Betrayal. Rage.
A conquest buried so deep it threatens to consume everything in its path. My thoughts become a hurricane of remembered pain, each recollection a blade ready to slice open old wounds.
I begin walking, lost in the tempest of my own mind, the shadows suddenly retreating as if I’m too hot to longer hold back.
Cassius calls out for me, but it sounds like a muffled echoed.
I don't hear him initially. The past roars too loudly.
This is all because of her.
She started it all.
Jealousy morphed into silence, manipulation manifested by born traits out of our control.
How dare she cause all of this out of spit, because of my birthright.
My power.
My future legacy!
A hand touches my shoulder, triggering a change in everything.
One of my bond marks seethes with power and warmth. Not a gentle pulse, but asearingconnection that forcibly drags me back to reality. I hiss—part pain, part shock—spinning to face whoever was holding me back with a glare that could melt the very foundations of this realm.
My auraexplodes.
Magical energy discharges like a nuclear blast. Everyone around medrops. Invisible pressure becomes a physical weight, forcing bodies to their knees. Zeke remains partially upright—his magical resistance a testament to abilities far beyond ordinary understanding.
And the only one to still face me, standing at a height matching mine, is Cassius.
"I need no one,"I snarl, the words vibrating with centuries of suppressed fury.
The magic is dangerous —heavy with so much emotional turmoil— but Cassius acts like my tantrum of defiance doesn’t faze him.
He doesn't argue. Doesn't plead.
He acts past my blinded hindsight, doing something I’m not possibly expecting in this haze of treachery.
His lips crash into mine with a force that momentarily stops everything.
Time. Thought. The very fabric of the Infernal Realm itself seems to pause.
It’s not gentle.
It’s not sweet.
It’s raw—feral—a collision of fury and forgiveness, of punishment and plea.
The heat of his mouth slams against mine, and for a suspended breath, I forget my name.My rage. My betrayal.Iforget what was stolen from me, and what I was forced to become to survive it. His grip anchors me, hand fisting the back of my neck, pulling me into the reality of now. Ofus.
Our teeth clash, awkward, angry,desperate. Like we’re both trying to devour the ghosts out of each other’s mouths.
His breath is hot—tasting of smoke and shadows—and mine?
Mine is nothing but the burn of regret and the ache of wanting something I shouldn’t.
But gods, I kiss him back.
