Page 151 of The Life of Anna-Tenth Anniversary Edition: Act 1

The phone immediately started vibrating again and Devin pushed the screen to stop it. He pulled the whip up and cracked it at Alex again. The screen lit up once more and Devin growled and tapped the screen to silence it again. It lit up again within seconds.

Alex coughed and shook his head. “Something’s wrong, Devin.” He winced at the vibrations in his throat. “You know she’s not that persistent.”

Devin hesitated and glanced back at his phone, but it didn’t ring again. “Maybe not.” He smirked.

Alex knew something was wrong. He could feel it in his bones. A movement caught his eye in the corner and he saw Ian pull his phone from his pocket. The other man raised his eyebrows. “It’s Anna.”

Devin threw the whip down as he stomped over to Ian and grabbed the phone out of his hands. “Anna, if I don’t answer—‍” Devin’s face went pale. He walked back over to Alex and tapped the phone. “It’s on speaker.”

Alex swallowed, forcing painful moisture into his throat. “Anna?”

It wasn’t Anna who spoke, though. “Alex, thank God!”

“Aaron, what?—‍”

“There’s something wrong with Anna. She’s screaming and rolling around on the bed like she’s in massive pain, but there’s nothing around that’s hurting her. She’s getting red lines on her chest and—‍” Aaron’s voice broke. “Alex, I don’t know what the hell is going on. She’s in so much pain.”

“Where are you?” He glanced down at the lines on his chest, fearful that what had come to mind was the truth.

“Her apartment. Where are you?”

“At the Manor. Just... keep her still and try to comfort her. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He nodded at Devin, who pulled the phone away. He glared at Devin, whose eyes widened as he tossed Ian the phone. “Let me go, you fucking bastard.”

Devin nodded to Ian, who unlocked the chains at his ankles and wrists. Alex took a few steps forward and grasped the table, head hanging down. “How fast can you get to her place?”

“As fast as Ian can drive.” Devin turned to Ian. “Get the car out front. I’ll get Alex up there.”

Ian ran out of the room.

“You fucking bastard...” Alex raised his head to stare hard at the San Francisco Elder.

“I never read anything about pain transferring between people. I hadn’t even read anything about us not being able to kill each other.”

Alex frowned, hanging his head again, trying to gain control of his body. Everything hurt. “If I didn’t think I’d hurt Anna in the process, I’d crush every bone in your body. Where are my clothes?”

Devin pointed to a pile in the corner and Alex limped across the room and shrugged into his clothes, his skin lighting on fire with every movement. But it didn’t matter. What mattered was getting to Anna and making sure she was okay. “Is there an antidote?”

He shook his head. “Never thought about the need for one.”

Alex straightened and trudged across the room as fast as he could. He opened the door and looked around at the four hallways and three staircases. “How the hell do I get out of here?”

Devin motioned to the staircase to his right and Alex bit back a cry as he began climbing the stone steps. “How long does it last?”

“It depends on the person. For you, it’ll probably wear off soon. It only lasted an hour on Ian.”

Alex stopped and turned to look at Devin. “You tested it on Ian?”

Devin shrugged. “Had to test it on someone your size.”

Un-fucking-believable. “What about on someone Anna’s size?”

Devin winced. “Couple of hours, maybe. I don’t know. Maybe it’ll wear off as yours wears off.”

Several agonizing minutes later, Alex stepped out into the bright sunlight and covered his eyes, groaning in pain. He crawled into the back of the awaiting black SUV, and not long after that, he, Devin, and Ian were hurtling down the freeway toward Anna’s apartment.

Chapter 63

Aaron paced naked in Anna’s room. She’d stopped screaming and was quiet now, save for a heart-wrenching whimper here and there. The welts had deepened and reddened, but they didn’t seem to be bothering her at the moment.

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