I’d smelled blood my entire life, but his scent was different somehow.
“Prettyandtrouble,” he purred lowly, swiping his tongue over his bottom lip. A flash of metal glinted with the sun, drawing attention to the piercing on his tongue. “You devoured your mommy’s soul?”
His taunting, husky voice sent shivers of dread down my spine.
The steady thud of my heartbeat increased and drowned out anything else. “I…whoare you?”
His fog gray eyes speared me with a sharplook, and my vision blurred. “Shadowheart, but you can call me Dex.”
“Shadowheart?”Reed wheezed, hitting his chest with a closed fist as he looked at the man in shock.
The man…Dex…never took his eyes off me. White blond hair cascaded around his angular face, drawing attention to his sharp features. Tattoos of swirling shadows wrapped around his biceps and down his arms, visible through the thin fabric of his white shirt. It wasn’t the only thing visible, though. There was a steel rod through each of his nipples, and it actually looked really good on him.
Heat bloomed in my lower abdomen, but I tried not to focus on it.
I couldn’t ignore the large white scar that circled his neck, either.What happened to him to cause a scar like that?
My teeth sank into my bottom lip as I flicked my gaze up to meet his. “Dex?”
A low hum vibrated from his chest. “That’s right, trouble.”
“My name’s Pandora,” I blurted, and Dex grinned wildly.
“You’re giving me your first name, then?”
I’d forgotten the customs, again. But I didn’t mind if he called me Pandora,even if he was a shadow demon. My soul vibrated with a sort of electricity with him in proximity.
I nodded, my heart thumping in my throat.
He reached out, with shadows swirling around his arm, and tucked my hair behind my ear. “Even when you’re a Gravesend?”
I could feel the heat of his breath on my face, his fingers brushing against me in a gesture that felt more like a threat than a caress.
Flinching, my hand came up and knocked his away from me. “Please, don’t.” I ran my fingers through my hair to let it fall back around me.
A smirk twisted his lips as his gaze lifted over my shoulder, then he flicked it back to mine.
“I’ll see you later, trouble,” he promised as his shadow tendril moved forward and caressed my cheek softly, in a way I hadn’t known shadow magic to be capable of before.
Fear slammed into me as I realized itwasshadow magic, and it knocked my breath away. Flinching, I stumbled into Reed, practically scrambling on the uneven sand to move away from the shadow tendril.
“Hey, fuckers.” Dex shoved his hands in his pockets with a cheeky smile as Hemlock and Grimshaw walked toward him.
“Keeping company with a noble?” Hemlock sneered, not even bothering to glance my way.
“Careful, or you’ll smell of death,” Grimshaw added with disgust dripping from his voice.
“I already smell of blood, and noble or not, her negative emotions are like a magical feast,” Dex bragged as the three of them ascended the stairs to Serpentine Stadium. “Besides, you know damn well she smells like caramel. It’s fucking delicious.”
“Are you alright?” Reed gently touched my shoulders, shifting my focus to him. His violet gaze was warm and comforting.
I allowed myself to lean into his touch for a brief moment before straightening and stepping out of his personal space. “Yes. I’m so sorry.”
“No need to apologize to me,” he murmured, guiding us up the stairs. “But how did you get the three of them to notice you like that? Their reputations are brutal. I went to high school with them, and I remember how vicious they can be.”
“I didn’t mean to,” I whispered, voice crackling.
“Just try to avoid them,” he murmured, concern flickering in his gaze as he stared at me. “You’re too kind for demons like that.”
