Chapter 89: Lover’s Cave
Saline held her breath as the heavy stone door slowly creaked open, Her heart pounded violently against her ribs.
The first figure to step inside was a young woman she had never seen before.
Saline unconsciously let out the breath she had been holding.
Thank goodness...
For a split second, she thought Selene had returned.
But the relief died almost instantly.
Another figure appeared from behind the woman.
Xandros.
The moment he stepped into the cave, Saline’s body stiffened.
Something...
Something was terribly wrong.
His crimson eyes burned with an unnatural intensity, far brighter than the last time she had seen him. His fangs protruded fully from beneath his lips without the slightest attempt to conceal them, and a suffocating aura clung to him like darkness given form.
He looked dangerous.
Monstrously dangerous.
Yet beneath those blood-red eyes...
She saw exhaustion.
His gaze was sharp, but strangely empty at the same time, as though he had crossed a line he could never return from.
He took a slow step toward her.
Instinctively...
Saline stepped back.
The movement made Xandros pause.
One elegant brow lifted slightly.
"Are you alright?"
His voice was unusually soft, so soft that it almost didn’t match the terrifying appearance before her.
Saline blinked rapidly, forcing back the tears threatening to spill.
She nodded.
"I’m... fine."
The words came out much weaker than she intended.
"I need to go to my aunt."She said, her voice was barely above a whisper.
Without waiting for his response, she hurried past him, keeping as much distance between them as possible.
Every instinct screamed at her to leave.
Just as she reached the doorway,
"You can go freely."
His calm voice echoed behind her.
Saline stopped for the briefest moment.
She had expected him to stop her.
Instead...
He had simply let her leave.
Confused, she continued walking.
The cave stretched endlessly before her, illuminated only by flickering torches mounted along the damp stone walls.
Her thoughts became a tangled mess.
If... he came to save me...
Then why did Lord Morvane tell Selene that it was his own son who helped capture me?
Nothing made sense anymore.
Still lost in thought, she unknowingly drifted toward the cave wall.
She braced herself for the painful impact,—but it never came.
Instead...
Something warm stopped her and she slowly opened her eyes.
A large hand rested between her forehead and the stone wall.
Xandros.
He had caught her before she collided with it.
His arm remained beside her head, shielding her from the impact.
His crimson eyes quietly watched her.
"Be careful."
His deep voice carried neither mockery nor annoyance.
Only concern.
Saline immediately stepped backward, increasing the distance between them once again.
"T-Thank you."
Her words were almost inaudible.
Xandros simply lowered his hand.
Neither of them spoke again.
She turned away and continued toward the cave’s exit.
Fresh air greeted her the moment she reached the entrance.
But before she could take another step,
She froze.
The world around her seemed to stop.
Two bodies lay motionless on the ground.
Blood covered the earth beneath them, forming dark crimson pools that had yet to dry.
Saline’s breathing hitched.
She recognized them immediately.
Selene.
And...
Lord Morvane.
Selene’s once beautiful face had frozen into an expression of utter disbelief.
Her green eyes stared lifelessly toward the heavens.
Beside her...
Lord Morvane’s body looked far worse.
His chest had been torn open.
A horrifying hole remained where his heart should have been.
It had been ripped out.
Saline’s stomach twisted violently.
She couldn’t breathe.
Just as terror threatened to overwhelm her, warm darkness covered her eyes.
A large hand gently blocked her view and she immediately knew whose hand it was.
Her body instinctively tensed beneath his touch.
"Don’t stain your eyes with such filth..."
Xandros murmured quietly beside her ear."...My dear."
His other hand rested lightly against the small of her back, carefully guiding her away from the gruesome sight.
His movements were impossibly gentle.
As though she were something precious.
Something fragile.
Xandros noticed how rigid she had become beneath his touch.
He felt the fear in the way her body refused to relax.
He knew she was afraid of him.
Perhaps...
She should be.
But none of that mattered.
She was alive, safe probably not sound.
And that was enough for him.
Earlier...
The moment Xandros discovered that his father had orchestrated Saline’s disappearance...
Something inside him snapped.
The last thread restraining the darkness within him finally broke.
He had ignored the warning signs for too long.
Ignored the whispers beneath his skin, the corruption clawing at his mind.
But now...
His father had touched the one person he had sworn to protect.
That...
He would never take.
Without wasting another second, Xandros returned to the Vampire Kingdom.
He didn’t bother hiding his presence.
Servants quickly scattered from his path the moment they sensed the murderous aura radiating from him.
His destination was clear.
Lord Morvane’s private chamber.
He reached the enormous black doors only to find someone already waiting.
Silas.
The irritating bastard.
Of all people...It had to be him.
Silas folded his arms across his chest.
"His Lordship instructed that no one is to enter."
"I need to speak with him."
Xandros’ voice remained calm.
Far too calm.
"It’s urgent."
Silas didn’t move.
"You’ll have to wait until Lord Morvane returns."
A vein pulsed visibly against Xandros’ forehead.
He slowly inhaled.
Then exhaled.
"I won’t repeat myself."
Silas smirked.
"And I won’t repeat my answer."
Silence.
The air around them suddenly became unbearably heavy.
Even the torches lining the hallway flickered violently.
Xandros slowly lifted his gaze.
His crimson eyes met Silas’.
"Tell me..."His voice became unnaturally low."...where he is."
Silas laughed....A loud, mocking laugh.
"You think you can command m—"
His words abruptly stopped.
The amusement disappeared from his face, His pupils shrank.
His smile slowly faded.
"No..."
His voice trembled.
"...That’s impossible."
His body refused to obey him.
His knees weakened, breathing became erratic.
He was being compelled.
"But..."
Silas struggled desperately against the invisible force crushing his will.
"You... can’t..."
"Only..."Blood suddenly trickled from his nose."...except..."
His eyes widened with horrifying realization.
"The... First..."
More blood poured from his nose.
Then his ears.
Then...
His eyes.
His entire body trembled violently as he desperately resisted.
But it was useless.
No vampire could withstand the command of one whose blood stood above theirs.
Not forever.
Xandros’ expression never changed.
"Where."
Silas finally broke.
"The... Lovers’ Cave..."
He gasped painfully.
"In... the western forest..."
The words had barely left his mouth before he collapsed onto the marble floor.
Blood continued flowing from his eyes as unconsciousness claimed him.
Xandros didn’t spare him another glance.
He already knew enough.
The Lovers’ Cave.
The very place where his father had first met his mother.
The place Lord Morvane had once called sacred.
A bitter laugh escaped Xandros’ lips.
"So..."
"That’s where you’ve been hiding her."
His eyes darkened.
His father had turned the place that symbolized love...
Into a prison.
And to make matters worse...
He had allowed a fucking witch to remain there.
The corruption inside Xandros surged violently.
His fangs extended further and his vision blurred crimson.
He no longer cared.
Whether he had to slaughter every living soul inside that cave...
Or stain his own hands with his father’s blood...only one thing mattered.
He was going to bring Saline home.
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