Thames looked at him, an amused smile on his face. “Oh? And why is that?”
“Ana will stop you. She kicked Vincent’s sorry ass and yours will be next.”
“Not if I kill her first.” Rosabel looked up at Thames. “Let me kill her, Highness.”
Shit. If Rosabel went after Ana, his wife wouldn’t stand a chance. Not unless she’d finally found a way to put the Siren down.
“What do you want from me, Thames? Other than a ride off this dead fucking world.”
“Dakota, no.” His mother shook her head.
“You don’t get a say in what I do,” he said, a little colder than he’d planned. He was still pissed the hell off she’d hidden who she was from him.
“I want you to accept your birthright.”
“And what’s that?”
“The Luxe power. All that is our heritage.”
“And if I do?”
Thames shrugged. “Our world will be reborn, able to host life once again.”
“Dakota, you can’t—”
Thames put a hand up to silence their mother. “I believe Dakota has already told you that it’s not up to you.” He turned his attention back to Dakota. “It’s up to you, Brother.”
If he accepted the power—if that were even possible—he might have what it takes to get the hell away from here and back to Ana. Maybe even kill Thames, so she wouldn’t have to march back into another war.
On the other hand, he wasn’t stupid. Thames had an ulterior motive; whether he wanted Dakota to obtain the power only to use it himself, or he hoped he would be able to control Dakota into doing his bidding, nothing good would come of this.
But what other option did they have? If Thames couldn’t leave except through Rosabel’s portal, it was probable Ana couldn’t reach them here.
“I want to think about it.”
Thames raised his hands. “Fine by me, Brother. Perhaps a stroll through our home will put things into perspective for you.” Thames opened the door to their cage and turned away. “Rosabel, do not kill the Sorceress… yet.”
“But, Highness—”
“I said not yet. We will give my brother the time he requests to think things over. In the meantime, secure our alliance with the Pickries.”
“Yes, Highness.” She bowed as Thames left the room, then turned back to Dakota. “I will return soon, my love.” She smiled and disappeared into a pool of water.
Dakota spun on his mother. “What the hell are you doing here?”
She stared at him, wide-eyed, apparently surprised by his outburst. “Thames pulled me through when I pushed you; I told you this.”
“Why did you push me?”
“Anastasia was going to blast you; I couldn’t risk anything happening to you.”
Dakota pinched the bridge of his nose. “Do you honestly think she would have killed me?”
“I couldn’t risk it.”
“Ana has been in full control of her power for two years, Mom. She probably had a plan, and not only did you ruin it, but now, you’re stuck in this fucking prison, too.”
“I hadn’t considered. Truthfully, I didn’t think.”
Dakota looked back down at his chest. It was only a small wound, but it hurt like hell.
“You okay?”
“Yeah. She could have killed me with this one.” He gestured to the injury. “But she didn’t.”
His mother narrowed her eyes. “Point taken, Dakota.”
“Shall we explore?” He stepped from the cage and into the throne room.
“I haven’t been here in ten thousand years,” his mother whispered. “So many lifetimes ago.”
“Welcome home.”
“This was never my home, Dakota. I loved my husband and youngest son, but I didn’t feel at home until I met your father.”
It took everything in him to not roll his eyes. How was he supposed to believe a woman who’d lied to him his entire life?
“I’m serious,” she insisted.
“I’m sure you are.”
Dakota walked to the single window in the room and peered out into the dark. Wails and screams of the dying below called out to him, and he shivered remembering the horrible black eyes of the living corpses trapped below.
It was something he never wanted to see again.
“This is horrible.” Her eyes were full of tears, and she covered her mouth with shaking hands.
“I’m guessing it didn’t used to look like this?”
She shook her head. “It was gorgeous, and the people—they flourished. Life was so happy here… what happened?”
“My guess is your eldest son happened. Thames obviously took things into his own hands.”
“This is corruption, Dakota. Luxe is represented by whoever possesses the scepter—the physical representation of the power—if Thames has caused this, I fear for what he may have planned.”
“You and me both.” Dakota turned back toward the horrid scene outside. What the hell was he supposed to do?
36
Terrenia
Anastasia
“I don’t see many options.” Carmen sighed, staring down at the book laid out before her. “You can electrify the water, and that may hurt her, but it will definitely kill you since you have to be in close enough proximity to keep her there long enough to inflict significant damage.”
“I don’t want to kill her. I need the queen to release Dakota, and she wants her daughter returned to her alive.”
“What did she say to you again?” Tony asked.
“In order to keep Rosabel in a static location, I need to first turn her solid.”
“Freeze her, maybe?” Carmen offered.
“Won’t that kill her?” Shane questioned. “At the very least, it’ll make her damn hard to move.”
“True.” Anastasia bit down on the inside of her cheek. How the hell did you turn a water being solid without killing her?
“Perhaps it is simpler than that,” Argento added.
“What do you mean?”
