“I’m not putting my shirt back on, Gerry,” Max said with a smirk, folding his bulging arms across his chest. “Not unless you beg me.”
“By the gleam of my shiny waxed lady balls! Who said anything about putting your clothes on?” She laughed, taking hold of the hem of her shirt and whipping it off, revealing her huge breasts in a delicate blue bra with a seashell clasped at the base of her cleavage. Max’s eyes practically bugged out of his head as she directed him further into the field for a fight. “I challenge you to a duel, you mouth watering barnacle of a boy.”
“Barnacle?” he muttered, but didn’t seem too bothered about the rest of it as he jogged after her into the meadow.
Orion glanced at me with a sharp expression and I guessed he was pissed at me for staring. But if he’d actually seen inside my brain, he would have found a completely innocent scene where he stripped off and got down and dirty with the Heirs. Totally above board. I didn’t want anyone but my Vampire. But if he happened to tussle with a few muscular assholes, then far be it from me not to settle in for the show.
I noticed Mildred watching us from group two, pinning Jillian Minor down by the throat and baring her jutting teeth at us. Ever since she’d joined Zodiac, I swear all she did was look like she was about to shift into her Dragon form and eat someone. Or maybe she wouldn’t even shift and she’d just take a bite right out of one of us. Most likely Tory.
Smoke spewed from her nostrils and her moustache rippled in the breeze it caused. It might have been funny it if wasn’t weirdly terrifying.
“Come on then, babe,” Seth beckoned me over. “Let’s see how far up in the air I can throw you this time.”
My cheeks heated as I marched toward him with fierce strides. In the last lesson, he’d captured me in a tornado for like twenty goddamn minutes. I’d been so dizzy afterwards, I’d puked. And Kylie had captured it all on camera and plastered it all over FaeBook. Not my finest moment. But this time, I was determined to leave a mark on him at the very least.
Tory headed after Caleb for a spar and Darius moved to chat with Orion while they watched. My jaw was grinding as I took up a fighting stance across from Seth. His smug face had a date with the dirt and I was more than happy to be the damn taxi driver.
“You really hate me, don’t you?” he taunted, not even bothering to lower into the stance as he flexed his muscles, waiting for me to attack.
I didn’t answer, trying to focus on every cast I knew as he started to circle to the right, forcing me to move left.
He yawned provocatively then flexed his arms above his head, giving me an open target. If he was going to be an idiot about it, I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity. I threw out my hand, releasing a powerful gust of air, but he blocked it with a flick of his wrist, sending it whooshing out into the field and knocking over several students in group four.
Seth dove into action, throwing out a palm and sending a spear of wood tearing through the air toward me. I cast fire, burning it into ash, but he kept throwing them, the spears flying forwards with a ferocity that should have terrified me. But I wasn’t afraid, I was furious.
I burned through every earth attack with yells of rage, keeping any of them from landing. But while he cast the onslaught of spears, a vine caught my leg, ripping me up into the air to dangle from it by one ankle.
He howled up at me and laughter carried from the surrounding crowd as people turned to watch. With a growl, I sent a tide of water crashing down toward him but it cascaded over a perfect dome of air above his head. I froze it in an instant and while he was blinded, I reared up toward my ankle and severed the vine with a flash of fire. I caught myself on the air, twisting around so I hit the ground on my feet, only stumbling a step before I launched my next attack at the frozen dome before me. I burned through it with a scream of rage and the dome dripped away to nothing on the floor, revealing an empty space where Seth had once stood.
Someone tapped me on the shoulder and I whipped around in alarm, meeting a powerful shot of air as it left Seth’s palm and crashed into my face. I hit the ground, tasting blood and failure on my tongue. He leapt on top of me with another howl, casting vines around my arms to pin me down while taking a solid hold of my throat to prove his point.
“Yield,” he growled and I clenched my jaw, refusing to say that fucking word for the thousandth time. He squeezed harder, his brows pinching together. “Darcy,” he demanded.
“Fine,” I spat. “I yield.”
