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

Chapter 16

I instantly regretted everything. The second my wish was granted, I knew it was wrong. I shouldn't have wielded the powers of the gods.

There was a price to be paid for this. There always was.

Yet, even so, I hesitated to take back my command. I was overcome with emotion. Standing here with Allison before me was more than I could bear. It was more than any mortal woman should have been able to experience. Here I was, reunited with my friend who was long dead. It was a meeting that was never fated to happen.

"It is you!" Allison gasped and threw her arms around me. She hugged me even as I stood frozen in soul-wenching regret. I shouldn't have. I should have resisted the temptation. Even with these thoughts racing through my mind, I did not let go of that rock. The Blood Star was still firmly inside my clenched fist.

What else can you do? I silently asked the stone. Then, miraculously, I felt my fire returning to me. My palms were growing hot again, but now I held more than the ability to burn my enemies. I had the power of a God of Death.

"Are you actually here?" Allison held me at arm's length and studied me. "Are you dead too?"

Allison knew she was dead.

I was both horrified and relieved that she knew. I didn't want to be the one to tell her. Oh, Melody Balan, she has the strength to kill a thousand men, but she doesn't have the strength to deliver the penultimate bad news to her childhood friend.

I shook my head. I could barely speak, and my voice croaked with emotion when I tried.

"N-no. I'm not dead." I shrugged my shoulders so that she would stop holding me like a rag doll. Allison released me when I turned away from her to conceal the Blood Star inside my sleeve.

I knew I should have let that damned rock go. I knew it, but all the same, I couldn't let it out of my grasp.

"Are you okay?" Allison demanded. She might be dead, but she could see that I was hiding something.

Oh, Allison, if only you knew how much I had to hide, the shock of it would kill you all over again.

"Yes! I'm fine," I snapped, my voice sharp with the rage I could barely control. Allison was shocked into silence by my tone of voice. No, she didn't know this version of me. She was realizing she didn't recognize me at all. I tried to soften my tone.

She and I last spoke over twenty years ago. In her mind, I was still Vivienne Menthe. Poor, sad Vivienne. So innocent, so naive, and so easy to manipulate.

This was wrong, all wrong.

What have I done?

I never asked for Allison to meet me as I was now. This meeting was never written in our stars, and it should never have happened in our lifetimes.

Yet, even so, this meeting was happening. I had used the power of the gods to reweave the threads of destiny. Anyone in Manna City could tell you that I wasn't a timid woman. But none of them would imagine I would go as far as to resurrect the dead. Faced with my actions now, I couldn't help but feel bitter fear and regret down to the core of my being. I shouldn't have used that stone. It wasn't a power that was mine to take.

But it was done. It couldn't be undone. I had to think about what was going to happen next.

"Even though you are already dead, you're not safe here," I stated. "We need to get you to the Bridge of Eternity. If the Reaper comes back and finds us, this window of opportunity for me to save you will close."

"The R-?"

Before Allison could continue, I seized her by the upper arm and dragged her down the steps out of the tower. She was so shocked by my gall that she simply went along with it. We darted across the lobby toward the front door. No! Grismal would be watching. We needed to find another way. As we ran, I could hardly believe it. For once, Allison let me lead her around without any complaints. Could it finally be that she actually recognized that I knew what was best for once?

I wanted to succeed at this. I didn't know why seeing my old friend had reduced me to a self-doubting teenager. Perhaps this was why I never thought about finding out what happened to her after I left Remin behind forever. I had left my past behind and her along with it. Now, my past had come roaring back at me.

Too bad my task was literally to sneak her out of the palace of the God of Death. For all that I had learned and the powers that were back at my disposal, I was still only a mortal woman. There was only so much I could do. I tried my best to take her out of a side entrance, but we were intercepted by the goblins.

They ran up to us and grabbed fistfuls of our hair, clothes, and limbs. They were using their bodies to block our escape. My instincts took over. Shy, fearful, demure Vivienne, I was not. I raised my palm and unleashed a stream of fire in every direction. I didn't aim to destroy them (or kill them if they could even be killed). I just played with them, allowing my flames to bite at their fingers and lash across their little grey chests. In no time, the goblins scampered and escaped back into the palace.

I motioned for Allison to follow me as I strolled into the barren darkness beyond. I didn't want to look at her to see what she thought of my fireshow. Vivienne was gone again. I tried to keep from laughing as my palms warmed again with heat. I ached to fight something, anything. A large ogre or a ferocious horned demon would do. I wanted to hear it howl in my flames, and I wanted to sink my teeth into its undead flesh.

Stop. You're not a monster . . .anymore. You need to stop.

My neck sharply snapped around. I stopped in mid-strut. "Blake?" My lips formed his name, but the word barely left my throat. Only silence answered me. Of course, he wasn't here. Of course, it was only my delusions. It was only my madness speaking. I tried to keep walking. It was harder now.

I felt confident now that my fire had returned to me. However, its presence only seemed to remind me that my sanity, on the other hand, wasn't completely present. I was a killing machine that sometimes completely lost my mind.

Whatever confidence Allison had in me that led her to follow me out of the palace must be gone now. She must see that I wasn't completely with it. I was strolling about these wastelands on bare feet, dancing over the rocks, swinging my arms through the misty air.

Would I dance in the Black Rain if it fell on me now?

The land smelled vaguely of sulfur and rotten flesh. The air felt cool and wet against my skin as I walked. Ah, hell, I enjoyed this world more than I thought I would.

Finally, I looked back, and to my surprise, Allison was still there. She was huddled down, her arms wrapped around her, crimson hair covering half her face. Over the hills, we went. Allison managed to keep up. She kept a safe distance behind me. Her eyes were wide with both awe and fear. Finally, she understood I wasn't the Vivienne from her memories.

We walked along the path overlooking the pits of Mearnox, where the sulfuric fumes were emitting. Inside, I knew there were the souls of those trapped in this purgatory for all time. The demons here avoided me. Were they afraid of me or of the Blood Star? Was it the Blood Star that was leading us onward to where we had to go? I certainly had no clue what the lay of the land was down here.

The gravel cracked under my feet. My skin started to bleed, but I didn't care. The pain felt good. That was the difference between me and the rest of the souls here. I bled. I was alive.

Allison's body seemed to weaken and fade as we walked. The further we went from the palace, the more she reverted to the form of a shade.

"Where are you taking me?"

"To the Bridge of Eternity. We'll find a way to get you across it and out of this hellscape."

"Will you cross it with me?"

"No," I laughed softly, sadly at her suggestion. It was just an innocent question, but it was ridiculous, and it brought tears to my eyes. "I can't. I have to stay here."

"Do you?" Allison asked.