“You could create a barrier around her, much like you’ve done to keep her out of places.”
“But craft it to keep her in!” Anastasia exclaimed. “That’s fantastic!”
“It could work, but it’s not something you’re practiced at, correct? You may fail,” Selena said softly.
“It can’t fail. It’s the closest thing to an actual plan we have.”
“How are you planning on luring her out?” Shane asked. “I doubt she’ll just knowingly walk into a trap, and she already has what she wants.”
“Not everything she wants,” Anastasia said with a smile. “The bitch wants me dead. Perhaps I’ll give her an opportunity she can’t pass up.”
“You’re going to use yourself as bait? Seriously?” Shane glared at her.
“What other options do we have?”
“I don’t know, wait until she shows up?” Tony said.
“We can’t wait. Who knows how long it will be before she comes back? We need to move now if we’re going to get Dakota and Elizabeth out.”
“Dakota is going to be pissed when he finds out you risked your life to save his.” Shane crossed his arms. “I sure as hell would be.”
Anastasia ground her teeth together and turned to face her friend. “I don’t know how much longer I can keep myself together without him, Shane.”
“You aren’t alone.”
“You know it’s not the same. No matter how powerful I am, Dakota keeps me grounded. Without him, I’ll turn into someone you won’t want to know.”
“I don’t believe that.”
Carmen cleared her throat. “I’m going to see if I can help Tilly put dinner together.” She turned and left, Tony and Argento following her further inside.
“I’ve lost so much, Anastasia. My parents, my brother, Gregory, Violetta, I can’t lose you, too.” His voice was soft, pleading, but everything inside her pointed to this being the right option—hell, it was their only option.
She touched his arm gently. “You won’t lose me, Shane. You’re one of my best friends and I promise you this plan will work. It has to.”
He hesitated before nodding. “I sure as hell hope you’re right.”
Anastasia focused on the pond before her. Closing her eyes, she jumped into the pool of power inside her, and reached out to her target.
Power flowed through her, and Anastasia raised her hands, calling to the water. She pictured her power pushing into the water and forming a cage to keep it contained.
Lifting her hands higher, she opened her eyes. When there was no floating cylinder of water, she dropped them. “Dammit,” Anastasia muttered and pinched the bridge of her nose.
The entire plan rested on her being able to complete this task. She’d managed to keep Rosabel out of her cabin when Dakota had been inside, so why the hell was it so difficult to keep something contained?
“You aren’t focusing.” Vincent appeared beside her, and Anastasia let out an irritated sigh. Great.
“Can I help you?” she asked sweetly.
“I want to help.”
“You made that clear earlier.”
“I still think you’re making a mistake.”
“Noted.” Anastasia closed her eyes again and pushed her power out into the water. Lifting her hands, she imagined the water contained.
This time, all she got was a small splash.
“You have to concentrate.”
“Thank you, Sensei, anything else?”
“You’re entirely too focused on the outcome.”
She spun to face him, hands on her hips. “And just how the hell am I supposed to not focus on the outcome when that’s what I’m working toward?”
“All you need to do is imagine what you are doing, as you are doing it, rather than what it will look like afterward.”
She stared at him. “That makes no sense.”
Vincent put his hands behind his back. “It makes perfect sense. Your father really didn’t teach you much, did he?”
Temper flaring, Anastasia clenched her fists. “Don’t talk about him.”
“He was my brother; I’ll talk about him if I choose to.”
“You are the reason he’s dead.”
“Yes, something I have to live with every day I’m forced to stay in this miserable plane of existence.”
She considered saying something about how he wasn’t really living, but the sad glint in his eye stopped her. Vincent was genuinely bothered by the fact he’d ultimately caused his brother’s death, and as much as she wanted to rub it in his face, she grieved her father just as he grieved his brother.
She let out an exasperated breath. Truth was, Vincent had decades of experience on her. He’d used every type of magic available, so if anyone could help her, it unfortunately was him. “So, you say I need to focus on what I’m currently doing rather than what I want to happen.”
“Yes.”
“Fine, here goes.” Anastasia closed her eyes and imagined her pool of power again. Diving into it, she forced herself to focus only on the step by step of what she wanted to be the final result.
She pictured her magic weaving around the molecules of water she wished to trap, could see each strand of power capturing them as if she was looking directly at it. Raising her arms once again, Anastasia lifted them higher, imagining the water coming up from the pond.
“Open your eyes,” Vincent said softly.
When she did, a cylinder of water floated just above the surface of the pond. Anastasia beamed. I did it! She squealed and jumped in excitement, and the water crashed back down, splashing her.
“Glad I’m not solid,” Vincent said sarcastically.
“I did it!” She faced him, grinning widely. Vincent returned her smile, and for the first time since she’d met him, Anastasia could see genuine, unguarded, emotion on his face. So, what the hell happened to him to turn him so cold?
“You did well. Now, you just need to be able to hold it long enough that Rosabel won’t escape.”
