"Hey, wait until I at least stop the car!" Ludovic told Helene as, nearly to camp, she opened the car door and tried to get out.

"Sorry, right," Helene nodded. "I just...I'm finding it very hard to sit still! That was great, what we did, wasn't it?" She did a few punches in the air. "Did you see me do the spell that sent that chair to whack that demon in the face? And when the other guy got hit with the pie? Wasn't it amazing?"

"Not to mention our singing," Ludovic added. "That was amazing too!"

"Yeah," Helene giggled. "And did you see the look on Adrian's face when he realized it was us? I haven't seen him look like that since the teacher at school told him he had to do math himself without cheating off anyone!"

Ludovic chuckled, enjoying her energy immensely. He was very surprised when he stopped the car, let her out, and the first thing she did was cartwheel all the way to the tent. "I didn't know you could do that," He remarked.

"Oh, yeah," Helene nodded. "I did gymnastics when I was a kid. Mom thought it would be a good way to learn teamwork and flexibility. It didn't work because I'm not good with either."

He pulled her close, putting his hands around her waist. "Oh, don't talk like that. You were in such a good mood, which I was enjoying immensely. It looked good on you. Let's get back to it."

She blushed and ran her hands over his five o'clock shadow. "I...I've never really been," she confessed. "The only reason I am now is because of you, I guess."

He chuckled, taking her hand and kissing the fingers gently. "Don't let me take all the credit," he insisted. "A lot of it goes to you. You made the choice to change and I'm proud of you."

"Really?" Helene grinned widely. "You take no credit for how I am now?"

"That's not what I said, if you listened closely," Ludovic corrected, a twinkle in his dark eys. "I said I wouldn't take all the credit. I'll take some where it's due. You needed the change because you had a big stick up your pretty ass before."

"Hey," Helene chided. "Watch your language!"

"Make me!" Ludovic challenged as he ran his hands over her back and bottom. "I'd love to see you try and shut my mouth!"

"Do you?" Helene grinned. "Well, I can't let a challenge like that go unanswered!" She took his face in her hands as he grinned and kissed him deeply. He pulled her close and kissed her back and soon, they were stripped down to their underwear, both having done their best to fling their clothes in the general direction of the trash bag they used as a laundry basket.

As his eyes caught sight of her body, Ludovic sucked in breath.

"What?" Helene asked. "What's the matter?"

"I...I forgot about the lace panties," he breathed. "Wow."

"I...you forgot?" Helene asked. "But you're the one that bought them!" She ran her hands over her hips and thighs. "So they look good on me?"

Ludovic's breath was picking up. "Well, yes, of course, but...I'll be much happier when they're off."

"You know, I could say the same to you," Helene smiled as he took her in his arms, slipped the panties off, and threw them in the pile before he took his off too and they ran for the blanket, kissing furiously again.

But when she felt his hand come close to slipping between her legs, she stopped him.

"What? Why?" He asked, confused.

She smiled. "I always get a turn. I want you to have yours."

"What?" Ludovic raised an eyebrow. "You mean you're gonna...?"

"Yeah," Helene nodded. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. It's not like this is my first time!" It was her first time in a while, but he didn't need to know that.

"Well, all right," Ludovic settled down and shut his eyes. "If it'll make you happy."

"I know it'll make you happy," she assured him. She started out touching him gently, and when it was clear he was happy and enjoying himself and she wasn't massively screwing up, she began licking him.

"Oh, good god!" He yelled. "That...that's...good! Do it again!"

Encouraged, she did, again, everything she'd done before, but harder. At last, he climaxed and Helene looked at him, wide-eyed with alarm. "What was that?" She asked of the noise he made. "That was good, right? Or did I hurt you?"

"No," Ludovic shook his head as he tried to catch his breath, wondering why in the world she was so confused. Had she never heard a man orgasm before? Maybe not. "No, you did really well! I'm proud of you! I will definitely need more of that, so I hope it doesn't bother you."

"It's fine," Helene assured him as she cleaned her hands with sanitizer. "It surprises me though." She turned to face him. "You know, you can be honest. You don't have to sugarcoat what a terrible job I did just to spare my feelings. I can take the truth."

Ludovic's eyebrows knitted in confusion. "What would make you say something like that?" He wanted to know.

Helene sighed. "Well, things were very basic between Adrian and me, mostly because that's what I wanted. And it was the same with Malachai too. Not much passion there. I'm not a very adventurous person...in any aspect of my life, so if that's what you want..." she paused and heaved a long sigh. "I can't guarantee you're going to get it."

"You broke out of jail and now you're on the lam," Ludovic reminded her. "And you don't live in a house or anything, but you're handling very well. I'd say that's pretty adventurous." He paused. "And you really can't look at your past relationships and say that you'll be that same person forever. With Adrian, you were just a kid. You were learning. People don't start out as amazing sexual gymnasts or whatever. As for you and Malachai, since you married him to keep up appearances, there wasn't really a lot of passion to start out with, now was there?"

