Page 69 of The Life of Anna-Tenth Anniversary Edition: Act 1

I don’t want to think about that now.

She lay her head against Alex’s hard, muscled shoulder, and he kissed the top of her head. “Go to sleep, Schatzi. Everything will be okay.”

Chapter 29

Morning light gently woke Anna from a deep sleep. Her bed was warm and comforting. She didn’t want to open her eyes, but inevitably, the events of the previous night invaded her conscious thoughts.

Anna winced at the betrayal that lynched her heart. Everything she’d come to believe about Devin over the last two weeks had been a lie. She’d seen it in his mind during the ritual. Being too doped up at the time, she couldn’t fully grasp the meaning behind his expression, but this morning, it all became clear. He didn’t love her. He only wanted her to think he did.

And he’d pierced her. She was a slave. She was Devin’s slave and he was her Master. He was Master Devin again.

Her heart dropped in her chest. All the freedom she thought she’d had was a lie. Devin would lock her in the Manor like the other girls, and she’d never leave again. I bet he never even called the ballet master to find out if I could dance more.

She opened her eyes and looked at the door that led outside to her little yard. Would Devin move her downstairs with the other girls? Would she lose this beautiful room she’d been so happy in?

She’d been such a fool.

She moved to sit up, but an arm around her waist held her tight. The arm was attached to someone. A man. A large man. Devin?

It didn’t feel like Devin. This was a man she’d never slept with before. He was strong and still asleep. Would he hurt her once he knew she was awake? Though his spirit felt kind, she didn’t trust that he really was. After all, Devin had seemed kind the last weeks, but he wasn’t. Could she ever trust her ability to read a man again?

Alex opened his eyes and found himself in an unknown bedroom adorned with feminine touches. The curtains filtered the morning sunlight, casting a gentle glow across the room. Waking in a strange bedroom wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. He’d woken up in many women’s beds over the years, especially after his wife had died. Thankfully, that era of stupidity was behind him... for the most part.

He looked down without moving his head and saw the silky brown hair of the woman he held in his arms. She smelled like making love outdoors in the spring back at his family’s estate in Deutschland.

Anna. His Schatzi; his little treasure.

He’d first seen her four years ago, thinking it was a dream. The beautiful teenage girl had just appeared in his room that night...

Being a light sleeper, he’d awakened when he sensed the stranger in the room. His ability to awaken instantly with the slightest sense of something amiss had saved his life several times.

He thought he’d seen a faint shadow near the door, but when the girl stepped into the moonlight, it had shocked him so much he’d gasped and jolted upright. He never did that; never betrayed his position. But he’d also never had a teenage girl show up in his room in the middle of the night. Well, not at least since he’d left for university.

At his movements, the girl had frozen in the bright patch of moonlight, eyes wide with fright. Alex’s mind raced to make sense of the unexpected sight of a girl he didn’t know in his room. Was this it? Was this the girl he was supposed to help?

“Who are you?” he asked in German, his voice a loud whisper, trying not to wake his sleeping wife next to him.

She didn’t respond, and he growled and narrowed his eyes. No one ignored Alexander Johannes Kunzberg Herzog von Hessen. Especially not females.

He jumped out of bed and glared at her for a moment, but as he walked toward her, his irritation melted away and he felt the connection his father had told him about. She was the one in danger.

He kneeled in front of her and gave a gentle smile. “Who are you?” he asked in German. “What are you doing in here?” He kept his voice soft and gentle, so as not to frighten her. But she just stared at him with her beautiful eyes.

She took a step forward and lifted her hand toward him. His heart pounded, realizing that this could be his chance to save her.

“Alex, where are you?” Mina called from the bed.

The girl froze. Alex didn’t want to shout, but knew he needed to give an answer. “I’m using the bathroom. I’ll be there in a minute,” he said as quietly as he could, but needing Mina to hear him.

He looked back at the girl. He and his father had argued about his elopement with Mina a year ago, almost to the day. The reason for the argument was standing right in front of him.

The girl blinked and her eyes filled with tears. Alex desperately tried to think of something to say to her, but to his dismay, she faded into the darkness.

His shoulders fell as he sat back hard on his heels, feeling, for the first time in his life, the pain of failure. He didn’t like it.

Anna’s sigh brought Alex back to the present.

“Good morning, Schatzi.” His voice was hoarse from sleep and he cleared his throat.

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