“You’re sure you don’t need any help?” Seth asked, looking to me then Orion like he gave a damn. And I guessed he must have or he wouldn’t have still been standing there. I was too exhausted to know what to do with that thought. Seth Capella had saved his life. He’d done all he could, come to my aid when I needed help. And that was confronting in so many ways, I couldn’t handle it right now.
“No. I’ll take him home,” Darius said firmly.
Seth nodded, frowning before heading away down the beach, the storm swallowing him in seconds.
“Where’s Tory?” I asked, wondering if his absence had anything to do with hers too.
“Dunno,” he grunted, placing Orion down on the ground and shedding his sweatpants. “Are you coming with us or going back to your House?”
“I’m coming,” I said without a second’s hesitation.
“I can take it from-”
“I said, I’m coming,” I snarled and Phoenix fire flashed at the edges of my eyes.
He nodded mutely, turning away from me and leaping forward, his enormous Dragon form tearing out of his body and landing in front of me.
He gently scooped Orion into one of his taloned feet, his reptilian eyes fixing on me. I could have sworn they were less gold than usual, ringed with darkness.
I shed my coat and pulled my shirt off, revealing my halter-neck sports bra beneath it. I let my Phoenix wings free and a fiery blaze spread out either side of me as they extended. I picked up Darius’s sweatpants to take with me, figuring he’d probably appreciate them at the other end of this flight. My stomach soared as I launched myself into the sky, following the golden dragon tail which was twisting away from me into the battering snow storm.
I urged fire into my veins to chase away the freezing air and raced beneath Darius, soaring through the thick clouds. I pressed my hands to Orion, letting the fire in my blood seep into him too. Nothing felt as good as the heat of his skin against mine. He’d come so close to death, my mind was still in shock knowing he was still here with me now.
We sailed through the maelstrom, racing across campus and it wasn’t long before we landed in the woods close to Asteroid Place.
Darius placed Orion on the ground a moment before he shifted and I withdrew my wings, plunging us into darkness. I tossed Darius his sweatpants and when he had them on, he lifted Orion into his arms again and moved toward the gate. I kept close to him, wondering what the hell would happen if a professor found us here like this, covered in blood with an unconscious teacher, sneaking into their private residence.
I took Orion’s hand as we reached the gate, pressing his palm to it to unlock it with his magical signature. We crept forward past the pool, heading down the alley between Orion and Washer’s chalets. I touched his hand to the door again and Darius arranged him over one shoulder so he could hold his own hand against it too.
“He’s got a bunch of magical locks on this door,” he muttered in explanation, his brows pulling together in concentration.
A moment later, the door swung inwards and we hurried inside.
I shut it behind us and breathed a sigh of relief as warmth swept over me, following Darius through to Orion’s bedroom where he laid him on the bed.
I immediately crawled onto it, moving to his side and taking his hand. Darius stood watching us, just a shadow in the dark, but I couldn’t conceal my feelings for Orion. They were too raw, my heart too exposed.
“You care about him,” he stated, his voice horribly empty.
“Yes,” I said powerfully, defiantly. Because he was Orion’s friend and I didn’t care if he knew right now. He had to accept it one day anyway, because I was never going to stop loving him.
“And he cares about you?” His voice still had that strangely hollow quality to it I didn’t understand.
I wasn’t going to answer for Orion, so I just stayed quiet. But maybe that was answer enough. “Where were you tonight, Darius?” I asked, my tone sharp. “What was more important than helping your friend?”
“I have to go replenish my magic so I can heal him some more,” he said, completely ignoring my question. “I’ll be back in a few hours.” He headed to the window, pushing it open and jumping out of it without another word.
I scowled after him in fury, unable to believe he wouldn’t even give me an explanation for abandoning Orion tonight. I moved to shut the window then hurried to the bathroom, fetching towels before getting a jug of hot water from the kitchen.
I couldn’t stand to see Orion looking half dead, covered in blood. So I sat beside him, washing it away as best I could, trying to erase the pain that had nearly split me in two. But I had a feeling that some part of this night would always be with me, scarred on the inside of my chest. I’d almost lost him to the shadows, to his sister. And now Seth was entangled in this too. He wouldn’t let it lie, he’d want an explanation.
I set a fire burning behind me, twisting and dancing in the air as it worked to restore my magic. I’d never felt so powerless as I had when Clara had hurt him. And it terrified me that her shadows could suppress my Order like that, taking charge of the shadows in me and keeping my Phoenix subdued.
I tried to chase away the awful fears as I tugged the remains of Orion’s shirt off and washed away the stains on his arms, his stomach, his mouth. His breathing was soft but his brow was pinched like he was entangled in a nightmare. So when I was done, I curled up beside him, resting my head on his chest and humming a nameless tune, just something to let him know that I was here. And I wasn’t going anywhere, even if every star in the sky decided to fall down and burn the world tonight.
It was almost three in the morning and I was exhausted from a night of partying, but for some reason I just couldn’t settle myself enough to try and sleep. Every time I dozed off, it almost felt like something was prodding me awake again, like the damn stars didn’t want to let me settle.
