Zodiac Academy 5: Cursed Fates: An Academy Bully Romance (Supernatural Bullies and Beasts)

by Caroline Peckham

  It was like the weather and the fucking ground itself had come together to attack us or something, the intensity of the thunder and the earthquake growing with every passing second.

  I looked down at Roxy again and my heart twisted as a horrible thought occurred to me. I released my grip on her hand and backed up a few steps.

  The tremors instantly lessened, the thunder losing volume too.

  I backed up even more and rocks stopped falling from the cave roof as my gaze stayed locked on her. The black rings in her eyes taunted me like they were created just to hurt me every time I looked at them.

  “Oh,” she breathed as she realised what was happening too. “The stars don’t want us close to each other now?”

  “Well, at least you don’t have to worry about me hurting you again,” I said bitterly as the reality of that crashed over me. I couldn’t even be near her without the stars punishing us and the thought of having to keep my distance from her forevermore only poured salt onto the wounds of knowing I could never have her. I strode towards the cave exit. “Because I can’t get within ten feet.”

  Before I could step out into the dwindling storm, Lance appeared in front of me with Gwen and that weird hat kid.

  “Where are you going?” Lance asked me in confusion and I paused as the tremors in the cave fell still and the rain stopped pouring from the sky.

  “I was leaving,” I said, glancing back at Roxy who was standing with her arms folded and a pout on her full lips which said she was pissed at me, but that was nothing new. “The stars made that storm to push us apart…” I glanced up at the sky as the clouds slowly cleared, wondering what the fuck that meant. “I guess…they just don’t want us being alone together.”

  Lance’s gaze darkened as he looked between me and Roxy, but he held back on anything he might have wanted to say as he cut a glance towards the hat kid.

  “We’ll make sure you’re not alone down here again then,” Lance said with a heaviness to his tone which said he kinda hated that. And shit, I kinda hated it too. I’d known the stars would work against us, and Max had already been trying to convince me that Caleb had been pushed towards Roxy when they’d hooked up the other night but this…the world physically pushing us apart if we tried to be alone together. What the fuck was that about?

  I closed my eyes for a moment, forcing my attention to fix on the reason for us coming here and expelling a breath before opening them again.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked the hat kid. Danny? David? Something like that. All I really knew about him was that he’d been a bit too eager to help Roxy get wasted that night in The Orb and had put his fucking hands on her in front of me at the Halloween party too. Suffice to say, I didn’t like him. Not one fucking bit.

  “Polaris here has come to offer us some assistance,” Lance said and the tightness in his jaw said he didn’t like the kid either.

  “Is that so?” I asked, levelling him with a dark stare which made Gwen shift closer to him, curling a hand around his bicep like she thought she could protect him from me if I decided to do something.

  “He’s got access to the memories of his family members who are working with your family. He can give us inside knowledge which might tip this thing in our favour when the time comes,” Lance explained.

  My gaze flipped back to the kid as he tugged on his hat nervously. I knew all about that creepy bit of knitwear and I had zero desire to spend any time with his soul grandma or whoever the fuck was knitted up inside it.

  “That doesn’t mean he needs to stay for anything else we’re doing here,” I said, holding his eye until he looked down at his boots.

  “Agreed,” Lance said. “I just want him to make a star promise with you and Tory so we can be sure he doesn’t betray us.”

  “I swear I just want to help,” Dennis said as he looked at me. It was definitely D something.

  “Fine,” I agreed, I wanted him gone as much as anything else. I couldn’t get that image of him dancing with Roxy at Halloween out of my head and to make it worse, I knew that whole thing had only happened because of me anyway. I could have stopped Max from giving her that potion but I hadn’t. I let my desire for power and my father’s wishes infect my actions again and again.

  Lance took a Lapis Lazuli crystal from his pocket and proceeded to get both me and Roxy to make the bond with Denzel. I might have crushed his hand in mine when I did it, but it was hard to say for sure as the whole time my gaze was fixed on the girl I couldn’t have.

