Caleb had bought me a pair of fluffy slippers and Seth was still on the feeding kick, bringing me candy all the time. Of course, Geraldine had me swimming in bagels every morning and Max was basically my emotional crutch, ending up sleeping in my bed with me half the time to help with my nightmares.
Darcy was my other half so just her being with me was all I needed, but of course she’d been pampering me nonstop too and we stole as much time together here as we could get away with.
And Darius…well, Darius was just there whenever I needed him. I couldn’t be alone with him obviously and we couldn’t get close physically for any real length of time, but he found other ways to be close to me.
Like the way he always set a fire blazing in my room before I even thought about heading to bed. Or the way there was a perfectly brewed coffee with my name on it waiting for me every damn morning without fail, even if he slept at the palace with Orion. He’d even bought me my own mug – not that he had given it to me to unwrap or anything like a normal person. My coffee had just started appearing in it every morning without him saying a word. It was baby pink with a golden R printed on it, a crown casually hanging from the top corner of the letter and a pair of wings spread wide around it. Not me at all - totally girly, princessy, OTT on the cuteness and with the complete wrong initial printed on it like he’d been trying to make sure I freaking hated it…and yet if anyone else dared to drink from it I kinda felt like burning their face off in case they broke it, so maybe I loved it. Not that I’d be telling him that.
In fact, he was so in tune with my caffeine needs that I hadn’t actually made myself a coffee once in all the time I’d spent here. So now I was standing looking at the over engineered piece of garbage they called a coffee machine, wondering what the fuck I was supposed to do to it to get my caffeine fix. Where were the instant granules? Hell, where were the mugs kept? And the sugar? I hadn’t slept all night and I was going to start getting the twitches if I didn’t feed my habit soon.
My skin prickled with awareness and I stiffened as I felt a large body moving up close behind me.
"I can help you out if you're not sure how to use it," Darius said, leaning around me and fiddling with some of the buttons and shit on the machine as his chest pressed to my back.
"Erm, thanks," I said, trying to concentrate on what he was doing so that I'd remember next time while being utterly overwhelmed by his mere presence instead.
He was saying something about beans and moving a funny looking handle thing from one part of the machine to another, but all I could think about was the heat of his body pressing to mine and the way his stubble was grazing my temple as he leaned over me while he spoke.
"Got it?" Darius asked as he finished putting the frothy milk into the coffee. So much for the instant shit I used to buy back in the mortal realm. I had been wondering why it tasted so much better here and I guessed I had my answer, but I still had no idea what he’d just done so I shook my head. Nope, I was distracted by how damn good your body feels against mine and wanting to lick your tattoos. Damn, it had been a long time since I’d gotten laid.
"Maybe you make it and I'll hand them out?" I suggested, drawing a laugh from him.
"You want me to show you again?" he offered, pressing closer so that my ass drove against his crotch and I bit my lip to hold back a gasp.
"Make mine a triple shot, I'm dog tired over here," Seth called and I looked over at him just in time to see Max punch him in the bicep. "What? Don't you get it? Dog tired - because I'm a-"
"You're ruining the moment, jackass," Max growled and I quickly ducked out of my space crushed between Darius and the counter as I grabbed the coffee he'd already made and took it over to Geraldine.
"Oh my gracious," she gasped. "My lady you should not be reduced to a serving maid for a wretch such as I - leave the running around to one of these lowly Heirs. They are much more suited to the task of servitude-"
"Like fuck we are," Max growled and I just waved her off with a laugh as I moved back to grab the next cup from Darius.
Every time he passed me a mug, his fingers brushed mine and I couldn't help but bite my lip against the stupid ass smirk I was fighting. It was like we were playing a game against the stars, trying to figure out exactly where we crossed the line between them not noticing our interactions and them doing something to intervene. And I wanted to play it all the damn time.
When everyone finally had coffee and Max had pushed an energetic feeling over everyone to help us perk up after being out all night, Darius and I moved over to sit down with the others and found there was only one spot left on the end of the sofa.
