Fighter (Prophecy Series Book 2) Read online

  Fighter

  Prophecy Series book 2

  Jessica Wayne

  Contents

  Preface

  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

  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

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Ready for more Prophecy Series?

  Fighter

  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

  Cover Design by Covers By Combs

  She fell.

  She crashed.

  She broke.

  She cried.

  She crawled.

  She hurt.

  She surrendered.

  And then…

  She rose again.

  -Beautiful Minds Anonymous (a book of poems)

  1

  Anastasia

  Surrounded by devastation, Anastasia surveyed what was left of Terrenia. Death and destruction marred the once green landscape, now a resting place for the dead.

  No one was left. Not a single friend or loved one remained in this village she’d once called home.

  She felt herself smile, although inside, she felt nothing but emptiness. Why was she smiling? She wanted to scream in horror, to beat her fists against whatever had done this until skin hung in bloody ribbons from her knuckles.

  Where was everyone?

  “Ana.”

  She spun toward Dakota’s voice and felt the first flash of light within her heart as it fought to push back against the blackness.

  Dakota disappeared before she could get to him, quickly replaced with Vincent. His eyes were blue again, and he looked so much like her father her heart pinched with grief.

  “Now you know what it’s like,” he said simply, a tear rolling down his cheek.

  “What do you mean?” she asked, feeling nothing toward the man that she knew she should hate.

  “Look around, Anastasia. You did this.”

  She circled slowly, studying the destruction once again. He was wrong; he had to be wrong. She lifted her hands and saw the blood still dripping from her shaking limbs. “No,” she croaked.

  Vincent nodded sadly. “You did this,” he repeated. “But you didn’t wish for it to happen.”

  “This wasn’t me!”

  “It was you. And now you know what it’s like.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” she screamed, tears burning in her throat.

  “I didn’t want any of this to happen,” Vincent said. “But it has, and now it must be dealt with.”

  “You are the one. You caused this! You killed them all!”

  He shook his head. “Not this time, niece.”

  Anastasia’s mind went blank again, erasing all emotion. She blinked. How strange.

  She held up her hand and a glowing orb of white light danced within her palm. She thrust the orb at Vincent, who cried out as he evaporated into dust.

  She smiled as he disappeared on the breeze, and Gregory appeared in front of her.

  “Do not fear the dark, Anastasia,” he said.

  “I don’t.”

  “But beware the cost of your victory.” He gestured around him, and Anastasia’s cool façade shattered, dropping her to her knees.

  Anastasia screamed and shot up in bed. Moments later, Dakota burst in, gun drawn.

  She pressed a hand to her chest, her heart thumping wildly against her palm. It was just a nightmare, nothing but a nightmare.

  “You okay?” Dakota knelt in front of her.

  She nodded, unable to speak.

  How many times had he come to her rescue because of a nightmare? Nearly all her life she’d suffered from them, and when they’d lived together, she’d been unable to keep the dreams from him.

  “Can you stay with me?” she asked.

  Dakota nodded.

  Anastasia leaned back against the pillows as the bed dipped with his weight. He’d done this before, too, slept beside her when she’d suffered a bad dream.

  But tonight’s nightmare had been so much more; it felt like a warning, but from whom, she wasn’t sure.

  She laid her head on Dakota’s chest and focused on the sound of his heart beating.

  In the worst of her nightmares, that heart flat-lined.

  2

  Terrenia

  Anastasia

  The next morning, hand in hand, Anastasia and Dakota faced Elizabeth, Tony, Selena, Brady, and Kaley in the center of Gregory’s living room.

  Anastasia knelt in front of Kaley and rubbed her head affectionately. “I’ll miss you, girl. Watch over them for me.” She smiled and stood to face Tony and Brady. “We will be back soon.”

  They both nodded, and Brady pulled her in for a hug. “Be careful out there.”

  Elizabeth hugged Dakota with tears in her eyes, then gripped Anastasia’s arms. “Take care of him,” she said, then she turned to Dakota. “And you take care of her. I love you both so much.”

  “I love you, too,” they said in unison.

  Anastasia conjured a portal, and the swirling blue light appeared within seconds. They took one last look at those they loved, twined their fingers together, and stepped through.

