A Wolf's Miracle

Chapter 43

H a r l a n

He needed to go look for Violette now that Diana was safe. It was easy enough, she must have been near these woods for Diana's soul to have found her. Harlan was an excellent tracker once he found a trail. So he focused and tried his best to remember the way she smelled.

That was tricky in and of itself, vampires were known for having no scent, it was their thing, it was how they could be undetected by the wolfs and other creatures, but Violette was different. She was obsessed with her appearance, with clothes and shoes and accessories. And she always made sure she smelled good.

So even though he couldn't find her by her natural scent, all he had to do was follow the trail of expensive perfume. He had to ask her what it was called when he had the chance. 

He found it soon enough and sped through the forest hoping he wasn't too late. He'd come to like Violette, she was a bit nosy but gave great advice and seemed to understand him. She had become someone he cared about, someone he considered his friend. And Harlan might be a jerk to most people, but he was loyal to his friends.

He found her sitting on the ground, wearing a shattered dress and staring at the sky longingly. 

For a second, he thought she had no idea he was there, but she spoke soon enough "The stars are so beautiful." Every word came out of her mouth like a beautiful symphony, every word adorned by her accent. "Don't you think, Harlan?"

She looked like a painting, her beauty was eternal and royal in every way. Her presence was soothing but commanding at the same time, he knew she could manipulate anyone and kill them after she was done, she had done so before. But she looked so defenseless that day, she looked lost.

He rushed over to her, checking for any wounds but the only trace of something being wrong was the state of her makeup and dress. Combined with the awful smell of sulfur. "Are you okay?" her eyes were puffy and judging by that and the state of her makeup she looked like she had been crying.

"Diana sent you for me?" she asked, avoiding the question "Is she alright? I made sure to push her back to her body before Andras could detect too much of her." Harlan's whole world came crashing down. He was so full of dread he actually had to hold on to a tree to find his footing. Andras, the demon. The Lord, the murderer.

"Andras?" He was mad, furious. "How did you get involved with one of the lords of hell?" he almost yelled at her, he wanted to shake her out of that dazed state, to ask her a million questions. 

Andras was bad, one of the worst, he'd heard. He was impatient, smart, and direct. A creature not even witches summoned because of how dangerous he was. He was even dangerous to other demons, he was unstable and bloodthirsty. This was bad.

"Andras is a friend," she said still looking up at the stars "We've known each other for five hundred years" she sighed "But he is a demon after all, he can not be trusted, especially because my father likes using people I love against me." Love? Was there something there? He knew better than to ask, right now he had to get her out of there. But there was one thing more important.

"Did he see Diana? Did he ask about her?" If he did he had to make sure to teach her about ways to protect herself from them. Though Andras was such a powerful demon it would take a literal angel to destroy him. And he wasn't even sure those existed.

"I was hiding her but I got... distracted" She looked at him, finally "but he didn't ask about her, I got her out of there before he could." He let out a breath he hadn't even noticed he was holding.

"So you have one of the lords of hell coming after you, great," he said as he helped her to her feet "You haven't answered my question."

He didn't have to repeat himself, she knew which question she avoided "Why do you ask questions you know the answer to?" she responded and he hugged her, it was all he could think of doing. "Let go of me, you smell like a wet dog." She tried being funny but he didn't laugh.

"Are you going to survive?" he asked.

"Yes, but only because I offered something he wants more than anything," she said taking a deep breath. Harlan waited for her to keep going but she didn't.

"What does he want more than anything?"

"Her," Violette said looking at the sky. Harlan analyzed her for a moment, making sure she wasn't out of her mind. 

"Who?" she didn't say anything so he gave up, helping her walk back to the mansion.

There she stood still staring at the ceiling any chance she got.

____

Harlan went to her room to see if she was okay when she heard her talking to someone.

"Leave," she said, her voice tired.

"Not until you tell me what happened" his friend's voice echoed around the wooden room.

"Blaze, please, I'm tired," she said, this time she wasn't in the mood to fight with him.

"You have bruises around your neck, who did that?" He seemed angry, but this time not at her. Harlan had no idea she had bruises around her neck. It was weird because vampires healed fast, but when it came to the lords of hell, he had no idea what exactly they were capable of.

"Please leave Blaze." She looked at the ground, she was begging at this point. Blaze should leave, he should barge in and tell Blaze to leave. But something told him to wait, to hold on for a second, if only because he wanted to see how this would end up.

"Vi," he said, Harlan was sure he had never called her that before. "Something happened, you need to talk to someone or it's going to eat you up."

"I think she's dead" her voice broke "My mother... I think he killed her."

Harlan thought he shouldn't be listening to this anymore. She had every chance to say that information to him but chose not to. For some reason, she chose Blaze, which confused him, he thought they hated each other.

So he left. 

And Blaze never did.