Chapter 120 120

Chapter 120 120
~ARLINA~

"Release him."

Nessa was walking across the quad, earbuds in her ears, completely unbothered. Like Zayne wasn't dying in a training facility less than a mile away.

She pulled out one earbud. "I'm sorry?"

"The spell. Release Zayne from the spell. Now."

She looked me up and down, taking in my appearance. Hair a mess, still in the clothes I'd slept in, eyes red from crying.

"Or what?"

"Or I make you."

She laughed. "You can barely stand. You think you can make me do anything?"

"Try me."

Students were starting to notice. Stopping to watch as we faced off in the middle of campus.

Nessa's smile faded. "Walk away, Arlina. This doesn't concern you anymore. You rejected him, remember? Severed the bond. He's mine now."

"He was never yours. You stole him. Used magic to manipulate him into hurting me."

"I helped him see the truth. That you're weak. Broken. Not worth the trouble of a mate bond."

My power flared. The bench beside us lifted off the ground.

"Last chance. Release him."

"No." Nessa's eyes flashed. "He's mine. The spell is permanent. And even if you somehow managed to break it, which you won't, he'd still be too damaged to want you back."

"That's his choice to make. Not yours."

"He already made his choice. He chose me."

"He chose nothing. You forced him."

The bench slammed back down. My telekinesis was reacting to my anger, getting harder to control.

Nessa noticed. Her hand moved to her wrist where I knew the binding symbols were hidden under her sleeve.

"You want to fight me? A broken hybrid with unstable powers against a trained witch?" She pulled back her sleeve, revealing the dark symbols crawling across her skin. "You'll lose."

"Maybe. But I'm still going to try."

I struck first. My telekinesis hit her like a madram, sending her flying backward across the quad.

She recovered mid-air, landing in a crouch. Her hands moved in complex patterns and black energy crackled around her fingers.

"Big mistake."

The black energy shot toward me. I threw up a telekinetic shield and it shattered on impact, the force throwing me back several feet.

Students were screaming now. Running around and getting out of the way.

Nessa stood, brushing grass off her jeans. "You're outmatched. Give up before I hurt you."

"Not happening."

I pulled power from deep inside, from the hybrid nature I'd been suppressing for weeks. Purple energy erupted around me, bright and violent.

Nessa's eyes widened slightly. "That's…how are you doing that?"

"Hybrid, remember? I'm not just telekinetic."

I sent a wave of purple energy at her. She countered with her black magic and the two forces collided in the middle of the quad.

The impact shook the ground. Windows in nearby buildings shattered.

"You're stronger than I expected," Nessa admitted. "But it doesn't matter. I have Zayne's energy feeding my spell. Every bit of his wolf, his strength it's all mine to use."

She pushed harder. The black magic grew, fed by whatever connection she'd forged to Zayne through the compulsion.

But I pushed back. Drew on everything I had—my telekinesis, my hybrid power, the rage that had been building for weeks.

We were evenly matched. Her stolen strength against my natural abilities.

The quad was a war zone. Grass torn up, benches overturned, trees uprooted from the force of our clash.

And neither of us was backing down.



Nessa's magic hit like a physical blow.

I blocked it with a telekinetic barrier but the force still sent me falling backward. My feet dug trenches in the grass.

"You can't win!" she shouted. "I've been planning this for years! Training for years! You're just a broken experiment who got lucky!"

"I'm his mate. That makes me stronger than any spell you cast."

I gathered my power and released it in a concentrated blast. Purple energy tore through the air, ripping apart everything in its path.

Nessa dove to the side. The blast hit the library behind her and the entire wall exploded outward.

Students who hadn't fled yet were watching from safe distances. Phones out, recording everything.

"You're destroying the campus," Nessa said, getting to her feet. "Is that really what you want? To hurt innocent people just to save one person who doesn't even want you?"

"He does want me. The spell is lying to him. Making him think he wants you."

"Or maybe the spell just gave him permission to do what he already wanted." She sent another wave of black magic. "Maybe deep down, he's always thought you were too much work. Too damaged. Too broken."

The words hit harder than her magic.
Because part of me wondered if they were true.

My barrier weakened because of the momentary distraction. The black magic broke through and slammed into my chest.

I went down hard. Blood in my mouth, my ribs screaming.

"That's right," Nessa said, walking toward me. "You're not strong enough. Not good enough. That's why he chose me. Even with the spell, some part of him wanted this."

"You're wrong."

I pulled myself up. My whole body hurt but I didn't care.

"I'm tired of people telling me I'm not enough. That I'm too broken, too damaged, too much trouble." Purple energy built around me again, brighter than before. "I survived The Order's experiments. I survived losing my parents. I survived Zayne's betrayal. I can survive you."

I released everything I had. Not in a focused blast but in an explosion that radiated outward in all directions.

Nessa threw up a shield but my power shattered it. The force lifted her off her feet and threw her fifty feet backward.

She hit a building wall hard. Blood ran from her nose when she slid down.

"How—" She coughed. "How are you this strong?"

"Because I'm fighting for someone I love. You're just fighting for revenge."

I advanced on her. My telekinesis pulled chunks of concrete from the destroyed library, held them suspended in the air around me.

"Give up. Release the spell and I'll let you walk away."

"Never." Nessa's hands moved again. More black magic, pulling from her reserves. "I'll die before I let you win."

"That can be arranged."

The concrete chunks launched. Nessa dodged the first few but the third caught her in the shoulder. The fourth in the leg.

She went down screaming.

But even bleeding and broken, she was still casting and pulling magic from somewhere.

From Zayne. I could feel it now, the thread of energy connecting her spell to him. Every time she used magic, she was draining him.

"Stop!" I ran toward her. "You're killing him! Every spell you cast is taking his energy!"

"Good!" She laughed, blood on her teeth. "If I can't have him, neither can you!"

She thrust her hands forward and the black magic poured out. Not at me, but at the thread connecting her to Zayne.

She was going to kill him. Right now. Through the spell.

I had to make a choice.