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

by Caroline Peckham

  I brushed the hair from his forehead, nodding my agreement. “If there’s a way to save her, I know you’ll find it and you’ll do it. But please don’t take any stupid risks. I can’t lose you, Lance. You have no idea how awful it was seeing you there, bleeding, hurting, dying-”

  He kissed me, gripping the back of my neck to keep me close and my heart found a steadier rhythm once more.

  “I’m not going anywhere,” he murmured against my lips. “We made a deal with the stars, remember?”

  I nodded, drowning in the feeling of him holding me against him. “I’m sorry it had to be Seth who saved you,” I said with a hiccough of laughter.

  A low growl rumbled through his chest. “I’m surprised he didn’t finish the job if I’m honest.”

  I thought on that, releasing a small sigh. “I guess he’s not such a big bad wolf after all.”

  “Yeah, total plot twist; he saved little red riding hood when he found her bleeding out instead of eating her.”

  “You’re more like big bearded riding hood,” I pointed out and he barked a laugh.

  “Damn, I must have forgotten to wear my hood during that last ride.” He spanked my ass and I gasped in surprise before leaning back to tickle him in retaliation.

  He laughed and the sound lit me up from the inside as he caught my wrists and pinned them against his chest. “Bad girl.”

  I smirked, casting ice magic around my hands, colder and colder, while Orion played chicken. “I don’t lose at games like this,” he said with a wicked grin. “Remember the Fairy Fair?”

  My mouth pulled up at the corner as I recalled him getting electrocuted in the circus tent to apologise to me. I bit down on my lip, knowing exactly how I could get past his defences as I drew a little blood.

  He growled, releasing me in an instant and rearing up to suck it from my lip. I laughed as he kissed and sucked it away then I pressed my hands to his shoulders to force him back down onto the mattress.

  “I won,” I sang and he smirked, his eyes becoming hooded.

  “I’m okay with you being my weakness, Blue. Because that means my weakness is a badass, hot as fuck Phoenix with enough fire in her veins to rival the sun. So come at me stars, I’m invincible!” He pointed at the ceiling and I laughed, tucking myself against his chest again and wondering if I was ever going to get this smile off my face.

  “Don’t goad the stars.” I jabbed him in the shoulder. “They’ll take it as a challenge.”

  He chuckled, miming zipping his lips and we lay in the quiet for a while with nothing but our heartbeats breaching the silence.

  His fingers threaded between mine and his thumb ran over my mother’s ring on my finger.

  “Is it weird that I’m wearing it?” I breathed. “Sometimes I worry she wasn’t a good person.”

  He tucked a lock of hair behind my ear with a deep frown etched into his brow. “I don’t know about good, Blue, but I know she would have done anything to protect you.”

  “Do you think she loved me?” I whispered, not sure if I was really expecting an answer from him or just wondering the thought aloud to the universe. Had there ever been a reality where I was a daughter loved by her mother? Did she cradle me against her chest and pray I’d never come to harm? Had she truly cared what kind of girl I’d grow up to be? And would she be proud of the one I was?

  Orion trailed his thumb along my jaw, down my neck and across my collar bone, his gaze following the path he took. “How could she not love you?”

  Tears burned the backs of my eyes, but I smiled through them, leaning down to touch my lips to his. Because that was the sweetest answer he could have given me.

  “Do you miss the mortal world?” he asked as I rested my head on his chest, his voice rough and delicious.

  His fingers curved around my shoulder blades, sending a deep shiver rippling through me. Sometimes I wondered if I was addicted to his flesh. He was ecstasy embodied, a drug that left my mind in a fog of bliss. It was weird to think I’d spent so much of my life without him. Now, a future apart seemed impossible. Unbearable.

  “Not really,” I said thoughtfully. “I never felt at home there, I always felt like somewhere else was calling my name. I just didn’t know where to look for it.”

  “I guess it found you in the end,” he said with a smirk in his voice. “Or to be more precise, I found you.”

  “How long were you stalking us exactly?” I asked, lifting my head and narrowing my eyes playfully.

  He chuckled, lowering his hand to my ass and squeezing. “I wasn’t stalking, I was watching.”

