18. Reed

18

REED

T he evening sky outside my dorm window was painted in hues of twilight, and it cast a purple haze in the room that reminded me so much of my dreamscape.

Hemlock’s side of the room was actually tidy, but I noticed that the one bottle of fae whiskey he’d kept that was on his bookshelf was gone.

Disappointment sizzled in my gut. Hopefully, he wouldn’t come back until later.

Pandora stood at the door, her waist-length black hair cascading like a waterfall, and her red eyes scanned my space of gray and lilac with curiosity. My mate was perfect, even more so in my room.

“You can come in,” I mumbled softly, trying to keep the excitement from bleeding into my voice.

Her plump red lips curved up in a way that made my heart stutter, but as she stepped inside, her nose crinkled slightly. “Hemlock?”

She looked over at the dark maroon and black colored side of his space. Although he’d tidied up, it still wasn’t pristine. The bed itself was still the mess of tangled sheets and rumpled blankets it always had been.

I winced. “If he comes back, we'll leave. I promise.”

Her delicate fingers wrapped around her throat as she carefully shut the door behind her. “Okay.”

I laced my fingers through the hand at her side and tugged her further into the room, toward the soft glow of Gumdrop’s enchanted lights on his tank. “I want you to meet my best friend, Gumdrop. He’s probably the best axolotl in Kalista, but maybe I’m biased.”

She leaned closer to the tank, her eyes lighting up. “Oh my Fates, Reed, he's adorable! I love what you’ve done with his tank.”

I grinned, staring at the splash of vibrant colors, mainly bubblegum pink and lemon yellow. The bottom was soft, pastel-colored gravel that sparkled in the enchanted light. Gumdrop rested on top of his gumdrop-shaped castle.

The gentle hum of the tank's filter filled the room, and I double-checked the blue crystal that kept his water temperature perfect. Magic rarely failed as frequently as technology, but I didn’t want to take the chance with his tank.

“Hi, Gumdrop.” She reached out a finger to the glass, and Gumdrop swam up to meet her. “You know, Reed talks about you all the time. He says you're the best.”

He nodded in agreement, fluttering his gills, and Pandora giggled.

“See? Even he knows it,” I told her.

“You do, don’t you?”

As she continued to coo at Gumdrop, my chest swelled with warmth. The sight of her here, in my space, interacting with my axolotl—it was everything I had ever wanted. She was the other half of my soul, and I desperately wanted to be bonded to her fully.

Before I could stop myself, I pulled her close. Her hands rested on my chest, and her big red eyes stared up at me with nothing but desire. I brushed her hair out of her face, and sparks jolted up my arm from where our skin touched.

“What?” she rasped.

“When I call you dream girl, I mean it,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “I’ve dreamed of you, Pandora. You’re perfect for me.”

Light red bloomed across her cheeks. “Reed…”

I took her lips with my own like a man possessed. My soul desperately called out to hers as I lost myself to her petal-soft lips.

She let out a small, barely-there moan as her arms wrapped around my neck.

My hands tangled in her hair as I kissed her deeper, pouring every ounce of love I had for her into the kiss. Our tongues slicked together, and I moaned into her mouth at her caramel taste.

The sound of the door crashing open broke the kiss, but I held her closer.

Hemlock stumbled in, reeking of alcohol, his eyes bloodshot and wild. “Never expected to walk in on you two like this.”

“Hemlock,” Pandora choked on his name as her fingers rested upon her swollen lips, but her eyes burned with disappointment. “You’re drunk.”

“Yes,” he slurred, running a hand through his already messy black hair. “I’m a fucking disappointment, I know. I’m nothing but a drunk bastard who can’t change who he is.”

Sobs tore from his chest, and chaos magic stirred alive around him. Shadows flickered wildly around the room.

His chaos wolf manifested, with a snarl toward his master before padding over to Pandora and licking her hand gently.

“You stopped drinking,” she whispered as if she were accusing him, and her red eyes took on a glossy sheen. She reached out and petted the wolf. “You have it in you to be better, but the choice you made tonight was nothing but a step backward.”

“I’m sorry,” Hemlock cried out, collapsing to the ground on his knees and dropping his forehead against the rough stone so hard, blood pooled around his head.

She gasped. “Hemlock?—”

"I've tried to stop drinking. I really have. But I…my father called, and I…I just spiraled. I can’t even be good enough for my mate.”

Pandora stiffened in my arms, and she turned her head into my chest.

The wolf whined and lowered his head in submission before fading away.

I felt the warmth of her tears soaking through my shirt. “You really messed up, Hemlock,” I told him. “She can only forgive so much.”

“I don’t deserve your forgiveness, Gravesend.” Hemlock didn’t move. “But you deserve an apology for what I did. I’m—I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.”

“I won’t have this conversation with you while you’re drunk,” she said. “I deserve better than that, don’t I?”

Another sob ripped from his throat. “Yes!”

I squeezed her shoulders. “Let's go.”

She nodded, reaching behind me to gently glide her fingers over the glass to say bye to Gumdrop.

He placed a little hand on the glass before swimming back to his castle.

As we moved around Hemlock, he clambered to his feet and followed us out the door. “Wait, I can’t…I just—” He fell to the ground again, sobbing.