Helene sighed. "I guess not. What would you say about us, though?"

Ludovic grinned widely, showing all his teeth. "Well, I think that's pretty obvious, isn't it? Even fron our first meeting, we wanted each other. Or at least soon after."

Helene burst out laughing. "Oh, come on! You are so full of crap!"

"No I'm not!" Ludovic insisted. "It's the truth! Even more so now! I really think you've changed a lot even in the short span of time we've been together. I mean, would you have done a karaoke duet in front of all those people at Noah's club before now? And do it well?"

Helene chuckled. "No, I don't think so. That's not really me. Or at least I thought it wasn't."

"See? You've grown a lot!" Ludovic told her. "I know that some day this is gonna blow over and you'll definitely have the confidence to start over and make a wonderful life for yourself."

"By myself?" Helene asked. "Why by myself?"

"Well, I know you don't want to hang around me for the rest of your life, do you?" Ludovic asked good naturedly. "Not when you fought so hard to get away before."

But instead of joining him in a good-natured chuckle like he expected she would, he saw her lip quiver before she burst into tears. "That is so typical of you!" She cried.

"Excuse me?" Ludovic questioned. "What in the world is the matter with you?"

"None of your damn business," she snapped, fuming that he was thinking of dumping her after having his way with her. She pushed him away. "Just leave me alone!"

He pulled her to him again. "Not until you tell me why you're crying."

"Because you want me to start a life by myself!" Helene burst out. "After all we've been through, you just want to throw me away!"

"I never said that!" Ludovic protested as Helene began shaking her head wildly. To stop it, he grabbed her face in his hands. "Helene, you look at me," he ordered firmly. "It's not that I want you to go, but...when you love someone, you need to give them the chance to be free; to be absolutely sure that's what they want. Do you understand? It's not that I want you to leave, but you and I, we never actually chose to date or anything like that. We were just...we came together because of weird circumstances, and if we're gonna be a couple, I want to do it right. Am I making sense? I...I care about you too much to have it any other way than you deciding what you want to do about us."

"All right," Helene sniffled and locked eyes with him after taking a deep breath. "I want to stay in the forest with you. Maybe in something bigger and more solid than a tent, but that's what I want."

"Are you sure?" Ludovic questioned."Maybe you're just scared to start over again, which is perfectly understandable, given...everything, but-"

"No!" Helene said firmly. "I'm not scared of anything! I want to start a new life. In the forest. With you. Do I have to be any clearer?" She sniffled. "Unless of course...you don't want me."

"I don't think I said that," Ludovic told her, kissing one cheek and then the other. "I want you to stay...because..." he began kissing her neck. "Because I want you. Here. With me." He paused. "Right now."

"Okay," Helene agreed with a smile, her last word before he pinned her down on the blanket, his hands restraining her wrists as he kissed her lips and then moved down over her body, tasting her before burying himself inside her over and over until she screamed his name, which never sounded so good as when she said it.

"Have you seen Avery?" Steve asked Gwen. "If she waits any longer to come down, her eggs will be inedible!"

"Oh, I'll go check," Gwen sighed. "I hope she doesn't think that if she stays away long enough, we'll bring them to her." She made her way toward Avery's room, and even before she reached it, her ears were met by the sound of sobs, which were crystal clear as she stood in front of Avery's door. She knocked gently and called out to her. "Avery, are you all right? Will you come down for breakfast? Your father is worried about your eggs."

When there was no response but more crying, she rolled her eyes and decided to go inside and confront the problem head-on. As she shut the door, Avery looked up and hastily began to wipe away tears. "Sorry, Mother."

"A young lady should never cry," Gwen remonstrated. "Especially one who has relatives in Heaven."

"Why not?" Avery asked. "What does it matter if I cry? Why does that offend you?"

Gwen sighed. "Well, I suppose I should explain better. It depends on the reason why you're crying. There are perfectly good reasons to cry, like breaking a leg, and terrible ones...like men. Are you crying over a man?"

"Do you really want to know?" Avery asked, surprised by her mother's sudden interest in her life.

"I wouldn't ask if I didn't," Gwen replied.

"Fine," Avery sighed. "I admit it! It is a man! I don't know why though, when they are so stupid!"

Gwen sighed. "Let me reiterate that men are the absolute last reason you should cry." She reached for a tissue and handed it to her daughter. "Please, dry your tears. But I won't disagree with what you're saying about men. I had multiple stupid husbands before I met your father. That's what made me decide to not waste my time with it all for a long time."

Avery chuckled and blew her nose. "Good thing you decided to stop being with stupid guys and be with someone good, like Dad."