  Within seconds, the acrid punch of sulfur assaulted them as they gazed upon a sea of destruction.

  Anastasia tightened her grip on Dakota’s hand as her pulse accelerated. Where the hell were they? Had she accidentally sent them to another world without realizing it?

  Smoke billowed up from piles of rubble, collecting in dark clouds high above the obliterated landscape. Hundreds of broken bodies lay strewn across the shattered bricks and crumbled rock. So much death and destruction… the force of it hit her like a punch to the gut. She bent forward, fighting to
catch her breath.

  As far as their eyes could see, no buildings stood, no remnants of the city she’d grown up in remained.

  As much as her heart cried out in defiance, she had taken them right where they’d meant to go, but Seattle—as they knew it—was gone.

  “Holy shit,” Dakota said.

  The blood drained from Anastasia’s face. “Oh my God.”

  The destruction burned itself into her memory. She would never forget what her city looked like in ruins.

  “Ana.” Dakota gently touched her hand, and she looked down between them. Her skin glowed, a bright, blinding white, a direct result of the power building in her blood. She closed her eyes and did her best to push the anger aside.

  She couldn’t lose control until she got close enough to Vincent that the backlash would destroy him. Then, if needed, she would allow her anger to consume her.

  Hot tears streamed down her cheeks as she and Dakota stepped carefully over the rubble. The images from her nightmare flashed through her mind.

  A city in ruins.

  Bodies everywhere.

  Her fault.

  No, not her fault. This was Vincent’s doing. She clenched her fists at her sides.

  “Fuck, this is horrible.” Dakota knelt to check the pulse of a man whose dark hair was matted with blood. “Dead.” Dakota stood and wiped his hand on his dark pants. “Why the hell would he destroy the entire city? Was this his fucking plan all along? Just to kill everyone?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “What the hell did he have to gain from this?” Dakota ran his hand down his face.

  Something moved behind them, and as they spun to face the sound, Anastasia drew her sword and Dakota raised his gun.

  “What are you idiots doing? Get out of there before they see you!” a man whispered loudly. He slipped back behind what was left of a building before they could get a better look at him.

  Curious, they followed him behind a half-crumbled brick wall, where he joined a small group of men sifting through the rubble.

  “What the hell happened here?” Dakota asked.

  “How about you start by telling us who you are.” The man was short, probably only about four inches taller than Anastasia, and not in shape like the other two men with him who were tall and heavily muscled, as if they spent a lot of time in the gym. The man they’d followed wore a Seattle Seahawks baseball cap, tufts of bright red hair sticking out from the sides.

  His face was dotted with freckles and bright red, making her wonder how long they’d been searching.

  “My name is Dakota. This is Anastasia.” Dakota holstered his gun, trying to show peace to the strangers.

  “We saw you step through one of those blue lights,” the taller of the man’s two companions said.

  “Is that what happened here?” Anastasia asked. “Did someone come here through a portal?”

  The man with the Seahawks hat raised an eyebrow. “Portal?”

  She nodded. “Who are you?”

  The man took a deep breath. “I’m Robbie. This is my son, Edgar, and my other son, Zeke.” He gestured to the younger of the two who bled from a wound in his cheek. Both boys had dark brown hair, rather than their father’s red “Want to tell us how you came through one of those lights just like the monsters? And why we should trust you?”

  “I’m from here,” Dakota told him.

  “We came to help you,” Anastasia added. “Those monsters are called Brutes. They came from a place called Terrenia, a world that runs parallel to this one.”

  “A parallel world?” Zeke scoffed. “You can’t be serious.”

  Robbie shot him a glare. “Really, son? That’s what you’re grabbing onto? You saw the light, the beasts, and we’re standing in the middle of what used to be Seattle, and you’re struggling with the idea that there are worlds outside of this one?”

  “Has no one come to help?” Dakota asked. “The National Guard? Homeland Security? Anyone?”

  Robbie shook his head. “It’s honestly like the rest of the world forgot about us. Either that, or the destruction is not limited to Seattle.”

  “I wonder if he blocked the city,” Anastasia murmured to Dakota.

  “He can do that?”

