The Life of Anna, Part 5: Emerged (61 page)

Devin began to scream. His arms and legs
shook like gelatin.

“Noooooo!” he screeched and arched his back
as if in terrible pain. Anna removed her hand and stared unblinking
at him, a faint smile on her face. Devin continued to shriek and
thrash about.

“You must stop her, Alex.”

Alex turned around to see Sebastian standing
behind him. “She will kill him, and you can’t allow that to happen.
Killing him will break her.”

Alex frowned, but he knew Sebastian was
right.

After Devin let out a particularly
blood-curdling scream, Alex straightened and walked over to
Anna.

“Anna,” he said in a firm tone.

She ignored him.

“Anna, release him.”

She ignored him and he took a deep
breath.

“An-na!” he shouted, his voice echoing off
the walls and ceiling of the room.

She looked up at him and narrowed her creepy
emerald eyes.

“Release him.”

Her eyes narrowed further.

“Now!” he barked.

She growled, but Devin stopped thrashing and
was still except for his heaving chest.

“Thank you,” he said softly, with a
smile.

He stepped up onto the platform and she
narrowed her eyes further and growled again. “Anna. Sit.”

He pointed to the floor with a firm look in
his eye and stared her down. She shook her head, trying to break
eye contact, but couldn’t. “Sit,” he commanded again, intensifying
his stare. She fell to one knee, looking up at him, eyes
narrowed.

He continued staring at her, but neither
backed down nor blinked. Suddenly she lunged at him and he caught
her wrists, holding them firmly. Damn, she was strong. He held her
wrists, arm muscles straining to keep her hands and fingernails at
a distance. She bared her teeth at him and growled.

His eyes narrowed and looked at her
disapprovingly. “You are being disobedient,” he said slowly and
firmly. “This behavior is unacceptable. You do not attack your
Master. Now, sit.” He kept his voice even and firm, not breaking
eye contact. She growled again and narrowed her eyes, and he
realized he needed to change tactics. Bullying her is what caused
her to rage in the first place. What she needed now was love.

“Anna, love,” he said, turning her swiftly so
she was enveloped in his arms, his hands still locked around her
wrists. She strained against him, but could not break free.
“
Schatzi
,” he whispered into her ear. “Come back to me, my
treasure. Remember what you are to me. Remember how much I love
you.”

He felt her body change, her breathing
beginning to even out. He was risking it all, he knew, when he
released her hands, turning her so she could see the love in his
eyes. Alex opened his heart to her, willing her to feel his
love.

To his relief and surprise, she stepped back,
then sat down on her heels, hands on her thighs, head down in a
submissive pose.

Alex stood above Anna until her body began to
relax, then he knelt down and lifted her head to see her eyes. They
were still angry, but her pupils were beginning to show again. He
sat down on the floor next to her and pulled her into his lap. He
rocked her gently and stroked her hair as he spoke softly to her in
German. She had always seemed to respond to his native language
before, and this time was no different. Her body sagged in his arms
a few minutes later and was totally relaxed shortly thereafter. He
looked down and saw that she was asleep.

Alex looked around and spotted his brother
nearby. “Kurt, would you please hold her?”

Kurt nodded and rushed over. “She’s not going
to attack me, is she?”

Alex smiled. “No. She’ll likely stay asleep
until morning.”

Kurt took her into his arms and carried her
to the far side of the platform, cradling her close and kissing her
temple. Alex watched his little brother love on her for a moment
and then turned to Devin.

“I didn’t do that for you,” he said, pulling
the man roughly to his feet

Devin looked at him with glazed eyes and Alex
looked back at Anna. What had she done to him?

“Give him to me,” Sebastian said. “You do
what you need to do.”

Alex released him into the Immortal’s arms
and went to stand in front of the staring men and the few
Elder-Mistresses in the room. “I am Alexander Kunze Herzog von
Hesse, son of Wilhelm Kunze Herzog von Hesse, Elder of Hesse and
Thuringia. The beautiful woman my brother is holding is my precious
wife, Anna Kunze Herzogin von Hesse, daughter of Trevor and Anya
Perkins. I am also a Brotherhood assassin. My team is known as the
Black Eagles.”

