“How are you?” Anastasia asked cautiously as she sat.
“I’m fine, Ana, really. More than fine, even.”
“Dakota, seriously. Your mom will kill us if we pull those stitches out.”
“That’s funny, I remember saying that exact same thing to you not that long ago.”
“Interesting how we’ve come full circle, isn’t it?” She laughed. “We should probably get dressed in case your mom comes to check on you.”
She handed him his pants and helped him get them on, and then grabbed an armful of her clothes. “I’m going to take a shower.”
“Not fair,” he complained as he eased back down.
“You’ll be up and moving soon enough, Dakota.”
Anastasia stood under the hot spray of the shower until her skin turned red. She had forgotten how amazing it felt versus the baths she had to take in Terrenia. She breathed in the steamy air and pulled on one of Dakota’s shirts and a pair of his sweats. She made a mental note to see if Elizabeth would be up for a shopping trip tomorrow—she would only be able to wear Dakota’s clothes for so long and knew that Tony would be in need of his own new wardrobe. Luckily, she still had her savings account from when she had been a teenager, and when she was out scouting had snuck into Mitch’s house and gotten her debit card and old school ID, hoping it would be enough to withdraw the money.
She stepped into Dakota’s room and was glad to see he had fallen asleep. She stood watching him for a moment and smiled. She knew how lucky she was to have him now, and wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize it again.
So relaxed from their lovemaking and her shower, Anastasia didn’t feel the other presence in the room until she turned and came face to face with him.
Vincent threw his hands up. “Easy, I come in peace.”
His face was clean-shaven and he wore a suit with a tie. He looked so out of place in this world, even though he was trying to blend in.
Anastasia lowered her hand. “What the hell are you doing here?” she growled, moving to stand between Dakota and him.
“Come on, Anastasia, if I wanted him dead, I could have killed him while you were in the shower.”
“What do you want, Vincent?”
“A truce.”
“Excuse me?”
“My plans are going really well for me as of now, and I’ve realized that I don’t actually need your help.” He laughed. “Wish I would have realized it sooner, as it would have saved me a ton of trouble and I could have just killed you to start.” At her glare, he continued, “But that’s beside the point and in the past, so let’s move on. What I want now is a truce: I’ll go my way, you go yours, and neither one bothers the other.”
“A truce.”
“Yes.”
“How can we have a truce when you want to destroy my world?”
“Oh, I’m leaving this one alone. I am finding that I quite like it here. Magic is not well known, so I am both feared and revered in this world. I love it.” He brushed his hands over his suit.
“You’re leaving this one alone, but what are you doing to Terrenia?”
“That’s part of the truce, you leave Terrenia alone.”
“I leave it alone?”
“Yes, you stay here, in Seattle. I will make sure you never want for anything. You will have money, food, Dakota and Elizabeth can both have their jobs back, and even Tony can do whatever he wants. You can all live out your lives in peace, together, rather than continuing with this silly feud we have going on. I can even bring your grandmother here—as long she follows the truce as well, of course.”
Anastasia’s jaw dropped. “Feud? You think we are in a feud? We are at war, Vincent. You have murdered hundreds of people I care about and you want me to just walk away? To leave my people at your mercy?”
“Look, I don’t even have any interest in Terrenia anymore, but old debts have to be paid. I personally will not harm a single Terrenian ever again. I promise.”
“I don’t believe you even for a second,” she spat at him.
“If you don’t believe that, then believe this.” He stepped closer to her. “If you continue with this ‘war,’ as you call it, you will lose everything. He almost died. Are you prepared for that almost to become fact? Are you so set in your vengeance that you would allow him to suffer? For Elizabeth to lose her son?”
“I won’t walk away from my people.”
“I told you, I won’t harm them. I am happy in this world. I have more power than I ever dreamed of. I have women in my bed every night. I am no longer the man I was before, and I no longer need you. Which means I won’t hesitate to strike you down next time we meet if a war is what you choose. I am only giving you this as a gift to my brother. I owe you nothing and consider you nothing more than a thorn in my side. Make your choice, Anastasia, before I lose my patience.” He faded away, and Anastasia turned to Dakota.
