Phoenix

by Jessica Wayne

  “Dakota?” she choked out. “No, no, no,” Anastasia cried, reaching for him just as he fell to the ground.

  Behind him, Vincent smiled.

  “I will take everything from you, Anastasia. Everything and everyone.”

  Anastasia shot up in bed, breathing heavily. She pressed a hand to her heart, urging it to slow. Dakota was alive. Dakota is alive.

  She got to her feet and crept into the kitchen to grab a drink of water. The soft lavender light of early morning had just started to shine through the windows, so she didn’t have to use a lantern to light her way.

  After filling a cup with water, she stepped onto the porch. Kaley was lying on the base of the steps, and she padded up to sit next to Anastasia.

  “Morning, girl.” She rubbed the big cat’s soft fur. “Couldn’t sleep either, huh?” Anastasia stretched, her back aching slightly with the movement. Gregory had given her some healing tonic to use on her tattoo, one he’d spelled himself, and it seemed to have all but healed her new ink overnight.

  She heard the thudding of feet, and looked up just in time to see Tony, Andrew, Shane, and another Fighter she didn’t know by name.

  Their faces were serious, and the look had her jumping to her feet. “What’s wrong?”

  “We’ve got about two-dozen Brutes heading for Plike,” Tony informed her.

  Plike was only about four miles from Terrenia, and only half its size. “They don’t have a Fighting force,” Anastasia said, repeating this bit of information from her studies with Gregory.

  Tony nodded. “Is your father awake?”

  “I’ll go see.” Anastasia stepped into the house and knocked lightly on her father’s door.

  He opened it within minutes, still wiping the sleep from his eyes. “Anastasia, what is it? Is everything all right?”

  “We’ve got a problem.”

  Gregory rushed outside to speak with Tony, and Anastasia quickly dressed and prepared herself for battle. When she was ready, she joined the men out front. “We need to leave immediately. Our scout only had a few hours on the army,” Andrew informed the group.

  “Agreed,” Gregory said. “Are the horses saddled and ready to go?”

  Tony nodded. “Just waiting for your order.”

  “Go.”

  Tony, Andrew, and Shane turned to leave, and Anastasia followed.

  “Anastasia, wait.” Gregory gripped her arm.

  She turned around, mouth open to argue. He couldn’t force her to stay behind, not after everything she’d been through.

  “Be careful,” he said, searching her gaze.

  Pride warmed her chest. “I will.” She kissed his cheek and ran after the men, Kaley on her heels.

  “Ready?” Tony asked when she joined the group of Fighters.

  She nodded. “Let’s go kick some Brute ass.”

  26

  Anastasia

  They rode fast, the stride of their horses eating up the distance as quickly as possible. Anastasia’s heart thundered in her chest, and nerves danced in her stomach. She’d fought Brutes before, but riding into actual battle—this was a first for her.

  “Andrew, Jack, you two ride around the perimeter,” Tony instructed. “Check to be sure they didn’t circle behind!”

  The two men broke away from the group.

  “Anastasia, Shane, you go on in and be sure everyone gets inside their houses. We don’t need anyone coming out in the middle of the fight.”

  Anastasia broke away and followed Shane into the small village. The only line of defense was a short fence used to keep livestock in. If the Brutes got past the Fighters, this village would fall.

  For the most part, the villagers had already locked themselves away in their houses. The only people outside were half a dozen Fighters and the village’s elder.

  “We’re here from Terrenia,” Anastasia said.

  “Thank you for coming. I’m Logan.” He held his hand out, and Anastasia shook it.

  “Anastasia.”

  “She’s Gregory Silvan’s daughter,” Shane told him.

  Logan’s eyes widened. “It’s wonderful to meet you. I didn’t realize Gregory had a child.”

  “It’s a long story.” She smiled, though she had no interest in sharing it with him. “We have Fighters surrounding your village.” She gestured to the men who had dismounted and were taking their stances outside the small fence. “Do you know how many are coming?”