Another murmur swept the room. Not many
assassins identified themselves publicly and as far as he knew, he
was the only Elder-Son that was also an assassin.

Wilhelm watched proudly as his son addressed
the crowd with dignity and confidence. By giving his team’s name he
was making himself vulnerable, but also letting every person in
this room know that they were looking at the best Brotherhood
Assassin of the present age. There wasn’t any other way to explain
everything.

“My wife’s father is an Immortal, but she was
not born to be an Elder-Mistress. She was born of love between her
parents, and Trevor had no intention of her knowing anything except
what would be considered a normal, loving home.”

Devin, apparently revived by Sebastian,
struggled to stand, but Sebastian held him down on the floor.

“When Anna was born, Devin used an ancient
method to claim her for his own with the help of Anna’s guardian,
Jack Koslov, who was killed earlier this year.” Alex looked at
Devin. “By Anna when she was provoked into one of her rages by his
attempt to rape her.”

Devin’s eyes widened, and then he looked at
Tom, who raised a condescending eyebrow at his former friend.
Wilhelm knew Tom had told Devin that Jack died at the hands of the
mafia.

“Trevor became suspicious of Devin, but
before he could do anything, Devin caused a car accident, killing
Anya and sending Trevor away. Anna came into the custody of her
guardian, who molested her until her sixteenth birthday.”

Murmurs were beginning to sound around the
room, and none of them sounded in favor of Devin.

“Trevor, in a desperate act, contacted my
father and asked him to help. My father told me about it, but in my
foolishness, I acted against my father’s wishes and missed the
opportunity to save Anna.” Wilhelm saw Alex’s cheeks redden
slightly before he turned to look lovingly at Anna, sleeping in
Kurt’s arms. Someone had gotten her a blanket and she was snuggled
against Kurt’s chest.

Alex’s voice cracked slightly as he
continued. “Devin took Anna as his own on her sixteenth birthday,
and she was then raised by her guardian in an unbelievably abusive
home. Jack was a special trainer of Devin’s, who trained his Red
Girls. He trained Anna in a similar, though far more brutal, manner
than our Red Girls are trained. When she was twenty she was turned
over to Devin.”

Alex looked at Wilhelm with a smile. “My
father, ever wise, knew about this and when my first wife died,
directed me to San Francisco. When Anna’s birthday approached, my
father visited me and through various circumstances, we were able
to intervene in Devin’s performance of the bonding ritual, which
bound her to Devin
and
myself. I intended to intercede to
save a half-Immortal from a cruel fate. I didn’t expect to fall in
love with her.”

The men in the room laughed softly. Devin’s
face was red with impotent fury.

“Determined to make up for my past mistakes,
I set out to find a way to free her from Devin’s hand. After an
intense amount of research, I discovered that the bond between
husband and wife was so strong, it would likely balance out the
power difference between myself, as a Son, and Devin, as an
Elder.”

Alex twisted his wedding ring on his right
hand. “Anna and I were married at the end of that year in Germany
and we returned to San Francisco. As much as I wanted to, I never
kept Devin from having Anna, as long as he treated her with
respect. My plan was to find a way to free her from both of
us.”

He was quiet for a few moments, swallowing
several times. “Four and a half years ago, I was called out on a
job by Vitaly Asimov. I had been married only a few months to my
beloved bride.” He motioned in Anna’s direction. “I knew that if I
didn’t go, I would certainly be killed for refusing to do my duty
as a Brotherhood Assassin. So I went, against both of our
instincts.”

“We planned everything down to the last
detail and arrived in St. Petersburg as expected, but when we went
to the target’s town, we were ambushed. Kept alive, but captured
and taken to Vitaly's home. Vlad was there at that time and can
attest to the truth of my words.” Alex glanced at Vlad, who
nodded.

“For four years, we were imprisoned there, by
Devin’s orders. He couldn’t kill me because of the bond I share
with Anna, so he just removed me from the equation, telling
everyone, including my beloved bride, that my team and I had been
killed.”

