The Portrait of Our Damnation

The Portrait of Our Damnation

by Kay D Gaines · April 2026

About The Portrait of Our Damnation

After accepting a commission to paint an infamous 1800s duke, Isabel expects a challenge, not the unsettling feeling that something is terribly wrong. His descendant gives her reference photos, historical notes, and a stack of the duke’s journals. At first, it's simply research. Until she starts reading. The duke writes about her. Not as some distant muse, but in intimate detail, conversations they've never had, moments she's never lived, memories that somehow feel like her own. Then the descendant begins showing up more often. Bringing food. Checking in. Letting himself in as though he belongs there. Every question she asks gets a calm, reasonable answer that leaves her doubting herself instead. And the journals keep changing. Every year, Isabel falls in love with the same man. Every July, she dies. Every autumn, she returns with no memory of what happened. Until now. The memories are breaking through, and Isabel realizes the journals aren't fiction. They're her life. Over and over again. The portrait she's painting is more than a commission. It's a doorway to the truth, and the witch who has been killing her for centuries. But someone is determined to stop her from finishing it. And the closer Isabel gets to the truth, the less patient he becomes. This time, he knows she's trying to leave. And he won't let her.
Kay D Gaines
Kay D Gaines

A Little About Me So, apparently I'm supposed to tell you a little about myself as an author. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure how to do that without sounding like I'm writing my own obituary. I'm a storyteller. I've always had a ridiculous imagination, a slightly questionable sense of humor, and a tendency to ask, “But what if...?” Those two words have gotten my characters into some seriously questionable situations. I write dark, complicated stories with a little romance, a lot of attitude, supernatural creatures who have absolutely no respect for personal boundaries, and characters who tend to make decisions that have me yelling at them from my desk. I like my stories a little twisted. A little dangerous. And definitely funny in the places where you probably shouldn't be laughing. Because sometimes the only reasonable response to something horrifying is a smart-ass comment. I love strong characters, complicated relationships, secrets that should have stayed buried, dangerous men who are entirely too charming for their own good, women who discover they're considerably more powerful than they realized, and plots that make you think you know where the story is going... Until I pull the rug out from under you. I write the kind of books I love to read. Give me vampires, witches, ancient bargains, forbidden magic, murder, mayhem, a little romance, and enough sarcasm to keep everyone from taking themselves too seriously, and I'm perfectly happy. I'm an indie author, which means I write the stories in my head, obsess over them, rewrite them, question every life choice that led me here, and then do it all over again. And I wouldn't trade it for anything. My goal is simple: I want you to disappear into my stories. I want you to laugh when you shouldn't. I want you to fall for characters you probably shouldn't trust. I want to surprise you. And, occasionally, I want to make you look up from the page and say, “What the hell did I just read?” If I accomplish that, I've done my job. Welcome to my little corner of the dark. Stay awhile. Just don't make any bargains you don't understand.

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