6. Hunter

Starlight.

Pandora reminded me of starlight, and she had since the night we found her bloodied and chained in a cellar while she clutched a kitten’s skull against her chest. She was unlike anyone I had ever seen before, even in her bloodied and battered state.

The moment I walked out of the shadows with Death and Bane, time halted. The world faded away, leaving only her haunting image etched into my soul. Death had to feed off me to get my attention again, and I didn’t even have time to bitch at him for it before we jumped into action.

It didn’t take much of an investigation to figure out that she’d been isolated and abused by Penny Bones her entire life. The Bones were a low-class demon family that were killed off in the dragon attack on the Demon Capital during Kalista’s Second War, and Penny was the only survivor.

By the way Death’s face had drained of blood when he saw her dead body, and the fact that Pandora came into her powers told me that she was his daughter. Even Bane had noticed.

She looked just like him. The only thing she’d gotten from her mother was her eyes.

I’d taken my button-up shirt off and wrapped it around her without much thought, and Bane had snapped the chain from around her ankle. Death had carefully scooped her into his arms with a softness I’d never seen from the man before, and Bane took them both to Death’s home while I’d stayed back to start the official investigation.

Everything I found in that cellar was a damn nightmare.

My heart clenched with anguish as I thought about it. I vowed to myself that I would do anything, everything in my power, to ease her suffering and to shield her from further harm. If she hadn’t killed her mother, I would’ve. I would have done it slowly to atone for the years of brutality Pandora had been put through.

She deserved vengeance more than the average demon.

Her soul ignited a fire within mine, a burning desire that I didn’t understand. I wanted to obliterate the pain burdening her and pull her into my arms to shield her from any more, but I couldn’t.

She was Death’s daughter, a soul eater. She embodied an ominous nature that most demons could never even think of possessing, but I still found her as captivating as I found starlight in the desert—ethereally beautiful and untouchable. That was what she was to me. It was all she could be.

As a counselor, I knew she wasn’t ready for anything romantic. As a councilman, I knew better than to think of Death’s daughter as anything more than a friend. But as a man, I knew that the feelings I harbored for her already were of a romantic nature. It was dangerous, but I didn’t know if I cared yet.

“Are you even listening to me, son?” Dad’s amused voice leaked through the tablet as I sat in my office with a coffee cup full of fae wine.

A guilty pleasure of mine, I admitted that. But it was a taste I inherited from my mom.

The Demon Capital and the Fae Realm had a trading agreement. Most of the territories in Kalista vary in their stance on the Fae Realm, but when it got down to it, if we didn’t do business with them, they could destroy the environment of whatever territory they wanted. The fae had control of Kalista’s weather, after all.

“Sort of.” I scrubbed a hand down my face with a sigh.

“Death’s daughter still plaguing your mind?”

I didn’t answer; I just took a sip of the wine and savored the caramel flavor I’d purchased specifically because it was how I imagined a certain woman’s lips to taste like.

Fates, her lips were a natural dark reddish tone, and they were so plump, I wanted to kiss them desperately.

“She’s been on your mind since you saved her,” he told me as if I didn’t already realize that. Before today, I’d just felt protective of her, but something had changed. “Maybe it’s because she sought her own vengeance? It’s hard when your magic is running rampant over someone being wronged but being unable to right it for them.”

Fae magic swirled through my blood, and I set the mug down with a thump. “I don’t think there is a way to right the wrong that happened to her.”

“Time,” he said matter-of-factly. “After your mother… You and I claimed vengeance for her death, but it still didn’t right that wrong, Hunt. Only time can lessen the rage in your heart.”

“It’s not just my magic urging me to help her,” I rasped. “She’s…her soul is nothing like I’ve ever experienced, Dad.”

He was quiet, but I heard the intake of breath. “Is she your mate?”

Demon matebonds were normally instant. If she wasn’t revealed as my mate by now, it probably wasn’t the Fates’ plan. There were always extraordinary circumstances that could change that, but that was probably wishful thinking. Then again, she had been magically malnourished.

“I wish,” I mumbled.

“She is Death’s daughter,” he reminded me.

I let out a harsh breath before pushing to my feet and striding toward the map of Kalista hung on the wall. “I’m aware of that, but Death is just Daryl.”

“Need I remind you who Death is? Why he has his reputation as literal death?” Dad asked. “I’ve known him much longer than you.”

Dad had been the vengeance demon representative on the Demon Council before I took over so he could focus on his vengeance business.

“She’s worth all that,” I mumbled before taking a deep breath. There was no need to hide my true feelings from him since he already knew anyway. “Can you tell me about the current case?”

I grabbed a red pen, wedged the cap between my teeth, and pulled it off before circling the location of our newest case. The target lived in the Demon Capital, but that was all I’d been told so far.

