The Life of Anna, Part 5: Emerged (25 page)

“Maybe you can talk to him...see what the
hell is wrong with him. I just can’t believe the nice, laid-back
Kurt is acting like he is.”

“Maybe you could talk to him. You know,
before he goes off and fucks Jasmine again.”

Aaron growled. “I can’t believe he did that
to you. Fucking asshole. She’s so fucking arrogant about it now,
too. Whenever you’re not around....” He rolled his eyes. “I want to
hit her sometimes.”

“Did he go see her when he came to yell at
me?”

He shrugged. “Maybe. Dunno. I can’t believe
he’d rather have her over you. I mean, even if he is not liking you
for some reason, you’re still really, really good at sex.”

“We can’t have sex until we’re married. It’s
not allowed.”

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever
heard.”

Anna shrugged. “It’s the way it is.”

“Well then, doubly enjoy your time with
Euroman. Kurt deserves it.”

Aaron was pulling his slippers on when Hugo
sat down next to him. “How’s Katrina holding up?”

Aaron smiled at the talented
dancer/choreographer. He had it bad for Anna, poor guy. Aaron knew
how that felt, which is why he had given up trying to find another
woman like her. Or even halfway like her. Hugo even knew her secret
and still cared deeply for her.

Hugo and Anna danced very well together, so
Aaron wasn’t surprised when Hugo chose her for his partner in his
new ballet. Again. Jasmine had been his primary partner before Anna
showed up and she was pissed, which probably contributed to
Jasmine’s dislike of Anna, and her justification for the way she
tormented her. Aaron was glad Anna got to show that...woman...up
somewhere, though he wasn’t certain that Anna knew Jasmine had been
Hugo’s partner. Wasn’t sure if telling her would be helpful or
hurtful.

“She’s doing okay. She feels awful about
missing rehearsals.”

“I’d rather her be safe, though. Maybe I
could stop by tonight and we could dance a little in the living
room there. She might not feel so left out if we did.”

Aaron nodded. “If you want, I’m sure she’d be
thrilled. There’s not a ton of room, but we could move the
furniture.”

“Sounds great. I’ll call her at lunch.”

Vincent clapped his hands and warm-ups began.
Aaron closed his eyes, enjoying the movement of his body and his
mind drifting to thoughts of Cameron.

Unexpectedly he began to feel like he was
suffocating. He opened his eyes and held his chest. The other
dancers didn’t seem to notice. Was he having a heart attack? The
room felt dim, even though sunlight streamed in from the windows as
it always did. His stomach churned and he turned to stare at the
doorway of the studio.

“What’s wrong?” Hugo whispered.

Aaron just stared. Something was coming.

Five seconds later the door slammed open. Tom
walked in, eyes searching the room until he locked on Aaron’s. He
shook his head slightly and then the darkness appeared in the
room.

“Devin,” Aaron whispered.

The music stopped abruptly and the dancers
all turned and looked. Devin stood in the doorway, an invisible
cloud of darkness around him. He was beyond angry. He stood with
arms crossed over his blue dress shirt as he searched the room.
Nate and Justin knew who he was. Vincent, too. But everyone else
was clueless that the most powerful man in the country had just
walked into their studio. Some of the women even gave him
flirtatious smiles.

Idiots
.

“Can I help you, Mr. Pendleton?” Vincent
asked politely, walking over to the men. “You’re Devin Andersen,
correct?”

Devin looked at him with cold eyes. “I am.
You wanted to take Anna away from me.” He spoke softly, but his
tone was ice-cold.

“I wanted to have one of the best dancers I’d
ever seen in my company. It had nothing to do with you.”

“Anything she does is my business.” He turned
and looked around the room again and then pulled something out of
his pocket. “I’m looking for someone,” he said loudly, his voice
silky. He held up a picture of Anna. “Have you seen this
woman?”

The dancers looked at each other. Everyone in
the room would have recognized her, but the power that Devin
radiated made them hesitant to answer.

Hugo strode over and took the picture from
him. “She’s pretty,” he commented lightly.

“Yes, she is. Have you seen her?”

Hugo handed the picture back to him. “No. I
haven’t.”

The room was silent. Hugo was well respected
and for him to declare he hadn’t seen Anna made the others
reluctant to say otherwise.

