Phoenix

by Jessica Wayne

  Phoenix

  Prophecy Series book 1

  Jessica Wayne

  Phoenix

  by Jessica Wayne

  Copyright © 2018. All rights reserved.

  * * *

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, businesses and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, places, or actual events is entirely coincidental.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  * * *

  Edited by Jessa Russo of Russo’s Editing Services

  Proofread by Dominique Laura

  Cover Design by Covers By Combs

  To my Grandmother, who taught me the amazing worlds you can find simply by cracking open the cover of a good book.

  This one’s for you Grandma Carme.

  Contents

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  Part I

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Part II

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

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  Part I

  “In order to rise from its own ashes a phoenix first must burn.” — Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Talents

  1

  Anastasia

  Bodies littered the ground before her, their eyes forever unblinking, frozen in fear. The sky thundered and rain poured down, diluting the blood-splattered ground.

  “Hello?” Anastasia called, searching for anyone who might have survived. What happened? Why was everyone dead?

  Her lungs burned as she ran through the destruction of what had once been her city. Buildings had crumbled to nothing but chunks of brick, and it took nearly all her concentration to make it safely through the rubble.

  “Hello?” she screamed as loud as she could, her throat burning from the force. “Is there anyone left?” Her gaze landed on a man lying face down, his dark hair matted with blood. She approached slowly, each step taking her closer to what she prayed wasn’t reality.

  “Dakota?” she whispered, kneeling beside him. She rolled his body over and cried out. “No!” Anastasia lifted his head into her lap and cradled her best friend. What the hell had happened?

  “Anastasia.”

  She turned toward the sound quickly, raising her fists in the air. A man stood before her wearing a crimson robe. His mouth in a tight line, he narrowed his silver eyes. Dark hair cut short and greying at the temples, he resembled one of the professors at the college, but she didn’t recognize him.

  “What happened?” she asked.

  “You happened.”

  Her stomach twisted. “What do you mean? I didn’t do anything!”

  The man snickered. “You did everything!”

  “Who are you?” She held her ground, determined to protect Dakota even now that he was no longer breathing.

  “I will be your death.”

  Her alarm clock blared to life, ripping Anastasia from her dream. Shooting up in bed, she reached over and slammed her hand down onto the snooze button. Her body shook from the after-effects of the nightmare.

  She groaned and lay back against the pillows, covering her eyes with her hands. The nightmares had plagued her for months now, and no matter how exhausted she was when her head hit the pillow, they continued to haunt her sleep.

  “You good, Ana?” Dakota asked from the other side of her closed bedroom door.

  Ana jumped to her feet to pull her door open. Her roommate stood in the hallway, wearing basketball shorts and a short-sleeved shirt, having just returned from the gym. His thick brown hair was matted to the sweat on his forehead.

  The nightmare image of Dakota lying dead in her arms popped into her head, so she closed her eyes to push the scene away.

  “Nightmare again?”

  She nodded.

  Dakota had been her best friend growing up, and they lived next door to each other for their entire childhood. There were no secrets between them, and even now that they were adults sharing an apartment, they hadn’t drifted at all, only grown closer than ever.

  “I’m probably just stressed.”

  “Everything at work going all right?” His eyebrows bunched as he searched her gaze.

  “Yeah, I’m sure it’s just the visit coming up.” She swallowed hard. Her parents were coming by for their monthly visit in three days, something she dreaded despite how much time passed.

  Her past fears had a sneaky way of burrowing their way into her imagination.

  “You know you don’t have to see them.” Dakota ran his hands up and down her arms in a sweet gesture meant to calm her nerves.

  “They help pay the bills, Dakota; I don’t have a choice. Besides, things are better now that I’m not living there.”

  “Yeah, I still think it’s bullshit. We can do just fine on our own.” He released her and stepped back. “I’m gonna go grab a shower. Want to pick up some breakfast before I head to class?”

  She offered him a smile and nodded. “I’ll get dressed.”

  Anastasia stepped back into her bedroom and closed the door gently behind her. She leaned back against the hard wood and studied the room before her. Her twin bed had been brought from her childhood home, as had the desk, but she’d wanted little else from that place she’d come to hate or those people who haunted her dreams.

