“How?” he growled. “Where were you?”
“I was in my office, and Shadowheart?—”
“What the fuck is Shadowheart doing with my daughter?”
“Death,” I interjected. “Let me explain. I’ll answer all of the questions.”
There was a beat of silence. “Proceed.”
“Pandora was in class, and she was paired with Shadowheart?—”
“Ashenfell!” There was a loud crash on the other line.
“Death.”
“Sorry,” he grunted, but I couldfeelhis rage. “Go on.”
“It was a feeding exercise. He fed off her by using his shadows to cut—” I paused as he let out a roar. “A ring around her neck. It was a superficial wound, but it bled, and she was triggered. Shadowheart brought her to me himself, and I got vengeance,” I assured him. “My magic cut his neck the same way he did her, and I shoved him back into his shadows to get him out.”
He exhaled loudly. “And Pandora?”
“I had to talk her through her panic attack, and she clung to me, Death. She was scared, and I get it. I held her for over an hour before she got her breathing back under control.”
“You held her?” The question sounded bitter.
“Yes,” I admitted. I had nothing to hide. As scary as Death was, I didn’t care. I was falling for his daughter, and if he wanted to rip out my soul for it, so be it.
“I’ll be there this evening,” he stated. “I’d come now, but we have a dark magic circle in the center of the fucking capital’s government building again. This time, the demon inside it was alive, but just barely. Bane’s questioning him. I have to be here.”
I nodded. “Understood.”
I knew exactly why he had to be there. It seemed that the only way we’d found to stop dark magic-infected demons was by Death eating their souls. The dark magic stayed in the body, rottingit until it turned into a puddle of black goo, but the soul was gone, and the dark magic couldn’t keep the body alive without the soul intact.
Of course, this wasn’t public knowledge. For the supernaturals and humans in Kalista, there had only been two documented cases of a dark magic-infected individual.
We’ve had to borrow the dark magic relic from the Supernatural Council to absorb all of the leftover dark magic, though, and the fact that we’ve had to use it made anxiety claw at my throat. I wasn’t sure how Blackthistle was able to convince them to let us borrow it without getting involved, but he did.
No demon wanted a dark magic plague in the capital, and no supernatural wanted one in Kalista.
My tablet dinged, and a message popped up over Death’s call.
Pandora Gravesend
I made it. I’m going to sleep now. Thank you for taking care of me.
Relief washed over me, and I replied.
Hunter Darkmore
Anything for you, starlight.
“She’s going to need you to teach her to feed without killing. Her magic reserves are so low, it took an hour for a slight cut to stop bleeding,” Iexplained to Death as I sent my reply to Pandora, my heart aching for her. “She has to feed.”
“I’ll be there,” he promised, clicking off the call.
My heart ached for Pandora as vengeance thrummed through my veins like a wildfire. I got to my feet, intent on sating my vengeance on Ashenfell before Death could rip out his soul. I needed to expel the magic building inside of me, and the only way to do that was to even the odds that had taken place due to Ashenfell’s decision to pair Shadowheart with Pandora.
I barged into Serpentine Stadium,interrupting Ashenfell’s lesson as his class turned toward the disruption.
