THE VROL TRILOGY (90 page)

"Oh gawd, Jen, what happened to all of the
wedding preparations?" asked Max, slightly alarmed as he remembered
he had been away for six months.

"Oh, don't worry about it, hun. Everything is
in storage, and Krynos said we'll have the wedding as soon as we
get back."

"I'd like that, although I think Krynos
didn't like my tuxedo very much. Hey, look - Liliana's about done
for the night."

"You're right sweetie, he didn't. And neither
did I. It's just that I just didn't want to say anything. Maybe you
could wear your Azul commander uniform? It looks soooo sexy on you.
I remember seeing you in it for the first time - my knees almost
gave out."

"Oh man, are you serious? I had no
idea. I thought I was stuck in the
friend
zone
back then."

"Oh you were, sweetie. That doesn't mean I
didn't have stuff swirling around in my head," she said, giggling
softly.

Their daughter was nearly passed out, sitting
on a couch near the club entrance, surprisingly cuddled up between
Cassandra and Minnie, who had seemed to take on caregiver roles for
the little girl.

"Love, we should take Lili to bed. Those cat
people kinda give me the creeps."

Max laughed, and decided to
not
tell his wife all of the things
that nekos enjoyed, such as cleaning laundry with their tongues,
prostitution and incest. Walking over to get the girl, he noticed
that the neko sisters were actually purring, and quite loudly. He
had never considered that having felid genes would enable purring,
as many ancient cats, especially the large ones, didn't purr at
all.

"Heya, Cassandra. Thanks for letting Liliana
hang out here with you. It's been a long day for her," Max said
gratefully as he picked his daughter up.

"Ish fines, Max Gunniesman. She ish good
kitten… erm… puppeh. We friendsh nows," responded the odd, furry
girl.

"Especially now that she knows not to chase
them around, right?" Jennie joked under her breath while walking
away, as Max followed, carrying the little girl in his arms.

They said little goodbyes to Max's friends,
especially to the Dons, Jessica and Pandy. Entering into the newly
refurbished building they encountered Michael at the entrance to
the stairwell.

"It appears that my granddaughter has
depleted her resources."

"Yup, appears so. You plan on sticking around
and being a grandfather?" asked Max.

"If you mean babysitting her, no. But if you
mean assisting you in the fight for your world and assisting with
her, and your education, then yes. Max, I cannot undo the past 25
years, and I have many things to take care of, but I do promise you
that I will play an active role in the lives of some pretty
incredible humans."

"Well, I'm not quite human now, am I?"

"No, my son, you are not. You are so much
more. Oh, may I ask, how are your parents? Charles and Claire?"

"Charles died a few years ago, but not before
seeing me acquire my PhD. Mom's still alive, though. I'd like to go
get her off Azul when we get back, with Draagh's help, of course. I
have no plans on doing anything beyond a simple 3D slip without
further instruction." Max looked at his beautiful wife and then
down at his daughter, cradled in his arms. "Yeah, definitely not
going anywhere without these two from now on."

Michael held his arms out to Max while
asking, "Max, may I carry her for you? We have a special room for
her next to yours. Let me show you where it is. I believe you'll
appreciate how we constructed it. You see, you can see and hear
her, but she cannot see nor hear you - well, not much. It was
created for your… privacy."

"Oh my god! Why does everyone think
we're going to
get it on
right away! It's like a voyeur freakfest!" yelped
Jennie.

"Love, I think we could use a bit of
privacy," Max said, winking at her.

"Yeah, but it's all about keeping a low
profile, silly."

The main suite wasn't only a large room. It
had a salon, a kitchen, a main sleeping chamber and two other
bedrooms. Liliana was gently placed in one of the side rooms by her
grandfather, who then exited and looked around in the main living
area.

"Do you have any intentions of returning to
this plane, Max?" asked the archangel.

"I don't know. If there is a need, but I
don't see one. I may come back to say hi every now and then,
why?"

"I was thinking… this is such a nice room,
you may want to reserve it for yourself."

