Damned by Him

Saline did not waste another moment after Christophine disappeared into the forest, because although she had finally regained enough freedom to move through Rosaline’s body without the constant interference of the witch’s presence, she could still feel Rosaline stirring somewhere beneath her consciousness, faintly but persistently, like a voice knocking from behind a locked door, and Saline knew that if she intended to accomplish what she had returned for, she could not afford to allow the rightful owner of the body to wake before she was finished.

She stood beneath the towering trees for a moment, her silver-white hair moving gently against her back as the wind passed through the forest, and then she slowly lifted her hand, her fingers curling as she summoned a fragment of magic from the air.

"Come to me," she murmured, her eyes narrowing as she concentrated on the one person she needed to find.

For several seconds, nothing happened, but Saline remained patient, keeping her palm open while the ancient magic gathered gradually around her fingers, until a faint silver mist began twisting between her knuckles before condensing into a small, shimmering sphere, and when she closed her hand around it, the image of a black coat flashed through her mind.

Xandros’ coat.

Anything he had carried close to his body would retain enough of his magical imprint to serve as a link.

"Let’s see where you’ve run off to," she whispered, her expression becoming almost amused as she stretched her fingers forward and allowed the magic to seek the object she needed.

The spell answered almost immediately.

A faint ripple passed through the air, and then a piece of black fabric materialized above her palm before settling gently against her skin, carrying with it the unmistakable residue of Xandros’ presence.

Saline looked down at it for a moment before bringing it closer to her face, allowing the magic embedded within the fabric to settle against her senses, and almost instantly she felt the familiar darkness attached to him, cold and powerful and unmistakable, stretching somewhere beyond the forest.

"There you are," she murmured, a knowing smile appearing on her lips as she closed her fingers around the fabric and began following the magical thread it revealed.

The journey took her farther from the place she was than she had expected, through dense woodland where the trees grew so closely together that the afternoon sunlight struggled to reach the forest floor, and by the time the magical trail finally led her onto a narrow road, Saline had already realized that Xandros had gone somewhere deliberately hidden.

At the end of the road stood an old motel surrounded by trees, its faded sign hanging crookedly above the entrance while the dim windows gave the building an abandoned appearance, but Saline knew better because the moment she stepped through the doorway, she felt the presence of vampires surrounding her.

Several creatures sitting throughout the dim lounge slowly turned their heads in her direction, their eyes briefly flashing crimson before they recognized the face she wore, and although some seemed curious, none of them approached her because there was something about the woman standing before them that made even creatures accustomed to darkness instinctively cautious.

Saline ignored them all.

She followed the lingering trace of Xandros’ magic down the corridor until she reached a closed door, and after staring at it for a moment, she pushed it open without bothering to knock.

The room was dim, the curtains pulled tightly across the windows, and the metallic scent of blood still lingered faintly in the air, but the body of the woman Xandros had fed upon was nowhere to be seen, clearly removed by the motel’s staff before Saline arrived.

Xandros sat on the edge of the bed with his elbows resting against his knees, his fingers loosely intertwined as though he had been lost in thought, but the moment he heard the door close, his head lifted, and Saline immediately noticed the most striking thing about him.

His eyes were completely black.

Not grey.

Not red.

Black.

The corruption had swallowed the natural colour of his eyes entirely, leaving behind an unnerving darkness that should have been frightening, yet there was something almost playful in the way he looked at her.

A slow smile curved across his lips.

"Well, well, if it isn’t Saline," he drawled, his voice carrying an almost lazy amusement as he leaned back against the mattress and looked her over with deliberate interest.

Saline shut the door behind her and folded her arms across her chest, giving him a long, unimpressed look before replying, "Good to see you again."

Her tone was so flat that Xandros immediately recognized the sarcasm.

His smile widened as he tilted his head slightly. "That didn’t sound very sincere."

"It wasn’t," Saline replied, her eyes travelling over his disheveled appearance before settling on his black eyes, and the faint curl of her lips suggested that she found his condition more irritating than frightening.

