“What do we do?” Tony asked Anastasia as they watched the men fan out throughout the room.
“What we do best: we fight.”
She pulled the dagger from its holster and turned it up to hide the blade behind her wrist. Dakota and Elizabeth walked through the crowd of people as quickly as they could, and when Anastasia saw the men reach into their coats and pull out guns, she jumped on one of the tables and screamed.
“Get down!” she yelled when they lunged for her. “Tony!” she screamed in warning, and jumped on one of the closest men. She dispatched him easily, and the others came for her.
“Anastasia, look out!” She heard Tony’s voice and turned just in time to kick a man who was coming at her with a knife of his own.
“Head for the exit!” she yelled over the screams, and threw her dagger at one of the men who approached behind Tony. Bullets ripped through the crowd, and Anastasia felt one bury itself in her arm. She closed her eyes and pulled at her magic.
She pictured what she wanted in her mind and then released a jolt of power. Silence filled the room, and she slowly opened her eyes. Everyone was frozen in place. Anastasia took a moment to take in her surroundings. Fear shone on everyone’s faces, and she tried to ignore the bodies of partygoers that littered the ground. Anger filled her soul, and she tried to block it out. It wouldn’t help her to control her magic, and she desperately needed to control it.
Anastasia did what she had never been able to do before, and focused on the innocent men and women at the party. Their screams returned, and she checked quickly to be sure that the men who had attacked were still frozen. The men and women poured out of the room until it was only she and Tony standing in the center, the men around them.
“Tony, go.”
“I’m not leaving.”
“I can’t hold them much longer.”
“Then don’t.”
Anastasia felt Vincent’s presence, and she bared her teeth. “Is this game fun for you? Come on out, you bastard, and let’s finish this.”
“I much prefer this. I have a better vantage point,” she heard him say, and the men unfroze. She saw the gun turned on Tony and she dove in front of the bullet, feeling it skim her side.
“Big mistake,” she said to the man who had pulled the trigger. She threw her arms out and one by one the men fell to the ground.
“When will you see that we are not so different, you and I?” Vincent asked her.
“Come out here, asshole!” Tony yelled at him.
“Oh please. Don’t make me laugh.”
“I’m going to kill you, Vincent. One day soon, I will kill you,” Tony vowed.
“What about our truce?” she asked Vincent.
“Truce? You know good and damn well we never had a truce. You continued to train and talk behind my back!”
“Dramatic much?” Tony mocked him.
“Did you think I wouldn’t notice?” Vincent continued, ignoring Tony as if he were nothing more than an annoyance.
“What are you talking about, Vincent?”
“You truly believed you could outsmart me, didn’t you?”
“I suppose I did.”
“After I caught you sparring, I knew you must have found a way to feel me when I was watching you, so instead I took form and listened through the door whenever I had the chance. You see, I have excellent hearing.”
“So what, you decide to get even by causing the death of innocent people?” Anastasia gestured angrily to the bodies.
“Their deaths are on you.”
Anastasia felt sharp pain in her chest. She fell to her knees, and when she looked up, Vincent was standing in front of her.
“You feel that pain? That’s the pain of everyone who you have murdered, and it’s only going to get worse because you just can’t seem to stop killing, can you?”
“Ana, don’t listen to him,” Tony said, kneeling next to her.
“How does it feel to know you are going to pass all of that death onto another? How does it feel to know you are going to give birth to a monster just like you?” He sneered at her, and the pain increased.
Anastasia screamed and placed both hands on her chest.
“It’s only going to get worse,” he repeated, “when the Trepidos tear through your precious Terrenia, and after what you did tonight, you won’t have a home here, either.” He laughed and vanished. The pain lessened until it was only an ache.
“Anastasia, we have to go.” Tony lifted her to her feet and together they walked through the death and out the back door.
His plan suddenly made sense to her. He wasn’t here for Dakota, or Elizabeth. He hadn’t even been there for her. He had wanted her to be on the run in this world so that she had nowhere to go. She reached with her magic, wanting to clarify what he had said, and she felt it, the life that Carmen had explained feeling to her.
She was pregnant, and it terrified her.
“What did he mean?” Tony asked her when they were settled back at the apartment.
They had managed to sneak away just as the police and other first responders arrived. She hoped the other party attendants would tell them that she had only been trying to help. After all, she hadn’t harmed any of them. With Vincent’s reach in this world, though, she knew it was only a matter of time before they came for her. They had all packed bags just in case.
“Vincent? What did he say?” Dakota questioned.
Anastasia felt the lump in her throat and the fear in her chest. How could she bring a child into this world? How was she going to save everyone she loved, and still make sure her baby was safe as well? She had been injured so many times over the last ten years fighting the Brutes that she knew it was only a matter of time before it happened again.
“Anastasia?” Elizabeth said softly, and touched her cheek. “Honey, what’s wrong?”
Anastasia took a deep breath and swallowed hard. She knew she had to tell them, Dakota especially.
“I’m pregnant.” She almost whispered it as she looked down at her folded hands.
“What?” She could hear the shock in Dakota’s voice.