But then Aaron saw Jasmine looking at Hugo
with narrowed eyes, and he felt sick as she opened her mouth. “I’ve
seen her.”

An evil smiled crept across Devin’s face.
Hugo and Aaron both cursed as they watched Devin walk slowly over
to Jasmine with hungry eyes. “Where?” he asked softly.

She looked around nervously, meeting Aaron’s
eyes. Aaron shook his head slightly.

“I mean...I think I did,” she stammered.

Devin stroked her cheek seductively. “Anna
always has women as enemies,” he said softly. “She tends to steal
men away from their women. She likes the power she has over them.”
He gazed into her eyes and trailed his fingers down her neck. “Did
she steal one from you?”

Jasmine blinked, clearly frightened, but as
she gazed into Devin’s eyes, she began to relax. She smiled and
nodded her head. “But I got even—”

“All right, Devin,” Aaron said loudly before
Jasmine could say anything else. “Yes, she was here.”

Devin wheeled around. “Was?”

He nodded. “We went on tour last week. She
didn’t come along because she told me she was leaving. She didn’t
want anyone else to know, but she got accepted to the Paris Opera
Ballet.” That would be believable to everyone here. She was that
good.

Devin’s eyes flashed, but didn’t make any
other movements. His hand was still on Jasmine’s neck. “And you
didn’t think it strange that she was here without me?”

Aaron shrugged, trying to remain casual. “I
didn’t think she’d run away. She’s not stupid.”

Devin shook his head. “No, I can still feel
her. She’s still here. Where did she stay?”

Aaron glanced at Tom, who nodded. “With
me.”

“You are a very, very stupid man, Aaron,” he
said in a low voice, releasing Jasmine and walking over to him.
“You would dare hide Anna from me?”

“How was I supposed to know she ran away? She
just...showed up.”

Devin looked around the room again. His eyes
stopped on Nate and then on Justin. “I thought you had been fired
in San Francisco,” he said suspiciously.

Justin frowned. “It was a bogus charge. I
left of my own free will. Isaak just didn’t want to admit he was
wrong.”

“Something is off.” Devin turned back to
Aaron. “Take me to your apartment. Now!”

Fuck.
“I need to change shoes.”

Devin frowned at him and then nodded and
walked back to the doorway.

Aaron sat down and pulled his slippers off.
“Hugo,” he whispered.

“Yeah.”

“I’m leaving my bag here. Get my phone. Call
Wilhelm. Tell him what happened. As soon as I’m gone, do it. I
don’t know how to keep him from finding her.”

“Do you want me to call her and tell her to
get out?”

“Call Wilhelm first. He’ll tell you what to
do.” Aaron stood and slipped his flip-flops on, giving Hugo a
desperate look. “Hurry.”

Hugo nodded slightly and Aaron turned and
walked away. How would they keep Devin from getting her? He glared
at Jasmine as he walked by. He would personally strangle her if
Anna was hurt. She had the decency to look ashamed.

Anna huddled on the couch, hugging a pillow
to her chest. Her mind felt hazy, unfocused, as if it were being
scrambled from outside forces. Her body trembled uncontrollably.
She couldn’t put a coherent thought to even try and figure out what
was going on.

Her phone vibrated next to her and she stared
at it. What did she do with that?
Press the green
button.

“Anna? Anna?”

She heard Wilhelm’s voice faintly.
“Wilhelm?”

“Pick up the phone, Anna. Put it to your
ear.”

Anna did as she was told. “Wilhelm?”

“Where are you?” His voice was clearer
now.

“At my apartment,” she said in a shaky
voice.

“Go into your room and shut the door. Lay
down on your bed and stay there until I call you back.”

He ended the call and Anna stared at the
floor.

Room
. Anna stood on trembling legs
and slowly made her way to her room. She closed the door and then
stumbled to her bed. She curled up in a ball and trembled, staring
at the door.

Aaron walked in front of Devin and Tom.

“I can’t believe you didn’t know she was
here, Tom,” Devin growled.

“I’m not as powerful as you, Devin. I don’t
know everything that goes on in my city.”

“You should have known.” He growled again.
“But I can still feel her. She hasn’t left yet.”

