"The will of the wisp kept Thomas out of trouble, as he was led into the woods where all he could hunt was game, I just had to wait until Zayda came back to see how the curse could be removed. So, I had free time. And I began to realize how isolated I was. I missed Heather, and Danny, and Wendy, and all of them, who had become a new family for me. I ran across Genevieve from time to time, but she was constrained by her role as a not very successful guardian. There were the Thatchers, but while he was grateful that I had helped them get married, he did not like me looking at Patience's throat. There was Miriam, but there was a great danger that I would bring her to my existence, and I knew that she would hate me for it. I did not feed her again, and she kept asking me why I was so distant. I did not know what to tell her. In any case, it kept me distracted, and I should not have been."
-0-
"Irina!" Maurice thundered "How dare you put a will of the wisp on Thomas Benchley?"
"You did not forbid me to have fun. You only forbade me to go after Amos Benchley,"
"Well, you are to remove that will of the wisp. Now!"
"Why?"
"Do not ask questions, slave. Remove that will of the wisp."
"He will kill somebody."
"Yes. He will."
"Who?"
"Not your concern. Remove the will of the wisp. Now!"
-0-
"Irina had to obey. I did not know it, as the decision was made in the daytime, but as I rose, Genevieve appeared to me, begging me to stop Thomas. I flew to where he was. He was in all fours, sniffing the ground. And there was Agnes Moore, following a will of the wisp on her own. I reacted. I jumped over Thomas trying to overpower him and drag him away, and then I was paralyzed."
-0-
"So, you got my slave to help you deal with your family?" Maurice laughed. "What did you promise to love her? And she believed you? Well, you will not interfere."
-0-
"I was frozen in place, could not move a muscle, and I saw how Thomas jumped on Agnes Moore and tore into her with his teeth, and began devouring her.
"I heard Genevieve weep, and I recalled how she was doomed to try to prevent tragedies and fail As I had…"