* * *
Nebula’s tiny kitten skull was cradled in my hands as I sat cross-legged on the bed. “What did you mean by my sacrifice being worth the world, Nebula? You seemed to know exactly what Blair was talking about.”
He sighed, the sound rattling through the air. “Do you know what Sybil Shaw’s greatest power and weakness is?”
“It’s not dark magic?” Dex frowned, sitting behind me, playing with my hair.
“No. It’sme,” he admitted.
“What do you mean?” Reed asked, walking over from Gumdrop’s tank to sit down next to Hunter on the edge of the bed.
“Sybil’s greatest source of strength is me. It’s why she sealed my soul to my skull, so that she could siphon power boosts from me.”
Ice trickled through my veins.“What?”
“The more she uses my power, the less I can manifest. I’ve been fighting it, but lately, it’s been all the time. I’m struggling to stay manifested this long.”
“How much power does she gain from you?” Hunter asked, sadness pooling in our bond for my best friend.
“My soul and magical essence boosts her power by double,” he said, his soul thick and heavy in my palms.
I sucked in a sharp breath. “Nebula, why are you telling me this now?”
He stayed silent for a few moments. “Pandora, you know why. I won’t make it through your fight with Sybil.”
My breath stalled in my lungs, and I had to force myself to breathe.
“No.” I shook my head violently. “You said you’d always be there for me, Nebula.You can’t leave me.”
Agony tore through me as the realization of Blair’s warning struck like a cruel blade.
The sacrifice.
Nebula would be the sacrifice.
His voice softened. “The way I’m existing isn’t right, Pandora. You know that. I deserve to pass on properly. You…you’rethe only onewho can set me free.”
Tears burned down my cheeks.“No.”
“You have to eat my soul,” he told me, his voice barely above a whisper. “Youhaveto purge it of the dark magic and let me pass on. It’s the only way we can weaken Sybil enough to stop her from destroying the Demon Capital and demons as a whole.”
Sobs wracked my chest. “Please, don’t make me do this. Youpromised me.”
Skel rubbed a soothing line up and down my thigh from where he sat next to me, and Bram’s gaze met mine from over Nebula’s skull.
All five of my mates could feel the pain in my soul from this revelation.
Nebula’s dark magic soul flickered. His magic was weakening. “If you don’t, Sybilwillwin. Blair told us as much. I won’t let Sybil win, Pandora. You won’t either.”
“Why doesshehave to do it?” Bram asked, his voice slicing through the heaviness in the air.
“She’s the only one who can,” Nebula stated. “She’s the only one capable of destroying the dark magic covering my soul and purging it as well as eating my soul to break this curse attaching me to my skull so I can pass over.”
Hunter’s growl rumbled through the room. “Therehasto be another way.”
“There isn’t. Blair’s visit proved that much. You need to catch Sybil weak, off guard. I’m the best way to do it, and you know I’m right. The only way you will catch her off guard is by taking me out of the equation just before her plans come to fruition—before she can even think about using a back-up plan.” Nebula’s sigh was heavy, filling the space around us. “My life has been better with you than it ever was with her, Pandora. But I’m tired of this. I want to pass on to the Fates.”
I clutched his skull tightly against my chest, my whole body shaking. Tears flooded down my cheeks as my throat burned.
