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

by Caroline Peckham

  “By the moon, you’re so obvious. You could at least just admit you ruined my relationship and are still screwing my ex like the heartless bitch you are. What did he text you exactly?”

  I rolled my eyes. “He didn’t text me and I would rather screw a cactus than Seth Capella,” I shot at her.

  “Liar,” she hissed with poison in her tone and for a second I thought her hair was going to explode into streams of furious snakes.

  “I’m not a liar,” I snapped. “I don’t want anything to do with him.”

  “You know what’s worse than a whore with no class? A whore who can’t even admit she’s a whore,” she snarled,

  “Says the girl who’s wearing a Hores badge, Kylie,” Tyler called across the room. “I heard you have Seth’s name tattooed on your vag with the words insert here to make me howl and an arrow pointing to your butthole. Is that true?”

  I burst out laughing with the rest of the class and I swear even Gabriel snorted.

  “Shut up!” Kylie snapped then glared at me as if I’d been the one to say it, and I sensed more than rage in her. There was genuine hurt too. It was enough to make me bite my tongue and turn away. She clearly wasn’t going to listen to anything I said anyway. So why bother?

  The lesson went by painfully slowly and Kylie interpreted every other symbol I remembered from my dream as meaning that I was a whore. So it wasn’t exactly productive.

  Relief filled me as the class finally ended and I headed out of the room with Tory, saying goodbye to Diego and Sofia as we made our way to Earth Elemental Class with Tyler. I changed Lance’s name on my Atlas to Starboy so if anyone ever did catch sight of one of my messages, they wouldn’t know who it was from. Not that I kept any of them for long. I also sang Starboy by The Weekend and Daft Punk in my head while I did it. Not that I knew ninety percent of the words. But I had the chorus down. Sort of.

  Kylie marched past us with her head lifted proudly in the air and Tory flipped her the finger.

  “That girl needs to get a life. As if you’d fuck that asshole. He made your life hell. You’ve got higher standards than I do.”

  Tyler snorted.

  “I think she’s just so in love with him she can’t even see the bad in him,” I said with a frown. Not that I was giving her a free pass, but I’d seen that look in her eyes. Her heart had been crushed when he’d broken up with her.

  “Well holding a grudge is like drinking Faesine and expecting your enemy to combust in a fiery blaze,” Tyler said. “And that bitch drank a gallon.”

  Tory and I laughed, but I was distracted as I spotted Seth and Caleb up ahead as we arrived in Earth Territory at the entrance to the caves.

  Seth was doing a handstand on Caleb’s freaking shoulders while the Vampire Heir ran around to see how long he could hold on for. The class was forming an audience outside, cheering and laughing as Caleb leapt into the air and Seth came tumbling down. He caught himself with a gust of wind, landing upright in front of his friend and bowing low while everyone applauded.

  “Again, again!” a couple of junior girls cried, clapping as they bobbed up and down on their heels.

  “Hey Vegas!” Caleb called as he spotted us. “Bet you can’t do this!” He leapt up to stand on Seth’s shoulders from a standing freaking jump then double flipped over his head and landed in front of him with a smirk as another round of applause broke out.

  “The true queens could out flip your acrobatic asses any day!” Geraldine cried, placing her hands on her hips as she muscled her way through the students toward us.

  I shared a look with Tory and she grinned the same time I did as a decision passed between us.

  We dumped our bags and blazers on the ground, pushing through the crowd to the circle of space between them.

  “I’ll throw you in the air,” I muttered to Tory and she nodded keenly, the challenge igniting in her eyes. Her cheer routine had proved exactly how prepared she was for this. And my Pitball sessions had gotten me good at propelling myself up in the air to block the Pit, so we were the perfect team.

  I knelt down, cupping my hands together like I was going to give her a boost up a tree the way I had when we were kids and she crossed her arms over her chest with a smirk. She stepped into my grip and I boosted her skyward, throwing my air power into it and she shot up high above our heads, spinning around wildly in the air and making her skirt fan out around her to raucous applause from the crowd.

  I guided her down to land softly and she immediately dropped to her knees, holding her hands out and linking them together for me. Caleb and Seth were watching us keenly, their eyebrows raised.

