“So tell me what’s been going on,” Anastasia inquired later as they sat in the large tub together. Her back was pressed against Dakota’s chest and he was playing with the ends of her dark hair.
“Other than the Brute attacks and Tony’s disappearance, not much.” His hands began to knead her shoulders, so she leaned forward slightly to give him more access to her back. “We have seen some new creatures who have sided with Vincent.”
She turned quickly and splashed him. “Sorry. What new creatures?”
“Weird dragon-like ones. Much smaller, but they are tough. Argento called them Drycos.”
“He must be recruiting.”
Dakota nodded and Anastasia turned back around when he resumed rubbing her back.
“We need to come up with a plan,” she offered.
“Not tonight,” he whispered in her ear as his hands came around to tease her breasts.
She leaned back against him. “You sure know how to distract a girl,” she whispered.
“Only you, baby.” He pressed his lips to her neck and continued his caress. Her blood heated in response, and she reached back to grip him. He pressed into her and she turned to straddle him.
“Tell me again.”
“Only you, baby,” he said again, and she slid on him and rode him until they both shattered.
* * *
Anastasia opened her eyes and squinted in the early morning light. Dakota was still pressed against her back, and she smiled as she ran her fingers down his arm that was wrapped around her waist.
Damn, it was good to be home. She slowly climbed out of bed and dressed. As she pulled the door open, she nearly tripped on Kaley, who was curled up by the door. Anastasia let out a laugh, remembering this exact moment a few years back when she had come out of her room and discovered the large cat for the first time.
“Morning, girl.” She bent to rub the feline’s back and was rewarded with a purr, then went into the kitchen to make some tea.
She knew they had a lot of work to do if they were going to go after Vincent. She couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when he realized he was going to lose. There was no other way. If he was recruiting from other worlds, it was only a matter of time before he reached a strength that would be beyond their capability to defeat. They had to move quickly, and she wanted Tony home. She would rescue both he and Monique, and now she had a plan.
A light knock on the door had Anastasia turning her head to see Elizabeth peeking in.
“Good morning.” Elizabeth smiled lightly. “I hope I’m not interrupting.”
“Not at all. I’m just making some tea. Dakota’s still asleep.”
“I’m so sorry for what I said last night. I don’t remember all of it, but I do remember what I said to you.”
“You don’t need to apologize.” Anastasia walked to Elizabeth and pulled her in for a hug. Elizabeth wrapped her arms around Anastasia and let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.
“I was out of line. Since Tony—” Tears filled her eyes as she pulled away. “I haven’t been able to get a handle on how I’m feeling.”
“We will get him back.”
“I want to believe that.”
“Then believe it.” Anastasia smiled and finished making her tea. “Once Dakota wakes, we will be meeting with Argento and the others to devise a plan to get him back. I think I know where he is being held.”
“Really?” For the first time since she had walked through the door, Elizabeth’s face lit up.
“Yes.” Anastasia smiled again.
Elizabeth studied her for a moment. “You are different.”
“I learned some things while I was with Monique.”
“I can tell. Thank you for coming for me.”
“You don’t need to thank me.”
“Yes I do, you nearly died. And what you had to do—” Her eyes filled again and Anastasia swallowed the lump in her throat.
“I’m going to try and sense Tony.” Anastasia changed the subject, taking a seat on the floor in front of the fire that was crackling in the hearth. She closed her eyes and focused on him the same way she had done with Elizabeth when Sarah had taken her.
She focused on the way Tony had always been there for her, and before long she could feel his presence. “He’s alive,” she said softly, and tried to focus harder to confirm his location. Much to her surprise, her magic took her further and she got an image.
He was sitting in a cell, his graying hair covering his face, which was lowered towards the ground so she couldn’t see it. His body was coated in enough dried blood that you couldn’t make out the tattoos that covered his skin. His bare chest was marred with lacerations. Anastasia growled. She would know belt marks from a mile away.
At her sound, Tony’s head whipped up and he seemed to be staring at her.
“Anastasia?” he asked. One of his eyes was swollen shut, and the other was bloodshot. His lips were split and cracking and he looked gaunt.
“You can see me?” she asked, surprised.
“Of course I can see you, you’re standing in front of me!” he whispered loudly, but Anastasia could hear the exhaustion in his voice.