He released me immediately, standing up and offering me his hand, but I smacked it away as I got to my feet and wiped the blood from my split lip. Marguerite, Kylie and their little gang jeered me from across the field and my cheeks burned as I strode away, needing to just cool off for a second.
I stalked away from the group and into the longer grass, rage clawing at my heart.
In a flash of movement, Orion appeared in front of me but I tried to shoulder my way past him, not wanting any pity. He caught my arm, whirling me around to face back the way I’d come and casting a silencing bubble around us.
“Breathe,” he demanded and I did. “Speak,” he commanded next.
“I hate him,” I snarled. “I know what he did for you and I know that confuses things, but it doesn’t make what he did before that okay. And I hate that I turn up here three times a week just to get put on my ass again and again and ag-”
“Calm down,” Orion growled and I looked up at him, heated anger invading every part of my body. His eyes softened into two obsidian pools and I found it slightly easier to keep breathing as I stayed locked in their gaze.
“I am calm,” I said, though I wasn’t.
“You want to run before you can walk,” he said, inching closer, but not enough so that it crossed any boundaries if anyone was looking. “You need to be more patient.”
“I’m trying,” I huffed. “But I feel like I’m getting nowhere.”
“Are you fucking with me? You moved up into the top combat class in your freshman year. Your only competitors are the Heirs now. You’re not giving yourself enough credit. The way you got out of that vine hold took real skill, Blue. Real fucking skill.” He fixed me with an intense look and I nodded, trying to accept that I was improving. But it was so hard when I rarely even landed a blow on the Heirs. And I really wanted to land a hit on that long haired jumped up Wolf boy.
“I just feel like I don’t even get close to taking him out.” I fixed my glare on Seth as he climbed to the top of a boulder, pounded his chest like a gorilla and howled to his pack who echoed it from within all the other groups.
Orion reached out to my busted lip, healing it quickly and wiping the blood away with his thumb. He placed it straight in his mouth, casually sweeping a hand through his hair at the same time like that was a perfectly normal thing to do. And I guessed he could get away with it as a Vampire. It was also weirdly hot as hell.
“Patience little predator,” he said with a smirk, dropping his hand to his side. “Your skill will get there. But that’s only half the fight.”
“What’s the other half?” I narrowed my eyes.
“Your prey,” he purred in a devilish tone that made a smile pull at the corner of my mouth. He gestured to Seth who was leaping from boulder to boulder now like he was invincible. “Knowing who you’re fighting is key when you’re dealing with powerful Fae. It’s not just a case of brute force. The devil is in the detail. And your pretty boy Werewolf prey has weaknesses. Find them,” he commanded.
Seth cupped his hands around his mouth at that moment and called out to us, “Hey sir! Why don’t you have a round with me while Darcy dries her tears?”
Orion moved a finger so subtly I almost missed it and a gust the strength of a hurricane sent Seth flying off of the boulders. He just caught himself with his own air magic before he faceplanted the ground.
“I’ll take that as a no!” he called as he got up, striding over to Darius and starting up a fight with him instead.
“Why’d you miss
that opportunity?” I asked with a frown. “I could have used the inspiration.”
“No,” he growled in a serious tone, catching me in his gaze. “I could have smashed his head in the second Darius told him to back off of us, but I held back. Because you know what’s more satisfying to me than beating the living hell out of him, Blue?”
I shook my head, my throat too tight as I absorbed the passion in his expression.
“You doing it,” he breathed with a seductive grin. “He’s all yours, beautiful. I want you to make him scream. I’m gonna be right there with a fold-out chair and a bag of freshly popped popcorn to enjoy the show. But I won’t be the one breaking bones – and trust me I really want to be that guy, but not this time. Seth Capella has written his fate in the stars. She’s coming for him like a monster in the night. And her name is Darcy Vega.”
My heart shone, at least that was what it felt like. I wanted to throw my arms around him and thank him for being the best guy I’d ever known. But it wasn’t exactly good timing with the whole school watching. He had most definitely earned himself the best sex of his life tonight though. Which was gonna be hard to top, but I was happy to get imaginative.