  Once Darren had fucked off, we got on with our shadow lesson and I proceeded to watch every move that Roxy made while she made every effort not to look at me.

  But when it came to her turn to dip into the shadows, I wasn’t the only one staring at her. She practically snatched Lance’s draining dagger from him and cut her palm open without a moment of hesitation before letting the shadows pour forth and coat her skin. Within the blink of an eye, she’d covered every inch of her flesh in them and her eyes turned as black as pitch.

  “You’ve been practicing,” Lance said in a dark voice as Roxy drew a ball of shadow to sit in her palm. “I thought we agreed you wouldn’t do that?”

  “I don’t think I would have agreed to that,” Roxy replied, her voice drawing a shiver down my spine as it was laced with the power of the Fifth Element.

  “Fine,” Lance growled. “If you’re so determined to push yourself with them then let’s see if you have as much control as you think you do. You can try to face me with them.”

  “Is that a good idea?” Gwen asked, her eyes wheeling between her sister and Lance. “What if one of you gets hurt? The last injury you got from doing dark magic wasn’t exactly easy to heal-”

  “She has a point,” I said, frowning at my friend and moving to take his place. “You’re still not fully recovered. Let her face me instead.”

  Roxy’s gaze fell on me at last with that suggestion, but the shadows swimming in her eyes made it impossible to tell what she was thinking.

  Lance hesitated like he wasn’t sure that was the best idea, but he didn’t stop me as I moved to stand before her.

  “I don’t want you to attack him,” Lance said. “Just restrain him. If you’ve got as much control as you think you do then it should be easy enough to do that without causing any pain.”

  Roxy didn’t reply but as she fixed her gaze on me, the barest hint of a smile played around her lips and a lump caught in my throat. Of course she’d be happy enough to have the excuse to strike at me. I was the root of that ache in her eyes.

  The shadows rose up all around her and I used my own draining dagger to cut into my palm too, so that I could channel the dark energy into defending against her attack more easily.

  A rush of ecstasy tumbled beneath my skin and I inhaled deeply as the shadows ran to me.

  Everything seemed to pale and fade as I welcomed their power, only the darkest of my emotions remaining sharp enough to feel fully.

  My jaw tightened as I looked at Roxy, the anger which I’d been trying not to feel burning a trail beneath my flesh. She’d chosen this path for us. She’d stolen our shot at happiness.

  Before I could force those feelings under control, Roxy threw a net of shadows towards me.

  Darkness curtained my vision as I fought to steal control of the shadows she’d sent at me, bending them to my will so that instead of trapping me within them, they moved to coat my flesh and add to my own power.

  It took more effort than I expected but with a grunt of determination, the shadows fell to my command.

  But Roxy wasn’t done there, she sent a second net at me followed by a third and a fourth, the shadows dancing around her wildly so that her long hair billowed around her shoulders with their power.

  I took control of the second net but sweat was beading on my brow and as the third hit me, I staggered back a step. Roxy’s shadows coiled around me with a cold determination, pressing me back until I hit the rock wall behind me and binding my limbs together a
s she immobilised me. I fought to bring them under my control for another few moments, but I refused to fight back against her.

  The call of the shadows was too strong, the desires of them too deadly. I wouldn’t unleash dark magic on her no matter what she did to me.

  “Enough,” Lance barked as Roxy advanced, her gaze flickering with the darkness of the shadows. She looked deadly, beautiful and entirely consumed by the power she was wielding.

  For a moment, I didn’t think she was going to stop coming at me but as Gwen called her name, she fell still.

  It took her several more seconds to draw the shadows back, but the flickering darkness around her finally withdrew and the shadows pinning me in place dispersed too.

  “Be honest, how hard was it for you to pull them back then?” Lance asked as he fixed her in his gaze, his brow furrowing with concern.

