Zodiac Academy: Fated Throne

by Caroline Peckham

  The Seer huffed softly as he gave in to Lionel’s command, rolling his neck in that way he always did before he shifted and making my pulse spike with fear.

  “I like the pretty jewel she’s wearing, Daddy,” Clara breathed in Lionel’s ear, pushing her hand into Lionel’s pants and he growled softly.

  “Now that you mention it, Clara dear, that necklace looks familiar to me.” My heart thumped as they looked at the ruby necklace Darius had given me and I recoiled into my chair even though I knew there was no escape. “If you like it then you can have it.”

  Clara grinned excitedly but Vard moved to stand before me, capturing my attention once more as I tried to figure out who I should be fearing the most in this room.

  Vard smiled toothily as his dark eyes slowly slid together, forming one huge, bulbus eye in the centre of his forehead and I snapped my eyes shut, scrunching them up as I tried to protect myself from the invasion of his mind into mine.

  Clara cackled with glee as she leapt up onto the back of the wooden chair I was strapped to and grabbed a fistful of my hair, pulling hard enough to make me scream before peeling my eyelid open with her dirty fingernails digging in hard enough to make me bleed. Her other hand yanked on my necklace as she scrambled for the clasp and I felt her tug it free just as I lost the battle to keep my eye closed.

  Vard caught me in his gaze and within a moment, the slimy, intrusive feeling of him slithering into my mind overwhelmed me and I swear I could feel his hot breath on my neck as he spoke inside my thoughts.

  "I've seen a future where I get to touch you as much as I like, little dove," he purred. "Where my king will gift you to me and send you to my bed as often as I wish in reward for all of the visions I've gifted him. Did you know your daddy gave me my scar? I'm going to enjoy paying his daughter back for it, over and over and over again."

  Vard drove that point home with mental images which made me gag with actual bile rising in my throat and if I'd had anything to eat today, I was certain I'd have been vomiting all down myself. Just as I felt myself start screaming at the imagined scenario playing out in my head, Vard's gifts shifted beneath my skin and he spoke a single name inside my head.

  "Darius Acrux."

  Before I could do a single thing to stop it, my mind whirled to the moment I'd thought of earlier, of me wrapped in Darius's arms in his bed, of how warm his skin had felt against mine and how safe it had seemed there.

  But as I rolled over, I found Darius glaring at me instead of the sleepy, half smile I almost remembered. His hand snapped out and he locked it around my throat as he pinned me down against the bed, ripping open the shirt I was wearing while I fought and bucked beneath him. I couldn't scream, his grip on my throat suffocating and refusing even the slightest noise to pass my lips as he smiled cruelly and slammed a fist down into my chest.

  The moment the punch landed, the force of a thunderstorm crashed into my body and I shrieked with pain as it burned me from the inside out, thrashing against the vision of Darius in my mind and the straps which held me to the chair in reality. My brain tried to keep hold of what was happening, what was real and what was a lie, but everything was blurring together as Vard used his powers until all of it merged into one and the cruelty in Darius's eyes was the only thing I was truly certain of alongside the agony in my flesh.

  I fell back panting on the bed as I shrugged the memory off, tugging Tory closer to me as she trembled in my arms, helping her to see the way her memories had been manipulated to turn her against Darius while trying to contain my own emotions so that I didn't accidentally push them into her.

  My body ached with the echoes of the torture she'd endured and I could feel her exhaustion as she curled against my chest and I wrapped my arms around her tighter. She needed a break. And if I was being honest then I did too because this shit was seriously fucked up. I felt like it might break me if I wasn't careful and I had to keep reminding myself of all the reasons I had to love Darius as the conditioning she'd been put through wormed its way into my head too.

  I stroked my fingers through her hair, using my gifts to make her feel even more tired and pushing her into a deep, dreamless sleep before feeding her as much happy, calming energy as I could muster.