“You’re actually a really good teacher,” I commented.
“She says like it’s a surprise,” he mocked and I laughed.
“Well, it just took me a while to realise that you’re not just a dick to everyone because you hate the world.”
He arched a brow. “Am I not?”
“No… you care Lance Orion.”
He held his heart like I’d mortally wounded him, stumbling back a step and my laughter grew. “Don’t insult me.”
“Alright, keep up your heartless act then, but I’ve got you pegged, Professor.”
He leaned in closer with his smile vanishing like a ghost in the night. “I’ll admit this one thing, I don’t always hate being a teacher.”
I gasped, acting as dramatically as he had, pressing the back of my hand to my forehead like I was going to faint.
“Don’t ever tell a soul,” he said intently and I laughed, miming locking my lips and throwing away the key. He nudged me to get me walking back towards the Heirs and my whole body felt lighter as I approached them.
I sighed as I headed back towards the Heirs, smiling as Geraldine yelled, “For the magnificent queens of Solaria!” and leapt onto Max’s back, her huge breasts slamming into his head as she flooded them both with a downpour of water.
“I love that girl,” Tory said as she jogged over to join me, her arms and throat lined with bruises. “Caleb,” she explained with a huff and Orion reached out to heal her.
She smiled at him in thanks and I glanced between the two of them with warmth in my soul. The fact that Tory had given him that little friendship bracelet – which he religiously wore every day without comment – was the cutest damn thing ever. I’d hugged her so tight when I’d found out about that she’d had to forcibly escape from me after five whole minutes of squish time.
I spent the next half an hour watching Seth fight and taking note every time one of the Heirs got him on his back. He led with his left foot, but his right hand was dominant when he cast. He was cocky, self-assured but there was weakness in that sometimes. Occasionally, he threw attacks which were too big, and so long as his opponent managed to shield against it, there was a small window of time where Seth had to take a second to recover. That window was gold.
“We’re gonna be stronger than them one day,” Tory said, lifting her chin. “It’s just a matter of time.”
I looked to her, that fact ringing truer in my skull than it ever had before. Her gaze hooked on mine and a moment passed between us where something just clicked together. Something so damn obvious it was strange to only realise it now. We’d decided to fight them. We weren’t just working our asses off to beat them one time in some Elemental Combat class. We wanted to keep beating them again and again. And that could only mean one thing.
“Do you want it?” I whispered, the air seeming to stir strangely like the stars were leaning in to listen. “Because I do. It feels so right.”
“Yeah,” she said, her lips parting in realisation. “I want it too. I really do, Darcy.”
“So let’s take it,” I said, surprising myself with the strength in my voice.
I could feel Orion’s eyes on me, but I couldn’t look away from my sister. This moment was ours. And it needed to be screamed from the nearest mountain. Or the top of the nearest boulder as the case may have been.
I snatched Tory’s hand into my grip and she ran with me as we raced towards the boulders and climbed up to the peak of the highest one.
“Listen up!” I yelled and the Heirs stopped fighting, frowning over at us.
Orion casually flicked his fingers in my direction and when I spoke again, my voice amplified over the entire meadow.
“You’ve seen us get beaten time and again,” I called and the Heirs laughed, smirking at us like we were about to embarrass ourselves. Geraldine thumped Max in the arm, giving us her full, undivided attention with her eyes glowing brightly. “But one day soon, we won’t be beat.”
“We’re the most powerful Fae in this kingdom!” Tory shouted, her voice filled with power as it was amplified by Orion’s magic and her hair swirling around her in a wild breeze, making her look fierce as hell. “And we may have been hurt, beaten, bruised, drowned.” She glared down at the Heirs. “But we’re never going to stay down.”
The Heirs shared anxious looks and my heart swelled as I met Orion’s gaze, his eyes brimming with pride. I loved him fiercely in that moment. Truly. Madly. Always.