Seth and Caleb were sitting on the other two couch seats, Seth leaning low in his chair so that his head was pressed to Caleb's side while his feet were propped up on the coffee table.
Darcy had taken the armchair to the left of the fire and Max was on the right with Geraldine perched on the arm of it with her feet in his lap.
I took a step towards Darcy, but Darius caught my arm and tugged me down on the couch instead, placing me carefully in between his legs as he hung one over the arm and spread them as wide as possible in that my-dick-is-too-big-to-function way of his. It meant we weren’t actually touching but I was practically in his lap at the same time.
He slung an arm over the back of the couch and took a sip of his coffee, maintaining eye contact with me as I looked over my shoulder at him and he raised an eyebrow as if daring me to make a fuss.
I decided against that and turned to look at the others instead, pretending not to notice the way they were all watching us as I drank a bit of my own coffee.
"Let's see it then," I said as Darcy raised her eyebrows at me, twinunicating the fact that she wanted to discuss the Darius situation with me asap while I arched an eyebrow, letting her know I expected all the details about her and Orion in that tomb.
She cut a glance at the others, gave me the hint of a nod then pulled the Imperial Star from her pocket before holding it out for all of us to look at.
Seth released a low whistle, leaning forward to pluck it from her hand and holding it up so it caught the light of the rising sun as it came through the window.
"This would look damn good in a sceptre," he said, tossing it up and down a couple of times so that a rainbow of light spilled across the room. "Why doesn't anyone carry a sceptre anymore? Maybe I could bring it back."
"Nah," Caleb said, leaning forward to pluck it from his grasp. "This belongs in a big ass crown."
"You mean to suit your big ass head?" Darius teased, leaning around me to place his mug down on the table beside mine before reaching for the Imperial Star and Caleb tossed it over to him.
Seth flopped back, dropping his head into Caleb's lap and whimpering as he gave him the puppy dog eyes and Caleb began stroking his fingers through his long hair while shaking his head like he didn't really want to. But he could have just said no, so I was gonna call bullshit on that.
Darius sat forward, his arm winding around my waist as he handed over the star and I sucked in a deep breath as the power of the thing hit me like a solid weight landing on my chest.
"Holy shit," I breathed as it tingled against my fingers and my magic rose up to caress it like it was aching for the chance to use it. "That feels incredible."
"I know, right?" Darcy grinned while Seth cocked his head in confusion.
"It just felt like a rock to me," he said, glancing up at Caleb who nodded.
I exchanged another look with my sister as I passed it to Geraldine who dropped to one knee in front of me before accepting it.
"Of course none of you unworthy buffoons can feel the power within the weapon of the royals," she exclaimed as she held the Imperial Star up over her head like she was afraid of it getting too close to the ground. "You do not have royal blood running in your veins and therefore are not able to tap into the power that resides within. Only the true Queens can feel it!"
"I felt something," Darius put in. "It wasn't a lo
t, but it was more than nothing. Like there was power laying in the heart of it behind a veil I couldn't see through."
Geraldine gasped, almost dropping the star as she clutched her pearls - which she was honest to shit actually wearing - and glared daggers at Darius behind me.
"Your unworthy usurper of a father has placed his scaly behind on the throne and crowned himself King. His blood runs in your veins which must make you a...a...a prince of darkness."
All of the other Heirs shifted uncomfortably at that announcement and I frowned as I realised there was some truth to it. They might have all been evenly matched before Lionel had gifted Darius the shadows, but now that he had them, he was technically stronger. And with his father on the throne, he was next in line...
"Calm down, Geraldine, I'm not a prince of anything," Darius growled. "I would never claim to be the heir to the throne. My intentions have always been clear and have never faltered. I stand with my brothers united."
The other Heirs relaxed at that while Seth snorted a laugh. "I know you'd never turn on us, Darius. You're too hard pressed for friends as it is - without us you'd have no one and nothing."
