“No!” Anastasia yelled as she was thrown into the portal. She tumbled onto the dirt and immediately pushed to her feet. She knew she was in Terrenia, but as far as location, she wasn’t sure where she had landed.
She took stock of what she had: no weapons, her clothing was still torn from the Brute assault, and she was barefoot. Excellent, she thought sarcastically.
She closed her eyes and called her magic, willing a portal to open. Something she had never tried to do was travel within the same world via portal, and now she knew why. Nothing happened. She tried two more times and when it still didn’t happen, she gave up and began walking.
Where the hell was she? And why couldn’t she recognize it?
She walked for hours before she stopped to sit. Her feet ached and were bleeding, her body hurt, and she couldn’t wrap her mind around the fact that not only did Vincent have Tony, but now Monique as well.
“Ahhhhh!” she screamed to no one, needing desperately to release some of her anger. Tony. The thought of him suffering alone in a cell like she had for those months brought tears to her eyes and put a fire in her soul. She was going to save him and it was well past time she began acting like the powerful woman she was. Even though it had been over a decade since she had lived in that house with Mitch, she was still acting like that frightened teenage girl. It was time she stopped.
People continued to sacrifice themselves for her and she needed to start living up to their opinion of her. She was The Phoenix, for fuck’s sake.
Internal pep talk finished, Anastasia got to her feet and closed her eyes. She shut out everything around her and tried to sense the direction of the village. Her brows furrowed when she realized it was right in front of her. She opened her eyes and still saw nothing but trees. But when she closed it, she sensed it. Strange. Anastasia pictured the village and imagined herself walking into it. She felt pressure against her and she pushed back. When the pressure snapped, she opened her eyes and saw the wall that surrounded her home.
A huge smile spread across her face and she ignored the pain in her feet as she started running. Moments before she got to the gate, it swung open and Dakota stepped out. Eyes wide and filled with tears, she ran straight to him as if he was the only one in the entire world. In hers, at that moment, he was.
“Ana!” he yelled, and she jumped into his arms.
Tears streamed down her face as she held on to the man she had loved since childhood. “Dakota, I’m so sorry,” she said softly, and pulled away just enough to see his handsome face.
The gruff from his beard did little to hide the sadness etched on his face. His eyes were heavy and the circles under them showed her he hadn’t been sleeping. There was little evidence of the young boy she had fallen in love with so many years ago. What had life been like then? she wondered. She couldn’t remember a time when the fate of the worlds didn’t rest on their shoulders.
She lifted her hand to cup his face and he closed his eyes to lean into her touch. The years had certainly not been kind to either of them, and it seemed that her destiny was constantly putting up roadblocks. It was time to push that selfish bitch out of the way.
“Please don’t apologize to me, Ana. None of it was your fault. I shouldn’t have—” His voice cracked and he pulled her against him. “I’m so damn sorry I acted like I did.”
“I should have handled myself better that night, and I promise you that from now on I will.”
He stared into her eyes and after a moment crushed his mouth to hers. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck while her mouth opened under his. He tasted just as he always had, and she groaned against his mouth. Her body readied for him. His hands slid up her back and passed over the exposed skin that was sticking out through a tear in her shirt. The feel of his calloused hands against her skin sent shivers across her body.
Breathless, she pulled away and slowly opened her eyes to look into his. They were dark with lust, and she released him slowly to pull away. She had to before they both gave in to the release they so desperately needed. As much as she wanted him, it wasn’t the time nor the place. “We need to go inside,” Dakota said, and began to pull her towards the gate. He looked down at her feet. “Ana, your feet!”
“I’m fine, Dakota.”
He lifted her into his arms.
“Put me down, Dakota, I’m fine.” She laughed softly, and he only clung to her more tightly.
“Never,” he growled in her ear, and she pretended the sound didn’t make her body hum.
“Anastasia!” Carmen yelled as she hurried down the steps of her cottage and towards them.
Dakota let her down then and Carmen wrapped her in a hug. “It’s nice to see you alive,” she joked, but Anastasia saw the tears in her eyes.
“It’s nice to be alive. We have to talk, though, all of us.”
“Ana I have some bad news,” Dakota started.
“If it’s about Tony, I already know. Vincent has him,” she said as she gritted her teeth together. “It’s time we take this war to him.”
“I would say so.” Argento’s deep voice had Anastasia turning. He smiled at her. “It is good to see you, Phoenix.”