“We’re working a case for a woman whose husband cheated on her,” he explained before pausing. “He got her sister pregnant.”

“Shit.” I pulled the cap from between my lips and snapped it back on the marker before tossing it on the shelf below the map. “Not fated then?”

“Definitely not.” Disgust leaked from his voice. “She’s distraught, obviously.”

We’d worked countless cases of cheating, but never once had we come across a fated mate issue. Fated mates were too precious for that kind of betrayal. Plus, magically, once you’ve met your fated mate and a bond is established, no other being would be tempting.

“Cookie cutter scorned spouse case, then?” I went back to my desk and grabbed a notebook and pen before writing down the details he was giving me.

Cheating cases were quite common, but enacting vengeance on them varied between cases. Sometimes, murder was appropriate. Other times, ruining their reputation was.

“Not quite.” There was a beat of silence. “The victim wants us to enact vengeance for both the betrayal and murder.”

“Murder?” I frowned. “Whose murder?”

“The husband. Apparently, the sister killed him when he wouldn’t be with her the way he was with our victim,” he explained. “She decapitated the man and left his head on a stake in the victim’s front yard. She’s harassing her own sister to the point that the victim can’t sleep. She thinks she’s going to come after her next.”

“Not a baseless worry.” I finished writing the details out. “So the appropriate vengeance path would be murder, but she’s pregnant.”

“Exactly.” He sighed again. He sounded exhausted. “The victim wants the baby.”

“So what are you thinking? Wait until the woman gives birth, kill her, then we give the baby to the victim?” I frowned.

Woah, that was fucked up, even for us.

“All of our normal cases are turning into shit shows,” he groaned. “What is going on?”

My chest tightened as I clicked the pen and set it on top of the notepad. “The Demon Council has been dealing with an uprise in crime, too.”

“Nothing’s ever coincidental,” he muttered as another call split my tablet’s screen.

“That’s true. Death’s calling. I should probably take this.” I grabbed the tablet from the corner of my desk and slid it in front of me.

“You should also stop mooning over his daughter,” he cackled. “I’ll call you with updates after I discuss options with the victim. Talk to you later, son. Fates be with you.”

“Fates be with you,” I murmured our family saying before clicking to Death’s call. “Death, is this business or personal?”

“Both,” he grunted. “Pandora?”

“She’s safely in her room,” I told him. “She’s rooming with a Dreadful.”

“How…dreadful for my sweet daughter.” His tone came across accusatory.

“She’s going to have to get used to the demon culture,” I told him softly. “Dreadful isn’t the worst demon she could’ve been roomed with. She’s probably one of the best attending this year. Maybe Pandora could teach her some empathy. Besides, I didn’t choose her room assignment.”

He snorted, but I knew he was scowling.

Ever since Pandora was found, Death had shown me a totally new side of him. He was more relatable now than he’d ever been before because my dad had constantly fussed over me through the years in a similar way that Death was fussing over Pandora. It was nice to see him have that. He’d been alone for so long. Pandora was as good for him as he was for her.

“Several demons were found in the streets of the Demon Capital, dead and rotted, in front of our council building.” He paused. “I’ve only seen that type of deterioration once before. In Kalista’s Second War when the dragons of Blezen attacked our capital. A wolf shifter had been infected with dark magic. He wielded it to the point where he could transform into a dragon with dark magic. I saw it myself. He survived for a decent amount of time before the dark magic was taken from his body, and he died.”

My blood ran cold.

I’d heard the stories about the war and remembered hearing about the dark magic-infected wolf shifter. That wolf had been infected because of a rejected bond that was broken by dark magic. A witch and the mate that he rejected had performed the dark ritual, and the dark magic consumed him entirely. He even became Roak’s second-in-command at one point.

Roak was the dragon tyrant who started the war, and he was a scary bedtime story that supernaturals would tell their kids to keep them well-behaved, but dark magic wasn’t spoken of in a similar manner.

Dark magic was forbidden even more now than what it had been back during the war.

“He caused a lot of damage, and he was the only one infected with it. There were seven demons with traces of dark magic found on them, Darkmore. Their supernatural bodies were rotted from the inside out. Do you know what this means?”

“I thought only witches and warlocks could wield dark magic, though? Without being infected, I mean.” I reached for the cup with the caramel fae wine and tossed it back, relishing in the fae magic tingling down my throat and spreading through my body.

“It seems that theory is being tested,” he spat. “I need you to keep an eye on my daughter. Protect her by any means necessary.”

“I will,” I promised, setting down my mug with a dull thud. “You don’t have to ask, Death. I will do everything I can to watch over Pandora.”

I would’ve protected her even if he hadn’t asked.