Page 351 of The Life of Anna-Tenth Anniversary Edition: Act 2

“I won’t be able to speak to Wilhelm or Vlad until after the funerals are over. I don’t know if they’ll find out about Anna before then.”

“I’ll call Alex and tell him.”

“No. You can’t. We have to stick with the plan. Alex has to kill Oscar in the morning. If you call and tell him...” Tom shook his head. “He’ll lose it. We can’t let that happen. Now, let me get you to?—‍”

“Fuck the plan, Tom.” He began coughing again and blood splattered on the floor and his sweatpants. “You can’t let Devin have Anna for that long. He’ll get his powers back.”

Tom shook his head again. “We’ll modify the timeline, but we have to get rid of Tyler, or Tyler becomes Elder when Devin is removed. And Tyler’s no better than Devin.”

“So call Alex and tell him to take out Tyler.”

“The jobs were given to Alex by myself, Vlad and Wilhelm. One of us alone can’t modify it and, as I said, I won’t be able to speak to them until after Devin’s gone. Devin will be on the lookout for anything suspicious.” He helped Aaron to his feet. “Let me get you to the hospital. I told Devin I’d deal with you. I’ll check you in under a different name. Once you’re released, you need to stay out of sight until Devin’s dealt with.”

Devin shoved Anna through the door of his luxury hotel room near Times Square. “I can’t fully punish you for what you’ve put me through these last few months, but I can give it a good start.”

Anna’s eyes filled with fear as she turned to look at him.

“I don’t know why the hell Tom didn’t know you were here.” He narrowed his eyes. “There are too many people in this fucking city. He needs to be stronger.” He grinned. “I’ll help him with that once I’ve regained my powers.”

Anna just stared at him.

He stepped closer. “Do you know what I’m going to do with you once I have you home?”

She swallowed.

“I’m going to kill you. Slowly. Painfully. And then Kaveh will revive you. Then I’ll do it again. And again. Until the Immortals tell me I can’t do it anymore, because they can’t bring you back again.” He smiled. “You’re going to be in the dungeon for so long, you’re going to forget what the sun looks like. You’re going to forget what it’s like to not be in pain.” His smile broadened into a wicked grin. “You will not leave the Manor until I perform the final ritual. You’ll be lucky to have a few days of relief between now and then.”

Anna swallowed again and closed her eyes, shivering.

He grabbed her wrist and dragged her to the bedroom. “But first, you’re going to give me my powers back.” He pushed her toward the bathroom. “Clean up first. I don’t like sweaty pussy.”

Later that night, Anna lay in bed, unable to move, scarcely able to open her eyes. She could hear Devin and Tyler talking and laughing with Tom and Tommy in the sitting room of Devin’s hotel room.

Devin had drained her almost completely as soon as she’d finished her shower. He wanted her essence and had taken it, but it left her numb so there was no point in Devin exacting his punishment yet. She wasn’t sure which would have been better. Yes, she had avoided the abuse, but Devin was gaining his powers back. She could see the gold in his eyes.

They had to fly to Boston in the morning for Rylan’s funeral. And then Oscar would be killed. By Alex.

Anna let her eyes flutter close. How long before Alex would come and rescue her? Surely he would come as soon as he found out Devin had taken her. She could be patient. A few days at the most. She could handle a few days with Devin, knowing she would be reunited with Alex soon.

Chapter 175

Alex opened the door to the seedy motel room just outside of Boston that he and his team were staying in. They could pay cash here, no questions asked, and people wandering in and out at odd times of the day and night wasn’t unusual.

He smiled to himself. Oscar was dead. One more person to deal with in just a few more weeks and then Anna would be safe. He sighed in relief as he dropped his bag on the bed.

He looked around. “Where’s Sebastian?” Sebastian was supposed to stay here with Greg. Seth and Tony hadn’t yet returned from their secondary lookout points. Greg was there, but not Sebastian.

Greg gave him a look that sent chills through his body. “He left suddenly yesterday afternoon. Just disappeared.”

Alex dug in his bag for his phone and tapped his foot as he waited for it to power on. Damn smartphones took forever to start. There were no new messages, so he called Anna, though she would be in rehearsal and likely wouldn’t pick up.

He looked at Greg as Anna’s phone rang. And rang. “Pack up, we’re leaving. Now.” Her phone finally went to voicemail. “Anna, Schatzi. Please call me as soon as you get this. I will be home in less than two hours. Please. Call me.” He couldn’t hide the panic in his voice.

As soon as Seth and Tony returned, they threw their stuff in their rental car. Tony’s hasty drive to the airport caused the tires to lose their tread, leaving them nearly bald by the time he arrived. Alex had called every person he could think of. Unfortunately, they were all in rehearsals. Simon!

He punched his phone a little harder than he should have, but sighed in relief when Simon answered. “Simon! Have you—Have you heard anything about Anna?”

“No . . . Should I have?”

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