Page 27

27

HUNTER

T he air was thick with heat and the thirst for vengeance, but it was nothing compared to the suffocating weight of Pandora’s silence. Her anguish was a living, breathing thing, slithering through our matebonds. She had been closed off since Nebula de-manifested, and though she hadn't said anything to us, I felt every jagged edge of her grief—her raw fury for Sybil Shaw, and the soul-crushing betrayal of what she was going to be forced to do.

It was all because of Nebula. He'd been with her since she was a child, but he had to be sacrificed for us to defeat Sybil. The knowledge of that impending loss was tearing my fated apart, fracturing her from the inside out.

We couldn't stop her pain, but we could damn well hold her together when this was all over.

Jesper’s voice cut through the tension like a blade. “We’re expecting heavy resistance. Intel confirms that infected demons are swarming the ritual site. The Supernatural Council sent word to the demons who worked here to leave and not come back until we told them to, but it seems they didn't take our advice.”

Ahead of us, Sandstone Springs stretched out beneath the moon’s glow, the once-pristine waters now tainted by the blood of the innocent demons who had been here. The scent of iron and decay thickened the air, choking out any remnants of the oasis this place once was.

“Fuck,” I muttered, running a hand down my face.

Demons were as stubborn as dragons and drakes, but this…this massacre could’ve been prevented if they had just left when the Supernatural Council told them to.

Pandora remained silent, but her power simmered just beneath the surface. Her rage pulsed through our matebonds.

Sybil Shaw and her cult had done too much and ruined too many lives—including ours.

Jesper turned to speak to us and the team of at least fifty agents, his grip tightening around the dark magic siphoning artifact in his hand. “If Sybil Shaw manages to complete this ritual, she’ll gain more dark magic and infect even more of her deranged cult members. We cannot let that happen.”

"We won’t," I snarled, my fists clenching at my sides.

As we stepped fully into Sandstone Springs, the scent of death was pungent. The ground was slick with blood, and bodies were torn apart in grotesque displays of violence. Limbs twisted at unnatural angles, eyes frozen in expressions of eternal horror across the sands. The demons who had once worked here, who had lived and laughed and fought for their own survival, had been reduced to nothing more than mutilated corpses.

The establishment had been reduced to a slaughterhouse.

My jaw locked as vengeance burned through my veins, scorching me with the need to right this wrong for the lives lost here.

“Fucking Fates,” Bram hissed, his chaos wolf manifesting beside him, teeth bared in a snarl.

“Looking for us?” a sickly voice called out, and it brought our attention to the group of infected demons walking our way from inside the sandstone building. “Sorry, but we can’t let you destroy our ritual this time. Mistress is aware of your intentions now.”

“Those cult members...they're the students from the Academy. The ones who disappeared when the wards broke,” Skel muttered with shock.

My breath hitched.

Students.

Some of them I recognized as demons who once sat across from me as I counseled them through their fears and failures. These were the infected demons that had disappeared at the end of term two, when Dex and Pandora had been taken by the cult. Their bodies had already wasted away. Dark veins twisted like rot beneath their skin, and their eyes were hollow pits of darkness, devoid of anything but dark magic's corruption.

“Shit,” Dex muttered, running a hand down his face.

Pandora strode forward, her crimson gaze burning with hate. “What are we waiting for?” She glanced at Jesper. “Ready?”

“Fight them off while Gravesend and I siphon the dark magic from them, then go for the kill!” Jesper shouted, holding the artifact out and mumbling incantations to make it activate.

Dark smoke curled from my mate, slithering toward the infected demons in at least a dozen different streams—more than I'd ever seen her control at once.

The demon's gasped as it snaked down their throats, draining the dark magic from their bodies and taking what was left of their souls.

Once those demons dropped, she didn't bother taking her power back inside her, she directed it toward more of the demons.

Jesper wielded the relic beside her, its power gnawing at the dark magic. It worked faster than it usually did, but it was a toy compared to the power Pandora controlled.

