Zodiac Academy: Fated Throne

by Caroline Peckham

  At first, I recoiled from the intensity of the flames, receding into a corner of my mind that was safe and dark and wrapped in shadow, but the stronger the fire grew, the harder it became to shield myself from it.

  When I was certain I was going to burn up in the heat, my eyes snapped open and a cry of fear escaped me.

  I gasped as I lurched away from the fire, but there was no escaping it, no retreating from this thing that seemed to be living inside me. I jerked around, finding Darcy looking in through the bars at me as she held a syringe tight in her fist and I looked down at my arm, finding a small puncture wound in my bicep.

  "What did you do to me?" I gasped, scrambling back and crying out as I hit the bars of the cage again.

  My lips parted on a grunt of pain and I slapped a hand over the puncture wound, looking around at the sea of faces surrounding me as my heart raced.

  "Back up," Max growled, his hand landing on Geraldine's arm and tugging her back a step as she sobbed. "She's freaking out and she's about to lose control of her Order form."

  "Shit," Seth cursed and he caught Caleb's wrist as he pulled him back too.

  "Look at me, Roxy," Darius growled from my right and a shriek of fright escaped me as I found him too fucking close to the bars that contained me.

  A blaze of heat raced along my shoulder blades as Max yelled something panicked and more energy than I could possibly contain rose up within me.

  My body detonated into a ball of fire, wings tearing from my back and making the cage explode around me, shooting the metal bars out in every direction in a spray of deadly projectiles.

  For a moment I was paralysed in fear and panic but in the midst of it, the call of the Phoenix fire in my blood centred me and I found a girl between the flames, her body coated in fire like mine and her arms outstretched to me in a silent plea.

  I collided with her with a sob escaping me as she pulled me close, squeezing me so hard I was sure I would break. But I didn't. Because I had her. And she was all I'd ever needed.

  My tears turned hysterical as I clung to her, my brain unable to concentrate fully on anything other than how much I'd been missing without her, how much I needed her and how much less I'd been altogether.

  I wasn’t sure how long we clung to each other like that, practically forming one body, two halves of the same whole. Just the way we’d been born to be.

  I slowly became aware of the fire around us dying down as the tears stopped sizzling from my skin and my Phoenix withdrew, sinking within me again though staying close to the surface as it chased the lingering shadows aside.

  "You're okay, Tor," Darcy was saying over and over as she held me tight against her and stroked her fingers through my hair.

  "Is she under control again?" Seth's voice drew my attention and I turned my head slightly, finding him standing within a dome of ice that Max, Geraldine and Darius were all maintaining around their side of the treehouse to shield everyone.

  Behind us, the entire place had been blasted apart and flames still blazed throughout the branches of the trees in the forest beyond.

  "You're okay now, aren't you, Tor?" Darcy asked and I blinked up at her, drawing back a little as my brain tried to catch up to what was happening.

  I was left feeling like I had to wade through a layer of cotton wool to even understand the words everyone was throwing at me.

  "My lady, you may have my clothes!" Geraldine announced loudly, parting the ice beside her and stepping forward as she began to peel off her shirt, making me realise that I'd burned all of my clothes off in the shift and was crouched naked on the floor with my arms wound tightly around myself.

  Darcy had clearly had the presence of mind to protect her own outfit when she shifted so I was just the naked ass chick that everyone was staring at.

  Embarrassment clawed at me and the shadows slithered beneath my skin, offering me some reprieve from this feeling, but I resisted their call, looking at my sister and finding all I needed to centre myself in her gaze.

  Max caught Geraldine's wrist and tugged her back before she could take anything off. "Don't crowd her," he warned. "She might blow again."

  My skin prickled with the touch of his Siren gifts and I glanced at Darcy nervously as she gave me an encouraging nod. "Max will help you if you'll let him?"

  I was trembling with weakness from the injuries the cage had given me and my brain felt so close to cracking that it was all too tempting to accept, but as a huge figure moved in the corner of my eye, I locked up.

