Library

5. Skel

She was as lethal as she was stunning.

The rough texture of the Demonic Archives dug into my back as I leaned against the side of the building, seeking shelter from the sweltering sun. My gaze clung to her without my intent.

She strode beside her father, Death. The fucking soul eater representative of the Demon Council and his family were also the oldest nobility in the Demon Capital. There wasn’t a demon alive that didn’t know about the Gravesend line. Yet, she was hidden away for over two decades.

Rumors circulated about Death finally thrusting his precious daughter into the throes of demonkind. It was suspicious that he chose a reform academy for her, though. Even my father heard of the situation, and he found it odd enough to mention it to me.

Given we didn’t speak much, it was worth mentioning.

I had no idea she would be the spitting image of him and still be so fucking gorgeous. I mean, holy fucking Fates. How gorgeous could a demon be?

Her stature, petite and commanding, drew me in like a werewolf to the full moon. It wasn”t just her looks that hooked me; it was something deeper, something I hadn’t felt before.

My hand curled around my fae pipe tighter as her scent carried over to me. The sweet aroma of caramel teased my senses, weaving its way into my consciousness and leaving me dizzy with desire.

Fuck. No one should smell that good.

“Now, you can’t eat any souls fully on the first day,” Death warned her in a deep voice.

My skin crawled, and I felt my lip curl back in disgust. Who casually talked about eating souls like that?

I knew they were nobility, but come on.

She shot him a bored glance like she already knew better, but I wasn’t so sure. I’d never met a soul eater before, and I was more than happy to continue down that path.

“Right.” He cleared his throat. “Apparently, that was a bad dad joke I’ve heard so much about.”

My brows furrowed. But then I noticed the way her black silky hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall of ink.

Fates, my dick just got hard.

I didn’t even fucking blink as I brought my pipe to my lips and inhaled deeply, feeling the intoxicating fae enchantment work through my veins until I was swimming.

Her slender, pretty fingers twitched, and she had her eyes on me. Large and red like rubies, her eyes were framed by sweeping lashes and held a deep intensity.

A shiver skittered down my spine. Did this princess want to touch me as badly as I wanted to get my hands on her?

“You nailed it,” she said, placing a hand on the bag over her shoulder. “Definitely a bad joke, and you’re my dad, so…”

“I am, aren’t I?” He chuckled darkly, running his hand through his long dark hair.

Her hair was prettier.

“You are,” she said to him.

Bringing my pipe down, my eyes rolled back as I tilted my head back. I blew out the stream of fae magic in the form of rainbow smoke.

Fear magic quaked my muscles, threatening to leak out and condemn the academy to the hell I had wrought on that village over the summer. The entire Fates-damned reason I was stuck in this academy.

I could feel her eyes on me even as she spoke to her dad.

Despite the magnetic pull I felt toward her, there was a nagging voice in the back of my head, warning me of the dangers that could await me with her.

I didn’t fear her, but I did fear what she represented.

Plus, she was fucking nobility.

Glancing back at her, our gazes connected, and my magic leaked. My lips curved into a mocking smile.

She jolted, glancing down before fear splintered off her. It was suffocating and intoxicating all at once, and my magic reserves filled to the brim—dangerously high.

Fucking Fates.

Her father”s reputation preceded her, casting a shadow over any potential connection I wanted. I knew all too well the power and influence nobility wielded, and the fear Death instilled in those around him was enough of a reason to steer clear. But here she was, his daughter, a delicate and potent reminder of the darkness that lurked within her bloodline.

Darker than even mine.

I hated how my heart raced at the sight of her catching up with her dad and walking away from me.

Why the fuck did every fiber of my being yearn to ease her fear of me despite the looming threat she was?

The distant cry of a desert bird knocked me back to reality. My limbs tingled with the fae drugs, and I wasn’t sure how long I’d been there. The high clouded my brain, but the sun was noticeably lower than when I’d zoned out.

I kicked off the wall of the building and shook my head. The crunch of my feet against the uneven, shifting ground echoed faintly until I reached Occult Arch. It towered overhead, casting a long shadow.

I found Bram Hemlock lying in the grainy sand underneath it, trusty bottle in hand and, of course, empty.

His family sucked worse than mine did.

I stumbled forward and kicked at his leg until he startled awake. “Dumbass.”

Bram groaned, blinking like he was trying to focus as he sat up. Sand clung to him everywhere, including his black hair.

His red bleary eyes looked up at me with confusion before turning to slits. They were nothing like the big red eyes I’d seen in Death’s daughter.

“What the fuck, Skel?” He ran his hand down his face, the sandy grains falling everywhere.

I backpedaled until my back hit the stone arch, and I yawned. “Don’t pass out in the middle of campus. Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

“Shut up,” he slurred, pushing to his feet and stumbling over to lean against the stone with me. “When are you going to get me some more fae booze?”

