He had his hands raised before him and I threw more power into the air shield protecting the three of us just before he sent a tidal wave of water crashing through the crowd of the undead.
The corpses screamed for our blood as they were swept away and I whooped in triumph as the wave crashed over my shield, leaving the three of us in place on the path.
I chanced a look back down the hill as the Reaper Hounds leapt on the corpses, tearing into them savagely, ripping bones free and devouring them with snarls and howls as they fought over their meal.
Darius leapt down onto the path ahead of us and my gaze fell to his bare arms, the ink slick with a sheen of sweat that made my heart race as I got caught up in the idea of being crushed in his firm hold. There was still some fear lingering in me every time I was around him from what Lionel had done to me, but I was starting to crave the rush of it, always hungry for the little shivers of adrenaline I got by being close to such a dangerous creature.
He took his axe from the sheath at his back and waited for us to catch up to him, giving me an assessing gaze that sent my heart racing before we ran on in search of Darcy and Orion.
"Over here!" Caleb shouted from somewhere up ahead and I spotted him and Seth who had shifted back into Fae form and pulled some sweatpants on. Max always carried spare shit for his friends; he probably had a whole outfit change in his bag for me too if I needed it.
They were all stood in front of an enormous tomb beneath an arching willow tree and we ran to join them.
"You only have to say the word and I shall charge down yonder to delay those beasts, my lady," Geraldine said, swinging her flail as she moved into position by Seth's side.
"No one's going anywhere, Geraldine," I commanded. "Just stay beside me and let's try and not have our souls sucked out, yeah?"
I looked around us to get my bearings and spotted mine and Darcy's rings lodged in the round stone door of the tomb, marking Orion and Darcy's passage inside. The door seemed to be shut tight and I couldn’t hear any sound coming from inside, but they must have been in there.
"Close your eyes, Roxy," Darius commanded as the baying howls of the Reaper Hounds signalled them taking up the scent again.
"You close your eyes," I bit back as he moved to stand in front of me with his axe raised. "I can use air and earth magic to sense where they are and flames clearly don't bother them that much, so maybe you should just stand behind me."
"Not a fucking chance, gorgeous," he said, smirking at me tauntingly before turning his back on me and hefting the axe in his hands.
"If I die, don't let my mom clear out my room," Seth muttered. "There's like soooo much porn beneath my bed."
Caleb snorted a laugh as he closed his eyes, the earth Elementals all tapping into their connection with the ground to let them feel the Reaper Hounds coming.
"By the guiding light of the moon, I know we will prevail," Geraldine said, her eyes closed as she swung her flail at her side and my heart raced as the sound of the pack drew closer.
As the first of the huge, black beasts crested the hill, I snapped my eyes shut and used my connection to the earth to buck the ground beneath their feet.
Caleb, Geraldine and Seth all joined me as we felt every place their paws met dirt and we thrust spears of rock and wood up into the paths of the oncoming beasts.
The scent of rot and death washed over us as they ran closer and my friends yelled out as they fell into battle with the beasts come to drag us to hell.
I kept my eyes clamped shut as I felt for every movement against the ground, every stirring of the air and I cast deadly magic at them time and again.
Darius was swinging his axe with savage blows as the beasts reached us and I could feel the ripples of his movement rebounding through the air every time he moved.
The need to open my eyes was overwhelming and I had to fight it with every scrap of self control I had. But as Darius grunted in pain, I couldn't help but crack an eye open to see what had happened to him.
My breath stilled in my chest as he fell to his knees before a monstrous beast, his eyes wide and locked in the blood red gaze of the creature. His axe fell slack at his side and my heart fractured.
The Reaper Hound prowled forward, teeth bared and drool sliding from its jaws as its rotting flesh was stretched into a hellish snarl.
"No!" I roared, racing towards him as the beast's red eyes flared with power and I ripped the axe from Darius’s grip before swinging it with every scrap of strength I held in my body.