Why hadn’t they been more careful? she scolded herself.
“Pregnant?” Elizabeth nearly squealed it. “That’s wonderful!”
“I agree!” Tony laughed, and they both hugged Anastasia.
“We need to celebrate! We will be right back!” Elizabeth stood, and she and Tony ran out of the apartment and across the hall to hers.
Dakota and Anastasia sat in silence for what seemed like hours. She hadn’t had the nerve to look at him, afraid that she might see the same fear plastered on his face as she knew was on hers.
He knelt in front of her and took her hands.
“Ana?” he said softly.
She looked up at him, tears in her eyes.
“We can do this,” he said carefully. “We can absolutely do this.”
Images ran through her mind from the stasis Vincent had put her in. She saw their little girl laughing and playing as she ran through the house. Watched as she giggled when Dakota picked her up and tickled her. Then she watched her scream with fear as the Brutes came in and tore her world apart.
Anastasia shook her head and stood.
“How can you say that, Dakota? With everything going on right now, how are you so calm with this? Especially after what I did only hours ago.”
“Because it’s ours. This baby, it’s you and it’s me. I feel that, if we have learned anything throughout our lives, it’s that you and I together can do anything.” He stood and walked to her. “And what happened tonight was not your fault. You know that.”
“Dakota, I saw her taken from us.” She covered her face with her hands. “I watched when the Brutes came in and stole our little girl from us.”
“That wasn’t our little girl, Ana. That was an illusion that Vincent gave you. You have to believe that we can do this.”
“How? Look at how many times I’ve been injured. Not even six months ago I too
k a blade to my stomach. What if I had been pregnant then?”
“We will be more careful.”
“I was being careful then.”
“Then have faith, Anastasia. You have to have faith that it will be okay. There is nothing we can do about it now. We can’t take it back, and honestly I don’t want to. I’m excited, dammit.” She looked into his eyes and saw the happiness reflecting in them.
“Don’t let Vincent ruin this for us as he has so many other moments. This is our moment, Ana.” He kissed her lightly and she smiled back at him, knowing he was right.
“Now, I know you can’t drink this,” Elizabeth said as she and Tony came back into the apartment with a bottle of wine, “but we can, and you can have some of this sparkling grape juice. I kept it on hand for when I was on call.” She smiled and started to pour some glasses. “And before you say it, I know we shouldn’t be happy with everything that happened tonight, but I say that after the death that seems to be following us everywhere, the chance that new life is going to be brought in is a reason to celebrate.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Dakota smiled and handed Anastasia a glass of the sparkling juice.
“To a positive future,” Elizabeth said, and they clinked glasses.
Later that night, Anastasia lay in bed awake. Dakota slept soundly next to her just as he had so many times over the years. She remembered what it had been like when they had been teens. She had always hoped they would spend their lives together, and that they would one day have kids that they could raise in a house full of love, much like his had been growing up. She was trying so hard to be happy about the baby she carried, and although it was what she had always wanted, she was so afraid that the timing was so far off, things could only go bad.
Anastasia crept out of bed and walked out onto the balcony into the crisp December air.
“Hey, Anastasia.”
She turned and saw Tony standing on Elizabeth’s balcony.
“It seems we are both unable to sleep at the same time.” Anastasia laughed.
“Seems that way.” He looked at her seriously. “So tell me, what is on your mind?”
“What do you mean?”
“You and I have been living in the same world for the last ten years. We have seen the good and the bad of it all, and the bad seems to be the only thing standing out in my mind,” he said softly.
“I’m afraid.”
“Understandable. I was afraid when I found out that my wife was pregnant. Not the best example given how horrible things turned out for me.” He swallowed hard. She could see that even after all this time, it still ate at him. “Nut the few months I had were the best ones of my life.”
“Tony, what happens if I get hurt? If the baby gets hurt? What if I turn dark while I am pregnant? Will the baby be dark then as well? Will I give birth to an evil child just as Vincent said I would?”
“It will be fine, you will see. It will be hard; you will have to be more careful when you are fighting.” At her glance, he continued, “I am no fool, Anastasia. I know just as well as you do that you will not be kept out of the fight. We need you, and that boy in there knows it as well.” He motioned to where Dakota slept. “You will just have to be more careful. And as far as turning dark? You’ve been there and come back from it. I don’t believe you will ever return. You have more good in you than anyone I have ever known; there is not a chance that baby won’t possess that same goodness.”
“What if it’s not enough?”
“What if the world falls apart tomorrow?” he countered. “What if this balcony breaks and I fall to my death as we are speaking? The world is full of ‘what if,’ Anastasia. You just have to be brave enough to take the risk, and this baby, it’s worth the risk.”
She smiled at him. “Tony, I don’t know that I’ve ever told you how grateful I am to have you. You are a wonderful father, and I am proud to think of you as one.”
He beamed at her. “Nothing makes me happier.”
