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“Do not forget your mission here, Luna Deokhye,” she commanded, her voice carrying the authority of a thousand suns. “You have sins to erase and a legacy to live up to.”
“I didn’t choose to be born this way.” I crossed my arms, teeth clenched. “You have no right to judge me, Mother. You sired me, after all.”
“Do not make me regret that.”
We stared off. Youth and daring on one side, experience and tradition on the other.
“Do whatever you have to do to break your contract with the Reaper. He’s danger in a pretty package; a persecutor disguised as a saint.”
“Or what, Mother dearest?” I couldn’t believe her. Did she really think I entered this contract willingly? Or that it what would be easy to extricate myself from it? I didn’t think I could escape now, not with my double deal with the Fae House leader.
“Or you will not be my daughter anymore,” she said. The words sliced through me like a blade, cleaving my soul in two. “No money, no legacy acknowledgment. You will simply exist as an orphan, and I will never contact you again.”
My mouth dropped open, stunned, as I let the weight of her declaration sink in. I always knew Mother resented the demons of the dark, but not enough to dishonor me by casting me aside. The implications of her ultimatum devoured me.
I wouldn’t get the legacy ceremony in Fae House and the Aether college experience. Without tuition money, I’d have to drop out, with nowhere to return home to and nowhere to run away.
“What about Dad?” I asked weakly.
“Dad doesn’t want you cavorting with the devil, either.”
A single tear rolled down my cheek. “I don’t know how to break it, Mom.”
“Figure it out.” The sound barrier dropped. My bracelet tightened around my wrist as Gaksi’s form of reassurance.
“Make me proud, not humiliated.”
ChapterNine
THE ORACLE MUSINGS
What’s worse than the terrible twos? It’s the terrible three! Brayden, Zain, and ringleader Hunter will spend tonight chasing pretty dryads back to the Beyond. They’ll be having a bit too much fun, if you ask me! Harassment has never been my cup of tea.
Speaking of tea: Beautiful, dark creatures will be roaming the campus tonight. Not as beautiful as me, of course, but pretty close, and a tad jealous, too.
My neck wokeme early almost every day, concentrating my shadows into a perpetual, aggravating force. I couldn’t stand it. Two days and two bargains? Mistakes etched into my skin? What was next on the third day? Selling my soul?
I had to walk. Pace somewhere that wasn’t this tiny dorm, where the shadows in my soul might jump out and suffocate me.
It was past curfew, so only a few figures lurked in the darkness outside. Because demons were more active at night, we were ordered to remain in our dorms after sunset until being Housed. But with Gaksi bobbing along in my hair ribbon, I doubted any significant harm could befall me.
The only nighttime figures on this campus were darting between bushes and up balconies for late night hookups with one-night stands and starborn souls.
At least some of us had a starborn, true love. My only companion for these lonely nights was Gaksi.
“Incoming!”
A tawny-brown wolf darted in front of me, growling faintly.
I held up my hands and backed away slowly.
“Hush!” a familiar female voice sounded from above.
“Cordelia?”
She waved out her window, holding a finger over her mouth. “Shh!”
The wolf growled.