“So we intend to claim our rightful place in the kingdom!” I announced. “Bring on the press, the photoshoots, the interviews, we’re ready to step out and be the real princesses that we are.”
Tory caught my hand and I lifted her arm into the air on instinct. “We’re going to fight for our throne!” she cried.
“And we’re going to win it!” I finished.
Geraldine broke down in tears, dropping to her knees in the dirt and clapping like mad. The rest of the A.S.S came swarming to the base of the boulders, jumping in the air and cheering like crazy. Gabriel clapped from across the field, a knowing smile on his face like he’d been waiting for this to happen today. And I guessed he had.
I let my gaze slide over to the Heirs again, eyeing Max’s sneer, Seth’s scowl, Caleb’s darkened gaze and the tight-jawed silence Darius was sporting. They said nothing to each other. And maybe that was because they knew this moment had been coming too. That they’d realised we couldn’t be beat. And one day in the future, we were going to face them one on one in a bid for our rightful place on the Solarian throne. It was written in the stars.
Orion blew his whistle to sound the end of the class and a wide smile split across my face. We climbed down into the sea of bodies, getting accosted by hugs and claps on the back. Geraldine waded her way toward us, dragging in ragged breaths like she couldn’t get enough air in her lungs between words, “My – queens – are – finally – ascending -” she managed to get out then dragged us into her arms, sobbing loudly for the whole world to hear. “I’m prouder than a pecan in a tin of raisin berries!” she wailed. “And I’m happier than a clam riding a sea turtle!”
Most of the students had already departed by the time the A.S.S. started dispersing. Everyone tried to lure us into a party, but my legs were numb and even Geraldine was fighting a yawn with every excited word she threw at us. Orion lingered behind us with Darius, talking to him in a silencing bubble as the other Heirs peeled away, Caleb, Seth and Max jogging off ahead of us with their back muscles flexing and Seth howling angrily at the sky.
“Well, this has been the most wonderific moment of my entire life. But I must call it a night as I am positively flamboozled,” Geraldine sighed, pulling her shirt on. “What a wild and wet evening it’s been. Good night my queens. I look forward to versing you in all the customs of the how to claim the throne. B
y the grandest grapes in Ginkleford, what dreams I’m going to dream tonight!” She waved flamboyantly and headed off down another path in the direction of Earth Territory with a skip in her step.
Darkness was starting to fall and the shadows were thick between the trees, but there were no shadows in my heart tonight, there was too much brightness in me to let them in.
Tory flung an arm over my shoulders and I leaned against her with a groan of exhaustion, but a smile still bit into my cheeks.
“I can’t believe this is only our first year,” I said.
“Yeah, but imagine us this time next year. We’ll be kicking ass. I’ll be eating breakfast off of Caleb’s washboard abs after I’ve knocked him out cold. Just because I can.”
“Is that your plan?” I teased with a laugh, but she didn’t return it and I felt the shadows in her for a moment, reaching out to try and join with mine. But they were buried so deep right now, there was almost none to find.
“Nah,” she said offhandedly and I wrapped my arm around her waist.
“I love you, Tor,” I breathed, just because sometimes people needed to hear that. And maybe I didn’t say it to her enough.
“Love you too, Darcy,” she whispered.
A shadow spilled onto the path ahead of us and the two of us cried out, throwing up our hands in defence as my heart lurched into my throat. A combo attack of water and air exploded from us and the figure tumbled through the air, slamming down onto their back several feet away. A hat laid on the ground just where they’d been and I swore as I realised who it was.
“Shit, Diego, don’t jump out on us like that!” Tory reprimanded as I scooped up his beanie and hurried forward to give it to him.
He was lying awkwardly on the ground, groaning as he rubbed the back of his head. “Lo siento chicas,” he wheezed as he sat upright and Orion appeared in a flash, jerking him to his feet by the collar of his shirt.
“You’re gonna get yourself killed diving into the path of two fucking Phoenixes, you fool,” he snapped.
Zodiac Academy 5: Cursed Fates: An Academy Bully Romance (Supernatural Bullies and Beasts) Page 26