  When I was certain she wasn't going to wake any time soon, I gently rolled her off of me and tucked her beneath the covers, frowning at how fragile she looked in the big bed all alone. Lionel Acrux was going to pay for what he'd done to her and Darius. Not to mention all the other reasons I had to hate him.

  I left the room, but before I could even call Darius and Darcy, they appeared with Gabriel between them, the Harpy giving me a knowing look which I was clearly going to have to get used to.

  "How is she?" Darcy asked urgently and I summoned the shadow of a smile for her even though the weight of everything I'd just experienced through Tory's memories was hanging so heavily on me that I felt like I might break beneath the pressure of it all.

  "Better," I muttered, swiping a hand down my face. "I think she's seeing Lionel more clearly now, though the Guardian bond makes it hard for her to fully hate him. I've helped her to process a lot of her trauma, but..." My gaze slid to Darius and he nodded like he already knew what I was going to say.

  "You just have to prove to her that you're not the monster she was made to believe you are," Gabriel said firmly, clapping a hand on Darius's shoulder before looking to me. "You need to rest, Max. Get some sleep tonight. I'll inform the staff that there's a bout of Fae flu going around as an excuse for you and Tory missing classes tomorrow. After that, I believe she will be able to function well enough to return."

  "You really think she's gonna be able to fake it good enough for that to be safe?" I growled, feeling strangely protective over the girl I'd once sworn to ruin no matter what. But fuck putting her back in the firing line of that monster.

  "It's the only way forward at the moment," Gabriel said firmly. "Any attempt we make to hide her or help her escape Lionel will fail if we try now. I've spent the entire day trying to see a way out of this for her, but with the bond in place..." He sighed heavily. "All isn't lost. She'll be as safe as she can be if she just keeps up the pretence of maintaining her position in alignment with him for now. But if she tries to run, the bond will force her back to him eventually and the punishment for her trying to escape will be unthinkable. This is the way it has to be."

  I pinched the bridge of my nose, hating that idea but knowing that Gabriel wouldn't be pushing for it if he could see any other way. It seemed like fate wasn't done fucking with us yet then.

  "Fine," I muttered as Darius growled beneath his breath.

  "Me and Gabriel will stay with her tonight," Darcy said softly, moving to wrap her arms around my neck and squeeze me tightly. "Thank you, Max."

  I was so exhausted that I didn't even hug her back, not wanting to let any of the emotions I was trying to contain slip out of me. Because she didn't need to see the details of what her sister had been through at the hands of that tyrant. I didn't want it haunting her the way I knew it was going to haunt me.

  Gabriel thanked me as he followed Darcy away down the hall but Darius didn't move, like he could already tell from my expression that he wasn't going to be welcome in that room.

  He waited until Darcy and Gabriel were out of sight before flicking his fingers and casting a silencing bubble around us.

  "Show me," he demanded and I sighed.

  "You don't wanna see it, man. Hell, I don't wanna fucking see it and I'm not in love with the girl," I tried, though I could already see how determined he was to know the extent of it.

  "It can't be any worse than what I'm already imagining," he growled and I swiped a hand down my face, shaking my head.

  "Imagining it and living it aren't the same. I'm begging you to leave it. Trust me to help her through it, know that it's over now and just try to-"

  "Show me," he commanded, grabbing my hand and lacing his voice with Coercion even though he knew I could shove off the i
mpulse to comply if I wanted to. But I was fucking tired and I knew he wouldn't drop it, so I showed him what he wanted to see even though I knew this was going to hit him like a stab wound to the fucking heart.

  I pushed my gifts at him and he dropped his mental barriers to allow me to show him the memories I'd lived out inside Tory's head. Darius's grip on my hand tightened and the rage and grief I felt from him hit me like a tidal wave as he watched what his father had done to her.

  "How often did he do this?" he snarled, his grip unyielding so he was crushing the bones in my fingers, though I was fairly certain he hadn't even realised he was doing it.

  "Not as often recently. It was almost all within the first six weeks," I muttered. "He stopped once she showed fear in response to every mention of you."

