“Alex?” Aaron’s voice cut through his reverie.
He shook his head to clear it. “Sorry.”
“I can imagine there’s a lot on your mind.”
“You could say that.” He ran his hands through his hair. “I guess I can cut my hair now,” he said with a wry smile. “And my beard. I kept it to keep from being recognized.”
Aaron laughed. “Like you could disguise yourself.”
Alex shrugged. “As much as I could.”
Seth laughed. “I don’t know. I kinda like not having to shave every morning.”
Aaron glanced at Seth and shook his head. “I’m not used to either of you guys being that hairy.” His eyes widened slightly and his cheeks turned a little pink and he rubbed his neck.
Alex glanced at Seth, wondering why Aaron was embarrassed. Seth gave him a look, and through some sort of unspoken language they’d had forever, Alex understood. At least, he thought he did.
Did Aaron have feelings for him as more than a friend? Alex knew he had a boyfriend. That was such a strange thought. He and Aaron had shared women in San Francisco. Many times. But they’d also fucked. Many times. Once he’d started dating Kirsty, they shared her a few times, but were never together alone. Then Anna entered the picture and Aaron backed off sexually, though they’d spoken lightly about sharing her sometime. He wondered what had finally pushed Aaron over to the other side. He had no problem with his best friend being gay. He just hoped Aaron’s feelings wouldn’t get in the way of their friendship.
“So, I understand you’re dating someone?” Alex had learned that the man he’d first seen Anna with at the bar was Aaron’s boyfriend. A good guy and very flamboyant. Alex had never imagined Aaron as a dominant partner with another man, but seeing them interact with one another, it was obvious he was. Oh, how time changed things.
“Yeah,” Aaron said slowly. “Cameron.” He looked at Alex nervously. “Does that bother you?”
Alex cocked his brow. “Why would it bother me?”
“Well, I wasn’t...,” Aaron shrugged. “...gay when you left.”
Alex laughed. “You were bi.”
“There’s a difference. I never went trolling for other guys.”
“Aaron, it doesn’t matter how I feel about it. If you’re happy, that’s what I care about. And if Cameron makes you happy, then I’m happy for you.”
Aaron nodded, staring at the floor and then looked back up at Alex. “I’ve never met another woman like Anna,” he said softly, his eyes pained.
He was still in love with her. After all these years, he still loved her. Alex nodded. “She’s special.”
“I kept hoping...,” Aaron said, shaking his head. “I guess I know why things never worked out between us.”
“But you’ve been there for her. She’s had you to depend on while I was gone.”
“I didn’t keep her very safe.”
“You did what you could. You got her out here and away from Devin.” He stepped forward and put his hand on Aaron’s shoulder. “Thank you, Aaron. Anna is here and safe, because of you.”
“I hardly did anything.”
“You told Peter the truth. If you hadn’t....” Alex shuddered. “I don’t want to imagine what would have happened.”
*****
Anna hardly slept, tossing and turning. One minute she wanted to run and find Alex and fling herself into his arms. The next minute she wanted to find him and hit him again. Her heart ached for him and she hated him at the same time.
The questions that raced through her head when she left the hotel continued. He lied! He hid himself from her! Was he trying to get his jollies off by taking advantage of her need for sex? How many other women did he sleep with while he was here? Why didn’t he call her as soon as he’d escaped? How could he claim to love her if he kept himself away from her?
At long last, the sun came up and she stared at the light growing brighter on the ceiling above her bed. She hadn’t heard Aaron come home last night. Where had he gone?
She got up and went to his bedroom. Cameron was there, asleep, but no Aaron, so she went to find her phone and called him.
It took a few rings before he answered in a very groggy voice. “Hello?”
“Aaron, are you okay?”
“Huh? Oh...yeah...fine....”
“Where are you?”
“Um...Alex’s place.”
“You’re with Alex?” What was he doing there?
