HUNTER
Starlight.
Pandora reminded me of starlight, and she had since the night we found her bloodied and chained in a cellar while she clutched a kitten’s skull against her chest. She was unlike anyone I had ever seen before, even in her bloodied and battered state.
The moment I walked out of the shadows with Death and Bane, time halted. The world faded away, leaving only her haunting image etched into my soul. Death had to feed off me to get my attention again, and I didn’t even have time to bitch at him for it before we jumped into action.
It didn’t take much of an investigation to figure out that she’d been isolated and abused by Penny Bones her entire life. The Bones were a low-class demon family that were killed off in thedragon attack on the Demon Capital during Kalista’s Second War, and Penny was the only survivor.
By the way Death’s face had drained of blood when he saw her dead body, and the fact that Pandora came into her powers told me that she was his daughter. Even Bane had noticed.
She looked just like him. The only thing she’d gotten from her mother was her eyes.
I’d taken my button-up shirt off and wrapped it around her without much thought, and Bane had snapped the chain from around her ankle. Death had carefully scooped her into his arms with a softness I’d never seen from the man before, and Bane took them both to Death’s home while I’d stayed back to start the official investigation.
Everything I found in that cellar was a damn nightmare.
My heart clenched with anguish as I thought about it. I vowed to myself that I would do anything,everything in my power, to ease her suffering and to shield her from further harm. If she hadn’t killed her mother, I would’ve. I would have done it slowly to atone for the years of brutality Pandora had been put through.
She deserved vengeance more than the average demon.
Her soul ignited a fire within mine, a burning desire that I didn’t understand. I wanted toobliterate the pain burdening her and pull her into my arms to shield her from any more, but I couldn’t.
She was Death’s daughter, asoul eater. She embodied an ominous nature that most demons could never even think of possessing, but I still found her as captivating as I found starlight in the desert—ethereally beautiful and untouchable. That was what she was to me. It was all she could be.
As a counselor, I knew she wasn’t ready for anything romantic. As a councilman, I knew better than to think of Death’s daughter as anything more than a friend. But as a man, I knew that the feelings I harbored for her already were of a romantic nature. It was dangerous, but I didn’t know if I cared yet.
“Are you even listening to me, son?” Dad’s amused voice leaked through the tablet as I sat in my office with a coffee cup full of fae wine.
A guilty pleasure of mine, I admitted that. But it was a taste I inherited from my mom.
The Demon Capital and the Fae Realm had a trading agreement. Most of the territories in Kalista vary in their stance on the Fae Realm, but when it got down to it, if we didn’t do business with them, they could destroy the environment of whatever territory they wanted. The fae had control of Kalista’s weather, after all.
“Sort of.” I scrubbed a hand down my face with a sigh.
“Death’s daughter still plaguing your mind?”
I didn’t answer; I just took a sip of the wine and savored the caramel flavor I’d purchased specifically because it was how I imagined a certain woman’s lips to taste like.
Fates, her lips were a natural dark reddish tone, and they were so plump, I wanted to kiss them desperately.
“She’s been on your mind since you saved her,” he told me as if I didn’t already realize that. Before today, I’d just felt protective of her, but something had changed. “Maybe it’s because she sought her own vengeance? It’s hard when your magic is running rampant over someone being wronged but being unable to right it for them.”
Fae magic swirled through my blood, and I set the mug down with a thump. “I don’t think there is a way to right the wrong that happened to her.”
“Time,” he said matter-of-factly. “After your mother… You and I claimed vengeance for her death, but it still didn’t right that wrong, Hunt. Only time can lessen the rage in your heart.”
“It’s not just my magic urging me to help her,” I rasped. “She’s…her soul is nothing like I’ve ever experienced, Dad.”
He was quiet, but I heard the intake of breath. “Is she your mate?”
Demon matebonds were normally instant. If she wasn’t revealed as my mate by now, it probably wasn’t the Fates’ plan. There were always extraordinary circumstances that could change that, but that was probably wishful thinking. Then again, shehadbeen magically malnourished.
“I wish,” I mumbled.
“SheisDeath’s daughter,” he reminded me.
I let out a harsh breath before pushing to my feet and striding toward the map of Kalista hung on the wall. “I’m aware of that, but Death is just Daryl.”