  “Harder after I used them to restrain him, but I still managed it,” she said, looking away from me again. I didn’t miss the way she avoided saying my name and I tried not to let that burn.

  “Only with Darcy to anchor you,” he replied gruffly. “I think we should call it for tonight. But I’m warning you not to keep playing with the shadows.”

  “Aye aye, captain,” Roxy replied sarcastically before turning and walking for the exit.

  It felt like the air in the cave contracted as she left and the dull ache in my chest sharpened as I was filled with the urge to chase after her, but I didn’t move an inch.

  Darcy exchanged a concerned look with Lance. “I should make sure she’s okay. I’ll talk to her and make sure she’s not pushing it too far with the shadows.”

  “They feed on grief and pain,” Lance growled, shooting me an apologetic look for half a second. “She’ll be more susceptible to their call now than ever before.”

  “Don’t worry, she’s tough. She’ll be okay.” Gwen glanced at me too and the accusation in her eyes cut into me. She blamed me for her sister’s unhappiness and I couldn’t exactly deny that.

  Lance clasped her fingers for a moment and she tiptoed up to press a kiss to his lips, flushing pink as she cut me another look before heading for the exit.

  “I dealt with Seth,” I called after her before she stepped outside. “He won’t bother either of you anymore.”

  Tension seemed to fall from her body in a wave and she offered me a wide smile which was so full of relief that I could practically taste it on the air. “Thank you, Darius,” she breathed before turning and hurrying out after Roxy.

  Lance turned to me, running a hand over his short beard as he scanned my features. “Before the storm tried to force you apart, did you manage to talk to her at all?”

  “About what?” I asked, forcing myself to stay and hear him out despite the desire to walk out creeping through my limbs.

  “About…fuck, Darius, about everything.”

  “No. What’s the point?”

  “Seriously? You’re just going to stick with self-pity and moping? I thought you had more fight in you than that,” he growled.

  “Fight for what? I can’t change this fate. And I wasn’t going for mopey, I was going for acceptance.” I shrugged, although now that he pointed it out, I was acting kinda like a little bitch.

  “I’ve told you I’m not just going to accept this bullshit version of destiny for you,” Lance growled, stepping right up into my personal space and giving me a shove which instantly set the Alpha in me snarling. “So it’s time you stopped acting like you accept it too.”

  “What the fuck else am I supposed to do? Even if you managed to find some way around this, which I don’t believe for a second that you can, she still hates me, she still had a whole list of perfectly valid reasons to deny me. So what difference would it make?”

  “None,” he snapped. “None at all unless you prove to her that you’re more than just a monster carved in your father’s image.”

  “Maybe that’s exactly what I am. It’s not like I can deny doing any of the things she hates me for.”

  “So that’s it? You give up? You’re going to just spend your life pining after her, marry Mildred, fall into line with your father’s plans and be a good little Heir?”

  “Fuck you.” I shoved past him and walked towards the exit but before I could leave, I slammed into a solid wall of air.

  “No, Darius. Fuck you! Fuck all the bullshit you spouted to me over the years about fighting back against your father, about working to change his legacy and being a better man than him. Fuck the lies you told about using your time to rule with the other Heirs to make Solaria a greater kingdom, and fuck you for being too much of a coward to just tell Tory Vega how you felt about her before it was too goddamn late!”

  I whirled back around, fire bursting to life around my fists before I threw it at him with a cry of rage. The shadows leapt up beneath my skin, but I ignored them in favour of fire. I didn’t want the numbness of the Fifth Element, I wanted to burn.

  The fireball slammed into Lance’s shield and washed over it in a tide of crimson flames before stuttering out and leaving me aching for more.

  “Better,” Lance said, a hungry smile lighting his features. “Now put that desire to fight to good use. And use it to fix this shit between you and Tory.”

  “How the hell am I supposed to do that?” I demanded. “You’ve seen the way she looks at me. She hates me.”

