“Anastasia, you aren’t pregnant.”
Waves of emotion plowed into her all at once. The grief from losing something she never truly had caused tears to fill her eyes, although on some level she had known since before the Trepido had informed her of Vincent’s illusion. She hadn’t felt the baby since the night Vincent threatened her. What hit her worse than the grief was the guilt from the relief she felt. She wanted to carry Dakota’s baby, wanted to start their family more than anything, but the timing had been off. She had enough to worry about without adding the growing child inside of her.
Carmen touched her shoulder lightly and asked her cautiously, “Anastasia, are you okay?”
Anastasia wiped the tears from her eyes. “Yes, I will be fine. Thank you for confirming it, Carmen.”
Carmen nodded and turned back to the villagers who still stood, shaken, in the center of the village.
They had gotten lucky, Anastasia knew. Lucky that she had been here and she had been lucky that the Trepidos had disappeared. She had no doubt there would have been more casualties had they not left as quickly as they did.
She walked back towards the group and they began to clap.
“Here’s to the Phoenix!” she heard one of them yell as he raised a bottle.
“To the Phoenix!”
She shook her head, wanting to tell them to stop cheering her. She was the reason Vincent was after them to begin with. Every death had been her fault. She looked around the faces, and her eyes fell on the wives of Robbie’s two men. They were holding each other, Tilly’s arms wrapped around them both.
Something in Anastasia snapped. She turned and ran out of the clearing and towards the training cottage.
“Anastasia!” she heard Dakota yell behind her.
Maybe if she just gave up then Vincent would leave them all alone. He was so afraid she was going to destroy him, what if she simply took herself out of the equation?
“Give her time, Dakota.” Carmen touched his shoulder to stop him from going after Anastasia.
“What is wrong?”
“She will need to tell you that. Give her a few minutes and then go.”
He nodded, staring after her.
“Are they gone for good?” Robbie asked him.
“I’m not sure,” Dakota responded carefully. They had given up much too easily for his comfort; it made him wonder what their plan had been.
What had that Trepido said to her? Dakota wondered. It had bothered her enough that she had taken off, but what could it have been? Did he make her see her worst fears? Had she somehow brought herself back from the insanity they caused? It wouldn’t surprise him if she had; she surprised him with her strength every day.
Dakota took his time calming the villagers. They had been through so much already, and the Trepidos’ attack was only one more thing to add to the list. He knew Anastasia needed time, just as Carmen had said, and he assumed that this would give her the time she needed to process whatever it was that was said so that when he got to the cottage, she would be ready to talk.
He said goodnight to his mother, checked the village’s defenses, and then headed towards the training cottage. He pushed open the door and found her sitting at the table, a glass in her hand.
“What the hell are you doing?” he yelled, grabbing the glass from her.
She didn’t look at him, just continued to stare at the table.
“Anastasia, you can’t drink this!” he yelled at her after smelling the whiskey.
He wanted an explanation, an explosion of anger from her, anything at all, but she just continued to stare anywhere but at him.
“What is going on?” he asked again.
“There is no baby.” She said it so quietly that he barely heard it.
“What?” He sat down across from her.
“There is no baby,” she repeated louder, and then finally looked at him.
He noted the pain in her eyes, the slur in her voice.
“The Trepido told you there wasn’t? He must have been lying,” he said simply.
“No he wasn’t. Carmen told me as well. It was an illusion, a lie, courtesy of Vincent.” She growled his name and reached for the bottle.
“I don’t understand.” Anger overwhelmed him. “Why would he lie to us about that? With everything else he could have lied about, why that?”
“Because he wants to fuck with me.” All care aside, she lifted the bottle to her lips. “Wants to hurt me, to hurt us.”
“Are you sure you’re not?” he asked, one last bit of hope leaving him.
She gave him a look and he knew she was sure.
His heart fell. He had been so excited about the baby, about the idea of having a family with her.
“I feel relieved,” she slurred out.
“What?”
“I’m sad, but I’m relieved as well. It makes me feel sick.” She took another swig.
“It’s okay, Ana. We would have made it work, but it would have been bad timing. It doesn’t mean we can’t ever have kids, just maybe we’ll be more careful from now on.”
“I’m done.”
“What do you mean?” Fear licked at him with her statement.
“With this war. I’m done, I quit. Vincent can have the victory.”
He could hear the pain in her slurred words, and it made his heart ache. But this wasn’t the time to give up. They needed her. He needed her.
“You can’t quit, Anastasia.”
“Of course I can. I am my own person. I didn’t choose any of this!”
“You can’t give up,” he said simply again, and it angered her.
“Yes. I. Can,” she growled back.
“What about Gregory? About Brady? What about all the others who have died to get you this far? You would have let them all die in vain?”
“It’s my fault that they are all dead anyways!” She stood so quickly it made her chair fall backwards. She looked behind her, shocked, as if she didn’t know she had been the one who knocked it over.
“You need to get some sleep.”
“Don’t tell me what to do, Dakota. I am my own person,” she repeated.
“Not right now you’re not. Come on, let’s go.” He started towards her and she backed away from him.
