Zodiac Academy: Fated Throne

by Caroline Peckham

  Another groan in the room told me we weren’t alone and I cracked my eyes open, peering through a swathe of white fur to where Max was passed out by the window in a nest of blankets. I snorted at him as he pushed himself up onto his elbows.

  “Why didn’t you go back to your room when Darius and Caleb left?” I asked through a yawn as I sat up.

  “I was gonna, but then I touched this blanket and it was so soft. What’s it made of, fucking clouds?” Max brushed his fingers up and down it. “Anyway, I made this nest like some sort of Tiberian Rat and camped here. So…this blanket is mine now, yes?”

  I blew out a breath of amusement. “Sure, take it.”

  Seth was still dead to the world, laying upside down with his furry head crammed between the mattress and the wall and his tongue lolling out. Ridiculous mutt.

  We’d stayed here talking last night after the Nymph hunt, trying to come up with new ways to save Tory, new ways to destroy Lionel, but what had been on all of our minds was Xavier. He had three freaking Elements. And from what the Heirs had said, Lionel was happy as hell about it. But as pleased as I was for Xavier, anything that made Lionel happy was just another kick in the teeth.

  I’d been heartbroken to find out that Tory had been at his Awakening too. Right on campus. And now she was gone again and I didn’t know how to reach her. Going on the Nymph hunt had been what all of us had needed to keep our minds off of things. The problem was, no distraction ever lasted. It had been bad enough waiting for the Heirs to finish hazing all the freshmen before we left; it had served to remind me of my first night at Zodiac, and made me miss Tory something fierce.

  I picked up our latest Tarot card from Astrum which was sitting on my nightstand, twisting it between my fingers. The words seek the fallen hunter gazed up at me in shimmering silver letters. As Orion’s name was the constellation of The Hunter, Darius had spoken to him about the card. They’d guessed it might have something to do with Orion’s dad and the diary he’d been gifted from him. Not that Orion had made any progress with decoding it as far as I’d heard. I never spoke with him directly, but Darius kept me updated. And I guessed that was the new normal. Living as though he was wholly separate to me, like he’d never owned my heart, like I’d never pledged to love him no matter what.

  My chest ached at the thought of term starting today without Tory. The summer had been long and painful and I’d had to find ways to harden my heart against all of that. The loss of Orion, then losing Tory after had nearly broken me. But the one thing I’d found to hold onto amongst it all in the end was a purpose. I would do whatever was in my power to destroy Lionel and ensure he never sat his hateful ass on the throne. And I’d rip my sister out of his control and burn the shadows out of her too. Just as soon as I figured out how.

  I’d been practising on Darius for months, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t seem to work out how I’d rid myself of the shadows. Seth had been dying, Clara had been about to kill us all. It was hard to replicate those circumstances, but Darius had been willing to try anything. It just hadn’t worked yet. But it would. And as soon as I could do it to him, I could do it to Tory and Xavier and…Orion.

  My heart yanked and pulled in several directions and I pushed out of bed, not willing to stay there and drown in the misery lurking in my soul for a single second longer.

  “Geraldine’s arriving this morning,” I told Max and his brows arched, his excitement clear before he shrugged and ran a hand over his hair, playing it cool, like he didn’t bring her up at every given opportunity. He’d grown out the mohawk recently, his hair short all over and giving him a more mature look.

  “So?” he asked, getting to his feet and stretching his muscular arms above his head. He’d stripped down to his boxers which had schools of fish swimming across the navy material and I smirked.

  “She’ll like those,” I teased then slipped into the bathroom and shut the door.

  I stripped out of my pyjamas, showering and washing my dark blue hair, wondering for the millionth time if I should just dye it red or green or strip it all out and go dark again. But whenever I bought new dye, I couldn’t make myself go through with it. It wasn’t about Orion. Screw Orion. But there was still something holding me back. Maybe I didn’t want to let go of the girl I’d been before the two people I loved most in the world had been ripped away from me. But perhaps it was time I accepted that girl was dead and buried, this new version of me fitted with a heart that lived in a fortress and who hungered to take the throne to ensure Lionel never got his hands on it.

