"I never wanted to talk to him in the first place," I retorted, words slurred by the fae magic. "Why would I start now?"
My father never cared about what I wanted. Only what he wanted, and he only started bugging me about this shit since Slater showed up and wanted to get to know me.
Slater sawworthin me that didn’t exist.
“Use Slater to get our family back into nobility’s good graces, or you’ll never amount to anything,” he told me.
“I already amount to nothing.” I blew out a stream of air, unsure what had him changing his methods. “What more could I want?”
“You're such a fucking disgrace,” my father hissed. "What kind of demon gets drunk under a rock before the night even peaks?"
“A chaos one, obviously,” I slurred again before ending the conversation with my heavy thumb pressing the red button.
Fuck him.
And fuck Slater.
I tossed the device aside as the unread messages from Slater lit up the screen like unwanted fae orbs. Those messages were filled with words I wouldn’t bring myself to trust. The constant back and forth with mybrotherwas not something I wished to entertain further. He was the one who sent me to this fucking place. What away to show his brotherly love, but then, it made sense of a noble. He was probably afraid someone would figure out that a loser like me shared a bloodline with him.
With another swig of the whiskey, I planned to drown the sting of my father's words again. Instead, a surge of resentment flared within me.
The chaos wolf I’d summoned earlier lounged beside me, and a snicker seemed to release from its snout. Its eyes glowed faintly like the stars did.
I’d forgotten to put my magic to rest, but the wolf always kept me company when I was alone.
“Fucking Fates.” Dex stumbled out of the shadows and dropped down on his knees next to me. “Pandora and the Demon Council, they're thick as thieves now. Fucking weird, isn't it?”
“Yeah, strange,” I echoed, tone hollow. “Even though her father’s on the council.” I rolled my eyes at the realization. “It’s not as weird as you getting off on her pain, dude.”
The whiskey no longer burned as it slid down my throat. Instead, it was a numbing balm to the chaos of my thoughts.
Dex sprawled out next to me, ignoring Chaos, the wolf form of my magic. “Don’t worry. My parents still suck, too.”
I hummed. I was drunk, but I wasn’t stupid. His parents were the source of all of his scars. “Yours are worse, I admit. Now, tell me…” I gulped a breath. “What is it about the soul eater?”
Dex's eyes lit up with an obsessive gleam. "I like it when she hurts. It feels so good. Makes her more...real to me."
A chill ran down my spine. “That’s fucked up, even for you,” I muttered, taking another gulp.
Dex’s laugh was harsh, slicing through the night before he rolled into the shadows, his departure as abrupt as the silence he left behind.
Chaos whined, pawing at the sand as if to tell me to call it a night.
“Come,” I groaned, feeling my wolf recede back into my magic as I pushed myself to my feet.
The academy spun as I stumbled back to my dorm.
It felt like hours before I kicked the door to the dorm shut and landed on top of my bed haphazardly.
“Pandora,” Nyx mumbled in his sleep, and a white-hot flush of heat washed over me.
Reed Nyx was the son of a human mother, but he was also an idiot. That woman might’ve been hot, but she was a noble. She’d eat him up and spit him out before he even realized she was a threat.
"Not my problem, though," I muttered to myself.
My thoughts drifted to Gravesend, to the wayshe reacted to my chaos magic. A wicked grin played on my lips at the thought of her. The chaos I could stir within her was immeasurable, a dance of fire and shadow that rivaled the burn of this fucking drink. It would be incredible.
For a moment, the weight of my past, the disdain of my father, and the complicated mess with my brother faded into the background. I’d never been in control of anything in my life.