  Logan nodded. “Our scout said two dozen.”

  Manageable. “Okay, please get inside.” She gestured to the cottage behind them.

  “Good luck, Fighter,” Logan said, then turned to head inside.

  “You good?” Shane asked.

  Anastasia nodded.

  “Listen, I’m sorry about last night. I don’t remember much, but what I do remember isn’t great.”

  Anastasia unsheathed her sword. “Really not the time, Shane.” She moved to stand beside Tony at the village’s entrance. The Brutes were just coming into view and their feet thundered on the ground.

  “I just—”

  “Not the time, Shane,” Tony said, repeating Anastasia’s words.

  She looked up at him and smiled.

  “You stay near me,” he told her.

  “Don’t worry,” Anastasia teased. “I’ve got your back.”

  Tony grinned. “How about a little contest?”

  She cocked her head. “What type of contest?”

  “Oh, there’s time for this but not an apology?” Shane said sarcastically, waving his sword to motion toward the oncoming army of Brutes.

  “Let’s see who has the higher number at the end.”

  “You’re on, old man.”

  “You’ve only been at this a few months; I’ve been doing it my entire life.” Tony pointed to his face and flashed a confident smile. “Not worried.”

  “We’ll see.” Anastasia winked, then charged into the fray.

  The Brute closest to her lashed out with a large fist. As she ducked, she swung her sword, catching the beast in the abdomen, and it fell to the ground. Another was sneaking up on Tony, who was engaged with two monsters, and she decapitated it from behind.

  A Fighter yelled, and Anastasia looked over to see Jack fall to the ground in a bloody heap. Fueled by rage for the loss of one of her people, Anastasia charged and threw her body weight into the beast, knocking it to the side just long enough for Shane to drive his sword down into its neck.

  The beast gargled and fell to the ground.

  The fight didn’t last more than a few minutes, but Anastasia’s body ached like it had been hours instead. The ground was covered with bodies of Brutes, and they’d lost a handful of Fighters to the monsters.

  “You fought well, Anastasia.” Tony stepped beside her, sheathing his bloody sword.

  “Thanks.” She looked sadly to where bodies of the fallen Fighters were being loaded onto a wagon.

  Tony squeezed her shoulder. “Jack, Michael, and Phillip died a Fighter’s death, Anastasia. That is something they can be proud of.”

  She swallowed hard.

  Shane made his way over, his face and arms covered in dirt and blue Brute blood. “No casualties inside the fence,” he reported.

  “Good. Get our horses; we need to go home.”

  The villagers had begun to emerge from their houses, gathering at the fence line to watch the Fighters cleaning up from the battle.

  She looked amongst the faces of the men, women, and children they had saved today.

  Logan made his way over and held his hand out to Tony. “Thank you so much,” he said. “We wouldn’t have been able to hold them off had you not shown up when you did.”

  Tony bowed his head slightly. “I’m glad we got here in time. You should know, Terrenia has space if you want a safe haven until this is over.”

  Logan smiled. “I appreciate the offer, but we have much here that needs to be tended to. Leaving is just not an option at this point.”

  Tony’s jaw
tightened, but he didn’t argue. He gave a curt nod. “Very well, but should you change your mind, the offer stands.”

  Anastasia opened her mouth to speak, but Tony placed his hand on her arm, squeezing gently.

  She held her thoughts in until they reached their horses.

  “Tony, if they stay here, they’re going to die.”

  “I know that. Hell, he probably knows that. But we can’t force them to leave.”

  “What if we made an announcement to his village? Tell all of them that they need to leave?”

  “Anastasia, he is the village’s leader, and he’s made the decision.”

  “But it’s bullshit. He shouldn’t be allowed to decide whether they live or die!”