  The Heirs had been helping to train me up in combat, but nothing could beat the education I was gaining at Zodiac to really become powerful. Some things took time. And I needed to be here so I could continue fighting for my sister. I’ll find a way to free you from the shadows, Tor, just hold on.

  “See you at breakfast, little Vega!” Max called through the bathroom door as he left.

  “See you,” I called back, tearing my gaze away from the mirror at last. I liked my hair dammit, so why should I change it? The new me could give it a new meaning. It didn’t have to be anything to do with him anymore. Like he said, blue meant royal in Solaria. “And to me, blue means you.”

  Get out of my head.

  I wrapped a towel around myself, pushing the door open and cursed as I found Seth lying just where he had been before only now he’d shifted, so his naked ass was planted on my bed and his junk was in full view.

  “Seth!” I snapped, snatching a pillow from the nest Max had been sleeping in and slapping it down on his dick to hide it.

  He bolted upright with a doggish yelp, snatching my wrist before I could draw away.

  “Balls,” he wheezed. “How dare you?”

  “If you don’t like covering up your dick then maybe you should sleep in your own bed sometime.” I arched a brow at him and he cocked his head, giving me the puppy dog eyes.

  “But you need me,” he said.

  “I don’t need you, Seth,” I laughed but he gave me a serious look.

  “You talk in your sleep these days, you know? You’re all ‘help me Sethy, come hug my cute ass. Oh ravish me, Sethy, ravish me!’”

  “Yeah, right.” I moved to my closet, taking out my uniform and sighing as I ran my fingers over the crest on the blazer. My throat closed up as I thought of Tory. She should be here. I don’t want to do this without her.

  The ache in me over her loss was like a knife twisting in my gut. I never felt whole anymore. Without her, I was half a girl. We were meant to be together. It was how it had always been and always should be.

  “See,” Seth said darkly. “Whenever your mind drifts it’s onto her, or him. That’s who you really talk about in your sleep.”

  “We don’t talk about him,” I muttered.

  “I know, but…that doesn’t mean you’re okay.”

  “I’m fine,” I growled. “It’s done, I’m over it.”

  “Pfft,” he scoffed and I rounded on him as fire prickled along my veins.

  “Oooh you’re getting the flamey eyes.” He chuckled, getting out of bed and casually dropping the pillow before tugging his boxers on. “You must be really thinking about him today.”

  “Stop it,” I snarled, but he was right. I’d dreamed of him again, holding me, kissing me, not betraying me. You know, all the good stuff. Shame he had to ruin it.

  “Darcy,” he said gently. “You know you can talk to me about him, you don’t have to bottle it up.”

  I shook my head, the wound over Orion begging to split open in me again, but fuck that.

  “How about I tell you a secret in exchange for one of yours?” he offered enticingly and I frowned, gesturing for him to turn around so I could get dressed. He did so and I figured what the hell, that offer was too intriguing to ignore.

  “Go on then, tell me,” I said.

  “Swear you’ll tell me yours after,” he said firmly.

  “Fine,” I agreed. “Now go on.”

  “You can’t te
ll anyone,” he said in a growl and I became even more intrigued.

  “I swear it on the stars and all that jazz.”

  “I might have to actually make you swear it on them in a minute,” he said in a low tone.

  “Sure.” I pulled on my underwear before running a hand through my damp hair to dry it with air magic.

  “Okay so…I have this crush. It’s a really secret crush.”

  “God you’re gonna start talking about the moon again aren’t you?” I said in exasperation. Ever since he’d visited the damn moon over the summer, he wouldn’t shut up about it. Like he was some sort of moon wizard now. I mean yeah, it had been cool to hear about it when he’d first gotten back, but four weeks on and the shine had kind of worn off of his moon stories.

  He chuckled. “No, but that reminds me of when I was on the moon and I stuck my dick in a moon hole. I have literally fucked the moon.”

  “I know,” I said exaggeratedly, laughing as I tugged on my skirt. “And you have literally told me every detail.”

