“Fuck,” Skel croaked, smoking again. “Thanks.”
“I’ll hurt you any time, you beautiful fear demon you,” I chuckled, shooting a few more bullets into the sand and watching the grains ripple.
“The chaos from your little stunt with the noble had my reserves filled, too,” Bram grumbled, but I knew that asshole loved it. Bramlovedhis reserves all filled up because he thrived on chaos more than any chaos demon I had ever met.
“There has to be more to her than being a spoiled noble,” I muttered, rubbing my eyes with the base of my palms before pressing them deeper into my sockets. “She’s riddled with pain andnegativity. You don’t get that way from being spoiled.”
“Or she’s just weak,” Bram spat, eyes still shut tight as he leaned sluggishly against the rock arch like he could barely stand—he probably couldn’t. Fucker downed the rest of that fae rum like it was nothing.
Greedy demon.
“No fucking way that’s it.” I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the memory of the pain around my neck from Darkmore’s vengeance magic that had lashed out at me, giving me a taste of what my magic did to Pandora.
I didn’t fucking like it. Not one bit.
“Why do you think that?” Skel asked, puffing a few more times before letting out a gleeful sigh as he sank to the ground and splayed out on the sand.
“Darkmore.” I fell back onto my ass, thankful Occult Arch was big enough to provide immense shadows. It was fucking hot, and the shadows were where I felt the most at home. “He was protective as fuck over her.”
“What do you mean?” Skel peered over at me through slitted lids.
“He went vengeance demon on me. Cut my throat like I did hers, and he even slammed my ass back into my shadows.” My skin crawled at howinvasive it felt.
The only person who had ever forced me into my shadows before was my father, and it sucked every time. My shadows turned against me every time it happened, and I was stuck with a thousand shadow tendrils embedded into my skin until my magic realized it was just me.
The decapitations were bad enough, but it was what they did before reattaching my head that fucked me up the most.
“Darkmore, huh?” Bram’s lips twisted into a sinister smirk. “Fucking nobles. Darkmore and Death are on the council together. He’s probably scared Daddy is going to kill him for allowing his precious daughter to be hurt.”
“Doubt that was it,” I mused, but a dark web of irritation formed around my chest. “He was pissed off on his own behalf.”
“Think he’s fucking her?” Skel asked, but his question was hollow—and it sent rage through my veins.
“Probably.” Bram turned over, and vomit spewed from his mouth before he rolled the opposite way.
I scrunched my nose at the putrid scent. “Maybe he is. I’ll ask. I see him Tuesday mornings at eight every fucking week until graduation.”
Bram wiped his mouth with his arm. “I have it Thursdays at five in the evening.”
“Fridays at six in the evening.” Skel’s eyes slowly fluttered shut.
“We all have Darkmore as a counselor?” I lifted a brow as their heads nodded in synchronized bobs. “That’s going to be so much fun.”
They both groaned in denial, and I found my lips tugging into a smirk.
Mandated counseling would suck, of course, but getting to feed off such a delicious demon made being sent to this Fates-forsaken academy worth it.
10
REED
As I pushed open the door to my dorm room, a wave of stale beer and fae rum assaulted my senses, mingling with the unmistakable stench of spicy bourbon. My lips curled in disgust at the overwhelming scents. The golden light filtering through the room from the window cast shadows along the walls, illuminating the stark contrast between my side and my roommate's.
The soft hues of gray and lilac dominated my area. My sleek tablet I’d snuck in from home lay on my neatly made bed, its screen glowing softly in the dim light. It was a beacon of technology amidst the sea of muted colors. Even though we were encouraged to only use the academy-issued tablet, I brought mine from home to be able to keep all of my contacts and apps. The onlineworld had become my solace since I was a kid, and I didn’t want to lose access to that.
My side was a lot more comforting than the chaos on my roommate's side of the room. Dark maroon and black hues covered his cluttered space. Empty alcohol bottles littered the floor around his bed like fallen agents from the excessive drinking sprees. It had only been two days.
The bed itself was a mess of tangled sheets and rumpled blankets, a testament to the absolute chaos that reigned unchecked in his half of the room.