  Tony stopped walking and faced her. He ran a hand through his greying hair. “Anastasia, if we go against his wishes, we could have a rebellion on our hands. As it stands, Terrenia only has one leader, and with it being the center of this world, we should have a team. If we go changing things now, Gregory is going to have one hell of a fall out to deal with. Especially because you’re his daughter.”

  “Don’t you think a little fall out is better than having to bury dozens of bodies?”

  He sighed. “Anastasia, I am only telling you what I’ve been told. I lead the Fighters, if I were to let it slip that we offered their leader a safe haven and he turned it down, I could be reprimanded.” He narrowed his eyes at her, and Anastasia nodded.

  “I suppose you shouldn’t do that then, huh?”

  “Correct. See you in a few.” He winked and headed back to the stables.

  Swallowing hard, Anastasia turned on her heel and marched back to the village’s center. Screw Logan and his agenda. If everyone in the village died, the crops would all die anyway. So what the hell did it matter?

  She climbed onto a table that was situated next to the large stone fire pit and cleared her throat.

  The men and women who had gathered to watch the Fighters leave turned to face her, Logan among them. She averted her eyes from his steely gaze and focused on the wide-eyed, fearful faces of the people before her.

  “Hi, everyone. I know you don’t know me, um, my name is Anastasia Silvan.” At the mention of her last name, murmurs spread through the crowd, and she nodded. “Yes, Gregory Silvan is my father. I wanted to let you all know that staying put after the Brutes have already attacked is dangerous.”

  “Excuse me!” Logan interrupted. .

  Anastasia glanced at him, then quickly continued. “They have already been here, so chances are they will be back, and they will bring more.”

  “Where are we supposed to go?” a woman in the front row shouted.

  “Terrenia. We have plenty of space and have been working to fortify our perimeter and keep our people safe. If you come with us now, we will get you there safely and keep you safe.”

  “Excuse me!” Logan yelled again, silencing the whispers that had spread through the crowd again.

  He climbed up beside Anastasia and glared at her. She glanced over to the stable where Tony watched, hand on his sword. He shook his head slowly, the ghost of a smile playing at his lips.

  “I have assured these Fighters that we do not need to leave. The Brutes came and lost, so why would they come back? We took down thirteen beasts today!” He cheered.

  “We took down thirteen Brutes,” Anastasia corrected. “Two escaped back into the trees, which means they’ll be alerting the others so they can return with more. They will be back; it’s only a matter of time.”

  “We have managed this long.” He straightened the hem of his shirt.

  “Because Terrenia is so close, they hadn’t risked attacking before. Those beasts have torn through much larger villages than yours, Logan. If you stay, you will die.”

  “My family and I will go with you!” a man called from the side, his declaration followed by about three quarters of the villagers, and Anastasia glanced over at Tony, who was grinning.

  “Wonderful! Grab your things; we will leave out in an hour.”

  “Thank you!” a few called out as she climbed from the table.

  Logan gripped her arm hard.

  Anastasia glared at him. “You’ll want to release me.”

  “Do you have any idea what you’ve done? My village is ruined!”

  “The fact that your title and ego is more important than the lives of your people is not my problem.”

  “I’ll make it your problem.” He gripped tighter, and Anastasia put her hand on the hilt of her sword.

  “Release her, or lose that hand,” Shane warned, displaying his dagger.

  Logan shoved her arm away and stalked off. Shane sheathed his dagger and crossed his arms over his chest.

  “You all right?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks.”

  “Please, it’s the least I could do after last night.”

  Anastasia smiled. “Apology accepted.”

  He beamed. “Thanks.”

  Anastasia followed him back to where Tony stood.

  “Thanks, Shane,” Tony said.

  “Anytime.” He smiled and headed back toward the stables.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m happy most of them are coming with us.”

  “Me too. That was a good thing you did there.”

  “I hope so. I couldn’t stomach just leaving them here to die. It’s foolish of Logan to stay. A good leader should be worried about the safety of his people and nothing else.”