  “Right yeah, well anyways, it’s not about my moon crush. It’s another crush.”

  “Okay…” I waited as I pulled on my shirt, but he didn’t go on. “Seth?”

  “It’s kind of a big deal.”

  “Every crush you have is a big deal, you had a crush on a cookie the other day and didn’t eat it for like eight hours.”

  “The chocolate chips were arranged into the shape of a dick!” he defended himself and I snorted. “Anyway, this isn’t like that.”

  “What is it like?” I pressed, pulling on my blazer before grabbing some knee high socks and sitting on the edge of the bed to roll them on. Seth glanced over his shoulder at me then turned around fully when he realised I was dressed.

  “It’s like…a crush on my friend,” he said coyly and I swear if he’d been a Wolf right then his ears would be flattened to his head all cute like.

  “Oh yeah?” I frowned.

  “Yeah… Caleb to be exact,” he said shyly and my lips popped open.

  “No way,” I gasped.

  “Way,” he said with a lopsided smile. “I mean, I always thought he was hot but lately, I dunno…” he ran a hand through his unruly long hair and I jumped up and hugged him.

  “That’s so perfect. Have you told him?”

  “Perfect?” he scoffed. “It’s very imperfect actually on account of the fact that he’s straight. So obviously I haven’t told him. And if you breathe a word in his direction, babe, I will spank your ass red.”

  I laughed. “I won’t.” I offered him my pinky and hooked it around his. “Promise. But you should tell him despite all that shit.”

  “Nah.” He waved me off, but I gave him an intent look.

  “Seth Capella, life is not guaranteed and with the shit we do most nights, you will regret it if anything happens to him and you don’t get the chance to tell him the truth.”

  “We won’t die,” he said with a shrug. “We’re the Heirs and the Savage Princess. Darcy and the dudebros. Wolfman, Bitey C, Fish Fury, Dragzilla, and the Phoen Dream.”

  “Okay firstly, never call us those things again, and secondly, we’re not immortal, Seth. Just…don’t take this time for granted, okay?” I implored. “You never know when the world could just be pulled out from under your feet.” My heart knotted up in my throat and I took a shaky breath.

  Seth stepped forward, brushing a lock of hair behind my ear with a whine. “We’re gonna be okay.”

  “I don’t know that anymore,” I admitted. “I used to think everything would just work out one way or another, but now…” I dropped his gaze, trying to ignore the void living inside me, but it was a hungry thing. Sometimes it felt like it was going to consume everything inside me and leave me hollow. If it wasn’t for the will to save my sister and my desire to see Lionel brought to his knees, I was sure it would have done so already.

  Seth gripped my chin, tilting my head up to look him in the eyes. His irises were deep and earthy brown, full of a hope and positivity I hadn’t felt in a long time. Looking at him pulled on some instinctual piece of my soul these days. I’d always felt a connection to Seth, but I’d never really understood why that was when he’d been treating me cruelly. Now, my enemy had somehow become someone I deeply cared about. And though there was still an echo of hurt that lived between us, my hate was now saved for someone much more worthy of it in Solaria.

  “You owe me the truth, babe. And you’re not walking out of this room until you give it to me.”

  “I could just put you on your ass, Capella,” I warned and he smirked.

  “Just try me.” He gnashed his teeth together and I blew out a breath, knocking his hand away from my face. “So what’s your truth? What are you really feeling after all this time away from Professor Dipshit?”

  I didn’t walk away like I wanted to. I had made a promise after all. So I swallowed thickly, holding his gaze. “The truth is, I’ll probably dream about Lance for the rest of my life. I’ll miss him and long for him, but when I wake up, I’ll continue as if he was never here. Because that’s what he asked for when he betrayed me. And now he’s gone, he’ll never get back in. No one will. I just can’t trust anyone anymore.”

  “You don’t trust me?” Seth whimpered.

  “No. There’s only one person I trust in this world and she’s currently being held by a monster. But as soon as I have her back, I’ll keep her close and that’ll be enough.”

