Page 10

10

PANDORA

I stood in Serpentine Stadium between Skel, Bram, Reed, Dex, and Jenni, with Nebula tucked away in my bag that I had slung over my shoulder.

Unfortunately, Voidfire happened to have this class with us, too, but so did Fester. Fester stood with his friend in the back corner, and Voidfire mostly just glared in my direction, but she hadn’t tried anything... yet .

There was a constant flow of hate coursing through that blazed hot in her soul when she looked at me, so I figured it was only a matter of time until she tried something.

“Seriously, I feel like we need to kill her,” Bram stated plainly, crossing his arms. “Firewood’s soul reeks of rage and hate for our mate.”

“I agree.” Reed nodded. “She’s going to try something, eventually.”

“Surely, she knows we’d kill her for that,” Skel drawled, yawning as he stretched his arms above his head. “Might as well do it before she tries.”

“Didn’t she really love Dreadful?” Dex tilted his head, shadows slithering over his shoulders as he snarled at her. “I bet she wouldn’t care if she died avenging her lover. That makes her dangerous.”

“Lover is a bit of a stretch.” Jenni scowled in her direction. “I don’t think Dreadful had any genuine feelings for anyone.”

“I bet they fucked, though, which makes lover an appropriate term,” Dex pointed out before clicking his tongue ring against his top teeth.

“Ah, true.” Skel tapped on his lip ring with his index finger. “Who cares, though? Point is, Bram’s right.”

“Yes.” Dex nodded. “She should die now. Before she tries something.”

I rolled my eyes, fighting off a smile. They had a point. If she died, she wouldn’t be a threat at all. But where was the line? She might not try anything against me. I mean, she hadn’t so far. If we killed her just to avoid her doing something we aren’t one-hundred percent positive she would do, wouldn’t that be senseless murder?

Murder could be justified, but senseless murder? It wasn’t okay.

“Welcome to your lastterm with me. I know the last couple of terms have been…” Ashenfell paused, tilting his head with a small frown. “ Difficult with all the unwarranted attacks at the academy. However, this term, we’re going to be focusing on your powers and how you can contribute to society in the Demon Capital with them. We made sure last term that you could use them up to par, and you passed. Now, we’re going to be discussing how you can use them in real-world scenarios.”

That introduction to the class elicited groans from most of the students.

Ashenfell waved his hand back and forth to dismiss them. “Let’s try to focus on the roles of demons in society. What different occupations are there for demons in Kalista?”

Everyone shared their ideas. They ranged from jobs of being a waiter to a chef to a business owner, and soon, attention turned to me.

“What about you, Gravesend? Will you be following in Death’s footsteps by joining the Demon Council?” Ashenfell asked politely.

I nodded, toying with my hair. “I’m not sure, but I’d like to do something that benefits the whole of demonkind.”

“I’m taking over Malice’s spot on the council after graduation,” Skel murmured, his green eyes trained on me. “I’d love to work alongside you, princess.”

“As if,” Voidfire huffed. “There’s never been a low-class demon on the council.”

“Until now,” I snapped, anger flooding me at how dismissive she was to my mate. “Malice already signed a contract with Skel before his unfortunate assassination. Skel will be the fear demon rep. There’s nothing anyone can do to prevent that.”

Gasps rang out, but Bram cleared his throat to take the attention away from a thankful-looking Skel.“I don’t even know what I want to do. Maybe something for disaster response? Calm the chaos in it.”

“Interesting.” Ashenfell nodded his head. “Shadowheart?”

Dex flinched, and disgust shot down our bond at being called by his last name. “Security,” he muttered.

“Nyx?” Ashenfell prompted.

“Maybe a sleep therapist or creative consultant.” Reed ran a hand through his bouncy coils with a shrug.

“How original for a dream demon,” someone snarked.

“Shut up.” Jenni rolled her eyes. “I, for one, would like to be a trophy mate to Death,” she joked, and everyone tensed at the mere mention of my dad. “No, seriously, I actually want to start up a restaurant. My powers aren’t necessarily helpful for that, but I don’t think they need to be. It’s still a valid job.”