  Darius took a step towards me and I gasped, my Phoenix rearing up beneath my skin protectively as fear skittered through me and I tried to scramble back away from him.

  "Here," he offered, pulling a hoody from a chest of clothes that had been protected from the blast by the ice shield and offering it to me.

  My magic had been replenished a little by the flames of our Phoenixes and I threw an air shield up before Darius could move any closer, recoiling into Darcy's arms as a whimper of fear escaped me.

  "Shit," Max cursed, glancing between me and Darius as his face pinched with sadness. "Darius...I think you should leave."

  "What?" the Dragon growled, his eyes flashing with a clear refusal and his muscles rippling like he was on the verge of shifting himself.

  I sucked in a fearful breath as I pushed more magic into the shield and Darcy caught my chin, turning me to face her as healing magic slid beneath my skin and eased some of the aches in my flesh.

  "You don't need to be afraid of Darius, Tory," she breathed. "He's not like his father. He'd never hurt you like Lionel did-"

  "Lionel doesn't hurt me," I snarled, pushing out of her arms. "He heals me. He loves me. He's my king."

  Silence fell among everyone heavily then Geraldine started wailing loudly as she threw her hands over her eyes.

  "Oh sweet heavens have mercy! My lady has been beguiled by a lying lizard and tricked in the most hateful way!"

  "No, Tory, he's not," Darcy growled, sending a blast of magic at the shield I'd created and shattering it before using air magic to take the hoody from Darius so she could deposit it over my head. I pushed myself to my feet and it hung down to my mid thigh, a cedar and smoke scent coming from the fabric that made me feel a little safer even as I hurried to back away from Darius.

  "You have your Phoenix back now. You need to use it to burn the Dark Coercion out of yourself,” Darcy said.

  My gaze slid to her as I opened my mouth to tell her I wasn't under the influence of any Coercion but the moment I thought about it, the Phoenix within me flared to life again, rising up and shifting beneath my skin. It blazed a path of destruction through command after command that had been placed on my mind until I was crying again with the relief of the chains being lifted from my psyche.

  "What the fuck has he been doing to her?" Caleb murmured as a whine escaped Seth's throat and my gaze darted between all of them as I found myself totally overwhelmed by everything.

  "Roxy," Darius breathed, stepping closer again with a hand outstretched in offering. But the moment I looked at him, my heart leapt and pounded with fear again as the memories of so much agony burning through my flesh overwhelmed me. Him. It was all him.

  "Stay back," I gasped, almost calling on the shadows again as I found myself without magic once more and at the mercy of this fierce creature before me.

  Darius's face tightened and something in his gaze seemed to shatter as I looked at him with fear in my soul so deep that I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to escape it.

  "Everyone needs to go," Max commanded suddenly. "Cal, Seth and Gerry, fix the walls before you leave then make sure the forest doesn't show any signs of damage from the flames. "Darius, you just need to...go, I'm sorry but she can't be around you. She's fucking terrified of you. It's overwhelming her-"

  "I'm not abandoning her again," Darius growled ferociously and a stab of pain lanced through my flesh at the darkness in his tone.

  "I'm sorry, man," Max said, turning to him and grabbin
g his face, forcing him to look his way. "But you being here is...it's hurting her. I don't know what Lionel has done but every time she looks at you she feels physical pain as well as terror. If I'm gonna have any chance of fixing this, you can't be here. I hate to tell you this, but the more you're around her at the moment, the worse you're making things for her."

  Darius gritted his jaw, looking like he could feel that pain in himself as he turned his dark eyes on me and I tried not to flinch this time, but I couldn't help it.

  "Is that true, Roxy?" he asked, looking like he wanted nothing more than to close the distance between us and making me want to scream and leap out of the giant hole I’d blasted in the wall just to escape him.

  I didn't reply but I didn't deny it and that seemed to be enough to break his resolve as grief flashed through his gaze and he nodded stiffly.

