16. Reed

My soul spiraled into my dreamscape the moment my head hit the pillow after I had fed and loved on Gumdrop. There was a tug at the core of my soul, like a thread pulling at my heart. I’d never felt anything like it before.

I found myself surrounded by a fog of violet hues and a dreamy glow. The scene was familiar, but the aching in my heart was not. The clouds bounced underneath my bare feet as I walked past the purple trees with shimmering blue leaves and into the clearing that was surrounded by a galaxy.

My cotton candy scent was present, but the caramel scent I’d caught a hint of before filled the air, mingling perfectly, almost in harmony.

I turned, and my heart lurched.

Pandora stood in my dreamscape with her lips curved into a smile as she raked her pretty red eyes upon my illusion.

”Reed?” she rasped, blinking a few times as if to decide if she was really seeing me.

My lips parted in shock. How had she found her way here? Was this something soul eaters could do, or had I summoned her here?

Before I could ask, she placed a small hand on my forearm, her touch sending shivers down my spine. ”I don”t know how I got here,” she admitted before pulling her hand back. “But I have a feeling this isn’t a regular dream.”

For a moment, I was at a loss for words. I’d never imagined that anyone could ever venture into the depths of my dreamscape, let alone have the demon responsible be Pandora.

A sense of longing bubbled to the surface, and it felt like my soul was calling to hers.

She squeezed what looked like a kitten’s skull to her chest with her brows drawn together. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” I murmured, staring down at her. “I’m glad you’re here. This is…my dreamscape. It’s my safe place, and just for transparency, I’m feeding off you being here.”

“I don’t mind that,” she mumbled, glancing at the skull in her arms with a fierce sort of protection. Nobody held something so close to them like that without it holding significant value.

“Who do you have there?” I nodded toward the skull.

“This is Nebula.” Her cheeks deepened in color. “He’s my best friend. I can talk to his soul.”

My brows rose. “That’s really cool.” I chewed on my inner cheek. “I have an axolotl. His name’s Gumdrop and he’s my best friend. I talk to him, but he doesn’t really…talk back.”

Her eyes lit up in excitement. “Really? I’d love to meet him sometime.”

“I’d love that too.” I grinned.

She glanced around my sacred space, and I found myself wanting to tell her more.

“I’m sorry I brought you here,” I murmured, running a hand through my hair. “I didn’t mean to.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Her fingertips brushed my cheek, and I froze. “I think maybe I…I was here before you, somehow?”

“That’s impossible.” I fell into the depths of her red eyes, wondering if there was any truth to that. I’d fallen asleep quicker than usual, and the tugging in my chest only stopped when she touched me.

“Your demon form is quite literally like a dream,” she mused, hand falling back to the skull in her arms. The ache came back tenfold. “Galaxies fill your eyes just like I’d read about, but no text did the beauty of them justice.”

I felt my tail swipe back and forth, and I smiled. “You’re dreaming, but this is as real as if we were standing together at the academy.”

Her eyes widened slightly. “Oh.”

“I can do anything here, you know.” I waved toward the right of us and transformed it into a coast of sandy beaches and rough waves.

“Reed, oh my Fates.” Her breath caught, and a strangled kind of whine escaped her.

“You can go stand on the beach or swim in the water if you want,” I told her.

“I can’t swim,” she rasped as she moved hesitantly. Her long, glossy black hair danced in the gentle breeze, and her red eyes widened with wonder at the vast ocean.

Waves crashed against the shore, their rhythmic lullaby echoing in our ears as she ventured closer. Her bare feet switched from the clouds to the grainy sand, and she didn’t stop until the briny water lapped at her toes.

I followed her the entire way, stopping only when the cold water washed over my feet as well.

The expression on her face was absolutely perfect to me at that moment. “I’ve always wanted to see the beach.” A smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she shut her eyes and tilted her head back.

My heart pounded in my chest, swelling with pleasure in giving her something like this. I felt lucky to witness it.

“I’d read about the beach many times, but to see it? It’s more than I’d ever imagined.”