“What happened to you?” The words were out of her mouth before she’d had the chance to filter them.
The pride on his face vanished, returning him to the stone, emotionless Vincent she knew. “What do you mean?”
“Why did you turn out so different from my father?”
“We can’t all be as perfect as Gregory was,” he said dryly. “Now, if you’ll excuse me.” Vincent vanished, leaving her standing alone by the pond.
One way or another, she was going to get the truth, even if it meant figuring out how to trap his ass to this world just as she was planning on doing to Rosabel.
37
Luxe
Dakota
“You can’t do this,” Elizabeth insisted. “It’s suicide.”
“I have to,” Dakota said, pulling on the amethyst robes Thames set out for him.
“No, you don’t. We should be trying to get the hell out of here, not caving to his demands!”
Dakota turned to face his mother. “If I don’t do this, Mom, what power do we have? Ana can’t reach us, Thames can use me whenever the hell he wants, and the worlds are once again in danger. I might be able to stop it.”
“And just how do you expect to do that?” Hands on her hips, she reminded him of the times as a teen he’d done something stupid and she scolded him for it.
Man, those were the days.
“Once I have the power, maybe I can get us the hell out of here.”
“I don’t like it. There has to be another reason, Dakota. Why would he hand over the power to you without a motive?”
“You said yourself he wasn’t chosen for it, right? Wouldn’t that make me—the only living half-Luxe—a perfect candidate? Maybe he really wants this world back.”
Elizabeth shook her head. “Thames has always been hell bent on burning Luxe to the ground so he could rebuild the way he wanted it. You can’t trust him.”
“And I don’t, but this is what has to happen, whether we like it or not.” He finished dressing, and turned to look in the mirror.
The man staring back at him was nothing like he remembered. Blue lines had snaked their way up his neck, disappearing beneath the beard he hadn’t had time to trim. His eyes were darker now, shadowed by his exhaustion and lack of sleep.
There was no other choice. Taking in the Luxe power was their only ticket out of this world and back to Terrenia. Back to Ana.
Dakota closed his eyes and swallowed hard. Or at least he sure as hell hoped it was.
“Let’s get this over with,” he said, opening his eyes.
“This is a mistake, Dakota.”
Dakota gripped his mother’s hands. “Please, Mom, just put your faith in me.”
Tears filled her eyes, and she nodded. “Fine.”
Making their way out of the room and down the hall toward the throne room, Dakota held his breath.
Their lives depended on this going well, but what if it didn’t?
Thames turned away from the window, a smile spreading slowly over his face. “You look good, Brother. Like a true Luxe.”
“Let’s get this over with.”
Thames laughed. “Ready to take your rightful place?”
“To be clear, I do this only to help this world come back. When it’s done, you will not come after Terrenia or any of the other worlds anymore.”
Thames raised his hands in surrender. “Of course. I only want my home back to its former glory.”
Dakota let out a breath. “What do I do?”
Thames reached for a large book that sat on a table in the center of the room. “Come forward, Brother.”
After one last look at his mother, Dakota stepped toward Thames.
“This book is the entire record of our history. Our world was once powerful and full of life; these pages hold every secret, every event, and every life. Place your hand upon the cover.”
Dakota studied the leather-bound book. It was ancient, there was no denying that, and even wit
hout having any power of his own, Dakota could feel the energy snapping around it, calling to him.
He reached forward and laid his hand over the engraved dragon crest on the cover.
“Do you feel the power, Brother?” Thames asked, his amethyst eyes brightening. “All that power will soon be ours.”
“Ours?”
Thames smiled. “Our world’s. The power will soon be back in our world.”
Nice save, maniac.
Dakota looked back down at the book. The dragon below his hand began to glow, and Dakota closed his eyes.
Warmth traveled up his arm, and filled his body, sending every doubt he’d had scattering away like cockroaches in the light.
“Yes,” Thames said softly. “Yes, Brother! Take it in!”
Energy pulsed through him, filling every inch of his body as it claimed him.
Why had he been so worried? This was right! This was what he was made for!
“Dakota!” his mother called.
Dakota opened his mouth to tell her it was okay, but nothing came out. A burst of power surged into his body, and Dakota jolted, trying like hell to keep his hand on the cover as the power filled him.
38
Terrenia
Anastasia
“You’re absolutely sure about this?” Shane stood, arms crossed over his broad chest, staring at the pond.
“Not in the slightest, but I think it’s going to be the better plan.”
“You are literally walking into her world, Anastasia. She could kill you before you even get a chance to trap her.”
Anastasia looked away from the glassy surface and back to Shane. “She could, and she has the ability to kill every single one of us before we could even put up a fight.”
“You aren’t making me feel better about this.”
“You don’t have a choice. I’m doing this. If I don’t lure her out, I can’t trap her, and if I can’t trap her, I can’t save Dakota and Elizabeth.”
Siren Page 17