“It’s good to be back.”
“Did the Sorceress come back with you?” Dakota wondered.
“Vincent has her too.”
“Oh no, this is bad,” Carmen said, covering her mouth with her hands.
Anastasia nodded. “She saved me. She shoved me through the portal and then closed it.”
“This is bad, so bad,” Carmen repeated, and headed back to her cottage. Anastasia and Dakota followed her.
“We will get her back.”
“Anastasia, if he has her, he has in his possession the most powerful person in any of the worlds. If he is able to bring her to his side, he will be unstoppable.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Anastasia said, crossing her arms.
“Anastasia, there is more to that than you know,” Carmen insisted.
“I know that they were once in love, and that he slit her throat. I also know that she hates him and she sacrificed herself to save me. Trust me, she won’t turn.”
“I hope you’re right.” Carmen sighed.
“We have to find Monique and Tony as soon as possible,” Dakota added.
“I would imagine he’s going to be keeping them both close,” Anastasia responded.
“Then let’s find them, and let’s end this damn war,” Carmen said quickly.
“Let’s start by getting you some shoes,” Dakota said softly, and headed for the door.
“Good idea. I could use a bath too.” Anastasia followed him.
“I’m so happy you’re home, Anastasia,” Carmen said softly.
“I am too, Grandma.” She smiled and followed Dakota outside. “So, I walked for hours, and when I tried to sense the village, I could feel it nearby but it wasn’t until I stepped right up to the gate that I was able to see it.”
“Carmen cloaked us.” Dakota’s jaw tightened. “When they got Tony, we knew we needed to do something.”
“So that’s why I couldn’t open the portal.” When he looked at her, she continued, “When I got here after Monique tossed me through, I tried to open a portal to the village. I thought I couldn’t because it was within the same world, but it must have been because of the block.”
Dakota nodded and they continued walking.
“How did they get Tony?” she wondered. Tony was the most cautious person she knew. She was more than surprised someone had been able to catch him off guard.
“We have been under constant attack from Vincent. Every time we turned around, another group was coming after us. Tony wanted to leave.”
Anastasia stopped and gaped at Dakota. “Tony wanted to give up? It must have been bad.”
“It has been. Carmen was trying to come up with a way to stop the attacks, but it wasn’t until Tony was taken that she was able to successfully block us from them.”
“Probably because Vincent already has what he wants. That barrier will keep Brutes out, but he could easily sense it.”
Dakota nodded. “That’s what she thinks also.”
“Where’s your mom? Monique said she was all right, but I don’t see her.” She looked around.
“She’s taking everything hard. Doesn’t leave her cottage much these days.”
Anastasia heard the sadness in his voice and placed her hand on his arm to stop him. “I’m sorry I haven’t been here.”
Dakota smiled softly but it didn’t reach his eyes. “It’s not your fault, Ana. None of this is.”
“I’m still sorry.”
“I know.”
“How long have I been gone?”
“About three days.”
“It only felt like two to me.”
“Time moves slower there,” he said and opened the door to their cottage.
“Hi girl!” Anastasia squealed when Kaley pushed past Dakota and nearly tackled her. “I missed you too.”
Anastasia looked up to see Dakota walking into the kitchen. He lifted a bottle of Terrenian whiskey and poured a decent amount into a glass. She noticed his hands shake as he lifted it to his lips and when his shoulders started shaking as well, she moved to him. She had never seen him cry. Not once when they were growing up, and certainly not since she had found him again in Seattle. At least not like this.
She wrapped her arms around him and took his weight as he clung to her. He held on as if she might disappear.
“Everything is falling apart Ana. I thought you were dead, I held you in my arms and watched you losing the fight for your damn life. Now Tony’s gone, my mom’s drowning herself in whiskey and I don’t know how long we can keep our walls standing. What the fuck are we going to do?”
“Dakota,” she said softly and he lifted his face to look into her eyes. “everything is going to come back together. I am right here and I promise you I’m not going anywhere ever again. We will get Tony back, your mother will come around, and we will kill Vincent and every damn Brute who has ripped apart our family.” She smiled widely at him and in it was complete control. “They aren’t going to know what hit them.”
“I don’t know how much more I can take,” he said, and for the first time Anastasia was able to sense, rather than just see, the utter and complete exhaustion he felt.
