A new, weird phenomenon occurred in Jenna's life: quiet, troubleless days. She woke up every morning in the same bed, had breakfast with the man she loved, went to work, killed a thing or two, teased Remy, then spent an evening with friends, actual, real friends and not her father's bodyguards or occasional lovers. Sometimes she even stayed in for the night, watching movies or reading or just talking to Robert while the turntable played old rock in the corner. Not a threat, no urging sense of oncoming doom, not one crazy and all-powerful sorcerer to stop. Nobody to find or nobody to hide from. As November turned into December, more and more streets and shops had put on their Christmas outfits and the world still didn't try to end. It was really odd.

Jenna used to think that she was incapable of leading a life like this, living with someone, being monogamous, but turned out even that wasn't a problem. Sure, she found herself looking at someone every once in a while, even flirting a little, but there was no passion, no desire in that. Against all odds, it looked like she was happy.

That, naturally, scared the living hell out of her. She spent long, sleepless hours thinking, laying in the darkness next to Robert, wondering, looking for the catch, because the whole thing was just too good to be true. She was sure that she didn't deserve a life like this, that something somewhere went wrong and she stole this man, this life from some poor girl who actually deserved them. When those thoughts became overwhelming, she woke up Robert and they had sex: it was one of the few things that could calm her nerves. The man somehow never complained about it.

'I'm still not convinced that your weird little bird isn't peaking,' Jenna said after one of those occasions, wrapping the sheet around her naked body with uncharacteristic shyness while looking towards the windows.

'Munin isn't interested in human bodies,' answered Robert, still panting a little. 'He is a spirit.'

'He is a he,' pointed out Jenna. 'With human-like intelligence. The only males I've met who weren't interested in this,' she gestured towards her body, 'were interested in that,' she bobbed in the direction of Robert's thing now. 'Both very understandable, by the way. But who doesn't love free porn, right? Trust me, he is peaking.'

'He is not, and don't let him hear that you compare him to humans, intelligence-wise. He is kinda proud in that way.'

'He is a stuck-up asshole,' grinned Jenna. 'No wonder you two are getting along so well.'

'I love you, too,' murmured Robert.

'Yeah, well, I'm gonna close the blinds next time before we do it, anyway,' she said, then she got out of the bed.

'Where are you going?' asked Robert.

'Closing the blinds,' she smiled.

'You know he can phase through walls, right?'

'Hush or I will do it alone,' replied Jenna.

Half an hour and some very loud agreeing later she laid on him, limbs all mixed together, their skins glued together with sweat.

'I was thinking…' started Robert. 'I want to introduce you to my Mom.'

'Why on Earth would you think about your Mom right now, you weirdo?' asked Jenna.

Robert laughed.

'It just seemed like a good moment to bring it up,' he answered.

'Agree to disagree. But I've actually met her, you know.'

'I know,' nodded Robert, stroking the girls back. 'But this time it would be properly done. You would be introduced as my girlfriend. I was thinking that maybe we could invite her over for a Christmas dinner.'

'I don't know… She seemed like a nice lady, but that's a big step. What if she doesn't like me?'

'How that would be any different from any other members of our families?' asked Robert.

'Hey, my father did invite you to his party,' Jenna obstructed.

'Yes, and he would curse me in between the eyes right in front of all the rich and important guests if he knew that we are together.'

'Yet, you want your mom to know,' said Jenna.

'That's different. She won't tell anyone, not even my father. Especially not to my father, actually.'

Jenna sighed.

'I don't understand… Why is she still with him? I don't wanna be personal or anything… I just don't seem to understand, really.'

'I think she had moments when she wanted to leave,' Robert answered sadly. 'At first, she stayed for us, for me and Ben. My father didn't care much about us but he would have sicced on my mother all the lawyers the family fortune can pay for to keep us, just out of sheer pride. Without her, our childhood could have been even more terrible, I think. She always tried to protect us, and my father, believe it or not, actually loved her enough to let her do it sometimes.'

Jenna kissed his shoulder. She could hear his steady heartbeat as she put her ears on his chest.

'But you are all grown-ups now,' she said.

'Debatable, but we got older, anyway. Look, what you must understand, is that my father can be very charming. He was… He is a charismatic man. He has gravitas. He was born a leader, and it's a shame he wants to lead people in the wrong direction.'

'I remember, when I was small, my Dad used to tell these scary stories about him. Not for me, I was just around. By the time I was twelve I was pretty sure that the lord was the Boogeyman,' said Jenna. 'He never mentioned anything about the wheelchair, though. But that just made him even scarier the first time I saw him.'

'I didn't know you two have met,' said Robert.

'Wouldn't call it that,' answered the girl. 'It was years ago, before my Mom died. It was some lame party thrown by someone important. My father was invited and yours was too. They didn't even talk, just nodded to each other. Your old man still scared me though… He was staring at me like he knew me or something.'

