27. Pandora

Darkness pressed in around me like a suffocating blanket made of my greatest fears. If my instincts didn’t scream at me that I was wrong, I would think Skel was somehow behind it. But fear demons didn’t have the power of a drude or dream demon, and I distinctly remembered falling asleep.

As I tried to make sense of it, a woman’s figure materialized above me as she stood on a gray cloud far above. Her green eyes gleamed with hatred, and her untamed, curly red hair danced around her like flames. Her lips contorted in a sickening smile as she orchestrated the nightmare playing out around me.

I strained to recognize her, but I couldn’t. There was no way I knew her.

The nauseating blend of sulfur and blood filled the air, a mixture of my mother’s and Dex”s scents. It clawed at my nostrils and stirred memories of the cellar. My heart thundered in my chest, the pounding of it echoing through my bones as I struggled against the nightmare.

Sharp, scorching shadow tendrils held me down as more lashed into my flesh, searing pain etching into me so deep my back bowed in agony. The flesh of my thigh, stomach, and back was both burned and cut off my body. They were Mother’s favorite place to hurt me, but…it wasn’t my mother controlling the shadows.

A familiar face stood above me with a sneer on his face. White blond hair coated in my blood fell into his gray eyes, and my heart squeezed with betrayal—even knowing this wasn’t real.

Dex.

Tears welled in my eyes as the realization crashed over me.

I was pinned there, trapped under a blitz of shadow tendrils just like I had been my entire life.

My garbled screams were lost in the howling winds of his shadow magic, and my power stayed dormant within the nightmare.

“Gravesend!”Dreadful”s shouts cut through as sharp as shattered glass. She was screaming, hurling insults and curses at me that blended with my torment. My throat was raw and searing from my attempts at screaming, the taste of coppery fear heavy on my tongue.

“Wake up,” Nebula hissed, tearing through the nightmare with the black sludge of his soul.

I woke up, eyes flying open as my heart hammered against my ribcage. My sweat-soaked sheets clung to my skin like they were the tendrils that held me down. I struggled to escape their grasp, but the residual terror of the dream still clawed at me.

“What the actual fuck, Gravesend?” Dreadful shrieked, clutching her covers as she sat on her bed, the epitome of a princess getting her beauty sleep interrupted.

Every time I shut my eyes, I saw Dex in my mother’s place, shadow magic slicing into me relentlessly.

With trembling hands, I ignored Dreadful and scooped up Nebula, putting him in my bag before fleeing the room. The cool air of the hallway did little to soothe the burning in my lungs as I stumbled into the common area.

Skel”s presence startled me as I noticed him, slouched in a chair next to the window. He was the only person there, probably because everyone else was still sleeping. I didn’t even know what time it was, but the moon was still high in the sky.

I shivered, wrapping my arms around myself, and realized I was in a black silk nightgown that hit my upper thigh. Thank Fates, I slept with the wrapping on my thigh. I wasn’t thinking when I left, I just knew I had to leave that room.

Skel hadn’t noticed my arrival; instead, he looked trapped in a nightmare of his own. Thin wisps of smoke curled from the pipe between his lips, but his eyes were clouded with fear.

“No, don’t! I don’t want to die,” he whimpered, the pipe moving with each word. “Don’t kill me…”

Something overtook me at the desperation in his tone, and I found myself standing over him, my voice a scratchy whisper of concern and pain. “Skel?”

“What?” He blinked, the fear in his gaze fading as anger replaced it. “What the fuck, princess? Don’t fucking do that! Why would you come over here? I don’t want you near me!” A snarl of anger screwed up his lips as his words stung like ice against my already fragile emotions.

I flinched but stood my ground, my instincts wrestling with themselves. Part of me wanted to tuck tail and run, but a stronger part wanted to comfort him. He’d been so scared. Of what? Death?

“I...I just wanted to help,” I managed to say, my throat raw and aching from my attempts at my screams over the nightmare. “You looked scared.”

Skel”s red-rimmed green gaze bore into me, his anger shifting to something else. “I looked scared? What the fuck is wrong with you?”

I opened my mouth to speak, but I couldn’t; the nightmare still haunted me. And my throat hurt.

He saw the tears fill my eyes that I couldn”t hold back, and his features softened in a way I’d never seen them do before. “Woah, Pandora…do you, maybe, need to talk?”

Tears streaked my cheeks as I nodded. “Yes, but not with you.”

“Don’t be like that.” In a swift movement, Skel reached out, fingers curling around my wrist, and he tugged me down on top of him. “You need to talk? We’re going to talk like this, princess,” he murmured, the nickname a mocking reminder of my nobility status.

I straddled him—in my nightgown—in the common area where anyone could walk in.

Panic went haywire in my heart, but I didn’t move. It was more like I couldn’t. Some force held me there, in his arms, and heat streaked down my spine.

One of his hands squeezed my hip while the other pulled his pipe out of his mouth and put it in mine. “Suck, princess.”

I froze at the words. They made my stomach flip.

I couldn’t get high. Could I?

Flashes of my nightmare filtered through my mind, and I sucked a deep inhale from the pipe until he pulled it back to take a hit himself.

