Page 358 of The Life of Anna-Tenth Anniversary Edition: Act 2

She looked up at him with mournful eyes. “Will it have to wait until next month?”

Wilhelm shook his head. “I do not think so, but I cannot make that decision on my own. Do not give up hope. He will come for you.” Wilhelm leaned down and kissed her head. “Anna, for your protection, I am going to bury many of your memories since you escaped, especially of Alex. Devin cannot know he is in the country.” He cupped her chin and made her look up. “Do you trust me, Liebling?”

“Of course, Wilhelm,” she said softly. “Will they—my memories—return?”

“Yes, Anna. I will release them once it is safe. I will also hide the memories of your escape so you cannot tell him who helped you.”

Anna nodded and gave him a brave smile. “Peter told me that everything would be alright last night.”

“Thank you,” he whispered. Another memory to block. He leaned down, as if to kiss her head again, and murmured the ancient words that would protect her mind from Devin’s probing. He gave her new, temporary memories that would conceal the truth of what happened in New York with his son and her escape. They only had to last a week or so.

He hoped.

Anna felt as if she were trying to hold on to smoke. Her mind desperately clung to something that was rapidly disappearing. A faint memory of... something. Something good, she thought. But it was gone now. She sighed, feeling that she’d lost something precious, though she had no idea what it was.

She looked around. She was in the courtyard of a cathedral. Elders surrounding her... a funeral. Oscar and Rylan’s funeral. But why was she here?

She looked up at the person who was holding her. “Wilhelm? Why am I—‍” As she continued to look around her, she spotted Devin. Devin. He had found her. In New York. Oh, God, he found her!

Everything that had happened the last few days flooded into her mind and her knees buckled. Wilhelm held her close. “It will be alright, Liebling,” he whispered.

She shook her head. “He found me. He’s going to punish me.” Terror filled her heart. There was no hope. No hope of escape. Devin had found her in New York and he would take her back to San Francisco. He would never let her out of his sight again.

Devin glared at her from across the courtyard. “He’s so angry...” She looked up at Wilhelm.

“Anna, it will be alright.” Wilhelm cupped her cheek. “I promise.”

She whimpered as Devin walked toward them. “Can’t you keep him from taking me?”

“Anna, you ran away from him. There is little I can do.”

Anna stepped away, her heart twisting in her chest at his betrayal. “I thought you cared about me, Wilhelm.” Why would he do nothing to help her? She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d seen him. Why were her memories so fuzzy?

“I do, Liebling. So much. Please trust me. Everything will be alright.”

Tears filled her eyes as Devin stepped closer, and dread filled her heart. “Please Wilhelm... Please don’t let him take me.”

Wilhelm reached out to her and she lunged into his arms.

Devin held out his hand. “Come, Anna.”

Anna shook as she clung to Wilhelm, desperate to stay with him. Why wouldn’t he do anything? Had Devin done something to him again to keep him from helping her?

Devin grabbed her elbow and Wilhelm grabbed his wrist.

“Devin, please...” Wilhelm said softly. “Please, let me spend some time with her. I haven’t seen her in?—‍”

Devin laughed and yanked his arm away from him. He pulled Anna away, but Wilhelm held onto her hand. “What, days? Surely you helped her run away from me. She couldn’t have done it on her own.”

Anna was being pulled between the two men, and the people around them were noticing.

“She belongs to me just as much as you,” Wilhelm snapped.

“I’m not saying I won’t share her, but she must be punished for what she did,” Devin snapped back.

“Gentlemen!” Neither man released Anna as the respected British Elder, Shaw Wilson, walked into the circle. “Why are two grown men fighting over a woman?”

“She ran away from me. I have a right to punish her,” Devin snarled.

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