Unity

by Jessica Wayne

  Once they reached the gate, Kaley stepped out from the herd of Centaurs, greeting her pack. They parted, allowing Anastasia and the Centaur king to enter. Looking back, she was relieved to see three other Centaurs had grabbed Tony, Vincent, and Nix, and brought them through as well.

  “Anastasia!” Elizabeth called, rushing toward her. She wrapped her arms around her, then pulled Tony in as well. “I’m so happy you two are safe! We didn’t know what to think. Carmen couldn’t even use a vial to try and reach you.”

  “We couldn’t portal in,” Vincent said.

  Elizabeth pulled back and stared at him, mouth open. “What is this?”

  “Long story,” Tony told her.

  “This is Armes.” Anastasia gestured to the Centaur, who bowed his head.

  Elizabeth didn’t speak, she simply stared wide-eyed until Tony cleared his throat. “I’m, I’m sorry. I’ve just never seen your kind before. I’ve heard of you, of course, but it was only legend.”

  “Pleased to meet you,” he greeted.

  “Enough with the pleasantries,” Harold growled. “How about you fix this problem you created.” He got right in Anastasia’s face, close enough she could feel his breath on her skin.

  “You’re going to want to get away from my niece.”

  Harold turned, jumping slightly at the sight of Vincent before turning back and jabbing his finger into Anastasia’s chest. “I knew you were working with the enemy!”

  Anastasia moved even closer. “Thames is our enemy, not Vincent. And if you touch me again, I will break every single one of the bones in your miserable, cowardly body.”

  Harold glared at her, obviously trying to decide whether to continue pushing or back off. Luckily for him, he made the right choice.

  “This isn’t over.”

  “It absolutely is,” Tony told him. “Or I’ll toss your ass out to the creatures waiting for blood just outside.”

  The water crashed to the ground, soaking it and sending water beneath the gate of Terrenia.

  “Coral!” Armes cried out, rushing toward the gate.

  Two of her Sirens carried her in, unconscious, as the sound of metal clashing and battle cries filled the air.

  “What happened?” Anastasia demanded.

  One of the Siren guards narrowed her ice-blue eyes on Anastasia. “He is here.”

  34

  Terrenia

  Anastasia

  “Open the gate,” Anastasia told the Fighters guarding it.

  “Anastasia, wait!” Vincent rushed toward her. “You cannot go out there without knowing what you face.”

  “I know what I’m up against. I have no intention of letting him kill anyone else before today is over.”

  “You cannot go out alone.”

  She looked up at him and smiled. “I’m not. I need you to take care of the Luxe outside. Keep them out of Terrenia.”

  “I will.”

  “Tony, you and the Fighters have to hold the line.”

  He nodded.

  She turned back toward the gate. “I’ll handle Thames.”

  “Are you sure you’re up for it?” Vincent asked.

  Anastasia ran her hand over her stomach. Pregnant or not, her husband was out there, and she was the only one able to save him. “I am.”

  “Then let’s do this.”

  “Here.” Tony handed her the sword she’d left behind when going to the Centaurs. Holding the familiar weight in her hand, she prepared herself for a battle she’d known was coming, but hoped she’d be able to stop before it reached her home.

  The gate opened, and Anastasia, Vincent, Tony, Nix, and another dozen Fighters—including Selena and Gage—stepped out to join the fray.

  The battle was unlike anything Anastasia had ever seen. The Luxe attacked, sending tendrils of black ooze at their targets, letting it sear their skin, the victims crying out in agony as they fell to the ground, their bodies disintegrating before their very eyes.

  “Don’t let them touch you!” Anastasia screamed, blasting one with a stream of light as it neared Kaley. The felines were doing what they could to hold the line, but being unable to hold a weapon, they were the last line before the Luxe reached Terrenia.

  The last ones to fall before her home went up in smoke.

  “I don’t see Thames!” she called out to Vincent over the chaos.