“Exhale,” he ordered.

I exhaled the rainbow smoke at the same time as he did, and our smoke swirled together.

I was the only one who had to cough a few times, but I looked down at him, searching his gaze for approval.

“Good job.” He smirked, passing me the pipe again. “I find when you feel like you need to talk, getting high is the best solution.”

“I’m not sure that’s healthy.” I glared at the fae drugs.

“Try it my way, princess.”

I hesitated, but then I realized I didn’t want to go back to sleep and be chained by nightmares. I took another hit, filling my lungs with the fae magic.

The world tilted sideways as the high latched onto me, and I passed the pipe back to him.

We spent the next hour just passing the pipe between us, and we’d both relaxed to the point where I sprawled across his chest, still straddling his hips. His hands moved lazily over my back as he touched me.

I didn’t even care!

The nightmare was far from my mind as I let myself greedily inhale his vanilla and smoke scent.

“So, you just…avoid talking?” I pushed up off his chest gently to see his face. His very attractive face. Even his scar was attractive. “Get high and not say anything? Wow, your scar is hot, by the way,” I blurted the last thing before slapping a hand over my mouth.

His lips curled into a genuine smile as he chuckled. “That’s why I don’t say much, pretty princess. Being high means you have less of a filter.”

“That’s even better,” I gasped. “To talk about what’s on your mind! If you can’t filter, you can’t hold back, which means you get the stuff weighing you down off your chest.”

“I’d like to get this off your chest,” Skel purred, tracing his finger over my collarbone.

My skin seared with something I could only name as desire over where his fingers touched.

I smacked his hand away with a pout. “Stop that. I don’t know what you’ve been told, but I’m…” I leaned super close to him so I could whisper in his ear, and he groaned. “A virgin.”

“What?” he sputtered as I moved back up. “Since when?”

“Since forever, duh.” I giggled. “Can I talk, for real?”

His fingers dug into my hips, and he groaned. “I told you if you wanted to talk, it had to be like this. What’s up?”

“I had a nightmare,” I murmured. “It was from a drude I’ve never seen in my life. She had green eyes and red hair, and she was so mean-looking.”

He whistled lowly as he took another hit and passed me the pipe. “What’d you do to piss off a drude?”

“I don’t know!” I groaned, tossing my hair back. “I didn’t mean to!”

“Well, what was the nightmare about?”

“Dex…and his tendrils slicing into my flesh.” Fear shimmied down my spine thinking about it. “It hurt.”

He moaned, his eyes glowing slightly as he fed off my fear. “If we’re sharing, it’s only fair that I tell you that your fear of me only pisses me off,” he confessed, a raw edge to his voice. ”Also…you do need to be careful who you trust.”

I stuck my ring in his face. “See this? Daryl got it for me, and it’s enchanted to turn black when someone wants to hurt me. It turned black when I first saw you.”

His eyes widened, but he nodded. “I wanted to hurt you before you hurt me.”

“And now?”

“Debatable,” he whispered, taking a hit and passing the pipe.

“Do you want to meet my best friend?” I blew out the smoke and handed it back.

“The kitten skull your bitchy roommate went on about?” He forced a scoff. “Of course I fucking do.”

I let out a choppy squeal, a sound I’d never heard come out of me before, and scooped Nebula up from my bag.

“This is Nebula! His soul is, like, attached to his skull.” I ran my fingers over the ivory bone lovingly. “And Nebula, this is Skel!”

His soul manifested, oozing from the eye sockets and spilling out on my palms. “Skel? The one that’s been so awful to you? Pandora, what are you doing?”

“Holy fucking Fates,” Skel breathed out in shock. “It talks.”

“And you got her high.” Nebula’s disembodied voice accused.

“Hey, she’s smiling at least,” he supplied cockily.

Nebula was silent for a beat before agreeing. “Fine, but only because of that nightmare.”

“Thanks for waking me up,” I told him.

“Of course,” he said enthusiastically. “I may not have been able to help before, but I can wake you from torment.”

“Help her how?” Skel took a hit and offered the pipe to Nebula.

“None of your business,” he hissed. “I’m a skull. I can’t smoke.”

“Oh, shit, right. Right.” Skel chuckled, offering it to me instead. “I fucking love cats.”

“You do?” I took the pipe and inhaled again. The fae magic swam through my veins. “We have that in common.”

His hand closed over mine, and he brought the pipe to his lips to inhale. His gaze never left mine, then he blew out the magic over my face. “I wonder what else we have in common, princess.”

My heartbeat pounded in my throat. “Well…we can both hear Nebula. Nobody else has ever heard him. I thought Dad did once, but he told me he only heard me talking to him.”

“No shit?” He flicked his gaze to Nebula before accepting the pipe from me. “Cool. So, Nebs, how’d you die?”

I froze.

“Do not refer to me as Nebs.” Nebula sounded offended. “And do not ask me that. That story is Pandora’s to tell.”

“Aw, come on, Nebs. Totally suits you.” His eyes fluttered shut as he yawned. “Don’t worry. I’m about to fall asleep. Maybe now, you’ll get some rest, princess. Sleep on me. You’re so warm.”