“Never.” I snorted, taking a hit off my pipe and blowing the magic into his face while my veins sang with blissful drugs. “You drank an entire bottle at once, and your dad blamed mine for the coma you threw yourself into. If you gotta death wish, stop dragging me into it.”

He turned to glare at me, his shoulder shifting on the arch, and small rocks broke off and tumbled down from the motion. “Did you see her?”

I sucked in a sharp breath. “Who?”

“No way you’d fucking forget her if you saw her,” he mumbled, turning and leaning his head against the rock. “Little noble brat waltzing onto campus like that.”

“Death’s daughter?” I took another hit. “I saw her.”

“Bet she’s stuck up like every other noble out there. Dressed to the fucking nines.”

She was dressed hot.

I shrugged, blowing out the magic. “She had a wrap on her thigh. Weird fashion statement.”

A lizard scuttled past, making a trail in the sand as it went Fates knows where.

He chuckled bitterly. “She’s going to be a problem.”

“How so?” I mumbled around my pipe as a shiver worked its way down my spine. “It’d be easy for her to eat my soul, you know? Then I’d just be dead.”

Terror clutched my heart in its cold grasp as I choked out a breath of colorful smoke. Magic leaked from my skin as my horns eased out of my skull.

“Oh, come the fuck on,” Bram muttered, flinching and shutting his eyes. He banged his head against the rough rock. A small trickle of blood slipped down the rock from his head. “You get scared and make us all afraid, eh?”

I flinched, inhaling a deep breath of fae drugs and holding it in, not letting it go until I felt like I was flying. “Sorry.”

My magic seeped back inside of my reserves, and Bram relaxed with a harsh exhale.

“I heard Death’s daughter was just found.” He stumbled over his words. “Apparently, he didn’t know about her. Not sure how true that is. How could Death not fucking know?”

I continued smoking. “Even Death can fuck up on safe sex, I guess.”

“Her and Mommy probably schemed their way into nobility.” His weak laugh pierced the air.

A few students walking by in a larger group glanced our way.

“Doubtful.” I watched the colors of smoke dance through the heat waves. “He’s a Gravesend, and she walks like a goddess. No way she hasn’t been a noble her entire life.”

“Best damn name to get for your kid if you were scheming.” He glowered at the passing group of demons, and his dark maroon horns grew with a twist.

The air rippled around us before his chaos magic exploded, and a large tangible part of it leapt from his body. Its form was that of a wolf, twisted and contorted as if crafted from the fabric of nightmares. Its fur shimmered with a dark glow, pulsating with chaotic energy that warped reality around it.

His illusions were always fun, but his wolves were my favorite.

As a fear demon, I admired Bram’s ability to create chaos in that of nightmarish wolves. He had five wolves tatted on his chest, and the center wolf was his favorite to bring to life to create chaos with because it was the biggest and most aggressive.

The massive wolf dug its paws into the sand as it snarled.

“Oops,” he muttered as his forked tail whipped back and forth excitedly behind him.

“You’re like a fucking dog, I swear.” I rolled my eyes. “So your chaos magic is fine, but my fear magic isn’t?”

“Sicc ‘em,” he whispered to his magic wolf that he named Chaos.

The wolf burst forth, rushing after the demons and wreaking havoc on the students.

The group of demons were caught off guard by the sudden appearance of his chaotic beast. Some froze, their eyes wide with disbelief, and others attempted to flee in panic, slipping on the sand as they scrambled like imps.

With every step, the ground trembled beneath his wolf’s monstrous paws, and with each snarl, arcs of chaotic energy crackled through the air.

Bram let out a content moan, tilting his head back. “Fates, that’s good.”

A laugh bubbled out of me.

Chaos and fear fed off each other.

“Damn.” I whistled. “Been a while since I’ve seen you in action.”

“We haven’t seen each other in several years,” he reminded me. “Not since high school.”

“True.” I lifted my hand, watching an illusion of my tatted spider grow and form until it stood taller than me. Its eight red eyes blinked at me before straying toward the wolf and students.

It scuttled forth in the sand toward the chaos.

Bram sucked in a sharp breath.

I smirked. “Still scared of spiders?”

“No,” he denied, but his fear seeped off him in bulk.

The other demons’ fears sank into my reserves as I attempted to drain it by overloading my magic.

Students scattered in all directions, desperate cries filling the air as chaos and fear ensued. The wolf and spider tore through the campus with reckless abandon.

Inhaling the fae drugs, I blew out more smoke.

“I forgot how delicious it can be when you two get together,” a deep voice chuckled, stepping out of the shadow of the arch. “The negativity you create is like no other. I could bathe in it! Oh, wait, I am.”

“Dexter fucking Shadowheart.” I gaped in shock at the guy Bram and I had gone to high school with.

I figured his parents would’ve offed him by now.