He was awake and staring at her. “Please tell me I’m not hallucinating.”
“You’re not.” She climbed into bed next to him.
“So Vincent was really here?”
“Yup.”
“And offered you a truce?”
“Yup.”
“Well, that’s interesting.”
“Yup.”
“We can’t accept it,” Dakota said firmly.
“I know, but he doesn’t have to.” She smiled widely. Maybe they could use this to their advantage, make Vincent think they had a truce when in reality they were just waiting for the right opportunity.
“You are so sexy right now, you know that?” he asked, pulling her closer.
“Dakota, you’re going to tear your stitches.”
“It would be worth it.”
“Let’s order pizza!” she said, changing the subject.
“What?” He laughed at her random thought.
“Dakota, I haven’t had pizza in over ten years. Please, let’s order pizza!”
“Sounds like a plan to me, and a hell of a way to celebrate.” He smiled, and for a moment the world felt right for both of them.
But that’s the thing about perfect moments, they don’t hang around for long.
Anastasia lifted her fourth slice of pepperoni. Tony had been slightly aversive at the thought of pizza, but after nearly devouring an entire large himself, he was warming up to the idea.
“This is amazing,” he said as he drank another swig of his beer.
“This world does have great pizza.”
“Just wait until you’ve had Elizabeth’s meatloaf.”
“Meatloaf?” he asked, intrigued.
“Oh yes,” Elizabeth said with a laugh, “it’s one of my specialties.”
“One of many.” Tony winked at her, and Elizabeth blushed. “So tell me of this plan,” he said as he took another bite of pizza. He had to run out of room at some point, didn’t he? Anastasia thought to herself.
“Anastasia can sense whenever Vincent is around, so whenever he is spying on us we will act as if we are moving forward with our lives. He will not know that it’s a trick until we are ready for him.”
“So I’m supposed to go back to work and pretend as if everything is fine?” Elizabeth wondered.
“Essentially, yes. Tony and I obviously don’t have any ties here, so we will be a bit harder to acclimate, but if we can just fool him long enough, make him believe that we are going with his plan, then we may finally have what we need to defeat him.”
“Which is?” Tony asked.
“Time. I need time to figure out what I’m going to do. I may possess more power than he does, but I still don’t exactly know how to access it all just yet.”
Tony nodded. “It’s a good plan. But what of Terrenia?”
“That’s the only part that concerns me. We wouldn’t be able to go back, just yet anyways, and while he said he would not harm any Terrenians, the way he said it made me think someone else might.”
“What do you mean?” Tony asked, sitting up straighter.
“He said he had ‘old debts to pay.’”
“The Trepidos,” Tony told them. “The only reason they would have worked with Vincent is if he offered them something in return. An entire world full of human beings with fears seems like a pretty good price,” he said angrily.
“We don’t know for sure that’s what he meant,” Elizabeth said softly as she touched Tony’s arm.
“We can damn well bet that it is, though,” he said, standing up abruptly. “I need some air.”
“Give him some time,” Anastasia told Elizabeth as Tony stormed out.
Elizabeth nodded and turned her attention back to them. “So this plan, is there any way to check on everyone back home? To make sure that they are safe?”
“Back home?” Dakota asked her, raising an eyebrow.
“You know what I meant, Dakota.”
He smiled at her. “I do.”
“Possibly. We would have to make sure Vincent didn’t know what we were doing. I might be able to project myself to Carmen, much in the way she did for me whenever I was with Vincent.”
“Can you do that?” Dakota questioned.
“I think so.”
“Safely?” he asked cautiously.
“Yes, Dakota. I will be safe.”
He nodded. “Then let’s give it a shot.”
“Now?”