  Anastasia pulled on jeans and a pale blue T-shirt. Fridays were casual at the used car lot where she worked for her father’s golf buddy, and Anastasia took full advantage of enjoying a day without the suffocating uniform of pleated khaki pants and a stiff collared shirt she wore every other day.

  She pulled a brush through her long brown hair and wished like hell she’d been blessed with curls—or any sort of volume—rather than the straight, impossible-to-style hair she had been born with.

  It had been two years since she’d had
to wear makeup, and ever since moving out, she’d chosen to forgo it. It wasn’t a luxury to her, as it was to most women. For her, covering bruises had been a matter of survival in high school, and now she chose to show off skin that was no longer marred with black and blue.

  After applying a small amount of gloss to her lips, Anastasia stepped into the hall and made her way to the kitchen for a quick cup of coffee before Dakota was ready to go.

  Just as she passed his room, his door opened and he stepped out wearing a black T-shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans. She looked up into piercing blue eyes and her mouth went dry. She cleared her throat and gave her head a quick shake. Why the hell does he have to be so damn attractive?

  Being in love with your best friend was hard enough, but living with him and seeing him every day? That was borderline impossible to handle.

  Especially when he looked like Dakota Parker.

  “Ready?” he asked as he tucked his phone into his pocket.

  “How do you take a shower and get ready so fast?”

  He flashed a charming smile. “You should know. You practically roll out of bed looking adorable.”

  Anastasia groaned; she hated being called adorable. At five foot four and with no hips to speak of, that seemed to be the male species’ favored word for her. Dakota knew it, too, and when he winked, she punched him lightly on the arm.

  “Don’t be a dick.”

  Dakota shrugged. “Comes naturally.”

  That was a load of BS if she’d ever heard it. Dakota was one of the nicest people she knew, and he would be more than happy to give someone the shirt off his back if they needed it.

  Perhaps that’s why he chose to study and become a doctor like his mother.

  “Do you have class today?” he asked as they made their way down the stairs of their apartment complex.

  She shook her head. “I have to work a four hour shift at the store today and then I’m headed to the library to work on my paper.” Because her parents had refused to help pay for a university—regardless of the fact her father was the ADA for the city of Seattle, and money had never been a problem—Anastasia attended the local community college, taking a few classes on creative writing.

  One day she was going to do what she loved, sharing stories with others who longed for escape the way she had throughout her childhood.

  “My mom was wondering if we wanted to do dinner tonight. She said she’s making meatloaf.”

  Anastasia grinned; Elizabeth Parker’s meatloaf was the best thing in the world. Many times throughout their childhood, Dakota had snuck over a plate of his mother’s cooking when Anastasia was being punished for one thing or another. More often than not, that plate of food was the only thing she’d eat all day.

  “They want us to come over there?” That was the only downside, their parents still lived next door to each other. So seeing the Parkers meant she might have to see her own parents too.

  Dakota reached down and twined his fingers with hers in a familiar gesture that shouldn’t have had her blood pounding.

  “It’ll be okay, Ana. If you don’t want to go, I can see if they’re willing to meet us somewhere.”

  “No, that’s okay.” She smiled up at him. “Honestly, I could use some meatloaf.”

  “You got it.” He kissed her hand lightly, then released her, opening the door to his red Jeep Wrangler so she could climb inside.

  As they made their way downtown for breakfast, Anastasia said a silent prayer that her parents wouldn’t make an appearance tonight.

  2

  Anastasia

  “Miss Carter, I need to speak with you.”

  She stopped shredding paper and turned toward her boss, who stood in the doorway to his office. Anastasia swallowed hard and took a deep breath. If there was anyone in the world who scared her as much as her own father, it was this man right here.

  His eyes were dark, and he had no hair on his head. The mouth that was always pulled into a tight line somehow looked even more aggravated today.

  Great.

  She nodded and rose to her feet, then walked into his stuffy office.

  The door shut gently behind him, and Anastasia took a seat in the chair across from his desk. She folded her hands in her lap and tried to calm the nerves that clawed their way to the surface of her mind.

  She hadn’t done anything wrong; there shouldn’t be any reason to worry.

