Zodiac Academy: Fated Throne

by Caroline Peckham

  Darius paused by the door, waiting for me with a patient expression. “Are you ready?”

  “I don’t think I’ll ever be ready,” I admitted, forcing myself to move and stand at his side. “But let’s get it over with.”

  He pushed through the door and I followed him inside, finding the room empty as I took a steadying breath. I nudged the door shut as Darius flicked his fingers, casting a film of ice over the cameras, covering us from view.

  “You’ve got as long as you want, I’ve paid off everyone who might cause us an issue today,” Darius said, giving me an intent look.

  “I told you, I only need five minutes, maybe not even that,” I said determinedly.

  Darius stepped toward me, dissolving the magic concealing me as Dante Oscura and taking my hand. He squeezed once, giving me an apologetic frown. “Sorry, shrew.”

  He stepped past me, moving back out of the door and slamming it shut in my face, ice growing over the handle as I lunged at it and tried to open it. I used my fire magic to try and melt it, but the asshole somehow kept it locked.

  “Darius!” I snapped, smacking my hand against the wood. Bastard!

  The door opened behind me and I felt him enter the room before I even turned around. The hairs stood up on the back of my neck and a shiver raced down my spine that made me squeeze my eyes shut. How can he still affect me this way? After all this time, is it always going to be this hard?

  Fae up, Darcy Vega. Get it over with.

  I took a breath, fixed an emotionless mask into place and turned around.

  Orion stood there in his orange jumpsuit, the sleeves rolled back to show his thick forearms and a layer of new muscle that seemed to cling to him all over. I dragged my eyes up to his face as my pulse pounded wildly and found a thick beard on his jaw, his mouth flat, his hair getting overly long.

  I expected to see a wall in his eyes, forcing me out like the last time I’d seen him, but it wasn’t there. He looked…broken. As broken as he’d been back then, only this time all the sharp pieces in his eyes had settled. He’d accepted his fate as I’d accepted mine, and there was a painful knowledge in that which ripped at my insides.

  His gaze travelled over me with slow and hungry movements, like he was trying to make an eternity out of seeing me.

  “Hello,” he said at last, his voice deep and holding an edge of desperation in it that made me ache.

  “Hi,” I said stiffly, wetting my lips and taking a step closer. “Darius locked me in here, so…”

  “Asshole,” he muttered.

  “Yep.” My heart thundered out a wild and yearning tune as it begged me to get nearer to him, to feel the heat of his body meeting mine in the air, to smell his familiar smell and brush my fingers over the lines of his face, seek out the single dimple hiding in his right cheek. But I’d be doing none of those things. Not now, not ever.

  When I was close enough, I stopped moving, trying to ignore the way every fibre of my flesh seemed to pulse with energy, driving me toward him. “I don’t know how to break the promise, so if you could just show me how,” I said, my tone sharp.

  He reached out and took my hand, his rough palm meeting mine and gripping it tightly. A small and involuntary gasp escaped me as a light but potent energy rushed through me from his touch. It was addictive, demanding and horribly familiar.

  His jaw ticked furiously before he tugged me closer so I was right in his personal space, forced to look up at him and my breath caught in my throat.

  “Lance,” I warned, unsure what I was even warning him of.

  I just needed it to stop. All of it. I couldn’t believe after all this time I still felt like this. Like the world began and ended with him and I would never belong to any other man. But that’s not real anymore. He’s not mine and I’m not his.

  “Fuck,” he growled, clamping his eyes shut for a moment before looking at me again with a tight expression. “How are you?”

  I yanked my hand free of his, anger curling up through my body like flames. “How am I?” I scoffed. “That’s what you have to say?”

  His jaw tightened and he said nothing. Nothing. I wasn’t going to demand an explanation from him again though. He’d had his chance the last time I’d come here. But he’d frozen me out and told me to go. That it was over and I needed to move on. So I had.

  Every part of me was hot and I snatched his hand again, fire blazing against my palm as I fought not to scold him. “How do I break it?” I demanded.

  “Just say the words,” he said defeatedly. “Recite the promise and tell the stars you release me from it.”

  I nodded, keeping my eyes on his as I refused to look away. I thought back on that day we’d made the promise and how, no matter what we’d faced back then, we’d known we’d always have each other. Somehow, I’d fooled myself into believing that. I’d really thought we had a future. I would have fought the stars themselves to keep him. I guessed the sentiment had never been shared.

  “I promised to fight for you, whatever it took and you promised it in return,” I didn’t let my voice shake as I held his gaze and saw a flicker of regret in his eyes. He probably had a helluva lot of regrets when it came to me. “I release you from that bond,” I said firmly, keeping my mask locked in place.

  I wouldn’t break, or cry or let him see a single crack in my façade. I was stronger now. And no man, not even him, would be able to hurt me again.

  Magic crackled between us and the feeling of something snapping against our palms rang through my body before I felt the promise lift from my heart. There was something so final about it, our worlds cleaving apart fully like an axe severing the final ties between us. My hand lingered in his for two more seconds before I pulled it free. Done.

