Page 1 of Demon Reform Academy, Term 3

1

PANDORA

S hattered bits of tourmalyke glittered around us like fallen stars after Dex broke the collar off my neck—along with my heart.

The jagged shards dug into my skin. They were as sharp as the pain of his rejection that sliced through the matebond between us. It was a visceral blow, sending us both to our knees on the cold, rough stone floor of what I just realized was a cavern.

As the echoes of our anguished cries reverberated off the damp walls, a familiar scent filled my nose. A scent I recognized from when I’d walked deeper into Rapture Cavern with Skel.

That had to be where we were.

My legs stung from the shards of tourmalyke that sliced against my flesh.

The pain didn’t stop my soul from reaching out for Dex’s desperately—but his soul didn’t reciprocate.

A soul-deep agony of the one-sided broken bond rippled through me, stealing my breath. It tore at the tendons around my chest, obliterating the piece of my heart that had always belonged to him—whether I had wanted it to or not.

Poppy’s voice cut through the haze, sharp and commanding. “Accept the rejection, and reject him back!”

“No,” I rasped, and my eyes screwed shut. “I won’t reject him.”

Her shadows struck, biting into my skin with the familiar sting of my mother’s magic—of shadow magic.

I sucked in a shuddered gasp.

The pain was excruciating, a burning agony that spiraled through my very being. It was as if the roots of torment itself were pulling me back into the past. My mother’s face flashed in my mind. Her fierce hatred mingled with the sting of her shadows.

I felt myself teetering on the edge of falling back into that despair as her shadows sliced through my flesh like butter.

“Fuck!” Dex moved fast, pulling me into his chest and folding his body over mine.

He shielded me from the onslaught of his mother—even though he was infected, even though he rejected our bond.

The warmth of his skin against mine was a stark contrast to the callous words of his rejection. His touch was a lifeline, grounding me in the midst of this nightmare. It was a temporary balm to the pain that radiated through my soul.

I would never reject him.

Poppy’s scorching shadow tendrils sliced into him instead. I cried as I felt his blood spill onto the ground around us, mingling with my own in a grotesque mix of shared suffering.

Both our mothers were evil incarnate—but his was still alive.

“Stop it!” Jenni’s screams echoed through the cavern. They landed on deaf ears, drowned out by the storm of shadow magic unleashed around us.

Poppy wouldn’t stop.

I wasn’t sure what I did to earn the wrath of the Fates, but I refused to let them shatter my soul. I’d survived worse than this, and I would not break for them now.

My mind spun, delirious with fear and pain.

I clung to Dex shamelessly, to the man who had just rejected me, with sobs wracking my body. "Why, Dex? Why did you do it?”

His eyes, hollow and dim, held a flicker of something—something I desperately wanted to believe was still my Dex. The Dex who had groveled for my forgiveness by hurting those who had hurt me. Not the Dex who had just rejected me. Not the Dex who had let Vane yank me out of a cage and throw me at his feet.

“Because, Pandora,” he whispered, his voice breaking. “It was the only way to save you.”

“Bullshit.” I hiccuped with a sob. My heart felt like it was twisting inside of my chest. “Rejecting me to save me? That doesn’t make any sense.”

Poppy’s shadows thrashed around us like a storm, striking without mercy. “Accept the rejection!”

“Do it, Pandora. She won’t stop until you reject me or she kills you.” Dex’s chest rumbled with the words. “ You can’t die. Even if we won’t share a bond, you’ll be alive. Maybe that’s selfish of me, but it’s the only way you live through this. That’s the only thing I care about.”

Save me, trouble.

He’d asked me to save him, and then he broke the magic-blocking collar. Why was he telling me to reject him back? What changed?

A whirlwind of emotions thundered through my veins. I couldn’t— wouldn’t —accept his rejection. My feelings for Dex were far too precious to let go. He was my fated mate, and I’d just forgiven him. The dark magic that coursed through him merged with the torment in his dead-like fog-gray eyes.