Gwen sighed and rubbed her temples. "I love your father but he can be stupid too. Sometimes, more stupid than you'd think. I have to hear every day that he is who he is, as if that makes him perfect and incapable of making a mistake. He's far from perfect and the fact that he won't admit it..." She paused and tapped her nails on her arm. "Well, it gets on my nerves."

This made Avery burst into giggles as Gwen reached out to tuck some loose hair behind her daughter's ear. Then they both coughed and looked at each other awkwardly.

"You are way too beautiful and intelligent to be treated badly by a man," Gwen told her at last. "Who was it? Not some silly boy you met at that club, I hope?"

"No," Avery shook her head. "Do you promise you won't get mad when I say it?"

"We are talking about men and how stupid they are," Gwen said. "That's no reason to get mad."

"Well, all right," Avery nodded. "It was Malachai."

Gwen's eyes widened and she put a hand to her heart. "For the love of your father!" She exclaimed. "Did he hurt you during one of your sessions? I'll talk to him and tell him to be more gentle."

Avery rubbed her hands together and cleared her throat several times before she was able to look her mother in the eye. "It wasn't exactly during our learning session," she said. "It was during our...make-out session instead."

"Oh, really?" Gwen asked. "You had a make-out session with Malachai? He's not the worst you could do. A little old for you, perhaps, but still very sexy and debonair. I'm surprised, though. I didn't think you would be his type at all!"

Avery's jaw dropped a little. "Well, thank you very much, Mother."

"No, I don't mean it in a bad way," Gwen hastened to reassure her. "But...he's kind of stuck up and very sure of his own superiority, isn't he? And you...well, you're you! And I mean that as a good thing!"

Avery smiled and shrugged. "Thank you...I guess."

"Well, this will pass, I promise," Gwen told her. "We'll find you a new teacher and you can find a new boy to play with."

"No, I can't," Avery sighed. "Mother, Malachai is the one. It really sucks for me, but it's true." She paused. "Wouldn't Dad know that? I'm surprised he hasn't told you."

"Are you sure he's the one?" Gwen questioned. "Well, this is unexpected. As for your father, he hasn't told me because he doesn't know. You're a mystery to him. He can't tap into what's going on with you like he can with other people. I guess it's one of your special powers and thank goodness, because the things I would have to hear about if he knew all that went on in your life..." she shuddered at the thought.

"Don't try and make it seem like I'm special," Avery replied. "I'm not. I'm nothing to him...or you, for that matter!"

Gwen shook her head. "That's not true. I have to explain something to you. Scoot over."

Avery did so and her mother sat down next to her. "Your father, God, created the world. All his children, the angels, were creations with your Aunt Charlotte. But they all came into existence as fully formed adults. It wasn't like with you, where I carried you and then gave birth to you. The angel would be created and then they would go on to serve whatever purpose your father set for them. So your father never learned how to truly parent children who were small and grew up to adulthood. Granted, he was very fond of your half-brother, Lucifer, but that ended when he decided to take a different path than the one your father laid out for him."

"Are we anything alike?" Avery asked.

"Who?" Gwen questioned. "You and Lucifer? Oh, yes. More than you know."

Avery sighed. "That's probably why he doesn't care about me. I remind him of someone he hates. And I'm just in his way."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Gwen tried to reassure her. "Lucifer needed some time off to, well...change. You'll find time to bond with him soon enough."

"And Father doesn't know how to be around me?" Avery continued. "I'm...I confuse and overwhelm him?"

"Yes," Gwen nodded. "Something like that." She smiled and pulled Avery against her.

"Do you think he ever will?" Avery asked.

"Well, if you remember that he's just as thickheaded as every other man so it takes him time to adjust to things...I think he will," Gwen assured her.

Avery looked up. "And what about you? Do you like me? Even a little bit?"

Gwen sighed. "Oh, Avery. You remind me of myself...so much. You...you're my daughter and I've failed you."

"No," Avery shook her head and let herself snuggle against her mother. "I don't think you're failing me now."

"No, I guess I'm not," Gwen chuckled and held her tighter. "As for Malachai, dry your tears and let him rot. Hell is a good place for him. In the meantime, you can grow, become a woman, and make him regret ever treating you badly."

"That sounds good," Avery smiled. "But...how do I do that? Will you help me?"

"Yes," Gwen nodded. "If that's what you want, nothing would make me happier."

Astrid got up from her desk chair, opened the top drawer of her desk for what seemed like the millionth time, straightened out the stack of papers, and put them on her desk to look at with a sad shake of her head. Divorce papers for her and Alistair. She was still wondering how in the world things had gotten this far.

Then she heard the door open and without looking up, since it was someone who was not announced by her secretary and there was only so many people that could be, said, "Malachai, you're early! We weren't supposed to meet for another hour!"