The axe fell on the hound's neck, bone snapping and a huge thump sounding as I severed its head with a furious scream as I refused to let that monster steal him from me.
Darius gasped as he rocked back onto his heels, suddenly freed from its monstrous power.
Max roared a challenge to the sky and a huge air shield was blasted into existence surrounding all of us as he fought to keep the creatures back.
Seth raised his hands too, strengthening the magic as the hounds dashed themselves against the shield, barking and snarling in wild fury as they tried to break through it.
I lunged at Darius, dropping the axe by my feet and slamming into him hard enough to knock him back onto his ass as I landed in his lap.
"Is it you?" I demanded, looking into his dark eyes and grabbing his face between my hands as I held him still, searching for the man the stars had chosen for my mate. "Are you still you?"
"It's me, Roxy," he said roughly, his hands moving to grasp my waist as he looked at me like I was the answer to every question he'd ever asked of the world.
Relief spilled through me in an overwhelming torrent that made me sag forward as I pressed my forehead to his for the briefest of moments before rearing back again.
"You fucking idiot," I snapped, punching him in the chest as I realised he was okay. "Why the fuck were your eyes open?"
"Because I wasn't going to risk them getting past me to you," he snarled like that was the most obvious thing in the world and I punched him again.
"And what would I do without you?" I demanded, making his eyes widen with surprise before I even realised what I'd said, but fuck it.
I didn't even want to think about the answer to that question or the implications of me asking it, so I just tipped my chin up and climbed off of him, closing my eyes tight as I raised my hands and added my air magic to the shield.
I cursed as the hounds crashed against it, trying to force their way in and the entire thing rattled with the strength of their power.
"How long can you hold it?" Caleb demanded from my left.
"Longer if we power share," Max grunted and Darius grasped my left arm instantly.
The moment I felt his magic pushing up against the barrier of mine, I opened myself to it, the feeling of his power merging with mine the most natural, exhilarating sensation in the world.
But if I'd thought that was a rush then it was nothing compared to what happened when he connected his magic to Caleb's then Seth's and the barrage of their magic flooding into my body almost knocked me from my feet.
I gasped aloud as I fought to contain so much power at once and when Geraldine grabbed my other arm and her and Max's power joined with ours too, my knees almost buckled from the weight of all of it.
"Ho-ly fuck," Caleb groaned.
"This might just be better than sex," Seth gasped and I made a sound of acknowledgement which came out as a breathy moan.
"Good golly lobsters," Geraldine sighed and for once I knew exactly what she fucking meant.
The Reaper Hounds continued to throw themselves against the shield and I grunted with the effort of holding them back as we all flooded our magic into keeping it in place.
"Come on, Darcy," I growled, hoping for some miraculous twin instincts to give her the message to hurry the fuck up, because even with all of our combined power holding this shield up, I knew it wasn't going to remain in place forever. And I wasn't sure I liked our chances against the Reaper Hounds once it broke.
M y mind was cl
ouded by bloodlust as I hunted the blue haired girl through a sea of stone statues, the call of her blood like nothing I’d ever known. I needed it. I had to have it, rip into her veins and drink every last drop. There was a thundering noise in my head drowning out all sounds of her, but she had to be close. I could sense her here, hiding in the dark.
I shot around the room as fast as I could and finally my gaze fell on her huddled behind a statue.
I grabbed her off of the floor and she screamed as I threw her against the statue to try and pin her in place. It toppled backwards from the force I used, smashing into pieces and I snarled as I lost my grip on her. She hit the floor among the rubble and scrambled away, casting a ring of blue and red fire around herself to keep me back. But nothing could. I’d burn for her, I knew that in the remnants of my sanity. I’d stand in the flames of hell and die for this girl’s blood, but first I’d sate this thirst in me that devoured me from the inside out.
“No! Lance – stop!” she cried as I dove through the flames, pinning her beneath my weight on the ground.
