Darkly Devoted (Book 1, 2, 3)

DD Chapter 1 - A Dangerous Friend

Author's Note: This book is currently free to read on Wattpad but it is also on Amazon. If you would do me a huge favor, please leave a review on Amazon. It's on Amazon under Althea Liu and there are multiple books! Thank you so much! It really helps a lot!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FW5L8LBQ

Darkly Dreamed

Chapter 1

IT WASN'T MORNING YET, AND Vivienne already regretted saving the vampire. Their boat approached a dark, wooded area around 4 am. From where she stood, Vivienne could still see the lights of Manna City across the river. It was the brightest light illuminating the autumn night sky. Even the full moon paled in comparison.

When they neared the shore, the sailboat slowed down. Vivienne could see the rocky banks growing ever closer. It wasn't the first time that night that she had wondered if saving him was a good idea. Lying there inside that boat was a young man of about twenty-one years of age. Dark and thick, his brows were slightly furrowed even as he slept. His wet hair was plastered to his forehead with a mixture of ocean spray and blood. His facial features contained well-chiseled cheekbones, a strong jaw, and deeply set eyes under a brooding brow ridge. Standing there, she could barely see an inkling of the frail boy he had once been.

She still found it hard to believe he really was Blake. In her mind, Blake was still a skinny eleven-year-old boy with large angelic blue-green eyes and gently curling locks of blond hair. The man lying before her was a dangerous, unpredictable predator who could kill with his bare hands. Vivienne hardly knew what he would do to her in these dark woods if he woke up and found himself hungry for more of her blood.

Blake's clothes were ripped and bloody from the battle. After they escaped on the boat, she allowed him to drink from her to heal. He hadn't been conscious at the time and had continued to sleep for the remainder of their journey.

Somewhere along the way, she noticed his chest rising and falling. He was breathing normally again. Slowly but surely, he was healing from the spray of bullets that had been fired into his back. Vivienne resisted the urge to rip his open the tattered remains of his dress shirt open to check the bullet wounds. If her blood had been unable to heal him, there was little else she could do for him short of calling an ambulance. She didn't have a cellphone on her. Perhaps running away and finding help was the only option left.

Even as she considered leaving him there, Blake was starting to wake up. His hand caught her wrist as she reached over him for her bag. As his eyes fluttered open, Vivienne yanked her hand out of his grasp and scrambled for the gun on the opposite side of the boat. She had found it during their flight from Manna City, in case they were pursued. She had considered throwing it into the ocean, but kept it in case of a situation like this. She held it up now to the vampires as he woke up.

Blake rolled onto his side and pushed himself into a sitting position. From the lingering grimace on his face, every movement was excruciating. From the holes in his tattered shirt and pants, Vivienne could see that the flesh underneath was still raw and bloody. At least the deeper bullet wounds in his chest had stopped bleeding. He rested his arm over his knee as he surveyed his wounded body.

When he finally looked up at her, his eyes hardened when he saw the gun pointed at his chest.

"Kill me, save me. For goodness' sake, Vivienne — make up your mind."

"This is just a precaution," Vivienne said, her hand shaking. "It's dark here, and you might take advantage of that."

"Don't worry, I'm not in any condition to force myself on anyone, least of all you," he coughed weakly and then clutched his hand to his chest in pain. "You begged me to leave Manna City."