  “Same thing,” I pointed out.

  “I just had to make sure you were who we thought you were.”

  “And how did you know which Vega twin was which once you did?” I mused.

  “Magical signatures,” he said in that professor tone that got me all hot. “The elite are registered at birth. I had a special device so I could get a reading on you.”

  “Hmm, what kind of special device?” I grinned, rocking my hips against him and drawing a groan from his lips. My hunger for him was insatiable. Every time I thought I’d had enough, I found myself starving for him all over again.

  “It’s a long, hard device that lives between my legs. And it likes you a lot,” he played along and the dimple in his right cheek appeared, making me lean forward to lick it. He laughed, gripping my hips and grinding me against him with a growl of desire.

  Chiming bells sounded somewhere in the room and Orion jolted, rolling me off of him and grabbing his phone from the nightstand. I frowned as he answered, the tension in his muscles making me worry.

  “Francesca?” Orion answered and I pursed my lips. Why does he have a personal ringtone for Fran? And why is she calling so freaking late? “Where?...Okay. Yeah, I’ll be there within thirty minutes.”

  He hung up, stepping out of bed and striding to his closet to grab some clothes and start dressing.

  I sat up with my brows pulling together, trying to ignore the warring tug of jealousy in my chest. “What’s going on?”

  He pulled on a pair of jeans, buckling them up as he moved toward me, leaning down and pressing a kiss to my forehead. My freaking forehead. “I’ll be back before dawn.”

  I narrowed my eyes as I followed him out of bed and he turned away to pull on a shirt.

  I dragged on my underwear and planted my hands on my hips. “Explain,” I demanded. “Because it sounded like you just answered a phonecall to your ex-girlfriend in the middle of the night and now you’re running off to see her at the click of her fingers.”

  Orion turned to me with a frown gripping his features. “Blue…”

  “What?” I raised my brows, waiting, my heart thrashing uncomfortably. I didn’t like this feeling. I knew we were unbreakable. But I wasn’t going to let this go without a solid explanation all the same.

  He sighed, reaching down to pick up my jeans and shirt from the floor. He held them out to me with his eyes darkening. “When I tell you, you’ll insist on coming. And I’m gonna skip the argument and just say, stay fucking close and follow my orders.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” I asked as he moved forward, dragging my dark green shirt over my head. I pushed my arms into the sleeves then snatched my jeans from his hand, not wanting to be dressed like a toddler.

  Orion rubbed at the thick stubble lining his jaw. “Me and Darius have been working with Francesca for years to keep the Nymph population under control.”

  “What do you mean?” The knot in my gut loosened at seeing the truth in his eyes, but my heart started to pound for a whole different reason.

  “Francesca has eyes all over the kingdom watching out for Nymphs. There’s usually an FIB task force who handle them, but in the past couple of years their numbers have been getting out of control. So she employs us and a bunch of other under-the-board operatives to deal with them. It’s completely fucking illegal of course, but Francesca cares more about keeping civilians safe than putting h
er job on the line. And me and Darius volunteered because, well, we’re damn good at it.”

  “You and Darius…you kill Nymphs?” I breathed, the fact making a whole lot of sense. Like the time I’d seen him talking to Fran at a bar in Tucana, discussing killing somebody. It had been about this. I smacked Orion’s chest with a scowl. “Why am I just hearing about this now?”

  His lips tipped into a slanted smile, his eyes flashing like he liked when I hit him. “We haven’t been on a run in ages, and like I said, it’s illegal as fuck. I wasn’t gonna incriminate you if the FIB ever came knocking.”

  I folded my arms, my gaze sharpening on him. “What else don’t I know about you?”

  He laughed, moving forward and cupping my cheek. “I’m nothing but an open book now, I promise. This is my last secret.”

  “Why don’t I believe you?” I whispered and he stamped his mouth firmly to mine.

  “You will,” he promised and I tasted that promise on my lips. “I’ll give you the play by play of my entire life when we get back if that’s what you want, but we’ve gotta go.” He snatched my hand, tugging me toward his closet and a smile pulled at my mouth for the fact that he didn’t even have to ask if I wanted to come. Of course I damn well did. I could use my Phoenix fire to destroy Nymphs and it felt good knowing I could be of some use.