  He turned and strode for the exit and Seth howled as he chased after him, Caleb only hesitating a moment longer before he raced out behind them and I relaxed a little as their dominating presences left.

  Geraldine was still sobbing while patching up the wall like Max had asked but my gaze moved to the Siren as he slowly closed in on me.

  "I think I can help you, Tory," he said gently, a sense of calm and understanding washing through me as he approached, his gifts filling the air around him and drawing me in like a gentle embrace.

  "I don't know if-" I began, but Darcy cut me off.

  "You can trust him, Tory. He'll help you. Please just let him."

  My gaze met my twin's eyes and I found so much hurt and pain in them that I found myself nodding, just needing to do something to alleviate what was making her look at me that way. Memories of our childhood were bubbling up in me until I felt like I was overflowing with them. The good, the bad, the downright fucking miserable. And yet no matter what we'd experienced over the years, I'd always had this one burning light right beside me, like my very own star set to guide me back home always. Darcy. My other half. My one, truest love.

  "Okay," I agreed on a breath and Max took my hands in his.

  "We'll figure this out, okay little Vega?" he murmured, catching my gaze with his deep brown eyes and for some reason, I really did trust him.

  "Alright," I agreed.

  "I need to do this with her alone," Max said, not looking away from me for a moment. "So that my sole focus is on her emotions at all times."

  Darcy looked ready to refuse and Geraldine threw an arm over her eyes as she sobbed loudly. "You'd better bring my lady back to me, you prize pufferfish. Or I'll cut your fins from your fanny and throw them in a fire!"

  Max rolled his eyes at her, smiling warmly at me as his fingers tightened around mine and he continued to push soothing emotions into me.

  "I don't want to leave her," Darcy growled defiantly.

  "Look," Max said in a rough voice, breaking my gaze as he turned towards her. "Your sister has been through something seriously fucked up. I can't even begin to explain to you the complexity of the emotions she's feeling right now, but if you want me to have even the slightest chance of reversing this shit then you need to get the fuck out of here and let me show you why Sirens are the best fucking Order there is. Because right now I'm pretty sure time is of the essence. Her mind is fractured and malleable with the shadows pushed back and all of that Dark Coercion broken. But every moment that passes, more and more of the things she's feeling are becoming fixed. So do you want me to help her remember who she was before that motherfucker got his hands on her, or do you wanna just stand there and fuck up her chances?"

  Darcy glared at him for a long moment then shot me an apologetic look. "I'll be back, Tor," she promised. "Just as soon as you're ready to see me again I'll be here."

  I nodded as she grasped Geraldine's arm and tugged her from the room, their footsteps disappearing down the stairs as Max and I regarded each other.

  He stepped up to me and took a deep breath as he reached out to cup my face between his large hands.

  "Don't fight anything, Tory," he murmured. "Just feel all of it and I promise, I'll help you figure this out."

  My heart was racing with panic and fear and I was filled with the desire to bolt and this urgent need to see my king. But as I looked into the depths of his brown eyes, something in me settled and though the tears tracking down my cheeks didn't slow, I managed to release a shaky breath that seemed to hold the weight of the world on it. And then I gave myself to the hold of his powers and let him sweep me away on a tide of pain and heartache.

  I t had taken me more than five hours of just sifting through the memories of pain and fear that filled Tory's mind before I'd even been able to get down to the roots of them. Lionel had done a damn good job of forcing her to associate every moment of torture he'd inflicted upon her with a memory of Darius.

  I'd gotten a clear look at so much torture in her memories that it made me feel sick to my core and bile kept rising up in my throat as my gifts allowed me to feel every single second of it.

  I could have shied away, refused to absorb the worst of it and protected myself from it, but she needed this outlet. I was certain of it. She needed to work through each and every time he'd taken her down to that room beneath the Acrux Manor and played out these dark and twisted fantasies on her.

  If there had been any doubt in me at all about the depths of Lionel Acrux's depravity before, then there was absolutely no illusions left in me now.

