"I know this isn't difficult for you. I haven't seen Dester's men here, and I know you're behind it. They wouldn't let me out of their sight for a second. They watched me all the time."
"You have no idea how difficult an operation like this is. It will destabilize me. Dester is very powerful. He'll hunt down anyone who takes part in his escape. He loves you, Brianna, and will go to hell to rescue you."
"He loves me? Oh, God! What would he do to me if he hated me?" she asked sarcastically.
"It's not a joke, Brianna. What you're asking me to do is... possible, yes, but I don't know if I should jeopardize the lives of the people who are needed for something like this to be done forever."
"I see. I don't want anyone to live a life on the run because of me. But tell me, what was the proposal you had in mind?" Brianna didn't want to dwell on the subject. She didn't want to push him to do anything against his will.
"I... I thought I'd ask for something, in exchange for your freedom."
Brianna looked at him sideways, then at the trees on the other side of the lake.
"If I pay, do the lives of the people who will be needed cease to matter, Henry?"
"No. But... I will pledge my personal fortune so that they can survive in some other country, with other identities. I'd be poor, but... The value of what I want is incalculable."
"And I would gladly pay your price, Henry. Brianna said, and smiled. But her smile had an air of fatefulness about it. Brianna could never love someone of that mercenary nature. Someone who didn't give of themselves. The dreams didn't reveal a love. They only revealed the probable father of another Bruma. The girls before her fell in love with the fable that everyone told about a great love, but it was a lie. She would never pass on such knowledge to her daughter.
The tone of sadness in Brianna's voice made Henry's heart beat fast and urgently.
"But I've decided that I'm going to get you out of here, without asking for anything in return."
"You just said..."
"Yes. I'll also need to change your name. But that won't be a problem. I already have many identities, and Dester only knows this one, which is the real one. You have the resources to take refuge in some country. Don't go back to your grandfather. Dester would kill your whole family. Start your life again, under another name, in a country that's hard to detect."
"How do you know if I have resources or not?"
"Dester told me that you stopped at a bank before you came here. With that information alone, I could find out how many cents you have in your account, if that were of interest to me. But it's not." Henry said, and stood up, holding out his hand to help her do the same.
"And when will my escape be?" Brianna accepted his hand and stood up, close enough to him. She could feel his fresh breath on her forehead and raised her head to look him in the eye, but for some reason she was focused on his lips and her desire to kiss them to taste them.
"I'll make the necessary arrangements. Give me a week." He said, and walked away, taking a step back and shoving his hands in his pants pockets.
"How will I know about the progress of your plans?"
"I'll find a way to see you every day."
Brianna nodded, then remembered something. It wasn't important, but she wanted to know anyway.
"Did you hire that prostitute for Dester?"
"Yes. She's his stag present. It will take him about a week to get bored of her. He's wanted her for a long time."
Brianna looked at him hopefully.
"He won't come back to the estate for a week?"
Henry laughed.
"I don't think so. He'll keep her somewhere else, or maybe, since he's so bold, I don't doubt that he'll invite her to spend a few days here."
Brianna felt her heart darken with sadness.
"He... Dester seems to have a lot of women and... Can he satisfy them all?"
Henry stared at her, concentrating on her reactions.
"Does that bother you?"
"No."
Henry believed her.
"Your curiosity is legitimate. I, too, often wonder how he manages... It's not natural. No man gets the erection I've heard some women talk about for so long without any... rest. Some women I've come into contact with who have stayed with him complain that he has an abnormal sexual appetite... abnormal, and that after the long hours he... uses them, puts them in a bathtub for an hour, before they leave that place."
Brianna was startled by this information, but not surprised. She couldn't tell Henry that Dester was a werewolf, or he'd have her committed to a sanatorium.
"I need to take her with me when I leave."
"Her?"
"The prostitute."
"What do you mean? Take Sarah? Have you gone mad?"
"She asked me to... And she's in my destiny." Brianna said, determined to fulfill her mission on earth.
"I don't believe in such nonsense, but do as you please. I'll get you out of here and make sure you're not captured again by Dester. Then I'll give you Sarah's address, and if you still want to take her with you, that's your problem. But I'm warning you, she's not worth what the cat buries."
"You trusted her to keep Dester away."
"Brianna, don't compare yourself to me. It's very hard for someone brought up the way I was, with the relatives I have, to be deceived by someone. You were brought up to be a good woman who supports her husband, not to be a prostitute's whore."
"You're underestimating me, Henry. You have no idea what my family is capable of, but...who is your family?"
Henry laughed and approached her, taking her by the arms, bringing her face close to his, and when Brianna thought she was going to be kissed, he diverted his lips to her ear, which made her feel goosebumps, when he spoke with his breath, on the back of her ear. She listened and opened her eyes in surprise. A person like him would never be interested in a woman like her. He could have the most beautiful model. He was attractive, intelligent, rich and famous.