Page 45

45

HUNTER

O ur beautiful mate slept in the center of the enormous bed, curled into herself with Nebula pressed against her chest.

The room was quiet without Comet meowing, but she was happier with her pride at the cat sanctuary. The glow of the bedside lamp cast soft shadows over Pandora’s face, highlighting the rise and fall of her breathing.

Reed had helped her get to sleep with his dream magic when we’d made it back because she needed the rest but couldn’t calm her mind enough to fall asleep on her own.

Bram, Dex, Skel, Reed, and I sat around the room in silence for a long time, each of us lost in thought as we watched her sleep.

Finally, I broke it.

“They found more bodies,” I whispered, but it hit like a stone dropped into still water. “More nobles. The same method as Bram’s father uses.”

Bram’s jaw clenched. He didn’t say anything, but the tension rolling off of him told me he was already trying to calm himself. I felt his need for vengeance within my magic, and I wanted to give him the opportunity to claim the retribution he desperately deserved.

We had all known this would happen—we just hadn’t known when.

His father had been escalating, and he’d murdered Bram’s mother.

“The supernatural agents are hunting him down, but he’s evaded them a couple of times already. They think he’s hiding using magic,” I explained.

“What kind of magic?” Dex asked.

I hesitated.

Reed sucked in a sharp gasp. “Invisibility charm.”

My gaze widened and shock slammed into me. “That makes far too much sense than I like.”

“Chaos and Demo have been barking at nothing for a while,” Bram muttered. “You don’t think there’s a cultist somewhere near us with one, do you?”

“It could be,” Reed said, and something dipped into my gut. “But thankfully, we had Drecken ward this room off to anyone but us, Death, Joel, and Jenni.”

“Thank Fates for that.” I ran a hand through my hair, recognizing the signs. Pandora’s ring showed up out of nowhere, the chaos manifestations were riled up constantly, the whiskey bottles started showing up, and the note left to Dex from Rod.

Skel’s pipe had been left by Sybil, and it wouldn’t surprise me if the dark magic breached the ward, but I had a feeling this had more to do with Rod Shadowheart.

“My father,” Dex bit out, his soul crying out for vengeance. “Everyone keep a fucking eye out. He smells more like blood than I do.”

We all nodded, and I made a mental note to mention this to Pandora when she woke up so she would be just as aware as we were.

“Jesper also called,” I added with a sigh. “We’re going to interrupt the ritual just before the new moon is at the highest peak in the sky, when we can catch Sybil Shaw off guard.”

“That’ll take some serious deception on our part,” Dex muttered, running a hand through his hair.

“She’s too powerful otherwise,” Reed mumbled, tapping the glass of Gumdrop’s tank.

Gumdrop tapped his little paw back.

The air in the room shifted, and Nebula’s soul fully manifested in Pandora’s hold. “I know how you can catch her off guard.”

My stomach dropped. I already knew what he was going to say.

“Don’t say it, Nebs.” Skel let out a ragged breath.

“The only way to truly catch her off guard,” he continued, “is to sacrifice me. Right before you interrupt her ritual—before she realizes she can’t pull on my power to help her anymore.”

“ No .” The word came from me before I even realized I had spoken it.

Nebula sighed softly. “This is the only way. If I die at just the right moment, she won’t have time to react. You’ll have your opening.”

“But Pandora won’t be able to fight her after she frees you,” Skel croaked.

The room was thick with emotion.

“I love her as if she was my own child,” he said, voice raw. “I love Pandora with everything I have, and I know you all do too. She can do this, and she will prevail. That’s why I need you to promise me something.”

“Anything,” the five of us promised at the same time.

“Take care of her. Protect her. Don’t let her do something reckless because of me when fighting Sybil.”

Skel exhaled sharply, looking away, rubbing a hand over his face. His shoulders shook once before he forced himself to breathe evenly again. “Oh, come on, Nebs. Don’t make her do this.”

Reed swallowed hard, his hands curled into fists on his knees.

“You know how much she loves you,” I told Nebula, my voice thick. “This will break her.”

“I know.” He sighed again. “But she has you five, her dad, and Jenni. And I trust you to be there for her. She’s not alone anymore. I need you to be there for her. If you want to live a happy life with Pandora, without dark magic taking over the Demon Capital and possibly Kalista as a whole, then you have to let her do this.”

No one spoke for a long time. The weight of what he said settled over us. It pressed into my chest, making it hard to breathe.

Bram cleared his throat. “Since you’re manifested, I might as well mention that I wrote something,” he said. “For you.”

Nebula made an intrigued noise. “Let’s hear it.”

Bram took a shaky breath and recited,

“To sacrifice, to save.

A soul snuffed too soon.

Our love will protect yours.

You will not be lost to the Veil.

For you will feel the Fates' embrace.”

Nebula went silent for a few moments. “Thank you, Bram. It was lovely.”

Reed turned his face away, but I could see the way his shoulders trembled.

“Great poem.” Dex reached out and gripped the back of Bram’s neck in support as his jaw tightened.

“We’re going to get revenge for you, Nebs,” Skel said roughly. “And we’re going to protect her. That’s a promise.”

“Thank you all,” Nebula murmured. “Truly.” His soul sucked back inside his skull as he de-manifested.

None of us moved.

None of us spoke.

The weight of his absence filled the space he had just occupied, and his skull was still wrapped in Pandora’s arms as she slept.

Finals were next week for them, the mission was after that, and if everything turned out okay, graduation would be next.

We would manage, I was sure—but none of us would ever be the same.