48. Bram

48

brAM

I t felt like razor blades burned through my veins as I was violently shaken awake.

Death hovered over me, his hands biting into my shoulders as he shook me. “Where the fuck is she?” he snarled, dropping me as my eyelids cracked open.

A faint groan of anguish escaped from my lips as consciousness began to seep back to me. “Where’s Pandora?”

Death let out a deafening roar, and he kicked a nearby flipped over desk, sending it flying into the wall. It shattered, clanging apart with the impact.

I tried to wrack my brain, but then agony consumed me when I realized that dark magic infected demons had attacked. I had Pandora in my arms just before I’d been struck by something…maybe the lightning?

Fuck. My mind was foggier than ever before.

Pain lanced through me as I tried to sit up, and I was forced back down.

Skel’s face appeared above me, and dirt streaked down his cheeks as he reached down and hauled me up to my feet. “The academy was attacked. So many fucking demons are infected, Bram.”

“How?” I croaked, blinking rapidly.

“Cryptic Altar was corrupted by dark magic,” Reed murmured, running his hands through his hair. His eyes already sported bags underneath them. “It caused the ward around the academy to strike students all over with dark magic.”

“And…we can’t find Pandora,” Skel rasped. Fear magic leaked off him, swirling illusions all over the room.

“Skel, smoke.” I squeezed my eyes shut at the sheer terror I saw. Each one was of Pandora being hurt. “Where the fuck’s Dex?”

“We don’t know.” He inhaled deeply several times. “I can’t fucking handle this.”

Hearing that both Pandora and Dex were missing had been a physical blow, my heart clenching in my chest.

Memories of what happened while I had my mate in my arms surged back—infected demons coming from black gooey portals, swarming the classroom, the air crackling with evil magic, and Pandora trembling in my arms.

“I…I tried to protect her,” I gasped, my vision swimming.

But I was struck by dark magic…which meant, I was infected.

My breathing grew ragged, the corruption within me gnawing at my sanity. I could feel it, a dark web creeping through my mind, whispering insidious thoughts. My body ached from the unnatural force eating away at my fucking soul.

Dust hung thick in the air, catching the sunlight that filtered through shattered windows. Desks lay overturned, chairs splintered, textbooks strewn across the floor…it was fucking chaos, and my magic swirled as it fed on it. The wall itself was cracked, a jagged line running through the rock.

Fuck.

“They must’ve took her.” Reed’s voice cracked. “Oh, Fates…”

“How could they take her?” Death bellowed, his voice breaking with anguish. Another desk met his wrath, splintering under the force of his boot. His fists clenched and unclenched, the knuckles white from the strain. Death was more than just angry—it was the sight of a broken father.

He picked up a chair and hurled it across the room, where it shattered against the remnants of a bookcase. “Pandora!” he shouted, my mate’s name tearing from his throat like a plea to the Fates.

My vision blurred with hot, furious tears. I’d had her just before I was struck.

“This academy was supposed to be safe!” He grabbed a fallen textbook and flung it, watching as it burst at the spine as it slammed against a far wall.

Chaos was a living thing inside him, a wildfire that consumed every rational thought in a way that had my reserves overflowing.

“Death,” Reed whispered carefully. “We’ll find her. We have to find her.”

He whirled on Reed, searching his face with his cold, dark eyes. “I’ve failed her again.” He sank to his knees, trembling. His hands fell to his sides, bloodied but healed from the splinters and shards he’d torn through in his rage of chaos.

The classroom was silent now, save for his labored breathing. He bowed his head, tears flowing freely down his face. “I will find her, and I will suck the souls out of every fucking demon that came across her,” he vowed.

I stumbled back as my pulse ached. Each beat of my heart sent dark magic further into my being, and my mate and friend were nowhere to be fucking seen.

“Bram…where are you going?” Skel croaked, his hand shaking terribly as he puffed on his pipe.

“To do something useful to find Pandora and Dex.” I turned, grabbing my fallen bag off the ground, and ran out of that fucking classroom and down the hall. I slid down the wall, my heart pounding like a drum in my chest cavity as I grabbed my tablet and called Slater.

He answered in one ring.

“Fates, Bram, I’ve been calling you. It’s all over the News Sector about what happened at your academy. Are you okay?” His voice came rushed.

“No.” Fear lodged in my throat, but I forced it down with a gulp. “Pandora and my friend…her other mate…they’re gone. I think the dark magic cult has them.”

“I’ll get ahold of everyone I can,” he promised. “Don’t worry, Bram. I have connections with a few Supernatural Council Agents that will be able to help locate her. We’ll find her and your friend.”

“Thank you,” I sobbed, my head pulsating with the desire to unleash chaos on this entire fucking academy. “Thank you so much.”

“I’d do anything for you, Bram. You’re my brother,” he replied softly. “I’ll be in touch, okay?”

I sniffled, taking a deep breath. “Yes. I’ll be waiting.”

“And Bram?”

“Yeah?” My voice cracked.

“Thanks for letting me help.” The call ended, and I dropped my head into my hands.

Darkness swarmed through my veins, and my chaos magic exploded. Chaos jumped in front of me and snarled.

“Find her, please,” I croaked to my magic.

His large head nodded before he ran down the corridor and dissipated. Hopefully the dark magic wouldn’t screw with my magic too much.

We had to find her.