  Tony nodded in agreement. “I sent Andrew back to let Gregory know what’s going on. He’ll need the heads-up.”

  “Why was it such a big deal for them to come to Terrenia anyways?”

  Tony sighed. “Things used to be quite a bit different . Each village had their own representative, but all decisions were made by four elders who oversaw the world. About fifteen years back, a group rose up against the four and attacked Terrenia. They killed about two-dozen people before they were stopped, but of those two dozen, four were the leaders.”

  “They killed them all?”

  Tony nodded. “Gregory stepped up and declared each village would operate on its own, whether that was with a single person or a grouping that the residents elected.”

  “So Gregory became Terrenia’s leader?”

  “Yes. No one wanted to step up and help lead after the uprising, so Gregory did.”

  “So the fact that I just went above Logan’s head and asked his people to leave—”

  Tony put his hand on her shoulder. “If anything happens, we’ll deal with it.” He squeezed lightly.

  “It’s still worth it if we can keep them safe.”

  “Agreed.” He released her and folded his arms. “You will make a great leader one day, Anastasia.”

  She stared after him as he made his way to talk to the Fighters, her stomach twisting. She hadn’t decided if she was going to stay when all of this was over. Gregory had told her he could find a way to send her home, and even after she’d agreed to stay, it had always been in the back of her mind that she might one day go back to Seattle.

  Anastasia had always believed her future was tied to Dakota.

  Was it possible she’d been wrong?

  27

  Seattle

  Dakota

  Dakota stared at the man reflected in the mirror; he hardly recognized himself. His jaw was tight, set in a solid line, and the freshly pressed blue uniform he wore didn’t feel like an accomplishment but more a necessary step.

  His end goal was to make Detective, and this was merely a stepping-stone to that finish line, something he had to do in order to get his revenge on Mitch, because he absolutely would get it. One way or another.

  “Dakota?” his mom called through the bathroom door. “You almost ready?”

  After taking a deep breath, he pulled open the door.

  His mother gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. “You look so much like him.” Tears welling in her eyes, she stepped forward and touched th
e badge on his chest.

  “Thanks, Mom.”

  She nodded and stepped away. Dakota followed her out of his childhood home and down to the car parked in the garage. It was graduation day for him, which meant he was moving on to advanced training before finally getting some field work in.

  He pulled the car onto the street, and they made their way to the Police Academy, where Dakota had spent the better part of the last four and a half months.

  Time well spent. The police had given up on ever finding Ana, making her just another face on a missing persons poster. It took everything in him to not give up, too, but he was the only one looking for her now, the only one who seemed to give a shit that she’d disappeared.

  “You okay, honey?” his mom asked from the passenger’s side.

  Dakota offered her a smile. “Of course, it’s a good day.”

  “Your father would be really proud of you, Dakota.”

  Dakota smiled tightly and swallowed the lump in his throat. Regret weighed on him like a lead vest. The last conversation he and his father had was the night George had called to confront Dakota after he’d made the decision to drop out of school to enter the Academy.

  It hadn’t been a pleasant conversation, and George had given him the silent treatment all the way up until the day he died.

  “Maybe.”

  She reached over and touched his arm. “He would have, Dakota. Your father just wanted you to be happy.”

  Dakota nodded, words catching in his throat. He hoped wherever his dad was he was proud, but it didn’t truly matter, because at the end of the day, he wasn’t doing this for himself, or for George Parker.

  He was doing this for Ana, and the future Mitch Carter had taken from them.

  It was nearing summertime in Seattle, and the sun beat down on them for the first time in a week. Dakota sat in his chair amongst the other academy graduates, waiting for their names to be called.

  “Good afternoon, everyone,” the speaker began. “I’m Chief Martin Belford. It is my honor and privilege to stand here today in front of such distinguished graduates and their families. As a police officer who will be expected to present yourself with professionalism and honor each and every day, all while performing your duties in a respectable manner. ”