Vivienne Von Vexx's Arc

Chapter 19 of 21

The rule held for many nights. The bonfire roared between them, sending sparks up into the dark trees. The hunter showed her his cord, now crowded with knots. Each one was a night he had crossed back to her. Vivienne smiled across the flames, but a small worry stayed in her chest. He had never seen her feed. He loved a version of her that sat still and clean by the fire. She had to know. Before she gave him the rest of her heart, she had to see his face when he saw the truth. She fed in secret in a hidden clearing far from him, where red trees leaned over dark grass and crimson roses caught the moonlight. That night she did not hide it. She told him to follow at a distance and not to speak. She knelt over a deer in the clearing. Her mouth went to its throat. She drank. When she lifted her head, blood was on her chin and her red eyes were bright with it. The hunter stood between two red trees, very still. He did not run. He did not lift a hand against her. He looked at her for a long moment, then walked closer and stopped at arm's length. "I see you," he said. "I still see you." Vivienne wiped her mouth on her sleeve. Her hands shook. The fire was not between them now, and he had not turned away. The proof she had needed was standing in front of her, breathing. She gave him the rest of her heart in silence. But as she did, she heard a branch snap behind the red trees, and she knew, with cold certainty, that they had been followed.