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" 'I'm going home,' I said. 'I want my family. ¡¯

" 'What do you mean, you're going home!' she demanded. 'Have you taken leave of your senses?¡¯

" 'No, I haven't. And I wish now to abolish our bargain. The Hermitage is mine. I reclaim it as of now. I need the mausoleum for my hiding place by day, and I need the rest of it for a getaway in the night. Now, I'll leave you to your chess, and again I thank you --. ¡¯

"Arion rose to his feet.

" 'But how will you get home?' he asked gently. 'You can defy gravity very well over short distances, and with great speed, perhaps more than you know. But you can't travel halfway around the world. It will be years before you have that skill. ¡¯

" 'I'm going the way any mortal would go,' I responded.

" 'And what will you do when you get there!' demanded Petronia, looking up at me.

" 'Live in my house as I've always done,' I said. 'Live in my room where I've always lived. Be with my family as I've always been. I'll do that as long as I can. I won't give them up. ¡¯

"Petronia rose slowly. 'But you don't know how to pretend to be human. You don't have the faintest idea. ¡¯

" 'Yes, I do,' I said. 'I watched you do it, and you're ancient by your stories and yet you managed in a roomful of people. Why should it be so hard for me? Besides, I'm determined to do it. I won't relinquish the life I had. ¡¯

" 'Won't you realize," Petronia said, 'that if you take those mortals into your secret, you'll destroy them?¡¯

" 'I'll protect them from it with my whole heart,' I said. 'You won't make me lose my nerve. ¡¯

" 'You can't just leave here and do this, Quinn,' said Arion gently. 'Besides, why would you? You don't belong with humans now. ¡¯

" 'Must I ask your permission?' I countered, looking him directly in the eye.

"He shrugged gracefully, just as I knew he would.

" 'No, you don't have to ask me. ¡¯

" 'I don't give a damn what you do!' said Petronia, just as I knew she would.

"I smiled. 'Then the Hermitage is now mine?' I asked.

" 'Take it as a present from me,' she said venomously.

"I looked down at the Old Man. 'Manfred, we'll meet another night. ¡¯

" 'Be careful, my son,' he said.

"I left the room, and, finding the grand stairs of the palazzo, was soon out, walking down a narrow winding path to the city below.

"Within twenty minutes I walked into the lobby of the Hotel Excelsior, where we had stayed on three occasions on our trips to Naples, and went to the desk of the concierge. He remembered me and immediately asked after Aunt Queen.

" 'I've been robbed. Everything's gone,' I said. 'I need to make a collect call to my aunt. ¡¯

"The phone was at once placed at my disposal. And a suite was being prepared.

"It was Jasmine who answered. She began to sob. When Aunt Queen came on the line, she was damn near hysterical.

" 'Listen,' I said. 'I can't explain this, but I'm in Naples, Italy. I need my passport, and I need funds badly. ' I told her over and over again how much I loved her and how unexpected this was, even for me, and that I would never be able to explain, but the thing now was for me to spend a decent night in the hotel and then start the flight home tomorrow evening.

"Finally Nash came on the line to give all the appropriate numbers to the cashier, and I was officially set up with every convenience, and I was told that airline tickets would be delivered to me. I explained to Nash that I would only travel at night -- that I wanted to fly from here to Milan on an evening flight, then from Milan to London on another evening flight, and from thence to New York in one evening. From there, of course, I'd return to New Orleans.

"When I shut the door of the suite, I went into a state of shock.

"It seemed my life had been a series of escalating fears, and this fear I knew now was the worst. It was quiet and cold and worse than panic, and I felt my heart throbbing in my throat. It seemed there would never be any relief from this fear, never any relief from this pain.