Aaron prayed that Hugo had gotten a hold of
Wilhelm and that somehow Anna wouldn’t be there when they got home.
Stalling was the only thing he could think of to do.

“Ow! Fuck!” he exclaimed hopping on one foot
like he’d stepped on something. He stopped and brought his foot up
to his knee, taking his shoe off.

“What the hell?” Devin snapped. “Why’d you
stop?”

“I stepped on something.” Aaron peered at the
bottom of his foot as if he were searching for something.

“You’ll live. Get moving.”

“Hey, these feet are how I make a living.
Just give me a sec.” He ran his hand over his foot, stalling for as
long as he could and then put his shoe back on. Even a few seconds
could make a difference.

“How far away is it?” Devin asked.

Aaron straightened and pointed. They could
see his building from here.

“Then let’s go.” Devin said, striding off
ahead of him.

Anna was terrified. She could feel Devin’s
presence now. After being away from it so long, the return of
darkness and fear was heavy on her heart. She resisted the urge to
run, and hugged her pillow to her chest, shaking so badly her teeth
chattered.

Then, suddenly, she felt a warm glow flowing
over her. It surrounded her like sunlight on a warm spring day,
seeping in through the pores in her skin, relaxing and soothing
her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

The apartment door opened and Anna stared at
the door. Male voices were in the hall and one of them was...Devin!
He was here! He was going to take her!

The warmth intensified, making her relax
against her will. Her eyes were wide as Devin’s voice got
closer.

“What’s this?” she heard him ask, and the
door opened. She saw his angry face as he looked around. “Closet,”
he mumbled and closed the door again.

Anna’s heart stopped. He hadn’t seen her? He
hadn’t seen her!

Aaron’s heart pounded as he opened the door
to his apartment. Devin stepped inside and looked around. He went
into the living room. The pink roses were still on the table where
Anna had put them. When Devin asked about them, Aaron shrugged and
said, “Cameron. My boyfriend.”

Devin stared at him for a long moment.
“You’re gay?” He looked him up and down like he was evaluating
him.

“Gotta problem with it?” he asked, more
defensively than he felt.

Devin smiled, almost warmly, and shook his
head. “Not at all. I appreciate men who appreciate other men.” He
swept his eyes over Aaron again and then turned to search the rest
of the apartment.

Aaron blinked in shock. Was Devin gay too? Or
was it just the whole ‘Brother Love’ part of the Brotherhood? He
shuddered at the thought of Devin fucking him and followed Devin
and Tom out of the living room.

Devin searched Aaron’s room and then the
guest room. Anna’s room was last. He opened the door, took a
sweeping glance, and muttered “Closet” to himself.

Aaron’s mouth dropped open in shock at
Devin’s words, but he quickly recovered. There was no reason to be
shocked at anything in his apartment. But when Devin opened the
door, Aaron could see Anna’s brightly lit bedroom. Why did Devin
see a closet?

Devin closed his eyes and then opened them,
looking at Aaron. “When did she leave?”

“I-I don't know. She wouldn’t tell me.”

Devin nodded and frowned. “She’s gone now.
Fuck. She must have been at the airport when we were.”

Tom’s face was impassive and nodded. “Can we
go now? I’m dying to see Kelsey and the kids.”

Devin rolled his eyes. “Yeah, you hopeless
romantic.” He turned his cold eyes on Aaron. “I should kill you for
what you did.” The words were spoken in an almost offhand manner
that made them even more terrifying, and then Devin strode away and
he and Tom left the apartment.

Aaron leaned against the wall and slid down
to the ground. His legs had turned to jelly and wouldn’t hold him
anymore. What the hell had just happened?

He heard a phone ring in Anna’s room and then
heard her voice. A moment later, she ran out of the room and into
his arms.

“Aaron!” she exclaimed and lunged into his
lap. He held her tightly. She was shaking like he was. “What
happened?”

“I have no idea. He thought your room was a
closet...I don't know but I’m so glad.”

They sat for a long while like that and Aaron
told her what had happened at the studio. “I think I still may
strangle Jasmine. Fucking bitch.”

Anna didn’t argue.

After a while, he pushed her away. “I should
get back to the studio and let everyone know you’re okay.” He stood
and helped her to her feet. “Hugo wanted to stop by tonight and
practice a little here. Would you be up for that?”