The Phoenix (The Prophecy #1)

by Jessica McCrory

  “You believe me?” Anastasia was actually surprised at how involved Elizabeth had been in listening to her relay the story, as crazy as it sounded. And she knew it sounded pretty crazy from the outside.

  “Of course. I’ve seen to many unexplainable things in my life not to believe that there is more out there. So, how are you supposed to defeat your uncle?”

  “I have no clue. Gregory was killed before we could fully complete my training. He hadn’t even had the chance to show me how to create the potion for a portal.”

  “You have magic, too!?” Elizabeth nearly fell from her chair and Anastasia could have slapped herself. She had purposefully left that part of the story out afraid it would surely push Elizabeth over the edge.

  “I do.” She admitted hesitantly.

  “I have to stand.” Elizabeth began pacing the small apartment. “This is so exciting. And scary of course, and sad as well.” She added turning towards Anastasia. “I am just so overwhelmed that you are back and standing before me all warrior princess like.”

  Anastasia laughed, the first real laugh to come out of her since long before Gregory had been killed.

  “Warrior princess?” She said through her laughter and Elizabeth started giggling.

  They laughed together and eventually Anastasia took a seat on the couch. She hadn’t realized how tired she had been, but a week without more than an hour or two of sleep a night would do that to you she supposed.

  “Why don’t you rest for a bit, dear. We will talk again in a little while.” Elizabeth pulled the curtains tight and grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch to hand to her. Anastasia accepted it gratefully, and laid back closing her eyes.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Another dimension? Was she serious? Dakota sat glaring at the scotch in his glass. He knew it was entirely too early for him to be drinking, but he figured he deserved it after the night and morning he had had. What in the world was going on?

  She left willingly. That was what had stung the most. All these years he had spent holding onto the fact that they had been best friends, that one day maybe they could have been more. That although she had been taken from him it hadn’t been her choice. He had believed she had loved him and that once she was free of Mitch they would be able to move on with their relationship.

  When she disappeared, he had lost all hope of that but had prayed that she was out there somewhere in the world and she would find a way to get back to him, or that he would find her one day. But as it turns out, she left on her own free will. Left him without being forced or coerced into going.

  He knew she felt like she had no other choice. Knew that she had only been trying to protect he and his family. She had told him on multiple occasions as they were growing up that she feared Mitch may hurt he or his parents if he knew she had talked to them.

  He had blamed her for George’s death. He rubbed his palms over his eyes. What kind of asshole was he? She told him of the horrors she had suffered that night and he blamed her for a death that wasn’t hers to carry.

  Dakota reached into his pocket for his wallet and he felt the small matchbook he had picked up the last time he had seen Silvan. He opened its cover and saw the short note. ‘Never underestimate the value of an open mind.’ How was he involved in all of this? Dakota tossed the scotch back and headed for the door.

  It was Saturday so at least he wasn’t expected at the precinct. He was walking back to his apartment when something caught his eye in the alley. He turned and damn near tripped on the body.

  “Son of a bitch!” He yelled and knelt to the ground. “Mitchell?” he checked for a pulse but knew that his partner was dead. His head had been caved in just like the other victims had. “Dammit!”

  He choked back the bile that was quickly rising in his throat. If it hadn’t been personal before, it damn sure was now. Mitchell had been his friend and a good man. He had been a great cop and his death must have meant he had seen something he shouldn’t have. It was possible he had seen those beasts coming down the street and had tried to stop them. Dakota pulled out his phone and dialed the precinct.

  Anastasia woke just as it was getting dark outside to the lock clicking on the door. She shot up off of the couch, one of her dirks in her hand.

  “Easy honey, I’m just going to head across the hall to grab a few things.”

  “Dakota said we needed to stay inside, Elizabeth there are terrible things out there. We need to wait until he gets back.”

  “I just live right across the hall, I need my blood pressure medicine, I forgot to take it this morning.”

  “I’ll come with you then.” Anastasia sheathed her dirk and grabbed her sword from the table.

  “There’s no need for that, I only live right across the ha-” Elizabeth broke on a scream when the door pushed open and three Brutes shoved their way inside.

  “Elizabeth run! Bedroom now!”

  Anastasia jumped over the couch and drove her sword into the first Brute. They seemed surprised to see her there and she used their surprise to her advantage. That must have meant they hadn’t known she had come through the portal.

  She caught the second one with a blow to the gut with her foot and then spun to lunge at the other. It dodged her and the other ran towards where Elizabeth was hiding. Anastasia threw her palm up and flung a ball of light into the beasts back and it crumpled to the floor.

  Anastasia looked for Elizabeth and turned too late. She screamed out in pain when she felt a knife jammed into her stomach. She fell to the floor and the Brute knelt on her chest. The heavy weight cut off her breath and she started to see spots.

  She saw something close to a smile on the face of her attacker. “I will be rewarded for killing you, brat.” It growled at her.

  She could feel the amount of blood coming out of her and knew her wound would be fatal if she didn’t get help. But she couldn’t let the Brute get to Elizabeth.

  Just as she was fighting to pull herself free she saw Dakota come through the doorway.

