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

by Caroline Peckham

  I couldn’t hear the questions the press were shouting at me, I couldn’t hear anything but a droning din in my ears as my fate closed in all around me.

  For once, I could see my future more clearly than ever before. There was only one path I could take now. I may as well have trodden it already. And as I reached the arching silver doors at the top of the stairs and they were pulled wide and gaping like the mouth of a beast about to swallow me, I took the last breath of crisp, free air before my fate was sealed within these walls.

  I was too hot in the back of the fancy chauffeured car Darius had organised to take us to court. He sat beside me, his hands knotted in his lap as we both gazed though opposite windows.

  My heart beat differently than it used to. Ever since they’d taken Orion away, it was like it couldn’t keep pace with my breaths, like it was coping with too much pain to work properly.

  A tear dropped down onto the white dress I wore. Below the knee, loosely fitting, long sleeves. Darius had been meeting with the Kipling lawyers all week and every time he came back, he had new advice for me. And this was one of their tips. I was supposed to look innocent, lovelorn. Apparently crying was a good thing. But the only real advice I’d been given for questioning was to tell the truth. Be heartfelt, honest and make sure the world knew that we were in love. That this wasn’t some fling or some pitch for grades as plenty of my classmates were happy to believe.

  I wiped the tear from the skirt of my dress, rubbing angrily at it when the mark didn’t vanish and Darius laid a hand on my arm.

  I glanced over at him with a sharp pinch in my chest. I hadn’t been allowed to bring Tory. And it felt like an impossible task to face this day without her. I had to rely on Darius to be at my side through this. And despite everything that had happened between us and the Heirs, I was glad he was here. I was glad Orion had him to rely on too. And I was comforted by the fact that Darius had done everything within his power to give Orion the best chance possible in his trial.

  Darius retracted his hand, running it through his hair with a heavy sigh. “Are you ready for this?” he asked and I frowned, shaking my head.

  “I don’t think I could ever be ready for this,” I breathed. “The worst thing is, I always knew this was a possibility, I just never took it seriously enough. I should have stayed away from him. I should have-”

  Darius shifted across the seat and pulled me under his arm. I stilled for a moment as my cheek pressed to his chest and his arms folded around me. Then I wrapped my arms around him too and drew strength from having someone to go through this with. Even if it couldn’t be my sister. Darius loved Orion. He was heartbroken about this too. His despair might have been channelled into working his ass off to help him get the right lawyers, the right information to fight in court, but underneath it all, he’d been hurting like I had.

  “He doesn’t deserve this,” I choked out. “It’s all my fault.”

  He held me tighter and the scent of smoke filled the air as the Dragon in him rose to the surface. “This isn’t your fault. Lance has never spoken about any girl the way he speaks about you. It was inevitable that you’d end up together.”

  I pulled back as he released me, hunting his eyes for the truth. “Do you really believe that?”

  He nodded firmly, his jaw set, his mind made up and an inch of my heart was given to him in that moment. I could have said a thousand bad things about Darius Acrux, but the best ones shone brighter, outweighing them so they were all I could see.

  “You’ve been a good friend,” I said. “He couldn’t ask for a better one.”

  Darius’s eyebrows knitted together. “I hope it’s enough.”

  “You couldn’t have done more.” I squeezed his arm reassuringly and he seemed to accept that.

  The car pulled up outside a massive building built of matt white stone, reaching up towards the sky with the flag of Solaria hanging proudly from a pole above the doorway. The flag was black with a golden mountain at the base of it, rising up to the sun, the moon and the twelve zodiac constellations above. The press were gathered at the base of the steps beyond a cordon which held them back.

  I wet my lips, wondering what the kingdom would think of Darius and I arriving together. It was a show of solidarity that was separate to any feud we had beyond Orion’s trial. And one I hadn’t even considered the political implications of before now. I found I didn’t care. And Darius clearly didn’t either. The driver stepped out, opening the door for Darius and I slid across the seat to follow him onto the sidewalk.

