Page 19 of Demon Reform Academy, Term 3

19

PANDORA

T rust was a fragile concept.

The first soul I’d ever trusted was Nebula. I knew he would never lie to me—but clearly, he’d omitted his past. Maybe trusting him wasn’t smart after finding out that he used to be Sybil Shaw’s familiar, but I did. He wouldn’t hurt me.

The problem was, I knew that if Dad or my fated mates found out who he used to be, they wouldn’t be as understanding. They would see him as a threat when he had been the only soul there for me.

He was there for me before any of them were. He was witness to my torture, and he alone was there to pick up the pieces after each session with Mother.

Before I told anyone about what Sybil revealed to me, I needed to speak to him. He was my best friend, and I owed it to him.

Reed was in Hunter’s office having a counseling session, and the others hadn’t come by yet.

I was finally alone with Nebula.

The soft patter of rain tapped against the window as I carefully picked up his skull. I sat cross-legged on the bed and trailed my fingertips over the contours of the bone. His hollow eyes stared back at me. “Nebula…”

Dark goo, that I only now realized looked just like dark magic, oozed out and filled my palm as he manifested.

“Pandora, what’s wrong?” His disembodied voice seemed concerned. I hadn’t told him I met Sybil yet. After it happened, we convened in Hunter’s room.

“I met your former witch,” I mumbled.

His soul, dark magic, whatever it was, quivered. “You met Sybil ?”

“She told me about how you were her familiar. She said she cast a dark magic spell to bind your soul to your skull after giving Mother permission to kill you.” Tears filled my eyes. “You got killed because you came to me.”

“I imprinted on you, Pandora,” he soothed. “I cannot form a familiar bond with a demon. Only a witch. Well, I cannot form any bond now. I still have one with Sybil, but I also bonded with you. The only reason I was able to was because the dark magic corrupted her bond with me so terribly that I found a way to make a new one—something that should be impossible. You are who I chose. In the end, I chose to go to you, even though I knew it would result in my death. I hadn’t known she would curse me like this, but it was worth it to be able to be there for you.”

“I’m so sorry.” I sucked in a ragged breath as my tears dropped on his skull and mingled with his soul. “I…I thought you were a kitten.”

“Don’t be sorry,” he snapped. “I was a kitten only in form because that is what I chose. You know what else I chose? I chose this. I chose you because I knew what they were doing to you. You were only a child. A completely innocent soul.”

“You knew what they were doing?” My lip wobbled as my heart felt like it would combust.

“It’s why I found my way to you. I had to check on you.” He paused, and more goo slid out of his eye sockets. “Sybil wasn’t always a practitioner of dark magic. She used to be a lunar witch, but the darkness corrupted her completely. She became a shell of who she once was. I lost my temper with her many times, but she didn’t care. I stopped aiding her with her magical burnout. I even abandoned her when she was locked up in Apex Penitentiary, but when she escaped, she found me. When I learned what she was planning with her cult and the woman who gave birth to you, I was horrified.”

My eyes widened as I realized just how knowledgeable he was about everything. He knew far more than I did. “What were they planning for me? What even happened with Mother and Dark Veil? How did she get involved? Was she always so heartless?”

“Penny Bones met Rod Shadowheart when she was newly pregnant with you,” Nebula explained, his voice cracking. “I think she was always heartless. Rod was already mated to Poppy and in deep with Dark Veil. They already had Selene, and they were pregnant with Dexter. Your mother did whatever Rod told her to, including experimenting with you.”

My heart cracked deeper. Somehow, knowing she never cared for me, even before I was born, still hurt after everything she’d done to me.

“Sybil took her under her wing, and they began injecting your mother with dark magic into her womb…where you were,” he continued. “Their goal was to turn you into a dark magic wielding shadow demon. Your mother never told Sybil who your father was. She lied and said he was a shadow demon, too, though. When she was about to give birth, Rod and Penny ended up rejecting each other to force in place a rejected bond. The rejection caused her to go into labor, but there was no rejected bond. The bond just broke. They thought if they gave you enough pain, you’d awaken into your shadow demon powers…or maybe even your dark magic abilities. So she was tasked every day with hurting you. She wasn’t allowed to scar any part of you that couldn’t be covered with clothes for when you awakened.”

“But I wasn’t a shadow demon.” My breath hitched in my throat.

“No. You weren’t.” Nebula sighed deeply, as if speaking about this hurt him soul-deep. “But you did manifest a dark magic ability when you awakened. It wasn’t because of what they experimented with. The Fates themselves gifted you this power specifically to rid Kalista of dark magic. The Fates bestow special powers to supernaturals who are worthy, and they deemed you worthy for this. I couldn’t have aligned myself with anyone more deserving.”