  Orion took a large wooden box from the shelf at the top of his closet, lifting it down and placing it on the bed. He flipped open the lid and my eyes widened at the sight of the long, silver blade nestled inside. I recognised it instantly; he’d used it when the Nymphs had attacked at the Pitball stadium.

  My lips parted as he took it out, swinging it in his grip with impossible ease. “This is a Sun Steel blade,” he explained. “Very fucking rare. The FIB use them to fight Nymphs and Francesca hooked me up with one.” He grabbed a scabbard from the box and tethered it around his waist.

  Of course she did. Fran is so freaking generous.

  I made a mental note that his ex had gifted him a fancy ass sword and all I’d given him for his birthday was a bunch of handwritten I.O.Us. Not that I’d had time to prepare for it considering I hadn’t known it was his birthday, but still. I wasn’t exactly winning the best gift of the year award. No, Fran had secured that alright.

  “Your fire will be even more effective,” Orion added, a gleam in his eyes like he was excited for this. I kind of was too.

  He swung the sword around for a second with incredible skill, admiring it before tucking it into the scabbard. Dammit Fran, why do you have to be cool?

  “Why aren’t you telling me to stay behind?” I asked curiously.

  “Do you want to?” He tucked a lock of hair behind my ear and I shook my head immediately.

  A dark smile tugged at his mouth. “I’m not telling you to stay because firstly, you’re a fucking force to be reckoned with, beautiful. And secondly…” He stepped closer, taking my hand and firmly kissing the back of it. “We make a fucking excellent team, I’d be doing us a disservice to leave you behind.”

  “You sure know how to talk your way out of trouble, Professor.” I cocked a brow and he smirked at my expression.

  “I know how to lick my way out of it too, Miss Vega.” He grinned suggestively and I laughed as he tugged me out of the door. I grabbed my grey duffle coat from the lounge and Orion shrugged on his leather jacket before leading me to the back door.

  We slipped out into the night and I lifted a hand, casting a silencing bubble around us as he led the way towards the fence ringing Asteroid Place. We used air magic to jump over it then started jogging through the trees in Earth Territory.

  “How are we going to get off campus without being noticed?” I asked as I ran beside him.

  Thanks to Physical Enhancement classes and the brutal Pitball practise sessions, my fitness had improved tenfold. I was even starting to get muscle definition and I couldn’t say I missed my spaghetti arms.

  “I helped put the wards in place around Campus,” he said. “I left a gap in them for me and Darius.”

  “Is that safe?” I frowned. “What if someone gets in?”

  “They’d never find it,” he said confidently. “I’ve put all kinds of concealment spells over it to keep others away. But once I show you it, you’ll be able to use it too. Not that you should ever go off campus without me.” He threw me a sharp look and I arched an eyebrow.

  “So I can be bad so long as I’m being bad with you?” I teased.

  “Exactly.” He grinned, lunging toward me and throwing me over his shoulder. I swallowed a scream of surprise as he shot away with his Vampire speed and the world became a blur.

  We soon reached a dark corner of the outer fence where he placed me down, a little dizzy as I gazed at the iron bars stretching up high above us.

  “Here.” Orion took my hand, trailing it along the bars and planting it on one which was marked ever-so-subtly with a symbol of the sun. The second my fingers touched it, the bar vanished and Orion guided me through the gap into the bushes on the other side. I glanced back at the seemingly solid bars in surprise then my heart leapt as a man in a black hoodie strode through them behind us.

  Darius’s eyes immediately slid to me and he halted in his tracks. “What’s with the Vega?” he growled and I clenched my jaw.

  He was Orion’s closest friend and I had a lot to be grateful to him for since he’d helped save Orion, but I also had a lot to hate him for too. Why did the Heirs have to be screwing with my moral compass so much lately?

  “Blue’s going to help,” Orion said firmly, moving forward to clap Darius on the shoulder. “Problem?”

