Chapter 2

Two Years Later

Anna felt herself rising to a stark and brutal level of consciousness, only dimly aware that she lay flat on her back on her bed at the Manor. Along with lucidity came a dull, aching pain that grew with each breath she drew.

Devin had taken her baby. A child conceived out of love with Alex. The last vestige of Alex she had clung to. And Devin took it. Again.

Again?

No. It couldn’t be Alex’s baby. Alex was dead. He’d been dead for so long. How long had it been? But why did Devin tell her it was Alex’s baby and upset her so much?

She rubbed her face, trying to dispel the fog of confusion smothering her mind. These days, she was always confused. Sometimes Devin said Alex was alive. Other times, he smiled and told her Alex was dead. Why did he say such conflicting things? It was hard enough clinging to reality when Devin wasn’t around, but when he was, she became even more confused.

Focus, Anna. What happened?

She just returned home from another Spring Gathering. How many had there been? Two? Three, maybe? She’d been pregnant before they left. She was not pregnant now. Devin had told her before they left that it was Alex’s baby and she’d believed him. She’d fought tooth and nail to keep him from taking it, but now it just seemed foolish. Alex had been dead a long, long time.

Alex! A sharp pang in her chest hit hard and she rolled to the edge of the bed, groaning as her strength failed. She stumbled into the bathroom and opened her relief cabinet, but it was empty.

“No!” She fell to her knees and curled over her legs. “No!” She’d been a good girl. She’d done everything Devin had asked. Why was he punishing her?

Crawling to her feet, she limped to her bedroom door and pounded on it with all her strength, screaming Devin’s name in a pathetic, mewling shout. She didn’t care if he came to punish her. She just needed him to come. Screaming his name always made him come. And he came angry.

But no one came. She pounded on the door until her fists were bruised and bleeding, and still no one came.

Devin always came when she screamed. Why not this time?

She curled into a ball on the floor and sobbed. Where was everybody? She’d been a good girl. She’d been obedient. Why was he punishing her? What had she done wrong?

Devin had few requirements for her. She no longer attended the Friday Gatherings, and he didn’t take her to the Summer Gatherings anymore. The only thing she needed to do was be somewhat coherent during the Spring Gatherings so he could take her baby in the spring. A baby to do terrible things to.

She shuddered and shoved the images aside.

The drugs kept memories of Alex at bay. She hadn’t left the Manor, except for the Spring Gatherings, since she’d returned from Alex’s funeral. She hated the Gatherings. Devin and his friends did terrible things to her and the memories haunted her dreams for months after. But that was the only time she was called upon for her duties, so she supposed it was bearable. Four days a year, she was tortured and abused within inches of her life in exchange for being left alone the rest of the time. It wasn’t a bad deal. She could handle four days.

Aaron had been at the Gatherings, but she managed to avoid him. Tommy and Travis, too. The three of them seemed inseparable. She’d watched them from afar, sadness and loneliness creeping in and hating it.

The only person she saw regularly was Ian. She liked Ian. They got high together and had great sex.

Wilhelm annoyingly visited every few months. Devin made her sober up when he came. Well, as much as she could sober up. Her dreams of Alex always returned after Wilhelm visited. She didn’t like it when he came, and she felt even worse after he left.

She squeezed her eyes shut. The drugs were seeping out of her system and thoughts of Alex came unbidden to her mind. She missed him. So much it hurt to breathe.

She lifted her right hand and squinted. Devin had made her take off her diamond rings, but forced her to wear her German wedding band. Every time she looked at it, pain stabbed her heart. She tried to take it off once and Devin had become furious. She frowned. Why wouldn’t Devin want her to forget about Alex?

Her hand was swollen and bruised from pounding on the door. The ring was tight. Unusual. It was usually loose and had slipped off a few times. She’d lost a lot of weight since the funeral. She’d sprayed something on the mirror so she didn’t see herself. What it was, she didn’t know, but it had smelled good for about a year.

The door opened and she rolled over and sat up on her hip. Maggie entered, carrying a tray. “Maggie! Where’s Devin?”

Maggie gave her a sympathetic look. “Master said that he would come see you after you ate.”

“Why’s my cabinet empty?” Anna demanded.

Maggie’s eyes widened and she flinched. “Master said to take everything out while you were gone. I don’t know where he put the items, Mistress.”

Anna turned away and crossed her arms. “I’m not hungry.” If she couldn’t have her drugs, then she wouldn’t eat. Though the aroma wafting in her direction made her stomach growl. When was the last time she ate?