The ritual site loomed ahead as we moved through the group of infected demons into the building. Dark magic circles marked the sandstone, but there was no power thrumming within them. They were empty.

“There's no dark magic in the circles, yet,” Dex said what I was thinking.

Before we could investigate, fresh waves of infected demons spilled in through dark magic portals, their shrieks piercing the night.

My vengeance magic ignited, arcing off my skin in jagged streaks of bright light. I launched myself at some of them, striking through demons with ruthless precision. Each impact sent a pulse of energy rippling through them, momentarily stunning them in place.

Their grotesque forms twitched as dark magic crackled and oozed from them. It wasn’t enough to kill them—my magic alone was nothing against dark magic—but it held them back, slowed them just long enough for Pandora or Jesper to drain them of it.

Skel’s fear magic exploded outward. A wave of terror surged, sending infected demons into frenzied, incoherent shrieking. Their claws raked against their own faces, their bodies convulsing as invisible horrors consumed their minds. Some turned on each other, their panic overriding whatever the dark magic drove them to do.

Bram’s wolf was a whirlwind of chaos, a storm of claws and fangs tearing through their bodies, treating them as chew toys. His glowing red eyes burned with primal fury, his massive form weaving through the demons like a specter of carnage. He lunged, snapping a few demons’ throats in a single bite. He spun, claws raking through another’s chest, sending a spray of tar-like magic into the air. The dark magic brought the demon’s body parts back together, but he just did it again. Chaos was relentless, unstoppable, but he couldn’t be everywhere at once.

Dex faded with the darkness, his shadow tendrils whipped out like blades, slicing into demon flesh with ease. He coiled his shadows around them, tightening like serpents before squeezing them until the dark magic burst through their orifices. They collapsed, but it didn’t take long for the dark magic to snap them back together as well.

Reed’s dream magic was subtle but no less efficient. A soft purple glow shimmered in the air, rippling outward like a lullaby. One by one, demons slowed, their movements growing sluggish before their eyes fluttered closed. Their bodies slumped, collapsing into heaps as they were pulled into an unnatural sleep. But sleep alone wouldn’t save us—the dark magic still ran through their veins, waiting to be purged. Pandora and Jesper worked tirelessly, siphoning the darkness from all the ones they could.

The supernatural agents fought alongside us.

But it wasn’t enough.

The demons kept coming. A hundred of them, maybe more, pouring in through dark magic portals everywhere.

They swarmed, their sheer numbers overwhelming us.

Pandora’s power surged, her dark smoke snaking through the demons like a living entity, dropping them and letting their bodies turn to ash. More perished, the dark magic keeping them alive had been stripped away, but even she had her limits.

Her breath hitched, her hands trembling as she fought to contain the sheer volume of dark magic within her smoke. She hadn’t even brought her magic back into her body yet to kill the dark magic she’d absorbed.

Jesper stood firm beside her, the artifact in his grasp glowing with fierce, pulsing light. His focus was unwavering as he pulled dark magic from all he could as well. But the artifact could only drain one infected at a time. Its limits were painfully evident as more demons pressed in.

And the cult knew it.

A chilling realization settled over me as their attacks grew more deliberate. They weren’t mindless. They weren’t just attacking in blind rage. They were testing us, wearing us down, forcing us to overextend.

They had a fucking plan.

We were powerful—but we were not infinite.

And they were waiting for the moment we broke.

“Keep them off us!” Jesper bellowed, but the agents were too overwhelmed. We all were.

A cold, primal terror seized me as a swarm of them rose from portals behind Pandora, lunging, dark magic swords poised for the kill.

Rage detonated inside me.

I moved on instinct, throwing myself between them and my mate with no thought.

Blades plunged into my flesh—four of them, deep into my gut—but I didn’t care. This pain was nothing compared to what I’d feel if it had been her to be stabbed.

I would always be her vengeance.

I let go of the tight leash on my power.

A deafening energy combusted from within me as my magic fed off the need to protect her, to destroy those who dared to harm someone so fucking precious. My vengeance magic was ruthless, relentless, as it tore through anyone who dared approach her.

