City Of The Damned (Darkly Devoted Series, Book 5)

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Author's Note: This POV is a continuation from the bonus chapters of "Night the Vampires Came."  It isn't necessary to have read the bonus chapters to enjoy the story. If you want, you can skip to Chapter 20 to return to Grismal & Melody's POVs. 

-Blake "Oslen" Thorne-

"Blake? Is that you?"

Oslen turned at the sound of that voice. It was though his body recognized that sound even before his mind fully comprehended that she was alive.

Melody was alive.

He could barely see her in the darkness of the caverns. There was a flash of her white-blue eyes and then felt the reassuring weight of her body up against his. She buried her face in his chest and muffled her laughter with his shirt.

"You're really—"

Before she could finish, his lips found hers. Oslen picked her up with both hands and kissed her until she was struggling to catch her breath. Suddenly, his chest didn't ache anymore. His ribs felt perfectly fine even though she had her legs wrapped around his waist. Briefly, it was as though they had been transported back in time to their teenage selves in that ballroom in Manna City. He was holding her as he dreamed of doing back then if only he had the courage to give into his most secret of desires.

Since then, he had experienced the many drawbacks of growing old, but the one silver lining was that the woman in his arms was his wife.

Oslen didn't have to say a word to her. There was no need to apologize. He could hold her and kiss her without having to explain why he needed it. Her hair was falling over his face, and her scent was intoxicating. Melody smelled of the crisp night air, of the wind blowing through the wisteria trees that she so loved, of the scent of jasmine she sometimes dabbed behind her ears, but most of all, she smelled of home.

She was the only home he had ever wanted. Not Mearnox, this enchanted graveyard that his mother left him to watch over, or Manna City, this island of skyscrapers doomed to fall by its own greed.

He wanted her.

"You nearly scared me to death," Oslen whispered. He finally stopped to catch his breath. There was nothing he wanted more than to continue, but there wasn't time for that.

Oslen's eyes went back toward the entrance to the caves. The doorway had disappeared.

Damn.

He knew there was no way out once he stepped over that threshold between worlds. But his wife could not stay here. Melody needed to leave.

"The devil exists, and he knows you're here. There is a palace just ahead," Melody whispered and put her weight back on her own feet. She fell back a step and fixed her disheveled hair. "Grismal."

"Yes, I know," Oslen hissed through clenched teeth. Although he was elated to see that she was alive, his joy was dissipating with each passing second. This situation was far from ideal. She wasn't supposed to be involved in any of this. "No one enters Mearnox without his permission."

"No, not his permission," Melody replied and drew the Blood Star from the folds of her cloak. "My permission. I was the one who opened the doors to the City of the Damned."

"What?" Oslen felt as though his entire body was numb with shock. "Melody, you know —"

"I know. I wasn't supposed to lay my hands on it," she whispered and came close enough for him to feel her breath against his neck. There was very little light in the cavern, but he saw only the dimmest outline of her furrowed brows and tearful eyes. "Let me destroy it for you. I can walk it into the sunlight."