“Very good point,” Ashenfell praised. “I agree. Your powers don’t haveto be at the forefront of your abilities. They can help, of course, but it’s unnecessary. There are plenty of careers where your magic doesn’t have to come into play. Your assignment is to think about what you want to do after graduation. You are dismissed.”

“I’m going to meet Joel to grab lunch, then we’ll see you at Hunter’s office.” Jenni winked before heading out of the room.

“That was a quick class,” Dex muttered before his shadows engulfed us, and we stepped out of the shadows and into Hunter’s office.

The scent of sweet chocolate slammed into me, and it made desire pool between my legs.

Hunter glanced up from his tablet at his desk, and his lips curved into a smile. “I wasn’t expecting you all so soon.”

“Ashenfell let us out early,” Bram muttered an explanation before yawning.

“I’ve missed you.” I surged toward my sweet, busy, vengeance demon and wrapped my arms around his neck, sealing my lips to his.

He groaned into my mouth and stood up from his chair, picking me up and placing me on the edge of his desk as he stepped between my legs.

I felt his hard length against my core, and I moaned, pulling him closer.

It was as if I couldn’t get close enough—and Fates—I desperately needed him. It had been too long since we’d been together.

Hunter had been so busy with council duties, not to mention his job here at the academy.

“As hot as this is,” Dex announced, “I have everyone’s favorite foods to eat for lunch in Hunter’s cabinet fridge.”

Hunter pulled back slightly. “You did? How sweet.”

“I can be sweet,” Dex scoffed.

A whimper pulled from my throat. “Hunter.”

“Starlight,” he teased, his firm hands gripping my hips as he set me back on my feet. He kissed my pouting lips. “You need to eat.”

“I need you ,” I protested, desire flooding down our bonds. “I haven’t seen you in ages.”

“I slept next to you last night,” he reminded me, stepping back and clearing his desk for the plates of food Dex had prepared.

“She means you haven’t fucked her in ages,” Dex corrected, setting out all the different foods on the table for us. “I have, of course. I’d never let my trouble get needy for me like this.”

Heat spread over my cheeks, but I nodded in agreement anyway. “The bond urges me to get closer when it’s been a while.”

“It’s true,” Reed whispered. “The bond urges that intimacy when it hasn’t been acted upon in a while.”

“What about Bram?” Skel’s tongue swiped over his lip ring teasingly. “Pandora hasn’t been with him yet.”

“Skel,” Bram hissed, his face turning red as embarrassment leaked through his matebond.

“Trust me, the desire is there.” I locked eyes with Bram’s dark red ones, and my lust for him bled down our bond, combating his feeling of discomfort.

“Same,” he said in a strained voice before turning around and fixing himself.

“So, what’s taking so long?” Dex asked cheekily, grabbing his plate and sitting on the sofa.

“We just haven’t yet,” Bram mumbled, grabbing his plate.

“But why not?” Skel grabbed his plate, too.

“It’s their business,” Reed reminded Skel and Dex, grabbing a plate of his food and sitting next to him on the sofa. “Stop prying.”

Bram and Skel sat on either side of Dex and Reed.

“They’ll be intimate in their own time.” Hunter scooted our plates on the edge of the desk and sat in his seat, pulling me onto his lap to sit.

I melted into his embrace, sniffing his sweet chocolate scent greedily.

“Why does she get to sit on your lap?” Dex pouted.

“Do you want to sit on my lap, Dexter?” Hunter raised a brow.

Dex gasped in horror. “No! I want her to sit on my lap, obviously .”

“Well, that’s an easy answer. Because it’s my office,” Hunter replied smugly, tucking my hair behind my ear and pressing a kiss to the nape of my neck. It sent a zing of hot tingles down my spine, and I wiggled. “Be good and eat your food.”

I pouted.

“Fine, Dad .” Dex grabbed his cheeseburger and took a dramatic bite, glowering at Hunter as he did it.