"Except a comfy throne and shiny crown," Caleb joked and Darius laughed dismissively while Max leaned forward to pluck the star from Geraldine's hand.
"Well, I can't feel anything," he said with a shrug. "But if you girls can then maybe you can wield it after all?"
He tossed it across the coffee table and Darcy caught it as Geraldine screamed in horror, throwing the back of her hand over her eyes.
I couldn't help but laugh and Max scooped her up off of the floor, dropping her in his lap as he murmured at her to calm down.
“The diary said only a reigning sovereign could use it,” Darius said.
"Well, it’s worth a shot. Give it a go," I urged and Darcy frowned as she looked at the shimmering stone in her palm.
We all fell silent as we watched her and I flinched in surprise as Darius's hand landed on my shoulder blade before he scored a line down the exact spot where my wings emerged when I shifted.
A breathy moan slid from my lips which I hurriedly covered with a cough as the others looked our way and Darius chuckled before doing it again.
Ho-ly fuck, why did that feel so incredible? He needed to stop. And never stop. And oh shit, he was doing it again…
I tried to ignore what he was doing as Darcy stared at the star for a bit longer before giving up with a sigh.
"Nothing," she said. "I can feel the power of it, but it's kinda like Darius said, there's something standing between it and me and I can't seem to merge my magic with it or get it to respond at all. It sounds crazy, but back in the cave it spoke to me and Lance. It said we need to seek the palace in the deep where the last of them lie. And…that we need to do what the King could not.”
“Sounds like gibberish to me,” Seth said and Geraldine scoffed.
“The voice of a star is sacred, it must mean something of upmost importance,” she exclaimed.
“We heard it talking in the vision of our father,” I said, trying to recall everything we’d heard it say. “Didn’t it mention a palace then too?”
“Yeah,” Darcy said. “The Palace of Flames.” She looked to the Heirs to see if they might be able to shine some light on that, but no one had an answer. My sister reached into her pocket, taking out a Tarot card and my heart beat harder.
“Is that-?” I asked and she nodded, sending it over to me on a flutter of air. I gazed at the picture of a man riding in a chariot accompanied by two Sphinxes and turned it over to read the message.
“It’s the last one,” Darcy said and I smiled, tracing my fingers over the lettering.
We’d done what he’d wanted, and I guessed if these Guild people had wanted us to be able to find the Imperial Star then maybe it made sense for them to use this frustratingly annoying way to show us where it was. But still. We had it at last. So maybe the old guy had been onto something when he’d left a trail of magical Tarot cards after his demise. Totally batshit, but pretty helpful in the long run.
Darcy gazed at the star again in her palm. “I guess we really would have to claim the throne to use it."
"No chance of that then," Darius muttered and we all stilled, casting looks at each other as we were all reminded of the huge divide that still sat heavily between us.
It may have seemed like we were getting along like one big happy family these days but in reality, we were just united in our goal to dethrone Lionel. After that, all bets were off.
"You rotten, dirty scoundrels cannot seriously still believe-" Geraldine began but she was interrupted by a knock at the window and we looked up to find Gabriel standing on the balcony with his black wings fluttering in the breeze.
Seth used a bit of air magic to open the window for him and he hopped inside, his wings fading out of existence as he shifted back into his Fae form.
"Oh my, I'll never know why I didn't suspect your royal blood before the truth was revealed, dear Gabriel," Geraldine said, fanning her face with her hand. "The cut of your physique is clearly that of a true, blue blooded specimen. The broadness of your chest alone-"
"Put a shirt on dude, you look cold," Max snapped, using air magic to whip a shirt out of the chest at the side of the room and tossing it into Gabriel's face.
Darius ran his thumb down my shoulder blade again but I shrugged him off, frowning over the throne comment and reminding myself of all the reasons I had not to be getting so damn comfortable with him. Gah, he was so frustrating. Why did he have to be so freaking tempting even though I knew that when it came down to it, we would never truly be on the same side? We would always be waiting for the other to bow and that could only end in a fight and a loser.
