The Life of Anna, Part 5: Emerged (33 page)

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.

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 keep 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?”

“Technically no, but you can give her freedom
to choose you. Have your father lift his restrictions, or override
them yourself.”

“I can do that?”

“You shouldn’t, but yes, you can. With
her.”

Alex nodded. “‘If you love something, set it
free...’.”

Anna’s phone rang that evening and she
ignored it. It was Wilhelm. Again. She didn’t want to talk to him.
What else would he forbid her from doing?

Her phone rang again, this time it was Aaron.
“Hey, Aaron.” He was out with Cameron.

“Anna, Wilhelm’s trying to get ahold of
you.”

“I don’t want to talk to him.”

“He says he needs to talk to you.”

“Is he ordering me?” she asked bitterly.

“No. He said he wouldn’t command you, but
asked you to please call him.”

He wouldn’t command her? “Really?”

“Yes. Please call him, Anna. He sounds
concerned.”

Anna sighed. “All right.” Perversely, she was
more inclined to call him knowing he hadn’t commanded it.

She stared at her phone for a long minute
before tapping on Wilhelm’s picture on the screen.

“Hello,
Liebling
,” Wilhelm answered
in a gentle voice. “Thank you for calling me.”

He didn’t sound angry. Was it a trick? “Hi,
Wilhelm,” she said timidly.

There was a pause before he spoke. “Anna, I
know I have been...distant and hard on you these last few months. I
am very sorry for that. Now that you know that Alex is back, I do
not have to hide anything from you anymore. The last few months
have been very, very busy and I am so sorry I pushed you
aside.”

Anna didn’t respond. She didn’t know what
Alex’s return had to do with his pushing her aside. He had hidden
Alex’s return from her too, and it hurt.

“Anna, I am lifting any commands I have given
you since you arrived.”

She blinked in shock. “What?”

“When you arrived, you were told you were
free, and then I began to remove your freedoms without telling you
why. That was unfair of me. Obviously, you are no longer engaged to
Kurt, but I....” He hesitated. “I remove the ban on you being with
Hugo as well.”

Anna was stunned. Alex had returned...her
husband had returned, and Wilhelm was telling her it was okay for
her to be with Hugo?

“Alex will respect your wishes about whether
or not people learn that he is your husband. He will not demand you
return to him.”

Anna didn’t know what to say.

“Anna, I only ask that you at least give him
a chance to win you back. That is not a command.”

“He’s leaving again,” she whispered.

“For jobs given to him by myself, Tom and
Vlad. There is no trap, they are simple jobs and, if you want, he
can remain in contact with you while he is gone. Aside from a few
of us, no one knows he is alive.”

“Anyone who sees him will know he’s related
to Kurt.”

“If you want him to remain hidden, he will.
Though it will be difficult for him to take you out if he
does.”

“Take me out?”

“How else do you court a woman?”

“Oh.”

“Is it all right if he asks you out on a
date?”

“I....” Alex wanted to ask her out? He
wouldn’t demand her return? He would even hide that they were
married if she wanted him to. She could go out with Hugo, too.
“Y-yes, I suppose so.”

“
Gut
.”

“What if I decide I don’t want to be with
him?”

Wilhelm didn’t answer right away and Anna
grew nervous in the silence. “Then I will permit a divorce,” he
said softly.

Anna inhaled deeply. He really meant what he
was saying. She really was free. Free to choose whether or not she
wanted to be with Alex. Tears came to her eyes at the thought of
not being with him, but she didn’t want to think about that now.
“Thank you, Wilhelm,” she whispered.
Freedom
.

“I love you,
Liebling
. I want you to
be happy.”

Anna’s jaw trembled. “I love you, too,
Wilhelm.”

Anna stared at the engagement ring she held
in her hand. The one that Kurt had given her. She no longer had to
wear it. She was no longer engaged. Yes, she was married, but only
technically. If she didn’t want to stay with Alex, she didn’t have
to. The thought was both heart-freeing and sad.

Now what did she do?

Alex smoothed his blue dress shirt and khaki
dress slacks nervously as he walked into the theater Monday
morning. Today he was going to watch the City Ballet’s rehearsals
again, but not in the dark balcony. No, today he was sitting in the
orchestra section with Vincent. He would be seen.

He heard Seth chuckle behind him. “Nervous?”
his friend murmured.

“Do you blame me?” Alex asked. “You would be
too....” He had told Aaron he was coming, but he still hadn’t
talked to Anna. Wilhelm had called him and told him that Anna had
taken his call and that she’d seemed to have softened.

Alex sensed Anna as he walked down the aisle,
but didn’t see her at first. His eyes searched the dancers on the
stage and he finally spotted her talking to the tall, dark-skinned
man he knew was Hugo. She gave Hugo an adoring smile and Alex felt
like he’d been punched in the stomach. Maybe watching rehearsal
today wasn’t such a good idea. But he was here, and he couldn’t
leave. In fact, he planned on being there a lot. She would get used
to him being alive one way or another, though he would maintain his
distance.

As Alex, Seth, Greg and Tony made their way
down the aisle towards the stage, he knew when he became visible to
those on stage as whispers erupted from all corners. He could see
the women looking at him and giggling, and he sighed. He had to
maintain his distance from women, or Anna would never trust him.
But at the same time, he wasn’t supposed to know Anna. What had he
gotten himself into?

Vincent noticed the whispers and grinned as
he turned to greet Alex. “I should have realized the whispers could
only be about you.” Vincent didn’t know exactly who he was, except
that he had some sort of familial relationship with Kurt. Alex had
kept the information from him to protect him. Vincent didn’t know
that Alex knew Anna.

Alex chuckled. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. They dance exceptionally well when
you are here. Do you mind if I introduce you? If I don’t, they
won’t pay attention to anything this morning.”

Alex nodded, glancing quickly at where Anna
was standing, still talking to Hugo. She apparently hadn’t noticed
the whispers. Hugo reached out to caress her cheek and Alex
growled.

“Alex...,” Seth murmured.

Alex took a deep breath. “I know,” he
muttered.

Vincent led them up onto the stage, clapping
his hands to get the dancers’ attention. Anna turned to look at
Vincent and her eyes widened as she made eye contact with Alex. His
heart pounded as he gazed into her beautiful green eyes for just a
moment before dragging them away. Was this really such a good idea?
Could he keep himself from walking over to her and kissing her
until she couldn’t stand straight?

Anna debated all night whether or not she
should tell Hugo what was going on. She’d almost called him after
she finished her call with Wilhelm, but didn’t. The knowledge that
she was allowed to be with him thrilled her, but should she really
just go jump back into bed with him, not knowing how she felt about
Alex?

She woke Monday morning, determined to speak
to Hugo. She walked out on stage and found him at the side of the
stage, talking with Vincent. She could go to him. She could go to
him and kiss him and go out with him and anything else she wanted.
Her heart both swelled and ached as she looked at him from the
shadows of the wings. Maybe she could finally admit that she loved
him. Maybe.