to the mall for ice cream..." Adam said, ignoring her nudge. "I've sorted out all my business, and I'm done for the day. I need to rest my mind..."
"That's a good idea. I really need to do some shopping... But what about the war outside? The humans who killed the werewolves?"
Adam looked at her coldly.
"You shouldn't worry about those things. I would never put your life or the life of my son at risk. We're safe for now. The battle is going differently now. Some of our people have died, Anna. But... Almost everyone on their side has died." Adam said and turned to leave, but stopped.
"So, it's settled, right?" Adam said and turned around again and after looking at her for a long time, as if he wanted to tell her something, he left, leaving Anna with the impression that he wanted to stay there, with her.
A few minutes before lunch, Dester burst into town, along with some men in army uniforms, and Adam left.
Anna understood that they weren't going to do what they had agreed.
...
Kate, Anna and Ian were left alone at the table, and began to make small talk in order to distract Ian, who seemed tormented by his thoughts. But it also helped them to think about different things and dispelled their own fears that something bad might happen to one of them. Ian, however, kept his worried countenance, ignoring his mother's and Kate's efforts to make him think of happier things, and only ate a little at his mother's insistence. And, as soon as he had convinced Anna that he had eaten enough, he retired to his room. Anna felt like going after him and telling him that everything would be all right. But she knew that her words would sound false, even to her own ears. The truth was that she feared she would never see Adam alive again. Dester wouldn't go back there if he didn't have a plan. She couldn't hear the shooting, but she knew that Ian was more powerful than a child, even a werewolf, should be, and that he was following everything that was happening through his connection with Adam, and that somehow, he knew that something bad would happen, and she understood that this way of living was a constant torture. At that moment, all the girlfriends, wives and children were praying to see their family member again.