"I'm sorry to disappoint you," said another voice that made her freeze. "Since you seem to have expected your love. But it's only me, Alistair," he corrected her as she brought her head up. "Your husband. Don't be sad."

"Oh, Alistair!" She started and put a hand on her chest. "What brings you here?"

He scoffed and shut the door behind him. "I'm very surprised you still remember my name."

"Just tell me why you're here," Astrid demanded, chin raised. "What do you want?"

"I was summoned here," Alistair told her. "The Council requested my presence for some secret meeting between the magical world and another supernatural presence. Are you trying to tell me that you're clueless and had nothing to do with this? You'd think that since you run everything, they would have told you!"

"Well, you know, the other members haven't liked everything I've put into law and not telling me about everything that goes on around here is their passive-aggressive way of telling me that," Astrid sighed. "I hope this meeting doesn't last too long. I'm just exhausted." She paused as Alistair raised an eyebrow. "I was invited too!" She exclaimed. "Don't act so surprised!" She grabbed the pile of papers and hit them against the desk as if they needed to be straightened into a neat pile.

"Are those the papers?" Alistair asked. "Have you started on them?" He got close to her and pulled the pencil and tie out of her hair so that it fell free on her shoulders.

"What...what are you doing?" Astrid asked. "Step back a little, would you?" He was making her nervous. Making her forget things.

"Oh, I always loved your hair down," he murmured, threading the silky blonde strands through his fingers. He came to stand behind her and began massaging her neck and back.

"What...what did you mean by 'Did I start the papers'?" She asked. "What papers?"

He tapped the pile on the desk. "The divorce papers, of course! These right here." He then put his arms around her waist and then began to kiss her neck as she turned to face him.

"I don't know," she muttered, throwing her arms around his neck and resting her head against his shoulder as he supported her weight. "I don't know. I don't know. I..."

He continued to kiss her neck and nibble on her earlobe, which made her more unsteady. Who knew he could do this? That it could be like this? If she had known that he could do this, she might have taken more time off work!

He then moved her a little so he could push her suit jacket off her shoulders and undo the buttons on her blouse, cupping her breasts through the lace of her bra. "I could take care of the divorce papers if you want," he offered. "Make it so you have one less thing to worry about."

"I..." Astrid was breathing fast now. "What are you...what are you doing to me? What spell did you use?"

"There's no spell," he assured her. "Since you want to divorce me, I want to enjoy these last moments with my wife. That's not a problem, is it?" He kissed her while raising her skirt up to slip his hand under it and rub her under her panties. She let out a sharp gasp and muttered something. "Did you say 'Stop'?" He asked.

"No," she shook her head and braced herself against the desk. "Don't stop. Please don't stop!"

He nibbled on her ear and spoke with his lips against it. "Harder?" He whispered.

Astrid let out a whimper. "Yes," she muttered, her hands gripping the edge of the desk hard. "Harder!" She was so close...

"Come for me, Astrid," he murmured.

Just as she felt herself about to climax and fall on her bottom, the door opened and Malachai poked his head in.

"Everything all right in here?" He asked.

"Oh, yes," Astrid chuckled as she struggled to get to her feet and straighten her hair and clothes. "Sorry, lost my pen."

Meanwhile, Alistair rolled his eyes. Of course Malachai would show up when everything was going so well!

After she realized she looked reasonably presentable, Astrid sat down and cleared her throat, inviting Malachai to come in the rest of the way.

"Hi!" He said as he came in and sat in the chair opposite her. "Am I early? Sorry I interrupted whatever it was that I interrupted." He looked at Alistair. "And look at that, Alistair too. Sorry I didn't see you."

"Obviously!" Alistair scoffed. "Why are you here? Another rendez-vous with my wife?"

Malachai coughed and looked at Astrid, who was bright red and burying her face in her hands. "No, I'm here for a meeting; the Council requested my presence and I didn't want to ignore them."

"People do," Alistair told him, his voice full of irritation. "Why can't you be one of them?"

"We were called to come to the meeting too!" Astrid told Malachai, ignoring Alistair completely.

Alistair crossed his arms and tapped his foot. "Please go ahead and ignore me. I wouldn't want to get in the way. Nice to know she won't be sad and lonely once she's my ex-wife."

"Alistair, that is enough!" Astrid snapped.

"I don't have to take that from you when we're not divorced and already another man is warming your bed," Alistair snapped.

As Astrid protested this statement, Malachai began pacing around the office and a thought occurring to him. Sure it wasn't true, but...if he were to fake being in a relationship with Astrid, it would be a good way to let Avery down gently. And not only that, Astrid would have support while she figured out what to do about this mess with Alistair. It was perfect! He suddenly turned and said, "You know what, Alistair, you're right. I'm not gonna hide it anymore."

"What?" Astrid asked, in shock. "He is?"

