Page 160 of The Life of Anna-Tenth Anniversary Edition: Act 1

Though she still couldn’t figure out what Devin had been talking about when she’d first arrived. Surely he wasn’t talking about killing her, was he? She wouldn’t do him any good dead, and he’d told her repeatedly that he needed her. He must have been talking about someone else. But would Devin really kill someone to impress another person?

She shook her head. She didn’t understand the workings of politics or The Brotherhood. Devin had a reason for everything he did. If he were going to do something so terrible... well, at least the person wouldn’t stay dead, right? He’d said he’d bring them back to life. So... was it really so bad?

She shivered at the thought of Devin killing anyone and pushed the thought aside. It was too horrible a thought to dwell on.

Tapping the button on the steering wheel, she turned up the volume of the music coming out of the speakers. She didn’t want to think about such awful things when she was done with the Manor for another week. Maybe she would ask Devin about it the next time she saw him. Maybe.

Aaron paced back and forth in his bedroom. It was almost noon and he hadn’t heard from Anna yet.

He’d gone out to dinner the previous night with Alex, Tony, and Seth and then to the bar after for drinks. Lots of drinks.

Alex had tried to drunkenly assure him that Anna would be fine. That Devin wouldn’t do anything to really hurt her.

“Really hurt her? That’s not very comforting, Alex.”

“He can’t kill her.”

Aaron glared at him. “Again, not really comforting.”

Alex shrugged and took a swig of his beer, then set it back on the table with a thud. He’d had several already. “I don’t know what else to tell you, Aaron. She’s... strong. She can survive anything.”

Aaron’s mouth dropped open. “How can you just sit there and say ‘she’s strong’? You claim to care, but just—I don’t know...” He could hardly contain his frustration with his friend. Alex was usually so action oriented. And now he just sat there, drinking his beer, looking calm. Or depressed. “Why can’t you go get her?”

“Because that bastard is her Master, too. And he is much more powerful than I am.”

Aaron laughed until he saw Alex wasn’t joking. “You’re serious?”

“I told you this morning he doesn’t fight fair. I don’t know how to fight him.” Alex shook his head. “I’m not an Elder. I don’t have his resources or his knowledge.” He ran his hands through his hair and stared at the table. “I’ve failed her so many times.” He picked up the half-full beer bottle and finished it in one chug, then waved it at the waitress, asking for another.

Aaron glanced at Seth and Tony, who watched Alex carefully but kept quiet. “Alex, you can’t blame yourself for Anna’s situation.”

Alex mumbled something in German.

“What?”

“I said, ‘yes I can.’”

“How?”

Alex sighed and leaned back in his chair. “There was a chance.” He waved a finger in the air. “One chance. When all this could have been prevented. Or at least most of her abuse could have been prevented.”

Aaron furrowed his brows. What on earth was he talking about?

“I first saw Anna four years ago. She... appeared in my bedroom in the middle of the night. Vati had told me to watch for a girl with brown hair and green eyes, but I’d put it out of my mind.” Alex stared at his empty bottle of beer as he twirled it on the table. He gave a half-smile. “I spoke to her. In German. She had no idea what I was saying, but... we... connected. I could feel she wanted to come to me, but Mina woke up and spoke, and Anna backed away and disappeared.” Alex rubbed his eyes. “If I had listened to Vati, Anna wouldn’t have gotten frightened or hurt or whatever it was that made her back away. She would have come to me and been saved from... all this shit.”

Aaron was speechless. A few weeks ago, he would have laughed at the idea of Alex having a vision that could have saved Anna and somehow transported her to him. But after seeing her writhing in pain caused by Devin attacking Alex on the other side of the city, his idea of what was possible had been greatly expanded.

“So, that’s it?” he snapped. “She’s doomed?” He wanted to hit his best friend for the second time that day. “Why are you here? Why didn’t you just—I don’t know—let her be turned into that puppet-thing you were talking about? At least she would have been spared some misery.”

Seth shook his head. “She’s not doomed.” He shook his head at Alex. “At least we don’t think so.”

“What?”

Alex sighed and leaned back in his chair. “There is a final... bonding ritual that must be performed when Anna is twenty-six. We believe there is a chance to undo the bond between her and Devin, but we don’t know for sure or even how to go about finding out if there is a way. The tomes that explain everything were supposed to have been destroyed centuries ago.”

“But Devin obviously has a copy,” Tony said. “Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to do what he did.”

“So if Devin’s family didn’t destroy their tome, there’s a high likelihood that other families didn’t destroy their copies either,” Seth added.

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