  “What the hell?”

  “Dakota, my sword!” She choked out as the Brute started to stand.

  He dodged the Brute’s fist and lunged for her sword on the ground. When he turned the Brute ran into the blade. It slunk to the ground and fell backwards, pinning her to the ground.

  “What the hell happened?” She heard him say. “Oh my God, Ana!” He yelled and was at her side when her vision went black.

  When Anastasia opened her eyes she was no longer in Dakota’s apartment. She began to panic when she saw that she was instead in a hospital bed. She tried to yank the IV from her arm but Dakota grabbed her wrist.

  “Ana you’re fine. Were at my mom’s hospital.”

  “Dakota, we have to go, Mitch can’t know I’m here.” She said her voice shaky.

  “He won’t. No one knows you are, we checked you in under a different name. Breathe.” He moved some hair out of her forehead. “You almost bled to death. That monster used some sort of triple edged knife on you. Had we not brought you here you wouldn’t have made it.”

  “Where’s Elizabeth?” She asked sitting up again looking for her.

  “She’s fine, she went to the cafeteria to get some coffee. I figured she was safe here since there are so many people around.”

  Anastasia nodded and leaned back against the pillows.

  “Do you have my stuff?”

  He lowered his voice so no one else could hear him. “The weapons we left in my car, but I brought your bag up.” He handed her the small leather bag she had tied to her belt.

  He had looked through it and had only found a few small vials of strange looking liquid, which his mother had warned him not to open but not told him why, and a worn out picture of the two of them from high school. It had warmed his heart a little that she had kept it all these years.

  She pulled out a vial of orange liquid and lifted her hospital gown. She winced with pain and he leaned forward.

  “I'm okay, this will help heal
it.” She lifted her bandage and poured some of the thick contents onto her wound over her stitches. He watched in amazement, as it seemed to help her heal. “Can you get the one on my back? I'm guessing it went all the way through?”

  He nodded and took the vial from her. She rolled to her side and he pushed her gown up to get to the injury. He lifted the bandage and poured the same amount he had seen her use on the entry wound.

  His fingers brushed the edge of a tattoo that stuck out from the bottom of the gown. He could see a scar underneath and knew it had been from the night she had left.

  “It’s a phoenix.” She said to him as she rolled back over. “I got it after my biological mother had been killed. I wanted something that reminded me of strength and I didn’t think anything else was more fitting. It represents-”

  “Rising from the ashes. Becoming something more then you were.” He finished.

  “Yes.” She said carefully watching him. He handed her the vial and she replaced the cap.

  “What is that stuff?” He asked pointing to the now empty bottle.

  “It’s a healing remedy. My mother made it using herbs and then my father enchanted it.”

  “Enchanted it?”

  “Long story.”

  “I’ve got time.” He said again, reminding her of their earlier conversation.

  “I’ll tell you, but not here.” She said looking around. She wasn’t sure Mitch wouldn’t find a way to track her. “How long have I been here?”

  “Almost twenty-four hours. You had lost a lot of blood but the surgeons were surprised at how quickly your vitals were improving.”

  “We need to go.” She put her feet on the floor and pulled the IV out of her arm.

  “Ana, you need to rest.”

  “Dakota, we have to go. If Mitch somehow finds out I am here it would be bad, very bad. Please we have to go. I know he has something to do it what’s been going on.”

  “I told you we checked you in under a different name.”

  “Dakota, please.”

  “Leaving so soon?” The color drained from her face when she heard his voice. Her back was to the door but she could already picture him standing there.

  Dakota’s entire body had gone stiff and she could see the unsaid apology in his eyes. He stood and put his hand on her shoulder.

  “You have no business here, Mitch.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong, Parker. That’s my daughter there and seeing as how she has been missing for the last ten years, I feel we have a lot to talk about.” He made a move towards her and Dakota stepped around her to stand in front of him.

  Anastasia’s entire body began to shake and her heart rate skyrocketed, setting off the alarms she hadn’t had the chance to take off yet.

  “Get out of here, Mitch. Now.”

  “Did you not hear me? I'm not leaving until I’ve had the chance to talk to her.”

  “You are leaving, Mitch, now.” Elizabeth entered the room flanked by two security guards. “You are upsetting my patient. A patient I might add who is of no relation to you.”

  “Then why doesn’t she turn around? Set this whole thing to rest.” He said without turning to look at Elizabeth.

  “She is of none of your concern. Now are you going to leave of your own accord or am I going to have to have you arrested for harassing an innocent young girl?”

  He turned to face Elizabeth. “No need for that. Just a misunderstanding I’m sure.” He headed for the door. “See you soon, Parker.”

  Anastasia’s entire body was still shaking and she was pale. “Ana, hey baby, it’s okay. Come back to me.” Dakota knelt in front of her cupping her face with his hands. “I'm so sorry, we should have left when you wanted to. It’s okay now, he’s gone and we will leave before he has the chance to come back.” She looked into his eyes and in them he saw the scared teenage girl she had once been and it tore him apart from the inside out.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  They drove in silence through the streets of Seattle. Elizabeth had been able to pull some strings and have her checked out as a home care patient. They had been out of the hospital within thirty minutes of Mitch’s visit. Dakota hadn’t stopped apologizing since. Anastasia could see that he was beating himself up over it.