Anastasia looked down and nearly cried out in surprise. She had projected herself to him!
“You need to go, before they find you here.”
“Do you know where you are?”
Tony shook his head. “I think we may be back in Seattle. I can smell the ocean much like I could when we were here before.”
Anastasia nodded. “I think he is using the same docks he did before. He’s too arrogant to feel the need to switch.”
“Elizabeth—”
“She’s fine, Tony. She misses you.” Anastasia smiled. “Is there a woman here with you? Her name is Monique.”
Tony shook his head and tried to shift his body. He winced slightly and Anastasia felt another wave of anger at his pain. “There is no one here but me.”
Anastasia turned her head as she heard footsteps coming around the hall. “We are coming for you, Tony. Hang in there.”
She could have sworn she heard him say “I’m trying” as she faded away.
* * *
Tony watched as Anastasia’s form faded from view. He breathed a sigh of relief as she disappeared just as Vincent’s men came through.
“So, how’s our honored guest doing today?” the overweight, balding man with the nose ring asked smugly. He smelled as if he had rolled in something dead.
Tony didn’t say a word. He hadn’t spoken to anyone since he had been brought in. He had no intention of letting these bastards break him.
“Still not talking, huh? The master has something special for you tonight.”
Tony let out a snort at their nickname for Vincent.
“Something funny?” He grabbed Tony’s hair and whipped his head back. Tony grinned at him.
“Why don’t you share it with us, funny man?” said the thin man that reminded him of a walking skeleton.
Tony kept his mouth shut and continued staring into the man’s empty eyes. Was this Vincent’s doing, he wondered, or had this man always been evil?
“Nice to see you, Tony.” The voice crept up Tony’s spine and had him flattening the grin that had been on his face.
“He’s still not talking, boss.”
“Not a problem, I think I can fix that. Leave us.”
The two men left the room and Tony let his head drop. He heard Vincent’s footsteps on the cool stone until they reached him.
“You know, it doesn’t have to be this way, Tony. You are a good Fighter and an honorable man—I get that. But how far is honor going to get you here? Besides, I can give you everything you’ve ever dreamed of.”
“I want nothing from you,” Tony growled.
“Not even your wife back? Or perhaps your son?”
Tony looked up to see his wife and son standing before him. Her beautiful blonde curls fell softly around a face he’d spent years memorizing. Her blue eyes twinkled as she smiled at him, and his son giggled as she ruffled his soft brown hair.
Tears filled Tony’s eyes as he tried to shut them out. They weren’t real, they were dead. Vincent had seen to that.
“Tony?” Zarina’s feminine voice filled his mind, and he pulled at the chains behind his back so he could cover his ears. When he couldn’t get his hands free, he shook his head.
“Daddy?” The sound of Jax’s voice nearly sent him over the edge. “Daddy, talk to me!”
“NO!” Tony yelled. “You. Are. Not. Real!” he screamed at them.
“Tony, stop this!” Zarina scolded him, and he began rocking.
“You can have them back, Tony. All you have to do is help me,” Vincent said softly.
“I will never help you!”
Vincent shook his head and Tony saw the bodies of his wife and son again as if they had been killed today. His heart broke just as it had then. “Perhaps this will motivate you.”
“Tony?” Elizabeth’s voice cut through his sobs and he opened his eyes to see her kneeling before him. “Let him go!” she yelled at Vincent.
“No, you aren’t really here,” Tony said softly as she cupped his face. Her touch felt real on his face and it only added to the illusion.
“I am here, Tony. Tell me what I can do!”
Tony shook his head and continued rocking. Vincent waved his hand and Elizabeth fell to the ground.
“I will kill her, Tony, unless you agree to work for me.”
“I will never work for you.”
“Shame,” Vincent said, and turned back towards where he had come from. “Your days are numbered, Fighter.” He closed the door behind him.
“Hurry, Anastasia,” Tony whispered, doing his best to shut out the images that still plagued him.
* * *
Anastasia opened her eyes to see Dakota and Elizabeth staring at her.
“We have to get him out.” Anastasia stood and began gathering her weapons. “Today.”
“Did you see him? Is he okay?” Elizabeth asked as the tears began to fall silently down her cheeks.
“I saw him and he’s alive.”
Dakota nodded, understanding the unsaid words behind her statement. “I will go get Argento.”