  He hadn't just cut, burned and electrocuted Tory until she couldn't even scream any more. He'd revelled in it.

  Hidden deep within the memories of her pain there had been more than enough visions of his eyes gleaming with excitement while he made her scream and cry out for mercy. He'd just forced her to think of Darius time and again until she believed those memories were of his eyes. That it had been him doing that to her.

  It had taken me the better part of the day to realise that he'd been using a Cyclops to assist him with a lot of his cruelty. He'd taken every dark and pain filled memory she held of Darius from when she'd first arrived at the academy and twisted the knife in the pain she felt over them until she was bleeding from the inside out. And then he'd found all of her good memories too, beating her down over and over again until she couldn't protect them anymore, though I was surprised to find there were a few things hidden within her mind still.

  She was still resisting my attempts to get her to unlock them, but each time I guided her thoughts and feelings towards them, she seemed a little closer to looking at them than the last time, so I wasn't giving up.

  We'd moved into my bedroom within King's Hollow after the first time she'd blacked out with the memory of the torture she'd endured, and I'd barely caught her before she cracked her head against the hard floorboards.

  I'd carried her in here and laid her down on the bed beside the fireplace where I was carefully rebuilding the fire every time it went out. Using my gifts on her like this drained her magic as I fed on it, and she needed to keep replenishing her stores to keep up with how much I was taking while we worked. I was heady on the richness of her power and had had to take breaks several times to empty myself out by throwing a gale of wind into the forest outside or casting a river of water just so that I could continue to draw more from her.

  She was curled in my arms, her head resting on my chest as her limbs trembled with the memory of pain that had crashed through her over and over again.

  I couldn't help but feel like the monster who had done this to her in the first place as I kept using my gifts to draw this pain out of her and force her to give me every single piece of it. But I knew it was the only way. She needed to release herself from it, needed to look at it clearly and without the taint of Lionel's lies shading it in falsehoods if she was ever going to be able to move on from it.

  I wasn't even going to let myself think about what it was doing to me. I was using the fullest extent of my gifts with her and she was opening herself up to them, letting me fully immerse myself in her memories so that I could
actually watch them play out like I was there myself. I rarely pushed so deep into anyone’s mind like this, but if I wanted any chance at all of fixing what had been done to her then I had to.

  I closed my eyes as I pushed my power into her again and her cold fingers fisted in my shirt as a gasp of pain escaped her and I grunted as I felt the sharp kick of electricity slam into my own chest as if I'd been there too. I could taste blood in my mouth as she bit her tongue while she jerked and spasmed from the pain of the strike. And the hard bite of the leather straps which held her arms and wrists in place on the wooden chair she'd been strapped to in her underwear set panic racing through my limbs.

  "Who do you love?" Lionel asked coldly while Clara hung off of his arm, smiling as she bared her fangs.

  "You," I gasped, my voice Tory's as I relived her memory.

  "What about my son?" Lionel asked, moving aside as the Cyclops stepped forward and I shook my head desperately. He had thick black hair which hung long over his shoulders and a wizened face with a jagged old scar running through his left eye which had left the white stained red with blood even though the wound was clearly old. He called it his shadow eye, claiming he had the ability to see visions of the Shadow Realm as well as our own, and it was clear that Lionel believed him. His pupils were so dark they looked black and as he turned his gaze on me, I shuddered with fear, knowing all too well what he was capable of.

  "I hate him," I said. "I hate him more than anyone I've ever met. All he does is cause me pain." But I didn't feel those words. I felt Darius’s arms around me as we lay in his bed and he held me like he never wanted to let go. I felt the way my heart pounded when he looked at me and I remembered the way he'd promised to fight for me.

  "Liar, liar," the Cyclops purred, reaching out and running a finger down my neck and between the valley of my breasts before hooking it around the centre of my bra and tugging lightly.

  "Hands off, Vard," Lionel growled and I shivered in relief as he saved me from the Cyclops's wandering hands and he released me with a flicker of irritation on his features. "Just do your job."