They all raced away from our mother in their desperation to claim him and as they fled, a man was revealed beyond them.
My heart froze into a solid lump in my chest as Lionel Acrux strode into the room and our mother fell still, her face written with shock.
“You,” she gasped as she stared at him in utter horror and I could tell that her visions hadn’t shown her this. “I thought you were our friend, I thought-”
“That’s where you went wrong, my Queen,” Lionel purred as he closed in on her, his own power humming through the room as she fought to maintain her shield with the last dregs of her magic. “True Fae don’t have friends. Just people we can use or people we can destroy on our way to the top. And I’m afraid it’s time for you and your King to become the latter. You see, with your family out of the way, I become one of the four most powerful Fae in the kingdom. And then it’s only a matter of time before I will find a way to claim the throne for myself alone.”
“Why are you bothering to tell me this?” she gasped, her face stained with tears as the Nymphs finished her husband and began to circle close to her, sensing their next meal.
“Did you really think you could fool me with a couple of mortal babies?” Lionel sneered, flicking a disgusted look at the crib she was still shielding. “I’m not leaving the Princesses alive to grow up and challenge me again.”
“I’ll die before I give them up,” our mother hissed.
“You’ll die either way,” Lionel agreed. “But luckily for me, you’ll give them up despite your wishes.”
“Never.”
Lionel’s smile deepened as he took a step closer to her and as he spoke again, his words were thick and laced with Dark Coercion. “Tell me where you hid them.”
Our mother’s eyes widened with panic as her lips were forced to part and her tongue spoke the words despite how hard she fought them.
Lionel smiled darkly as she gave up our location and with a savage blast of fire magic, he shattered the shield surrounding her and allowed the Nymphs to claim their prize.
He turned and strode from the room before she was even dead. I looked at her with pain wrenching my heart in two as a Nymph speared her heart with its probe but instead of the agony I expected to find there, the faintest smile graced her lips as if she’d won something despite her death.
“She knew,” I breathed. “She knew we wouldn’t die.”
As the vision shifted for the final time, we watched the shadowy figure standing outside the house where our changeling family slept soundly in the mortal realm. Fire illuminated Lionel’s face as he cast a burning orb into his hand and threw it at the house, encouraging the flames to blaze and blaze until there was nothing left but charred bricks and ash. He waited and watched then left in a flash of stardust with a satisfied smirk on his face just moments before we were pulled from the ashes by the firefighters. Not a miracle at all. Just two Phoenixes, reborn in flames and safe like our mother had foreseen. But he never knew. Not until we showed up eighteen years later.
The vision faded away until we were left staring at our reflections in the silver pool again and I fought to catch my breath as my brain swelled with all of the information we’d just been given.
“You’re our brother,” Darcy gasped as she turned to Gabriel.
I twisted towards him too and he looked between us, his face painted with so much emotion that it was hard to take.
“I was alone in the world for so long that I gave up on ever uncovering the mysteries of my past,” he breathed. “I found happiness in creating my own family…but now… I remember. The visions broke the block on my memories and I remember my mother, your father… I remember holding the two of you on the day you were born and promising to love and protect you until the day I died.”
I lunged at him as Darcy did the same and the three of us fell into a sobbing, laughing, happy, sad, utterly confused and yet completely fucking ecstatic heap.
I didn’t know how to process half of the things that we’d just discovered, but I did know this: Lionel Acrux had been working with the Nymphs for a long time. He’d orchestrated our parents’ deaths and followed us to the mortal world to try and kill us too. He’d been working on our deaths for a long time and had stolen more than just a life from us. He’d stolen our home, our family, and kingdom. And there was no way in hell I was going to let him keep it. One way or another, whatever it took, Lionel Acrux was going to meet his end. He was going to die.
But despite all of the horrors and pain of the things we’d just seen, there was something so pure and good there too. We’d found something we never even dreamed of. Another member of our family. And I swore on all the stars in the sky that I’d never let him be taken from us again.
