Chương 49: Conflict
Waking up was getting harder for Damien. It was so easy to stay in the gentle blackness of unconsciousness, and so painful and exhausting to be awake. His body hurt in places he hadn't known existed, his muscles screamed to be allowed to move from their locked positions. The restraints held him almost immobile, and he was beginning to fear that even if Crowe unlocked his arms and legs, the muscles would be so stiff from their confinement that he wouldn't be able to move them enough to drag himself away from this horrible place.
All this was misery enough to keep him hoping for the sweet embrace of unconsciousness. But then there was the fear, the nagging thought that this time, for sure, the vampire's bite would take, and Damien would end up either mated or enthralled. He wasn't sure which would be worse. He hadn't wanted to be bound to a vampire at all, but he was starting to see why the Cain fanclub were so ardent in their admiration. If this was what they were accustomed to dealing with, some vampire who just killed people occasionally and didn't seem to particularly enjoy the murders was probably like a breath of fresh air. It was a matter of comparison, and anyone would seem amazing when they were standing beside a monster like Crowe.
Then, he heard a hearty thump impact against the door that Crowe usually came through, and he frowned despite himself, peeling one eye open to see what was happening. He managed to focus his blurry vision just in time to see the door fly open, and a disheveled Cain stumble through the doorway.
Despite himself, Damien felt awash with relief at the sight of the vampire. He still hated him, but it was a sort of familiar hatred, not one that was tightly intertwined with fear for his life, or a deep suspicion that he might lose his free will and sanity to the vampire before him. Cain was awful, yes, but he wasn't cruel. And as much as Damien hated to admit it, he was glad to see him. He didn't bother trying to say anything, though. He didn't even keep his eye open, instead letting his eye drift shut once more.
He heard the vampire approach, his footsteps soft and almost unsure. Damien wondered if it was Cain's first time being in this room. If maybe this was the sort of place that terrified thralls talked about in whispers, but a place that wasn't typically open and welcoming to other vampires. He'd thought that vampires needed an invitation to enter a place, but maybe that rule only applied to non-vampires.
Even as he thought it, though, he felt a cold chill run down his spine. Surely Crowe wasn't that stupid. He had some sort of reason for allowing Cain into this place.
The vampire's footsteps paused right beside Damien, and he felt the soft brush of gentle fingers on his arm. It seemed like he was inspecting the shackles on Damien's wrists, trying to see how to unlock them.
"I have the key," came a slow drawl from near the doorway.
Instinctively, Damien's eyes flew open and he stared up, over Cain's shoulder, at Crowe, who was leaning one shoulder against the frame of the door, pointedly ignoring the splintered wood where the lock had been kicked out.
Cain stood frozen, his fingers still resting lightly on Damien's left shackle.
"Isn't it against the rules," Crowe purred, taking one step into the room, and then another, "to steal another vampire's thrall?"
"Not if you're simply reclaiming what's yours," Cain said, his voice low and carefully controlled. He still hadn't moved his hand, the coolness of his fingers on Damien's wrist almost like a soothing balm against his chafed skin. "There's precedent."
"I'm sure Lord Solveig will be very interested to hear all about your precedent," Crowe hissed. "Let us go now and tell him about it."
"I'd rather have the key and be done with it," Cain answered, finally turning around to face the other vampire, his voice deceptively calm and casual. But Damien had seen the look of mild panic in his eyes, even if no one else would have recognized it. Cain was afraid, and Damien didn't like that one bit. Cain was aloof and haughty, he pretended to be stronger than he really was, and acted like he was totally fine when Damien knew, he knew there was something wrong. And this Cain looked even worse than he had the last time Damien had seen him.
Not as bad as Damien himself was, of course, but the fact remained that there was something deeply wrong with Cain, and the look in his eyes confirmed for Damien that he knew it, too. He knew that he wasn't going to be able to fight Crowe.
But if he knew all that, then why had he come in the first place?
Damien tried to focus, staring at Crowe for a long moment before allowing his gaze to turn back to Cain, who was standing between him and Crowe like his body was a shield and not a minor inconvenience to a vampire as strong as the one who had designed this horrible place.
"You want the key?" Crowe smirked, reaching into his coat, and withdrew something small that glinted faintly in the firelight of the wall sconce. "Take it." He tossed the key to Cain, who snatched it from the air with apparent ease.
Damien felt deeply confused. Why would Crowe give Cain the key?
"It won't do you any good," Crowe said, even as Cain turned and unlocked the first shackle, helping Damien ease his arm down.
The pain was more immense than he expected as the strained muscles moved again for the first time in 4 days. For a minute, Damien toyed with unconsciousness once more, but he wanted to know what was happening, why Crowe would let Cain release him from his bindings.
