Chapter 8

Darkness. Heavy and suffocating. A faint water drip echoes in silence. Veronica stirs, a spear of pain lancing through her skull, her eyes blinking against the dim, flickering glare of torches along the stone walls. Chains jangle as she attempts to twist her wrists tethered, pulled overhead. Chill metal presses against her skin. A sudden wave of panic sweeps over her. A shadow moves. Then a voice, low and amused. UNKNOWN FIGURE (whispering, cruel): Finally awake. Veronica struggles against the bonds, her pulse a wild drumbeat in her ears. Footsteps echo as the figure draws near and steps into the torchlight. A man. Wrapped in black, his face covered by a hood, but his red eyes shine through the dark. A slow smile twists his lips. UNKNOWN FIGURE (whispering): You don't know who you are, do you? Veronica glares, her body tense even as her limbs protest. VERONICA (raspy, defiant): Go to hell. The figure chuckles, running a gloved finger down her cheek. She jerks away but has nowhere to go. UNKNOWN FIGURE (low, taunting): You’ll plead before this night is through. Damien kneels across the chamber, wrists shackled, heavy chains binding his arms behind his back. Blood oozes from his lip, his shirt shredded to reveal gaping wounds across his torso. His head is lowered, but his golden eyes flicker with rage. His body shakes not with pain, but with fury. “Come on,” Veronica coaxes, and the cloaked figure steps closer to her, their fingers brushing against her bare skin. A growl lumbers out from deep in his chest. Primal. Possessive. DAMIEN (guttural): Touch her again, and I’ll eat your throat. The being looks over, a flash of the positive, rehearsed impatience in those otherworldly eyes. UNKNOWN FIGURE (smirking): You’re not in a position to make threats. Damien pulls at the chains that bind him, muscles taut, teeth bared. But the metal screams under pressure of his own power. UNKNOWN FIGURE (smiling, to Veronica): Watch him. See how he struggles for you. How he burns for you. The figure steps closer, leaning into Veronica and taking a deep breath near her neck. Damien's roar shakes the walls. The chains break. In an instant, Damien is in motion. Claws bite into the figure's throat, teeth exposed as he rips them from Veronica. The hooded man snarls, punching a fist into Damien's ribs, but Damien doesn't falter. He flings the figure across the room, bones snapping on impact. Damien half-shifted and turned to Veronica, and she gazed. His former clawed fingers shake as he holds her face, eyes wide and feral, frantic. DAMIEN (gruff, desperate): Did they hurt you? No, she shakes her head; she is made of air. And then his lips crash into hers. Darkness. Heavy and suffocating. A gasp, cutting enough to cut through the silence. Veronica's eyes fly open, agony stabbing through her skull. She tastes blood in her mouth. Her wrists are still bound, her body still battered from the brutality of the previous assault. The air is heavy, heavy with dark energy. Something stirs close by. A groan. She rolls her head. Damien is thrashing on the chill stone floor, his body wracked, lungs spasming. Glossy blue-black veins crawled up his arms, a sickly light throbbing just beneath his skin. VERONICA (whispers, desperate): Damien? He lets out a low growl, but his golden eyes remain closed and his body tenses. The curse deepens, devouring him. UNKNOWN FIGURE (laughing, amused): He is resisting. But it will not matter. Veronica's head snaps up. The hooded figure looms over them, red eyes glinting. Dark energy twists in their hand, a living shadow that squirms and thumps. UNKNOWN FIGURE (smiling): By dawn, he's ours. A chill of terror washes over her, but beneath it, anger. A seething, burning rage. VERONICA (standing up to them, her voice shaking) You do not own him. You don't own me. The figure tilts their head, curious. And then, with a flick of fingers, pain flashes through her veins. She cries out as her back arches against the cold stone, her body shuddering with unseen flames. UNKNOWN FIGURE (soft, relish) Oh, yes, I do. Damien stirs. A snarl rips from his throat when eyes open black, brimmed with unblemished hunger and pain. Not golden. Not his. Veronica freezes. VERONICA (under her breath, terrified): No… Damien stalks, slow and predatory, his lips curling into a sick smile. His chains shatter from his wrists as if they were strands of thread. When he speaks, his voice is a distorted echo of itself. DAMIEN (low, spooky): You must run. Veronica's heartbeat pounds in her ears. But she doesn't budge. She won't abandon him. UNKNOWN FIGURE (smiling): Yes… yield to it. Damien pushes out his claws, long, energy flowing massively through his body. But then A flicker. His breath catches. His hands shake. It's still a wedge, his jaw clenching in combat against himself. A combat against the dark and a man she loves. And then He roars. Damien attacks not at her, not at the figure but at himself, tearing at his own chest, ripping flesh. Shadows burst from his body, screaming and struggling as he tries to fight free of their grasp. UNKNOWN FIGURE (snapping, enraged): NO! The air bursts. Raw energy blasts through the room, and Veronica is flung to the floor of the forest. The body is flung back, its hood slipping away to show a face twisted with fury, pale complexion, dark markings, and eyes brimming with endless black nothing. Damien falls to his knees, gasping, drenched in sweat and blood, but his golden eyes his true eyes fix on Veronica's. DAMIEN (hoarse, fractured): Run. Now. The room trembles. Rocks splinter. Something far worse roils beneath them. UNKNOWN FIGURE (snarling): You think you won? This is only the start. This time, Veronica doesn't wait. She flings herself at Damien, holding his face, forcing him to see her. VERONICA (breathless, frantic) We go. Together. He nods, weak but resolute. A growl. The walls crack. The shadows intensify. They run. Raw. Desperate. Claiming. She melts into it, into him, her body arcing into his as his hands close around her thighs, lifting her against the stone wall. The heat between them is suffocating as he breaths hot against her throat. But the threat isn't done. The hooded figure behind them bursts, eyes burning with something greater than anger. UNKNOWN FIGURE (hissing): You are going to pay for this. With a flick of their wrist, a blast of dark energy erupts from their palm and blindsides Damien. He bursts forward, his body crashing into Veronica, pinning her against the wall. Agony rips through him as the dark magic marks his skin, a curse the magic stinks within him, that causes his body to twist in pain. Veronica says his name, but her voice is lost amidst the figure's laughter. UNKNOWN FIGURE (smiling coldly): You think love's going to save you? Foolish. Veronica's vision goes to blurs as something hard thuds against the back of her skull. Darkness engulfs her completely.