Adrian's POV
I felt like I was caught in a whirlpool, spinning out of control, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
The moment my lips touched hers, everything around me blurred—every thought, every reason, every ounce of restraint, gone in an instant. Callista's kiss was everything I had been searching for, everything I didn't even know I needed. It was pure chaos and temptation, and in that moment, I surrendered.
But as I pressed into her, the world seemed to shudder.
The bond with Valeria—the one that had always been a part of me, the one that had held me grounded, tethered to her—snapped like a frayed rope. There was no hesitation, no fight. It just... broke.
I pulled away from Callista's kiss, gasping for air, but something was wrong. The overwhelming desire that had clouded my mind seconds ago was suddenly gone, leaving nothing but confusion and a hollow emptiness where once there had been certainty.
I staggered back, my pulse racing. My head throbbed like it was about to split open, the sudden clarity hitting me like a punch to the gut.
What had I done?
My eyes snapped around the room, trying to steady myself, but I couldn't focus. I couldn't think. All I could hear was the sharp ringing in my ears and the faint echo of Valeria's voice in my mind, pleading with me to resist.
"Adrian… No, don't do this…"
Her voice felt like it was miles away, yet it pounded in my chest, in my bones, a desperate cry for me to return to her. To undo what I had just done.
But it was too late. The damage had already been done.
I blinked, trying to shake the dizziness from my head, but it only made the pressure behind my eyes worse. The lust that Callista had instilled in me was gone, and with it, the fog that had clouded my mind lifted. What remained was cold, sharp, excruciatingly real.
I staggered backward, my hand going to my forehead as if I could push the memories away. But the images of Valeria—her face, her words, the bond we shared—came crashing back in full force. It hit me like a wave of regret and guilt.
What the hell have I done?
The walls felt like they were closing in on me. My body was trembling, not from the spell, but from the devastation that was slowly sinking in. The bond with Valeria was gone.
And I couldn't even explain why.
"I didn't want this," I muttered under my breath, almost pleading with myself to wake up from this nightmare. "I didn't want to do this…"
"Adrian," Callista's voice sliced through the chaos in my mind. "You're free to go now, i have no use of you" she smirked with triumph
My hand went to my chest, as if trying to hold onto something that had been ripped away. I had kissed her. I had betrayed Valeria. And now… now I was hollow inside.
I turned away from Callista, stumbling toward the door, desperate to get away from her, desperate to fix this, to find Valeria, to undo what I had done.
But it was too late.
I was lost.
Valeria's POV
The apartment felt like a coffin.
I stood frozen in the doorway, the air thick with the weight of what had just shattered inside me. The bond—our bond—the connection I had shared with Adrian for what felt like forever, snapped like brittle glass. I felt it as soon as it happened. The tether between us, once strong and unyielding, disappeared into nothingness.
It wasn't just the bond that broke. Something deep inside me had broken too.
I didn't know how long I stood there, staring into the emptiness that stretched before me. But the silence... it was deafening. The absence of Adrian was like a black hole, pulling everything in its path.
Gone.
That was all I could think. Adrian was gone. No longer mine. He had betrayed me, and I couldn't even feel him anymore.
I blinked, trying to clear the dizziness from my mind, but nothing helped. The cold void inside me only grew, gnawing at my insides like an insatiable beast. My breath came in shallow gasps, the overwhelming pain threatening to crush me.
He was gone.
No longer mine.
Gone...
But then—rage.
It exploded inside me. A raw, unrestrained fury that burned through me like fire. I could feel the power surging within me, a dangerous, violent force ready to consume everything in its path.
The betrayal had shattered something deep inside me, and now, all that was left was wrath.
I had trusted him. The first person in centuries that I had let close, and now? Now he was nothing. He had chosen her over me. He had abandoned me.
I felt the walls of the apartment tremble, the air around me warping with the sheer force of my emotions. The temperature in the room plummeted, and I could feel the air crackling with the intensity of my power.
How dare he?
How dare he betray me like this?
I had fought for him, loved him, trusted him. And this was how he repaid me?
I will make him regret this.
The promise burned through my mind, and as it did, the fury inside me amplified. The room seemed to close in on me, the walls cracking and groaning as if they were suffocating under the weight of my rage. I felt the tremors of my power ripple outward, warping the very fabric of reality around me.
