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14

REED

M y heart thudded loudly in my chest as I rested my sweaty palm on Pandora’s thigh in Demonic Ethics.

I’d felt her and Bram through our bond last night, and while they hadn’t had sex, I knew they shared a moment of intimacy that they both needed. Something about her sealing all of her matebonds had increased our desire for her and hers for us.

She was a physical need. My soul craved her in a way my body couldn’t, and I needed to be closer to her—inside of her.

I could feel her return those feelings through our bond.

“Damn.” Jenni whistled. “Your sexual tension’s off the charts.”

“Jenni.” Pandora blushed, placing her hand on mine. “We can’t help it.”

“Oh, I know. Daryl and I are the same.” She winked, tucking her dark hair behind her ear. “It’s feeding my reserves, though, so I don’t mind it one bit.”

“Sorry I’m late,” Respa said as she glided into the room, running her hands through her short black hair. “Our topic of discussion today is whether incubi or succubi using pheromones to manipulate situations is inherently unethical or if it’s a survival mechanism.”

“Survival mechanism,” an incubus answered immediately. “It’s our natural right to do that.”

“Yes, sometimes,” Jenni agreed, “but it’s not always okay to use. It depends on the extent it’s used and the situation. Consent is important.”

The incubus rolled his eyes. “If someone’s trying to kill us, they’re not asking us for consent to end our life.”

“In a self-defense situation, of course, but there’s a difference between using our pheromones to distract someone to get the upper hand in a defensive situation versus a personal gain scenario,” Jenni explained.

The incubus nodded. “Yeah, that’s true. I agree with that.”

Another incubus snorted. “I don’t. So what if we use our pheromones for a bit of personal gain? The ones we’re using get an obvious benefit from it, too.”

“Consent is king, dumbass,” Jenni stated plainly, rolling her eyes.

“She’s right.” The other incubus gave the guy a disgusted look.

He huffed and crossed his arms as Respa launched into an in-depth explanation of different scenarios where it would and wouldn’t be okay.

I leaned over until my lips brushed against the shell of Pandora’s ear. “I bought us a new book to read together.”

She whipped her head to look at me, and our noses touched. “You did?” Her breath hitched.

“I did,” I confirmed, inhaling her caramel scent. “It’s a fantasy romance, and it’s spicy.”

She smiled brightly, excitement thrumming down our bond. “I can’t wait to read it with you.”

“I bought two copies so we could read at our own pace,” I added softly.

“I love you.” She leaned in and kissed me. Her soft lips against mine had me stifling a moan.

A sharp throat clearing had us sheepishly pull apart and look over at Respa. “Are you two finished?”

Pandora turned red as I nodded.

“Sorry,” we both said simultaneously.

Nebula’s disembodied laugh sounded from Pandora’s bag, merging with Jenni’s giggle.

“Don’t let it happen again.” Respa sighed and continued her lecture. “Manipulating a life-threatening situation is one thing, but anything else is unethical...”

* * *

“It looks so good.” Pandora flipped the book to the cover after reading the summary on the back. “I’m so excited about this.”

“I thought you’d like it,” I murmured, smiling so hard my cheeks ached.

“Of course she does,” Dex said, flopping onto the bed next to us from out of the shadows. “You have the same taste in books.”

“How long have you been there?” Pandora giggled, setting the book on the nightstand and kissing his lips softly before pulling back.

“I’ve been watching you both for a while now,” he admitted.

“You don’t have to do that,” I told him, placing my book on top of Pandora’s. “Staying away, I mean. You should just join us.”

“I don’t want to hog all of Pandora’s time,” he explained, glancing down at his hands.

Pandora laced her fingers through his. “Hog my time? You’re my mate.”

“She’s right,” I said, backing her up. “In fact, I was wondering if you wanted to go with Pandora and I into my dreamscape to help her practice with her shadow and getting used to it.”

“Really?” His lips curled into a smirk. “That’s actually smart as fuck, Reed. Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Because you don’t have access to a dreamscape.” I chuckled. “What do you think, dream girl?”

“I think it’s a great idea.” She smiled, grabbing my hand and tugging us both down on the bed to lie beside her. “It’ll be good to explore the shadow tendril without being in actual danger. Do your thing, Reed.”

Dream magic oscillated around us as I pulled the three of us into my dreamscape, rendering us asleep. Purple clouds were underfoot as a galaxy surrounded us.

Dex’s eyes widened. “Fuck, Reed. This is the coolest thing ever.”

“Isn’t it?” Pandora gazed up at the constellations with the same expression of awe she always had here.

Fates, I loved her so much.

“Thank you.” Warmth spread through my chest at seeing how entranced they were by my magic. I turned to Pandora, gently squeezing her hand before letting go and giving her some space. “Take your time here, okay? You’re safe. No pressure.”

She nodded, her lips curling up slightly at the corners as Dex stepped in front of her, gently grabbing her wrist and holding her hand, palm up. “Okay, trouble,” he prompted, gently gliding his index finger over his mark. “How do you feel?”

She trembled from the contact. “Confident having both you and Reed here.”

“Good. Try coaxing the smallest wisp of shadow out of my mark.” He paused in the center of the black swirl. “Here. Just something tiny. I’ll guide you if you need it.”

Tentatively, she nodded. “I think I can do that.”

He dropped his hand but kept holding her wrist with the other. “You can do it, baby.”

A faint wisp of shadow curled at the center of the mark, wavering like smoke.

“There,” I encouraged her, feeling her excitement through the bond. “See? You’re doing great.”

“It’s...not as scary here,” she admitted, glancing at me, then Dex. “With you two here, and the shadow magic coming from me—from Dex. It’s different. I feel like I’m the one in control.”

“You are in control here, completely,” I assured her.

She had as much control as I did in my dreamscape, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

“And you’re in control of the shadow in your palm. It may stem from my magic, but it’s yours. Just like I am yours,” Dex declared with a smirk.

Slowly, she began to shape the shadow, twisting it into harmless patterns—a star that looked like my mark on her forehead, then a spiral that looked just like Dex’s mark on her hand. The first few attempts were shaky, but as she tried more, the shadows moved with increasing fluidity.

The dreamscape amplified her efforts, letting her push boundaries she couldn’t in our waking world.

This exercise helped get her comfortable with using the shadow itself.

Pride funneled through our matebond from me to her. “Look at that! Fates, Pandora, you’re amazing. This isn’t something to fear—it’s a part of you. An extension of your power. Of your matebond with Dex.”

“He’s right,” Dex muttered with heavy emotion. “A gift from our bond.”

A small smile tugged at her lips as she let the shadow become a long tendril, like the shape she had been afraid of, letting it stretch as far as it could into the galaxy above. “Maybe it’s not all bad,” she murmured.

Dex moved beside her, letting her wrist go, his eyes gleaming with the same admiration I was sure mine had. “Exactly. You’re in control. You always were.” He swallowed a lump in his throat, and his shadows curled around his shoulders as if begging to be let loose. “Can I use mine? To touch you, I mean?”

Pandora froze for a moment before shaking her head. “Not yet,” she rasped. “But you can touch me…with your hands.”

“Got it.” Dex’s shadows backed off, but his hands moved to her hips. “No rush. This is amazing.”

Progress.

“It’s an undeniable step in the direction of full control,” I told her. “You’ve got this, Pandora. We’ll keep practicing until you feel in control of the shadow; no matter how long it takes.”

Her gaze softened as she looked at me. “Thank you.” Her red gaze turned to Dex. “Both of you. I really needed this.”

“We will always support you,” I murmured.

“Always,” Dex chimed in.

She shifted her focus back to her shadow, this time with more confidence than she had before.