  “Thank you,” he sighed and I nodded stiffly. It felt like a thousand words hung between us in the air. But as I backed away, the window of opportunity to say them closed forever. And as I reached the opposite side of the room, it might as well have been a whole universe parting us. His and mine. Planes we could only exist on separately.

  I twisted the door handle behind me, but it didn’t budge and Orion surveyed me with a tight frown. Dammit Darius.

  “I’ll go,” Orion rasped, turning to head through the door that led into the prison. But he paused, glancing back at me, his penetrating gaze drilling a hole in my heart. “You look like a queen, Darcy. I’m looking forward to the coronation.” And with that, he left, making the air rush out of me and anger surge up inside me like a tidal wave. I twisted around, casting burning hot air into the lock and finally managed to break it open, stepping out into the corridor where Darius was leaning against the wall with his arms folded.

  I strode up to him, slapped him hard then hugged him firmly, because dammit I needed him right now. “You had no right.”

  He held me close and the feel of him casting the identity illusion tumbled over my flesh. “I know, but you haven’t given up on me and Roxy. So I have the same sentiment when it comes to you and my best friend.”

  I pulled away from him with a sad look. “The difference is, you two actually want each other.”

  “That’s not a difference, shrew.”

  “Don’t call me shrew, Asscrux.” I rolled my eyes, but my stomach knotted because inside I knew all I wanted was Orion. But I would never admit it out loud. I’d smother that feeling, push it down until it went away one day. Because if the stars had taught me anything, it was that we didn’t belong with one another no matter how much it had felt that way once. And I’m done breaking for Lance Orion.

  I sat in Arcane Arts at the end of my table, trying to predict the future with the roll of the dice Gabriel had given me and finding it unclear time and again. Frustration built in me as I continued to struggle with the task and the shadows writhed beneath my skin, feeding on my anger and looking for an outlet for it.

  "Tory, I want a word with you at the end of class," Gabriel said as he moved to stand beside me and I looked up to find him standing over me, eyeing
my notes with a disapproving frown.

  “Why?” I asked, wondering why he seemed to be taking such an interest in me.

  “The problem with your predictions is that you need to really connect with your emotions to get a read on your future. And all the time you’re letting things get in the way of your true feelings-”

  “I don’t know what you mean,” I replied flatly and he sighed in frustration.

  The air shield around me trembled at the touch of his magic against it and I stood abruptly as I tightened my hold on the shield I always kept in place.

  "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Gabriel said, stepping back as I narrowed my eyes on him.

  The shadows twisted and swirled within me, whispering at me to strike at him for that, but I didn't give in to them. Something in my gut urged me not to hurt him and though I wasn't sure why, as he backed away I found I was glad I didn’t have to do any more to defend myself.

  “I’m not afraid of you,” I replied flatly.

  I lowered myself back into my chair and Darcy caught my gaze from the far side of the room. I didn't turn away, holding her eye with an expressionless look that seemed to be making her angry and her brow furrowed as she stared at me, her eyes watering as her fists tightened on the table in front of her.

  As the bell rang to mark the end of class, she leapt up and strode from the room, nodding at Gabriel as she went and disappearing before anyone else had even managed to pack their things away.

  I bit my lip as I considered whether or not I should call my king, running my fingers back and forth over the Guardian bond mark on my forearm as I considered it. It had been three days since I'd seen him and though I knew he was busy with the changes he had to make in the kingdom, I was certain he had to be missing me too. Or at least I hoped he was. Because without him I didn’t have anything.

  But he'd also told me to stop calling so frequently and I didn’t want to make him angry.

  I huffed in frustration and packed my stuff into my bag then turned to leave.

  But before I could make it more than a few steps, Gabriel moved to block my path.

  "I still need that word," he said seriously, levelling me with a look that said he wasn't going to leave this issue.

  I shrugged and moved back towards my chair but he shook his head, pushing his black hair away from his eyes and regarding me with interest.

  "Why don't we walk and talk?" he suggested and for some reason I liked the sound of spending more time in his company. There was just something about him that made me feel safe. "I think a bit of fresh air could do us both good."

  Technically I shouldn’t have been mixing with a Harpy but as there were allowances made for teachers and I was above the rules anyway, I decided not to make an issue of it.

  "Fine," I agree, not caring much either way. I just wanted this day over. On Friday I could return to my king and in the meantime, I just needed to study and sleep to make the time disappear. But the more time that passed, the more I ached to return to him and the harder it was to ignore the itch in my bond mark. I’d do it though. For him. Like I promised.

  Gabriel led the way out of the building and I trailed along after him, tightening my hold on my air shield as we stepped out into the cool air. Lionel had warned me that Darcy might try and attack me at any moment, especially when I was alone so I had to be on the lookout at all times. Though for some reason I didn’t really think she would. But I’d do as my king told me all the same.

  "Do you mind if I get my wings out?" Gabriel asked casually, unhooking the buttons on his grey shirt without waiting for my response so I didn't bother giving one. He'd clearly decided he was getting them out either way.

  As he removed his shirt, my gaze caught on a tattoo above his right hip of two Phoenixes flying together and my brow furrowed as a memory was tugged to the forefront of my mind before being swept away again on a tide of shadows.