  “So, Anastasia,” he began as he took a seat on the edge of his desk. “When I hired you, it was as a personal favor to your father.”

  “Yes, sir. I understand that.”

  Looking down his nose at her, he shook his head. “I’ve given you a flexible work schedule and as many hours as you can stand to work.”

  “And I appreciate that, Mr. Fraser.”

  “Your father and I played nine holes this morning and he asked me to keep him apprised of your work schedule.”

  Years ago, her father represented Phillip Fraser when the bastard had been accused of sexual harassment by one of his employees, and ever since then, they’d been golf buddies.

  Anastasia frowned. “Okay.”

  “I had to tell him about last week and, well, he was just as disappointed as I was.”

  Her pulse sped, and Anastasia folded her hands together to keep them from shaking. “About what?”

  He clicked his tongue and shook his head. “About the fact that you were nearly an hour late for your shift.”

  Anastasia ground her teeth together. Because you scheduled me last minute when I’d specifically asked for time off to study. “I wasn’t aware you had scheduled me.”

  “Is it my responsibility to make sure you check the schedule?”

  “No, sir, it’s not.”

  “I didn’t think so. If you continue showing up late, I’m going to have to start docking your pay, something I’m sure your father would be none too happy to hear.”

  “With all due respect, Mr. Fraser, I am an adult. My business is mine, not my father’s.”

  “Seeing as how he is the only reason you have this job, I will keep him apprised as I choose.”

  Anastasia shook her head. She’d graduated, moved out, gotten a job, started college, and yet she was still somehow beneath her alcoholic father’s thumb.

  “Are we done here?” She gripped the arms of the chair, ready to push up and leave this man’s office.

  He leaned back, resting his palms on the desk as he narrowed his gaze. “That depends; are you going to continue being late for work?”

  Anastasia clenched her fists and tried like hell to beat back the anger desperate to claw its way to the surface. Screw it. She rose to her feet. “I quit.”

  “Excuse me?” He pushed off the desk. “You can’t quit.”

  “Oh, I can, and I do.” She turned to leave, but he gripped her arm.

  “You aren’t going anywhere until we call your father.”

  She looked at his hand around her bicep, heat rushing up her neck to her ears as adrenaline coursed through her veins, then looked up and met his gaze. “Please let me go,” she said, the words pushed out through clenched teeth.

  He raised an eyebrow in challenge.

  Anastasia inhaled deeply. “I doubt my father will be able to get you off after another assault charge is placed against you.”

  He tightened his grip on her arm. “Is that a threat?”

  As Anastasia yanked free of him, a stack of neatly shelved books crashed to the floor.

  Startled, he turned toward the bookcase. “What was that?”

  Anastasia closed her eyes. Not now, please not now. She took a deep breath to calm herself before anything else out of the ordinary happened, and without another word, she stepped onto the sales floor of the dealership and headed to clear out her desk.

  If she’d had any hopes of avoiding her father tonight, that jackass in there had just shattered them all.

  Mitch Carter would be on the lookout for his insolent daughter tonight.

  Anastas
ia stared blankly at the words on the computer screen, unable to focus on her schoolwork with the looming threat of having to answer to her father about quitting her job. Her phone buzzed, Dakota’s face lighting up the screen.

  She smiled, relief filling her chest with warmth. “Hey, what’s up?”

  “So, I just stopped by your work with a giant coffee delivery for you, and was told you no longer work there,” Dakota said curiously. “Care to share?”

  She sighed. “It’s a long story.”

  “Where are you now?”

  “The library.”

  “On my way.”

  “Thanks, Dakota.” She hung up the phone and, after saving her document to a thumb drive and stuffing it into her pocket, Anastasia stepped outside.

  Seattle was rarely sunny, especially this time of year, but as she stepped outside, a ray of sun shone down through the clouds. Anastasia turned her face toward the sky, closing her eyes as she let the sun warm her skin. Sighing deeply, she smiled. She’d finally quit that horrible job, and while it definitely made things more problematic for her in terms of paying bills, and she didn’t know where to even begin looking for work, especially this close to the holidays, this decision—though impulsive—was one more step away from her father and the fear of his wrath.