Waking up at home the next day, Ana tidied up the apartment and went to the store, waiting for Christian. John's words about rest were true and correct. The girl herself understood that if she continued in this spirit, then her heart would fail one day and it was scary to think what would happen to those she loved and to the city as a whole.
Sitting at the laptop and checking her mail, Ana wondered: could she learn magic? The first skirmish with the Academician's people showed the worthlessness of the police. It was necessary to be able to conjure if they wanted to win ...
With this question, she wrote a letter to Jen and agreed to meet her when a week had passed.
At seven in the evening there was a knock on the door. Ana calmly walked up to the door and opened it. Christian Gray was standing on the threshold. He was dressed simply: jeans, a white T-shirt and a leather jacket.
- Hi, I see you are sitting at home. How are you? - Gray asked. - It's boring... I want to apologize for yesterday, - Ana looked down. - You also risked yourself, and the guys too... And I...
Christian flicked her on the nose.
- Forgot, - he smiled. - I brought food. But it needs to be cooked.
He showed her the bags of food.
- Cooking together? - Ana asked. - Or don't you know how?
- Are you challenging me again, Miss Steele? - Christian laughed.
- I like doing it, - Ana grinned.
The two of them went into the kitchen and, having taken out all the ingredients, began to cook.
- Pizza? - Ana was amazed when she realized what they were cooking.
- Are you against it? - The man was surprised.
- I love pizza. But no one cooks pizza better than Madame Jaeger, - Ana kneaded the dough.
- Is this your neighbor? - Gray asked.
- Yes, they came here from Germany with their family before the war, - Ana smiled. - Carla is terribly kind and always feeds me all sorts of delicious food. She says that I'm thin.
Gray nodded. The conversation was calm and revolved around abstract topics. When everything was ready, Ana and Christian went into the living room with plates full of food and sat down on the sofa. Christian opened a bottle of wine, and the two police officers turned on Futurama and began to eat pizza.
At some point, Anastasia dozed off and snuggled up to Christian. He looked at her. In her sleep, she was so sweet and young. The man stroked her hair and laid her on the sofa. He felt good with her, very good, but he knew that he could not and should not be carried away by her.
His life held too many dark secrets that Miss Steele simply would not understand and would never accept. And there was one circumstance that ruined everything. And this circumstance will never let him be happy. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. The knock woke Anastasia. After exchanging glances with Christian, the girl went to open the door. Kate was on the threshold.
- Hi, - Ana smiled.
- Ana, Jack found something. It turns out that the Jeep became invisible only for us. But the tire tracks remained on the ground! And they led us to abandoned catacombs. There are underground passages through all of Los Angeles, - Kavanagh chattered.
- I'm kind of on vacation, - Ana spread her hands.
- We need you. Roach officially assigned the investigation to you and Gray, - the blonde did not calm down.
- And Flynn? - Gray asked, appearing behind Anastasia.
- He swore so much, we quarreled with him, but he made me promise that I would ask Mister Gray to look after you, - Kate sighed.
Ana turned to Gray defiantly.
- Well? Will you look after me? - The girl asked with a smile in her voice.
- With pleasure, - Christian nodded.
- Excellent. Inspection of the catacombs tomorrow. By the way, Phoebe and Teddy were helping Jack, - Kate said.
Ana's mouth dropped open in surprise. Shouldn't they be at the boarding house?
*
Arriving at the place in the morning, Anastasia ran into Jack and the children.
- Overgrow, Miss Steele. We're here... - Phoebe chattered guiltily.
- Why aren't you in class? Why did you run away? - The girl hugged Phoebe.
- We read about Oscar's ball and what happened there and decided that we couldn't stay away, - Teddy stood up for his sister.
- They found the catacombs and told me, - Jack stood behind the children.
- Did you thank them for their help? - Ana asked Jack.
Hyde chuckled and handed the children each a Snickers bar.
- Jack, - Ana said with emphasis. The guy sighed and gave the children two more Snickers bars. And then more and more...
Having finished with the formalities, Ana went with her friends into the catacombs.
Making her way through the narrow corridors of the underground passages, Ana noted that these ruins looked inhabited. Clothes, candles, weapons. Books on black magic and Nazism... All this indicated that they had come to a bandit lair.
One of the passages led Anastasia and her friends into a huge room. Phoebe trembled at the sight of it. Cannibals' kitchen. Blood, bones, pieces of meat that the members of the Academician's Gang devoured, dancing and praising the Darkness. Kate barely held back her gagging. Ana looked at all this in horror. For a moment, the girl felt sick. Christian was next to her and put his hands on her shoulders.
-Lord,- he whispered, looking at the empty cages.
When they came out into the air, Ana smiled gratefully at Gray. The detectives began to confiscate evidence, and Ana turned to Phoebe and Theodore.
- Now with you, - the girl said sternly. - Chris, will you throw it in the boarding house?