"I saw myself coming here but I don't know why," Gabriel said, tossing the shirt aside and moving to lean against the fireplace.
"We retrieved the Imperial Star tonight," I said, grinning at him as his eyebrows rose and Darcy lifted the glittering stone to show him.
"You what? How...I saw you heading off campus and knew it was something that mattered, but I didn't..." Gabriel's brow furrowed. "Something this important happening to the two of you should have had my head spinning with visions all day. How is it possible that I didn't even realise that you were heading out to get it last night?"
"Sorry dude, I should have told you," I said. "But I just kinda assume you know everything, so it didn't really occur-"
"I don't know everything," Gabriel said with a shit eating grin lifting the corner of his lips which said he pretty much did. "But I do have a damn good handle on the stuff that counts. And something this big happening to my sisters-"
"What does that mean?" Seth interrupted him and Gabriel cocked his head as he looked at the stone.
"I'm not sure. Can I have a look at it?"
Darcy passed it to him and we all watched as he turned it over in his hands, brushing his thumb back and forth over the rough stone then closing his eyes as he concentrated.
"I can feel great power in it, but I can't access it," he said.
"How the hell can you feel it?" Caleb demanded. "I thought it was only people with royal blood and you're not the Savage King's son so you shouldn't be able to feel it any more than I can."
"Our mother was a princess where she came from. Maybe as her oldest son, Gabriel technically has a claim to that throne?" Darcy suggested.
"Oh, what sense this makes!" Geraldine gasped. "I have long since admired what a dashing and magnanimous figure you cast and now knowing that you are indeed a prince-"
"Let's not get carried away," Gabriel interrupted as Max muttered something about him not being that dashing. "I'm part of a royal line, not a prince and I don't see any future where I even travel to our mother's home country let alone have any interest in claiming some foreign throne. My heart and my family are in Solaria and I intend to stay here and stand by my sisters' sides as they rise up and claim the throne. Then I'll serve them as their Royal Seer. That's
it. Anyway, back to the point at hand, I can't see anything about this star. Nothing. I can't even see which one of you will take it from my hand. So I'm almost certain that it's shielded from my visions in the same way as all of the stars' decisions are. They gift me The Sight when it comes to things that affect people I know or love, but they don't allow me to see their movements with things such as Elysian Mate bonds and this feels the same."
"So Vard shouldn't be able to see it either?" I asked hopefully.
Gabriel's upper lip peeled back at the mention of Lionel's choice for a Royal Seer. "No. That two bit con artist doesn't have a tenth of the control over The Sight that I do. I'm willing to bet the only reason he even manages to see anything at all is because he's sitting his unworthy ass in the chair in the Royal Seer’s Chamber and using the power of it to amplify his meagre abilities tenfold."
"So how come you didn't just sit in it and see everything you could ever want to see during the summer while Darcy still lived in the palace if it’s so amazing?" Seth asked, giving Gabriel an accusing look and Gabriel sighed.
"I did. I sat in it multiple times and tried everything I could to get it to work for me, but it’s enchanted to only work for the Royal Seer and seeing as I am not that and Darcy couldn't give me the title unless she claimed the throne, it wouldn't work. Believe me, I tried everything I could think of to make it work for me, hoping it would show me some way for us to get to Tory."
Gabriel's pained gaze moved to me and my heart twisted at the thought of what they'd all been through while I was held by Lionel in his manor. I knew they'd done everything they could and I couldn't imagine how much it had hurt my siblings to know there was nothing they could do to save me while terrified of what was happening to me. It would have sent me insane.
"So if we can hide the Imperial Star then there should be no way for Lionel to ever even find out we have it?" I asked and Gabriel nodded.
"Let's just test my theory about me not being able to see it first. I'll close my eyes and one of you throw it at me. My Sight always warns me of something aimed my way like that so if I don't see it then we know it truly is shrouded by the stars."
Zodiac Academy: Fated Throne Page 50