"How about we leave it for family, then?"
asked Jennie, as she walked over to the balcony and looked down at
the crowd.

"Looks like Gabriel likes it here," said
Max.

"Yes, he is developing a bond with the lycan
female," noted Michael.

"He's an archangel, why would he like a
human?" asked Jennie.

"I fell in love with Max's mother, so it's
not totally unusual," he responded.

"Oh come on, seriously? You fell in love with
my mother? Then why did you hook her up with Charles Gunnarsson?"
Max asked with an incredulous tone.

Max, I am truly sorry, but as time goes on
you will see and understand the responsibilities that have been
placed up our kind," responded Michael, as he gestured towards
Max.

"
Our
kind
? What do you mean,
our
kind
? I'm just a lycan - and a mage. That's
it."

"No, my son. You are much, much more. There
is a hierarchy to the bloodline, and I will explain it to you
tomorrow, but for now let us rest. It has been a long day - for us
all."

Chapter 22 - Revelation

Max woke up at daybreak, thanks to the
morning's first light entering into his room. Opening his eyes, he
looked at his wife's beautiful sleeping face, as the sun peeked
through her tussled dark hair via their east-side window. He gently
pulled the bedsheets away from her voluptuous body, fully exposing
her nude figure, just so he could stare in amazement.

Wow, I'm the luckiest guy in the galaxy.

Jennie was beyond beautiful - beyond hot. She
was as close to perfection as one could get without being an
immortal goddess.

She made an unconscious, pouty face and
pursed her lips, stretched a bit and rolled over, pulling the
sheets back over her copper skin, so Max took that as a cue to get
the day started.

Sliding out of bed, he yawned as he clumsily
stumbled over to the bathroom, where he cleaned up before getting
dressed. Going to the newly created kitchen, he prepared some yerba
mate for Jennie, waking her up with a hot gourd full of their
traditional drink.

"Morning, gorgeous. Did you sleep well?" he
asked.

Rubbing her eyes sleepily, she looked up at
her husband with what one could almost describe as a look of
relief.

"Yeah, baby. Best sleep in six months. I had
a dream that I found you and you never went away again. We traveled
together all over and Lili even went to college on Azul. Just don't
ever do stupid shit again, ok? You're too hyper, Max."

"I promise, hun. I'll never, ever leave
again. You never know what'll happen tomorrow, but I do know this –
I'm never going to pass another day for the rest of my life without
giving you a kiss."

Max leaned over and gently placed his lips
against hers, their softness enveloping him and drawing him into
her soul. She truly was his mate for life, and now that they were
reunited they could finally have the wedding that he had so
desperately wanted to give her.

"Hey, let's get Lili up…"

"No," she whispered, putting her finger to
his lips, "not yet."

Jennie jumped up and ran to the bathroom,
where she brushed her teeth and did a quick cleanup. She then
turned around and raced back to their bed, playfully tackling her
husband. Pushing him onto his back, she straddled him and started
to run her hands over his chest as she moved her hips back and
forth, a giant smile covering her face.

Max returned her smile, saying, "Again, love?
We must've done it for over two hours last night."

"Baby, we have six months of catching up to
do."

She let out a small giggle and reached back
behind her curvaceous posterior, gently fondling him. When she was
satisfied he was up to par (after about five seconds) she gave her
husband a devious grin and slid down his legs, taking his pants
along for the ride. She then climbed back up onto him and took a
deep breath. Having him firmly in her grasp, she gently settled
onto her husband, letting out a small sigh, her eyes rolling back a
bit.

"No foreplay, baby? That's unusual," he
softly said.

Jennie just smiled as she filled herself with
the man of her life, then fell forward into a wet, good morning
kiss.

"Sos un boludo, pero te quiero más que
nunca."

###

Dons and Pandy stumbled out of their
now-common room in the top floor of Seven Sins, going down the
stairs to the lounge area - they weren't keeping any more secrets
regarding their relationship. It was stupid and senseless, being as
everyone knew anyway. Entering the bar area, they saw there were
practically dozens of people passed out on the couches and the
floor. There was even a fellow asleep on the bar top. Dons sighed
before commenting on the crowd.