'He can be very intimidating, yes,' nodded Robert.

Jenna sighed again. She shifted her weight and snuggled closer.

'I wonder how it all started,' she said.

'What, you don't know?' asked Robert in a surprised voice.

'You do?' the girl lifted her head so she could look into Robert's eyes.

'Of course, it was basically the first bedtime story I've ever heard. Well, at least the version my father used to tell, I'm sure it isn't exactly how it started.'

'Tell me,' asked Jenna. Her father never answered when she asked how it started, and it looked like nobody else knew it. Even her mother never told the story, only said that she should not hate anyone she doesn't know, but she shouldn't go near Montgomerys either. For her child-mind, it was very confusing at the time.

'It started with your grandfather, Teodore Carano, the first,' Robert began. 'As far as I can tell he came to London sometimes in the '70s. By the end of the '80s, he was a force to reckon with, a rising star in the business world. Somehow every step he took, every decision he made worked out perfectly. He was always one step ahead of everyone, his investments paid out big time and important people started to invite him to important places. There were even rumours that he used some kind of ancient magic to see the future, but as you know, he wasn't even a sorcerer.'

'Yeah, Dad got it from his mother, I guess' said Jenna. 'Never knew her, died before I was born.'

'I'm sorry about that,' Robert said.

'Not your fault,' shrugged Jenna.

'Hold on to that thought,' he sighed. 'This is not a happy story and my family doesn't look good in it even when they are telling it. So, naturally, everyone wanted to know what was your grandfather's secret, everyone wanted him on their team. Even my grandfather, Lord Philip Montgomery. He offered a partnership, money to invest, everything. As my father would say, he did Teodore a favour, getting involved with a lucky nobody, a foreigner. He could have open doors for Teodore that otherwise would have stayed close. It was The Opportunity in Teodore's life… My father's words, again. But Teodore was too proud. He didn't like the way Lord Philip treated him, even though he said they were partners Teodore was merely more than a particularly useful employee, I imagine. Phillip would tell him how he admired him: a foreigner who actually worth something, who likes to work… My grandfather meant that as a compliment, mind you.'

'Sounds like a lovely man,' noted Jenna.

'Montgomerys has a way with people, yes,' Robert shook his head. 'Long story short, Teodore made him turn every land, every stock, every old countryside mansion, everything the Montgomery family owned into cash so he could invest it. Then he lost almost the entire Montgomery fortune on purpose, washed his hands and walked away. My family used to be almost as rich as Marcus' but now we have only a mansion in London, a weekend house somewhere in Wales, a few cars and our name.'

'Still much better than what most people have,' pointed out Jenna. She felt a little tension in the man's voice, and kissed his chest, hoping that would help.

Robert sighed, then shrugged.

'Never really cared for it, from the moment I could I worked and lived on my own money. Unfortunately, the story didn't end there. Phillip knew, or he thought he knew what Teodore did and it reassured him in his old beliefs. One night, as Teodore was walking home from his restaurant, where he liked to work occasionally too, two sorcerers attacked him, robbed him from the daily income and sent him to the hospital. When he got out, someone broke into the Montgomery Mansion, destroyed several pieces of the family heirloom, beat up a butler so badly he lost an eye and took my grandfather's very expensive, vintage vampire hunter-kit. Later on instant spells from the said kit were used against Montgomery-servants and properties, then Teodore's restaurant burnt down. With his wife still inside…'

Jenna looked up. She felt her stomach sinking. Sure, she knew that the family fraud used to be brutal, and she was suspicious that Teodore, her Teodore, was right about the death of his parents, but all of those were just theories. What Robert said, sounded like a fact, a known fact.

'Merda,' she said. 'That is really dark. No wonder Dad would have a meltdown if he knew we were together. I mean, can you blame him?'

'Not really, no,' answered Robert. 'But you can understand our side a little better now too, don't you?'

'Your side?' Jenna raised her eyebrow.

'You know what I mean,' he said.

The girl shook her head, curly locks danced in front of her face. She sat up and wrapped the sheets around her body, because she was cold all of the sudden. Robert sat up too, putting his back against the headrest.

'I think both sides were full of assholes, and I also think that we shouldn't let it bother us,' Jenna said. 'I mean, if it's all true, that means our grandparents or at least grandfathers were terrible people. Sure, that sucks but I still love you.'

'I love you, too,' said Robert and Jenna smiled, unwillingly. Hearing this was still new and exciting for her. And she meant what she just had said: she didn't care that the man who said it happened to be born into a family her folks never liked. They didn't have to. They didn't have a say in it. She shook her head again, then put it onto Robert's shoulder. He hugged her and kissed the top of her head.

'Let's just let it go, okay?' asked Jenna. 'Look at our parents. They couldn't and look how that did end...'