I couldn’t feel pain—only the raw satisfaction of obliterating our enemies before they could hurt my mate.

Pandora’s magic surged again, but the smoke crept along the ground as if it was weighed down and heavy, sweeping through the destruction.

The infected demons choked on her magic. Their tainted souls ripped free as they collapsed, some even whispering their gratitude before turning to ash.

The fight dragged on for what felt like forever until, finally, the demons stopped coming. Pandora managed to finish off the last few.

I swayed on my feet, stumbling forward, drenched in blood—mine and theirs.

Pandora staggered backward slightly, her heavy dark smoke streams combining into one and curling back toward her, seeping back into her trembling form with a force that made the air vibrate.

Agony ripped through our matebond.

She gasped, choking on her own breath as she fell to her knees. Her fingers dug against the blood-soaked stone. Her entire body convulsed.

Dex was at her side in an instant, moving forward in a blur of shadows. He had one hand bracing her back, the other gripping her shoulder like he could physically keep her from breaking apart. “I’ve got you, trouble. Let it out.”

I sensed him trying to take her pain through the bond, but she was too far gone in the agony of purging the darkness from her body.

With a violent heave, she lurched forward and retched.

The sound was rasped. I felt how badly it hurt her. Black, viscous dead magic spewed from her lips, hissing as it met the ground.

It reeked of the acrid scent of sulfur and decay.

Skel crouched at her other side, his jaw clenched tight, his knuckles white where he gripped her arm. “You did amazing, princess. Let it all go, now, okay?”

Every time she tried to catch her breath, another wave wracked through her, forcing more of the dead dark magic out of her body.

Reed knelt slightly in front of Skel. His hand rested just over hers. “We’re all here, dream girl.”

Tears dripped down her cheeks as she lurched again. More and more black sludge poured from her lips.

Bram’s hand was gripping her shoulder from behind as her body shook. “They’re all dead, Pandora. It’s over.”

I stood frozen behind her, my chest tight as I watched. My magic still crackled faintly along my arms. She had taken in too much. More than any of us should have asked of her. Was this the same as her purging the relic? Was it worse?

My stomach twisted as I watched her heave and expel the dead dark magic over and over again, useless, unable to do anything but witness the aftermath of what we had forced her to endure.

Finally, the retching slowed.

Her shoulders still trembled, and her breath came in ragged gasps.

The worst of it had passed. Relief trickled through our bond.

Pandora lifted her head slightly, her sweat-matted hair clinging to her face. Her fingers clawed weakly at the ground as if she were trying to push up. Dex and Skel carefully helped her to her feet.

“Shit, Darkmore,” Jesper gasped. “We need to find you a healer, now .”

“Fuck, Hunter!” Dex shouted, his fog gray eyes locking on me.

“Dude, are you okay?” Skel’s voice was sharp.

“Fates,” Bram hissed.

Pandora turned in their hold, and when her crimson eyes locked onto mine, they widened in horror. “Hunter, what the Fates!”

Dex and Skel helped her rush to me.

Reed and Bram helped me stay on my feet as they both yanked the swords from my stomach without hesitation, tossing them and letting them clatter against the stone floor.

The wounds sealed instantly, vengeance magic replenishing my reserves.

Pandora’s hands trembled as they skimmed over my torso, getting my blood all over them. “Are you okay?”

I cupped her face, tilting her head until our gazes met. “The vengeance of protecting my mate filled my reserves.”

“Thank Fates,” Jesper muttered.

“I’ll be fine, starlight,” I promised her.

She shuddered; her breath came out unsteady.

Before she could speak, Nebula’s voice sliced through the air. “Go report this. Now . Sybil’s power is growing.”

I’d forgotten he'd tagged along in Pandora's bag today. He'd been so quiet.

Pandora flinched at his voice. “We destroyed the site. How is her power growing?”

“What are you talking about?” Jesper asked, exhaustion clear in his eyes. “Whose power is growing?”

“Sybil Shaw's," I told him gruffly.

The air turned static again.

We had to do something— fast .