Vivienne Von Vexx's Arc

Chapter 1 of 6

Vivienne sat on the stone bench beneath the rose-covered iron roof, her red eyes fixed on nothing. She wanted what she had always wanted: a mortal who would look at her face and stay. But the grove was all she knew, and she could not picture a single mortal worth the risk. She rose and walked to the edge of the grove, where the black river ran bright under the trees. The water shimmered like cold stars. It had always been her wall. Beyond it, the mortal world stayed blurry, a shape she could not name. Then she saw it. A narrow dirt trail cut through the undergrowth on the far bank, half-hidden by leaves. It had not been there before. Or she had never let herself see it. The path bent away into green light, toward somewhere she had never walked. Vivienne stepped to the river's edge. For the first time, her longing had a direction. She would cross. She would follow the trail until it ended at a face she could finally picture.