  The noise from the press was deafening, cameras were pointed at us, the rattle of shutters clacking in my ears as questions were cried out to us.

  Guards surrounded us as we moved up the steps side by side and my heart clenched into a tight fist as we reached the arching silver doors and headed inside. A large, marble atrium awaited us, but we were whisked across it before I could take in many details, guided directly through another set of doors and my breath snagged in my lungs.

  The court room was the most intimidating place I’d ever stepped foot in, including the throne room in the Palace of Souls. But maybe that was partly because my whole world was about to fall apart in here.

  We walked through aisles of white stone benches stretching out either side of us, full of people here to watch the trial. Ahead of us was a huge marble wall which rose to the judge’s bench and to the right side of it was a set of steps that curved up to a witness stand, the imposing seat carved into the stone itself. To the right of that was a raised seating area where all twelve members of the jury were waiting. Men and women, old and young. There were a few more women than men, but my gaze didn’t linger on them long as my gaze moved magnetically to the two, tall black tables in front of the benches.

  Orion stood behind the one on the left with his lawyer. I could only see the back of his head, his chin dipped to his chest. As I drew closer, he turned like he could sense me there and Darius gripped the crook of my elbow like he expected me to run to him. And maybe it was a good move because every fibre of me wanted to.

  Orion’s eyes were hollow and his mouth was a sharp line. His features were tightly drawn with worry and I desperately wanted to hold him and tell him it would be alright. The shame of knowing I’d be the cause of whatever sentence he got today was suffocating.

  My throat closed up as Darius guided me down the aisle to the front bench on the right and I dropped onto the cold stone, the position giving me a clear view of the judge’s seat ahead. It was an intimidating chair that looked as though it was made of iron, the crest of the Solarian Court stamped into the back of it, picturing an astrology circle with the twelve constellations symbols within it.

  The prosecution lawyer stood behind the black stone table to my right, thumbing through her notes. She had a fiery perm and a fitted pant suit that hugged her bony figure, her cheekbones blade sharp.

  There was an icy chill in the room that clung to every inch of my skin. The only warmth around me was the steady, angry heat radiating from Darius with every breath he took.

  “All rise for his honour, the High Court Judge Darkice,” a man in royal red robes spoke from the corner of the room.

  I stood up with the rest of the court as the judge appeared from a black door behind his seat, noticing that Darius didn’t move to stand. The man’s robes were red too, but had gold embroidery and a crest that marked him as the judge. He sat down in the high backed chair and picked up a silver gavel, banging it against the block which sparked with a flash of purple magic. The noise rang cleanly around the room, sending my heart into overdrive.

  “Court is now in session,” Darkice announced. “Please be seated.”

  I dropped down, everyone but Orion and the two lawyers remaining on their feet.

  My tongue scratched the roof of my mouth like sandpaper. I needed water, I needed air.

  “The trial of Lance Azriel Orion for breaking law three oh three of the seventeen eighty four education act will now commence. Defen
dant, how do you plead?”

  A beat of tense silence passed that made my skull feel like it was about to cave in.

  “Not guilty,” Orion’s voice filled the room and the jurors surveyed him keenly, some of them looking like predators hunting for weaknesses, others curious, and the rest keeping their cards close to their chests.

  I was hit with a burst of relief at hearing him say those words. It meant he was going to fight. And with Darius’s best lawyer standing at his side, maybe…just maybe he had a chance.

  “I now ask that all evidence is presented to the jury,” Darkice instructed. “Mrs Whitclaw, will the prosecution please present their case.”

  The woman with the perm moved around her table, walking up to the jury and turning so I could see her face. She looked professional, ruthlessly so. And I just had to hope she wasn’t as good at her job as her appearance suggested.