The scent of my own burned flesh slid under my nose as her hands pressed against my arms to try and keep me away, her skin blazing with the heat of the sun but I refused to flinch away from the pain of it.
Her blue hair fanned out around her and I gazed at the thrumming pulse at the base of her neck, knowing with absolute certainty that I was going to drink. My fangs pricked my tongue and her hands clawed at me as she tried to stop me, but I was one of the strongest creatures in this world. She couldn’t escape. She’d have to kill me first.
“Lance!” she screamed and I growled against the pain of the burns she left on my arms.
I captured her chin, forcing her head sideways to expose her throat and dropped my mouth to her flesh. The vein in her neck was pulsing with the rapid beat of her heart, desperate for me to sink my teeth into it, but the scent of her made me pause.
She was the sweetest thing. Honey and sugar and all things good. She reminded me of a fairground, a school, a secret.
Another growl raked against my throat as the beast in me begged me to bite, but a different part of my soul was holding me back.
I saw memories scrolling through my mind of this girl. Her standing before me for the first time, her hair dipped in blue, her eyes wide and curious. Then her sitting in my class, me stealing looks at her I had no right to steal. The taste of her lips against mine for the first time, hidden at the bottom of a pool, then the way she’d looked dripping wet outside my front door with a single word on her lips. A word that meant everything to me. Because it meant her. My girl. My queen.
“Blue,” I groaned, releasing her chin so she turned her head to look at me with fear in her deep green eyes.
I couldn’t bear her looking at me like that and in the haze of my mind, I leaned down without really making the decision as a thread of fate seemed to drag me toward her. I pressed my mouth to hers, transfixed.
Her hand slammed into my cheek and I grunted as my head wheeled sideways.
“What the hell?” she demanded, panting as she tried to shove me back.
The spell finally let go of me fully, the power in the air dissolving, freeing me, returning my mind to me. And clarity was a bitch.
“Shit.” I kneeled back, pulling her up to sit and anxiously checking her over for injuries, snarling at the bruises I found.
“Did I hurt you?” I asked in a panic, a weight crushing my chest at what I’d just done.
She gaped at me then shook her head. “Are you…you again?”
“Yeah,” I growled. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
“It’s alright. But what the hell happened?” she breathed and I swallowed the dry lump in my throat. A thumping rang in my ears, the noise like a Siren’s song that called to me. But nothing in this world could make me turn away from Darcy right then.
“I don’t know.”
“You’re hurt,” she said in a choked voice, brushing her hands close to the burns on my arms.
“I’ll heal,” I promised. “We just need to get out of here and get our magic back.”
“You’ve passed the test. A new Master of the Zodiac Guild is born,” an ethereal voice filled my head and Darcy stiffened as she heard it too. “Protector of the royal line, safe keeper of the heart.”
Light shimmered from under the lid of the sarcophagus at the centre of the room. It shined brighter and brighter as I pushed to my feet and helped Darcy up beside me. We walked together and when I took her hand, she didn’t pull it free. I glanced at her as we approached it and I pushed the lid open to see inside. An object sat in the empty grave, illuminated with a brilliant whiteness. I reached out toward the blinding light, my fingers brushing a rough stone.
I wrapped my hand around it when nothing bad happened, taking it into my palm and a jolt of white hot energy ran through me. I looked down at my forearm in shock, finding the shimmering mark of a sword igniting beneath my flesh. It was the exact same as the one Jasper had had and my mind spun with all that meant. The new Master of the Guild? Holy fuck.
“Vega princess, half of one whole. Seek the palace in the deep. Where the last of them lie,” the voice spoke once more.
“Please tell me you’re also hearing the star talking to you?” Darcy whispered and a low laugh escaped me.
“Yeah, I hear it. Fuck, it’s pretty.” I turned it over in my palm, the rock rough and glittering like diamonds.
“Son of my last keeper,” it whispered to me. “Do what the King could not.”
“What couldn’t he do?” I asked in confusion.