“Why not? We can check in, and it’s before you have made the deal with Vincent, so worst case we continue with this war.”
“All right.” Anastasia stood and walked to the bedroom. “I need quiet. I’ll be out in a few minutes.”
She shut the door softly behind her and sat cross-legged on the bed trying to meditate in the way Gregory had taught her. She focused on the power in her veins and pushed her consciousness to Carmen.
She opened her eyes and saw that she was standing in the center of the medical cottage. There was blood everywhere, and the stench of death filled the room. Anastasia began to panic and covered her nose and mouth with her sleeve.
“Carmen?” she asked as she ran through the cottage, panic setting in. There were no signs of anyone having been there in quite a while. She ran for the door and cried out when she saw the scene that lay before her.
Bodies littered the once lively village. She frantically searched for them and fell to her knees beside the bodies of Selena and Sarah. Their eyes were frozen open, and they had blood splattered over the front of their dresses.
“No, no, no,” she cried.
The sound of coughing caught her attention, and she jumped to her feet. She ran to the noise and fell to the ground beside Andrew. His pregnant wife lay lifeless next to him, and Anastasia lifted his head into her lap.
“What happened, Andrew? Who did this?”
He whispered something, and she bent closer to hear him. “You. Did.”
“What?” Her eyes widened. “I didn’t do this, Andrew, I never would have hurt any of you! Please tell me what happened.” Tears streamed down her face, and she pulled him closer.
“You caused this,” he said again. “You should have taken the truce.” He coughed, and blood splattered her face.
“Vincent.” Anger welled in her chest, and suddenly it all made sense. “Where are you, Vincent? I know you’re here somewhere.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t sense me before.” He appeared before her, and the bodies faded away until they were only standing in darkness. He was the only thing she could see before her, and she wiped her face on her sleeve. “Just shows how out of touch you are with your magic. It’s embarrassing to even be related to you.”
“How dare you,” she growled at him.
“How dare I? I offered you a truce. A chance at a normal life with Dakota, and what do you do? You ignore me!”
“I never said whether I was going to take it either way! Did you ever think that maybe I just wanted to check on everyone here one more time? And besides, as if you would have protected the Terrenians. You were going to allow the Trepidos to destroy it!”
“I never said I would protect them, only that I wouldn’t harm them personally. The Trepidos are going to take it whether I allow them to or not, it’s only a matter of whether I went down with that world. And let’s face it, I’ve never been particularly fond of that place.”
“You disgust me.” She spat at him.
“The feeling is quite mutual. You have too much of your mother in you. It’s going to cost you your life.”
“Your arrogance is going to cost you yours.”
“Unlikely.”
“Why show me this? Why are you even here?”
“Consider it a foreshadowing of what’s to come. Terrenia will be destroyed. All of those villagers are collateral. I allowed you to come back to Seattle so you could save Dakota, but I will not allow you to return to Terrenia. I just wanted to make sure you saw what you were going to cause if you didn’t take my deal.” He smiled widely at her.
“Allowed me?”
“Oh my, I have left quite a bit out, didn’t I?” He began to pace, and although she had seen Gregory do it on many occasions, the action seemed almost alien to her when Vincent did it. “It’s why I knew you were trying to access Carmen tonight. I have put up a block between the two worlds. She can’t get to you and you can’t get to her. They are all going to die, and there is nothing you can do about it.”
“No.”
“Oh yes, child.”
“It can’t be.” She closed her eyes and tried to conjure a portal, anything that would prove him wrong, and she got nothing. “No!”
“Now you get to live with the images of what Terrenia will look like, and soon. As soon as I am done with them, the Trepidos will be unleashed on that world, and everything you held dear for so long will be destroyed. They are all living on borrowed time.”
“But why?” she asked softly, afraid to ask.
“Because I can. It’s as simple as that. I wanted power, now I have more than I know what to do with. And I’m not only talking about the magic I possess.”