"Yes," Malachai nodded and strode back to the pair. "I don't think we should hide it anymore; he's too smart for us." He put a hand on Astrid's shoulder. "We need to come clean and tell him about our relationship."

"Our..." Astrid began, giving Malachai a look.

"Go with it!" He mouthed.

Finally catching on, Astrid turned back to her husband and tried to look ashamed, which was hard to do when you hadn't actually done anything wrong.

"Well, it's good to know that you aren't the coward I thought you were," Alistair commended Malachai. "Honestly, I didn't expect it. But here you are coming clean!" Although his words were nice, inside, he was seething.

"Sorry," Malachai apologized. "But you know, things happen. And I still, despite what I've done, have the utmost respect for you."

"Oh, don't make me sick!" Alistair snapped. "I don't care if I have your respect. I truly don't give a damn!"

Meanwhile, Astrid looked back and forth between them, unsure of what to say and white as a sheet.

Luckily, though, before Alistair could do something stupid like challenge Malachai to a duel, there was a knock at the door and one of the senior council members stepped in, followed by a smartly dressed older man in a dark suit with salt and pepper hair, and a woman who was about his age, in black, with her hair pulled up in a very tight bun. Neither of them were smiling.

"Ms. Fale, and two Mr. Fales...May I present their Majesties, King Rudolph and Queen Mathilda of the Lycanthrope Kingdom."

Malachai's eyes narrowed. Just because he still needed to change his last name back to the one he was born with since he'd divorced Helene, that didn't give anyone the right to still refer to him as 'Mister Fale'. It was a sore point even though he and every other warlock born knew that they would have to take their wife's name when they married. "Let me make one thing clear," he said. "I am not a Mr. Fale. I mean, I was married to their daughter once so I guess I..."

"Silence!" Mathilda snapped. "Stop blathering and kneel!"

Malachai didn't say another word and got to his knees with his head down.

"Good," Mathilda got out. "I have to say, Astrid, I was hoping for a much better reception. It's as if you weren't prepared for us at all."

As they struggled to get back up, the three looked at the king and queen with open mouths. Rudolph was very old, the first werewolf ever created, as punishment for breaking the witch Enid's heart, and given immortality too, so he wouldn't forget what he'd done, both to himself and his descendants.

"I apologize," Astrid said. "Please sit down and we'll talk. What is it that I can do for you?"

"First I would like to know what's distracted you," Rudolph told her.

"Oh, nothing you need to worry about," Astrid shook her head. "Just my daughter..."

"Your daughter, Helene," Rudolph finished.

"Yes!" Astrid froze. "How do you know that my daughter is named-"

"She has used her wiles to lure my son, Prince Ludovic the twelfth, into disgrace and disaster," Rudolph supplied. "And I hold you wholly responsible!"

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty," Alistair said. "We had no idea Ludovic was your son or we would have done something about it sooner."

"Well, now that you know, just what do you intend to do about it?" Mathilda asked. "If you're thinking of punishing him, think again."

"If we can't punish him, what do you want us to do?" Astrid asked. "What can we do?"

"Nothing competently, it seems," Rudolph replied dismissively. "So I have taken upon myself to rectify the situation. They will be found and brought here very soon."

"Those two are something else, aren't they?" Malachai shuddered as he went with Astrid to get something out of the vending machines once Rudolph and Mathilde had left. "They make Steve and Gwen look absolutely humble and that's saying something! Glad we got out of it in one piece!"

"Yes, we may have solved one problem, however awkwardly, but someone opened a whole new can of worms!" Astrid cried and punched Malachai in the arm before lowering her voice to a hiss. "What were you thinking, lying to Alistair like that? You and I are not having an affair!"

"I know!" He told her. "I know, and on the face of it, it seems like a horrible idea, but if Alistair thinks you're having an affair, he'll be pissed off and leave you alone, right? It'll give you time to think things through and get through this without more trouble than you can deal with. And it's not like we'll actually be having sex or anything." Of course he also came up with the plan as a way to hold off Avery, but there was no way he was saying that to Astrid.

Astrid sighed. "I still think it's nuts but I really could use something to hold Alistair off. I think he's intent on ruining me psychologically. Or trying to win me back or something. I really can't tell. And I just...I just found out I'm pregnant. I don't want to tell Alistair he's going to be a father again until he's got his head solidly back on his shoulders. Let's do it."

"Good!" Malachai nodded and grabbed himself a Coke. "What do you want? I suppose clear soda would be appropriate, given the circumstances? And...congratulations."

"Yes," Astrid sighed and accepted the Sprite he handed her. "Yes it would be. Thank you."

The silence of Steve and Gwen's house was interrupted by the shrill ringing of the doorbell, causing both of them to jump.

