Hi,

Many of you asked about Anna's whereabouts, or maybe you wanted her back as the main narrator. Your wish is my command... ;-) A word of warning, you might not get exactly what you asked for.

Lara

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Chapter 42

ANNA

She moved through the dark building with ease, could have walked through the corridor backwards and blindfolded. Another eight steps forward, one turn to the left, then one more.

She stopped.

It was nighttime, there was no electricity, and she would have been stuck in total darkness, if not for the residue of light from the streetlamps outside.

Nothing seemed out of place, but the faint smell of musk mixed and mingled with stale air. Someone was here recently. Probably the shapeshifters. Maybe even Marrok himself. Second sight showed a blend of various auratic remains, the power of the grave like a soft undercurrent.

So not only wolves.

The remains looked not older than a day. She moved on, pushed forward by the undercurrent of the dark singsong that was her own ever since that night.

Entering via portal was one of the safest options to enter hiding places undetected. Le Mouret was once her favorite hiding place. The old hotel was a welcome change to the warehouses or the underground stations Raphael Medici had favored.

That was, before someone compromised this hiding place. She wasn't going to take any chances. If someone was keeping an eye on the hotel they would be thorough. And fast.

She had to be quick and efficient. And she would be.

She was almost certain that it was still here where she left it. She'd hidden it well.

Just a few nights ago she was here. The memory seemed like a cheap storyline someone else was explaining to her, like a movie that was way out of her genre or comfort zone.

The door to the room she used was open, the semi-light from the street-lamp outside stretching in through the window like a bony hand. It looked vacant, as if no one had lived in there for years. Maybe no one had detected its hiding place after all. It was possible they hadn't found anything and simply left. It was possible that it was still there.

She stepped into the room, sure-footed and determined, and moved to the bed. Then stopped and stared at the wall, again caught up by the odd sensation of shifting out of place. Somewhere within something stirred. A memory maybe, or a conversation someone else might have had in another life or another century.

Dreams were faded memories, were pictures that vanished like smoke into thin air. Nothing left each time she awoke. Another day, another nightmare she would survive. Too much time had passed. Too much to remember. Not enough to forget. She closed her eyes.

She was alone in this. And she would survive, even on her own. She always had.

The dark current within her hummed. Ready. There for her. There, should she need it.

She blinked, focused on the here and now, on what she had. The calm settled slowly. She was going to survive. The magic was there, all around her. Power pulsed underneath her skin, waiting and ready. No one was going to push her around anymore. Her past was a violent history that had come to an end.

Her old life. She could carry it to the grave without regret and walk that line like a devoted soldier. No looking back. For the first time she was travelling without the subjective baggage most humans and witches alike struggled with. No conflict. No regrets. No fear. The axis on which the whole world spun was after all power.

She had a purpose. She had power. That was all that counted.

She knelt and lifted the mattress, fingers digging into the gap.

Nothing.

She stilled. Where? Where was it?

"Were you looking for this?" The voice came out of nowhere, disembodied, bit into her with razor sharp teeth.

The atmosphere changed within a single second. She stilled, on the outside. Not so, on the inside. Stillness within exploded into absolute chaos, threatened to tip the scales in favor of panic.

She didn't see him, not in his approach, not at this point in time. She had used second sight instants before. How did he manage to get into the hotel without her noticing? This was a nightmare come to life.

She licked her lips, drew a long stuttering breath. It didn't matter.

She had power. She had a purpose.

What really mattered was finding out what happened that night. That damned night in the street where everything changed. Surviving. Getting what she wanted. Power.

She straightened and focused on what was real, opened herself to the magic. The power pressed against her pulse like a wet kiss, eager and ready to be used.

She turned slowly, staring at the darkest corner of the room. If she knew one thing about him, it was this: Alexander was going to use whatever advantage he could get his hands on. Darkness, remaining unseen and hidden until the right moment, was an advantage.

The shadows seemed to part like a veil as he moved into the shaft of light spilling into the middle of the room. She could see him perfectly. The sculpted face, the broad shoulders and the way he held himself, like he could walk into a deadly cataclysm and come out unscathed.

