34. Pandora

Iwasn’t sure I’d ever get used to the feeling of sand shifting when I walked or the way the breeze felt on my skin. I’d dreamed about the world beyond the four walls I’d spent the majority of my life within, but nothing could’ve prepared me for the beauty of nature. Reading and experiencing it firsthand were two separate things.

The fading sun cast a warm glow on my hair, and it skimmed my waist as I walked. I liked how the cool air soothed my skin, smelling faintly of rain and the caramel scent that always seemed to cling to me.

I still hadn’t experienced rain, but I knew what it smelled like. I remembered when it would rain, and the cellar leaked just above my head with the smallest trickles of water.

I hoped it would rain soon.

Hugging my arms around myself, my hair slid around me like a blanket. Each step felt heavier than the last, my mind replaying the past.

Hunter”s sessions hadn”t cracked the walls around my trauma, and the questions that haunted me remained unanswered. Had I destroyed dark magic within Mother? The memory of being violently ill afterward surfaced, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth.

Her soul tasted rotten, and I thought it was because I didn’t just devour her soul. I devoured something dark inside of her, too.

I’d taken to walking in the evening to avoid the snide remarks from Dreadful every time I was in my room. It was like she wanted to tear me down at any and every possible moment.

I strode across Cryptic Altar, and the sight of another dark magic circle around it jolted me to a stop. A sickening sense of déjà vu gripped me.

Before I could think, my powers surged forth, dark smoke spiraling from my lips to devour the remnants of dark magic within the circle. It spread forth, swallowing it whole and crashing back into me.

The aftermath of eating it was swift and brutal. I collapsed to my knees, puking a viscous black tar that seeped into the sand below. It looked just like what I had puked after eating Mother’s soul.

Trembling, I clutched my stomach, the knots in it wounding tighter with each labored breath. I managed to climb to my feet and make my way to Reform Hall as nausea pulsed at my vision.

Hemlock entered the lobby just as I stumbled in, his presence doing very little to steady the turmoil inside me.

“You look like shit.” His bleary eyes widened as he caught himself on the wall next to me.

“Dark magic circle by the altar.” I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to focus on not spewing my guts up in front of him. “My magic devoured it.”

His gaze cut through me like a blade. “Are you trying to impress me with your lies?”

I flinched back from him, smacking my shoulder against the wall. “Lie? Fates, Hemlock, you’re such a jerk.”

“Never claimed to be anything else, brat,” he mumbled as I pushed off the wall and went to find someone who would believe me.

I pushed myself down the hall toward Hunter’s room, irritation blooming through me at how easily Hemlock dismissed me. But it wasn’t as if we were friends. If anything, we were enemies. He hated me.

Hunter’s door was ajar, and he was inside at his desk, reading something intently on his tablet.

My fingers curled around the doorframe to keep me steady as another wave of nausea smacked into me. Sweat beaded at the base of my neck and rolled down my spine. “Can I come in?”

He glanced up and froze, shock enveloping his perfect face. “What happened?”

He didn’t give me a chance to answer as he pushed off his desk. He was in front of me, scooping me up into his arms in an instant. His sweet chocolate scent calmed my racing heart.

I wrapped my arms around his neck to stop myself from flailing. “Hunter!”

His jaw clenched, but he carried me and placed me softly on his sofa before letting me go. “Are you hurt anywhere?”

My stomach rolled at the question, and I moved my arms from around him and placed my hands in my lap. “I’m nauseous, but I’m not hurt. There’s a dark magic circle around Crypt Altar again.”

“What?” His gaze widened and swept the length of me as if he were checking for injuries. “Are you okay? What happened?”

“I’m fine,” I promised, twisting my ring on my finger. It was white, of course. It had always been white with Hunter. “I actually, um, activated my powers without my control and ate the dark magic inside it.”

“What?” he asked again, voice coming out in more of a squeak than a whisper. The soft glow of the candles around his office made shadows flicker over his face. “Dark magic isn’t in the circle anymore?”

I shook my head, retrieving the water bottle from my bag and taking a few sips to cool my throat and ease my stomach. “I don’t think so, but Hunter, I can’t control my magic.”

“Why do you think that?” His hand found mine and squeezed.

A sense of longing whispered through me at his touch, and I squeezed back. “To be honest with you, I…well, to start, I had a problem with Dreadful recently.”

“A problem?” His horns extended from his head as he tilted it, and his white eyes glowed eerily. “What problem?”

“Well, she invited me out to Odyssey Bluff. She and her friends ganged up on me, stole my bag, took Nebula, and threw him into the lake.” I hesitated as his vengeance magic settled in the room, simmering. “One of the nobles cut my arm with a shadow tendril when I tried to find Nebula in the water…” I paused.

“And?”

“My magic went off,” I croaked, taking a breath. “I almost killed someone, but they escaped as my magic was about to enter their body. Nightwind helped me get Nebula back. I—I can’t swim.”

He shook his head, anger practically coming off him in waves, but I knew the anger was not directed at me. “Nightwind…stay away from him. He’s got a bad reputation from even the other nobles. As for everyone else? I’ll take care of them.”

I nodded, but the tears I had been holding back burst free in the form of sobs. I took a broken breath as sobs wracked my body. “Fates,” I hiccuped. “I’m sorry. This is just…everything is so wrong. Life wasn’t supposed to be this hard after I escaped from Mother. It wasn’t going to be easy, I knew that, but dark magic and the war between social classes is insanity to me.”

“Shh, it’s okay, starlight.” His voice was calm and mesmerizing, a stark contrast to his demon form and vengeance magic whipping through the room in ripples. “I’ve got you. I’ll take care of everything. You’re safe with me.”

“I feel so sick!” I cried, my voice croaking with every word. “Every time dark magic is pulled into me, it’s like my stomach ate acid.”

“It ate worse,” he mumbled. “I don’t think you can fill your reserves feeding on dark magic. You need souls.”

“I know,” I whispered through my tears, burying my face into his chest and focusing on the warmth and scent of sweet chocolate.

In his arms, surrounded by the gentle flicker of candlelight, I allowed myself to feel it all—the pain, the fear, the hope for more. I cried, and I sobbed, and I made a fool out of myself in front of Hunter. I broke down because I needed to feel the bad so I could let it rest. I wouldn’t let the dark magic win, and I would figure my powers out.

I’d been through more than this, and with Hunter and Reed by my side, I felt like I could take on anything.