The Fighter (Prophecy Series Book 2)

by Jessica McCrory

  “What am I going to do, girl?” Tears filled her eyes, and she cried herself to sleep.

  “Good morning, my loves!” Dakota greeted Anastasia and Annabelle with a smile as they came down the stairs.

  “Daddy is making waffles!” Annabelle yelled in delight as she smelled the cooking food.

  Anastasia took a moment to take the scene in, knowing it wouldn’t last long. Happiness never did for her.

  “Honey, what’s wrong?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

  “Nothing, I’m just having a bad dream, is all.” Tears streamed down her face.

  “You’re awake now, Mommy. It will all clear up soon.”

  “I hope so.” She smiled and kissed Annabelle’s cheek. “Let’s go somewhere,” she said to them.

  “Where would you like to go?” Dakota asked her, amused.

  “Anywhere, let’s just get out of the house,” she pleaded, hoping to hang on to the happiness for a little longer. “Now, let’s go now.”

  “Well, hang on, Ana,” Dakota said on a laugh, “I just made breakfast.”

  “Yeah, Mommy! I love Daddy’s waffles!”

  “Me too, but please let’s just go. Please,” she begged them, but it was too late.

  “Dakota, move!” she screamed as the Brutes came barreling in through the door. She grabbed Annabelle and reached for Dakota, but saw she was too late when the dagger buried itself in his chest.

  “Daddy!” Annabelle screamed in horror, and Anastasia turned to run up the stairs. She felt the blast of magic in her back, and Annabelle fell just out of reach.

  “No!” she screamed, reaching for her, but it was too late. The Brutes grabbed her and carried her out.

  Anastasia woke on a scream, the tears streaming down her face. She gripped her pillow and screamed into it again. When she looked up, Dakota stood in her room.

  “Want to tell me what’s going on?” he asked.

  “Dakota, I’m sorry, it was just a nightmare.”

  “Was it?” he asked, and when she looked down at his chest, she saw blood pooling on his shirt. When he fell to the floor, Argento stood behind him, smiling.

  “No!” she screamed as she lunged for him.

  “Ana, wake up.” The familiar voice filled her head.

  Anastasia opened her eyes to see herself standing at the foot of her bed. It was a younger version of her, and she was wearing her favorite pajamas from her high school years. The same ones she had been wearing in the illusion Vincent had woven for her.

  “There you are.”

  “H-How are you here?”

  “We both know I’m not, not really, anyways.” She smiled at her. “You have to stop.”

  “Stop what?”

  “Pushing Dakota away. You have to tell him what is going on. He needs to know. You are wasting time.”

  “I can’t.”

  “You are wasting time,” she repeated again, anger filling her voice. “We need him, we always have.”

  “Wasting time? What do you mean?”

  “You know what I mean, I’m in your head,” she said as she started to fade away.

  “I don’t understand, wait!” Anastasia lunged towards her, but she was already gone.

  “Ugh!” she yelled, and punched her wall, immediately regretting it. She rubbed her knuckles and looked into the mirror. She wasn’t entirely sure which version of herself she was seeing, but she knew she was losing her mind. Seemed appropriate, since in the last few minutes she had seen three different Anastasias.

  “Which one am I?” she asked the emptiness. Her eyes settled on the photo of her and Dakota that she had brought with her when she first came to Terrenia. Whichever version she truly was, she knew she was nothing without Dakota. He was her anchor, and without him she didn’t stand a chance at figuring any of it out.

  Anastasia stood and walked into the living area of the small cottage. She knew he wouldn’t be there but had hoped that maybe she had been wrong. She headed for the door and pulled it open.

  He sat on the edge of the porch staring into the night.

  “Dakota?”

  “Yeah,” he grunted.

  “Are you really there?” she asked, and he turned to face her, a worried look on his face.

  “Yeah,” he repeated.

  “Good.” She sat down next to him and looked out at the stars. “I’m sorry I haven’t been myself.”

  “It’s understandable after everything you went through.”

  “But it’s not fair to you.”

  “Ana, I—”

  “Please just let me finish.” She put her hand up and continued. “I love you, Dakota. Even when everything around me is falling apart, you are what keeps me centered, and I need you. I’m just afraid.”

  “Afraid of what?”

  “Losing you.” She looked at him now, tears shining in her eyes.

  “I’m not going anywhere.” He cupped her face and crushed his mouth to hers. It was the first time they had kissed since the night Vincent had taken him. Her mouth opened under his, and she took what he had to offer and then gave him even more. She climbed onto his lap and he lifted her, carrying them into the cottage.

  He laid her back on her bed and removed his shirt while she pulled her own off. Her body was hot with anticipation, and she felt as if she would die if he didn’t take her now. His mouth found her breast, and she arched up into him, moaning with pleasure.

  She felt her pulse quicken as he pulled back and removed her shorts and then his pants. He looked down at her and she saw the love in his eyes. Her body suddenly felt cold, and she reached for him. He covered her body again and she cried out with pleasure when he drove into her.

  After a moment of stillness he began to move, and she wrapped her legs around him and met him thrust for thrust. He was her everything, and she had been wasting time, she realized, but she refused to waste any more.