Bram chuckled before cutting into his steak, the same meal as I had. “I meant to mention something to you, Hunter. Slater told me he’s interested in helping out the council. The Supernatural Council, specifically.”

“Oh?” Hunter grabbed his sandwich and took a bite before setting it back down and swallowing. “Why the Supernatural Council and not the Demon Council?”

“Well, he’s always wanted to be an agent. He’s not interested in admin duties but carrying out missions,” he explained to Hunter. “I don’t know the full reason, but he wanted to see if there was any way I could put in a good word for him, so to speak. I don’t know who else to talk to other than you.”

“I’ll talk to Sabine about it, but she’s not a huge fan of the Demon Council, so I can’t promise anything,” Hunter told him.

“I get it.” Bram dug into his steak some more.

“Hunt-y!” Joel sang as he tossed open the door to the office and froze, his blue eyes scanning over all of us. “Why didn’t I get invited to the party?”

I tilted my head as I sensed a spark of magic in his soul that usually wasn’t there unless he was around Jenni.

“Because it’s not a party,” Jenni scolded him before walking around him. “Clearly, it’s a cute little lunch date.”

“Yes, a cute lunch date of my best friend, my savior, and her mates.” He sniffled. “I would’ve accepted the invite, just so you know.”

My soul eater powers flared as I took a deeper look into his soul. His magical essence lit up like foil in sunlight along the edges of his soul, but it should spread from the center and out. All I needed to do was tug it from the edges back to the center.

Jenni rolled her eyes. “We had lunch plans, remember? Would you have just ditched me?”

He gasped in horror, and the magic bled into his soul more as he stood closer to Jenni. “Of course not! I’d never ditch my best friend.”

I nudged it further into his soul with my magic, and it bled more.

“I thought I was your best friend,” Hunter grumbled, tugging me closer. “You okay?” he whispered in my ear.

“You are my dude best friend,” he assured him. “Jenni is my girl best friend. Totally different, but equally loved.”

The magic spread further before Jenni turned and walked closer to us, and the magic snapped back to the edges of his soul like a rubber band.

I flinched back into Hunter, blinking rapidly. “I’m fine.”

“Dream girl, you okay?” Reed tilted his head, searching my gaze with his.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I promised, grabbing my fork and stabbing into the cut pieces of steak on my plate. “I just…thought I could fix something, but I’m not sure if I can. I’ll explain more when I know more.”

Joel and Jenni shared looks of confusion, but they let it go.

Time flew by as we ate our lunch, and Jenni and Joel stayed with us.

It was a good time, and we had good conversations. However, something stood out to me about Joel’s soul—his magical essence lit up on the outskirts of his soul when Jenni was close to him. It made me suspect they shared something blessed by the Fates, but I wasn’t sure of anything yet. Perhaps he just felt safe with her because of their trauma bond. Something told me it was more than that, though.

Hunter groaned, wrapping his arms around me and inhaling deeply. “I wish you didn’t have to leave.”

I turned in his lap and wrapped my arms around his neck with a pout. “I don’t haveto.”

“If I didn’t have any sessions after this, I’d agree.” He frowned with a low groan, like he wanted nothing more than to take me on his desk. “But I have several sessions after this, starlight. I promise to make it up to you.”

“You better,” I murmured, leaning in and kissing his lips.

“It’s not fair that Reed and I don’t have the same class as you,” Dex pouted.

“It sucks,” Reed muttered in agreement.

“We can watch in the shadows,” Dex whispered to him.

Reed nodded his head. “Yeah, we can skip our class.”

“No, you can’t.” Hunter glared at them. “Both of you, go to your class.”

“Do you really want her to be alone, though?” Dex clacked his tongue ring on his teeth again. “Surely not.”

“She won’t be,” Skel chuckled. “Bram and I will be with her.”

“And me,” Jenni added with a grin. “You’ll be just fine to go to your own classes.”

Both Dex and Reed sighed in disappointment.