  She hadn’t been able to calm her nerves until they had put some distance between them and the hospital. Had foolishly believed that she had conquered all her fear over Mitch. A mistake that bit her in the ass today, she thought to herself. She had frozen just as she had as a child and she was mortified by it. She could fight off tall beasts without hesitation, but a single man could scare her to the very core of her soul. Suddenly a thought hit her.

  “What did you do with the bodies?”

  “The bodies?”

  “Of the Brutes. The beasts that attacked us.”

  “I went back while you were in surgery and tossed them off the balcony and into the trash can below. It’s not something I could have called into the station.”

  “We can’t go back there.”

  “What? Why not?”

  “Brute’s always collect their dead. Your apartment will be swarming with them by now if I’ve been out for twenty-four hours. They will be waiting there, we cannot go back, Dakota.”

  He stared out the windshield quietly as he thought about what she had said. “Mom, you were up for a refill on your medicine soon right? Wasn’t that what you asked me to grab the other day?”

  “Yes.” Elizabeth hadn’t spoken much since they had gotten in the car and her voice seemed far away.

  “We will swing by the pharmacy and pick it up, then stop off at the grocery store to grab some supplies. We can stay out at the cabin.” His jaw was set in a hard line and without him saying it, she knew he hadn’t been out there since George’s death.

  “Dakota, just leave me here and you two go. The longer you are with me the more danger you are in. They could have killed you two.”

  “In case you forgot, it was you who was bleeding out on my floor, not me. Besides, Vincent already made me that night in the alley. He knew I lived nearby and told the Brutes, as you call them, to leave me because I may be useful at some point. I may not be a veteran detective yet, but that leads me to believe they would have come looking for me anyways. It was just a happy accident that you were there.”

  She thought about how they had seemed surprised to see her in the apartment. So if she left now, she would be leaving them to fend off whatever may come their way without them even having the knowledge they needed in order to survive. She refused to lose them, too.

  They went through the drive thru at the pharmacy and then Dakota ran into the store alone. Elizabeth was silent the entire car ride out to the cabin and Anastasia could only imagine how difficult it must be for her to revisit the place she and George had shared so many happy memories.

  They had bought the place as newlyweds and it had been completely destroyed. They had worked on it every second they had until it was where they wanted it to be and ever since then they had taken multiple vacations there a year as well as some nights the two of them sneaking off for the weekend alone.

  When they pulled into the drive Anastasia leaned out the window. It was exactly how she remembered it. Trees surrounded it from all sides, the only breaks being from the road and the structure itself. It was composed entirely of log, much in the way houses in Terrenia were constructed. The windows had deep green shutters on them and the wrap around porch still held four rocking chairs.

  She could see the memory of the first time she had come up here with them, as if it were happening right before her eyes. She saw herself getting out of the car and taking her first calm breath.

  “Cool isn’t it?” Dakota said as he flashed that cocky grin she was sure he had perfected at birth. “Come on slow poke!” He laughed and headed up the stairs and onto the porch.

  “Careful you two.” Elizabeth warned as Anastasia ran after him.

  “Let them be kids Lizzie.” George la
ughed and kissed her loudly.

  The memory faded and she closed her eyes against her tears. George would never walk through his prized cottage again. He would never get to kiss Elizabeth or hold his future grandkids. No matter what Dakota and Elizabeth told her, she knew that his death weighed on her shoulders.

  Dakota got out and went around to the trunk, pulling the supplies out. He placed them on the porch and then went around to turn the power on. Elizabeth stood staring at the house as if it were going to sprout legs and run away. Anastasia watched silently as Dakota came back around and kissed his mother’s forehead before they stepped inside.

  Everything was covered with sheets. Until that moment, she had believed they only did that in movies. A thick layer of dust had rested on top of the white fabric and as Dakota pulled them away some of it began to float in the air.

  “Come sit down, Ana.” He guided her to the couch.

  “I'm fine, Dakota, that salve helped.”

  “You started bleeding again after Mitch, Ana, you’re going to need time. Even with your salve applied that was a nasty wound. The hospital had never seen one like it before and had they not been friends of moms, they probably wouldn’t have believed it was from a stray piece of rebar you just so happened to ‘fall on’.”

  “You’re right.” She sighed and sat down. She didn’t have the energy to fight with him especially being that she could feel the pain in her side. The stitches had kept the salve from getting down inside the wound all the way and it was going to take some time for the little bit that did get in there to heal.

  “Thank you.” He turned and began checking the house. She knew he was looking for any weak points. It’s what she would have done if she had been able to.

  “You okay, mom?” She heard him ask Elizabeth as she busily prepped food in the kitchen.

  “I'm just shaken up is all. Those beasts were terrible Dakota. And then all I could think was that we lost her again.” Her voice caught on a sob and he wrapped his arm around her.

  Anastasia continued staring past them pretending she couldn’t hear what they were saying. They were talking low enough that had she not spent so many years tracking and listening, she would never have been able to hear them.