Darkly Devoted (Book 1, 2, 3)

DB Chapter 19 - Betrayal

Chapter 19

"WHEN YOU START, I'll have you meet with Renat. He's in Iceland, we've found a new underground lake there."

"Rykov?" Allison asked. "I remember that old drunk rat from Clover Street. He's your new best friend?"

"He's the head of my ground operations," Blake admitted sheepishly. "He's more amusing than the other stuffy military types I've encountered."

"So that's it?  You've given up on Aethon?" Allison asked as she followed Blake out of his office. She noticed the door locked automatically when he stepped out. The office required a fingerprint for entry. It wasn't as though she wanted to snoop, but it was an old habit now that she took note of such things. "You're washing your hands of us?"

"Us? I thought you were with me now."

"I am!" Allison exclaimed a little too loudly. She immediately lowered her voice. The staff were starting to arrive, but Blake didn't stop speaking in their presence, so Allison assumed she could speak freely as well. She wasn't sure why she was surprised that Blake wanted nothing to do with Maglania and the Sulia Palace. He had no intention of fighting the Six Families to take Aethon.

He never joined Maglania's Princes because he wanted Aethon. He did because he wanted to know what happened to his father. Allison had always known this, but it was still a strange feeling to walk away from it all. What about Belig? And Daste? Elytrin? Allison wondered if she could stand by and watch her friends die. Did she think Blake would spare them if he took the throne from Maglania? She had always assumed he would.

Over the years, when he met Princes whose companies he enjoyed, he would find ways to free them from Maglania's service. It was she and Julian who remained his constant companions in Sulia. He had never taken any former members of Sulia into Tercel. Now that he was leaving with her and Julian, it must mean that he no longer cared about continuing with Maglania or mining Aethon for Black Waters.

"I have no reason to pursue Aethon," Blake replied. "As I discovered in Remin, there are far easier targets. I've come to realize I've wasted too much time on the Sarastri's demon pit." He sighed. "My history with Aethon is complicated."

"Your father died there," Allison stated bluntly. "I get it. Aethon is full of bad memories for you. But Manna City is your home. Don't you care —"

Blake raised his hand for quiet. Allison glanced up, and she immediately saw why. Vivienne appeared in the opposite hall with Sallen trailing behind. Vivienne had changed out of that gold, silky gown that made her look like an overgrown butterfly. She was wearing a plain grey dress now, and somehow, she looked much more like the Vivienne Allison remembered. 

The cool grey complemented the steely blue of her eyes. Vivienne always had a way of staring anyone into submission. Allison could already tell her friend was in a bad mood. Poor Vivienne, did she not sleep well in that magnificent bedroom of hers, among all her diamonds and haute couture?

"Good morning, Vivienne!" Allison chirped. "I'm in the mood for pancakes, how about you?"

Allison expected Vivienne's face to brighten up at the mention of pancakes, but instead, Vivienne ignored her.

"Vivienne, you're up early today," Blake remarked with a shy hint of a smile.

Allison wanted to laugh. What was this? Was Blake nervous? A second ago, he was barking out orders to acquire natural resources in Iceland, like a criminal mastermind. Vivienne's presence transformed him into a stuttering boy who didn't seem to know where to look or how to present himself.