“Anything?” Matilda walked down the narrow path to the training cottage carrying a plate of food.
Dakota shook his head in response and continued staring at his hands. He had never felt so helpless in his life. Even when she had been taken from him, he had been able to do something to bring her back. Carmen told him that if he went in there she might kill him on accident, and that would only cause her to spiral further, so all he could do was wait.
“She will come around, Dakota.”
“Thanks, Tilly.”
She smiled at him and gently patted his cheek.
“That for me?” he asked, amused.
“Unfortunately, no.” Matilda laughed and set the plate by the door. “Your mother is still angry with you, so I am under strict orders to not bring you any food until you go talk to her, but just in case she asks,” Matilda gestured towards the door to the cottage, “there’s an extra helping of stew on the plate.” She winked at him and headed back towards the village.
“Ana?” he asked, pressing his hand to the door. “There is food out here.”
The silence began to worry him, but she screamed and threw something at the door. He reached for the knob and then pulled away. She was fighting her own war in there and he would only be in the way, at least until Carmen and Rayden came up with something to snap her out of it.
“How is she?” Argento’s deep voice sounded from behind him, and Dakota turned to face him.
“The same.”
“Rayden is working with Carmen. They will find something.”
“I hope so.” Dakota sat back on the steps and Argento took a seat next to him.
“It is hard to feel useless when you are so used to being strong.”
Dakota nodded in agreement and stared out at the trees in the direction of the village.
“My wife is so strong that sometimes I feel useless.”
His words shocked Dakota. “You are married?”
“Of course,” Argento scoffed. “It is how I am king.”
At Dakota’s curious look, Argento smiled. “We Brutes are a matriarchal race, therefore the royal line is passed down through females.”
“Seriously?”
“You seem surprised.”
“Well, honestly, yes.”
“Most who learn of it are. We may seem tough, but it’s mainly on the outside. We are very family-oriented, and honor is incredibly important to us.” His jaw set. “It is why these traitors must be brought to justice.”
“They will be.”
“Your Anastasia will come back, Dakota, you must have faith. She has a strong mind, and when she comes back to you it will be with a fire that will propel her forward into victory.”
“Thank you, Argento.” Dakota smiled lightly at him. Strange how he had begun to think of Argento as one of his closest friends.
“You should go and talk to your mother. Time is not on our side right now, and you don’t want to miss an opportunity.”
“You’re right. I just can’t believe she didn’t tell me.”
“Perhaps it’s because she was being faithful to Tony.”
“Tony?” At Argento’s awkward silence, it hit him. “So she finally took that step. Good for her.” Dakota smiled, glad that his mom had finally gone for what she wanted.
“You are not angry?” Argento asked, confused. “Does it not bother you that she is with someone when you lost your father?”
“Honestly, no. My dad would have wanted her to be happy and to not be alone for the rest of her life. Tony is a great man, and I know he will be good to her.”
“He is very honorable,” Argento agreed. “I will wait here while you go speak with her.”
Dakota eyed him warily. “I appreciate the offer, but maybe wait out of view? If she does come out, I don’t want her to mistake you for the enemy.”
“Good idea.” Argento moved to the side of the porch out of sight from the front door. “Go, I will be here.”
During the short walk back to the village, Dakota almost turned around three times. He knew he had been wrong to jump down their throats, but he couldn’t help the anger and betrayal he felt. Could this have all been avoided had they just told him? Maybe he could have talked to her and they could have figured out what was going on sooner. They wouldn’t know now, he supposed, so there was no need to focus on the past when there was already such an uncertain future ahead of them.
He turned the corner to his mom’s cabin and saw her and Tony on the front porch. Tony kissed her lightly and she smiled. Dakota cleared his throat and walked closer, his eyes trained to the ground.
“Dakota.” His mom’s stern voice immediately took him back to his teenage years.
“I’ll leave for a bit and let you two talk.” Tony started to turn away, but Dakota stopped him.
“Tony, please stay. What I have to say I need to say to both of you, so it will save me some time.”
“Go on.” Elizabeth crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked at him down her nose just as she had done when he got in trouble as a kid.
“I'm sorry, I shouldn’t have gotten so angry at the two of you. Mom, I know you were only keeping Tony’s trust, and Tony, you were keeping Anastasia’s.”
“I would have told you had I believed this were ever a possibility,” Tony said, sitting on the steps. “This is my fault.”
“It’s not your fault, Tony. It’s that bastard Vincent who is to blame. Well, he is,” Elizabeth added at Dakota’s surprised look.
“Not arguing.” Dakota held his hands up as if in surrender and walked to the edge of the steps. “Have Carmen and Rayden found anything out?”
“Not yet.” Tony rubbed his hands over his face. “Carmen is feeling the magic too. The protection on the house has her nearly drained. I’m worried if we don’t figure something out we may lose her too.”
“Can she stop? We can take other precautions.”
“That’s what I said, but she is stubborn and says she can handle it.”
“Now we know where Anastasia gets her hard head from,” Elizabeth said lightly, and turned to go back into the house. “Dakota, would you like to stay for dinner?”
“Thanks, Mom, but I’m going to head back.”
“You should really get some sleep. I can take tonight’s watch,” Tony said, gripping his shoulder.
“No thanks, Tony, I want to be there.”
“I will have Tilly bring you some food,” Elizabeth said, and closed the door behind her.
Dakota smiled and headed back towards the training cottage. After sending Argento back to his camp, he took his seat against the door and fell asleep looking at the stars. In his dreams he imagined life the way it could be once all of this was over, and he prayed he got a chance to see it become a reality.
When Dakota woke, it was still dark outside. A feeling of dread settled over him, and it took him a moment to shake the sleep and figure out what it was. He could smell smoke, but saw no glimmer of flames coming through the trees from the village. It was much too late to be from any campfire someone had put out before bed.
He ran to the nearest tower at the edge of the fence and climbed the ladder quickly to stare out into the forest. The color drained from his face when he realized what he was seeing. Campfires were lit about a mile outside of the village. The fires were up every few yards from each other, and as far as he could see, they surrounded the village.
“Oh no,” he said out loud. “Shit!” he yelled, and jumped down. He sprinted to Argento’s camp.
“Argento!” he yelled, and heard the rustling from inside the tent.
“Dakota, what is it?”
“You need to see this.” He turned and ran for the tower again, but this time Argento was on his heels.
“This is not good. Judging by the amount of camps that have been made, there are hundreds out there.”
“How much time do you think we have?” Dakota asked him, fear settling over him.
“Not long. They will attack before dawn.”
“We need to get Tony.”
“Griffith, go and get Tony,” Argento ordered. “Tell him to meet us here.”
“On it.” Griffith took off back towards the village.
“We need to gather everyone and send them into the bunker, we can’t risk it.”
“It seems that Brady is making good on his threat,” Argento growled.
“It’s not Brady.”
“Do you think Vincent is out there?”
“I think he is the one pulling the strings, but I don’t think he is out there. He is too much of a coward.”