  “Er, I’m not so graceful, Tor,” I muttered.

  “You can do it,” she pushed and the fire in her eyes made me nod, not wanting to doubt myself in the moment of excitement.

  I stepped into her hands, hoping I wasn’t about to look like a handful of spaghetti tossed into the air. She propelled me upwards and I used the momentum to flip over backwards, my heart hammering as I zoomed back towards the ground.

  I landed on the springy earth as Tory softened it and gasped as I only stumbled one step. Hell yes!

  Cheers rang out and Geraldine was leading the Terra members of the A.S.S. club in a chant of Vegas for the throne!

  I glanced over at Seth and Caleb who were sharing a conspiratorial look which made my heart dip.

  “Child’s play. Now let us throw you,” Seth said with a dare in his eyes. “Bet you can’t get three flips in before you hit the ground.”

  “Psh. That would rely on us trusting you,” I said. “Which we don’t.”

  “Yeah, thanks but no thanks,” Tory said, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

  “Come on, you could just save your own asses if we decided to drop you,” Caleb said. “I’ll throw you with my Vampire strength, Tory. It’ll be fun. You can control the entire landing.”

  “I’ll sweeten the deal for you Darcy,” Seth said, stepping closer to me. “If you get three flips in and land without stumbling, I’ll let you have a free shot at me. No shielding.”

  My lips popped open and I found myself walking straight towards him without question. Did I want to punch his damn face in? I sure as hell did. So was I going to pass up that opportunity for anything? No chance.

  “But only if Tory does it too,” Caleb agreed and Tory laughed, moving toward Caleb as he placed his hands on her waist. That was sister love right there.

  Seth stepped forward and gripped my waist and the fresh, wolfish scent of him ran over me. His hair was pulled up into a topknot today and his mouth was tipped into a devilish smile. I hoped I wasn’t walking right into a hunter’s trap here, but I could use my own magic to slow my fall anyway.

  In the corner of my eye, I felt Kylie’s glare burning a hole in my head and I was pretty sure she would have actually melted my brain if she could have. She was getting the wrong end of the stick though. The wrong end of the entire tree actually. I was doing this for the punch that I was going to land on Seth’s face. Nothing else.

  “Ready, babe?” he asked.

  “Always,” I replied easily, like my heart wasn’t pounding like a jack-hammer.

  “Three full flips, no cheating,” he breathed.

  “I don’t cheat and I don’t lie either. Unlike you who’s let his ex continue to believe we hooked up. That’s just cold, Seth.”

  His brows arched and he tossed a look in Kylie’s direction. “I didn’t think she cared. We broke up ages ago.”

  I tutted. “You don’t even know the damage you cause, do you? Sweeping through life smashing people’s hearts while you’re looking in the other direction. Do you even have a soul in that hollow chest of yours?”

  He curled his hand around my back, yanking me closer with a feral growl. “You know I do or a certain someone wouldn’t still be breathing right now.”

  My heart jammed into my throat. I had no answer to that.

  “Are we doing this or what?” Caleb called.

 
Seth nodded, lifting me off the ground and preparing to throw me. “Have a nice trip. Don’t hit your face on the dirt too hard.”

  I ground my teeth in determination and someone in the crowd shouted, “Go!”

  Seth threw me with the full force of his air power and I shot up so fast, it took everything I had not to scream. A blur in my periphery told me Tory was close, but I couldn’t focus on her as I started falling, gazing down at the ground over a hundred feet below us with a swoop in my belly.

  I threw my head back and forced myself to flip, falling faster and faster. I spun over once, twice, three times, four then threw out my hands to catch myself before I hit the floor.

  I have to land this right dammit.

  I pulled up a foot from the ground and lowered myself gracefully, landing firmly on both feet just as Tory dropped down beside me.

  Cheers rang in the air and I whooped, jumping on Tory and hugging her tight.

  “Give him hell, Darcy,” she said in my ear and I whipped away from her towards Seth with a fierce desire for vengeance in my veins.

  “Fight, fight, fight, fight!” everyone in the class started chanting, thrilled by the bloodlust in the air.