  Darius kept hold of me for several long minutes, his magic keeping its grip on mine as he forced me to show him as much of what Tory had suffered through as he could manage before he dropped my hand and turned away from me with a stream of smoke billowing between his lips.

  "Wait," I called after him, trying to push my gifts at him to help ease some of the pain he was feeling, even as the exhaustion from using them all day almost swallowed me whole.

  Darius didn't reply, ripping off his shirt and leaping out of the window before I could say another word.

  The haunting roar of a Dragon in distress rattled the entire treehouse a moment later as he took off towards the sky and I felt something shatter deep inside me as my own grief over all of this threatened to tear me apart.

  I swallowed thickly, taking in the empty space around me before turning and heading for the door.

  As much as I wanted to stay close to Tory tonight to help her, I knew that when I slept I was going to be broadcasting all of the horrors I'd just experienced for anyone nearby to feel. Not that I was convinced I'd be sleeping at all after living through all of that. It was the curse of my kind. We took emotions from others, but it was more than just an exchange of magic. We were left with the feelings of those we drained. Their pain and memories became our own if we took too much and we could be left carrying the hurts of a hundred Fae in our hearts if we weren't careful to feed on happiness more often than sorrow. But if you took too much happiness from another Fae then you left them in pain instead of yourself which wasn't any better, unless you were a complete asshole. Which I tried not to be most of the time.

  I sighed as I walked down the path though The Wailing Wood, heading for the lake and Aqua House while trying to skim whatever brief flashes of happiness that I could taste on any of the Fae I passed by just to take the edge off of what was consuming me.

  But it was no good. Every time I closed my eyes, I was reliving Tory's nightmares, drowning in Darius's feelings of failure and so much pain that it made me choke.

  I hardly even noticed that I was back at my dorm until I was turning my key in the lock and pushing the door wide.

  I didn't even flick the lights on, just knocking the door shut behind me as I kicked off my shoes and tugged my shirt over my head. It was still damp with Tory's tears, but it hadn't felt right to dry them out with magic. They were too heavy to just wish away like that.

  I noticed the door hadn't clicked shut behind me and looked over my shoulder to find Geraldine pushing it open hesitantly.

  "I'm sorry, Gerry," I murmured. "I don't think I can bear to go over it all again tonight. Maybe just give me tonight to-"

  "I didn't come to enquire about my lady, you bumbling beluga," she said in a soft voice, pushing the door closed behind her as she stepped inside. "I came to enquire about you."

  I stilled, a lump forming in my throat as I took that in.

  "I thought you didn't care about me?" I asked a little bitterly, our ongoing argument over her engagement to that fucking stuck up assbag still biting at me.

  Geraldine sighed, kicking her shoes off and dropping her blazer as she padded towards me with her eyes glimmering with tears.

  "Don't do that tonight, Maxy boy," she breathed. "Just let me hold you close and we can pretend the rest of the world isn't out there."

  I swallowed thickly, nodding as she wrapped her hands around my waist and gently pushed me back until I was sinking down onto the bed.

  Her mouth found mine as she lowered down onto my lap and I groaned softly as I fell back beneath her. Our kiss was slow and deep and laced with pain that wouldn't be fixed by anything we did now, but somehow it helped all the same.

  I pulled her closer as the warmth of her body against mine seemed to soothe something deep within my soul and somehow we ended up curled together against my pillows as her soft hands continued to soothe and caress me.

  I kissed her again, devouring her slowly while my heart pounded to this torturous rhythm that made me ache in a wholly different way than I had all day.

  "I hate fighting with you, Gerry," I breathed as I moved my hands into her hair, letting some of my heartache slip away and worshipping her with every movement of my mouth against hers.

  Everything just felt better when I was with her. She could fight away the worst demons in my mind and keep them at bay if only she'd stay here.

  "Then stop talking," she breathed. "We only argue when you open your flapper trap."

  I had to admit she had a point there, so I closed my mouth and gave in to what she wanted, as she pulled me into her arms. I laid my head against her chest where the solid thump of her heart beat beneath my ear and her presence eased the pain in my soul unlike anything else could have.