A choked sob escaped me as the weight of these revelations crashed over my soul. The rain outside intensified as I held Nebula closer. Tears continued to spill down my cheeks. “I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”

“I’ve lived a long time, Pandora,” he said solemnly. “But I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you. You were the companion I longed for when I was bound to Sybil.”

“I love you, too,” I cried as Comet jumped up and rubbed up against both Nebula and me.

“Regular cats aren’t as sophisticated,” he hissed.

“But they know when we need comfort.” I sniffed and scratched Comet behind her ear.

She leaned in and licked my hand before licking Nebula’s skull.

He was silent for a beat. “I suppose that is true.”

A knock sounded on the door, and Comet launched herself off the bed and started scratching at the door.

I wiped the tears off my face with the back of my hand and placed Nebula back on the nightstand. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he whispered. “Are you?”

I nodded. “I will be. Thanks for explaining everything to me.”

“All you have to do is ask.” He de-manifested before I could say anything else.

What could I say, though? Nebula had been suffering all this time…and I hadn’t known. I didn’t know everything he’d been through. He’d helped me get through everything, but what had I done for him?

I let out a shaky breath and made my way to the door, opening it to reveal Skel leaning against the door frame.

“Hey, princess.” He blew out colored smoke to the side and straightened up.

“Hi, Skel.” My lips curved into a smile. I loved that he’d been dropping by.

“Hello, Comet.” He bent down and picked the kitten up, petting her as he strolled in.

I shut the door behind him and watched him love on Comet. She was purring and nuzzling against him.

“She really likes you.” I went over and sat on the edge of my bed.

“Do you , though?” He sat next to me, and she jumped down to go rest in her bed under Gumdrop’s tank.

“Do I what?” I blinked at his green eyes. They were so pretty, and my gaze dropped to his lip ring.

“Do you like me, princess?” he purred, leaning in until his vanilla and smoke scent washed over me.

A pleasant shiver ran down my spine. Our matebond pulled me closer to him.

“I do,” I admitted before closing the distance between us. His lip ring was warm against my lips. The kiss was soft at first, but it quickly deepened. His tongue slipped past my lips, and I felt the yearning of his soul against mine.

He pulled me closer, his hands finding their way to the small of my back and anchoring me against him. We kissed with an urgency that mirrored our bond, and I melted against him, feeling the heat of his body and the steady thrum of his heart beneath my palm.

When we finally broke apart, gasping for breath, I rested my forehead against his. “Why were you crying, princess?”

My heart skipped a beat. “I was talking to Nebula about my past.”

He brushed his lips against mine slowly. “I’m so sorry for what you went through and for what I put you through.”

“I forgave you already for that.” I pressed my lips against his briefly before Comet meowed at us, and I pulled back. “I think she misses her friends.”

“I’ve been thinking about that.” He leaned back on my bed and glanced up at me through hooded eyes that actually made my thighs clench. “I think we should build a cat sanctuary for them all on campus.”

“That’s a great idea!” I plopped down next to him, trying to ignore the literal energy buzzing between us. “Cat houses and scratch posts, right?”

“I was thinking of building like a rock enclosure where Occult Arch is. We could like, really make it a whole thing. Just have to get permission first.” He gave me a sultry smile as goosebumps pricked my arms.

“We should get permission.” I glanced around my room with a sigh. “I keep getting this feeling of being watched. Almost all of the time.”

He let out a deep chuckle and puffed on his pipe.

“What?” I propped up on my arms.

“It’s just Dex.”

“Dex?” I furrowed my brows.

“Yes?” he answered, stepping out of the shadows and falling onto my bed next to us.

I bit back a smile. “How long have you been watching?”

“If you’re asking if I saw you and Skel making out, yeah, I did.” His gray eyes darkened.

“I know you’ve been watching me, but that feeling was different. It was creepy,” I mumbled, resting my head on my hands.

“So Dex watching you isn’t creepy?” Skel chuckled, and colored smoke came out in puffs.

Heat crept up my neck. “No. Should it be?”

“Not at all.” Dex reached out and ran his fingers through my hair. “How’s little sister Kat doing, Skel?”

He groaned, inhaling the fae magic again. “She’s fine. Totally back to normal.”

“And that’s bad?” I frowned.

“Yeah. I can’t just go back to normal like she can.” He blew out the smoke. “There’s a gap there. We’ve missed so much of each other’s lives.”

“You’re having a hard time forgiving her,” I murmured.

He nodded. “I know she didn’t do anything wrong like I did, but?—”

“She let you down when you needed her,” I finished.

His eyes glossed, and he nodded. “It’s hard to get over that.”

“She hurt you,” Dex stated. “You don’t have to just get over it. Talk to her.”

“Easier said than done.” He sighed.

“Talking things out will help, even if it isn’t easy.” I flicked my gaze toward Nebula. “Not talking will only hurt you more.”