“Stay away, Dakota. I mean it, I will make you regret it if you come near me.”
“Don’t be stupid, Ana. Let’s go to bed.”
“I’m not stupid!” she yelled at him.
“You’re absolutely right, you are not stupid, but right now you aren’t being yourself. You need to get the alcohol out of your system so you can start thinking clearly. This isn’t you, Ana.”
“Don’t act like you know me.”
“I do know you, better than I know myself.”
“You knew me, Dakota, but you don’t know me now.”
“Then why don’t you fill me in?” He crossed his arms over his chest and looked her straight in the eye. When she didn’t speak, he continued, “What I know is that you are the most amazing, strongest, smartest woman I have ever known. I know that without hesitation you would sacrifice yourself to save any single person, regardless as to how long you have known them.”
“I’ve killed people, Dakota.”
“Bad people, Ana.”
“Doesn’t matter.” She shook her head.
“It does matter.” He took a step towards her. “They were people who had hurt and killed others. Ophelia killed your father, Mitch spent your entire childhood beating you half to death and was responsible for the death of my father. The Brutes you have killed, they caused the deaths and abductions of thousands of innocent people. You don’t see me beating myself up for killing Maximus, do you?”
“It’s not the same.”
“Why not?”
“You did it to save me.”
“You killed Ophelia because she killed Gregory.”
“She was only able to kill him because of me, Dakota. I brought her into our village.”
�
�You helped bring her in, but, if I remember the story correctly, Tony and another Fighter brought her in as well. That other Fighter was even sleeping with her, wasn’t he?” Dakota told her, reminding her of Emmitt. “So why is it only you who carries that weight? Gregory even allowed her to stay. He could have told her to leave.”
Anger flushed her face. “It’s not his fault,” she growled.
“I never said it was. I’m just trying to show you that it’s not yours either.” He took another step towards her.
“I’m so sorry.” The tears began to stream down her face and she crumpled to the floor.
“Sorry for what?” he asked as he sat next to her, grateful that the anger had disappeared from her tone. Dakota brushed the hair out of her face and pulled her onto his lap.
“About the baby. It’s all my fault. He wouldn’t have messed with us this way had it not been for me. You were so excited.” She smiled up at him through her tears and then they started again.
“It’s not your fault, Ana. None of it is. This is all Vincent. You have to remember that. We can’t give up now.”
“We are nowhere, Dakota. Literally nowhere. Terrible things keep happening, people keep dying, you keep almost dying, and we are not one step closer to getting him. Some hero I am,” she slurred, and then leaned back against his chest.
“We will beat him, Ana. We just can’t give up.” He stood and lifted her off the ground.
“You know, I’ve never been drunk before,” she said lightly as he carried her.
The change in her tone had him chuckling slightly. She would probably remember little to none of their conversation tomorrow. “No? Well then let me be the first to welcome you to the club.”
“You’ve been drunk before?”
At the shock in her voice, his slight chuckles turned into outright laughter. “Many times.”
“When?”
He laid her gently on the bed and then sat next to her. “After I turned twenty-one.”
“But not one day before, right?” she said sarcastically.
“Not one day before.” He laughed and watched as she leaned back and closed her eyes.
“Such a rule-follower.” She smiled. “Dakota?” he heard her whisper.
“Yeah?”
“I love you. In a way, I’m glad Vincent kidnapped me and sent me to Mitch, otherwise I wouldn’t have ever met you.”
“I love you too, Ana.” He kissed her cheek and looked down at her sleeping face. He would never be glad that she had been hurt so many times by Mitch, but he was beyond thankful that she was sent to the house next door.
Dakota sat staring at the stars. It always fascinated him that they were so easily seen here versus Seattle. Not surprising, but fascinating how bright they actually were when not drowned out by the city lights.
He rubbed his face over his hands as the anger set in. “Son of a bitch,” he muttered to himself. He had been so excited about the thought of having a child, it had never occurred to him that they should verify whether Vincent had been telling the truth or not. After all, Ana said she had felt it too. Then again, Vincent seemed to be a master at manipulation.
He was angry, and he was sad. They had to find a way to get to Vincent, to end this once and for all. He always seemed to have the upper hand; it was time they changed that.
“Hey girl,” Dakota said as Kaley came padding up to the porch. She sat next to him and nuzzled her head onto his lap.
“Sure is a nice night, isn’t it?” he asked her.
She lay down next to him and he stroked her soft fur.
“Hi, Dakota.” A soft female voice sounded from the dark trees next to the cottage. Out of habit, his hand reached for the dagger he kept in his boot. When the form came into the light, he smiled softly.
“Hi, Sarah. You’re up late.”
She nodded and moved to stand next to the porch. “Mom had another nightmare, and after I got her settled down, I discovered I wasn’t tired anymore.” She smoothed the skirt of the long dress she wore, and Dakota’s heart ached at the pain on her face.
“I’m so sorry, Sarah. You have been through so much the last few months.”
She nodded. “I know that the one responsible will pay for what they have done, and that is when I will sleep soundly at night.”
