DAMIEN'S POV
I wanted to destroy him.
Not just Julian, the sniveling coward shivering behind the iron bars, but the very memory of him inside Blair's head. I wanted to overwrite every soft word he had ever whispered to her with my own dark commands. I wanted her to see, in the most visceral way possible, that she belonged to a King now, not a servant.
As I pressed her against the cold bars of the cell, my hands marking her skin, I felt a surge of triumph. Julian's face was a mask of agony, his eyes filled with a helpless, pathetic rage as he watched me claim what was mine.
"Look at her, mortal," I hissed, my lips dragging over the sensitive skin of Blair's shoulder. "Look at the woman you thought you could steal from me."
Blair was breathless, her body arched into mine, her moans echoing through the damp stone corridors of the dungeon. She was burning—literally. Her skin felt hotter than usual, a feverish glow that I attributed to the passion of the moment. I felt the familiar pull of her essence, that golden, intoxicating nectar that was starting to mend the cracks in my soul.
But then, something went wrong.
One moment she was clinging to me, her fingers digging into my shoulders, and the next, her body went rigid. A sharp, guttural gasp escaped her lips—not of pleasure, but of pure, agonizing pain.
"Blair?" I pulled back, my grip tightening on her waist.
Her eyes rolled back, her pupils fluttering. Suddenly, her muscles began to seize. A violent tremor racked her fragile frame, and she collapsed against my chest, her limbs twitching in a terrifying, rhythmic convulsion.
"Blair!" I roared, the sound shaking the very foundations of the dungeon.
Julian screamed from behind the bars, his hands reaching through the gaps. "What are you doing to her?! You're killing her, you monster!"
I ignored him, my heart—the cold stone I thought would never beat again—jolting with a sickening fear. I swept her up into my arms, her body still seizing, her breath coming in shallow, ragged hitches. The scent of wilting lilies was gone, replaced by the sharp, metallic tang of a heart that was finally giving up.
I didn't walk; I vanished into the shadows, reappearing in the Crimson Chamber. I laid her on the bed, my hands trembling as I tried to stabilize her. I poured my own essence into her, a desperate stream of dark magic intended to force her heart to keep beating.
Not yet. You don't get to leave me yet.
Hours passed in a blur of darkness and desperation. I watched her, my eyes never leaving her pale face. The seizure had stopped, but she remained in a deep, death-like coma. Her fever was still raging, her skin so hot it almost burned my touch.
And then, she spoke.
Her lips parted, a faint, broken whisper escaping into the quiet room. I leaned in, my heart leaping with a hope I hated. I expected her to say my name. I expected her to call for her King.
"Julian..." she whimpered. Her head tossed on the pillow, tears leaking from the corners of her closed eyes. "Julian... don't leave me... save me..."
The silence that followed was more deafening than a scream.
I stood up, the shadows in the room erupting in a violent swirl of jealousy and rage. I had given her my blood. I had given her my bed. I had protected her from the Council. And in her darkest hour, she called for a coward who had abandoned her.
I left the room, my footsteps heavy with a murderous intent. I went back to the dungeons. I didn't care about the guards; I didn't care about the laws. I ripped the iron door of Julian's cell off its hinges and dragged him out by his throat.
"Tell me," I growled, pinning him against the wall, my fangs fully extended, my eyes glowing a demonic red. "What did you do to her? She called for you. Even in her sleep, she calls for you."
Julian gasped for air, a bloody smirk forming on his lips. "I told you, monster. Her family didn't just break her heart. They sealed it. The only reason she's alive right now is because of the bond we shared. Your dark magic is poison to her. The more you touch her, the faster she dies."
"You lie," I hissed, my grip tightening until I heard his neck bones creak.
"Am I?" Julian laughed, a jagged, desperate sound. "Why do you think she's calling for me? She knows. Her soul knows that I am the only one who can break the seal. You're just a predator feeding on a dying star. If you keep her here, by Day Ten, you won't have a sacrifice. You'll have a corpse."
I threw him back into the cell, the force of it cracking the stone wall. I wanted to kill him. I wanted to drain him until he was nothing but a husk. But I couldn't. Because if there was even a one-percent chance that he was telling the truth… if he was the only way to save her…
I stood there, a King of Shadows, feeling more powerless than I had in a thousand years.
I went back to the chamber and sat by her side. I took her hand—so small, so cold now—and pressed it to my face.
"You called his name, Blair," I whispered, my voice thick with a pain I refused to acknowledge. "But I am the one holding you. I am the one who will fight Death for you."
I looked at the clock. Day Three was ending. Seven days left.
I didn't know if I was her savior or her executioner. But as I watched her sleep, her lips still ghosting that other man's name, I knew one thing for certain:
I would rather destroy the world than let her go back to him.