Still, I was immensely proud and shocked about how far she’d come since then. She was attending an academy full of demons, and she barely batted an eye at Dreadful’s antics when she first met her. Normally, a life of captivity would breed hermit behavior for any other supernatural, but demons coped slightly better with cruelty than the others. But she didn’t deserve any of this. If the other students had seen her panic, I knew she’d be on their radar.
Demons weren’t the only supernatural that sought out the weak to destroy them, but we were ruthless nonetheless. I’d have to make sure the professors were aware and keeping an eye on her. The biggest plus was that Death was her father.
Nobody wanted to get on Death’s bad side.
Death had zero qualms about sucking a soul out and filling his reserves just because someone looked at him wrong. If they were to go against his daughter? He’d devour the entire student body—professors included.
“That’s it, starlight. Deep breaths,” Imurmured softly to the woman in my arms. “You can do this.”
How dare Ashenfell allow this? He was briefed on her history. He knew she had trauma around feeding and shadow magic. Letting her pair with Shadowheart was stupid, and it was onlyday one.
I wanted Ashenfell bleeding like she was.
A whimper left her lips, and her fists clutched my shirt tightly.
“Stay with me. I’ve got you. We’re in my office,” I assured her as we sat only a couple of feet from where she’d thrown up. I’d call a janitor in later. Thankfully, the academy had a couple of enchantments that could clean a room in a second, so I wouldn’t bother cleaning it myself unless it bothered her. “You’re safe. I’m here.”
I ran a hand over her sweat-soaked coal-black hair, and a different kind of fire ignited within my soul. I knew I had feelings for her, but seeing her like this fuckinghurt.I’d give anything to wipe the pain from her memories, to shield her from the horrors that haunted her past, but I knew that was impossible. All I could do was be there for her, to offer her solace in the midst of it all.
I could feel her trembling, her body finally ceasing from the sobs.
“H-Hunter,” she croaked, and her voice sounded like her throat had been shredded. It wasalways raspy, but it sounded downright painful right now.
My chest tightened. “Talk to me, starlight.”
“I’m fine.” She reached up and touched her neck, pulling away to look at the smear of drying blood. “This is nothing.”
I bit back a scoff. “If it were nothing, you wouldn’t have had a panic attack, Pandora.”
“I was just triggered.” She clenched her bloodied hand into a fist. “Dex just-”
“Dex?”I gritted out the name through clenched teeth.
Dexter Shadowheart gave her his first name? And she was using it? What the fuck was that about?
“I asked him not to.” She dropped her fist into her lap and leaned closer to me on what seemed like instinct. “But he did. The shadows, they triggered memories. I’m sure my dad…told you about my past.”
“He didn’t have to,” I murmured, threading my fingers through her hair. “I was there when Death found you.”
“What?” Her entire body tensed. “Yousawme?”
I held her closer, afraid she’d try to pull away. “I was with him along with the shadow demon representative of the council, Bane. We shadow-traveled to you when Death felt you awaken. Iknow what happened, and I saw your conditions firsthand. It haunts me to this day. If you hadn’t killed Penny Bones, I would’ve gladly made her suffer before letting Death snuff her life out. I’ve felt protective of you from the very start.”
Her brows scrunched up as she stared at me with an intense emotion swirling in her red eyes. She didn’t say anything. There wasn’t much she could say, but I would’ve loved to know what she was thinking in that moment.
“You’re healing very slowly,” I told her, sliding her hair back to get a look at her neck. The wound was superficial, and it honestly only cut deep enough to make her bleed all the way around. It wasn’t as bad as I had first thought. I’d definitely cut Shadowheart deeper with my magic. “It’s because you haven’t fed. Your magic reserves are practically empty, aren’t they?”
She nodded, her breathing ragged as she clung to me. I wasn’t sure if she knew how close we were, but I loved her warmth and being able to provide her with the comfort she needed.
“You need to call your dad, starlight. He’d be the best to teach you.” I shifted her in my arms and carefully got to my feet before taking her toward the sofa and sitting with her situated in my lap. “You have to learn to feed.”
“I-” she croaked and winced. “I don’t want to k-kill.”
“You don’t have to, starlight. You can feed off fragments of souls,” I assured her softly.
“D-Daryl told me.” She took a shaky breath, and I could feel her muscles starting to relax as she gained control over her breathing. “But I c-can’t. Does it hurt for me to?”
“It doesn’t have to.” I leaned back against the softness of the sofa. “Depends on how much you take. Your dad knows how to feed off such small fragments that it doesn’t do anything but tire the source out. Death’s fed off my soul before.”
