Anna's first reaction was to look in the mirror in the bathroom. She wanted to see how bad the wound was on her neck. When she looked in the mirror, she was reminded that she had no reflection. She muttered a curse.
A woman stumbled out of the bathroom stall. Anna turned and stepped to the side so that she was no longer in front of the mirror. The woman's eyes grew wide when she looked at Anna clutching her bleeding neck.
"Oh my god," she said. "You're bleeding. Do you need help? What on Earth happened to you?"
"Oh, this?" Anna let out a fake giggle. "This is just make-up."
The woman smiled and laughed. She put her hand on her chest as she let out a deep breath. She wagged a finger at Anna.
"That's good," she said. "You really got me going there."
The woman washed her hands before leaving. Anna leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes. She did not open them until she heard the bathroom door open a few minutes later.
Alice walked through the door. Her lipstick was smeared and Anna guessed that she had been kissing the man she was dancing with. Alice stopped walking when she saw Anna. Her brows furrowed together and she shook her head.
"What happened to you?" she asked.
"Rhys bit me," Anna said.
"Kinky," she said. "But why?"
Anna sucked in her bottom lip. She dropped her hand from her neck. She turned and tried to wash away the blood. The water swirled pink into the drain.
"Why would Rhys bite you?" Alice asked.
"He had been feeding me his blood," she said.
"Oh, shit." Alice leaned against the counter and watched Anna scrub her hands. "Why did you not tell me?"
"I was embarrassed. I did not know what it would do when I drank it."
"What does this have to do with Rhys biting you?"
Anna looked up at Alice. Her arms were crossed over her chest. She raised an eyebrow, expecting Anna to speak more.
"You don't know?" Anna asked.
"Know what?" she asked.
"Rhys drinking my blood reverses the compelling hold he has over me."
Alice let out a laugh. Anna pulled a piece of paper towel out of the dispenser and dried her hands.
Did anyone else know about the reversal? Alice did not know, but what about Drew? If Drew knew, would he have asked her to run away with him? The worst thought crossed her mind. What if Drew knew and was keeping it from her?
"Why would Rhys want to reverse it?" Alice asked. Anna raised an eyebrow and Alice smirked. "He obviously fed you his blood for a reason."
"He did not want me to kill myself," Anna said.
"Like Hannah?" she asked.
"I think so."
Alice ran her fingers through her hair. She turned and leaned against the counter. She looked in the mirror despite there being no reflection.
"That man is obsessed with that girl," she said. "I had never met her. All I know is that Rhys loses his mind when someone mentions her."
"This does not mean that I forgive him." Anna pointed at her neck. "This just means that I have my mind back. I need to talk to Drew now."
Anna headed to the door.
"Why Drew?" Alice called after her.
"I need to ask him something," she said.
She pushed the door open and stepped back into the club. The room was packed full of people dancing. The lights flashed and Anna scanned the club for Drew. She could not see him anywhere, but her eyes fell onto Huxley and Lucia at the bar.
Lucia had a drink in her hand as she ran her foot along the side of Huxley's leg. Huxley's eyes were glazed over. Anna could see that he was speaking and panic set in. He knew all of her secrets.
Anna hurried through the crowd and over to the bar. Lucia stopped speaking when she saw Anna approach. She had a wicked smile as she took a sip of her drink. Huxley's attention was focused on Lucia.
"Anna," Lucia said. Anna's eyes widened. Huxley was talking about her. "How nice of you to join us."
Anna grabbed Huxley's arm and he ripped it out of her grip. She grabbed his arm again, and Huxley let out a growl as he pushed her back with his elbow. Lucia watched intently as Anna tried to move Huxley.
"Huxley, we need to go," Anna said.
"He's not going anywhere," Lucia said. "We are having a nice conversation."
"Huxley!"
"Anna!" Huxley said. His voice was deep and did not sound like himself. "Go away."
Lucia reached out and put her hand on his arm.
"Huxley, dear," she said. "I want to talk to Miss. Nightingale for a little longer."
Anna's head spun and she thought she was going to pass out. Her secret was now out in the open. She knew Huxley did not want to tell Lucia, but he could not help himself. Anna knew he would not forgive himself once his mind was clear.