  Seth tapped his chin with a jibing grin like this wasn’t gonna hurt him one bit. But you didn’t grow up in foster care for half your life amongst the dodgier half of society without learning how to throw a good punch. And now that I’d been strength training in Physical Enhancement, I had the power to maim too.

  I thought of every vile thing he’d done to me and threw my fist as hard as I could with a yell of defiance. My hand crashed into a solid air shield and a scream of pain escaped me as my knuckles busted and crunched.

  An oooh rang out from the crowd and Seth started laughing his ass off.

  “You asshole,” I snapped.

  “Woah, woah, it was just a joke,” he said, reining in his amusement fast.

  Tory hurried forward, wrapping an arm around me but I shrugged her off, fixing Seth in my gaze as a growl ripped from my throat.

  “Screw you, your word means nothing,” I spat.

  “Not true, it was just a laugh. You have to admit that was funny,” Seth said, looking to Caleb hopefully.

  “Dude, I don’t think the joke landed,” Caleb said, running a hand down the back of his neck before turning to me. “We play pranks like that on each other sometimes.”

  “Hilarious,” I deadpanned, raising my good hand and causing a storm to swirl around me. I was going to rip Seth apart.

  “That’s enough now, students!” Professor Rockford called. “Everyone inside.”

  “Here, let me heal it,” Seth offered and I jerked away from him.

  “Don’t touch me,” I hissed and a whine escaped his throat.

  “Calm down, babe. I’ll heal it and you can throw your punch.”

  “Seth plays rough that’s all,” Caleb said apologetically. “Break his nose, it’ll make you feel better.”

  “No,” I spoke to Seth, a dark energy rising in my blood as the shadows swirled inside me. He’d humiliated me one too many times. And if he thought he could just start treating me like one of his little pals with his oh so funny pranks, then he was going to think again. “In fact, I don’t want any free hits from you anyway. When I defeat you, it’s going to be because I’m stronger, more capable. And you’re going to look up at me from the dirt and wish you’d never become my enemy.”

  Seth’s gaze lit with a hungry kind of gleam and he moved into my personal space with a wicked smile. “You got one thing wrong, babe. There’s nothing I like more than a worthy opponent. So come at me with everything you’ve got, because I’m starving for that fire in your eyes. I know you’ve got what it takes.”

  He headed past me and Caleb offered us a taut frown before striding after him. Geraldine rushed forward, capturing my hand in hers and releasing a channel of healing magic under my skin. I sighed as my knuckles mended, turning my head to glare after Seth.

  “Thanks Geraldine,” I muttered.

  “No problem my dearest dandelion. That rapscallion needs a good bish and a bosh. What I wouldn’t give to butter the wrong side of his bagel.” She shook her fist in his general direction and Professor Rockford clapped her hands to encourage us along.

  “He’s got it coming,” Tory whispered to me and I nodded, feeding on that seed of hate in me that was growing deeper roots and blooming into something truly deadly. I knew what he’d done for Orion was something I could never forget, but that didn’t cancel out every bad thing he’d ever done to us. And I was determined to make him pay.

  “I’m going to earn it,” I said firmly. “Then my revenge will taste all the sweeter.”

  “I want the world’s biggest cake,” Seth announced excitedly. “And a mountain of presents. And balloons. And streamers. And party games. And drinking games. And we probably need a theme. Or maybe some kind of performers, like fire girls or maybe earth teasers, or how about-”

  “Do I get any say in this?” Max asked, rolling his eyes. “Because the last time I checked it was a joint birthday party and yet I’m hearing a whole hell of a lot of things that you want to have at it without much consultation with me.”

  I snorted a laugh. Every year we had the same thing. Seth and Max were born within five days of each other, Seth right at the end of the Aquarius cycle and Max at the beginning of Pisces. And every year they had a joint party. And every year they spent the entire lead up to it arguing over the details before swearing that next year they’d have separate parties so that they didn’t have to compromise on what they wanted so much.

  This year they’d agreed to make the party air themed before realising that it’s pretty difficult to make air decorations or really do anything with it party wise and so the arguments over what else to have had begun.

