Fuck. I really loved her.
18
PANDORA
Tomorrow was the day we would sabotage Dark Veil’s ritual site.
Steam swirled around me as hot water cascaded down my skin, muffling everything else outside the glass shower door. The rhythmic patter of water filled the space, a soothing hum that mimicked rain.
It was the first day that I would fight back against the cult that made my life an absolute horror for so long. Specifically, we would sabotage the ritual site on Gleaming Gulf’s shores with the supernatural agents, and I couldn’t wait. There was a charge of vengeance in the air that had been there all day. I wanted to destroy something they cared about for a change.
They deserved to have their entire cult burned to the ground.
A flicker of unease brushed against me like a cold draft, even though the shower door was sealed shut. The sensation was subtle, but there was a prickling at the nape of my neck.
Panic tightened in my chest. I turned my head slightly, eyes flicking toward the fogged-up glass.
Nothing.
Just the blurred outlines of the bathroom.
It was probably Dex spying on me again. It wouldn’t be the first time, but he rarely watched me when I was naked. Just the surrounding area.
I exhaled slowly, shaking off the ridiculous feeling. It was just the vulnerability of being naked and enclosed. My senses were dulled by warmth and water. There was a drake scale warding the academy now. Even with the loophole regarding the ward, I was safe. My mates were in the next room, and I could drop anyone that threatened me.
My mind latched back onto what was happening tomorrow. Everything else faded as I was consumed by my thoughts again, the echo of that odd feeling slipping away with the mist.
The bathroom was thick with steam as I opened the glass shower door with water droplets clinging to my body. The cooler air kissed my damp skin, making me shiver.
Shouts came from the bedroom, making my brows furrow, but I stepped onto the stone floor to reach for the towel. Just as my fingertips grazed the soft fabric, a deafening crack shattered through the room.
The door exploded inward, the frame splintering, chunks of wood scattering across the floor.
My breath caught in my throat as I froze.
Chaos, Bram’s imposing black spectral wolf manifestation with red eyes, broke through the door, tackling me to the ground.
I fell back, half-inside, half-outside, of the shower. Chaos covered me with his gigantic form, as if hiding me from sight.
“Chaos?” I rasped.
Chaos magic rippled through Bram’s mark as Demo manifested and lowered her ears as she growled lowly at the corner of the shower.
“Demo?” I glanced toward the corner she was growling at, but there was nothing. That spot even lacked steam.
How was that even possible?
That couldn’t be good.
My pulse thundered in my ears as my mind struggled to catch up with exactly what was happening.
“Chaos!” Bram snarled, barreling through the broken door. “What are you doing?”
My mates piled into the bathroom right behind him.
“What the Fates is wrong with Chaos?” Skel muttered, gesturing to the scene before him. “She’s showering, dude!”
“I have no idea, I swear!” Bram defended himself.