Coming back to Zodiac felt like sliding under the surface of an icy lake. I loved this place, but now everything about it screamed of Orion. And as I woke on Sunday morning, the familiar knot in my chest tightened as reality came swooping in on me the second I gained consciousness. Before the pain could swallow me though, I was distracted by a weight pressing down the end of my bed. I sat up and a scream escaped me as I spotted a guy curled up there. I started kicking him and he leapt off the bed with a growl. I stared at Seth in nothing but his sweatpants as he stared right back like he was as shocked to find me here as I was to find him.
“What the hell?!” I shouted.
He gazed around the room, rubbing his head and a flash of healing magic shot from his palm. “Oh shit…I think I know what happened.”
“Well explain in the next five seconds or I’ll-”
“It’s okay,” he said, lifting his palms in innocence, a whine escaping his throat. “I got a bit drunk with my pack last night. And then I started thinking about things…”
“What things?” I demanded. It was too early for this crap. What the hell was happening?
“You and Orion…and me being a dick…and you coming back to the academy last night and being all sad in here on your own and…well it’s my nature to comfort people I care about and I guess I just…let myself in.”
“Seth!” I admonished. “Are you serious? You crept into my room and slept on my bed? Do you realise how weird that is?”
He whined again, stepping closer. “Not really. It’s my Order…I can’t help it. I’d have slept with Darius every night since he was Star Crossed, but he’d flay me alive for it. In my drunken haze, I guess I knew I could get in here and…” He shrugged and I gaped at him, at a loss. “I’ll go.” He hung his head, trailing towards the door with a dog-like whimper that said he was hoping I might tell him to stay.
I frowned, not giving him that option and he sighed as he headed out the door, pausing before he shut it behind him. “I can teach you to cast better locks sometime, if you want?”
“Get out!” I snapped and he shut the door, releasing a mournful howl in the corridor.
Crazy damn Werewolf.
I slipped out of bed, firmly twisting the key in the lock and using the simple spell I’d learned in Cardinal Magic to lock it more firmly. Not that that did much good against trespassing Heirs apparently.
I strode into the bathroom, finding a wet towel on the floor and the scent of my shower gel in the air. Did he have a freaking shower last night?
There was an empty chip packet in the sink too and I fished it, tossing it in the trash and shaking my head. That guy had no boundaries.
I realised though, for the first time since Orion had been arrested, I’d actually slept most of the night. Sure, it had been almost one in the morning before I’d managed to drift off and it was barely dawn now, but I wasn’t bone tired like usual. My time in the palace had helped. And learning that Gabriel was family felt like finding a piece of my soul that had been missing my entire life. It made so much sense. Of course he was blood. Of course he was our brother. But processing the other revelations in those visions was almost too much for my swirling mind to bear. Lionel had used the Nymphs to kill our parents then tried to kill us too. I cou
ldn’t say I was surprised exactly, but I was horrified at the lengths he’d gone to to try and secure the throne for himself. I knew now there was no limit on what he would do for the throne. And the body count could rise swiftly once he made his move to seize total power. The Heirs’ parents were in mortal danger. And so were we.
I washed and spent some time cleaning my room just for something to occupy my mind and keep my thoughts from Orion. Not that it worked. It was like there was an arrow lodged in my chest so there was no chance of healing unless I pulled it out. But I didn’t want to pull it out. I wanted to suffer through this pain because if I healed, that meant it was over. And I couldn’t ever accept that fate.
Instead, I focused my mind on Gabriel as much as possible and the warmth of knowing we had one other surviving member of our family still in existence. For years, I’d dreamed of my parents and wondered what they’d be like, I never once considered what it would be like to have a brother. And now we had one, it was the most comforting feeling in the world.
By the time I’d cleaned my whole room and sat down on my bed, I was growing anxious again. I picked up my Atlas just for something to do, reading over my horoscope.
Good morning Gemini.
That stars have spoken about your day!