Pandora paused, her hand tightening around my arm. “The bond sent me his pain, Reed.” Her face contorted in agony before smoothing out with a breath. “If that pain is why he drowns himself in alcohol, it’s going to be hard for him to stop.”

“He can do it,” I assured her, gently guiding her out of my dorm and down to hers.

We continued toward her dorm with Hemlock stumbling and falling behind us. It was a painful walk, and I couldn’t help but pity him.

Once the door to her dorm closed, she turned to me, her eyes filling with sorrow while his sobs sounded from behind the door. “I feel so bad for him. I want to accept the bonds eventually, but I'm not ready. And…” She glanced toward the door as the scent of blood pierced the air, and Dex’s voice rumbled in the hall. “Neither is he.”

Both Dex and Hemlock left the hall in the next moment, and all I could do was wrap her up in my arms and take her to the bed.

“And that’s okay,” I mumbled, pressing my lips against the top of her head as she snuggled against my chest. “Get some sleep.” I continued to hold her until her breaths evened out, and she fell asleep in my arms.

I traced a path down her back, feeling the raised lines of the scars she told me about. They felt brutal, big, and it broke my heart.

Closing my eyes, I shuddered as anger spread through my veins. I didn’t understand how anyone could do that to another living being. Demons were known for cruelty, and what Pandora endured explained why.

A whimper pulled from her as she started to toss and turn, rolling off me and onto the bed. She gripped the comforter and let out a hoarse whisper of a scream.

Drude magic lingered in her mind as she was caught in the throes of a nightmare.

She’d just fallen asleep.

I wrapped my arms around her and slipped into her nightmare with my heart pounding wildly in my chest.

Horror gripped me as I stood in a small, dusty cellar.

Pandora was chained to the stone floor, naked and bloody, as a woman stood above her, hurling insults and tearing her skin open with shadows.

My fated mate was pressed into the blood-soaked stone on her stomach, eyes screwed shut as each lash of shadow magic split open her back.

It was her mother—she had the same red eyes as my mate, but that was the only resemblance. The woman had blonde hair and different features entirely. She was evil—even without being able to read auras or sense souls, I knew that.

But her mother wasn’t responsible for this nightmare. There was a drude inside my mate’s dream.

I followed the magic, searching until I saw her.

Charlotte stood in the corner with a malicious smirk on her lips as she stared at my mate like she wanted to torture her herself. Her red hair fanned around her head like a fiery halo.

My breath caught in my throat.

Charlotte .

Of course it was her. The woman I’d thought to be my best friend before she’d betrayed me. The one who had something against Pandora ever since I’d mentioned her.

Pandora’s mother’s shadow magic dripped with dark magic, and terror funneled in my heart as the tendril snapped back as it went to strike again.

I jumped between Pandora and her mother without a moment of hesitation, my body landing over hers, shielding her from the shadows.

A sharp pain lanced through my back and out my gut. I looked down to see a shadowy tendril sinking out of my flesh from behind, and dark blood poured from the wound and onto Pandora.

I raised my head and glowered at Charlotte, baring my teeth as my demonic form took root.

Her green eyes widened as she realized who she had hurt with her nightmare. “Reed!” Her voice boomed through Pandora’s head, but it was too late.

“You will never hurt her again,” I growled, fury boiling my blood.

Charlotte screamed, the sound mingling with Pandora's soft cries.

But then, I felt a shift.

Pandora jolted awake, and I was pulled back into the waking world with her.

I gasped for breath, jerking up, my body trembling. The wound in my gut was already gone, but the blood on Pandora's sheets and blanket was a stark reminder of what had just happened.

Pandora's eyes were wide with fear. “Reed…oh, my Fates, you're bleeding.”

My heart ached for my mate, for the terror she had gone through. That wasn’t just a nightmare.

Charlotte had pulled that nightmare from a memory, and seeing my fated mate like that sent agony through my bone marrow. I’d never get that sight out of my memories.

I pulled her to me, my tears mingling with hers as I peppered kisses over her face. “I’m so sorry, Pandora. I'm so sorry you had to experience that.”

She clung to me, her sobs shaking her small frame. “I hate reliving it, but there’s nothing I can do about it.”

I stroked her hair, my own tears falling freely. “I’ll protect you from any more of those nightmares, Pandora. I promise. I won’t let her give you any more nightmares.”

“The woman with red hair,” she croaked. “You know her?”

“It was Charlotte Vane,” I told her as my tablet started going off. No doubt it was Charlotte herself. “She targeted you because of me. It’s my fault. I’m so sorry, Pandora.”

“No. Don’t take the blame for that.” She shook her head. “She targeted me because she’s insane. Are you okay?” Her hand moved under my shirt and splayed over my stomach. “I’ve felt that plenty of times but never could heal from it as fast.”

Tears slid down my cheeks as I realized just how fucking often my fated mate had been tortured.

I squeezed her against me so tightly, my soul finally felt like it was part of hers. I’d faced my biggest fear of being killed in someone else’s dream or nightmare, and I’d do it again.

Even if I had died for Pandora in her nightmare in order to protect her, it didn’t seem like a worthless death at all.

I had to protect her, and to do that, it was looking like I had to mark her.