"Well, that's loud," Steve remarked as he peered at Gwen over his newspaper. "Are you expecting anyone, dear?"

"No one specific," Gwen shook her head. "Not that I can think of. Although," she sighed deeply as it suddenly hit her. "I think I might have an idea who it is. Don't get up, I'll get it."

She strode to the door and opened it, her suspicions confirmed. "Hello, Malachai; to what do I owe the pleasure?"

Her tone was flat though, making Malachai wonder if it was really a pleasure at all. "Sorry to disturb," he said as he nervously jumped from foot to foot and rubbed his hands. "I just...I just thought I'd come by and talk to Avery if that's all right. I only need a minute and then you'll be free of me."

Gwen's eyebrows went into her hair. "Only a minute? Really? That's all you want?"

Malachai blushed. "Well, yes. Of course."

"Oh, all right, you can come in!" She opened the door wide enough to let him in and they headed to the living room where Steve saw him and smiled.

"Well, hello, Malachai! Are you here to have another session with Avery? What a pleasant surprise!"

"Nice to see you too, Steve, but...no. I'm not here to have a lesson with your daughter. Just a brief chat about a personal matter and then I'll be on my way."

"And what will you be talking to her about?" Gwen pressed. "Very strange that you can't tell her parents. Almost suspicious!" Her eyes narrowed.

"I...I only have the best and most honorable intentions toward Avery, I promise," a nervous Malachai tried to reassure her. "You have no reason to worry."

Gwen scoffed. "Well, isn't that the most assuring thing I've ever heard! Did you hear that, Steve? He has nothing but good intentions toward our daughter! We have no reason to worry! What would we do without this sant of a man in our daughter's life!"

"I'm sure it has to do with one of their sessions," Steve said. "And that he truly means what he says."

Gwen snorted into her tea cup. "One of their sessions doing what, I wonder?"

"What are you going on about, my dear?" Steve questioned. He hated times like this when he felt clueless. "If there's something I should know, please tell me."

"Dear husband, why would you need me to tell you something? Surely, as God, you already know everything!"

"Not when it comes to Avery, I don't, and you know that perfectly well!" Steve said between his teeth.

"That's right!" Gwen chuckled. "You don't!"

They sat in awkward silence for a little bit before Steve cleared his throat and eyed Gwen. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Are you going to tell Avery Malachai is here speak with her?"

Gwen heaved a deep sigh. "You know, you have a voice and legs. If you want her to know he's here, why don't you tell her?"

"Gwen..." Steve said warningly.

"Oh, fine, I'll get her," Gwen huffed. "The last thing she needs to deal with now is more stupid men anyway!"

Avery soon followed her mother, dragging her feet as they both came into the living room, and Malachai couldn't help but notice that she looked different than usual. Now she wore black sweatpants with a white stripe down the side and a sparkly purple hoodie with the hood hanging over her face to hide her eyes. But as she prepared to speak to him, the hood was lowered and he saw that, even though she wore no make-up and her hair wasn't brushed, she looked more beautiful than any time she'd tried to attract him on purpose.

"What do you want, Malachai?" She asked warily. "I told you that I wasn't interested in you having sessions with me anymore. You're free."

"But my dear, why is that?" Steve asked, dumbfounded.

"Go ahead and tell him," Gwen encouraged, a grin on her lips. "I think he'll be very interested to hear."

"I agree that we need to talk, but can we do it on the porch? I have something else I need to tell you; something I should have told you before."

Avery shrugged and followed him outside, and after he locked the door and turned to face her again, he was struck by how attractive she was, even though she was wearing sweats and hadn't made herself up. "So? What do you have to say to me?"

"Well, I want to apologize for what I did to you," he said. "Using magic to manipulate you like that. It's reprehensible. And morally wrong. The Council rules state that you aren't supposed to use magic against a fellow witch or warlock unless it's something like self defense."

"So they're gonna take you to jail? Serves you right."

"Well, maybe they won't, since I didn't kill you or physically hurt you, or whatever. I don't know what the rules are precisely," Malachai shrugged. "But the point is, I'm sorry I did it. No matter how I felt toward you, there were better ways to deal with it than by magic. And those are what you deserved."

Avery wiped some tears away that were falling down her cheeks. "Is that it?"

He tried to touch her arm but she backed away from him as he spoke, looking at him in a way that made him feel such shame that he had to close his eyes. "I know you won't forgive me so easily, and that's what I deserve, but I had to come here and present my apologies to you personally."

"Yes, well, it's done now, so get out of my sight!" Avery snapped, looking out into the empty street.

Malachai took a deep breath. "I want to make it clear that regardless of how I've behaved, I think you're an amazing woman, and you have your whole life ahead of you to accomplish amazing things. And I also want to say that the reason I can't return your affections is because..."