  He slammed a Luxe with a beam of light as it reached out for Tony. The stun lasted long enough Tony was able to swing his blade, slicing the creature in half.

  “Anastasia, shield yourself!” Vincent ordered.

  She did as she was told, and extended that shield to include Tony, who fought alongside her.

  It did little good though, the first time a creature slammed into it, Anastasia felt the shield give way to their acid skin.

  “I have to drop it!” she yelled to Tony.

  He nodded, already covered in sweat, and Anastasia dropped it. Just as she did, the sky lit up with purple, and Dakota appeared on the other side of the fight.

  A blast of water shot out around her, encapsulating the creatures, and she spun, grateful to see another Siren step outside of the gate.

  She nodded, and Anastasia raced toward Dakota, who stared at her with a sinister sneer, letting her know it wasn’t him in control.

  Good, I have quite a few things to say to you, you bastard.

  She glanced back and breathed a sigh of relief. With the Siren holding the Luxe at bay, and Thames’ attention focused solely on her, the Centaurs and Fighters regrouped, backing closer to the village.

  Thames broke into a run, racing toward her, and they clashed in the middle, both throwing blasts of power at the other. The power erupted into flames, sending heat crashing over them both.

  She screamed, rage and grief battling for control, as she spun and slammed out at him with another blast of light.

  Thames blocked it, barely, and recovered with a shield. Her power slammed into it and fizzled to the ground.

  The two stood, breathing heavily, and Thames laughed. “I have to say, Sorceress, I’m impressed.”

  “That makes one of us, you coward.”

  “What makes me a coward?”

  “You have to use someone else in order to fight.”

  “Dakota is simply a means to an end. A way for me to get off my dying world.”

  Now, it was Anastasia’s time to laugh. “You and I both know that’s not true. The Luxe denied you power, your best option was to use another magical person. You’re a pathetic waste of space.”

  “You and your husband have the same opinion of me, it seems. No matter. I’ll let him watch you die before I track down this world’s life core and restore my own.”

  Anastasia scoffed. “You’ll never find it.”

  Thames narrowed his eyes. “Oh dear, Sorceress, I believe I’ve already found it.”

  He lifted a hand, and a large whip appeared, purple and snapping with electricity. He popped it on the ground, turning the grass into ash.

  Two can play that game. Anastasia unsheathed her sword and lit the blade with flame. Holding it straight in the air, she cried out and raced to close the distance between her and Thames.

  He snapped out, and she dodged, jumping to the left and avoiding his whip by mere centimeters.

  Focusing, she slashed out with her blade as it snapped toward her again, cutting part of it off. Before she could grin, the damn thing grew back.

  Focus on the user, not the weapon. Good advice for what she was going to have to do.

  Using her free hand, Anastasia conjured a ball of light and blasted him with it. Dakota’s body flew backward and slammed into the tree just behind him.

  I’m sorry, Dakota. Tears burned in her eyes, but before Thames could recover, she blasted him again, and again, and yet again, the balls of light hitting his chest until she was so close she could look down into his terrified eyes.

  “You’re going to kill him,” Thames warned, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.
<
br />   “I imagine death is something Dakota would welcome.” Surprised her voice was steady, she conjured another ball of light. “It’s better than being forced to do things he’d never otherwise do.”

  The ball grew significantly, the light all but blinding them both. With one last attempt, Thames hit her square in the chest with enough power to have her stumbling back.

  He was weakening, though, and it did nothing more than sting.

  Kicking out with his foot, he knocked her to the ground and conjured a portal.

  Racing toward it, Anastasia tried to stop him. She was so close! If he got away now, who knew when she’d get another chance! A glance behind her, Anastasia dove through after him, just before the portal closed.

  35

  Luxe

  Anastasia

  She hit the marble with a thud, immediately pushing to her feet. Thames was already racing down the hall, so she pushed into a sprint, tackling him just as he entered the throne room.