  She nodded. “He’d said he would once they moved on to the next step in their plan.”

  The older of Robbie’s sons, Edgar, stepped forward. “Who are you talking about?”

  “The man in charge. His name is Vincent. He’s who we’re here to stop,” Dakota explained. “Can you tell us exactly what happened?”

  Robbie nodded. “Last night, those portals, as you called them, opened all over the damn place. Beasts came pouring through, grabbing up who they could and slaughtering the rest.” Robbie’s jaw was set and he ran his hands over his face. “A few hours later, explosions went off, and the city just fucking… well…” He sighed, looking at the destruction around them. “You get the picture.”

  “How many are left?” she asked.

  “There are thirty-seven of us. We’ve been looking for survivors, but so far…” He shook his head sadly. “It happened so damn fast. We barely had time to get out.”

  “Do you know where the beasts took the survivors?” she asked. “Is any part of Seattle still standing?”

  “I have no idea. We only came out to look for supplies. Haven’t made it past here.”

  Something growled deep in its throat, and Anastasia spun, moving quickly into a fighter’s crouch and bracing for a fight. Two Brutes rounded the corner, looking down at her with hunger in their onyx eyes.

  She glanced at Dakota, who was also ready, his sword drawn and at the ready. With a curt nod, they charged. Saving her magic for Vincent, she attacked the beast on the right with her sword, dodging its large fist and driving the blade into the beast’s chest.

  Dakota had taken the other Brute down, and in unison, they brought their blades up and removed the Brutes heads from their shoulders.

  “We need to get going,” she told them. She stepped toward the Brute closest to her and wiped her blade off on its pants. “Brutes always come for their dead.” She sheathed her sword and Dakota did the same.

  “You are more than welcome to come back with us,” Robbie told them.

  Anastasia hesitated; they really needed to get going. But with the city in ruins, where did they even start? It wasn’t like they’d be able to move amongst the crowds of people in secret like they’d planned.

  “Maybe someone saw something that might help you.

  “That would be great, thank you.” She offered a small smile to Robbie as he and his sons turned to head back the opposite direction.

  “You all right?” Dakota’s voice was just above a whisper.

  “I think this is my fault,” she said, voicing her biggest concern

  Dakota gripped her hand, looking intently into her eyes. “This was not your fault, Ana.”

  “I dreamt this.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She stepped around the body of a woman in a red dress. Had she been getting ready to go on a date? Anastasia’s heart ached. So much death. So much destruction. And for what? So a power-hungry man could rule?

  “My nightmare last night was this.” She motioned to their surroundings. “Well, almost like this.” The only difference? Dakota was dead in her nightmare.

  She squeezed his hand tighter.

  “There was no way you could have known.”

  “How did I dream it, then? If I was not meant to stop this, then why did I see it?”

  He shrugged. “I have no clue. But I do know that there was nothing you could have done.”

  “We should have come back yesterday. Then maybe we could have stopped it.”

  Dakota didn’t say anything; he just held her hand as they walked.

  3

  Seattle

  Anastasia

  They reached the crumbled remains of what was once a small house. Robbie lifted a large piece of plywood, revealing an
old cellar door, reminiscent of the cellar where Anastasia discovered the bodies of Ophelia’s family. For a moment, the scent of death surrounded her and she couldn’t bring herself to follow the others down into the cellar.

  “Are you okay?” Dakota whispered.

  “Yes, just a bad memory is all.” She took one last look around at her surroundings and, with a deep breath, descended the stairs.

  Anastasia and Dakota followed the men through a labyrinth of hallways, eventually emerging into a large common room. Survivors lined the walls, some bleeding from head wounds, others barely breathing, all coated in a thick later of dirt and blood. A handful of children sat in one corner, listening intently to an older gentleman as he told them a story.

  Eyes watched them as they moved further into the room, and rage had her magic blazing again.

  Dakota squeezed her hand, a silent reminder to keep control, so she breathed deeply and tried to focus on the task at hand: finding out whatever they could about the state of Seattle.

  Edgar and Zeke broke off and disappeared into another room, and Robbie cleared his throat. “I want to introduce you all to Dakota and Anastasia. They are here to help us.”