  Seth reached for me but I knocked his hand away again, hating the look of pain in his eyes or the way I felt that pain scrape up the centre of my being.

  “It won’t be enough,” he breathed sadly and I set my jaw, ignoring the agonising hole in my chest that agreed with him.

  “It will,” I growled, stepping past him, grabbing my bag and hooking my Atlas off the nightstand before pushing out the door.

  Seth followed me out into the hall in his underwear, abandoning the rest of his clothes in my room. I swear if he started trying to keep stuff in my drawers again like he had at the palace he was going to get a dick punch instead of a pillow slap next time.

  My gaze shifted to Diego’s old room across the corridor and my stomach clenched, a burning sense of grief driving through me before I forced myself to look away again. I didn’t know what had happened to his stuff, but his room had been emptied out and there was no trace of him left behind. Some freshman had probably moved in there last night and it would soon be like he’d never existed. Fae died all the time in Solaria, so it wasn’t like there would even be a lot of questions about him. I’d told Sofia and Geraldine over the summer. They knew everything now. I didn’t see the point in keeping it from them, and frankly, with Lionel on the rise I’d rather they were prepared to face whatever might come their way.

  Geraldine had been distraught and had announced that she would note him down as the first official A.S.S. casualty to die in the War of the Reborn. When I’d asked her what the hell that was, she’d said it was going to be the official name for the fight for the throne which would be remembered by historians for all of time. She also said we’d only just begun to tell the tale of our rise to power. It seemed insane to me, but she was keeping official records ‘for posterity’ whether I liked it or not and I knew better than to try and change Geraldine’s mind when she’d decided on something.

  We made it to the stairs where we paused to say goodbye, but as Seth leaned in to hug me, a noise of anguish met my ears. I frowned, glancing up the stairway, spotting Kylie there in her uniform, her lips parted in shock and her eyes full of betrayal as she gazed between us. I remembered her on the stand in court, spitting vicious lies about me and Orion and venom seeped through my blood.

  “So you’re officially together now?” she demanded, her lower lip quivering.

  “Did you hear something?” Seth mused and I turned away from Kylie with a shrug.

  “Nope, must have been the wind,” I said. “See you later.”

  “Bye babe,” he purred in a
voice designed to taunt Kylie and I heard her pleading with him to stop shunning her as he walked upstairs.

  My Atlas buzzed in my pocket and I found that my name had been mentioned in a news article entitled Roxanya Vega Renounces Her Claim on the Throne.

  My heart stopped working, my lungs decompressed. As I stepped out of the door at the bottom of Aer Tower, several lost-looking freshmen bumped into me while I just gaped at the screen, a voice screaming No! in my head.

  I clicked on the article, knowing I was going to regret it, but I had to know. Oh my god, what has she done?

  Roxanya (Tory) Vega has spoken last night in an exclusive interview with The Celestial Times renouncing her claim to the throne of Solaria and aligning herself fully with High Lord Lionel Acrux. The Vega princess openly distanced herself from her sister Gwendalina (Darcy) earlier this year after it emerged that a feud between the two of them had sent them spiralling down different paths.

  After rumours of Gwendalina setting fire to Stella Orion’s house surfaced in July, her growing instability became apparent. Was this a vicious attack on Lance Orion’s mother in retaliation for Stella’s interview which stated that her son was better off in prison than with a Vega? Perhaps we’ll never know. (See page 23 for more information on the Orion/Vega scandal and an interview from Honey Highspell who claims Lance Orion is a victim of a dark Vega plot).

  All in all, it seems Roxanya had no choice but to break away from her own flesh and blood stating that Gwendalina was both ‘volatile’, ‘temperamental’, and ‘aggressive’ towards her in the following months.

  Witnesses who attend Zodiac Academy with Gwendalina have confirmed that she has been hoping to make a bid for the throne independently for quite some time, savagely cutting herself off from her sister in the process. Roxanya bravely took a stance to distance herself from Gwendalina and is now keeping company with the Acruxes. Some are naming this move as both honourable and respectful to the Councillors who have ruled Solaria peacefully since the times of the Savage King.