“Do what the King could not,” it repeated then the light faded and the star sat peacefully in my palm like it wasn’t a magical talking rock that had come from the heavens.
I held it out to Darcy and her eyes widened.
“It seems like it wants you as the keeper,” she said.
“I can’t take it home to Lionel, beautiful,” I said with a smirk, my mood going through the roof at the fact that we’d actually pulled this off. We’d gotten one over on that fucking asshole at last.
She reached out and took the star, brushing her thumb over it before pushing it into her pocket.
“We need to get back to the others,” she said firmly but paused, suddenly reaching into the sarcophagus and picking up a single Tarot card. The Chariot.
Shock rattled through me as I recognised the swirling silver writing on the back. It was another message from Astrum. Darcy moved closer so I could read it too.
You’ve found the final card.
The stars have aligned, my duty is done.
When all hope fails, Vega Princesses, find courage in the light.
“That’s it,” she gasped. “This is the last one.”
“The Chariot means taking control,” I said hopefully. “Taking the reins and-”
“Getting on the path to victory,” she finished with a wide grin then tucked it into her pocket. “Let’s go.”
I scooped her up and shot out of the room, racing back through the maze of tunnels and up the stairs into the tomb.
The sound of grinding stone said the door was opening and Darcy urged me on as I rushed forward to get out.
A cacophony of noise reached me as I found our friends holding off a pack of Reaper Hounds right outside the tomb. My heart lurched and I slammed my hand over Darcy’s eyes as I shut my own.
“We’re here!” I shouted and an earth shattering boom sounded before a Dragon’s roar filled my ears in a clear command.
“The rings,” Darcy said urgently, trying to fight her way out of my arms, but I wasn’t letting her go, not for fucking anything.
I turned, cracking my eyes open and grabbing the silver rings from the tomb door and the whole thing sealed itself once more.
“Get on!” Tory screamed and I shut my eyes again as I turned back towards the sound of her voice. Her hand curled around my arm as she dragged me and Darcy toward Darius.
“Shut your damn eyes,” I snappe
d as Darcy begged her to as well.
“They are shut, I opened them for like one millisecond,” Tory growled.
I pushed Darcy up ahead of me as I placed one hand on the hot scales of my friend and boosted Tory up after her. I climbed on and a hand found mine which I knew was Blue’s by touch alone. I sat behind her and felt Geraldine slide into place behind me, knowing it was her by the way she breathed, “Holy guacamole, I’m upon the loins of a lizard.”
Warm magic swept out from Darcy’s hand and the burns on my body healed over. I immediately pushed my own magic back into her veins, healing any bruise or mark I’d left on her in the tomb. It made me sick that I’d done that. I knew I’d been under a spell, but fuck, that didn’t make me feel any better about it.
Geraldine’s arms slid around my waist as Darius shifted beneath us. “Holy abs, whose man muscle am I holding onto?” she cried in my ear and I snorted.
“It’s your old teacher,” I called to her.
“You’re only as young as you think you are,” she said then Darius took off and she wailed like a banshee, her hands sliding up to grip my pecs and squeezing hard.
“By the stars,” I swore, pulling Darcy against me as Geraldine nearly clawed my nipples off.
I opened my eyes just as Darius sailed over the gate far below and flew across the forest as more furious howls rang out while the pack chased us. Darcy’s midnight blue hair fluttered against my face and I held her tighter, relief filling me at getting the fuck away from that graveyard.
“By the light of the moon upon my Great Aunt Delia’s bosoms, this is the most magnanimous ride of my life!” Geraldine yelled.
Seth started howling and Max and Caleb joined in as we soared up toward the full moon.
“Wanna loosen your grip there a bit, Grus?” I growled as her fingers clamped tighter over my pecs.
“A strapping man like you can handle a little light lady-handed squeezing,” she insisted and Darcy craned her neck to try and see what the fuss was about, bursting out laughing as she realised what was going on.
“Are we stardusting out of here or what?” Max called.
Zodiac Academy: Fated Throne Page 48