Sebastian was standing one moment, had time to think 'SHIT' and out the next...

~*~

Anna stood at the door and shifted nervously, why would Seb think Serena's father would hurt her? Had he seen something in the man's aura that she couldn't or had he just lost it over the man's insistence that he take Serena back to Italy. The scars were worse than what she'd thought, had Serena really been tangled up with a bunch of Moroi men willingly? She frowned, if so one of those Moroi men had probably made sure she was addicted first before bringing his friends... that's how it always happened. That's how nieve Dhampir girls ended up blood-whores addicted to the bite...

She could hear the father talking to Serena quietly though she couldn't make out the words, and even if she could they were Italian... a language she didn't know. She was just about to tell herself she was being silly, that Seb had just freaked out over Serena leaving and that his darkness had made him overreact when JACE stepped around the corner. She started at him, fist already pulled back but he held up his hands quickly and then put a finger to his mouth and pointed at the door. Anna frowned, and watched him as he went to the door and found it unlocked. He barged in and Anna was right behind him, planning to yank him right back out the door when her eyes fell on the sight in front of her. Anger ripped through her and she immediately slipped an arm around his throat, cutting off his air... pulling the hold so tight that it cut off his ability to keep feeding. "You son of a bitch!"

Jace grimaced, "Anna! He's a Moroi!"

Once she'd stopped his ability to breathe or feed and he'd released Serena she turned him to Jace, "Wipe him if you can, make sure he leaves Serena here..."

"That's what Seb sent me to do... I need him conscious in order to do it Anna!"

She loosened her grip only JUST enough for him to take a breath and then clamped down again so he couldn't scream.

Jace looked the man in his eyes, "After you entered this room, you and Serena had a long talk... You decided she wasn't worth the effort, the Queen would give you problems over the Shadow-kissed bond. There are plenty more Dhampir girls... Why chase after a brat like her? You never want to see her face again, she's nothing to you... a waste of time."

His words were cruel but he knew how to play a man like this, if he made the idea more like the man's own he was more likely to accept the compulsion. "Anna is going to let you go, she grabbed you because you were choking... she was only trying to help. Pretty girl like her will make a fine Guardian one day. As for me, I came because I heard the noise."

Anna grimaced and released the man, looking at Serena who was probably only just clearing her mind. She wrapped an arm around the girl and forcibly hauled her out of the room. Jace continued repeating what he'd said, over and over.