His eyes were deeper and richer in color than a human's. She had never seen the strange mix of colors on anyone before, the midnight blue tinged with all shades of the ocean. Once – a few weeks or maybe even only a few days ago, she couldn't remember – the sight of him might have made her lose her cool. Not this night.

There was power and survival. Getting what she wanted. Nothing else.

Her eyes went to his right hand. There it was.

Elena Larosa's diary.

How did he find it? How did he find her?

Did he even know what he was holding in his hands? What else did he know?

She eyed it. She needed the diary. Resources were resources. Power was power. Information and knowledge were another thing. The one unprepared for the improbable was the fool. A fool was weak. She'd never be weak again.

"Did you mess with the pendant?" She finally said. She suspected it the moment she heard his voice.

No motion. No cocky smile or raise of the eyebrow. Stillness.

He was looking at her longer than she anticipated. As if she was an interesting piece of art he needed to study. He cocked his head, still staring at her, watching, assessing.

"Something has happened to you. What is it?"

"Did you or did you not mess with the pendant?" she said. If he did, she could not risk using it freely. She would have to find another device to teleport.

"Do not worry, I have other means to find you," Alexander said softly.

Truth or well-covered lie? She had no way of knowing. With him everything was possible.

She crossed her arms in front of her. "I said to leave me alone."

"Your witch friend relayed the message." A smile that vanished as fast as it appeared. "Make no mistake, Anna, this is not about you. In case you have not noticed, this city is on the brink of chaos. I need to know what happened in that street. What do you know about the attack on Victor's coven?"

She stared at him. There was no emotion. Just choices. Right or wrong, washed out and faded behind what was real. On the ascent to power right or wrong didn't matter. She narrowed her eyes.

Dark witches had been drifting in and out of New York like pale ghosts. The Inri Brotherhood hiding in tunnels beneath and above the city. And no one noticed. Or no one wanted to notice. Last she heard Medici was still alive, probably somewhere in the city. And still... The question pushed to the front of her mind again. Had he really been working alone?

She had long suspected someone among the vampires in New York wanted to set Alexander up and dethrone him. That it wasn't the Raven's doing alone. It was possible.

I need to know what happened in that street. What do you know about the attack on Victor's coven?

She rolled the words over in her mind, staring at him.

He was still, oh so still, but somewhere there was motion. His eyes roamed over her, stopping at her face, her eyes. Something in his gaze flickered. As if he was unsure of what he was looking at. In the past he had never showed emotion. Not to her, not to anyone else. Why that expression? Why let it show now?

"Something is not right with you. What is it?" He said.

She smiled. Another expression out of place and yet oddly familiar.

"Nothing and everything," she said.

It approached like a shadow moving in the corner of her eyes. It hit her with the force of a train wreck in the making and she welcomed it. Dark magic rolled through her fingertips, wormed itself into her mind. Power raging war within her. There was so much to take. All she had to do was-

She licked her lips. Blinked.

The soul can't be destroyed. Your sanity can't be destroyed. As long as you keep boundaries.

Medici's voice hissed in her ears like a boiling kettle, disembodied and a faint memory she half wished she didn't have. Savior and devil.

Take the power, don't let it take you. Never let it take you. It's yours. Shape it to your own will.

Her mind cleared and she could see past the chaos of dark power. Could see the vampire standing in front of her while the power coursed in her veins. She was power. She would be of use. Not be used. She opened her eyes and looked at her opposite with deadly calm.

Alexander took a step forward and the room seemed to shrink with his growing presence. Motion in his face, eyes blazing with... With what? Rage?

"You went rogue! Are you out of your mind?"

She stared at him, blinking. The intensity of his two-thousand yard stare deepened as he came to a halt inches in front of her, taking her by surprise.

"For a moment I was fooled," he said. "I almost believed you were not involved with the Inri Brotherhood. That you were indeed an involuntary spy, infiltrating the Circle. Or my territory."

He thought she betrayed him. Misunderstood. Again.

She didn't have the words to explain. Didn't know what or how it happened. Only that she was what she was. She stared at him, watching the deep blue shades in his eyes. And why should she have to explain?

For the first time in her life she was free. Free from all the emotions that had dragged her down, had tampered with her magic. She was strong now. She had power.