Page 122 of The Life of Anna-Tenth Anniversary Edition: Act 1

“You know enough not to repeat anything outside this room, though, right?”

Aaron nodded.

Travis turned back to Anna, who still stared out the window. “The Immortals are all male. Sometimes they’ll... well, breed—for a lack of a better term—with a human woman and have a baby, which is half Immortal and half human, and they’re always girls. It doesn’t happen a lot. There’s only a handful of them in the world. They’re called ‘Half-Immortals’ and they help their Master, who is always an Elder, get things done. That’s why they’re called ‘Elder-Mistresses.’” Travis shook his head slowly. “But Immortals can’t die. So, I don’t know why Devin would be claiming that you?—‍”

Aaron’s phone rang. “Hey Al?—‍”

Alex’s tone was sharp. “Where did you hear that term?”

“Travis and Anna were talking and?—‍”

“Travis is there?” Alex cursed in German. “I didn’t see him.”

“He came while you were upstairs. Why?”

“He’s the one person that would know as much about Anna as I do.” He cursed again. “I’m on my way back. Don’t let him tell Anna anything else until I get there.”

“Okay . . . Why?”

“Because she is, but she doesn’t know the significance of it, and if she gets upset, I need to be there. Jack and Devin never told her.” He sighed. “I’ll be there in... ten minutes. Keep her calm and do not let her out of your sight. If she tries to leave, well, hold her if you have to. I don’t think she will, but just in case?—‍”

“Okay, I will.” Aaron tossed his phone onto the bed. Anna still stared out the window and he glanced at Travis. “Alex is on his way back. He said don’t say anything else until he gets here.”

“I don’t care what you say.” Alex glared at Kirsty while standing in the middle of her apartment bedroom. He’d left Seth and Tony out in the living room, assuring them it wouldn’t take long to resolve the situation and break up with Kirsty. “She wasn’t in the Manor. You had no right to?—‍”

“She’s a fucking slave, Alex. Why are you so?—‍”

Alex’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He yanked it from the tight denim without looking at it, opened the bedroom door, and tossed it to Seth. If it was important, Seth would let him know. “How can you be so fucking selfish? Couldn’t you see that?—‍”

Kirsty glared. “Is that why she’s been at your house so fucking much, Alex? You’ve got some sort of thing for her? How many dicks has she had in that stretched cunt of her? What on earth?—‍”

Alex didn’t hear the rest of her words. His vision tunneled and he clenched his hands into fists as his heart pounded in his ears. If Kirsty were a man, she’d be on the floor right now with his fist on her face.

He sighed. These were the dying gasps of their relationship. Why was he defending himself to someone who couldn’t look past her own needs? Besides, the thing that would piss her off the most was to ignore her. He knew better than to start a shouting match with her.

But he was in the mood to fight. He was confident in his decision to encourage Aaron to date Anna, but it still frustrated the hell out of him.

Seth opened the door, wincing, but holding up the phone for Alex to see the text.

“What?” Alex shouted in German, chest heaving and glaring at Seth.

He frowned and raised his eyebrows. “You need to read the text, Alex.”

Seth knew Alex’s temper as well as Alex did, so he realized it must be important. He quickly read the message. Shit!

“Get the car started,” he barked in German at Seth. He turned back to Kirsty and switched back to English. “I have to leave. It’s been an interesting time, Kirsty, but it’s time we acknowledge it’s over.”

Kirsty stared at him. “That’s it?”

Alex shoved his phone in his pocket. “Yes. You’ve spent the last fifteen minutes insulting the woman I—‍” He stopped himself before he finished the phrase. He didn’t dare say the words aloud, let alone in front of Kirsty. “... that is important to my family and I won’t listen to it anymore. Anna is here to stay. You are not.”

He turned on his heel and strode out into the empty living room, closing the bedroom door behind him. A thump made him shake his head, vaguely wondering what she’d thrown at him. He hurried down the stairs and out to the street where Seth and Tony waited in the running SUV in front of her apartment building.

Alex swung himself into the back seat, his phone in his hand. “Aaron’s house as fast as you can, Tony,” he ordered in German as he punched Aaron’s contact information on the screen.

After he ended the call with Aaron, Alex leaned his head back on the headrest and ran his hands through his hair. Anna didn’t need this right now. He had every intention of telling her the truth about what she was and about her father, but had wanted to give her a chance to get used to her new life first before uprooting her entire identity.

Alex clutched the seat as Tony took a sharp corner. His driving skills had come in handy during countless missions over the years and had saved all their lives more than once.

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