"What makes you say that?" Cain asked, even as he moved to unlock Damien's other arm. When it was released from the wall, he had to splay a hand over Damien's chest to keep him from falling forward - his legs were still pinned to the wall and Damien wasn't quite sure how to keep his balance with his arms released but his feet caught in one spot. Fortunately, Cain seemed to recognize this, holding Damien against the wall as he crouched to unlock the first of the ankle restraints, too.
"Because I've been feeding from him for days," Crowe said. "Do you think whatever fragile thrall you had over him will be enough to convince him to follow you? If I command it, he will stay here, no matter what you do to persuade him otherwise."
Damien felt his eyes widen a little at the thought. Crowe was so confident in the fact that he could enthrall his victims that he was letting Cain set him free? The man must believe in the prison of the mind far more than that of the body. For half a second, Damien wondered if the vampire knew something he didn't. If perhaps Crowe had really enthralled him, and Damien was just too tired and stupid and hurt to realize it.
But if he were enthralled, surely he would crave the bite by now? Wouldn't he want to be near Crowe, instead of hating him so indelibly, and wanting nothing more than to get away from him as soon as possible? He didn't even feel any pull towards him as a mate, even though the man had bitten his neck countless times by now. The blood was all dried up, his cuts and scrapes scabbed over after several hours by himself. But he knew that all it would take was a little provocation for the blood to begin trickling again.
He wondered, vaguely, if that would bother Cain at all. He thought he remembered Grace saying something about how Cain refused to feed directly from a thrall. Not that Damien was worried about that - he never wanted to receive a vampire's bite ever again, not if he had a say in the matter.
"I think you underestimate him," Cain replied, unlocking the second shackle and standing up, easing Damien away from the wall only after wrapping one arm around his torso. It put a bit of pressure on his cracked ribs, causing him to hiss in pain, and Cain paused for a moment to look at him.
After a few shallow breaths, Damien nodded that he was all right and ready to move. Cain helped him step forward. One foot, then the other, and then they were both approaching Crowe, only a few steps between them.
Then, Crowe spoke, his voice layered with power and a thick, sickly sort of magic. It coated the air with a sticky sweetness, like his voice had been dunked in honey. But there was a rancid undertone to it, like someone had poisoned the sweetness with death and decay. It was awful, and Damien hated it, the sound grating in his ears like a scrape of a knife against smooth slate.
"Mongrel. Stay."
Damien flinched at the words, hated the way the man used that word. "No," he grated out, holding tight to Cain, forcing himself to take another step, closing the gap between himself and Crowe.
The vampire was staring at the two of them with undisguised shock. "That's not possible," he muttered, then tried again. His voice was just as horrible as before. "I said you must stay here," he snarled.
Cain took a momentary opportunity to gloat. "I thought you said you'd enthralled him, bird. He sure seems disobedient, for one of yours."
"What did you do?" Crowe snarled, taking a half-step back. "I fed from him for days!"
"And it was useless," Cain said, a smirk in his tone so plain that Damien could imagine the exact look he wore on his face. He was sure it would infuriate Crowe. "The thrall is mine, Bird. Leave him be."
Crowe looked like he was about to explode. "Give it back," he snarled, finally moving as if to attack.
Cain lifted a hand. "Lord Solveig has given me permission to retrieve my thrall. Since you clearly can't control him, allow me to retrieve him without a fuss." He sighed, as if terribly put-upon, and said, "Really, it's the least you could do. Imagine if anyone else were to hear that I took the thrall right out from under you without even resorting to a command of my own…" His grip on Damien's shoulder squeezed slightly tighter as he added, "How embarrassing for you that would be."
Crowe's explosive temper seemed to disappear in an instant. "What did you do?" he growled. "How did you control him?"
"That's my business," Cain said airily, "Not yours. Fly away, bird. I have a thrall to return to his quarters."
Crowe looked ready to attack out of sheer spite. Then, slowly, he stepped back, leaving the route to the door open for Cain and Damien. "Fine," he said slowly. "Just know, this isn't over, Einhardt."
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Cain said breezily, casually walking them both through the door, turning and shutting it as best he could against the shattered doorframe. Damien was about to ask if Cain really expected him to walk all the way to the thrall residences when the vampire suddenly scooped him up in his arms and began to run down the hall at what seemed like a dead sprint. At that point, Damien wanted to ask a completely different question - namely, what was happening, and why Cain was running like bat out of hell, but before he could, Cain hissed in a low voice, "I don't know what the hell you did," he said, "or how you evaded that man's enthrallment for so long, but we need to get somewhere safe. Now."
Damien, ever practical, decided that this was answer enough, and promptly allowed unconsciousness to take him once more.
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