  “What are you still doing up?” Tony asked Elizabeth as he walked past her cabin. She was leaning against a post on her porch staring out at the night sky.

  “I could ask you the same question,” she said with a smile when he walked towards her.

  “I like your hair,” Tony said gently, touching the short pixie cut she wore now. “Did you do that tonight?”

  “I did. Selena helped me. Seemed to get her mind off Brady.”

  “Well, I like it,” he said again, smiling.

  “Thank you.” Her cheeks flushed as she ran a hand over her hair to smooth out the strands she feared were running wild. She had been up nearly twenty-four hours unable to calm the anxiety plaguing her.

  “How is Dakota?”

  “He is good, went off to Anastasia’s cottage about an hour ago.”

  “Good. Those two have been driving me crazy.” Tony laughed, and Elizabeth smiled and nodded in agreement.

  “They have been driving me crazy since they were teenagers. Those two have wasted so much time dancing around each other.”

  “They aren’t the only ones,” Tony said, and Elizabeth became very aware of him standing so close. The heat from the evening surrounded her, and she felt her pulse quicken.

  Why was she so afraid to take their relationship from flirting to the real thing? she wondered. He was so handsome and sweet, he reminded her so much of George, and then it hit her. That was why she was having such a hard time. George’s death had nearly been her own. Could she risk that kind of loss again? Could she survive it if something were to happen to Tony as well?

  Could she survive not taking this chance? Would she be willing to risk her happiness and spend her life alone just because she was afraid? Dakota and Anastasia had lost each other twice, and they still believed that love was worth the risk. Wasn’t it time she took the fall towards her own happiness?

  “Ready to stop dancing?” she asked seriously, saying a silent prayer that she wasn’t making a mistake by letting her guard down.

  Tony took a step towards her, and she could feel the nerves rolling off him in wave
s. “Woman, I’ve been ready since the moment I laid eyes on you.” He ran his fingers down her face, and when he cupped her chin, she sucked in a deep breath.

  He pressed his lips to hers and she felt her heart nearly pound out of her chest. She wrapped her hands up and around his neck and let herself sink into him. He deepened the kiss, and she opened her mouth under his.

  He smiled against her mouth and lifted her. “I think we can start a new dance tonight.”

  She laughed. “I think we can come up with a few moves.”

  He carried her into the house and she left her fear out on the doorstep.

  “Dakota, I feel much better,” Anastasia assured him as she took her stance across from him.

  “I don’t know, feels like it’s too soon.” The worried look on his face had her grinning.

  “It’s not, I promise.” She laughed and charged. Anastasia hit him like a cannonball, and they both fell to the ground. She flipped around him and had him pinned in seconds. “See? Not too soon,” she gloated when he tapped out.

  “Yeah, yeah. I was going easy on you.”

  “People keep saying that, and yet I just don’t see it.” She laughed in reference to Tony’s comment days before.

  They took their stances again and this time she stood her ground as he took a step towards her. When he got close enough she threw a punch. He blocked and knocked her to the ground.

  She laughed. “I see you’ve been training with Tony.”

  He grinned at her. “Maybe a little. Wanted to be able to keep up with you.”

  She reached up and pulled him down with her, then managed to get him into a headlock.

  They grappled some more, and by the end they were both sweaty and dirty.

  “I was hoping I would find you here. Hi, Dakota.” Carmen smiled at them both. “Anastasia, I was hoping we could work some on your magic today.”

  “I'm pretty tired today, Carmen.” She smiled lightly and nudged Dakota. “We just got done practicing some combative.”

  She saw the irritation on Carmen’s face just as she had been seeing for the past week she had been turning down the lessons.

  “Anastasia, this is just as important as your physical skills, more so even on some level.”

  “I’m just not ready.”

  “It’s natural to be afraid after what you have been through.”

  “I’m not afraid,” Anastasia said through gritted teeth, “just tired.” Then she stood to walk into the cottage.

  “She needs to practice, Dakota,” Carmen said to him as he walked over to her, eyeing the cottage where Anastasia had just disappeared into.

  “How long has she been refusing?” he asked curiously.

  “A week. Each day it’s a new excuse, but I can’t stress it enough, she needs to be ready.”

  “I’ll talk to her,” he said, looking back towards the cabin again.

  “Thank you.” Carmen smiled at him, and Dakota noticed she was looking more weary than usual.

  “You okay?”

  “Just a little tired. It’s getting increasingly difficult to drag these old bones around.” She laughed lightly, but Dakota sensed something beneath it. “Just talk to her, please. It’s imperative she practice. The longer she waits, the more likely it will be difficult to control when the time comes and she needs to use it.”

  Dakota nodded and walked after Anastasia.

  “When was the last time you used magic?” Dakota asked her later that evening as they lay in bed.

  “Why is everyone suddenly so interested in my magic usage lately?”

  “Because it’s important Ana. When?”

  She took a deep breath and stared at their linked fingers. “I haven’t used it since two days after I sent you through the portal.”

  “It’s been that long?” he asked, shocked.