“So what, you get to sit up on your pedestal and watch as this world tears itself apart as well? You get a front-row seat?” Tears filled her eyes.
“Oh no, I don’t want to tear this world apart. Who would I control if they were all dead? I am going to rule this world. The Trepidos will take over Terrenia, and when they are done there, they will move on to the Brutes. Before you know it, this will be the only world left, and it will be mine.” He closed his fist and sneered at her.
“You are pure evil,” she cried, tears streaming down her face. “How jealous of my father you must have been.”
“You think I was jealous of him?”
“You must have been. Your mother preferred him, Annabelle wanted to marry him, he had everything you longed for.”
“I longed for power.”
“But you are alone.”
“I am not alone. People want to be me. I have women falling at my feet.”
“Because they fear you. No one really wants to be around you, Vincent, not really. You are nothing more than a monster to them, and you will never be anything more.” She laughed through her tears. “You think people want to be you? That’s a joke.”
She could see on his face that she was getting to him.
“You think to mock me?”
Suddenly the village reappeared. Bodies lay at her feet, and she tried to focus on him.
“I hold the power here, Anastasia. I wouldn’t taunt me if I were you.” He started to fade away. “Borrowed time, Anastasia. You had better take my deal, or you will be living on it as well.”
She crumbled among the bodies, and the tears came in waves. The smell hit her, and her stomach began to churn. “I’m so sorry,” she cried when she saw Carmen’s body.
“I’m so sorry.” She pushed her consciousness back to Dakota and opened her eyes.
Dakota, Elizabeth, and Tony stood staring at her. She stood and ran for the bathroom, the sickness becoming overpowering.
“Ana, what happened?” Dakota rushed to her side, wincing as he knelt beside her on the floor.
“He’s going to kill all of them,” she cried. “I saw it, it was horrible.” She bent over the toilet again, another wave of nausea hitting her.
“Kill who? What did you see?” Tony whispered, his voice breaking.
“Vincent is going to unleash the Trepidos on Terrenia as soon as he is done with them. You were right, that was the debt. I saw them all.” She covered her face and tried to catch her breath.
“We have to go back! Warn them!” Tony yelled, his own eyes filling with tears.
“We can’t. Vincent has blocked me. He blocked all connection in and out of Terrenia. There is no way back.”
“So we are supposed to just sit here and do nothing?” Tony’s voice boomed throughout the apartment, and Elizabeth wrapped her arm around him. “We have to be able to do something!” he yelled.
“Tony.” Elizabeth’s soft voice sounded, but to Anastasia she was a million miles away.
“No, Elizabeth. These are my people. I should be there with them.”
“Then you would be a sitting duck as well. We will save them, Tony. We only have to figure out how. There will be another way, you have to believe that. The second you give up is the second we lose. We have to keep fighting.”
“Exactly, we will find another way,” Dakota said, rubbing his hand on Anastasia’s back.
“I’m so sorry I failed,” Anastasia cried.
“Oh, Anastasia.” Tony knelt, and Dakota stood to move back with his mother. “You didn’t fail. This isn’t your fault.” He wrapped his arms around her, and she held him. “This is Vincent. Don’t let him tear you down. I’m sorry I yelled.” He petted her hair as a father would do for his heartbroken daughter.
“They are correct, Anastasia. We will find another way, and we will save them. You said we had time, so let’s make the most of it.” Tony kissed her forehead and then stood.
“Does Vincent still believe we may take the truce?”
“I’m not sure. He mentioned that I had better take it or we would be sitting ducks as well, but I never said either way.”
Tony nodded, contemplating something. “Find him tomorrow and tell him we will take it. I believe that’s our best option at this point.” Tony winked at her, and she knew he was only humoring Vincent if he were listening. “We all need sleep tonight, so tomorrow we will begin trying to find a way to reach him.”
“Come on, Anastasia,” Dakota urged, reaching his hand down for her. “Let’s get some sleep.”
She nodded and stood, the lump in her throat still threatening to cause more tears.