Held in Sebastian's tight grip, Devin felt
everything crashing down around him as Alex spoke. The world's
Elders looked disapprovingly at him as Alex told them how Devin had
used Anna and consumed her powers in order to become more powerful.
He told them how he had abused Anna and finally taken control of
her.

He learned the truth of her escape. How he
had been betrayed by Tom and Vlad. How Tom had kept him from
finding her while she was in New York.

What could he do now? His son was dead,
apparently by Alex’s hand. The room was against him. The most he
could hope for was to retain his Elder status under the watchful
eye of the rest of the Elders. They wouldn’t strip him of his
position...would they?

At long last, Alex stopped speaking.

The room filled with the low rumble of men
speaking amongst themselves. After a few minutes, Shaw stood and
approached Alex. He studied him for a moment and then looked at
Devin.

“These are serious charges, Devin. Do you
deny the truth of them?”

Devin rallied himself and shook off
Sebastian's hands, knowing that he could only do so because the
Immortal allowed it. “This is my home country. I did little that
the other American Elders disapproved of. If they had such a
serious problem with what I was doing, they should have said
something.”

“And risk being killed?” Brandon stood. “By
the time we knew what was really going on, you were too
powerful.”

Devin scoffed.

“You used Anna to manipulate the dissenters,
Devin,” Tom said.

“You manipulated your own Elders?” Shaw
asked.

Devin lifted his chin. “I did what needed to
be done. I wasn’t afraid to do so.” He glared at Shaw. “This is
America. We do as we please.”

“That’s true,” Shaw said slowly. “Fine. The
American Elders will decide what happens to you.”

Suddenly Devin realized why Alex had been
given the job of killing the other Elders.

Alex stared impassively at Devin as the
bastard tried to defend himself. He tried not to show the fact that
he was enjoying the panic that was beginning to show in the man’s
eyes.

The American Elders moved to the side of the
platform to discuss the matter. Surely the older Elders would be
able to convince the younger ones of the best course of action. If
not, then they didn’t deserve to be Elders.

He saw Kurt stroking Anna’s face as he held
her, and walked over to sit down next to him. “How is she?” he
asked softly.

“Sleeping soundly,” Kurt answered, gazing
down at her and petting her hair.

He felt a swell of emotion towards his
brother “Thank you for taking care of her, my brother.”

Kurt looked up at him, surprised. “I hurt her
terribly.”

“And she’s forgiven you. But when you could,
you took very good care of her. Aaron told me how you took care of
her when she was catatonic after my disappearance.”

The two brothers had barely spoken of Anna
since Alex had returned. It was a touchy subject for Kurt, and Alex
respected his feelings. But he wanted to let his brother know how
he felt.

Kurt pressed his lips together. “I divorced
Gretchen so I could marry her.”

“I know. It’s no great loss to be rid of
Gretchen.” Emotion flashed through Kurt’s eyes, which surprised
Alex. “You still care for her?”

Kurt shrugged. “I loved her when we married.
It’s...lonely being a single father.”

“Do you love her still? Or are you just
lonely?”

Kurt looked up at Alex with a pained look. “I
wouldn’t mind trying to work things out with her, but I don’t know
if I could ever trust her.”

Alex nodded. “If Anna wants to, we will stay
in New York through Nutcracker before returning to Germany. Perhaps
you could stay with us. She has several nice friends.”

Kurt shrugged. “Maybe.”

Alex smiled. “Even Jasmine has changed. She’s
actually a pretty nice girl.”

Kurt raised his brow. “What happened?”

“Sebastian healed some past hurts.”

Kurt looked thoughtful for a moment. “I
always thought Anna’s friend Stefanie was pretty.”

Alex laughed. “She is. You just have to treat
Anna well. She’s very protective of her.”

“I know. She yelled at me the last time she
saw me.”

Alex laughed even harder. He could see
Stefanie doing so.

“What are you two laughing about?”

Alex looked up to see his father approaching
with amusement in his eyes. “Trying to hook up Kurt with one of
Anna’s friends.”

Wilhelm grinned and shook his head. “My
sons....” He squatted down and stroked Anna’s head. “Do you think
she should be woken?”

“Is it all right to do so?”