Darkly Devoted (Book 1, 2, 3)

DD Chapter 29 - Blue Fire

"IT IS TRUE," Vivienne stated as she wiped the smear of blood from her face. Her cheek was still bleeding, and she could already tell which of the infected demon hunters were sniffing at the air, catching the scent of fresh blood. "I am Tercel."

If Zissa and Ashlar could proudly walk into Satan's Hollow, to their likely deaths, then she could stand up and take responsibility for Tercel's actions. Blake traded his deal with Yageron for Vivienne's freedom back in Manna City. Perhaps she was fated to die back there, and he only forestalled her death for a short amount of time.

"Kill me. Let my sister go. She's innocent."

"How touching," Julian chirped, placing his hands over his heart. "Did Tercel care when their soldiers attacked you last night? Did they spare your friends when you begged them to?"

"Shut up, Julian!" Vivienne yelled. Then she looked straight into his soulful eyes and continued. "Shut up, VAMPIRE."

Gasps erupted among the Remin students. Vivienne realized they've never seen a Manna City vampire before. In Remin, the demon companions were all animals. There weren't humans vain or foolish enough to believe they could choose to live as half-demons.

Julian backed away as a group of demon-hunters turned their sights on him. It was as though he realized it was high time to exit this witch hunt.

"Bye, Mrs. Oslen," Julian called out as he jumped into the Black Waters and fled through a ladder that had been hanging into the lake. It was an escape path only an intelligent demon could take advantage of.

There was absolute silence after Julian left. Five seconds was all it took before a fight broke out among the teenage demon hunters. Zissa and Yomi led the pack, and they blocked the path up to the great Segais tree.

"Please, Zissa. I just want to go home. I'm so cold," Nicole whispered. Vivienne noticed a gaping wound in her throat that was steadily leaking black blood. "Can't we ask Vivienne for help to get the surface?"

"None of you will be going home," Ashlar proclaimed, laughing madly. He wiped his bloody cheeks with the back of his arm. His black dinner jacket was now coated with dirt. As he continued to wipe, Vivienne saw that it wasn't black mud that was covering his face. It was black blood. "Some of you don't even know you're already dead."

"If we can't ask for her help, can I ask for a drop of her blood?" Nicole whispered in a husky voice. Vivienne saw her lick her thin, dark lips. "They say the blood of Orienne's Chosen can work miracles."

Nicole took a step toward Vivienne, but then she fell over. Ashlar smacked his bat right into the back of Nicole's skull.

"I have the fire!" Samantha squealed as she smacked two flint rocks above Nicole's body. "I'm so sorry, Nicole. You were always so nice to me."

Vivienne watched in horror as the flint refused to ignite. Ashlar stared at the black blood dripping down the length of his bat. Then, slowly, he raised the bat to his lips and tasted the blood. Vivienne recalled that Blake had mentioned he preferred the taste of demon blood.

Ashlar had turned. He stumbled toward Vivienne. There was conflict in his eyes. He was fighting it. He pushed past Zissa, who tried to catch his hand.

"Ashlar, stop!"

"Love of my life," Ashlar whispered through clenched teeth as his fingers slowly slipped out of Zissa's grasp. "Love of my death."

Zissa dropped Ashlar's hand. And then, with a movement that was as quick as lightning, she drove a Segais stake straight through Ashlar's chest. Vivienne saw the pointy end of the stake protrude from the center of Ashlar's t-shirt. Ashlar's eyes rolled back in his head, and he slowly fell to his knees. Zissa couldn't see, but she dropped to her knees beside his body and stroked his face. She found his eyes and closed his eyelids.