It was tearing him apart. I could sense it.

“It is selfish.”

Another heart-wrenching sob broke free from my chest.

“I won’t reject you back, Dexter Shadowheart.”

My magic sparked back to life as I held onto him tighter.

“I’ll save you.”

His muscles tensed, and his tears splashed onto my back, warm and wet. “Pandora?—”

Warmth spread through my veins as my magic surged, erupting outward.

A torrential force tore from the depths of my core as I screamed. My throat burned from the effort. The warm, metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. I poured every ounce of my magic out. It was just like the time I’d devoured my own mother’s soul—only worse, far worse.

“W-What?” Poppy’s shadows faltered, freezing mid-strike as if she was caught off guard. Her sickening confidence cracked as her gaze darted around the cavern. “Charlotte, where did you go?”

Vane was gone. She was nowhere to be found. The disappointment slugging through my veins was almost sweet. If she were here, I would’ve savored her soul before consuming it entirely. I would’ve made it hurt for what she’d done to Reed and for looking at Dex the way she had.

“I’ve never heard that tremor in your voice before, Poppy.” Dex forced out the pained, breathy words. “What’s the matter? Scared you’ll finally face retribution?”

“You—” Her words caught in her throat as she looked at me in horror.

Two streams of my dark cloud-like power slithered from my lips. One wove its way into Dex, claiming the dark magic that had poisoned him and leaving behind only his magical essence and soul.

“Pandora!” He gasped, his skin regaining some color as my magic yanked the darkness out of him, retracting it back into me with a nauseating lurch for me to destroy.

The other part of my magic coiled toward Poppy.

She staggered, the flicker of terror in her eyes a familiar echo of my mother’s expression in her final moments. Poppy’s mouth dropped open as if to scream, but no sound came.

“You’re not absorbing it…you’re destroying it.” Her voice was barely more than a ragged gasp. “We were wrong. You won’t bring Dark Veil’s success. You’ll be our demise.”

I didn’t feel a drop of mercy for her as my power dove down her throat. The foul taste of her evil soul flooded me, thick as the dark magic inside of her.

Each piece dissipated into nothing as I devoured her rotten magic.

Her memories, her evil doings, all of it flashed in my mind. Every horrible thing she did to Dex and his sister made my heart twist painfully in my chest as I experienced it first hand—from her point of view.

Dex and I weren’t so different after all.

Her body hit the ground with a sickening crack that echoed through the cavern like the sweetest death knell.

Only a chilling silence replaced her threats and commands.

I swallowed painfully. My throat was raw, and my hands shook uncontrollably.

Dex’s arms tightened around me. His chest was warm, but my skin felt too cold, too clammy.

His fingers brushed my cheek. “You did it. You killed her. Fates, you killed a woman that tormented me my entire life.”

He was looking at me, but I could barely meet his eyes. The taste of Poppy’s dark soul lingered in my mouth, sickly and vile, coating my tongue. I could still feel her distaste for her own son writhing in my gut along with the memories of what she did to him.

No amount of feeding would cleanse the stain she’d left on me.

I nodded weakly, my body trembling from the exertion of my power. “I saved you.”

The world around me faded into a haze.

“You did.” His voice cracked. “You’ve saved me from myself, again .”

“Not from yourself. From dark magic,” I rasped.

I felt his body shudder against mine before sobs, raw and uncontrolled, tore out of him. The sound of Dex sobbing broke my heart.

“I’m so sorry, Pandora. I didn’t want to hurt you. I was trying to protect you, but I can’t even do that right.” His voice was steeped in guilt and sorrow, each word a dagger to my heart. “I rescind the rejection, Pandora Gravesend. I rescind it?—”

As darkness blotted the edges of my consciousness, I felt him.

His side of the matebond grabbed hold of my very soul with a tight grip.

Then, I slipped into oblivion.