  “Dakota, I can’t go back to the dark. I'm afraid of myself.”

  “You have to use it, Ana, it’s the only way we will defeat Vincent.”

  “It’s not the only way. It can’t be.”

  “Ana, it will be okay.”

  She stood from the bed and started pacing the room. “You don’t know that, Dakota. You don’t know how it felt.”

  “How what felt?” He sat up on the edge and watched her.

  “The power. I wanted more, was willing to do anything to get it.”

  “Ana—”

  “No, Dakota. You can’t tell me you knew how it felt because you weren’t there, it wasn’t you. I almost destroyed everything I am fighting for in order to gain it, and if I go back to that, if I embrace it again, what happens then? What happens when I don’t come back?”

  Dakota stood and walked to Anastasia. He ran his hands down her arms and then tipped her face up so he could see her eyes. He saw the fear in them, and it made his heart hurt. He knew he couldn’t tell her with absolute certainty that everything was going to be okay, couldn’t assure her that the power wouldn’t be too much this time, but he could make sure she knew that she wasn’t alone.

  “You have me,” he said calmly, holding her gaze, “and I will be here for you no matter what. Give yourself the credit you deserve, Ana. You are one of only two people to have ever embraced all the power at your disposal, and you still came back.” He kissed her lightly and then wrapped his arms around her.

  “I will work with her.”

  “Anastasia.”

  She shot out of bed at the sound of the voice, her hand already holding her dagger.

  “There is no need for that.”

  “I don’t believe that for a second.”

  “You know I’m not truly there. He still lives, doesn’t he?”

  She looked down at Dakota, who was sleeping soundlessly on her bed. “What the hell do you want?”

  “You. All I’ve ever wanted is to have a relationship with my niece.”

  “You are no family to me, you bastard,” she said through gritted teeth.

  “Watch your tongue, girl. I have been patient with you—”

  “You call torturing me for nearly two months patience? You are a coward and a monster.”

  “I did what I believed was necessary in order to show you the depth of your capabilities.”

  “You wanted to use me to destroy everything so you could have more power.”

  “I will have your magic.”

  “You will not have anything. I will destroy you. Even if it takes every breath from my body I will see you take your last.”

  “You think you have the power to destroy me?” His laughter filled her head. “Please, child, you don’t possess even an ounce of what is necessary to’ destroy’ me, as you say. I will kill him and every single person you care about unless you succumb to me. If you continue to fight against me I will show you just what I am capable of.”

  “I’m not afraid of you.”

  “Then you are just as stupid as Mitch claimed you to be.”

  “Show yourself, you coward,” she growled into the darkness, but he was gone.

  Anastasia crept out into the house and searched, making sure they were still alone. She walked out into the darkness of the night and looked up at the stars.

  What if he was right? What if she didn’t possess what she needed to in order to see him destroyed? What if it was too late? He had beaten them so many times now that she wondered if it was really her destiny to defeat him at all.

  So much sat on her shoulders, so many people relied on her for a future she couldn’t promise them. What if she failed?

  “Shall we?” Carmen asked Anastasia when she walked into the woman’s cottage that morning.

  “Where are we headed?”

  “Just out for a bit. It’s much easier to focus without all these distractions.” Carmen pointed to the wall behind her, where floor-to-ceiling bookcases held hundreds of hardback books. “If I am here, I will want to read one and then there goes the day.” She smiled, and Anastasia followed her out into the crisp morning air.

  “How did you mo
ve past the fear?” Anastasia wondered.

  “The fear?”

  “Of the dark.”

  “Ah, yes.” Carmen shook her head. “That was a tough one for me to move past as well. Fortunately for me, I had much more time to gather myself before I had to use magic again.”

  “I don’t know if I can do it,” Anastasia voiced her fears.

  “Of course you can.” Carmen laughed lightly. “You have already done the hardest part.” At Anastasia’s silence, she continued, “You came back. You tasted the absoluteness of your lineage and you came back. My dear, you not only have your father’s magic in your blood, but mine as well. It is very rare that someone has two magical lines in their heritage.”

  “Is that why I am so powerful?”

  “That is one theory.”

  “What is the other?”

  “I believe that you were blessed with what you needed in order to complete your purpose.”

  “My purpose.”

  “You are meant for much more, my dear. Defeating Vincent is only a portion of your destiny, or purpose, if you will.”

  Anastasia looked up at the sky as they walked. Birds chirped, and a light breeze carried the scents of the fires the villagers had built to keep warm.

  She nearly ran into Carmen when the woman stopped near the edge of the fence.

  They sat on a bench, and Carmen took a deep breath. “It is sure lovely here, isn’t it?”

  “It is the most beautiful place I have ever seen,” Anastasia agreed.

  “Close your eyes.”

  Anastasia did as she was told.

  “I want you to think about your happiest memory.”

  Dakota came to mind, when they first stayed at the Parker cabin. It was such a wonderful trip, and for the first time in her life Anastasia had known what it was like to feel safe. She and Dakota had played outside for hours and she had climbed her first tree that weekend.

  “Do you have it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Open your palm. Now your eyes.”