Darkly Devoted (Book 1, 2, 3)

DB Chapter 13 - The End of a Bond

Chapter 13

VIVIENNE STARED UNBLINKINGLY at Calbert, focusing her anger. She made her hand into a fist and tried to see through Calbert's eyes. They were blurry. She went in and out of focus. He sensed she was within him and tried to resist. It was too late. His efforts were half-hearted at best as he struggled to figure out what was happening. She felt Calbert's arm move at her command, and his fist went into Killian's chest.

Now he was aware she was inside him. Calbert fought her. Vivienne struggled to maintain control of his arm. Killian was on the floor. The vicious rat's bite had been worse than his bite. Despite his harsh exterior, he had gone down easily.

"Close your eyes," Julian said as he wrapped his hand around her wrist and held her hand steady. "Focus on what he sees."

"He's fighting me."

"Then hurt him. Use your mind."

Calbert had finally noticed where the orders were coming from. He had turned and was drunkenly stumbling toward Vivienne. She closed her eyes as Julian commanded and imagined a knife ripping through Calbert's left calf muscle. She heard him scream. She could feel his leg give out from under him. She witnessed his pain in her mind, but it appeared to her in a dreamy haze.

Calbert stopped fighting her. He was either too terrified or too tired to struggle. Vivienne found his hands again and used them to reach for Killian's throat. The gaunt elderly man struggled as his nephew's hands closed around his throat.

Vivienne's eyes flared open before she could order Calbert to finish the job.

"I can't," she whispered, her eyes opened. She found Julian staring intently back at her.

"You can't go through with it?" Julian laughed softly. "Is it because you see his uncle through his eyes?"

Yes, that was it. Vivienne felt her palms growing hot again. Enough with these games. She so badly wanted to release her fire and take care of all three Hentons in one explosive fit of anger.

"No," Julian whispered and dropped her hand. "Let me. I may not be your vampire yet, but I'll be your Prince."

Vivienne stumbled backward after Julian released her arm. It was as though she had forgotten how to inhabit her own body after being inside Calbert's mind. Now that she had released her grip on Calbert, she had a splitting headache.

Julian's right showed a flash of black claws. Then Vivienne saw that Killian and Jaker's necks had been severed. He seized Calbert by the shirt collar as he tried to back away. He barely had one good leg left, and Julian embraced Calbert's large torso. Then Julian stretched out Calbert's neck and sank his teeth into the large boy's neck.

Vivienne's eyes met Calbert's as he winced under Julian's teeth.

I knew you were evil. Since the very first moment I saw you.

Those eyes.

Witch.

Vivienne saw Calbert's hazel eyes slowly close as Julian drained his lift away. The chain around Vivienne's wrist slowly faded back to silver, and then to blackened tarnish, as the metal had aged decades in the brief span of months.

Julian dropped Calbert's body with a thud at his feet. Vivienne was grateful that at least Calbert's head had fallen facing away from her.

Julian snatched a handkerchief out of Killian's suit pocket and wiped his mouth and blood-stained fingers with it. He dropped the soiled fabric over Calbert's face and headed back to Vivienne. Vivienne saw the Pearl Tower workers rush over to gather up the bodies and remove them from sight. No one here dared to question Julian's actions. They appeared incredibly apologetic that this mess hadn't been cleaned up quickly enough.

"T-thank you!" Sallen gasped as she ran over to Julian. He raised his hand for her to stop. "Prince Mercury, you are a hero, my hero."

"Thank your friend Vivienne." Julian winced at the nickname. "And call me Julian from now on."

"I-if you need anything at all, if I could repay you..." Sallen started, but Julian shook his head and herded both girls back toward the exit.

"No, there is nothing from you. Although Vivienne, perhaps you can consider paying me back."

"I'll think about it," Vivienne muttered begrudgingly. Julian caught her as she nearly tripped over her own feet. The attempt to control Calbert had weakened her far more than the explosion she had caused in Satan's Hollow. She didn't understand why Maglania would rather kill this way rather than any other alternative.

"Your bond wasn't strong, and you lost control at the end," Julian noted. "You'll get better at it next time."

"I'm surprised you're teaching me to do this," Vivienne joked. "Aren't you afraid I'll use it against you one day?"

"I'm surprised your boyfriend didn't teach you," Julian replied. "Maybe if you understood the power of that necklace, you wouldn't have taken it off in front of me."

He shifted his grip on her so that she was holding his arm again.  He did it with such ease that Vivienne didn't even notice. There was a certain comfort in knowing these little, intimate gestures meant nothing to him. He had been with so many girls before; this was merely muscle memory at this point.

"How are you going to explain this guest to your boyfriend?" Julian muttered. "He's very particular about who goes up into that penthouse."

"I'll worry about that later," Vivienne rolled her eyes. "It won't be for long. He may not even notice she's there."

"Can I assume your next request will be arranging her return trip to Lewisville?"

Vivienne nodded. She glanced back at Sallen's deadly pale, emaciated complexion and felt a chill down her spine. Sallen was walking slowly as though the very act of following them was taking all the effort she had to spare.

"Why don't I look like her?" Vivienne whispered, keeping her voice low so that Sallen didn't overhear. "I was bound to both Blake and Calbert for the same amount of time as she was with Jaker."

"There are some with a natural ability to maintain the bond. The force inside of you fuels that fire, which also fuels your ability to bond."

"Where does it come from?"

"I don't know. The force inside your boyfriend that fuels his ability with the Segais is clearly exhaustible. You saw how tired he was after his little trick in the meadow. You, on the other hand, have a true gift. After Satan's Hollow, you were barely warmed up."

Julian chuckled out of nowhere.

"What's so funny?"

"I was just thinking of what an insane creature could be created if you two joined your abilities. Your boyfriend has a varied number of abilities, and you have an unlimited source of power. Frightening to contemplate. Don't worry, vampires can't father children."