His sharp fog gray eyes were still as dead as I remembered, and his white blond hair had grown to just above his shoulders.

Unlike Bram and I, Dex didn’t have tattoos in high school. But he did now. Shadows wrapped around his biceps and down his arms. It looked like the scar around his throat had somehow gotten bigger, and my gut rolled.

Scars weren’t common for demons unless their magic reserves were empty or they were a thread away from death. Most supernaturals were the same, but demons especially. His scar was from his head being lopped off several times…and I guess it had happened again since we’d seen him.

“You’re still alive?” Bram mumbled more to himself. “Interesting.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, you beautiful assholes. Here I was excited to see you two again.” He reached out and stole my pipe before taking a couple of long hits. I noticed the tongue ring as the smoke billowed out. “Fuck you guys.”

I snatched it back and did the same, blowing the smoke in his face. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

His lips curled in a sinister smirk. “Mommy and Daddy think I’m defective and want me fixed. They think a reform academy will make me more moldable for their plans.”

“Whatever that means,” Bram muttered, staring at the chaos on campus.

“What about you two?” He crossed his arms, and shadows danced around him. “Why the fuck are you here?”

“My brother,” Bram hissed.

My brows raised. “Slater? I thought you hated that prick?”

“Melinda Havoc told him I was his half brother, finally, and the guy wants a relationship or some shit.” He rolled his eyes before scowling. “My buzz is fading. I need a Fates-damned drink.”

“Damn. That’s cold.” Dexter’s hand disappeared into the shadows before he pulled out a clear liquor bottle and tossed it at him. “So, he’s wanting to reform you?”

“Something like that.” Bram caught the bottle and unscrewed the lid. “Fuck, I’ve missed you, Dexter.”

“Now, that’s the greeting I expected.” Dexter clapped his hands excitedly before pointing a finger gun at me. “I didn’t love your greeting, Skel.”

“Oh, fuck yo?—”

He pulled his thumb back, then shot the finger gun. A shadow bullet formed out of his finger, hurtling toward me with a zipping sound through the air.

It punched through my shoulder before I could react. Shadow magic tore through my flesh until it exited, sending shockwaves of pain through me.

“Fuck you, Dexter,” I groaned, clutching my shoulder as my blood poured out from between my fingers.

My magic reserves were so full that the tingling of healing felt hot as my flesh sealed back together in a few seconds.

The spider shrunk as it continued to torment people, and I called the illusion back to me as my magic reserves sat half empty and the leaking of my magic finally calmed.

“Thought healing helped you control your leaking issues,” he mumbled like a kicked dog. “I was trying to help.”

“Thanks, then.” I wiped my bloodied hand on my shirt before sucking in more fae drugs. “It worked.”

“Why are you here, Skel?” Bram and Dexter asked simultaneously.

“Dad and Kat figured they might be able to teach me not to leak,” I stated bitterly. It was a half-truth.

My heart twisted in my chest at the real reason.

“How is my little sister Kat?” Dex asked. He and my sister had always had some weird sibling-like bond that I never fucking liked.

She should’ve been afraid of Dex—not me. But that wasn’t how it turned out.

I glared at him but shrugged.

I wish I knew.

“Is the fear demon representative on the Demon Council still after you?” Bram asked before taking several gulps from the bottle.

“Malice has laid off for now,” I muttered.

He shouldn’t bother me much anymore. Not after what I did. The Demon Council stepped in themselves to deal with the aftermath, after all.

“You both have a sweet kind of negativity radiating off of you.” Dexter tilted his head. “What happened?”

“A soul eater’s on campus,” I spat out.

“She’s a noble,” Bram added bitterly before taking another swig.

“And kind of pretty,” I admitted begrudgingly, bringing my pipe up and inhaling it. Fae drugs filled my veins at a higher rate, and my mind numbed further.

“Oh, really?” Interest danced in his gaze as his lips curled in amusement.

“She’s trouble,” Bram grunted.

“I love trouble.” His shadows slid around his neck, covering his scar perfectly. “I’ll deal with her.”

“Who says she needs to be dealt with?” I blinked.

“She’s a fucking noble. Of course she does,” Bram growled. “Have at it.”

It was so weird having both of them at this academy with me. I hadn’t expected to like anyone here, but those two and I had been on first-name basis since sophomore year of high school.

I inhaled the scent of dry earth and sun-warmed stone from the breeze and found myself missing the tantalizing caramel I’d smelled earlier from the soul eater.

Maybe throwing her to Dex wouldn’t be so bad.

Comments

0 Comments
Best Newest

Contents
Settings
  • T
  • T
  • T
  • T
Font

Welcome to FullEpub

Create or log into your account to access terrific novels and protect your data

Don’t Have an account?
Click above to create an account.

lf you continue, you are agreeing to the
Terms Of Use and Privacy Policy.