Xandros gave a quiet laugh as he leaned forward, resting his forearms against his thighs while studying her face. "You travelled all the way here just to tell me that?"

"No," Saline answered, taking several slow steps toward him as her expression hardened. "I travelled all the way here because you are doing a woeful job of keeping the person you claim to love alive."

For a brief moment, Xandros’ amusement disappeared, but it returned almost immediately as he leaned farther back and gave her an incredulous look. "That’s what you came here to talk about?"

"Among other things," Saline replied, her fingers tightening slightly against her arms as she looked at him.

He laughed again, the sound deeper this time, and then he slowly rose from the bed, his towering figure casting a shadow across the floor as he approached her. "You’re still talking too much."

"And you’re still pretending you’re in control."

His smile became sharper.

"Maybe I am."

Saline’s eyes narrowed as she looked directly into his black eyes. "Look at yourself, Xandros."

He stopped in front of her, lowering his head slightly so that their gazes were level.

"What about me?" he asked, his voice deceptively innocent as one corner of his mouth lifted.

"Are you really the same person you were before?" Saline asked, and she raised one hand toward his face without touching him, gesturing toward the darkness consuming his eyes. "Because from where I’m standing, you look like someone who has lost control and decided to enjoy it."

Xandros chuckled beneath his breath as he leaned slightly closer. "And you came all this way to lecture me?"

"I came because Rosaline doesn’t deserve what you’re becoming."

His expression shifted.

"Don’t talk about her."

Saline’s eyes sharpened.

"Why?"

"Because you don’t know what happened."

"I know enough," she replied, and her voice became quieter as she stepped closer. "I know she was afraid of you."

The teasing expression disappeared completely from Xandros’ face.

For several seconds, he simply stared at her.

Saline watched the change carefully before continuing, "You frightened her, and now you’re standing here pretending that the only thing wrong with you is hunger."

His fingers curled slowly at his sides.

"You weren’t there."

"No," Saline agreed, her gaze never leaving his face, "but I know you."

Something almost bitter passed through Xandros’ expression before he laughed softly, although the amusement no longer reached his eyes.

"You don’t know me."

"I know you’re terrified of losing her."

His eyes narrowed.

"And instead of dealing with that fear, you let your corruption turn it into anger."

Xandros looked away for a moment, his jaw tightening as though she had struck somewhere he had tried desperately to keep hidden, but when he looked back at her, the familiar teasing expression had returned.

"You’re very observant," he murmured, his gaze drifting over her face. "I almost missed having you around."

Saline gave him a disgusted look. "You’re flirting with me."

"Perhaps," he answered, his smile becoming deliberately provocative as he took another step toward her. "You haven’t complained about it yet."

"I was considering ripping your tongue out."

"That sounds violent."

"It was meant to."

He laughed.

For a moment, the tension between them became almost strangely playful, but Saline knew better than to mistake it for harmlessness.

The corruption was talking through him.

It was taking his anger and turning it into arrogance, his fear into aggression, and his natural restraint into something reckless.

"You aren’t the same man," she said quietly.

Xandros’ smile faded.

"Neither are you."

The words made Saline still.

His black eyes studied her face.

"You’re wearing her body."

Saline’s expression hardened.

"And you’re losing your mind."

"Maybe," he admitted, and the faint smile returned as he leaned closer. "But at least I know who I am."

Saline’s gaze sharpened.

"Do you?"

Before she could say anything else, she moved.

Her hand shot toward him, but Xandros reacted instantly.

His fingers caught her wrist before she could reach him, and with one swift movement he pulled her toward him, causing her body to collide against his chest before his other hand caught her waist.

Saline barely had time to react before Xandros twisted them sideways and they fell onto the bed together.

The mattress sank beneath their weight, and Saline found herself beneath him, one of his hands planted beside her head while the other still held her wrist.

Xandros looked down at her, his black eyes glinting with amusement.

"What exactly were you trying to do?" he asked, and his voice carried that same irritating teasing quality as though the situation amused him more than it concerned him.