There was a pause. “Yeah, I came here last night and we started talking until I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I slept on the couch.” Another pause. “Anna, he has a really good reason for not coming to us when—”
Anna felt her temper flare. Aaron had already talked to Alex. Alex had talked to Aaron, but not her? “I don’t care, Aaron.” She ended the call and tossed the phone on her bed. At least, she told herself she didn’t care.
But she did. She wanted to know why he hid himself.
*****
Anna was laying on the couch staring blankly at the TV in the living room when Aaron walked in around lunch time. Cameron had gone home earlier. She half expected Alex to be behind him and wasn’t sure if she was glad or disappointed that Aaron walked in alone.
“You okay?” Aaron asked, sitting down next to her on the couch.
Anna shrugged. She wasn’t sure how she was feeling, aside from resentment that Alex had spent time with Aaron instead of her. Granted, she had run away from Alex, but that didn’t stop her feelings.
“I have his number, if you want to call him. Or you can go see him. He said you could come by any time.”
Anna snorted. “I’m supposed to chase after him? He’s the one who disappeared for years.”
“Anna, he’s trying to respect your feelings. If he thought you would accept him, he would have chased you home, but he doesn’t want you to resent him. If he forces himself on you, your relationship won’t work.”
“What relationship?” she asked bitterly. “We barely knew each other when we got married, and it only lasted for three months.” She paused. “Not even three months. “
“That wasn’t your fault or his. And you know you two are supposed to be together. You’re soul mates. Literally.”
Anna looked at Aaron. “What if I don’t want to be with him?” she asked. “What if I’d rather be with Hugo?”
Aaron’s eyes widened. “Hugo? I mean, yeah, he’s a good guy. A really good guy, but....” He grimaced. “Anna, Devin would kill him without a thought. Alex is the only one who can protect you. Tom’s protections are growing weak. He’s not sure he’d be able to keep him from sensing you if Devin came again.”
“So I’m stuck with Alex, then?”
“Anna, you don’t mean that—”
“I don’t?” Her temper flared again. “I was brought here and told I was free. Free to be my own person, and then within a few months, I’m told that I’m not really...that I have to marry Kurt, whether I want to or not. I have to break up with a really good guy, a guy that I—” She stopped herself before she said that she loved him and sighed. “I wish I’d known all this when I arrived. Then I could have been prepared.”
“The only ones who knew that Alex was alive when you got here were Vlad and Peter. Wilhelm didn’t know until Alex showed up at their house one morning.” Aaron sighed. “That’s when Kurt came and you two got engaged. They were trying to keep you from getting involved with anyone, until Alex was able to come see you.”
“So, Peter really did know that Alex was alive?”
Aaron nodded. “I had no idea when we started talking. But he did some investigating, as did Vlad, and they realized that what Devin had told them was a lie, and began working to undo what Vitaly had done. Anna.” Aaron looked at her with serious eyes. “They killed Vitaly so they could get Alex free.”
“Vitaly had Alex?” Her musings were confirmed.
“Yes. Vitaly captured Alex and his men because Devin asked him to.”
Anna stared at Aaro
n, not knowing what to say, her lungs squeezing in her chest. It was Devin? Devin did this? Her lower lip began to tremble and the rest of her body followed.
Devin. Devin had taken Alex away from her. Why did that surprise her? After all Devin had done to her, why would he have hesitated to get rid of Alex the only way possible?
“Why didn’t he escape? He’s...he can do anything.”
“Three men died trying to find a way out of that castle. Jesse, Michael and Jason all died the first year they were captured. Vitaly had them watched like a hawk. Jason was shot just because the word ‘escape’ was spoken.”
Tears came to Anna’s eyes. Those poor men. “What about Seth? And Tony and Greg?”
“They’re here with Alex. Seth followed you home last night, or partially home. He’s the one who stopped the guy who attacked you.”
Seth protected her? Alex sent him to make sure she got home okay? Even after she yelled and hit Alex, he still made sure she made it home okay? “But how did they escape?”