Anastasia walked back into the room. She stood for a moment watching Dakota while he slept. She was so happy with him. Even with the world falling apart at the seams, he made her feel as though everything were perfect. Anastasia gently touched her still-flat stomach. She smiled, and tears filled her eyes. She had always wanted to have Dakota’s baby, had always wanted to be married to him and to share her life with him. Now all of those things were coming to pass, and she would be damned if she allowed Vincent to steal her happiness away. She climbed into bed and curled next to Dakota.
“You feeling okay?” he asked sleepily as he pulled her into his arms.
“Absolutely.” She kissed him and then closed her eyes.
“I’ve got it!” She sat up in bed so quickly that her vision wavered.
“Got what?” Dakota stood in front of the mirror in his towel. She ignored the lust that blossomed in her heart.
“I know how to reach Carmen. Or I think I do.”
“What? How?” He walked quickly and sat on the edge of the bed.
“The Brute dimension,” she whispered, remembering what Vincent had said about his eavesdropping.
“What about it?”
“I can open a portal to there. Then I should be able to project myself to Carmen and warn her.”
“But Vincent blocked the magic. You won’t be able to open a portal.”
“He only blocked here to Terrenia, not to the Brutes.” She smiled widely. “I should be able to access it.”
“Is it safe? In their world?”
“I’ve never been.” That was the only part of her plan she wasn’t sure of. The only part that scared her.
“So you don’t know what it looks like? If it’s even safe?”
“No. Gregory said he had visited most of the different words, but he never mentioned that one specifically.”
“Well, I suppose it’s worth a shot.”
“Really?” she asked, surprised. She had been sure he was going to argue with her.
“We don’t really have a choice, do we? I’m going with you, though.”
“I never would have thought otherwise.”
“What if Vincent intercepts you again?” Tony asked worriedly after Anastasia and Dakota had filled Elizabeth and him in on their plan.
“Then I will handle it. I don’t think he will, though,” she said confidently.
“I don’t either,” Dakota agreed.
“So you want to open a portal into another world without so much as a minor understanding as to what’s on the other side.” Anastasia could hear the hesitation in Elizabeth’s voice. “You’ve seen the Brutes. They are not the most docile-looking creatures. What makes you think their world will be any better?”
“The Brutes turned out to be peaceful. The ones that weren’t being manipulated by Vincent, anyways,” Dakota added.
“But what makes you think that any of them are left? How do we know that Vincent’s Brute army isn’t running their world now?” Tony argued.
Anastasia sighed. “We have to take the risk, Tony. We have to warn them.”
“You are pregnant, Anastasia. You have to think about that as well,” he growled back.
“I am thinking of that. I want this baby to have a world to grow up in!” she yelled.
Tony looked at her, surprised. “Fine. When do you want to do it?”
“Tonight,” Anastasia responded shortly.
The knock on the door had them all turning.
“Who could that be?” Elizabeth wondered.
“Open up, Parker.” The familiar voice of Ashton, one of Seattle’s finest, sounded through the closed door.
“What do you want, Ashton?”
“We need to talk to you and your friend.”
“What friend?” Dakota asked, looking through the peephole. Ashton and four other officers stood staring at the door.
“Open the door and we can talk about it.”
“They are here about last night.” Anastasia’s face went pale. “They are here for me, because o
f those men.”
“Anastasia, calm down,” Dakota said softly, and touched her arm. “We will think of something.”
“I don’t have all day, Parker,” Ashton warned. “I’m giving you this courtesy given our history.”
A bad one, Dakota remembered. Ashton had always been one who enjoyed throwing others under the proverbial bus. Never cared for anyone but himself, and had on multiple occasions proven that to Dakota and his late partner.
“One second, Ashton. I’m getting dressed. Wouldn’t want me to open the door in nothing but my birthday suit, now would you?”
“Not particularly,” Ashton muttered through the door. “No games, Parker.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Dakota said loudly. “Anastasia, open the portal,” he whispered.
“Now?” she asked, surprised. “What about Ashton? The police? They are looking for me.”
“I don’t give a damn about them. If they are working with Vincent, then they sure as hell don’t care about us either. Open the portal, we can worry about everything else later.”
Anastasia nodded and closed her eyes. She felt her hair begin to blow back and opened her eyes to the familiar swirling blue light. Hope soared through her. Vincent hadn’t seen this coming and hadn’t blocked the bridge from here to the Brute world.
Dakota gripped her hand and Elizabeth her other. Tony held Elizabeth’s other hand, and the four of them stepped through the portal and into the unknown.
When they emerged on the other side, the stench of sulfur filled their nostrils. The sky was dark, as if it were going to storm, and a light fog spread along the ground as far as they could see. The dark façade of cliffs loomed above them, and dread filled Anastasia. She wasn’t sure what she had been expecting, but this hadn’t been it. She knew the Brutes preferred caves inside mountains, but after getting to know Argento, she had thought that maybe the Brute world might be similar to her their own, but this had almost no similarity to any place she had witnessed.
There was no grass, only rock and dirt, and the air was thick and hot. No breeze swept past them.
“I was not expecting this,” Dakota said simply. “I’m not sure what I had been expecting, but I know it wasn’t this.”
The Fighter (Prophecy Series Book 2) Page 16