“I don’t want to get trapped in a nightmare again,” I rasped as Nebula’s soul sucked back in. I put him back into my bag and laid against Skel’s chest.

“Why do you think I got you high? Fae magic blocks demonic interference.”

It did?

My body buzzed with magic, and exhaustion funneled through me at the news.

“Skel?” I mumbled softly, feeling the rise and fall of his chest.

“Mmm?”

“Thanks.” My eyelids fluttered shut, too.

“Dude, what the fuck is she doing on top of you?” Hemlock’s voice shattered the moment.

My eyes flew open, and I watched him stumble over from the hall.

His hair was a tousled mess, and his normal spicy bourbon scent mixed with more booze. He only wore a pair of sweatpants, showing off all of his tattoos again.

Chaos magic whipped around him, and that wolf he seemed so keen on summoning leapt out from his tattoo.

The large wolf snarled and barked, its chaotic energy feeding on my reaction.

Skel’s fingers bit into my hips as he opened an eye. “Dude, fucking stop with that. She’s high. Don’t scare her.”

Skel”s protests were a distant echo as Hemlock’s wolf drew closer.

Hemlock’s hands curled roughly around my upper arms as he jerked me from Skel”s grasp and off his lap before pinning me against the cold window.

The wolf stood behind him, growling at me.

“What are you doing?” His nose brushed mine as his alcohol-drenched breath fanned over my lips. “Was your bitch of a roommate right? Are you trying to fuck us?”

“Of course not!” Anger flooded me, but the fae magic thrumming through me made it to where two or three Hemlocks were in front of me.

“Oh yeah?” His bleary red gaze dropped to my lips. “That why you were straddling Skel…in this flimsy little nightgown?”

“Don’t kiss me,” I blurted, panic scratching at my throat.

“Don’t what?” he mused, leaning even closer. “I can’t hear you. Speak up, brat.”

Blinking the haze of the high away the best I could, I moved my palms between us and pushed his chest, hard. “I said, don’t kiss me!”

He stumbled back, tripping over his own feet and landing on his ass. His glare bore into me. “Kiss you?” He tossed his head back with a chuckle. “So what, Skel’s good enough for you, but I’m not?”

“Skel was helping me!” My throat seized as pain spread from my vocal cords through my larynx. “I wasn’t trying to sleep with him, and I didn’t kiss him. I’m not interested in anything like that!”

“Yeah, I guess I should’ve figured that.” He ran a rough hand over his jaw. “I mean, that fucking wrap on your thigh isn’t exactly sexy.”

Embarrassment streaked hot through me as I ran my fingers over my wrap. “I…I wasn’t trying to be sexy.”

Dex stepped out of the shadows and between Hemlock and I, his lips curving into a sinister smirk. “Ahahaha the fuck, guys? Are you messing with Pandora without me?”

Dex”s sudden appearance splintered fear into my heart, his laughter echoing through the common area.

Everything from tonight seemed to press in around me, suffocating and heavy.

My eyes stung with heat, and tears spilled down my face before I could stop them.

“Why?” I croaked, voice crackling with pain. “Why are you messing with me all the time? I haven’t done anything to you!”

“Don’t be such a stuck-up brat, and then we won’t mess with you,” Hemlock slurred.

Dex moved closer. “Fuck, your tears are so pretty.” His head tilted as he sniffed the air. “Are you high?”

Fear coiled in the pit of my gut, and a cold dread washed over me as his shadows curled around him.

I knew I was high, under the influence of fae magic, but the lines between reality and nightmare blurred as I stared at Dex.

I snuck a glance toward Skel to find him passed out, pipe tight in his grasp.

“What’s it matter to you?” Hemlock asked. “Dude, help me up.”

“What the fuck happened?” Dex turned to help him up, and I seized the moment to escape, rushing back to my room with the bag holding Nebula clutched to my chest.

I didn’t stop running until my back was against my locked dorm door, but the relief that swept through me was replaced with irritation as I caught Dreadful rifling through my side of the room.

“What are you looking for?” I rasped.

She jolted, jerking back and meeting my gaze with wide blue eyes. “You literally almost ate my fucking soul when you were screaming asleep!”

“I didn’t…” I furrowed my brows. I hadn’t felt my magic stir at all. Was she lying?

“You did!” She crossed her arms and stomped back over to her bed, grabbing her purse. “I’m not staying here with a time bomb. Oh my Fates!” She gasped, finally looking at me. “Are you high?”

She stormed over and looked at my eyes, sniffing the air around me. “You were with Grimshaw…that’s rich. You really are fucking him!”

“No, I’m not sleeping with anyone. But…I smoked his pipe.” My ring had turned black. “It’s not your business what I do, Dreadful.”

She scoffed, turning and slinging the door open, slamming it behind her. The lock slid into place, and I groaned.

I didn’t even care what she was doing. She was probably just trying to steal my clothes again.

I got Nebula out and strode over to my bed, climbing back underneath the covers. The fae magic still thrummed through me, numbing the ache in my throat and the pain of the nightmare.

Maybe Skel wasn’t as bad as I thought, but Hemlock definitely was.