  Darius frowned then shook his head. “Whatever, so long as she doesn’t cause any trouble.”

  “She has a name,” I said airily. “And she would appreciate if you didn’t speak about her in the third person.”

  “Alright, Gwen, calm down,” Darius taunted and a growl rumbled in the back of my throat.

  “It’s Darcy,” I corrected. “I won’t respond to Gwen. So if a Nymph starts sucking the magic right out of your ass, then you might wanna use the right name when you’re calling for help.”

  Darius raised his eyebrows, a surprised laugh escaping him as he looked to Orion. “Gwen’s got fire in her belly tonight.”

  “Stop with the third person crap. And don’t call me Gwen,” I demanded and Orion shoved Darius in the arm, making him knock into me.

  “Call her Darcy, dipshit, or I’ll start calling you Demelza,” he growled and Darius shrugged. “Come on let’s move.”

  Darius took a pouch of stardust from his pocket, eyeing me through his dark-ringed eyes. The sight made my heart pinch, so I looked away. I didn’t know if I pitied him or was glad he was paying the price for hurting my sister. But it killed me that she was being punished too.

  “Ready?” Darius asked and Orion caught my hand, pulling me closer and keeping his fingers latched onto me like he was worried Darius was going to leave me behind. I wouldn’t have put it past him either.

  We nodded and he tossed the glittering stardust into the air.

  I was yanked into a sea of stars and my breath got sucked away as we tore through the endless galaxy, using its power to ride through the space between atoms and land at our destination.

  My feet hit solid ground and I stumbled, feeling Orion’s grip tighten on me. My face bumped into a hard shoulder all the same and I looked up to find Darius steadying me too.

  The scent of smoke hung around him like a cloud and I could see the Dragon peering out from behind his eyes, a flash of gold burning through the dark.

  “Thanks,” I muttered, stepping back, taking in the dark hill we were standing on, the moon hidden behind a sea of clouds.

  Darius shrugged, glancing away. “If you prepare to land on unsteady ground you’ll always land smoothly.”

  Heat flushed into my cheeks and I shook my head. “I’ve always been clumsy.”

  “Fae can train themselves out of anything,” Darius said firmly
and I wondered if that was true. I couldn’t imagine ever being anywhere near graceful. My fifth foster mother, Mrs Cockleford, had taken us to an art gallery once when I was nine. I’d knocked over a sculpture of a Bengal tiger and caused thousands of dollars in damage to the artist. Tory had determinedly said that wasn’t why she sent us back to the foster home a week later. But I knew it was. I swear the less clumsy I tried to be, the more destruction I caused. I’d broken more bones and had more visits to the emergency room in my life than anyone I knew. Probably didn’t help that I’d been the type of kid who liked climbing trees, playing in streams and running everywhere barefoot. But I hadn’t been the type who liked being told not to do those things either.

  “I happen to like that about you,” Orion commented. “It means I’ll always be able to catch you.”

  “You’re a Vampire, you’ll always be able to catch me anyway,” I laughed.

  “Not when you fly away from me,” he growled.

  “Do you think I’m so clumsy that I’ll hit a rainbow and fall out of the sky?” I taunted and he chuckled.

  “Where’s Francesca?” Darius questioned, turning toward the dark woodland that stretched away to our right. I followed his gaze and spotted a huge old gothic house standing amongst the tall trees. There were no lights on in the building and something about it sent a prickling sensation up my spine.

  “What are Nymphs doing all the way out here?” Orion muttered.

  “Fuck knows,” Darius growled. “But I’m hungering for a kill.”

  A flash of light caught my attention to my right and I whirled toward it in time with the others just as Fran stepped out of the trees. She wore a black jumpsuit that clung to her curvy figure, her hazel hair was pulled up into a high ponytail and her eyes were narrowed at me.

  “What’s with the spare?” she demanded, jogging up to us then slowing as she realised who I was. “By the stars, did you bring a fucking Vega, Lance?” She turned to him, and I swear, if I got third-personed one more time tonight I was going to lose it.

  “I can help,” I spoke before he could. “I killed a bunch of the Nymphs at the Palace of Souls.”