"Oh great, lots to clean up. Maybe we can
find Adam and…"

"Oh golly, Dons, we don't need to find him.
Remember what Max did to our mage devices?"

Pandy winked at her boyfriend and squinted
her eyes, concentrating on her new method of communication.

"
HEY ADAM!
WAKE UP! GET TO THE BAR
!"

Pandy yelled out from her mind to everyone
connected via magic comm, and before she could even think another
word, Adam fell from the top of the liquor cabinet where he had
gone to sleep, landing on the floor with a loud crash.

"What's happening? Who died? Demons?
Underwear! Explosions? Oh… my head. Oh gawd, it hurts," whined the
confused and very hung-over magic-enabled clan assistant.

"Morning, mate! Sleep well? Gotta tell ya,
that's a good spot. Used it many times back in the day," Dons said
as he walked towards Adam. "We gotta start cleaning this place up.
Would be a great chance to start using your new skills that Maxie
taught ya."

"Adam, you should like this one," said Pandy
as she handed him a glass of water.

"What's this, Pandy? And where's Jessica?"
asked Adam.

"Just drink it, sweetie. It has healing
properties, and Jess is… out."

Adam had figured his chances with
Jessica were slim to none, with
none
being more likely, as she had been getting
so chummy with the newly-arrived archangel. Putting that in the
back of his mind, he lifted the glass to his lips and took a drink.
In a matter of moments he grew a look of relief on his face, his
hangover having been completely eradicated.

"Yeah, that's what Max did for me that first
morning he was here! He used magic to cure my hangy. So now get to
work, mate," exclaimed Dons, as he started to make some coffee.

###

Jessica watched the sun rise from an
untouched tropical atoll in the South Pacific Ocean. Leaning up
against Gabriel, who had slipped her there the night before, she
relaxed while sipping some tea he had conjured.

"So you say the demons won't come here
because it is so far out in the ocean?" she asked.

"I looked back on this plane's timeline and
saw that their brood carriers indeed did fly over here but they did
not dispatch flyers nor ground troops as the island was
uninhabited. This land is as natural as the day it was created,"
responded the archangel, as he gently ran his fingers through
Jessica's short, dark hair.

"Thanks for bringing me here, Gabe. I've been
stuck in that hellhole all my life, and never really imagined that
there were places in the world like this."

"Would you like to see more of this world,
and perhaps some others?" he asked.

"Well, I can't leave my family, but there's
nothing wrong with taking a vacation every now and then. Plus, as
much as I love him, Dons will die one day while I'll just…
continue."

"It is one of the gifts from the
seraphim, my dear. Your enhanced bloodline avails itself
o
f the healing of nature, enabling long
life."

"Yeah, Max showed us the nanobots. He said
there were healing ones, and levitation ones, and others even more
complex."

"Jah indeed created a marvelous universe, my
young friend."

"Where is he? God, Jah, whatever you call
him?"

"We do not know. He simply left one day. He
had been busy for all of eternity, so I guess even The Creator
deserves a vacation," Gabriel answered in an amusing tone.

"Gabe, Max said that in his world a lycan can
make a normal human into a lycan, just as a vampire can make
someone into a vampire, but that vampires are nasty and rotting -
not nice, super-pale people like we have here. Can we… can I make
Dons into a Lycan so he can live a long time? He's been like a
brother to me, and I think he and Pandy are in love. It would suck
to see him go so quickly. Can I do anything?"

Gabriel thought for a moment, and then
recalled the data he had collected when he first scanned Seven
Sins.

"No, I'm sorry. Not here. The people of this
world are too different. Your genetic mutation is much too mild.
That is why the vampires here are simply people with a fondness for
the taste of blood. However, we could ask Father. He may have a
solution. Be as it may, I believe that all of our destinies have
been forever intertwined. The fate of the galaxy rests partly on
the shoulders of young Max, for if he is unable to stop the aliens
before they besiege his world they may acquire the ability to
travel elsewhere, bringing their putrid stain to the rest of the
universe."