5. Reed

5

REED

B liss .

It was the only word that came close to describing how I felt about being Pandora’s fated mate. The scents of caramel, sweet chocolate, and cotton candy filled the air, creating a cocoon of intimacy around the three of us. Her long, damp hair was twisted up into a bun on top of her head, and her delicate features were softened as she slept. Long eyelashes fluttered slightly against her rosy cheeks.

She looked so peaceful, so fragile. I couldn't help but chew on my thumbnail, a nervous habit I thought I’d managed to kick until now. But tonight had taken years off my life.

Pandora was tucked between Hunter and I, fast asleep.

She was my mate.

I reached out to brush away a stray strand of hair that had fallen from her bun and stuck to her cheek. It moved and fell back.

She was breathing, and she was with me.

Pandora was alive, and she was my fated mate.

I wanted to protect her from any nightmares that threatened to plague her—and I would. I’d do anything for her.

Hunter’s jaw ticked as he stared down at her, tracing a line up and down her arm. He’d set his tablet on the nightstand next to him. “She’s going to be okay.”

“I know.” My voice cracked. “I know she will, but how had she even fallen into the water? Why was Shadowheart performing CPR on her when I got there? He froze —stopping compressions when he saw the scars on her thigh. I didn’t. I pushed him away and took over to save my fated mate’s life. But Hunter, Fates, her scars are deep, vicious, and it physically hurts to think about how many times she’s been a victim to shadow magic.”

“It still fucks with my mind that her own mother did it to her.” Hunter sighed, running a hand down his face. His demon form finally receded once Pandora fell asleep and Nebula de-manifested, but his entire demeanor was on guard. “I deal with enough vengeance cases to know mothers are capable of hurting their children, but I don’t know. This fucks with me.”

“Because she’s our mate,” I whispered as a slashing sensation struck my heart, and it felt as if I bled into my chest cavity just thinking about what Pandora had gone through. “She’s the one person we share our matebond with. Our souls are tied to hers, and even before this bond snapped in place, I loved her. I know you did, too. Of course finding out the extent of her mother’s torment was going to hurt.”

“I didn’t know about her voice.” He squeezed his eyes shut as a tremor worked through him. “I knew talking a lot caused her pain, but I didn’t put two and two together.”

“I didn’t either.” I snuggled closer to her and inhaled her caramel scent. “But Grimshaw, Hemlock, and Shadowheart made fun of her voice. They kept telling her to speak up whenever they’d taunt her. They even had shit to say about the wrap on her thigh.”

“How the fuck are they her mates?” Hunter’s eyes fluttered open as he stared up at the ceiling. “As their counselor, I know that, logically, they’re lashing out. They’re broken from their pasts, but they didn’t have to add to her trauma. How could she ever see them as redeemable?”

“I don’t know, but I do know their regret and guilt was palpable tonight.” I shrugged one of my shoulders up. “No matter what they do or say, it’s her decision in the end. I’ll back it no matter what.”

“I will, too. I just wish I could make them pay for the pain they caused her without it affecting her,” he grumbled, shooting me an offended look.

“I get it. I do. I’d give them nightmares again if I could, but I’m afraid it’ll carry over to her.” I pouted.

“True.” He gave me an approving smirk. “Listen, I know they’re also her fated mates, but they are also the demons who made the first term at this academy rough on her.”

“Not as rough as Dreadful did,” I bit out with venom.

“No.” His gaze simmered as it flicked back down to Pandora. “Not as rough as that bitch.”

“You don’t think it was them that were responsible?” I mumbled the question I’d been thinking since finding out Dreadful lost her hand.

“Yes—no?” He shook his head, dark blond strands falling into his face. “I don’t know, honestly. It sounds like them, but to do it for Pandora before they knew she was their mate? I don’t know. Maybe they felt something before the bond snapped like we did.”

“They just had a crap way of showing it,” I muttered.

His tablet buzzed on the table, and he grabbed it and winced. “It’s Death.” The color drained from his face as he read the message. “I have to go.”

“What’s wrong?”

His lips thinned into a line. “Can you stay with her?”

“Of course. I’ll take care of her.”

“Thanks, Reed.” He jolted to his feet and rushed out of the room, but he remembered to softly shut the door so he didn’t wake our mate.

Just like that, he was gone, and it was just me and Pandora— my fated mate. The one whose very existence had become my purpose in life.

I sighed and moved down to rest my head on the pillow as I wrapped my arms around her. Her warmth soothed me. Holding her like this felt... perfect …in every single way.