"Because you're a big jerk who doesn't care about anyone's feelings but his?" Avery interrupted. "And I didn't want to give you affection! I just wanted to have sex! Why is that so hard for you to understand? I thought that was Guy Talk 101!"

He winced. "No, the real truth of the matter is that I'm seeing someone already; I have another woman in my life."

"Excuse me?" Avery's jaw dropped in shock.

"It's a secret because she's so close to getting a divorce and we didn't want to risk ruining that for her."

"Who is she?!" Avery demanded between clenched teeth.

"I don't think you really need to know-"

"Who is it?"

He sighed. "It's...it's Astrid from the Council.

"Well, I hope you'll be very happy with her!" Avery huffed. "Goodbye, Malachai!" Without giving him a chance to say another word, she turned on her heel and ran back into the house, tears flowing freely down her cheeks, not feeling safe again until she was in her bedroom with the door closed.

"Well, what in the world was that about?" Steve questioned. "Please tell me you know, Gwen."

"It's nothing you need to worry about," Gwen assured him. "Something more suited for a mother to deal with. You just stay where you are and read your newspaper." She put it back in his hands and headed to Avery's room.

"Remember what we said," Gwen reminded her when she saw Avery was sobbing again. "No wasting tears over a man."

"But...you don't understand, Mother!" Avery sniffled. "Malachai is in love with Astrid from the Council and that's why he doesn't like me!" She expected her mother to be shocked but instead, Gwen just raised an eyebrow and burst out laughing.

"This isn't funny at all, Mother!" Avery exclaimed. "Why are you laughing?"

"Cause it's complete and utter nonsense is what it is," Gwen remarked. "The worst nonsense I've ever heard!"

"What makes you so sure? He could be telling the truth!"

"Oh, my dear," Gwen sighed and patted Avery on the head. "If you knew Astrid at all, you would know that she's madly in love with her husband, Alistair, and that there could never be anyone else for her. They're going through a rough patch in their marriage, which is probably why she had Malachai make up this wild story. I couldn't be sure though. However, I do know that if you went to your father and asked him, he would be able to tell you in no uncertain terms that Astrid is in love with her husband."

"Could you ask him for me?" Avery wanted to know. "Please?"

"If I did, I would have to tell him the whole story," Gwen cautioned. "And I'm sure you don't want that."

"Heck no!" Avery cried. "Do you think I'm crazy?"

"I thought not," Gwen grinned. "As for Malachai, it's clear that he's trying to push you away in the most cowardly fashion imaginable. Put him out of your mind and don't give him the time of day. On the off-chance he has feelings for you that he won't admit to, it'll drive him mad!"

"But he wants me to ignore him! Why would it drive him mad?"

"Because he's lying to himself," Gwen assured her. "You're what he really wants!"

Feeling satisfied that her daughter was beginning to understand, she got to her feet. "Now, wipe your tears and get dressed in something reasonably nice. We'll go have lunch."

"All right," Avery nodded. "And Mom?"

"Yes?" Gwen asked, hand on the doorknob of Avery's bedroom door.

"Thanks for all your help with this, even if you think I'm being silly; thanks for being there."

"You're welcome," Gwen replied as she opened the door. "It's my pleasure."

After an early dinner, Helene zapped the plates clean and put them in their places, then gave Ludovic a smile. "I feel like running down to the lake for a little bit, don't you?"

"Yes," Ludovic grinned and got up. "I think that sounds like a wonderful idea!"

They tossed their clothes aside as they ran, only in their underwear as they got into the water.

"You know, this is surprisingly warm," Ludovic observed as he floated around on his back. "I like it."

"Me too," Helene agreed and dove under the water to swim a short distance away. Then she just treaded water for a bit until she felt someone push her gently from behind so that she went under. When she re-emerged, she gave Ludovic a look. "Did you do that?"

"Maybe," he smiled sheepishly. "Or maybe you were clumsy and fell in the water."

"I'll show you clumsy!" Helene smiled and splashed him, then gave him a push. "How's that for clumsy?"

Ludovic chuckled and pulled her in for a kiss. "Well, you sure showed me!"

Soon after, the air around them began to cool.

"You're shivering," Ludovic observed and picked her up to carry her out of the water. "Let's get you dried off and under a blanket and then I'll make a fire."

"Okay," Helene agreed and leaned against him with a smile. "Sounds good to me!"

As they made their way out of the water and toward the tent, they paused to watch the light of the sunset through the trees as Ludovic kissed Helene's hair. "Are you happy?" He asked.

"Oh, yes," Helene assured him. "Immensely."

"Good." He grinned and kissed her forehead.