“Oh, you two will see me after.” I slid off Hunter’s lap and walked over to Dex and Reed, kissing them both on their lips before straightening. “Go to class. Okay?”

They frowned and shared a side-eye that told me they might go to their class for a moment but would definitely skulk in the shadows of our class instead.

“Were you two hanging out for lunch?” Hunter asked Joel as he gestured between him and Jenni. “Where’s Death?”

“Daryl’s busy with council work.” Jenni pouted. “But he joined us for a quick lemonade before he had to get back to it.”

“I’m not very useful with council work until my powers come back...ifthey come back,” Joel whispered.

“They will,” I added softly. “Hold on to hope, okay?”

Joel’s sorrowful expression tilted up as he met my gaze. “Oh, I am! Honestly, I’m just grateful to still be alive. I’m not complaining!”

Jenni touched his arm. “It’s okay to be both grateful for your life and sad about your powers.”

Magic sparked back to his soul as she touched him, and I stretched that magic further toward the center. But Jenni let go of his arm, and his magic went back to the sidelines.

“You’re right,” Joel murmured. “Skip class and hang out with me instead?”

Jenni giggled. “Daryl would kill me if I skipped!”

“As your counselor, I’d advise you to go to your class.” Hunter barged into their conversation. “And as your friend, Joel, stop being a bad influence.”

Joel’s face turned red as he smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, sorry!”

“You can walk me to class, though.” Jenni crossed her arms and left the room, with him following behind her like a lost puppy.

My gaze stayed trained on the way his soul lit up with his magic as he followed behind her.

The door shut, blocking my view of his soul.

Dex had his hand around my throat in an instant, angling my head up to look into his fog gray eyes. “Why are you staring at the broken incubus like that, trouble?”

My breath hitched.

“That’s a rather rude way to refer to Joel,” Hunter grumbled from behind me.

“Answer him,” Skel prompted, crossing his arms. His green eyes filled with uncertainty. “I’m also curious. I mean, fuck, princess. What about Joel had your attention so intently?”

I felt the insecurity in their matebonds—aside from Hunter’s and Reed’s.

“Don’t jump to horrible conclusions,” I rasped, wrapping my hand around Dex’s wrist. “I was manipulating his magical essence, trying to get his magic back into his soul.”

Dex’s grip loosened, and he let his hand drop. “You can do that?”

“You’re the only ones that are supposed to know this, per Dad’s request, but yes. Soul eaters can manipulate magical essence and souls,” I explained to them. “That’s what I was trying to do. When Jenni’s around, it’s a lot easier to manipulate the magic in Joel.”

“What?” Bram uttered in shock.

“That’s incredible,” Reed murmured.

“Damn, trouble.” Dex shook his white-blond hair out. “Good enough of a reason, then.”

“I can’t believe you thought it was for any other reason.” I crossed my arms and scowled. “Let’s go. We’re going to be late.”

Bram groaned. “Do we have to? It’s fucking Ironwood’s class.”

“I told him to back off you,” Hunter assured him. “Let me know if he doesn’t.”

“I will,” Bram grumbled as we walked out of the door.

The walk to Practical Applications of Ceremonial magic was uneventful, and Jenni was already sitting in the second row in the front, waiting on us.

“Welcome, stragglers,” Ironwood joked as we walked in, his brown eyes searing into me as he tousled his curly auburn hair. “Now, we can get started.”

Skel and Bram squished me between them as we walked to where Jenni saved us seats. I sat next to her, then Skel sat next to me, and Bram sat next to Skel.

Ironwood’s gaze remained on me until we were fully seated. My skin felt like it was crawling underneath his stare. I hated it.

“That professor is weird,” Nebula hissed from my bag. “I don’t like him.”

“Agreed,” Bram and Skel muttered.

“What?” Jenni whispered.

“Nebula said Ironwood was weird,” I told her. “And that he didn’t like him.”

“Oh, he’s right.” She frowned as Voidfire came in. “None of us like him.”

