Darkly Devoted (Book 1, 2, 3)

OTF Chapter 18 - The Missing Piece

Chapter 18

"YOU SURE you don't have anything better up your sleeve than standing around and looking stylish in that red dress?" Julian asked as he hurried along through the pathway into the darkest parts of the gorge.

"You finally approve of something that I'm wearing?" Vivienne asked, her eyes widening in mock surprise.

"I'm just saying," Julian said, as he wiped his bloody lip off on the back of his green velvet sleeve. "If you have any more cards up your sleeve, time to play it now."

"What does Maglania want from me?" Vivienne demanded as she clenched her fists. "Does she want to kill me?"

"Maybe she wants to see if you're worth anything without your rich boy toy," Julian offered. "As we can both see, then the answer is – not much."

"Why is it that I have a sneaky feeling that you know more than you're letting on?" Vivienne asked but Julian had already turned his attention to the demons that were worming their ways out of their burrows and advancing on them. Vivienne pointed her bloody mace at them, but they were not deterred. Julian wrapped an arm around her and started running. Vivienne saw the demons appearing everywhere, their skeletal hands grabbing at her ankles and the hem of her skirt.

Finally, they reached the clearing but only to meet three more princes. It was both twins – Lance and Isolde, along with Zechariah. The three men were all armed and advanced on her and Julian. From behind the two of them, a horde of lumbering demons were advancing as well. Vivienne backed up into Julian as they faced enemies from all sides.

"Hey, Jules," Vivienne said. "You got any tricks left? Like, can you stir up a tornado? That would be useful right now."

"Sorry, princess," Julian said, swallowing hard, holding out his shaking clawed hands. "I'm all out of tornadoes today."

Vivienne attempted to bash the first demon to advance on her with the mace, but it caught her weapon in its hands and began tugging it, trapping her. Julian took a deep breath and charged at Zechariah, but the much more experienced man easily knocked Julian on his face. The twins appeared, each holding a sword. They stabbed Julian in the back as Vivienne looked over and felt the scream die in her throat. So this was how it was going to end.

As the thick horde of demons wrapped around her, suffocating her, Vivienne reached her hand out to the lone Segais tree she knew was in the distance. "Help me," she whispered, knowing it was much too far to hear her. Vivienne cried out as she felt the demons wrapping their claws around her arms and legs. They were going to rip her apart as they had done to Colossus.

As Vivienne felt their tongues and wetness all around her, she closed her eyes. For a second, she found her mind reaching back to River Way, where her power had first begun. She saw herself standing under the willow trees, the Segais trees. As her fingers met with the bark, a voice from behind her appeared, a boy's hand appeared over hers – Blake. Finish this; it is your destiny. It was a human hand over hers, and from their touch, the glow of the Segais in River Way started to spread.

Vivienne wasn't sure if it was a memory or her imagination, but when she opened her eyes, she noticed her hand had started tingling with a pins and needles sensation. From her hand, a warm light began to spread among the demons. The black oil slick that covered their bodies started to melt, revealing the skin underneath. They looked back at her not with hollow eye sockets but with human faces.

The demon that had been holding her neck backed away in terror. Slowly, they all released her and screeched as though they had been burned. Letting go of her body, they backed away from her. Their skin was turning a rosy red and then melting from their bodies in sheets.