  “You stupid bitch!” he yelled, kicking out with a boot. Her lip split open at the contact, but she ignored the pain, focusing on the body slumped over in the throne.

  Anastasia smiled. This was it, her one chance to destroy Thames forever.

  “You know,” he taunted, backing toward the wall behind him as Anastasia got to her feet. “I had the most fun toying with your pathetic father.”

  Anastasia clenched her fists, not letting him know she’d seen his physical body.

  “He believed I was your uncle from the very beginning, let me come in and rip apart his family from the inside.”

  “You must be so proud.”

  “Once I learned of the prophecy, of who you were supposed to become, I knew I had to end it.”

  “Yet you couldn’t force Vincent to kill me.”

  Thames shrugged. “The pain you suffered through living was more than enough for me. I ate it up, each and every time I showed up at your house and looked upon your bruised face. It killed Vincent, and his pain was my fuel.” Thames closed his eyes and turned his head up to the ceiling. “Just as Dakota’s is now.”

  Anastasia ground her teeth together.

  “He is terrified, you know. I can feel it. Terrified that I’m going to make him feel your blood on his skin just as I did that Fighter.”

  “I’m sure he knows there’s nothing to be afraid of. You won’t be in control much longer.”

  Thames grinned. “Where is your uncle, anyway? I assumed his ghost would still be following you around like a shadow searching for life.”

  “He’s back kicking the shit out of your monsters.”

  “Interesting. He was a most fun toy. I have to say I miss our conversations and the pain he felt knowing your father hated him. How sad is it when your own family doesn’t see the good in you?”

  “You should know.”

  Thames nodded angrily. “I should, shouldn’t I? My father was too weak to see what needed to be done. We should have ruled the worlds—all of them! But he was too focused on peace, and dolled out power when other worlds began to die.”

  “How dare he be a good person.”

  “He used our power—Luxe power—that could’ve been used for so much more.”

  “Yet you destroyed your world.” Anastasia side-stepped, trying to get close enough to blast him. If she hit him with enough power, she might be able to jolt him from Dakota long enough to kill him once and for all, separating them and bringing her husband back.

  “My world was already weak because he’d used the power!”

  “Pretty sure that’s not how that works.”

  “Your uncle was pathetic, your father was pathetic, your bitch mother was pathetic, so why do you think you’re any different?”

  “I’m not any different from them, but you’re wrong. The only pathetic one here is you.” She conjured a ball of flame, and Thames’ eyes widened. He glanced toward his own body and threw up a shield to block her.

  Before she could do anything, Thames raised Dakota’s hand and threw an orb of light straight into the chest of his own body.

  “No!” she screamed, running toward him.

  Thames’ physical body began to burn, and Anastasia was helpless to do anything but watch.

  “Now, it seems we’re both trapped in this miserable shell,” Thames said, disgusted. “Tell me, Sorceress, what was your plan? Attack me and hope I went back into my own body so you could save your husband?” He laughed angrily, and Anastasia turned to him, tears slipping down her cheeks as Armes’ words came back to her.

  “If it comes down to his life, or the life of the worlds, I will not hesitate, and I hope you will not either.”

  “Ana, you have to kill me, it’s the only way,” Dakota had urged her.

  “You bastard,” she cried out.

  Thames grinned widely at her, his eyes narrowing on her face. He thought she’d lost, but as long as Terrenia still thrived, she couldn’t lose—at least not completely.

  “I’m sorry, Dakota,” Anastasia whispered before pulling at all her power and screaming. She aimed her power at him, channeling all of it into him, the stream of magic throwing him back into the wall and holding him there as it poured into his body.

  “You’re going to kill him!” Thames yelled, but Anastasia didn’t stop.

  Flashes of their life together went through her mind as she fought to stay connected to her power.

  His smile, his laugh, the way he looked when he rolled out of bed in the morning. She used all of it to channel her rage at the monster using him as a weapon.

  Dakota would be free.

  Free from Thames.

  Free from the nightmares of what he’d been forced to commit.