“We will get him,” Dakota agreed.
“How is Anastasia?” she asked, pointing to the front door.
“Tired,” he said simply. “Ready for this all to end.”
Sarah nodded again and then smiled emptily. “I think I will head back now, check on my mom.”
“If you need anything, let me know.”
“I will.” She smiled and turned to leave.
Anastasia sat up in bed and immediately regretted it. Why do people drink? she wondered. Do they hate themselves? She rubbed her hands over her face and looked at Dakota, who was sleeping soundly next to her. She fought the urge to elbow him so he would be in pain too, and put her feet on the ground.
“Ouch,” she muttered when she stubbed her toe on her nightstand.
“Ana.” Dakota sat up in bed and she fell backwards next to him.
“This is awful.”
“Yeah, hangovers suck.” He leaned back against his pillow, clearly amused.
“Try not to enjoy this so much,” she said sarcastically.
“I will.”
Anastasia rolled into him and put her hands on his bare chest. She felt his heart beating beneath her palm, and even through the pain, it had her own racing.
“It’s not that bad,” she said softly, biting her lip.
“That’s good.” He rolled her onto her back and pressed his lips to hers.
Her breath caught in her chest as his hands lit tiny fires along her skin. She felt so alive when she was in his arms, as if the world around them no longer existed and it was only them. Anastasia wrapped her arms around him and deepened the kiss. The groan she heard deep in his throat made her heart soar.
The frantic knocking at the door had them pulling apart, and Anastasia suddenly felt so cold without his body covering hers.
“Dakota! Anastasia!” Tony’s voice boomed through the tiny house, and Anastasia shot out of bed. Something was wrong.
“What is it?” she asked as she pulled the door open.
He stormed in and began looking through the cottage.
“Tony, what’s wrong?” Dakota asked as he pulled on a shirt.
Tony stopped and looked Dakota in the eye. “Lizzie is gone.”
Anastasia watched as Dakota’s face went pale. “What do you mean, gone?” he asked cautiously.
“I woke up this morning and she wasn’t there. I assumed she had just gone out to visit or help the patients in the medical cottage, but I can’t find her.” Tony rubbed his hands over his eyes, and Anastasia saw the pain and the fear that filled them. “I can’t find her anywhere.”
“Maybe she just went out for a walk,” Anastasia said hopefully.
“She isn’t anywhere within these walls. No one has seen her since last night.”
“I’ll help you look, she has to be somewhere. She has to be here.” Dakota turned and ran into the room for his shoes.
“Tony, when did you last see her? What can you remember?” Anastasia asked.
“Last night. When I went to sleep, she was there, and we had made plans to go for a walk this morning.”
Fear flooded Anastasia’s mind. Elizabeth was not someone who just took off by herself, especially not in Terrenia when she barely knew anything about what was going on. Could Vincent have gotten past her guards? Was it possible he hadn’t set off a single alarm?
She grabbed her sword and started to head out when Tony stopped her. “What are you doing?”
“Going to find Elizabeth.”
“You can’t.”
“Excuse me? Why not?”
“Do I really need to remind you?” he asked, looking down at her stomach. “You went through enough strain last night, you need to be car
eful.”
A sharp pain shot through Anastasia’s heart. How was she supposed to tell him?
“It’s okay, Tony. I’ll keep an eye on her,” Dakota said as he came out of the bedroom.
She gave him a thank you look and gently squeezed Tony’s shoulder.
“We will find her.”
Tony nodded, afraid to speak.
They spent all day searching for her and found no trace. Not a single thing to point them as to where she could have gone or been taken to.
“Could Vincent have opened a portal directly into the village and taken her?” Dakota wondered aloud as they sat around a fire that night.
He was worn thin and scared to death, she knew. Yet he was still managing to hold himself together for Elizabeth’s sake. Tony, on the other hand, was not doing well at all.
Anastasia had never seen him the way he was now. His face was pale, his hands shaking, and his eyes swollen from tears. Love was the only thing that could have made the strongest man she knew fall to his knees.
“No, he would have set off the alarms Anastasia put around the village. They sense any magic that is not hers or mine. It would have let us know something was amiss, and none of them went off,” Carmen assured him.
“There is no way around them?” Dakota asked, wanting to cover all bases. He was barely holding himself together and knew that if he kept hitting roadblocks for an explanation, he might just lose it.
“Not unless they are lowered by the person who put them up.”
Suddenly it hit Anastasia why she didn’t feel any intrusions last night.
“Oh no.”
Tony, Carmen, Argento, and Dakota all turned to stare at her.
“What is it?”
“It’s my fault,” she whispered.
“What’s your fault? Anastasia, did you lower the barriers?” Carmen asked.
“Not on purpose.”
“The alcohol,” Dakota said, his jaw setting in a hard line.
Confused, Tony asked, “Alcohol?”
“Anastasia got drunk last night.”
“Anastasia, you can’t drink right now!” Tony chastised her, and she felt the tears burning at the back of her throat.
“She’s not pregnant, Tony,” Dakota added angrily.
The Fighter (Prophecy Series Book 2) Page 18