  “May I turn your attention, ladies and gentleman, to the screen just to your right,” she spoke in a powerful voice. A wall jutting into the room beside the jury’s seats hid the screen from view of the public, and my heart crushed into dust as I guessed what they were about to watch. “The six hour video has been cut into four admissible points of evidence for this trial,” Whitclaw explained and I tried to fight the clawing embarrassment that those twelve strangers were going to watch that tape of me and Orion down in the archives, not to mention the judge and both lawyers who must have already seen it. “And I wish to highlight some key moments which I believe are of notable importance.”

  She waved her hand at the screen and I was painfully thankful that the rest of the room couldn’t see it, but that didn’t save us from my moans filling the room or the breathy noises both of us were making. The clip played out each command Orion had given me that night and a blush burned so deeply into my cheeks, I didn’t think it would ever go away. People were whispering somewhere behind me and my gaze slipped to Orion, finding his body rigid, his hands curled into tight fists. Mr Kipling was talking into his ear and I had no doubt he was trying to keep him calm as Orion nodded, his eyes squeezing shut.

  The clip finally ended and Whitclaw turned to the jury. “From this footage, it is quite clear that the relationship between Mr Orion and Miss Vega was dominant and submissive, fitting the teacher student roles and suggesting that their relationship never evolved beyond that fantasy. This is perfectly demonstrated by the phrase Mr Orion so clearly uses in the first segment of the footage stating that he would punish Miss Vega if she didn’t do as he said. Therefore, I think it is clear that this relationship held no depth, no divine pull from the stars and was easily avoidable.”

  “Objection,” Kipling clipped. “Mrs Whitclaw cannot make assumptions about the divine pull of the stars without further evidence.”

  “Sustained,” Darkice agreed and I released a shaky breath. “Proceed.”

  Mrs Whitclaw shot Kipling a vicious look before moving onto the next clip. I sat through each of them with a burn in my brain, wishing I could block it all out as my skin flamed hotter and hotter. She used everything against us, making our relationship sound like nothing more than a dirty tryst that Orion had manipulated me into, abusing his power in the school to make me submit to him.

  Finally, Kipling took her place and I had to listen to the entire four clips all over again as he explained everything in the complete opposite manner. Telling the jury that the fact Orion gave me cunnilingus (dear fucking god) twice was a sign of his undying and selfless affection for me, that the way I kissed him, cried his name and gave him fellatio in return (please kill me now) showed my devotion to him, and how we told each other we love one another proved I wasn’t just a girl who’d been taken advantage of by her teacher.

  By the time it was over, I couldn’t tell who had made the strongest case. Both had been convincing as hell, but neither the jurors’ faces nor the judge’s gave anything away.

  My fingers were knotted together in my lap, sweaty and cold. Darius continued to steadily expel heat as he sat quietly, taking it all in, saying nothing, never looking away from the jury like he was trying to decipher their thoughts. Or maybe he was planning to hunt down each and every one of them if they voted against Orion and make all of them pay for their mistake.

  Mrs Whitclaw moved before them again and her apple green eyes found me amongst the crowd. “Your honour, I call Gwendalina Vega, informally known as Darcy Vega, to the stand.”

  If I’d been anxious before, it was nothing in comparison to this. Heat spread everywhere, but somehow none of it warmed my outer flesh. I was frozen and scorching and I couldn’t find it in me to move.

  Darius stood from the end of the aisle, his gaze meeting mine and I found the strength to get up. He was all I could see for a long second and he gave me a firm nod of encouragement, his faith in me iron clad.

  I headed past him with countless eyes boring holes in my back as I walked towards the witness stand. It seemed far higher up close and I slowed at the base of the steps that led to it as a man in red robes moved before me, holding his palm out flat in front of me. I knew what to do, Darius had told me, so I lay my palm on top of the glittering, smoothly polished meteorite in his palm.

  “Do you swear on every star in the sky that you will tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth lest you be cursed by the heavens themselves?”