After they dried off, warmed up, and got in bed, Ludovic fell asleep, although Helene didn't realize it right away, and just lay with her head on his chest as she gently stroked it. She bit her lip and decided to make a confession, raising herself up on her elbows for a better look at him. "You know," she murmured, "you're making it very hard for me not to fall in love with you." She waited for him to respond, and then when he didn't, she looked closer and realized he was asleep. "Well, that's fine," she sighed. "Maybe it's best you don't know what I said yet." Then she yawned and lowered her head back down to his chest as she felt her eyes close.

What seemed like just a short time later, however, her eyes popped open. She didn't know why. She looked around, took a deep breath, and suddenly, it hit her: a feeling that she was being watched. Then she saw the little boy and girl staring back at her and grabbed a shirt to cover herself up with. The girl was about four or five and the boy just slightly younger. "Oh, my gosh, kids, you scared me to death! What are you doing here?"

The little girl rubbed her eyes and the little boy yawned.

"We're looking for Mommy and Daddy," the girl explained.

Helene shook Ludovic awake. "Wake up!"

"Damn it, baby, I'm sleeping. What is it?"

"We have company," Helene told him. "Put on a shirt."

He sat up and got a good look at the children. "Well, look at that! You kids don't need to be afraid, all right? We won't hurt are you doing here?"

He dressed and threw Helene her clothes so she could do the same before she headed over to get information out of the little girl. "What's your name, sweetheart?"

The little girl gave Helene a long look and after deciding she was someone who could be trusted, said, "I'm Madeline. And this is Brady. He's my brother."

"Hi Madeline," Ludovic smiled at her. "That is a very pretty name."

"You do have a pretty name," Helene agreed, hoping they were putting the children at ease as she kneeled in front of them. "And I like your brother's curly hair."

"He has curly hair like Mommy," Madeline informed her.

"I bet he does," Helene agreed.

"Can you tell us where your parents are?" Ludovic asked.

"Back away from them!" The voice was loud and sharp and followed by the sound of a gunshot. But no one was hurt so it was just a warning. The children trembled with fear anyway.

Soon, a young man emerged, and pointed a gun at the group and the kids ran into Helene's arms.

"Okay, okay," Ludovic told him. "No need for violence. Let's discuss this peacefully so the kids don't get scared. If these kids are yours, they came to us. We didn't take them."

"Yeah, they're mine," the young man nodded.

"How?" Ludovic asked, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"They're my brother and sister."

"Good," Ludovic nodded. "Now we're getting somewhere. How about you put the gun down and tell me your name?"

The young man kept the gun up. "I'm Nico."

"Nice to meet you, Nico. I'm Ludovic and this is my girlfriend, Helene."

Helene looked up in surprise and then blushed and smiled. She wondered if he realized what he'd called her. She wouldn't point it out. She was too glad to hear it said out loud.

"Okay," Nico nodded, but still continued to keep a tight hold on the gun.

"Nico, I'm scared!" Madeline told him.

"You heard your sister," Ludovic said. "She's terrified. Drop the gun."

"Please?" Helene pleaded. "We're not dangerous and we won't hurt them."

Nico finally nodded and slipped the gun into the holster at his waist.

"You're a werewolf, right?" Ludovic asked.

"How did you know that?" Nico questioned.

"Cause I'm one too," Ludovic informed him. "Now, where are your parents?"

Nico's eyes began to fill up with tears, although he did his best to stop his brother and sister from seeing him cry. "Our village. They came to our village, and there was a fire, and-"

Ludovic sighed and caught Helene's eye. It didn't take a genius to figure out they were dealing with orphans. "Who is this mysterious 'they' you're talking about?"

Nico sighed and shook his head helplessly. "I don't know. Thank you for keeping my brother and sister safe but now I just want to take them with me and find a good place for us to sleep tonight."

Ludovic nodded. "I believe you do, and I know you mean well, but a life in the woods...that's a hard thing for two small children. I know you're old enough to take care of yourself, but...what are you going to do about them? How are you going to keep them safe?"

"I just..." Nico shook his head. "We'll be fine. We need to go now. Get out of here."

"Listen," Ludovic insisted. "We have friends nearby. They have a big cabin with a spare bed, and I have no doubt they'd give you food and a roof over your head for a night or two. Would you like that?"

Nico started to refuse, but then realized it didn't sound like such a bad idea. "I think...maybe," he hopped from foot to foot.

"I think," Ludovic said as he kneeled in front of Helene and the kids, "that we're going back to see Walter and Barbara."

"I thought as much," Helene nodded. "But what are we going to tell them?"

"I don't know, but we'll think of something;" Ludovic assured her as they began walking. "It's either that or leave them out here, and you know that's not gonna happen. It'll all work out."

"Yeah," Helene sighed, taking Madeline's hand, and telling her to put one in her brother's. Then Ludovic took Brady's other hand so they were all in a connected line. "Stay like this," she instructed. "We don't want to lose each other."

"No," Ludovic shook his head and kept his eye on Nico. "We sure don't."