Uranus has moved into your chart and as such, you should be prepared for unpredictable changes. These could be good or bad, but as Pluto is influencing your sign right now, you may be best to prepare for the worst. A transformation is coming your way. But with the right attitude, you should be able to tackle the oncoming turbulence head on.
My brows pulled together. I couldn’t see how things could get much worse than they were right now. But I supposed it would have been naïve of me to believe that. Lionel could still take the throne. My world could always fall into more turmoil. Growing up in the mortal realm had proved that much to me. Just when I thought our foster parents couldn’t get worse, we’d be moved to a new house and met with a deeper kind of hell.
I clicked on FaeBook, scrolling quickly past the posts about me and Orion and pausing on one Tyler had posted.
Tyler Corbin: Has anyone seen Kylie Major anywhere? She disappeared after an altercation with the Heirs and the Vegas the other day and I have no clue where she’s gotten to… #missingmajor #ghostgirl #ithoughtismelledheryesterday #medusaloser
Victoria Pauley: I have no idea, maybe a Dragon ate her for being a #whiningwilly
Jasmin Hosseini: I heard she dissolved into a pool of tears and @Seth Capella bathed in them with his whole pack #saltysoak
Elke Henderson: Side note: that shit was cold blooded! Are the Vegas and the Heirs teaming up now? I don’t know who I support anymore #allofthemgetmehot #cantheheirsshare #whychoose
Amy Milton: I heard she’s hiding in Mildred Canopus’s moustache #hairyhideyhole #combtokeepyourhome
Telisha Mortensen: Maybe she blew away on a Pegasus fart and now she lives in a rainbow #maybeshellmarryaleprechauna #preshitterglitter #sparklefart
Kylie Major: I’m right here assholes!!! @Seth Capella haven’t I suffered enough yet?
Seth Capella: Oh dear, someone must have hacked her FaeBook account because she wouldn’t DARE reply to comments like she’s an actual person.
Kylie Major: Please baby!!!
Seth Capella: **Song: Click to play - Don’t Call Me Baby by Madison Avenue**
I couldn’t help but laugh. She was getting exactly what she deserved at last.
A knock came at the door and I frowned, wondering if Seth had come back and I stood up, unlocking the door and tugging it open ready to set some firm boundaries, but it wasn’t him. Darius stood there dressed in a black long-sleeved shirt and jeans, his brows were knitted and his eyes full of some emotion I couldn’t read.
“What is it?” I asked, my pulse escalating. He couldn’t have come here unless someone had let him in the tower, but I doubted there was a single air Elemental in this building who would have refused him access. “Is Tory okay?”
“As far as I know,” he said darkly. “This isn’t about your sister. It’s about Lance.”
My throat balled up and my lungs ceased to work. “What about him?”
“I’m going to visit him. Now, in fact. And I figured you’d want to come too.”
I felt like someone had reached into my chest and pulled my heart right out of it. “Of course I do,” I said breathlessly, lurching toward him. “But how? Surely they won’t let me see him.”
Panic and hope and terror filled me in equal measures. I wasn’t ready. But I’d never be ready. And I wasn’t going to miss the chance, not for anything.
“I’ll cast an illusion spell on you to get you in and I’ve paid off a guard who’s on duty in visitation today. He’ll disregard the warning spells that let him know your identity is being hidden, but we have to get there before his shift ends at nine.”
I didn’t know what to say. It was an opportunity I’d thought would never come. I could finally get answers from Orion, but more than that, I’d find out if he was okay. If he was surviving…suffering.
I moved forward and wrapped my arms around Darius, squeezing him tight. “Thank you.”
His eyes darkened to pitch as I stepped back. “This is a one time only deal, you understand? I won’t be able to get you in there twice.”
I absorbed that fact, nodding my head as that truth settled over me like a ton of bricks. One time. This could be it for who knew how many years?
I had to find a way to get him out, but the Kiplings were struggling to find a loophole in the law that would allow Dark Coercion to be performed on someone for the sake of proof. It was utterly illegal no matter what the circumstances. And apparently Cyclops interrogation wouldn’t be an option as my memories were now assumed to have been tampered with. But they still had hope. And so long as Orion agreed to the appeal, we’d at least be able to tell the judge the truth and prove Phoenixes could block legal mental invasion from Orders like Sirens.
