Magic flowed across my skin like static electricity as we walked underneath the lava illusion and entered the stadium. The air was thick with anticipation and heavy with the scent of sandand sweat. Red mats were strewn across the sandy floor.
Students hung around different parts of the spacious room, but my eyes zeroed in on the three demons Reed had just warned me about. They were off in the back in a corner, whispering harshly to each other.
“Glad you all showed up,” a middle-aged demon shouted as he took his place in front of the group of us. He had short salt and pepper black hair with blue eyes and reeked of baby powder. “This is demonic feeding. I’m Ashenfell, your instructor.”
All of the students, including Reed and I, moved toward him.
“I’m splitting everyone into groups based on their demon subtype,” he explained, separating everyone into groups.
Nerves coiled deep in my gut as I realized I was the only one standing alone. Everyone else was in a group with demons of the same subtypes.
Ashenfell stood next to the largest group in the class, the shadow demons. There were five of them, including Dex, and he pointed at each one of them as he spoke. “Shadow demons feed off pain and negativity. They tend to use their shadows to create pain to feed most often, but they can feed off pain or negative emotion already present.”
I caught Dex’s gaze, and my heart rate picked up. His gray eyes had adeadlook in them that made my skin crawl, but I could sense there was something more about it.
His lips curled into a sinister smile, and I flinched before focusing back on Ashenfell, trying to ignore the shadow demon.
He strode toward another group of four. “Vengeance demons feed off of vengeance. Their magic reserves fill when they punish someone guilty, and very rarely can they feed off residual punishment. Some say vengeance demons have the most difficult time filling their magic reserves since they need to seek out wrongdoings and punish them to achieve it.”
Hunter was a vengeance demon. I wondered what his process was to feed since he was a counselor. I was sure he would hear many stories of wrongdoings from his students. Maybe he got vengeance on their behalf? His job was definitely ingenious if he did.
Ashenfell gestured toward a pair of two as he walked toward them. “Both incubi and succubi feed off of sexual energy, and they can manipulate their pheromones to cause sexual energy to feed off of. It sounds counterproductive, but the amount of energy they expend doesn’t make a dent in what they feed on. They can also feed off of present sexual energy that they did not cause.”
A shiver shot down my spine as I remembered feeling Dreadful’s pheromones working on Hunter. Thank Fates he hadn’t been affected, and if he had been, he hadn’t shown it. I wasn’t keen on having mydesiresmanipulated in the slightest. Besides, I read about an incubus before that had killed another succubus with his pheromones alone. It freaked me out.
He moved in front of Reed and another demon. “Dream demons feed off of dreams good and bad. They have a dreamscape they can take others to and feed on them there as well, so they don’t have to visit another’s dreams if they don’t wish to. However, visiting others’ dreams can be more fulfilling for the magical reserves.”
My heartbeat was in my throat, and I’d wondered what Reed had meant when he said he had trauma with feeding as well.
Ashenfell glanced at another pair of two that were next to Reed and the other demon. “Drudes are demons that only feed on nightmares. They do not have access to a dreamscape, so they can only visit and feed off others. It’s rather restrictive compared to dream demons.”
He started walking again and stopped in front of a group of three, Grimshaw included. “Fear demons feed on fear. Any fear is great, and they can cause illusions of your darkest fears to feedon, or they can feed on a lingering fear they did not create as well.”
Grimshaw brought that purple pipe to his lips and inhaled deeply before puffing out the smoke that distorted the air. His emerald eyes were red-rimmed, per usual, and they held a heavy amount of contempt as he stared at me.
Glancing down, my ring was black.
Why did he want to hurt me? What had I done so badly?I’d even stood up for him when Dreadful was talking about him and his family—Hemlock, too.
“Chaos demons feed on chaos, obviously.” Hemlock stood among the other three demons with a scowl on his face as he glared at me, and Ashenfell continued, “Chaos also implies feeding on drama since drama is chaos. Most demons can just feed from outsourced chaos since it’s natural to be chaotic—especially for demons. But they can create illusions to disrupt order, like fear demons, and it works quite well.”
Ashenfell pivoted toward me, and my heart plummeted. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me, and my ring stayed black.
“Soul eaters feed on souls. They don’t have to kill to feed, but they do tear at pieces of a soul to fill their reserves. This can be done without killing, and a soul can regenerate depending on the amounta soul eater takes.” Ashenfell hesitated as he stared at me. “However, soul eaters can also rip a soul from a body and devour it in one fell swoop.”
A flashback knocked into me, and I squeezed my hands together tightly as I tensed up. All I could see for a moment was black smoke—my magic—entering my mother’s body and devouring her soul before it bottomed out in my belly again. Nausea swirled in my gut as I swallowed back a gag.
Fates, I needed to breathe.
I forced myself to inhale a lungful of air and expel it carefully.
He clapped his hands together and walked back to the front of the room. “Today, we’ll start simple. Pair up with a demon outside of your subtype and practice feeding off of them.” His gaze wandered to me, and he hesitated once again. “Gravesend, being as you’re a soul eater that isn’t quite confident in feeding, perhaps you should sit this exercise out.”
I found myself nodding desperately, but then a presence snuck up beside me.
“No need, Ashenfell.” Dex stood beside me with his hands stuffed into his pockets and an eerie smile on his lips. “I’ll partner with her.”
Hemlock and Grimshaw shared an annoyed look as they wandered off together, and I assumed they were partners.