“Then let me carry some of the weight, Dakota.”
He stared at her for a moment, tears in his eyes. “I love you so damn much, Ana.”
“I love you too.” He pulled her to him and buried his face in her hair.
“Is she here?” Elizabeth pushed open the door to the cottage and nearly fell onto the floor. Anastasia could smell the alcohol the second she stepped inside. “Oh Anasta-sh-ia,” she slurred, and rushed to pull Anastasia into a whiskey-scented embrace.
“I’m here, Elizabeth.” Anastasia wrapped her arms around Dakota’s mother, who was just noticing her son’s tear-stained face.
“Dakota! What’s wrong? You didn’t dump him again, did you?” she accused Anastasia as she rushed to her son.
“No, Mom. We are fine.”
“Good. He’s a good one, you know.” She smiled and patted Dakota’s cheek.
Anastasia watched the exchange dumbfounded. Elizabeth Parker was the queen of control. She had never seen this woman drink more than a glass of wine with dinner, let alone whiskey. And Terrenian whiskey was a hell of a lot stronger than anything you could buy in Seattle, since it didn’t have to follow the same laws as the latter stuff. What the hell was going on with her?
“Have a seat, Mom.” Dakota guided her over to the couch and then walked back to the kitchen. He placed his hands on the counter and hung his head low.
“How long has this been going on?” Anastasia asked in a hushed voice.
“Since Tony was taken.”
“How long ago?”
“Day before yesterday.”
“Okay. This has to stop. Hide this bottle and let’s get her home.”
“At least put some shoes on,” Dakota reminded her.
“Oh yeah, I suppose that would be a good thing.” She walked into her room and smiled as Dakota’s scent filled her lungs. What a wonderful feeling it was to be home with the man she loved. Even if they were on the brink of the final battle in a war she felt she had been fighting her entire life. She took a seat on the bed and took a moment to look at her bare feet. She was surprised to see they were already completely healed. Dried blood and dirt covered them, but they were otherwise fine.
She pulled on some of her boots and stood to look at herself in the mirror. Her face was dirty, her hair matted with blood she knew was her own. At least someone had washed the blood off her face. She pulled out a leather cord and tied her hair up out of her face. Her clothing was torn, but she wanted to bathe before she changed and then probably burn what she was currently wearing.
She stepped out into the living room and looked up to see Dakota watching her.
“I really fucking missed you, Ana.”
“I really missed you too. Dakota.” She smiled at him and then looked to where Elizabeth was currently passed out on the couch. “Now let’s get her home so I can show you how much.”
“That sounds like a plan.” Dakota lifted his mother into his arms and they began the short walk back to the village to take her home.
Once she was settled in bed, Anastasia went to work removing all alcohol from the house. She then placed a glass of fresh water on the counter and walked out to the porch where Dakota was waiting.
They walked quickly back to their cottage, and once inside, Dakota grabbed her and crushed his mouth to hers while her back pressed against the door. She fisted her hands in his short hair and wrapped her legs around his waist as he lifted her from the ground. He carried her and she felt the hardness of the table on her back as he laid her down. He removed her clothes quickly and then his own. Anastasia scooted to the edge of the table and groaned as he pressed into her slowly and began to move.
“Ana,” he said breathlessly as he drove them at a furious pace.
She cried out with her release just as he reached his and collapsed on top of her.
“I probably should care that I haven’t taken a bath in a few days,” she said breathlessly after a few minutes.
“You probably should,” Dakota said, and grinned at her. Damn, she had missed his smile. “I think I can fix that, though.” His eyes shone with amusement as he lifted them both and then slid her down his body. He walked to the fireplace that already had water waiting to be heated. “I’ll start this and heat up the water.”
“No need,” she said, conjuring a ball of flame in her hand. She pushed it down into the water and then stepped back. “Try that,” she said, and gestured to the pot.
Dakota eyed it warily and stuck his finger in. “It’s perfect! That’s amazing, Ana.”
“One of a few tricks I have.”
“I’m glad to see you aren’t afraid of yourself anymore.” He winced. “I didn’t mean that to sound like an insult.”
“I didn’t take it as one.” She smiled. “Now how about you put on some pants and go get me some more water to heat up.” She grinned wickedly. “Or not. I would enjoy watching you do it naked.”
Dakota laughed. “I’ll put some pants on. Don’t want to scare the neighbors.”