My brain was working on overdrive and my power was running low enough to be distracting. What I really wanted was Tory Vega, and every time I tried to turn my mind away from that idea, it just spun right back around to her like her name was being whispered in my ear or something. But if I just woke her up in the middle of the night, I was fairly sure she’d put me in the dog house for a week. Not that I was even sure things were back on with us anyway. She hadn’t outright rejected the idea at Christmas, but she’d hardly put a date in her diary either. She had said to ask again in the new year though and technically it was the new year…
I groaned, knocking my head back against my pillow then tugged my Atlas closer. One message couldn’t hurt and if I was really lucky, it might just pay off.
Caleb:
I can’t sleep and all I keep doing is thinking of you alone in your bed... want some company? ;)
I eyed the message for a long moment, waiting to see if the red ticks would illuminate to let me know she was awake and had read it. A smirk captured my lips as the red ticks popped up.
Tory:
Come over.
Tory:
But don’t ask any questions.
Questions about what? I almost wrote out that response before realising that that was a question. I was dancing a thin line with Tory’s temper most of the time without her handing out warnings, so I wasn’t going to risk pissing her off and losing my shot at a night in her bed. I could cope with a no questions rule.
I jumped out of bed, pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie before kicking on my sneakers and heading out of my room with nothing but my Atlas and keys.
I shot out of Terra House using my Vampire speed and sprinted across campus, passing The Orb and the other school buildings before tearing south towards Ignis House.
A blaze of fire lit the sky high above and I looked up just in time to see a huge Dragon silhouetted as it passed over the moon. Darius was out late. I briefly wondered what was keeping him up, but my focus was more targeted on the girl waiting for me.
I threw a handful of fire at the symbol above th
e door to Ignis House and shot in as it opened, racing up the stairs, through the common room and up again until I was right outside Tory’s door.
I pushed a hand into my blonde curls to tame them a little after my run and knocked on her door.
She pulled it open a moment later, catching the front of my hoodie and dragging me inside as she pushed up onto her tiptoes to kiss me. The lights were off, but the cool light of the moon shining off the snow outside gave me just enough to see her by.
She was wearing baggy sweatpants and an oversized sweatshirt and her hair was tied in a messy knot on top of her head. But Tory Vega could wear a potato sack and still look like a fucking goddess. My dick was hard before I’d even knocked on her door and as she pushed her tongue into my mouth a groan of longing escaped me.
I caught her waist and lifted her up, her legs hooking around my hips as she ground against my hard-on and she released a moan which had me practically exploding already.
I sat her on the edge of her desk and pulled back as I tugged on the hem of her sweatshirt, breaking our kiss as I yanked it over her head.
She wasn’t wearing anything beneath it and my heart beat a little faster as I took in the full swell of her breasts, dropping my mouth to capture her left nipple instantly.
She moaned again, leaning back to give me more access as I dragged my teeth over the pebbled flesh, my hand palming her other breast as I teased that nipple too.
Tory reached between us and unzipped my hoodie, pushing it back off of my shoulders in a firm demand. I stood upright as I shrugged it off of me and she dropped her gaze to my chest as she trailed her hands across my flesh.
My blood was pumping hot and fast, urging me to take more from her. My fangs snapped free as the bloodlust rose but I held back, wanting to take pleasure from her body before savouring her blood.
I caught her chin, tipping her head back so that I could look at her. I longed to see the desire in her eyes and taste her full lips against mine again.
Tory resisted my demand for a moment before looking up at me, her long eyelashes sweeping up until she met my eye.
Two black rings surrounded her irises and I jerked back on instinct, my hand falling from her chin and my lips parted in shock as I just stared at her.
“What the fuck Tory?” I breathed. “You’re Star Crossed. How...who?”
“I told you no questions,” she growled, reaching for me again. “I just want to forget about it.”
“Are you insane?” I demanded, shaking my head as I tried to process this, to understand it on any level. Who the hell would say no to their destiny like that? Who would be insane enough to turn their back on their one true love. “What have you done? Who did this to you? I-”
“It’s done, Caleb,” she snapped and for a moment it looked like the black rings around her irises grew and flared until her whole eyes seemed black with shadows. “I can’t go back and change it and I don’t want to talk about it.”
She took a shuddering breath and closed her eyes as her fingers curled around the edge of the desk she sat on.
I stepped closer, my chest aching with the need to do something about this, to change the stars, fix her fate, any number of impossible things that could alleviate some of the pain I could see consuming her.
I took her hand in mine, her fingers burning hot as her fire magic blazed beneath her skin, making me call on my own power to avoid getting burned. She opened her eyes and that darkness I’d imagined was gone, only the two black rings left there now but somehow that was worse.
“But, Tory...” I was just staring at her, my mind wheeling as I tried to come to terms with the fact that some other asshole had been selected by the stars to be hers. Her perfect match. One true love... Except he’d said no. Or she had. And I just couldn’t understand it. I’d seen her earlier and she hadn’t had the black rings in her eyes then, so this must have only just happened.
“Make me forget, Caleb,” Tory breathed, her voice cracking with the plea.