“After Vitaly died, and you’d escaped from Devin, Vlad had to go out of town, and he took most of his guards with him. He hinted to Alex how to escape.”
“Oh.”
“Peter worked very hard on trying to get you away from Devin. He was going to take you to visit Vitaly last September, to try and convince his grandfather that Devin was wrong, but he died first. Vlad had been slowly poisoning Vitaly so no one would suspect his death was intentional. Especially Devin.”
“Did you know all this?”
“No. But it’s because of Peter that you’re here. He saw firsthand what Devin was doing and what his goals were. He worked with me, and Travis and Justin. We got you here eventually, but had no idea Alex was alive. We didn’t know how you’d be able to be away from Devin without getting sick, but Peter assured us that he’d take care of it. I guess Alex knew he’d have to come and establish his ‘home’ sooner or later so that you’d be okay. It just happened faster than they’d expected.”
“Why didn’t they tell me?”
“Because Devin would have found out that they weren’t loyal to him anymore, and killed them. Then you would never have been able to escape.”
Anna’s thoughts went back to the Thanksgiving she’d spent with Peter’s family. “That must have been why Nina got so upset at Thanksgiving. She must have known about Alex.”
“Nina?”
“Vlad’s wife. She got really upset when she found out that I’d been married to a German named Alex...and then Vlad wouldn’t let her be around me the rest of the time I was there.” It made sense now. But it still didn’t explain why Alex had hidden from her.
“Anna, Alex still loves you. Desperately loves you. He...knew what Kurt was doing, and heard what Cameron said about you needing to get laid. He was trying to help you by posing as Mr. J.”
“Why didn’t he just tell me? Why didn’t he just come to me? Why did he lie?”
Aaron sighed. “You know those Elders who’ve been killed recently?”
“Marcus and Connor? Yeah.”
“That was Alex’s doing.”
Anna’s mouth dropped open in shock. She knew what Alex had done...in theory, but never fully comprehended it...until now. “He killed them?” she whispered.
“Yeah. And their sons. Partially to get revenge on what they did to you, but mostly to kick Devin’s legs out from under him.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Alex is taking out Devin’s supporters, one by one. It will screw with Devin’s head, and make him more vulnerable. Then Alex can confront Devin.”
“He’s not going to kill Tom, is he?”
“No. Alex knows Tom isn’t loyal to Devin anymore. But he has to pretend to be.”
“What does that have to do with him not seeing me?”
“Anna, if he revealed himself to you, and then told you he had to go out on a job, would you have let him go? Would you have forgiven him leaving you?”
Anna stared at the ground. “No,” she said softly. She would have been furious at him for even thinking of leaving her.
“He wanted to get things taken care of so that he wouldn’t have to leave you again. As it is, he has to go out next month.”
Terror rose up in her heart as she thought about Alex going out on a job. “No!” she whispered, eyes wide with fright. “No, he can’t!”
Aaron put his hand on hers. “See why he stayed hidden?”
“He can’t, Aaron. He can’t. I can’t go through that again.” She jumped up and ran to her room, burying her face in her pillow. No. If she stayed away from him, if she protected her heart against him, then it wouldn’t hurt. She wouldn’t care if he came back after this job.
Chapter Thirty-One
Alex sat on his rooftop terrace looking out to the treetops of Central Park. He’d been sitting there for hours as the sun passed overhead and slowly began the decent into evening. Aaron called a few hours ago, letting Alex know that he had shared Alex’s story with Anna and explained why Alex had stayed hidden. Alex had hoped it would have gone better.
He hoped that she would have called or, even better, come to see him. Maybe he should go see her, but he didn’t want to press her. He wanted to give her time to accept the fact that he was alive.
There was a flash of light next to him. “Hello, Sebastian” he said without turning his head. Ever since his friend had given Alex some of the Immortal essence, he’d been able to sense his, or any other Immortal’s presence. He could also sense Anna, when she was close enough. Her apartment was too far away for him to feel her now. But if she walked by his building, as she had on the day he arrived in the city, he knew it.
