I felt my tail swipe back and forth, and I smiled. “You’re dreaming, but this is as real as if we were standing together at the academy.”
Her eyes widened slightly. “Oh.”
“I can do anything here, you know.” I waved toward the right of us and transformed it into a coast of sandy beaches and rough waves.
“Reed, oh myFates.” Her breath caught, and a strangled kind of whine escaped her.
“You can go stand on the beach or swim in the water if you want,” I told her.
“I can’t swim,” she rasped as she moved hesitantly. Her long, glossy black hair danced in the gentle breeze, and her red eyes widened with wonder at the vast ocean.
Waves crashed against the shore, their rhythmic lullaby echoing in our ears as she ventured closer. Her bare feet switched from the clouds to the grainy sand, and she didn’t stop until the briny water lapped at her toes.
I followed her the entire way, stopping only when the cold water washed over my feet as well.
The expression on her face was absolutely perfect to me at that moment. “I’ve always wanted to see the beach.” A smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she shut her eyes and tilted her head back.
My heart pounded in my chest, swelling withpleasure in giving her something like this. I felt lucky to witness it.
“I’d read about the beach many times, but to see it? It’s more than I’d ever imagined.”
A frown settled on my expression. What had she meant by only reading about it? Had she not traveled much? That surprised me since she was Death Gravesend’s daughter.
“Where are we?”
“My mom and dad lived on the Gleaming Gulf in a beachside city before my dad died. This was a smaller beach that few demons went to. After that, Mom moved us into the city for my high school years. After that, she moved us to the most rural part of the Demon Capital, away from all the beaches…and away from everyone and everything else.” Bitterness filled my mouth. “Couldn’t afford it anymore.”
“I’m sorry, Reed.” Her words were soft, sincere. They meant everything to me.
“I’m sorry for not stepping in sooner with Shadowheart,” I blurted.
Her face whipped toward me with her red lips parted in the shape of an O before she sighed and moved her gaze back to the sea. “You have nothing to be sorry for. When I see shadow magic, a cold spear of dread lodges into the base of my spine, and I just freeze…”
“You’re afraid of shadow demons?” Thequestion hung in the air as a whisper between us, accompanied by the crashing of the waves against the sandy shore.
“I guess I am.” Her lips quirked into a wary smile as she lowered herself to the sand, holding the kitten skull cupped in her palms as she let the water wash over it a few times before moving it back to her lap. “Nebula was a kitten that wandered into my life years ago…he was killed right in front of me with shadow magic.” She frowned, tracing the lines of the skull before faintly muttering, “At least I thought it was shadow magic. Maybe not.”
Fates, she was stunning.
“You hold your own with Shadowheart,” I told her. “Your panic attack makes a lot more sense now, though.”
“It does.” A larger wave washed over us, and her skirt moved with it, showing the wrap clad tight around her thigh. I bit my tongue. I wanted to know why she wore it and what she was hiding underneath. But it wasn’t right to just ask.
“You know,” she rasped. “Being here doesn’t hurt to talk. It’s refreshing.”
Hurt? Was that why her voice was so low and raspy?
“We can talk here whenever you want, dream girl.” I kneeled down in the sand next to her as the waves rolled over our thighs.
She looked over at me with a beaming smile, and my heart about stopped.
Dream girl had slipped out, but the nickname was the truth. Pandorawasmy dream girl. Being in my dreamscape with her was everything I didn’t know I was missing.
She opened her mouth to reply, but a loud bang jolted me awake, ripping me from my dreamscape and from Pandora.
I jerked up out of bed as my eyes adjusted to the dim room of my dorm. Gumdrop was sleeping in his tank safely, but Hemlock was up, tossing his stuff around angrily.
“Why the Fates did you sayhername?” he slurred, stumbling and catching himself on the nightstand. “You…were talking in your sleep.”
