Page 53

53

PANDORA

I sat on the edge of the bed, my fingers trembling as I traced the smooth surface of Nebula’s skull. His bone was warm against my skin, but the weight of him was heavy in my hands.

My vision blurred as fresh tears spilled down my cheeks, dripping onto my lap. My soul ached with the knowledge of what I had to do tomorrow.

This was my last night with Nebula by my side, and it was breaking my heart.

“ Pandora ,” Nebula’s disembodied voice was steady but gentle as it echoed around me. “You have to let me go.”

I shook my head, clutching his skull to my chest like a lifeline—because it was a lifeline for me for so long. “Reed’s idea of our future was beautiful,” I whispered. “But it didn’t have you in it.”

Nebula sighed. “That’s because it was never meant to.”

My breath hitched.

I wanted to scream, to deny what he said, to throw myself at the Fates’ feet and demand another way out of this.

But there wasn’t one.

“But I don’t know how to cope without you,” I rasped.

“You will learn to. You deserve happiness, Pandora,” Nebula said firmly. “And I deserve freedom. Don’t you think so?”

A sob wrenched from my throat. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

He chuckled, amusement thick in his tone. “You will not hurt me. You will free me.”

I gritted my teeth, my entire body shaking with grief. “You’re asking me to?—”

“I’m asking you to give me peace,” he corrected softly. “I’ve been bound to this curse too long. It’s almost time, and you promised.”

My ribs felt like they were caving in on my lungs with each breath. “Nebula, please …”

“Pandora.” His voice was tender. “You have to do this for me. I love you. I want to spend my last night here with you and your mates.”

As if on cue, the door creaked open.

Concern flickered through each bond as my mates entered, but their bond grounded me even as my world was splintering apart.

Bram moved first, his red eyes gleaming with sorrow as he sat beside me, pressing a kiss to my temple. “There are no words I can say that will prepare you for what we are losing tomorrow,” he murmured. “But we will carry Nebula’s memory with us, always .”

Hunter crouched on my other side, his white eyes filled with an aching understanding. “You’re not alone in this,” he assured me, his tone steady, his fingers warm as they squeezed my hand. “And neither is he.”

Reed climbed up on the bed and ran a hand down my back before murmuring, “Nebula, you mean the world to Pandora, but we also have grown to care for you as family.”

Dex sniffed, his gray eyes glassy as he stood over us. “We love you, man,” he told Nebula, voice raw with pain. “And we always will.”

Skel squatted in front of me as he shed a single tear that fell down his scar. “This isn’t fair, Nebs,” he choked out. “None of this is fair.”

Nebula let out a sad chuckle. “Thank you. All of you. I love Pandora, and I love that she has you as her mates. I can pass on knowing she’s in good hands.”

Silence stretched between us, and my throat burned as I held back my sobs.

Tomorrow night, we had to face Sybil. Tomorrow night, we would fight for our lives and for the Demon Capital.

The new moon would make Sybil’s dark magic stronger, but it was also the only moment we could catch her off guard.

We needed every ounce of power we could get to fight her, but Nebula was the cost of standing a chance against her.

I hated that.

I pressed my forehead to Nebula’s skull, my tears splattering onto his bone. The agony inside me was unbearable.

I had never known a loss like this.

“I love you,” I whispered.

“I love you, Pandora,” he hissed before de-manifesting, and I shattered in the arms of my mates—grieving my best friend, even though he wasn’t gone yet.