Darkly Devoted (Book 1, 2, 3)

DB Chapter 21 - Your Stupid Soul

Chapter 21

VIVIENNE ARRIVED BACK at 54 Doru Avenue late in the afternoon. She had Julian stop by the entrance to the secret garden and she decided to walk the rest of the way to clear her mind. In her right hand, she held the duffel bag with Allison's clothes that Julian didn't have a chance to leave at the apartment.

On her other wrist was a slender gold chain. Julian had joked that it must have felt like dental floss compared to all the glittering jewels in her extensive closet. It bound her to Julian, her new vampire. Once again, as before, she had two bonds.

Sallen was gone. Julian agreed to bring her back to Lewisville. Now that Vivienne was bound to Julian, she knew he would make good on his promise.

What Vivienne didn't expect was that Allison would be waiting for her on a bench in the snowy garden.

"Took you long enough to get back," Allison remarked. She was wearing a black wooly dress, but it didn't look nearly enough to protect her from the cold. "And why didn't you answer your phone? I've been trying to call you all day."

"I left my phone in my room," Vivienne muttered and handed Allison the duffel bag. "I'm sorry about blowing up at you this morning."

"What was that about?" Allison said and sorted through the duffle bag for a chunky grey cardigan. "You don't have to hide anything from me. If William was at all mean to you, I'll kick him in the shin."

Vivienne laughed softly. As she sat beside Allison on that bench, she realized Julian was right. Nothing was going on between Blake and Allison. Allison offered her a spare coat from her duffel bag. Vivienne couldn't help but notice that Allison gave her the thicker coat.

"You like William, too, don't you?" Vivienne asked, tentatively.

"I do," Allison admitted softly and stared down at her feet. She kicked the snow and sighed. "But he is yours. He's always been yours."

"You know him better than I do."

"For now," Allison said and reached for Vivienne's hand. "You two have a lifetime together."

"I missed you in Remin."

"You won't have to miss me anymore," Allison assured her and squeezed her cold fingers. She showed Vivienne the dull red thread embedded in her neck. "Once this is out, we can be together all the time. William said I could live here if you would give me permission. On a lower floor, of course. You remember how I'm scared of heights."

Vivienne nodded. "I always dreamed of having him in my life back in Lewisville. In Remin, I realized I need you both." Vivienne paused and fingered the gold chain around her wrist. "Maybe now I see, I want Julian around too. He listened to me talk about my problems today. Helped me understand some things that had been confusing. He's not as bad as people say he is."

"What was confusing?" Allison asked in a cheerful tone. "I can help you better than Julian can."

"Aethon Gorge," Vivienne whispered under her breath. "Maglania has been speaking to me about it through my dreams."

Allison's eyes widened. She was suddenly silent. Vivienne realized Allison wasn't expecting to be confronted with that tidbit of information. Vivienne wondered what else Allison was hiding and whether she would ever share everything she knew.

"Julian said that William won't react well to that secret," Vivienne whispered. "But I must tell him eventually. So, I'll give you a head start to get things in order."

"If you tell him, he'll go to Sulia with the intent of killing Maglania. In the process, he will kill all the Princes," Allison hissed, her eyes suddenly hostile. "They're nothing to you, but to me they're my friends."

"I have to tell him eventually."

"Do you?" Allison asked. "You tell him, and you start a war. Their blood is on your hands."

"I can't keep this secret forever," Vivienne snapped. "I'm not like you. I don't keep secrets from the ones I love."

Allison scoffed and snatched her hands away. "You dislike secrets? Good luck with Blake Thorne, Vivienne. The things I could tell you about his secrets would give you nightmares. Go ahead and tell him everything. I don't care. "

"Julian —"

"Julian is only good at saving himself," Allison snapped and started pacing about. "He's bound to you now, so he believes he is safe. He doesn't care about what happens to everyone else. You can always trust Julian to be a coward."

Vivienne was taken aback by how mad Allison was. She had never seen Allison behave this way. Her friend was reacting as though the sky was falling. All Vivienne could see was the snow slowly drifting to the ground around them. Surely Allison was overreacting.

"It's just my soul," Vivienne joked. "I can handle the demons in Aethon. They're no match for me. Neither you nor Blake needs to trouble yourself about it."

"This isn't just about you and your stupid soul," Allison snapped. "It's about the lengths he will go through to keep you out of Aethon. He'll kill hundreds to save just one. Didn't you realize that in Remin? Listen to me, Vivienne. I love him. He's been a great friend to me these past two years, but there are times he behaves like a complete madman."

"I was the one who killed everyone in Remin!" Vivienne yelled, feeling the tears appear in her already red eyes again. "I lost control. He didn't have any part of it. If I can use this power for good, why not let me?"

"What's this?" Allison asked as her eyes fell on a strange bulge in the duffel bag. She unzipped the compartment and withdrew a dagger. It was no toy. The weapon was made of steel. This wasn't a weapon that was meant to kill demons. It was for humans.

"Julian gave it to me," Vivienne explained. "My particular type of Blue Fire only burns demons or those who are tainted by Black Waters. This dagger is for the rest of them."

"This weapon is for a human," Allison whispered and dropped the dagger in the snow as though it were filthy. "He's asking you to kill Maglania?"

"No, Julian didn't say that. He just said to keep it close in case."

"You will regret this," Allison whispered and turned her back to Vivienne. Her perpetually cheerful voice took a darker, deeper turn. "If you want to see how madly in love he is with you, go upstairs and ask him to show you his back. He would rather let Maglania rip his body to shreds rather than tell her I was guilty of begging the Balans for help. He kept his promise to bring me back alive at tremendous cost to himself, all for you. Because one word from you and he abandons all sense of saving himself."

"Allie," Vivienne pleaded. "He won't hurt —"

"Won't what? Won't kill every last Sentinel that Maglania puts in his way? You don't know him as I do. So, please, Vivienne. You saved me for the sake of our friendship. Now, don't lecture me about abandoning my friends. Not all of us can set enchanted fires with our bare hands, and a boyfriend with the power to raze a city to the ground to prove his everlasting devotion."

She stormed off into the gardens before Vivienne could say another word.