"Please," Anna said. "You cannot tell anyone."
"Why not?" she asked. "I think everyone deserves to know. Especially your boyfriend."
"My boyfriend?"
Lucia pointed at Anna's neck. Anna covered the wound with her hand.
"The one that was stupid enough to give you your mind back," Lucia said. "I always knew that he had no spine."
"He did the right thing," Anna said. "You should give Huxley his freedom back."
Lucia stuck out her bottom lip in a pout. She ran her hand up along Huxley's arm and rested it on his shoulder.
"We are having too much fun to do that," she said. "You should go back to Rhys, Anna Nightingale."
"You won't tell him?" Anna asked.
"I have not decided yet," she said. "What are you willing to do to keep your secret?"
A lump formed in Anna's throat as her mouth went dry.
"What do you want me to do?" Anna asked.
"I want you to leave Rhys's little group," she said. "I want you to join me."
"Are you going to feed me your blood?"
"I do not have to. I already have enough control over you."
Anna squeezed her eyes shut as she thought. After this battle, she was going to run away with Drew. That was only if he did not know Rhys could reverse his hold on her. If he knew there was a simple fix, she did not want to be near him. Anna could tell Lucia that she would go with her so that she would keep her secret until long enough for Anna to either run away or for her to tell Rhys herself.
"Okay," Anna said.
Lucia's lips curled into an even wider smile.
"Perfect," she said. "Now, run along before I change my mind."
Anna took a shaky step back. She would not be able to move Huxley on her own. She would have to find Drew and have him help her.
She looked around the club. There were booths along the one side of the club. They were packed full of people drinking and talking. There was one booth that only had two people in it. Drew and a girl were sitting together. Anna weaved her way through the crowd and went over to the booth.
Drew stopped talking when he saw Anna push her way past the people dancing. He saw the bloody crescent wound on her neck. Blood had dripped down and stained her red dress. The girl, who he had found at the bar, was in the middle of a story but Drew stood up and slid out of the booth. He hurried over to Anna.
He placed a hand on Anna's hip and his fingers lightly grazed over Rhys's bite. His eyes narrowed and he shook his head.
"Did Rhys do that?" he asked.
"Did you know?" Anna asked. "Did you know that he could reverse this?"
Drew opened his mouth as he hesitated. Anna's jaw dropped as she pushed Drew away. She shook her head as the rage bubbled up in her.
"How could you?" she asked. "You are just as bad as Rhys!"
"Anna, please," Drew said. "I did not do it to hurt you."
"No, you only did it so that I would run away with you. That's disgusting."
"Anna-"
"No." She held her hands out. "I don't want you or Rhys near me."
Anna turned and stormed away. Drew grabbed her wrist and she ripped it out of his grasp.
"Anna, let me talk to you," he begged.
"No!" she yelled out. "Stay away from me!"
Anna rushed out of the club without looking behind her. Drew stood there and watched her leave.
--
Rhys stood at the edge of the club. His eyes were locked on Anna since she had left the bathroom. He watched her go over to Lucia and Huxley.
Of course, he thought. She would try to save him.
His arms were crossed over his chest. His fingers were curled into his arm as he watched Lucia talk to Anna. He knew that conniving bitch would say something to upset Anna. He watched Anna try to pull Huxley away with no luck.
Rhys kept an eye on her as he watched her walk across the club to Drew. He wanted to hurry across the room and rip Drew off of her when he saw him touching her neck. Rhys tried his best to control himself because he knew it was only a matter of time before Drew slipped up and told her that he knew how to reverse his hold over Anna.
Sooner than Rhys thought, Anna pushed Drew away from her. Rhys's lips lifted into a smile as he watched her. He could not hear her, but by the anger on her face and the way she was throwing her arms around that she was yelling at him.
She stormed out of the club and Drew was left standing there looking like a hurt puppy. A sense of joy ran through Rhys. He could not believe it when Anna told him that Drew wanted her to run away with him. Drew had never mentioned that he liked Anna, but Rhys could tell by the way Drew looked at her that he had the same feelings as him. He was glad he kept a hold over Anna long enough to have her confess.
Rhys followed Anna out of the club.