The tall Immortal settled himself on the wooden chair across from Alex. “Have you talked to her?”
“You know?” Alex hadn’t spoken to Sebastian since he’d returned from the job in Chicago.
“I do. She’s quite upset. I can feel it.”
Alex ran his hand through his freshly cut hair. It was a strange feeling after years of long hair, but he thought it might help Anna accept him if he looked more like himself. His face felt extra sensitive after shaving off his beard as well. “She hit me.”
Sebastian’s eyebrows rose high on his face and amusement lit his eyes. “Really?”
“I’ve never seen her so angry.” Alex grimaced. “I guess I’ve never seen her do a lot of things.” He looked at Sebastian. “She’s so...hard, so stubborn. Not at all like the sweet girl that I married.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
Alex stared at the ground. “I don’t know. I’m glad she’s become her own person. But it’s sad to see her sweetness diminished.”
“She’s still sweet, Alex. But she’s hurt and confused. Did your father tell you she blatantly disobeyed him?”
“She did what!”
“He gave her an order and she willfully did the opposite and found out what happens when a slave disobeys her Master.”
“Don’t call her that,” Alex growled.
“I didn’t mean it disrespectfully, Alex.”
Alex huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. “What happened?”
“Extreme pain in her head.”
“No, I mean, why did she do it?”
“Wilhelm didn’t tell you?”
Alex shook his head.
“He and Kurt went to visit her on the way to Connor’s funeral, or Chris’ at that point. She didn’t come out right away to see them, and when she finally did, it was obvious that she’d been in bed with her ex-boyfriend.”
Alex’s heart squeezed. He thought they hadn’t slept together.
“She was very...stubborn. She and Kurt fought. Loudly. She was ready to storm out of the room and your father told her to stop and she didn’t.”
Alex sighed. Could anything go right? No wonder she was ignoring his father and brother.
“He forbade her from being with Hugo again. She cares for Hugo a great deal, and he for her. Wilhelm was trying to ke
ep them apart so she would accept you when you went to her. She was very compliant when he left.”
“And somewhere between then and now, she’s become angry again,” Alex muttered. He wanted to have words with his father. He and Kurt were supposed to take care of Anna, not drive her to anger. Maybe if Kurt had been kinder to Anna, this Hugo thing wouldn’t have happened.
“You’re right,” Sebastian said, reading his mind, and Alex looked up in confusion. “If Kurt had handled things better, she would have accepted your presence easier.”
“I should pummel him again.”
“It won’t do any good. What’s done is done. You must decide what to do from here.”
Alex stood and went to the side of the terrace to look down the street at Anna’s apartment building. “She has feelings for Hugo?”
“Yes.”
He closed his eyes. He knew she’d had relationships with men since he’d been gone. Peter and Kurt included. Could she ever love him again? Would she want to be let go once she was freed from him? Or would she just stay with him because she had to?
“I wish I could torture Devin to death.”
Sebastian chuckled. “Perhaps once the bond is broken.”
“Will it really dissolve on its own?”
“I believe so. If the final ritual is not performed, the bonds will not be strengthened and she should be freed from both of you.”
“But not our marriage?”
“Marriage bonds you for life, Alex. Nothing can destroy that.”
“What if she doesn’t want me?”
“You will have to work hard to make her want you again. You two can’t be separated. Kurt could divorce Gretchen because he wasn’t an Elder-Son. You and Anna were married and bonded by the Elders. Only death destroys that bond.” He gave him a sad smile. “It’s why she could never get over you. If you had really died, she would have been able to.”
There was comfort in Sebastian’s words. It gave him hope. “But I don’t want her resenting me.”
“Maybe you should set her free and trust that she’ll come back to you.”
“I can’t, can I?”
The Life of Anna, Part 5: Emerged Page 25