Darkly Devoted (Book 1, 2, 3)

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Blake walked surprisingly fast for a boy with a cane. After he died, Vivienne would always dream of him disappearing into the fog of the vampire graveyard. In those dreams, no matter how fast she ran, she couldn't catch up with him. But on that day — when he took her to that deserted area outside of River Way — he took her hand in his and helped her along the rocky pathways.

"I come here to be alone," Blake mused as the deserted grounds came into sight. "I feel understood here, almost as if I belong."

Vivienne looked around and saw only broken columns, fragments of rails, and dead trees. This was once a giant outdoor arena of sorts, but now only bits and pieces remained. Standing there, in those ruins, it was easy to imagine thousands of ghost spectators in the ancient stands. Vivienne walked over to one of the columns, and her fingers traced a carving of a winged creature with a beak that the rain and winds had long worn down.

A shiver went down her spine as she saw the symbol of a sun carved on another surface. In her imagination, she could see these stones stained with the blood of the fallen, sacrificed to some savage ritual.

"What happened here?" Vivienne asked as she heard Blake approaching her from behind. He walked slowly and carefully over the broken stones. He didn't like it when she saw him trip, so she kept her eyes on the ruins.

Although their lives were different, in many ways their desires were the same. Blake wanted to be treated like he was normal, healthy, like any other boy. He didn't want his servants or teachers to fuss over him. He wanted to go to a place where he could be alone with his imagination. Vivienne understood that, in a way, she, too, felt she belonged there among the ruins.

"What do these carvings mean?"

"That is a carving of a griffin," Blake said as he took her hand and led her away from the broken columns. "Not quite a dragon, but just as ugly. Imagine what this place looked like hundreds of years ago. See those stands? Imagine, it's night and those torches light a blazing circle around you," Blake ordered and then pointed into the far end of the stadium. "You come face to face with a pair of red glowing eyes — vampire's eyes."

"Am I armed?" Vivienne demanded as she picked up a broken shard of rock from the ground. She made a stabbing motion into the air. Then she picked up another rock and held it defensively. In her mind's eyes, she could see herself holding two daggers. Or she could be a dragon with two giant fanged teeth. "Can I stab it in the heart?"

Blake chuckled at her weapons and pointed behind her with his free hand. "Fire is the only way to really kill the undead. You need to burn it with one of those torches. There isn't enough time. It will reach you before you can reach the stands. The creature moves impossibly fast."

"I have a concealed dagger up my sleeve!" Vivienne said with a happy squeal. "I'll stab it to slow it down." She poked Blake in the side with her imaginary dagger. He bared his teeth at her.

"You only made it angry," he hissed back and caught her by the waist.

Her father called Blake the Tuxedo Brat for his impeccable attention to dress and complete disregard for her father's instructions. On that day, Vivienne recalled that Blake was wearing just a soft white shirt that felt ridiculously soothing against her cheek. She could feel the warmth of his skin and the sound of his heart beating beneath it. It was nearly impossible to think about the terrifying vampires while his arms were around her.

"And where are you while I'm being attacked by vampires?" Vivienne asked.

"I'm sitting in the stands, of course," Blake replied with an evil smirk. "Over there," he pointed at the section directly across from them. "In the Thorne Family seats. We have the best view."