Maggie sat the tray on the table. “Master said he wouldn’t come see you if you didn’t eat.”

Anna turned and glared at the table. “Fine.” She stood on shaky legs, limped to the table, and collapsed into the chair. Maggie watched her eat for a few minutes and then slipped out of the room.

It was too quiet. She saw the remote for the TV on the nightstand and sighed. It was too far away and she didn’t have the energy to get up and get it.

She was staring at her dinner plate, debating if she wanted the last few bites of chicken, when Devin came in. She glared at him. “Why did you take my drugs away?”

Devin walked across the room and sat down in the armchair by the window. “I suggest you watch your tone, Anna,” he said in a low voice.

Anna stood on her shaky legs and pointed a finger at him. “Y-you promised that if I was a good girl, you would let me have them when I got home. You lied.”

Devin raised his brow. “You’ve been high for two years straight. It’s time to come down and get on with life.”

She crossed her arms. “I don’t want to. I have no life.”

“I was going to suggest you start dancing again.”

Anna’s jaw dropped and she stared at him for a long moment. Dance again? Even if she wanted to, she didn’t know if she could. It had been too long. “Why?”

“Because it’s good for you. Aside from your yearly pregnancy, you’ve become useless to me. I don’t even enjoy fucking you anymore. You’re too skinny and incoherent. Things need to change. Now .”

“You did this to me,” she growled.

“I will take some of the responsibility, yes. But now it’s time to move on. Deal with your pain and start living again.”

His matter-of-fact attitude infuriated her. “No.” She crossed her arms and glared at him again.

Devin was on his feet and in front of her so fast she gasped. He pushed her against the wall, his hand around her throat. “I am your Master. You will do as I say.”

“Or what?” She laughed. “You’ll punish me?”

Devin’s eyes flashed. “Oh, Anna. You don’t want to push me.”

She put her hands on his chest and pushed him away. Or tried to. She was too weak to actually move him.

He grabbed her hair and knocked for the door to open, then dragged her, naked, out the door and through the hallways to the dungeon.

She cackled. “Ooh, the dungeon?” She sneered as he cuffed her arms and legs to the wall. “You can’t hurt me, Devin. Been there, done that.” She rolled her eyes.

Devin left the room without a word.

Her laughter bordered on hysterical. This was supposed to make her behave? Ha!

A TV flickered to life in front of her. A movie? That was different.

What appeared on the screen sobered her faster than anything ever had in her life. It was a video of Alex with three little girls. The volume was maxed out and even though she squeezed her eyes shut, their screams echoed throughout the room, along with Alex’s laughter.

Anna pulled against the chains, nearly yanking her shoulder out of its socket. “No!” she screamed. “No! Alex wouldn’t do that!”

But the evidence was right in front of her. Tears streamed down her face as the man she loved—the man she thought she knew—did unspeakable things to those little girls.

When the picture faded, she slumped against the cuffs and stared at the floor. She could still hear their screams.

“He never told you about his affinity for little girls?” Devin’s sarcastic voice came from the shadows near the door.

“You win.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “You hurt me.”

Devin laughed. “Oh, Baby. I’m not done yet. You mocked me. You defied me. And now you will pay.” He walked up in front of her and held up a syringe. “Do you remember that day, long ago, when you were with Aaron in incredible pain? The pain that came from nowhere?”

Anna nodded. Nothing had ever hurt as bad as that.

Devin wiggled the syringe in front of her face. “This is what caused that.” He stepped forward and stuck her in the neck. The cool fluid flowing through her veins made her shiver.

She stared at him. “It doesn’t hurt.”

“Of course not. It’s not the injection that hurts.” He trailed his fingers down her chest and she gasped. His fingertips were made of razor blades. “That’s what hurts. It even made Alex scream. I can hardly imagine what it feels like to you.”

He stepped closer and took her nipples between his knuckles. “I am going to make sure you never mock me again.” He twisted and she howled.

Hours later, Ian dumped Anna onto her bed. The serum was still active in her body and her bed felt like it was covered in broken glass and upturned razor blades. Devin had tortured her like he always did, but the familiar pain of whips and daggers had been taken to a whole new level that she couldn’t even begin to wrap her mind around.

She lay on the bed, unmoving, praying for relief. Every breath was needles in her lungs. She didn’t dare move for fear of the razors on her bedsheets. She tried to sleep, but the pain wouldn’t let her.