The air in the academy was changing. What once had been filled with admiration for Damian was now buzzing with unease. Whispers trailed behind him wherever he walked. Professors frowned when he entered class late. Students avoided his sharp gaze.
Elena noticed it all.
The golden senior who had once shone like sunlight was dimming, his cracks widening. And somehow, she felt guilty—like she had set the unraveling in motion just by being near him.
---
That evening, after a long study session, Elena found herself walking back alone. The campus was quiet, the night heavy with silence. She hugged her books tighter, trying to shake off the strange heaviness pressing down on her.
Then, out of nowhere, a hand reached from the shadows, pulling her into a secluded corner.
She gasped—but it was Adrian.
"Relax," he said coolly, his hand firm on her waist. "If I meant you harm, you'd already know."
Her pulse hammered. "Adrian, you scared me."
His smirk curved into something softer, almost tender. "Good. Fear reminds you you're alive."
She tried to glare at him, but his eyes were too intense, too consuming. "Why do you always do this?" she whispered. "Why can't you just… leave me alone?"
His lips brushed close to her ear. "Because every time I leave, I find you running back into danger. If I don't stay, he'll break you. And I won't allow that."
---
Elena trembled, not just from fear but from the undeniable pull between them.
"Adrian…" Her voice shook. "You're not… safe either."
He chuckled low. "True. But at least I never lied about what I am."
His fingers brushed her cheek, trailing down her jawline with deliberate slowness. She should have pushed him away, but instead she froze—caught between dread and desire.
"You want me to stop?" he murmured.
Her lips parted, but no words came.
His thumb ghosted over her bottom lip, and his eyes darkened. "That's what I thought."
Then he kissed her.
It wasn't gentle—it was consuming, fire and shadow crashing into her all at once. She clutched his shirt, torn between pushing him away and pulling him closer. Her books tumbled to the ground, forgotten.
For a moment, the world vanished. There was only Adrian—the taste of him, the heat of his hands, the way he made her feel alive and terrified all at once.
When he finally pulled back, her breath came in ragged gasps.
"You can pretend you don't want me," he whispered, "but your body never lies."
Her cheeks burned, shame and longing twisting together.
---
Before she could respond, footsteps echoed down the corridor. Adrian stiffened, his expression shifting from hunger to icy calm.
Damian appeared, his face pale, his eyes flicking from Elena's flushed lips to Adrian's smirk.
"What did you do to her?" Damian's voice cracked, fury and desperation tangled.
Adrian's arm slipped lazily around Elena's shoulders, pulling her against him. "What you never could."
Elena's heart stopped.
"Let her go!" Damian lunged forward, but Adrian stepped into his path, his presence a wall of shadow.
"You've already lost," Adrian said coolly. "The more you try to hold her, the faster she slips through your fingers."
Damian's mask shattered completely then. His perfect composure dissolved, and raw pain blazed across his face.
"Elena," he pleaded, ignoring Adrian now. "Tell me it isn't true. Tell me you don't… belong to him."
Elena's throat tightened. Words refused to form. Her silence spoke louder than anything.
Damian staggered back as if struck. The heartbreak in his eyes was unbearable—and yet, beneath it, Elena glimpsed something darker. A seed of rage.
---
That night, she couldn't sleep. Adrian's kiss lingered on her lips, scorching her thoughts. Damian's broken expression haunted her.
Mira noticed her tossing and turning. "Elena," she whispered in the dark, "are you okay?"
Elena turned away, her voice small. "I don't know anymore."
---
Across campus, Damian sat alone in the music hall, pounding the piano keys until his hands ached. The notes were discordant, violent, nothing like the beautiful melodies he once played.
"I won't lose her," he muttered into the empty air. His reflection in the polished wood looked back at him, hollow and furious.
And for the first time, Damian realized… he didn't care if he had to burn everything around him to keep her.