I could feel the pain coming from her now, the desperation. She was breaking, broken...someone had done this to her. Someone had chosen to do this to her and I just couldn’t understand it. If the stars had chosen her for me, I’d have grabbed hold of her in a heartbeat and never let go.
I was staring into her big, green eyes, the black rings surrounding them taking every inch of my attention. It didn’t make sense, I couldn’t understand it...nobody chose to be Star Crossed. If the stars gave you the chance to pick your Elysian Mate you did it. No question. No matter what. Hell, if I found myself standing opposite that fucking hat boy I’d say yes.
“I’m so sorry, Tory,” I whispered. My flesh was burning with desire for her and it felt like the stars themselves had guided me here, driving me towards her to help heal her of this pain.
“I don’t want you to be sorry,” she replied, her gaze hardening. “I just want to forget.”
The fire in her eyes was enough to snap me back into action. There wasn’t anything I could do to fix what had happened to her, but I sure as hell could do what she’d asked.
I kissed her again and she pulled me closer, her hands gripping my hair and tugging just enough to let me know she didn’t want me to go easy on her.
She bit my lip and I growled as my grip on her hips tightened, my fingers pushing against the material of her sweatpants. I fisted my hands around her waistband and tugged on them, forcing her to raise her hips so that I could pull them off of her.
I dropped to my knees as I tugged them over her ankles and stayed there, pushing her legs apart as I moved forward to devour her.
I hooked her left knee over my shoulder and ran my mouth up the inside of her thigh as she gripped the edge of the desk, her head tipping back as her breathing grew heavier, more demanding.
As I made it to the centre of her, I pressed forward hungrily, running my tongue over her, my skin tingling as she moaned in encouragement, her hips bucking against me.
I gripped her thighs, pushing them wider as I continued to feast on her, the sound of her pleasure making me so hard I had to fight against the urge to take her already.
I shifted my hand and pushed two fingers inside her, her moans filling the room as I bent her body to my desire.
I could feel her tightening around me and I groaned as I sucked harder, driving my fingers in once more as she fell apart. I devoured her pleasure, riding her through it until she sagged back on the desk.
My dick was throbbing with need and I stood up, pushing my pants off and kicking them aside with my sneakers.
Tory’s pupils were wide with desire and she slipped off of the desk, kissing me hard, demanding more. She wasn’t some fragile thing needing reassurance, she wanted me to take her body hostage and make her forget the asshole who had said no to her. And I wasn’t going to disappoint.
I caught her waist between my hands and turned her so her back was to me before pushing her up against the wall.
She gasped as I pressed against her, every inch of my desire driving against her ass and letting her know just how much I wanted her.
She moaned a little, turning her head to the side and reaching over her shoulder so that she could pull me around to kiss her again.
In my excitement, my fangs scraped over her bottom lip and her blood spilled across my tongue. A growl escaped me as my Order form pushed its way to the surface and I couldn’t help but suck her lip into my mouth, taking a trickle of her blood and power into me as I did.
Tory gasped as I knocked her legs apart and I gripped the base of my dick before guiding it up and into her. She moaned hungrily as I pushed in slowly, savouring the feeling of how tight she was around me and letting her adjust to the position I held her in, pinned against the wall.
“More,” she breathed and I growled again, giving her what she wanted with a sharp thrust of my hips.
She moaned each time I drove myself into her and I gripped her ass in my hands, my fingers biting into her flesh as I pounded into her harde
r and harder.
“Fuck,” Tory groaned. “Harder.”
I gave her what she wanted, my mouth finding her neck as I kissed her and slammed into her faster, harder, giving her everything, a desperate ache filling me as I tried to hold off a little longer.
“Bite me,” she begged and I looked at her in surprise as she tipped her head aside, baring her throat to me. We’d never done that during sex before and as much as my instincts made me crave it, I knew she didn’t really enjoy being bitten so I hadn’t ever asked it of her.
“Really?” I asked, because I was half a second away from doing it and I wasn’t sure I’d ever wanted to bite someone more.
“Yes,” she gasped as I slammed into her again. “Do it!”
I gave up on trying to hold back and my teeth pierced her skin as I fucked her even harder, the pressure building in me so fiercely that I knew I could only hold it back a second longer.
Tory cried out as I forced another orgasm from her body and the taste of her blood rolling over my tongue made me explode inside her a second later.
I was pinning her against the wall so hard that the tremors of her flesh were rocking through my body. I drank deeply from her as her blood and power filled me in a way that had my heart racing.
I could hear her pulse pounding an exhilarated rhythm and I was pretty sure that she would collapse if I let her go.
The bloodlust had me firmly in its grip and I swallowed more and more, ecstasy filling me as I savoured the combination of her body and power.
I forced my fangs out of her flesh with some difficulty and drew back, pulling her down onto the bed as we caught our breath.
Some of her hair had fallen out of the messy knot she’d tied it in and I pushed it out of her face as I looked at her.
She offered me half a smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. The pain of what had happened to her was creeping back in already and I was struck with the desire to kill the asshole who’d said no to her.
Zodiac Academy 5: Cursed Fates: An Academy Bully Romance (Supernatural Bullies and Beasts) Page 2