A frown settled on my expression. What had she meant by only reading about it? Had she not traveled much? That surprised me since she was Death Gravesend’s daughter.

“Where are we?”

“My mom and dad lived on the Gleaming Gulf in a beachside city before my dad died. This was a smaller beach that few demons went to. After that, Mom moved us into the city for my high school years. After that, she moved us to the most rural part of the Demon Capital, away from all the beaches…and away from everyone and everything else.” Bitterness filled my mouth. “Couldn’t afford it anymore.”

“I’m sorry, Reed.” Her words were soft, sincere. They meant everything to me.

“I’m sorry for not stepping in sooner with Shadowheart,” I blurted.

Her face whipped toward me with her red lips parted in the shape of an O before she sighed and moved her gaze back to the sea. “You have nothing to be sorry for. When I see shadow magic, a cold spear of dread lodges into the base of my spine, and I just freeze…”

“You’re afraid of shadow demons?” The question hung in the air as a whisper between us, accompanied by the crashing of the waves against the sandy shore.

“I guess I am.” Her lips quirked into a wary smile as she lowered herself to the sand, holding the kitten skull cupped in her palms as she let the water wash over it a few times before moving it back to her lap. “Nebula was a kitten that wandered into my life years ago…he was killed right in front of me with shadow magic.” She frowned, tracing the lines of the skull before faintly muttering, “At least I thought it was shadow magic. Maybe not.”

Fates, she was stunning.

“You hold your own with Shadowheart,” I told her. “Your panic attack makes a lot more sense now, though.”

“It does.” A larger wave washed over us, and her skirt moved with it, showing the wrap clad tight around her thigh. I bit my tongue. I wanted to know why she wore it and what she was hiding underneath. But it wasn’t right to just ask.

“You know,” she rasped. “Being here doesn’t hurt to talk. It’s refreshing.”

Hurt? Was that why her voice was so low and raspy?

“We can talk here whenever you want, dream girl.” I kneeled down in the sand next to her as the waves rolled over our thighs.

She looked over at me with a beaming smile, and my heart about stopped.

Dream girl had slipped out, but the nickname was the truth. Pandora was my dream girl. Being in my dreamscape with her was everything I didn’t know I was missing.

She opened her mouth to reply, but a loud bang jolted me awake, ripping me from my dreamscape and from Pandora.

I jerked up out of bed as my eyes adjusted to the dim room of my dorm. Gumdrop was sleeping in his tank safely, but Hemlock was up, tossing his stuff around angrily.

“Why the Fates did you say her name?” he slurred, stumbling and catching himself on the nightstand. “You…were talking in your sleep.”

“Because I was with her in my dreamscape,” I snapped at my drunken roommate with frustration seeping out of me. “Not that I have to explain myself to you.”

“She’s a noble. Why would she spend her sleeping nights with someone like us?” His jaw clenched, and his horns extended along with his tail. “Fuck this,” he mumbled and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

I flinched from the sheer force of it, and Gumdrop woke with alarm, jerking awake similarly to how I had.

“Hey, buddy, it’s okay,” I soothed him in a sleepy voice. “It was just the door.”

His frilly gills fluttered with irritation as he scanned his surroundings.

“I know. Hemlock was very inconsiderate,” I agreed with a bob of my head.

With a flick of his tail, he propelled himself forward, gliding through the water and toward the glass. He pressed his tiny hands against the surface, peering at me anxiously.

“I promise, Gumdrop, it’s safe,” I cooed. “Go back to sleep.”

With one last glance at the now-quiet room, Gumdrop settled back into his cozy hiding spot underneath the big gumdrop house within the tank.

Once he was content, I laid back down and found myself thinking about Pandora again.

My magic reserves were overfilling with magical energy from her short visit. Any time I fed off those in my dreamscape, it would take a couple of hours a night to be adequately sustained. But with Pandora, it was only a few minutes.

Assurance rang through me as I reassured myself that Charlotte and Hemlock were both wrong. Pandora didn’t care about my nobility status. She cared for me because of who I was, and that meant more than she could ever know.