He will pay. She will pay.
I wasn't just Valeria anymore. The woman who had loved and been betrayed was gone.
Adrian had made his choice. But I would make sure that Callista's victory would be short-lived.
The world would tremble at my wrath and Adrian—well he's dead to me.
Adrian's POV
The moment I left Callista's apartment, I felt like I was stepping into another world. The air outside was thick with the taste of rain, but I didn't feel the cold. Not anymore. I could barely feel anything at all.
I stumbled through the empty streets, my mind in chaos, my thoughts scrambled. My pulse hammered in my ears, drowning out the sounds of the city around me. What the hell had I done? Every step I took felt like a step deeper into a nightmare that I could no longer wake up from.
I needed to find her.
I needed to fix this.
But the harder I tried to move, the more I felt like I was sinking into quicksand. I had destroyed everything.
The bond with Valeria—the connection we had shared—it was gone. She was gone.
I reached for my phone, but my hands were shaking too violently to hold it. I cursed under my breath, trying to steady myself, but every image of her, every memory of the moments we had shared, was drowned out by the pounding headache that tore through my skull. I could barely breathe.
Valeria...
But the silence that followed my call felt like a death sentence. I couldn't feel her. I couldn't hear her.
She's gone.
I walked faster, ignoring the sharp pains in my chest, in my mind. I had betrayed her. I had betrayed us. And now, the consequences were too much for me to comprehend.
---
Valeria's POV
The apartment was a shell, an empty shell that mirrored the hollow feeling inside me.
I stood in the center of the room, shaking, barely able to control the surge of power that threatened to tear me apart. My mind was a whirlwind of fury, of heartache, of rage.
Adrian…
His name echoed in my mind, but it wasn't the name of the man I had loved. It was the name of a traitor. A fool who had thrown everything we had away for something as fleeting as Callista's kiss. He had betrayed me, and I would make him pay.
I didn't even notice the glass shards beneath my feet, nor the way the temperature in the room dropped further. My anger had become a living, breathing thing, and I could feel the power of the elements bending to my will.
I stepped forward, my breath steadying despite the storm inside. My steps echoed in the silence.
But the moment my foot hit the floor, I could feel it.
A presence. Dark, suffocating, and all too familiar.
No.
I didn't need to look to know who it was. My power flared as I turned sharply, my eyes narrowing in on the shadowed figure standing by the door.
"Valeria," he purred, his voice dripping with the kind of obsession that made my blood run cold.
Nyx.
He was the last person I needed to see right now. But there he stood, his piercing gaze locking with mine as though he could see right through me.
"Not now, Nyx," I growled, my voice laced with the fury that was coursing through my veins. I didn't have time for his games, not when Adrian's betrayal was still fresh in my mind.
Nyx didn't flinch. He never did.
"I've been watching you," he murmured, his lips curling into a smile that sent a chill through me. "And I must say, I'm impressed. You're not as predictable as I thought."
"I don't need your praise," I snapped, the air crackling with the force of my power. "What the hell do you want?"
He tilted his head, his eyes never leaving mine. "You're angry," he observed, stepping closer. "Understandably so. But you don't have to suffer alone."
My nostrils flared, and I took a step toward him, every fiber of my being screaming for me to tear him apart. "Get out of my way, Nyx. I have no time for your games."
But Nyx was not one to be easily deterred. He leaned in, his voice dropping to a whisper. "You've lost him, Valeria. But I can offer you something far greater than that broken bond." His words were like poison, sweet and dangerous, but I was too far gone in my rage to be swayed by him.
"I don't need anything from you," I hissed, the words tasting like acid on my tongue. "Leave. Now."
Nyx smirked, but there was no humor in it. His eyes flickered, and for a moment, I could feel the dangerous temptation that radiated off him. But I resisted. I would not fall into his trap. Not now. Not ever.
He chuckled softly, as if amused by my defiance. "We'll see about that, Valeria. You may have lost your bond, but I know exactly how to make you feel whole again."
I didn't say another word. I just turned on my heel, my fury still bubbling under the surface, desperate to escape before I lost myself entirely. I didn't need Nyx's empty promises.
I didn't need anyone.