But even having her in my arms couldn’t stop the events of the night from playing in my mind like a broken record. Finding Shadowheart giving her CPR after I followed our matebond caused my heart to stop. Then, the sheer terror of seeing her scars was enough to break me further. I wanted to give Shadowheart grief for freezing when seeing them, but in truth, I was frozen, unable to move, unable to comprehend the pain she must have endured. The only reason I’d pushed Shadowheart out of the way and took over was because I snapped back to reality before he had.

When we got back and she’d told Hunter and I about her scars and the voice that her mother had taken from her, each word had felt like a dagger to my heart.

How had I been so close to her and not known? Why did I feel like the abuse was so much more than she’d let on?

If I had a close bond with my mother like I had as a kid before Dad died, I would’ve called her for advise. The thought of her brought an agonizing ache, a reminder of not only the distance that had grown between us since my father died but the fact that she’d gambled with my life.

Mom’s desperation for my dad had consumed her, leaving me alone to fend for myself at eleven years old. I didn’t think I could ever forgive her now that she’d tried to give me to Dark Veil on a shiny platter. I couldn’t believe she’d offered me up to be infected by dark magic without a second thought.

I was her son.

And…Pandora was her mother’s daughter.

Mothers weren’t supposed to hurt their children, but they did. They had the power to hurt them the most, and some mother’s strikes were worse than a basilisk trapped in a corner.

Pandora’s steady breath was calming in a way I couldn’t articulate. I wanted to be everything for her, to protect her from any more harm.

She’d been through enough.

The thought of her other fated mates pushed liquid fire through my veins. I wanted to give them nightmares, to make them suffer for not being there when she needed them most. But the bond they shared meant that she might feel their pain, and I couldn’t ever do that to her.

There were a couple of demons that I could torment for her, though.

I didn’t give myself a chance to back out or be afraid. Magic spread through my body, and I slipped into Voidfire’s and Shadeberry’s dreams without another thought.

Voidfire's pretty dream of finding out that Annie Dreadful was her fated mate contorted into a harrowing nightmare, where Dreadful disowned her in the most brutal of ways—an agony that seemed to have been lurking in her subconscious all along. The torment of unrequited love shredded her soul, and literally her body, as other lovers of Dreadful’s manifested in their demonic forms, tearing Voidfire limb from limb after Dreadful’s heartless rejection.

Unseen, I feasted on the nightmare and relished in the symphony of her physical and emotional torment.

Voidfire deserved this for the unprovoked pain she’d inflicted on Pandora, just as Shadeberry did.

I slithered into Shadeberry's dream, where she danced gracefully on the roof of a luxurious building at a nobility gathering. With a push of my magic, I orchestrated her descent into a nightmare. Two of her dance partners seized her from a spin and flung her from the rooftop. The fall was a dizzying whirl of terror that she deserved, and the ground rushed to greet her at a brutal pace.

I basked in her paralyzing fear, savoring each agonizing second of the nightmare to fill my reserves.

I pulled away just as her body was about to shatter against the unforgiving rock below, leaving both their dreams in utter disarray.

A cold, cruel satisfaction washed over me as I returned to my dreamscape.

I was in love with Pandora, and I would do anything and everything I could to protect her.

I’d known it the moment I had given her CPR. I’d known I wanted her before then. I’d known I cared for her, but the fear of losing her overwhelmed me, body and soul. She was my fated mate, the one who made my heart beat and my soul worth something.

I wished I could talk to my mother or maybe even my best friend about this to share the news, but trust was fragile.

Both Charlotte and Mom had shattered my trust, and there was no way they’d ever earn it again. It didn’t matter, though. I would protect my mate, even if it meant facing my fears alone.

I’d faced my biggest fear tonight again—entering another demon’s dreams. I used my magic to give nightmares for the second night since my father had died, and I did it for her. She gave me the strength to face my fears.

Pandora’s petite form sprawled over purple clouds caught my eye. My gaze widened as I made my way toward her.

She was…sleeping? In my dreamscape? We hadn’t bonded yet, but she was definitely here.

I lay down beside her, and the purple clouds cradled us in their gentle embrace. I wasn’t sure how she’d gotten here or why she was sleeping even in our dreams, but I held her close.

There wasn’t anything or anyone that would stop me from being there for her, always . No matter what nightmares came our way, we would face them together. She was my dream girl, my reality , my fated mate—and I would never let her go.