  And the worlds would be safe.

  “You stupid girl!” Thames yelled again as he crumpled to the ground. He threw up a hand, attempting to shield Dakota’s body from any more harm, but Anastasia put up her other one and continued pushing everything she had into him.

  Her vision swam, the power draining her energy, and when she saw Dakota fall the rest of the way to the ground, she stopped and raced toward him.

  His face was pale, blue eyes returned to their normal color but dimming with every second that passed.

  “Ana,” he whispered, the ghost of a smile on his lips.

  “Dakota, I’m so sorry.”

  He shook his head, tears dripping from the corners of his eyes. “Don’t be, you did what I asked.”

  “How am I supposed to live without you?” she sobbed, the lump in her throat making it impossible to breathe.

  “You’ll be fine.”

  She gripped his hand, pressing a kiss to the top.

  “I. Love. You. Ana,” he whispered. His eyes closed, and the blue lines on his skin began to recede.

  “No!” she screamed, pressing her hands to either side of his face. “No! Dakota, come back! Please, come back!” Her vision was blurred from tears, making it impossible to see the lines of his face as she sobbed.

  Gripping him, she barely noticed when a blast of power shot from his body, saturating the room around her with a thick purple haze.

  Grief overwhelming her, Anastasia rocked Dakota as his power seeped into her body, saturating her blood.

  She screamed out again, clutching Dakota to her chest and rocking.

  The shape of a man appeared in front of her, and still, she held Dakota, unwilling to let him go.

  “Oh, Anastasia.” Vincent cupped her face with his hands. “Niece, I'm so sorry.”

  Unable to speak, she leaned down, burying her face in Dakota’s chest. He was gone. The love of her life was gone, and she’d been the one who killed him.

  Because she’d been too weak to stop Rosabel in that house back in Seattle.

  “He’s gone,” she choked out.

  “Anastasia,” Tony said, having come through whatever portal Vincent used to bring him here. “I’m so sorry.” His voice broke at the end.

  “Anastasia,” Vincent said quietly, and she look
ed up at him. He smiled softly. “Getting to know you has been such an honor. You are your father and more, child. The strength within you is more impressive than the prophecy ever could have promised.”

  He touched her cheek gently, then looked down at Dakota. Holding his hand to Dakota’s heart, Vincent’s body began to glow brightly, his skin lighting from the inside.

  “Vincent, what are you doing?”

  “Giving you a second chance. Life—a gift freely given.”

  She opened her mouth to speak as Vincent’s light climbed down his arm and into Dakota’s limp body.

  “You are a phenomenal woman, Anastasia. Never forget that.”

  His body turned transparent again, and Dakota’s glowed for a moment before the power she’d absorbed upon his death shot out of her and back into him.

  She cried out, pain ripping through her as the power pulled away, burying itself back into its host.

  Dakota gasped for air, sitting up quickly.

  Tony pulled Anastasia out of reach, and she waited to see who came back.

  Vincent, returned to his ghostly form, watched the scene before him, and all she could do was stare, completely immobilized by what he’d done for them.

  “Ana?”

  She turned toward the sound. “Dakota?” She pulled her arm out of Tony’s grip. “Is that you?”

  He looked at her, eyes clear and blue, just as she’d always remembered them. He nodded and pushed to his feet.

  She ran to him on shaky legs, their bodies meeting together in a frenzied embrace. Dakota crashed his mouth to hers, and Anastasia wrapped her arms around his shoulders as tears poured from her eyes.

  “I thought I was gone,” he whispered against her lips.

  “You were. Vincent saved you.”

  Dakota pulled away and turned to Vincent, who smiled softly.

  “I did what needed to be done. You deserve happiness, Anastasia.”

  “So do you.”

  Vincent shrugged. “I made my bed when I went to Thames for help. It is time to lie in it.”

  “I don’t know how I’m supposed to thank you,” Dakota said, still gripping onto Anastasia.