  Her fingers stroked through my hair and there was this beautiful feeling of contentment that came from her which helped to ease the ache in my soul and stop the cycle of horrifying memories from dominating my mind.

  It wasn’t enough to chase out all of the dark in me. But it was the sliver of light I’d been aching for, calling me home.

  W hen Max returned the next morning at dawn, he made me and Gabriel leave so that he could wake Tory. I hadn’t spoken to her, just curled up in bed between her and Gabriel while she slept. Me and my brother had stayed up talking half the night in a silencing bubble about Tory, the Imperial Star, Lionel’s awful Orderist shit and just…everything.

  I was out in the woods close to King’s Hollow, pacing and practising my earth magic, making a whole tree regrow its leaves like it was in the height of summer before they all turned crisp and brown and came fluttering down around me in the air again. Gabriel had gone flying to ease his own anxiety and every now and then a shadow would cross overhead and I knew he was close.

  When Max finally texted an hour later to say we could come back, I ran through the trees as fast as I could, desperate to see my sister. It had been agony waiting. And I’d longed for her to come back to me for so long. I didn’t want to waste one more single second away from her.

  I made it to the treehouse and Gabriel landed in front of me. I crashed into him and he wrapped me in his arms, holding me tight. Max stepped out of the door and we parted as he gave us a tight smile, his eyes ringed with darkness.

  “How is she?” I begged.

  “She’s okay,” he said, but his voice was laced with an undertone of worry. “At least, I think she will be in time.”

  Tears burned my eyes and I wrapped my arms around his neck, feeling his Siren power reaching out to soothe me. I let my defences down so he could and brushed my fingers over the back of his neck as I released some healing energy into his body to fight the exhaustion he must have been feeling.

  “Thank you,” I breathed as he held onto me for a moment before stepping back. I could never repay him for this. One look in his eyes told me what this had cost him, and there were no words which could ever encompass my gratitude for that.

  He gestured for us to go inside and I ran into the tree trunk with Gabriel hot on my heels. We raced up the spiralling stairway and I pushed through the door into the lounge. I sprinted to Max’s room and forced myself to stop before I just burst through it. I couldn’t possibly understand what she was going
through right now, and as much as I wanted to believe she would need me close, maybe I was wrong. Maybe she wanted space. And though the idea of that broke me, I knew I had to offer anything and everything she needed.

  I knocked gently and Gabriel remained quiet, though he could probably see exactly how this was going to play out.

  “Tor?” I called, my voice quavering. Please be okay.

  “Darcy?” she called back, hope filling her voice and tears rushed down my cheeks.

  “I’m here with Gabriel.” I pressed my forehead to the door, letting the tears run, not bothering to even try and hold them back. “Can we come in?”

  “Yes,” she croaked and I twisted the door handle, pushing the door open to reveal the darkened room with a lamp switched on by the bed. She was curled up in a ball at the heart of the covers and she pushed herself up to look at us, her face blotchy from crying. I rarely ever saw my sister like that; it made me want to find Lionel Acrux this very second and make him bleed for what he’d dared do to her.

  Gabriel’s shoulder brushed mine as we waited for her to speak, but she didn’t, she just opened her arms to us with a choked sob and I ran to her, jumping onto the bed and falling on top of her as I crushed her in my arms.

  “I’m so sorry,” she sobbed and I held her tighter as I fell into the space beside her, kissing her forehead and keeping her close.

  “Don’t be sorry for anything,” I growled. “It wasn’t you. It was Lionel.”

  She shuddered at his name and I clutched her tighter as Gabriel joined us in the bed, his strong arms wrapping around us until all of our souls seemed to connect. We just held each other and I felt the love of my family binding us all so tightly together that nothing could ever break us. Not Lionel, not the stars. They might have tried to shatter our wills and crush us beneath them, but they’d never succeed. We’d always end up back together. Where we were meant to be.

  “Are you okay?” I breathed and she nodded.