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well as ancient family bylaws.
    “I’d love to stay there.”
    Both of the older people stared with raised eyebrows at the vehemence of her response, but she refused to explain herself.  She did not want to go back to that apartment, full as it was of memories of herself with Dag.  Getting away to a place that she had only a few very good, childish memories of had a lot of appeal right about now.
    Fawna gave her brother a longer hug than usual, and he responded in kind, letting her cry on his shoulder a bit.  “Thank you.  I think it’s just what I need about now.”
    “Any time, baby girl.  Any time.”
    She wished he wouldn’t have called her that, in just their father’s tone of voice.  It made the tears come just that much faster.
    Dain was, as always, thinking ten steps ahead of everyone else.  His pad was perfect for her to recover from her broken heart, yes, but it was also extremely well defended, and, by the time she arrived there, he would have it surrounded by his agents.  She would be snug as a bug in a rug for as long as she wanted to be.
    And as long as he could manage to keep her there.
    He adjourned the meeting somewhat abruptly then, eager to send her on her way to what he considered to be an even safer place, where Max was less likely to get at her.
    Her Mom offered to help her with anything she needed, but Fawna still had things there at the enclave the family had used occasionally while she was growing up and referred to as “the haven”.  It had been used more often while her father had been a bachelor himself and her mom, of course, had left like some sort of shrine.  The only thing she asked her Mother to do for her was to take Cookie and Teo in for a while, which she was only too happy to do. 
    She wasn’t going to be seeing anyone, if she could help it – she certainly didn’t feel like it – so she didn’t feel the need to bring anything other than jeans and t shirts, which she had a ton of, although she did end up raiding whatever her mom had left there.  Luckily they were about the same size.
    He sent her off in the family limo, with old Jack as the driver.  He’d trust anyone or anything with Jack.  He knew that man would lay down his life for the family – he’d tried to more than once in his hundred and fifty years.
    Jack left her near the forest opening that would lead her to her haven.  He didn’t think she realized just how careful her brother was being with her, that she would be watched the entire way until she closed the big, arched front door behind her, but that was probably better.  He’d watched Fawna grow up from just a sprout, and he knew that she wouldn’t have anything good to say about her brother’s overprotective tendencies. 
    It was dark, but the sky was clear.  One of the nice things she’d inherited from her father - besides her affinity for animals - was the ability to see in very little light.  It might as well have been high noon as far as she was concerned.  She realized that her brother had probably set his “friends” out along the way to watch for her and make sure she made it to the house, but decided to ignore that fact.  The path was overgrown, but she knew the way well enough that she didn’t need a path.  High concentrations of the family’s scent drew her to places, and that was the area where the family had originated.  The forest fairly reeked of the family, even to a half-breed such as herself.
    Suddenly, she realized that she truly wasn’t alone, and it wasn’t because of her brother’s minions, it was because of another presence.  A much more malevolent one.
    Max.
    She recognized who it was just before he slipped his arm through hers and began walking with her.  Fawna tried to reclaim her own appendage for the second time that day, with the same amount of success, but he would have none of it, and simply clamped down a little bit harder and she simply couldn’t get it back from him.  Still, she wasn’t