“Just wish we could’ve killed her,” Skel said with his mouth full.
“That would’ve been too easy for her. She hurt Death’s daughter. I’m sure her consequences are still coming.” I yawned, crawling into bed and shoving Bram over a bit so I could lie down, too.
“Pandora didn’t deserve that,” Skel stated with finality.
“No, she didn’t,” I agreed.
I thought her pain was delicious, but the pain she gave off tonight had been nauseating. I’d hurt anyone who even thought about hurting her again.
47
PANDORA
The chill of the autumn air in the Demon Capital was a balm to my soul. It was still warm but a thousand times cooler than it had been.
I navigated through the campus grounds for my first day back to classes after the incident with Dreadful and her noble friends. I’d been holed up in my room since Hunter and Reed left me there, but I knew they stayed outside my door that entire first night. Even when my sobs were so loud, I could almost feel them wanting to burst down the door to get to me.
But Ineededto be alone. I needed to talk to Nebula, and I did. He was there for me while I pushed everyone else away. I knew it wasn’t the healthiest coping mechanism, but I just needed to breathe.
I couldn’t believe how lucky I’d been that Dex, Hemlock, and Skel had been the ones to find me. But I could tell I hurt them by not being able to tell them who had hurt me like that. I needed to try and explain that I wasn’t trying to withhold that information. My throat had just been damaged to the point I couldn’t speak.
It’d been an entire week since then, and Reed pulled me into his dreamscape each night to let me sit on the beach and think. He hadn’t asked questions or talked, but he was there, and he held me when I needed it.
The attack had forced up memories of my mother that I had buried down. I had been helpless when Mother’s shadows cut into me, and I was helpless when the nobles beat me.
Hunter had told my father what happened, and I knew Daryl had said something harsh to Hunter because he had been so meek around me since. Hunter hadn’t come to visit my dorm since the night he stayed outside it with Reed.
Daryl had been alarmingly infuriated, so much so that he held a meeting with the Demon Council to petition the Dreadful family to be ripped of their nobility due to an assassination attempt on his daughter. He said if they didn’t agree, he would just kill her. His plea was accepted, and the Dreadfuls were stripped of their nobility. Unfortunately, Dreadful was forced tostay at the academy even with her change in status.
Reed had told me that she had been missing a hand when he saw her on campus last week, and I had no idea what could’ve happened. For a demon not to regenerate or heal from an amputation, it meant the body part couldn’t be reattached with the bone for whatever reason. But I didn’t exactly care, either. She’d beat me just like Mother had. Not with shadow tendrils, but in the way she stopped just before I’d passed out from the pain. Dreadful was just as evil, so she deserved it if she lost a hand.
Making my way into Reform Hall, I ambled into the Demon Basics classroom and took my usual seat, but Reed wasn’t there. Placing my academy-issued tablet on my desk, I typed out a message and sent it.
Pandora Gravesend
Is everything okay?
Reed Nyx
Why? Are you hurt? Do you need me to come to your dorm?
Pandora Gravesend
No, I’m not hurt. I was just wondering why you weren’t in class.
Reed Nyx
You’re in class?
I didn’t know you were going back today. (Frowny face)
Hunter has me doing something for the council, but I’ll be in Demonic Feeding. Your dad will be there, too, apparently.
Between you and me, Hunter seems totally scared of your dad, but who could blame him? I’d be scared, too. (Laughing face)
Hunter? My heart swelled with excitement that they were on a first-name basis now.
Pandora Gravesend