Saline stared up at him without the slightest hint of embarrassment.

"Nothing."

His brow lifted.

"Nothing?"

"That’s what I said."

Xandros leaned closer, his expression becoming suspicious as his dark gaze searched hers. "You travelled through half the forest, tracked me using my own clothing, walked into a vampire sanctuary, entered my room without knocking, and then tried to touch me."

His smile widened.

"And you’re telling me you wanted nothing?"

Saline’s lips curved faintly.

"You’re asking too many questions."

"You’re avoiding the answer."

He lowered his face slightly, his voice becoming softer.

"So tell me."

Saline held his gaze for several seconds before quietly answering, "I’m here to fix you."

The amusement disappeared from his face.

"What?"

Saline suddenly pressed her free palm against his chest.

The reaction was immediate.

Xandros’ entire body stiffened as a violent surge of magic erupted beneath her hand, and his black eyes widened when he felt something inside him being pulled toward her.

"What are you doing?" he demanded, his fingers tightening around her wrist as he tried to move away.

Saline’s expression hardened as she held him firmly in place.

"I’m taking it."

"What?"

"The corruption."

The word had barely left her mouth when the darkness beneath his skin began to move.

Black energy spread outward from the point where her palm touched his chest, twisting beneath his skin like living smoke before being dragged toward Saline’s hand.

Xandros’ breath caught.

"Stop."

Saline shook her head.

"You can’t control it."

"I can."

"No," she replied, and her eyes narrowed as she pulled harder. "You’ve convinced yourself you can."

The corruption surged violently.

Xandros’ black eyes flickered.

For the first time, the playful expression vanished completely.

"Saline."

His voice carried a warning.

She ignored it.

The darkness began pouring into her body.

She could feel it immediately.

The anger.

The hunger.

The fear.

The desperate need to protect Rosaline that had been twisted into something possessive and dangerous.

All of it came rushing into her.

Xandros’ eyes suddenly flashed crimson.

Then black.

Then crimson again.

His fingers dug into the mattress as his body trembled beneath the force of the magic.

"What are you doing to me?" he demanded through clenched teeth, his breathing becoming increasingly strained.

"I’m removing what is poisoning you," Saline answered, although her own voice had begun to weaken as the sheer amount of corruption entering her became more than she had anticipated.

"You’ll kill yourself."

"Perhaps."

Her lips tightened.

"But if I don’t do this, you’ll kill her."

Xandros froze.

His black eyes stared into hers.

For one moment, something of the real Xandros appeared beneath the corruption.

Then the darkness surged again.

Saline’s body shook.

Too much.

There was too much.

She had underestimated how deeply the corruption had rooted itself inside him.

Still, she refused to release it.

"Come on," she whispered, her fingers trembling against his chest as she forced more of the darkness into herself. "Give it to me."

Xandros’ eyes flickered violently between black and crimson.

His breathing grew heavier.

Then suddenly, the blackness began retreating.

His eyes settled into crimson.

The corruption had finally been torn away.

But Saline had taken too much.

Her vision blurred.

Her fingers loosened.

Xandros immediately noticed the change.

"Saline?"

She tried to answer.

Nothing came.

Her body suddenly went limp beneath him.

Xandros caught her before she could slide from the bed, staring down at her with an expression that had lost every trace of amusement.

"Saline."

Her eyelashes trembled.

Then her eyes opened.

Confused.

Rosaline.

She stared at him, her breathing shallow as her mind struggled to understand why she was lying beneath Xandros and why his face was hovering so close to hers.

Her gaze travelled upward.

His eyes were red.

Not black.

Red.

Her lips parted in confusion.

"Xandros...?"

He stared down at her, completely still.

Rosaline’s memories began returning in fragments.

The mansion.

The argument.

The revelation.

The vampire.

His hunger.

Her fear.

Her eyes widened.

Then her body could no longer withstand the shock.

Her vision blurred.

The last thing she saw was Xandros’ crimson eyes staring down at her as darkness slowly swallowed her consciousness.

And then she fainted.

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