  “Hate dances a fine line with love more often than not. Fix it, Darius. Then if I really can find a way to give you another chance at fate, you’ll both be ready to make a different choice.” He strode towards me, shoving me aside as I reeled from his words.

  By the time I turned to shout after him, he was gone. And I was left alone in the dark with nothing but my own demons to keep me company.

  Two weeks was a long time in some ways and a short time in others. Apparently it was long enough for most people to stop actively staring at my eyes and their fancy new black rings. Most people, not all. But it was a start. It was also long enough for Geraldine to be able to talk to me without spontaneously bursting into tears every five minutes. We had it down to about fifteen now.

  It was long enough for people to stop whispering and start just rudely asking for details instead.

  It was long enough for me to stop crying myself to sleep, though I still woke up with tears on my cheeks.

  And apparently it was long enough for Darius to schedule an interview and photoshoot with the press too.

  I sat in The Orb eating my breakfast on my own thanks to my run taking longer than usual and me missing the Ass Club gathering. My gaze slid over the two glossy photographs which started off the piece titled, Darius Acrux on duty, sacrifice and his one true love. One was a close up shot of Darius smouldering at the camera, shirt off, tattoos on show and two dark, black rings circling his deep brown irises. He looked hot as fuck which was its own special kind of torture.

  The second photograph was of him wearing a spotless suit, standing behind a huge chair which was basically a throne, his arm tossed over the back of it as he looked down at the girl who sat in it. Mildred Canopus, his fiancé, wearing a flowing white gown, her left hand raised coyly to cover her mouth with a massive motherfucker of an engagement ring sparkling on her ring finger. Her mean little eyes looked bigger and brighter than when I’d seen her in the flesh, her moustache hidden beneath her hand, her skin flawless with makeup and maybe some editing and her frizzy brown hair perfectly styled around her.

  My heart pounded as I scrolled down to read the article, knowing that I should just shut my Atlas off and pretend I’d never even seen it. But I couldn’t. I just couldn’t make myself turn back now even though I knew this was going to hurt. It was like I’d been forged in punishment and pain and I just couldn’t get enough of it no matter how much it damaged me.

  Celestial Heir Darius Acrux gives his first interview since choosing Solaria over fate and telling Roxanya Vega that he would never be hers.

  In this candid interview, we talk heartache and
love with the Heir who gave up his Elysian Mate because he knew it was the best thing for our kingdom and he explains how he’s managed to defy the stars and find love with his fiancé Mildred Canopus, despite what the heavens had planned. Their wedding has been moved forward to just two days after their graduation and all of Solaria can’t wait for the wondrous day.

  “Of course I felt a pull towards Roxanya, but I knew in my heart that she’d never make a suitable wife for a Celestial Councillor. She’s brash and uneducated, selfish and not suited to ruling at my side any more than she would be to claiming the throne. And I couldn’t take the heartache of watching her with so many other men all the time either. I’m a one woman man and I want to give my entire heart, body and soul to one woman alone. And that woman is Mildred.”

  Of course, it has been well documented that Roxanya Vega’s sex addiction had already led her to sleep her way through every single male in her freshman class through seduction and blackmail and it is rumoured she’s begun on the women-

  A hand slammed down over my Atlas and I flinched as I looked up to find Darius himself standing over me.

  “I didn’t say a single one of those words,” he growled, his eyes burning with a raw kind of anger. “I’ve already sent my legal team after that reporter and I’m having that article taken down and a retraction printed.”

  My throat thickened as I looked up at him, feeling eyes on us from all around The Orb.

  “Did you really bring your wedding forward?” I asked, hating how softly my words came out and hating even more that I’d really asked that question.

  Darius’s jaw ticked and his gaze burned with an intensity that seared the flesh from my bones and left me weak and aching for him.

  “Father brought the date forward,” he admitted and that shouldn’t have hurt, but it did.

  I tugged my Atlas back out of his grip and stood up suddenly, forcing him to straighten before me and standing so close to him that my chest brushed against his.