Fear chewed on my insides as I pushed my feet into my sneakers and followed Darius into the hall. I was wearing jeans and a rumpled navy tank top and my hands smelled of cleaning products, but screw it. I wasn’t going to waste a second in going to Orion.
The halls were deathly quiet as we headed downstairs and out into the cool morning air. The sun was hidden behind a sea of dark clouds and thunder rumbled ominously in the distance, though no rain was falling yet. I let my Phoenix fire push into my veins to banish the cold and keep goosebumps from rising across my arms.
We took off at a fast pace towards the north of campus and the secret gap in the fence that would let us out.
“How are you?” I asked Darius as we hurried through Earth Territory.
He grunted, glancing over his shoulder at me as I half jogged to keep up with his furious pace. “Not good. You?”
“Not good,” I agreed with a weighted sigh.
“I’m furious with him truth be told,” he muttered. “And this bond between us is making me pine for him like a fucking wolf cub for its mother.”
I frowned, my heart wrenching for him. “Has your father said anything more about him?” I asked, the note of hope in my tone impossible to disguise.
“No,” he gritted out. “I’m sorry, Darcy…I think he’s going to let him rot in there and let us suffer through this bond.”
“But he’s your Guardian,” I gasped.
“And I guess my father doesn’t give a shit,” he said quietly and barbed wire seemed to coiled through my chest. “He may even get me a new one to replace him, though I’d still pine for Lance for the rest of fucking time. And I’d rather cut off a hand than be bonded to some other asshole.”
It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. How could Lionel just leave him in prison after all Orion had sacrificed for him? Willingly or otherwise. That Dragon asshole owed him that much.
“What did your lawyer say about the appeal?”
“That we can go ahead if we can get Lance to sign the document today,” D
arius said and my heart soared.
“We will,” I said determinedly. “We just need to talk some sense into him.”
He nodded stiffly. “Or beat it into him,” he muttered.
We reached the fence and stepped through to the other side then Darius turned to me, his gaze raking over my face. “I’m going to make you look like Max, he’s given his permission for you to use his identity today and removed his anti-mimicry wards,” he said and my heart warmed at the thought. It was strange to be on the receiving end of the Heirs’ kindness. Especially when I’d spent so long thinking they didn’t have a kind bone in their bodies. “Close your eyes and hold still.”
“Will it hurt?” I wondered, knowing I’d go through whatever hell it took anyway so long as it got me to Orion.
“No, but if you move while I’m doing it I could accidentally cut your nose off. So stay still or you won’t be so pretty when I get you to Lance.”
I breathed a note of laughter though he was clearly being deadly serious and I shut my eyes, falling as still as possible.
Heat licked over my skin, running across my scalp then the warmth continued to spread, making my skin tingle with pins and needles as it travelled all the way down to my toes. I became dizzy, but rooted my feet to the ground as the magic continued to flood over me.
“There,” he announced and I opened my eyes, glancing down to find myself looking exactly the same as before.
“Didn’t it work?” I frowned.
“You can’t see it. It’s an illusion for others, otherwise you’d be about three sizes too big for those clothes right now. I’ve changed your voice too so no one will be able to tell.”
“So I look like Max to you right now?” I asked.
“Yep.” He took out a pouch of stardust and I moved toward him, nerves taking hold of me as he tossed a pinch up into the air.
We were yanked through a galaxy of stars and my feet soon impacted with solid earth. Darius steadied me, then turned sharply away and I took in the huge metal fence that rose up above us like a wall, hiding whatever lay beyond it. It stretched away in either direction across an expansive plain of flat land. In front of us was a gate manned by two guards standing up in towers either side of it.
Zodiac Academy 5: Cursed Fates: An Academy Bully Romance (Supernatural Bullies and Beasts) Page 65