  Gabriel rolled his shoulders back and a huge pair of midnight black wings burst from his back as he shifted and I watched a little curiously as he flexed them behind him.

  "I haven't seen you shift since you came back to the academy this term," he commented, leading me up the path that led into The Wailing Wood. "Perhaps we could go flying together soon?"

  "I don't enjoy flying," I said automatically, unsure where the words had even come from. But as I opened my mouth to counter that comment, I gasped at the ripple of pain which washed through my chest.

  I did hate flying. It hurt me. My wings hurt me and I didn’t ever want to use them again.

  "What's wrong?" Gabriel asked, reaching for my arm but finding my shield still in place which stopped him from laying his hands on me.

  I didn't want him touching me. I knew that very clearly and I cut him a glare as I stepped aside, placing more magic into my shield in case he tried again. "Nothing."

  "You looked like you were in pain," he pushed.

  "You have very little understanding of true pain then," I replied. And I had a lot of understanding of that.

  Gabriel chuckled darkly and shrugged. "I know a fair bit. I've been through more than a few battles in my time and I took a bolt of Storm Dragon lightning to the chest once too."

  I fell still as he said that, my fists clenching at the memories of being struck by that very thing. A voice in my ear whispering those words. "This is the full power of a Storm Dragon. Whose fault is it that you have to feel this pain?"

  "Darius," I breathed, almost forgetting Gabriel was there as the memories of being struck with all of that electricity over and over again overwhelmed me for a moment and I was forced to seek solace in the shadows. That had happened to me because of Darius and I needed to keep the hell away from him unless I wanted it to happen again.

  I glanced over my shoulder like he might be lurking in the dark, just waiting to pounce and my pulse raced as I drew even more shadows to the surface of my skin, sighing as the fear began to subside and the pleasure of their power took its place.

  "What about Darius?" Gabriel asked but I just shook my head. I wasn't supposed to talk to him about that. Not him, not anyone. Only my king and Vard and Clara. I wouldn't be coaxed into saying anything to anyone else.

  "He's the worst kind of poison," I breathed. "The kind you don't realise is killing you until you've already taken too much."

  "Darius isn't poison, Tory," Gabriel said firmly, coming to a halt at a turn in the path where the trees surrounding us were so thick that I could barely see between them.

  "He is to me," I replied. But that was all I was going to say on the subject.

  Gabriel opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, a blast of power slammed into the back of my air shield and I gasped as I barely managed to hold it in place.

  I whirled around, drawing more air into the shield as Seth burst from the trees, his face set in determination as he cast more air at me and I had to fight to make sure he didn't break through my shield.

  I gritted my teeth in determination just as another attack hit the shield at my back and I looked around to find Darius directing water at me, his brow furrowed as he worked to break through my defences.

  My heart began to race at the sight of him coming for me, just the way he did in my nightmares, his face set in a cruel mask and his body written with determination.

  "Stop," I commanded, raising my hands either side of me as I pushed more power into my air shield and the ground beneath my feet began to tremble as Caleb shot out of the trees and attacked me too.

  "Tory!" Darcy called as she stepped onto the path and heat flared along my limbs as I spotted my twin taking part in this ambush as well. They were all against me, just like my king had told me they were. They were going to hurt me and take me away from him and steal everything I cared about in this world if they got the chance. "We aren't trying to hurt you. We just want to help you regain control of your Phoenix. We need you to free yourself from the shadows and-"

  "What if I don't want to be free of them?" I snarled, grit
ting my teeth as the combined pressure of so much magic almost buckled my shield. My king needed me to wield the shadows with him. I wasn’t going to let them go against his wishes. I wasn’t going to disappoint him like that. It was unthinkable.

  "Her shield is about to crack," Gabriel announced as he added his own water magic to the assault and Max and Geraldine emerged from the trees to help too.

  "I'm ready!" Caleb called and I spotted a syringe held in his hand which sent fear slicing into me. I couldn’t let him get close to me with that thing. I’d die before he did.

  My heart was pounding and the shadows were whispering promises of death in my ears as they begged me to use them.

  The shadows were always so hungry for blood that they would make me sloppy if I gave them too much freedom. I needed to control them rather than allowing them to control me, but I was burning through my power resources and any moment now, they were going to break them down.

  "Go carefully," Darius barked. "If any one of you hurts her, I will personally beat the shit out of you for it."

  "We are going careful," Seth growled as he increased the pressure of his attack and I felt my shield cracking.

  I sucked in a sharp breath and dropped my shield half a beat before it would have broken anyway then yelled out as shadows burst from my body in an explosion of darkness that blotted out the world.

  They slammed into the entire group who had surrounded me, hurling them off of their feet and into the trees in every direction and the sound of their screams made me smile savagely as their pain fed my darkness.

  I took off running the moment the path was clear, throwing up a huge wall of shadows at my back as I reconstructed my air shield with what little power remained to me and cast a ball of fire to replenish what I'd lost.

  Seth was howling in agony in the trees behind me and their shouts and curses chased me away as I kept running and running, not stopping until I made it back to Ignis House and into my room.