Voidfire’s red hair was pulled halfway back, but it swayed as she walked in and over to Ironwood without missing a beat.

“Oh, we have one more late student, it seems,” Ironwood teased her, but she leaned over his desk and whispered something in his ear.He shook his head and thinned his lips before pulling back. “Go sit.”

She pulled away with a pout, turning around and glaring at me before taking a seat in the front row.

“Ceremonial magic is important in many facets of our life as demons,” Ironwood lectured. “One of the most important ceremonies, and most common, is pregnancy prevention. When you are sexually active, as most demons or supernaturals are in adulthood, it’s your responsibility to be prepared. As a professor at a reform academy, it is my job to teach the importance of it. Sex is fun, but sex with protection is even better.”

Voidfire and a few other demons sitting around the room giggled.

“We have talked about this ceremony in our theory class, but now is the time to bring the theory into a more practical application,” he explained. “There are boxes on everyone’s desk with candles, tourmaline, rose quartz, and moon water. I’ve sent you the instructions on our class app. Pull out your tablets if you need a refresher.”

We took everything out of the boxes and made small altars on each desk.

“We already did this,” Jenni huffed in annoyance as she perfected her altar.

“You did?” Dex gasped, stepping out of the shadows behind me. “Oh, fuck, trouble. I’m in trouble.I forgot to do the ceremony this year!”

“Good thing you’ve only been with our prepared mate then, hmm?” Bram drawled with an eye roll. “Even I’ve done this much.”

My face heated. “Jenni and I did before I was ever with you guys.”

“Aw,” Dex cooed, kissing my cheek. “I wouldn’t mind a baby with you, though.”

My spine stiffened at the thought of being a mother. I’d had a horrible example.

I frowned as I focused my intention and magical essence on where it needed to be. “I’m nowhere near ready for a baby, Dex.”

“I don’t believe any of you are,” Ironwood said as he stepped in front of our row. “There’s a reason you’re in a reform academy. Shadowheart, you aren’t even in this class.”

Bram rolled his eyes and lit his candle with the enchanted flame crystal we were provided. “No shit.”

“Just pretend I’m not here.” Dex stepped back behind me.

“Dex, I thought you were supposed to be in class with Reed.” The flames danced in front of me as I lit mine.

“I’m going back in a moment, but…do you not want a baby at all?” Curiosity spread down the bond from him. “That’s okay, if so, trouble.”

“I’m not saying I’ll never be ready,” I murmured. “I just need some time.”

“And that’s completely valid, princess.” Skel grabbed his rose quartz and black tourmaline and held it over the fire as if he’d done this a thousand times... had he?

He had come onto me that night we smoked together for the first time, and he’d been extra shocked about me being a virgin…

“Princess, are you mad at me?” Skel frowned, rubbing his chest over where his heart was.

I pushed that horrible thought out of my head and focused on the ritual. “Of course not. I love you, Skel.”

I imagined a soft, pink light to allow me to express my sexual desires safely while pausing my ability to get pregnant for the course of a year.The protection that had already been in place warmed, extending the effects further than they were.

“I love you, too.” Skel’s love also shot through the bond.

Opening my eyes,I grabbed the moon water and poured the vial over the crystals. They sizzled in the fire, and it hummed with magic as a tingling spread through me.

“I’m finished,” I stated, along with Jenni, just as Bram and Skel finished theirs.

“Gravesend, I hope you don’t mind me saying, but you have such a mesmerizing way of channeling magic,” Ironwood stated smoothly, his eyes locked on me. “It’s…well, it’s intoxicating to watch.”

Goosebumps pebbled my flesh as a chill zipped down my spine. I did not like that kind of attention from Ironwood.

“It’s more intoxicating to watch her come on my cock,” Dex commented cheekily from behind me.

“Mine, too!” Skel turned and high-fived Dex.

Nebula groaned. “Real mature.”

I groaned with him, but I felt my lips curve into a smile as Ironwood walked away, shaking his head.

I was thankful for how far we’d all come.