“No,” Anastasia said simply. “We need to go quickly, and we cannot risk making a scene. It needs to just be us, and it needs to happen now. I was able to project into the cellar where they are keeping him, so Vincent hasn’t blocked it completely. It is possible that he will sense us when we get there—more probable than possible, I suppose—so we will have to move quickly.”
“Okay.” Dakota, already strapped down with his weapons, stood.
“We need to open the portal from the medical cottage.”
“Is he hurt badly?” Elizabeth’s voice was barely more than a whisper.
“Badly enough,” Anastasia said, and headed for the door with Dakota, Elizabeth, and Kaley on her heels.
As they walked, Anastasia noted that less villagers were outside than normal. She supposed it was due to the Trepido attack from before, or the Brute attacks that Dakota had said had been happening frequently. It made her angry to know that her people were afraid to even venture outside of their homes anymore.
She shook her head to push the anger from her mind. She needed a clear head if she was going to get Tony out and escape without further incident.
“Morning, Anastasia,” Carmen greeted them from her porch.
“Morning, Grandma.” Anastasia offered her a quick smile.
Carmen stood and walked down her steps to meet them as they walked into the medical cottage next door.
“We are going to open the portal, go in, get him out, and be gone before it even has time to close,” Anastasia filled Carmen in.
“You are going to have to move fast. Leaving the portal open for too long could drain you,” Carmen offered. “You said you saw him?”
“I was able to project myself to him.”
“More than simply your consciousness? That’s impressive. Communicating with someone non-magical like that is quite a feat, Anastasia.”
Anastasia smiled. “I was recently shown how to access all of my magic. I am learning more each day, it seems.”
“I am proud of you.” Carmen patted her gently on the shoulder. “Now go and get Tony.”
“Are you ready?” Dakota asked Elizabeth.
“Yes. Bring him home, please.”
“We will, Mom.” Dakota smiled and then walked to Anastasia. He pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “A kiss for luck.”
Anastasia smiled and waved her hand to open the portal in front of them. Without wasting another second, they stepped through and into the dimly lit cellar where Tony was chained.
“Anastasia?” he asked her. “Are you really here?”
“Yes.” She conjured a ball of flame and threw it at the chains holding him. When they disintegrated, Dakota helped Tony get to his feet.
“Who are you?” a man asked, and Anastasia turned to see two men walking into the room. One reached for his gun, and using her magic, Anastasia threw them both out of the room.
“Hurry!” Anastasia said, and she and Dakota carried Tony through the portal. It closed behind them and Anastasia let out a sigh of relief.
“Tony!” Elizabeth cried out as she ran for him. He wrapped his arms around her and they sunk to the floor together. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he clung to her. “We need to get you cleaned up,” she said, and started to pull away, but he held on tighter.
“Not yet, please not yet,” Tony said as his body shook with raw emotion.
Anastasia looked down at them, and together she, Dakota, and Carmen crept from the room.
“It went well then? Did anyone see you?”
“Two men.”
Carmen nodded. “He already knew you were alive, so he had to know it was only a matter of time before you came for Tony.”
“I think he underestimates her,” Dakota offered. “If he knew what she was actually capable of, I don’t think he would have left Tony so unprotected.”
“I agree,” Carmen said.
“I can’t wait to continue showing him just how wrong about me he is. We need more manpower. It’s time we took a page out of Vincent’s book and started visiting some other worlds,” Anastasia said as she began to pace to let the plan continue to take form in her mind.
“That’s a good idea,” Dakota agreed. “If we can manage to get to the worlds Vincent hasn’t visited yet, we might be able to get them on our side.”
“Anastasia, we have no idea what’s out there. You could portal to a world with no oxygen, or one with beasts beyond your worst nightmares,” Carmen insisted.
“We have to try something. Vincent is gaining more power every day,” Anastasia said. “If we do this right, and work with Argento to see what he knows about the other worlds, we might be able to gleam enough information that we can find someone or something to help us. Bottom line is that we cannot do this alone.”
“I don’t know that I like this plan, Anastasia.”
“I know it’s not the smartest of plans, but it’s all we’ve got,” she responded, and looked back at the cottage where they had left the newly reunited Elizabeth and Tony. “At least Tony is back where he belongs. Now we just have to find Monique.”