  We were all sitting around the fire in King’s Hollow while we discussed it, though Darius had barely contributed two words so far.

  “I don’t know why you always leave all of this to the last minute,” I said in exasperation, leaning back in my chair. “The party is in a week and you still haven’t even sorted the guest list.”

  “We don’t need to sort the guest list, it’s obviously a Hores exclusive event which will make the Ass brigade cry into their pillows with the knowledge of how much they’re missing out,” Seth said with a shitty little smirk. He was sitting beside me on the couch and was clearly feeling very Wolfy today as he kept brushing his hand over my arm and had nuzzled right up so that he was leaning on me. Generally speaking, my Order didn’t go in for the touchy feely shit the Wolves liked, but I usually didn’t mind it with Seth somehow.

  “Right. But you still haven’t picked a venue,” I pointed out.

  “How about out on the lake?” Max suggested. “I could freeze a section of the water beside the bank and we could create a palace out of ice and earth together exclusively for the party. We’ve got that practical magic assessment coming up anyway so we could use it to showcase our talents as well and kill two birds with one stone.”

  “Gah, that sounded great until you turned it into work,” Seth huffed dramatically, flopping down onto my lap with an arm draped over his eyes.

  “Seriously?” I complained and he shifted about with his head resting in my crotch and peeked out at me from beneath his arm.

  “I’m stressed, I need body contact, don’t reject me now, dude,” he said, throwing a fake little whimper in for added effect and I rolled my eyes.

  “Fine. But I’m not stroking your hair for you,” I deadpanned as he grinned widely.

  “Probably best you don’t or you might get me hard,” he agreed and I didn’t even know if he was joking, but I laughed as if he was.

  Darius got up and headed to the ice cooler to grab himself a beer. It was Saturday so I guessed it didn’t matter if he was on his third beer…even if it was eleven am.

  He’d been like this a lot the last few days. Quiet, brooding, detached from the mundane conversations we were
all having.

  I had a plan to cheer him up as my part of the deal with Orion and the other Heirs to try and break this curse on him and Tory, but I was still worried about whether or not it would work.

  There were several issues with it. One: I’d been paying a hell of a lot of attention to the way the stars reacted whenever they got too close to one another and I was hoping I’d figured out the loopholes in it but there was really no way to test that before the main event, so I just had to hope my guesses were right.

  Two: Tory had pulled away from me in the last few weeks and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to get her to trust me enough to follow along with my plan. But I also couldn’t reveal it to her, or anyone else for that matter, in case the stars were listening in. Did stars have ears? No idea. But they definitely seemed to have eyes so I was going to keep my plans secret until the time came just in case.

  Three: Darius did not play well with others, and he was a double grumpy fucker recently – I got why, but it just made my job harder – convincing him to try out my idea was going to be like scaling a mountain. But, I had the faintest glimmer of hope that if I could overcome each and every one of those obstacles then I might have been onto a fucking brilliant idea. Hopefully. Presuming it didn’t blow up in my face. But for now it was all I had, so it was worth a shot.

  “Can we at least agree on chocolate cake?” Seth asked, peeking out from beneath his arm and throwing Max the puppy dog eyes.

  “I wanted vanilla,” Max said, punctuating that idea by pushing feelings of desire and temptation over all of us until my stomach growled and saliva pooled in my mouth.

  “Vanilla does sound good,” I admitted, wondering if I could get some from the kitchen staff ASAP.

  “Asshole,” Seth grumbled. “Now I want vanilla too.”

  “Sounds like you’ve made a decision then,” Darius said in a hollow tone. He did not seem to be in the party spirit. Not one bit.

  The rest of us exchanged looks as he focused on his beer.

  “So…how’s Xavier doing now?” Seth asked tentatively.

  It was always hard to say what way Darius’s moods would go when he was like this. He could turn full Dragon asshole, bite our heads off, rip into us a bit and then tell us to fuck off. Or he might just open up. And this week, since Tory had snuck off to his manor and tossed Xavier out of the Pegasus closet for the whole world to see before unlocking all of the barriers in his mind, he’d been more prone to the latter.