The others joined in, their cruelty cloaked in a fake sense of camaraderie.
“Wow, guys, that’s so shitty.” Nightwind stood up for me. “She can’t help the way she talks, and even if she could, it’s actually sorta cute.”
“Oh, chill out, Nightwind,” another guy chuckled. “It’s all fun and games.”
I found myself edging closer to Nightwind, wanting to separate myself from those mocking me. But as I took a step, Voidfire and another girl,I couldn’t remember her name, reached out and gripped the strap of my bag.
“What do you keep in your bag, Gravesend?” Voidfire asked, mockingly tugging at the strap, her painted nails digging into the fabric like claws.
“Stop!” I shouted, but my voice wouldn’t go as loud as an actual shout. I swatted at their hands, but they dodged me.
“Yeah, what’s so important you brought it to go swimming?” The other girl grabbed the bag itself.
“What are you doing?” I cried out, clutching the bag, my knuckles white as I tried to hold on to it.
With a raw surge of violence, they wrestled and jerked the bag from my grasp before tossing it to Dreadful, the ringleader of their nobility circle.
Dreadful's laughter was cruel as she pulled out Nebula and dropped my bag at her feet. The enchanted water bottle from Hunter rolled out. “Looking for this weird as fuck thing?" she taunted, holding Nebula above her head.
The sight of him in Dreadful's hands twisted my heart with anguish, but my protests fell on deaf ears.
“Ew, what the fuck is that?” Voidfirescreeched.
“She’s a fucking soul eater. Bet she ate its soul and kept the skull as a trophy,” a guy laughed.
They all took turns mocking me and Nebula, but a growl tore from my throat—demonic and threatening enough to make Dreadful pause.
“Let him go!” My voice was choked with emotion, my words a desperate plea for mercy for the soul-bound kitten.
“A step closer, and Nebula’s going to take a deep dive.” She smirked, slipping her fingers into his eye sockets.
“Don’t touch him like that!” In a flurry of motion, I lunged forward, my movements fueled by a primal instinct to protect the only soul that had been there for me with Mother.
But it was too late.
Rearing her arm back, Dreadful hurled him into the water. The splash echoed in my heart as I watched him sink.
I didn’t know how deep the water was, and I didn’t care.
Anguish and fury fueled my very core, and I plunged in after Nebula, the cold water submerging me to my waist. I couldn't swim, but my desperation to save Nebula was a lifeline stronger than anything else. I dunked under, opening my eyes and searching around where he had splashed in, but I couldn’t see him.
I stood up, gasping a breath of air just as pain seared through my right arm.
A shadow demon from the group reached out with her shadow tendrils, and one had sliced all the way down my right arm, from shoulder to elbow.
“Oops,” she said in that same fake, sweet voice Dreadful used. “So sorry! I meant to help you find the weird skull, but I guess I slipped.”
My blood dripped into the water, and my skin stayed split open as the water washed away the gushing blood.
Something inside me just…snapped. Magic filled my veins, heavy and sludgy but at the same time like it was liquid fire.
“If I can’t find him, I will personally hunt each one of you andeat your souls!”
“You can’t even activate your?—”
Dreadful stopped short as my magic erupted, a plume of black smoke seeking vengeance as it poured from my lips.
It rolled forth, seeking out and brushing against the lips of the girl who had cut me. That was all it took for her to slip into the shadows, away from me. The entire group scattered with cries of fear and revulsion.