  “I do,” I said, my voice coming out surprisingly strongly. And maybe that was because I wanted this. I needed to have my voice heard. I wanted to convince every single person in this court that what Orion and I had was love, as simple as that. And he didn’t deserve to be punished for something we never could have predicted let alone ignored.

  “And do you understand that if your statement is brought into question by the proceedings here today, through evidence, witnesses or otherwise, his honourable High Court Judge Darkice is within his rights to submit you for Cyclops interrogation?”

  “I do,” I said, my throat so dry it ached.

  He stepped aside and I climbed the steps. I lifted my thumb to my mouth, sucking and casting a little water down my throat to ease my parched tongue.

  I made it to the seat, dropping down and staring back over the entire court. My eyes swung to Orion and a knife seemed to drive itself into the pit of my heart. He looked desperate and hopeless.

  I had to do whatever I could to make this right. I had to fix this. I had to make the judge and jury listen to me, really listen, and really believe what I had to say.

  Mrs Whitclaw stepped in front of me, taking a slow breath as if she was measuring her words before she spoke. “Miss Vega, you are Mr Orion’s Source, correct?”

  “Yes,” I agreed.

  “Objection,” Kipling called, making my heart stutter. “The fact that Mr Orion bit Miss Vega cannot be used as evidence against him due to his Order.”

  “The whereabouts of said bites, do however pose bearing in this trial,” Whitclaw shot back, lifting her chin.

  My heart pounded harder as I waited for the judge to speak.

  “Overruled, Mr Kipling. Will the prosecution please proceed.” He nodded to Whitclaw and she barely concealed her smug smile as she took a step towards the stand.

  Despite being below me, it felt awfully like she was ten foot tall with a knife to my throat. “Which part of your body would you say, Miss Vega, that Mr Orion bit you most regularly before you became intimate with one another?”

  I swallowed the swarm of bees that seemed to be piling up in my throat as I answered. “The neck.”

  Whitclaw swung towards the jury like a cat with a mouse between its paws. “Interesting, wouldn’t you say, that a Vampire would bite his Source on the neck even after they were claimed? A Vampire usually bites the neck when fighting or…when sexual desire is involved.”

  “Objection,” Kipling said firmly.

  “Sustained,” Judge Darkice said and goosebumps tumbled down my spine. “Please rephrase your question, Mrs Whitclaw.”

  “Would you agree, Miss V
ega,” she rounded on me again, changing tact. “That there are several far less sexual places on the body that Mr Orion could have bitten you? Perhaps you could name some, hm?”

  I despised the way she was talking to me. The way she was trying to plant answers in my mouth to feed her case. But I wasn’t going to play her game.

  “I think the neck is as convenient a place as any, Mrs Whitclaw,” I said firmly. “In a school uniform, really his only choice would be my neck or my wrists, unless you think he’d be better getting on his knees to bite my ankles?”

  “Of course not,” she said, a bright gleam in her eye like she’d won something. “But it is interesting that you mentioned the wrists.” She said the word interesting like it was a threat. This woman was fast becoming my number one enemy. And that was saying a lot considering how many I had these days.

  She turned to the jury again, her high heels clipping over the marble floor as she approached them. “It could be argued that a Vampire who works in education would be quite used to biting his students. As such, he could easily keep a healthy distance between himself and said students by feeding from the wrist instead of the throat.”

  A few of the jury nodded their agreement and anger boiled up hot and acidic in my chest.

  “He didn’t bait me if that’s what you’re suggesting,” I snapped, refusing to take my eyes off of her as I felt everyone staring at me. “I wanted Orion from the moment I saw him. And that want grew to like and that like grew to love. I tried to fight against it, but I felt drawn to him like he did to me. We couldn’t help ourselves,” I said passionately. Because it was true, and it wasn’t right that I had to defend it, but I would. Until my dying fucking breath, I would. “We are in love. This isn’t some dirty affair or some bid for good grades. I love him and he loves me too. It’s as simple as that.”