Demon Reform Academy, Term 2

51. Hunter

51

HUNTER

T he blur of the mating ceremony and claiming vengeance for Melody Stormsong was a fulfilling but short-lived victory. The Fates had been on Melody’s side.

Dad and I had worked many vengeance cases over the years, but this was the only one that even compared to the time we’d taken vengeance for Mom’s death. We’d been tapped out of our magic, and we barely had time to flee with Melody before passing out from sheer exhaustion.

When I’d checked my messages after Dad and I woke up, my heart sank to my gut. I’d been passed out from magical overuse for hours, and in those hours, there was a dark magic attack on the academy—an attack that resulted in my fated mate being taken.

Bane had come and shadow-traveled me back to the academy while Dad drove the van home.

Death was a mess—we all fucking were.

Pandora was gone, and even Reed couldn’t find her in his dreamscape. He’d been lying down constantly, trying to reach her. He was lounged out on my sofa, trying to lure her to his dreamscape, but he hadn’t been so lucky. He’d been with her just before she’d woken up for the first time, and it was breaking our fucking hearts.

I couldn’t locate her through our bond, but I could feel that she was okay…for now. But we couldn’t fucking find her.

“I’ve called in all of our contacts from past clients.” Dad let out a ragged breath and scrubbed a hand over his face. “I also contacted all of my contacts from when I was on the council.”

“I did the same,” I rasped, eyeing my cabinet that held all of my caramel fae wine. I desperately wanted to taste the caramel and numb this feeling—but I couldn’t. I had to stay focused.

“Slater’s got his contacts searching for her, too,” Bram mumbled from his spot on the floor. He had his back against the wall and his head in his hands. He’d done a great job reaching out to his brother. The Havoc’s have a lot of pull in the Demon Capital. We were hoping they’d turn up something, anything .

Skel sat next to him, passed out, with his pipe on his lap. His fear magic leaked worse than I’d ever seen it since she’d been taken. Malice had given us sleeping pills to keep him out any time it acted up, but it was almost constant.

“The council is corrupted,” Death growled, the sound vibrating the room. “I don’t even know who to trust. The only demon I know I can trust on the council, aside from Hunter, is Everglow. None of the others have earned my trust, and Blackthistle is in the fucking wind.”

“I know.” I pressed the heels of my hand into my eye sockets until I saw black dots. “The board has already informed the staff of his resignation. They’re scrambling to find a new headmaster in the middle of the academic year, and it’s fucking obvious that they don’t know what to do.”

“Which means he knew we’d figure out it was him!” Death shouted, rage literally pouring off him in waves.

Vengeance sparked underneath my skin, crackling with raw anticipation at striking the ones responsible for taking my mate. “We will find him, and we will kill him.”

“Yes. We fucking will,” Bram growled out. “But not just him?—”

“Every fucking demon that put her in harms way,” Death finished for him, and his aura bled black.

Tension was thick in the air, a palpable force that pressed down on every one of us.

My breath caught in my throat just before a searing pain lanced through my chest. I doubled over, clutching my heart as if it were being torn from my body. My vision blurred, and I could feel her—Pandora, my mate—her terror and panic crashing into me like a tidal wave through our bond.

“She’s—she’s terrified," Reed croaked, his voice breaking.

I could feel the tightness in my chest, the suffocating fear that clawed at my insides as if it were my own. My heart pounded in sympathy, each beat a painful reminder of her distress wherever she was.

Fuck. What was my mate experiencing to make her panic like this?

I staggered. “I feel it, too. She’s having a panic attack.”

“I can’t feel it…” Bram muttered with anguish in coating his tone. “Fuck.”

“We need to find her,” Death bit out the words.

My vision swam with black spots, and fear struck my core. The matebond between us pulled me deeper and deeper into her emotional state. I could feel her rapid breaths, the way her hands shook uncontrollably, and the cold sweat that slicked her skin.

Ever since we’d bonded, I felt her emotions strongly, but this was intense. She was in danger, and I couldn’t even locate her.

“We have to do something,” I cried out, raking my hands through my hair as I tried to control myself. “We can't just stand here while she’s…while she's suffering.”

Death stepped forward, his eyes narrowing. “Calm yourselves.” His voice was a low, resonant command that seemed to vibrate through the very air. “She needs your strength, not your panic.”

But her panic was funneling through the bond.

“It’s hard…to control,” Reed gasped, tears leaking from his eyes.

It was easier said than done. My soul was consumed by her fear, my mind a chaotic storm of so many fearful, negative feelings. The silent scream that echoed in her mind was enough to drive me to the edge of insanity. It was unbearable, this helplessness, this inability to reach out and comfort her. Even through the bond, I couldn’t quite send out comfort.

“He’s right. We’re bonded. She’s in danger.” I sucked in a sharp breath.

“I know!” Death’s voice boomed through the room. “I had to feel my fated mate die by the hands of humans. Do you think it was a quick death? No. They tortured her, and I felt every fucking minute of it. But did I curl up and die with her? No. I focused on finding her and avenging her. You two need to get it together and find my daughter before that happens!” The force of his death magic made my entire body tremble.

Before I could even try to calm myself and separate my feelings from hers so I could be of use to her, I felt her breaths slowing and the tightness in her chest loosening. The waves of panic receded, leaving behind a weary sense of apprehension instead.

My legs gave out, and I sank to the floor.

I could still feel her, the bond thrumming between us, but now it carried a different sensation. A sense of hope—that she wasn’t alone.

“She's calming down,” Reed murmured, closing his eyes. “Dex...Dex is with her.”

I nodded, reaching out through the bond, feeling the steady, comforting presence of Dex through her. It was like a balm to her frayed nerves, and assurance that our mate wasn’t alone wherever she was.

“Thank Fates.” Bram deflated, and he fisted his hands in his hair with a breath of relief. I knew he was worried about our mate, but he was also concerned for Dex, too.

“We'll find her,” I vowed, meeting Reed's determined gaze.

“We'll bring her back,” he promised.

Death watched us both, his expression inscrutable, but there was a flicker of something in his gaze—respect, maybe.

“You have to.” He nodded once, but his jaw was still tight.

“We all will,” Bram added quietly from his spot on the ground.

Death was right. There was no other option. We had to find Pandora.