Damon was fuming, and how could he not be when he had just watched Xander make such a callous decision with a calm face and steady voice as if what he had done carried no true weight at all.
"I gave him a chance. I gave him a chance to back out."
There was no more room for regrets now. The moment for hesitation had already passed, and the consequences of that choice were already moving forward like an avalanche that could not be stopped.
Damon pulled a key from his shadow storage and walked to a random door along the corridor. The metal felt cold in his fingers as he inserted it into the keyhole. When he opened the door, the space beyond was nothing like a room. The air itself felt different, heavier, older. Instead of furniture and walls, there was a vast chamber stretching far beyond what should have been possible. At the center of that chamber stood a massive stone door, shaped and carved like the entrance to a dungeon boss arena.
