Hi,

First of all, thanks for all your comments on the last chapter. I was stunned at how deep your understanding of Anna and the other characters was! That means I got across what I wanted! :-)

So, another chapter in a morally gray zone - for Anna... I hope you like it! Thanks for reading.

Lara

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Chapter 47

The magic rolled forward, breaking through the vision of the vampire standing before her. It accelerated like a train going out of control, and collided with the row of chairs until it crashed against the wall beside the screen.

She smiled, breathing a heavy sigh of relief. Nothing left but the breathtaking rush of power. When she used Spirit there was just no room for anything else. No second-guessing, no if or why. No pain. She was back in that calm serene spot buried deep inside herself.

It was oblivion. And she wanted more.

She opened her eyes. The theater was ablaze with blue white flashes, electric bolts dancing a deadly dance around them. Watching the ring of blue electric bolts skittering through the rows of chairs was intoxicating. The magic skirted the theater like an electrified fence come to life.

That Asian vamp was still somewhere around, she was sure. Waiting. Trying to mess with her mind. She was not sure what he was going to do next. But at least she had-

Someone grabbed her arm. "Stop."

It was Andy. She hadn't even noticed him coming to her. Didn't even know how he made it through the flashes of deadly magic.

"Let go," she said, not taking her eyes off the empty space in front of her.

The red-haired vamp was still there. There was still magic to be used. She could feel it settle in her fingertips. She was ready for more. She wanted more. She wasn't finished here.

"Look at what you've done. You've got to stop," Andy said, stepping into her line of vision. His hands settled on her shoulders. "Anna, stop!"

His eyes were boring into hers.

Stop? Why stop?

"We've got to get out. The building will collapse!" He grabbed her hand roughly and started towing her towards the exit.

She blinked, shaking her head as he pulled her through the crumbling line of stones. Stones squeaked and shattered as the foundation shook. The building groaned and moaned like a dying man.

Andy was right, she'd misjudged the situation. They had to leave as fast as possible

She touched her pendant and readied herself. "Andy, don't let go, no matter what," she yelled.

He turned, mid-run. "What do you-"

His last words were drowned out by the nonexistent hiss of the in between as its folds devoured them like a hungry beast. The portal closed and all she could do was hold on to his essence.

* * *

ANDY

The portal was a violent fist knocking me out of balance the moment we entered. I've done this before. Once, when I helped Anna save Ryan and Laura. And I almost didn't make it out back then. I never told Anna. Not that she needed to know.

I held on to her essence, putting my focus on protecting my mind from the rocky bumps in the road we were going down.

It might have taken mere seconds. We might have been in there for hours. I only knew once it was over, when we were tossed out into free open space that operated on the laws of physics. I was carried forward by the moment, but caught myself in time before I crashed into a brick wall.

Anna was right beside me. She turned, painfully slow.

Her hair was wild, brown long locks spilling over her shoulder. She had dirt on her cheeks.

I sucked in a breath. Those eyes. There was that look in her brown eyes. Again. I just saw her do magic only someone of Raphael Medici's caliber could wield. And even from where I was standing I could tell it was messing with her. Bad.

Dammit, Anna. What's going on?

"Did Fabrice say anything?" She said. "You let him bite you. Why?"

I shook my head. The wound on my neck had stopped bleeding. At least I thought it did. You never knew with vamp bites. I stared at her, licked my lips.

"Sometimes in the past I got a reading from Fabrice when he fed on me. Now, last time when he attacked Alexander and the wolves, he bit me and... I saw something I've never seen before. I wanted to see if I could learn more."

She kept staring at me. "What did you see back then?"

"Last time when I got inside his head I was walking in a storm of ice. And there was that strange scent of decomposition and something smelling like ash. I caught a glimpse of something, like Fabrice meeting someone in the Red Zone."

"What did you see this time?"

"I'm positive that Fabrice met the red-haired Asian vamp in the Red Zone. Something tells me they didn't know each other before. There were other vamps, but I'm not sure if they were all part of Fabrice's group of outlaws. I-" I licked my lips. "Something happened in the Red Zone. I know this sounds crazy, but I think some vamp messed with Fabrice. And in all likelihood it was the red-haired Asian."

"Do you know anything about the vampire that turned Fabrice? Did he ever tell you who it was?" Anna said.

My eyes snapped to hers. "You think the Asian vamp is Fabrice's maker?"

That meant a world of possibilities. Possibilities that could fuck us up real bad.

I shook my head.

"Fabrice never told me who turned him into a vampire." I ran my hands through my hair. "Ah, dammit! What are we gonna do now?"

Anna remained silent, watching me with the eyes of a colonel in battle mode. Where was the Anna I knew? Dammit, what happened to her? Had she been pulled under by the dark magic completely or was it just temporal?

"Anna, you-"

"I told you. There's no going back," she said, as if she'd heard that last thought.

I stared at her for a moment.

Fuck this. No.

"Is there? Look at the Inri Brotherhood. That's not you." I stepped closer, grabbed her upper arms. "Let that not become you!"

She didn't move, just stared at me. "Why should I be any different?"

"Because the rogues were all cut off from friends and family. Shunned. Left alone. And you're not. You're not alone, Anna!" I shook her, fingers tightening on her arms. "Tell me if I'm wrong. Tell me! They're among themselves, but in truth each and every one of them is lonely. Am I wrong?"

"Let go of me. You're hurting me," she said.

Her tone was void of inflection, reminded me eerily of the head vampire of New York.

I stepped away, hands falling to my sides. "I'm sorry." I ran my hand through my hair. "What I'm trying to say is you're not alone in this."

I lifted my eyes to the night sky, exhaling. Hurting her was the last thing I wanted. Why she? Why did she have to get in this mess?

I took a slow breath, scanning our surroundings. First things first. Eventually I would find a way to get her out of this. Somehow.

"Ok. Where do we go from here?" I said.

No reaction. My eyes went back to her.

She had backed away wordlessly. Something about the set of her mouth was-

"Anna?" I stepped forward.

The space behind her shimmered and twisted.

Portal.

"No, no, no! You're not-"

By the time I reached for her she was gone. All I could feel was the slightest whiff of the netherworlds and folds of the in between.

"Anna, dammit!"

I stared at the spot she'd been in before. I'd pushed her too hard, and now she was gone.

The way things were now, I had no way of finding her on my own.

Even the head vamp had higher chances of finding her in the city. I snorted, then stilled. The head vamp. That's right. Out of all people in New York, he was one of the few that might be able to find Anna fast.

And it fucking chafed.

I was going to have another chat with Alexander. I had a score to settle with him, anyway.

What a night.

* * *

My first time in Club Ryon. The club was everything it promised and more. Chandeliers, expensive marble; a row of axes on the wall that looked damn real. The club was as semi-classy as it was tightly secured. Bouncers at the front and back, carefully hidden metal detectors at the doors, and security cameras.

You had to give it to Alexander, whatever he did, he did it thoroughly and with a meticulousness that bordered on the obsessive. Apparently he counted more on human security devices that most other vampires of his age. Which was smart.

It looked like I was the only human in there – apart from the service personal. Interesting.

"Mr. Varner?"

I turned. The silver, barely-there dress was the first thing that stuck. Innocent, wide eyes. One of the waitresses was looking up at me.

"Yeah, that's me."

"Follow me please," she said.

Without waiting for my consent, she turned and started weaving through the crowd. Apparently Alexander was not only in, he was expecting me, and I was curious enough to follow and ask questions later.