Zodiac Academy: Fated Throne

by Caroline Peckham

  “How do you know?” I asked, doubt flitting through me.

  But I knew I wanted it. I needed Lionel to fall, and right now it felt more possible than ever. We had the Imperial Star. We had a connection to a sea of memories which could hold answers to defeating the Shadow Princess, to unravelling the power Lionel currently held in the kingdom.

  “I’ve known since I crowned you in my car. Just don’t ever forget you were my queen first.” He yanked me forward and his mouth met mine, his kiss urgent and furious and I couldn’t help but give in to it for two whole seconds. I felt urged toward him as if by the stars themselves and I remembered what it was like to have him as my will was broken down inch by inch.

  But then I pulled away, shaking my head, unsure of myself, of him, of anything.

  “Tell me no. Say the word,” he growled and my lips parted but it didn’t come out. Why wouldn’t it come out??

  I stepped away, backing up as I tried to get my head straight. But it was crooked as shit.

  He stalked after me, slow and intentionally and I couldn’t ignore how every fibre of my being burned for him. “I thought you were done with me, Blue, I really did. I hoped it too even though that knowledge would have destroyed me. But then I found out you were sleeping with the dog.”

  “We’ve been through this-” I started in exasperation but he spoke over me.

  “I almost lost all hope for us, beautiful, even though I wasn’t meant to have any in the first place. But I did, I just hid it really fucking deep, denying it to myself that I still dreamed about a future where you were mine, no matter how impossible that seemed. And after you told me you weren’t his and kissed me back in the tomb, fuck, I’ve not thought of anything else since. Nothing but your mouth on mine and you pulling me closer. But I still kept away. Because I can’t give you anything. Nothing’s changed. I know that in my heart. I know it and I still can’t accept it. Because tonight I found out what it was like to have you dying in my arms and nothing has ever terrified me more. Nothing, Blue.”

  “So what are you saying?” I demanded as I rounded the couch and put the coffee table between us, my heart jack-hammering like crazy.

  He shot toward me and raked his thumb up my cheekbone. “I’m saying I fucked up everything. And it’s not getting unfucked any time soon. But I also can’t stay away from you any longer.”

  “You don’t get to just decide you want me again and expect us to pick up where we left off.” A snarl left my lips as I shoved him in the chest and he pushed back against me, grabbing my hips and yanking me closer.

  “I know,” he said on a furious breath. “I wish there was a future where I could offer you everything you deserve, but there isn’t. That life doesn’t exist for me. Fate closed the door on it, but some part of me is still foolishly scratching at it trying to find a way back in.”

  “Lance you’re so fucking stupid,” I snapped and his brows pulled together like he damn well knew that, but I didn’t think he even understood it in the way I meant. I knotted my fingers in his hair, leaning up and staring him in the eyes. “You’re the best man I know, the best, fucking stupidest, most frustrating man I know. Whether you’re a professor, a convict, a fugitive, a power shamed Fae or all of the above, there isn’t one thing you could be that wouldn’t make me want you. But I just can’t trust you.”

  “You still want me?” he asked like that was all he’d heard.

  I wanted to fight and claw and scream to get through to him, but I just stood there trapped in the gaze of the man who’d captured my heart so completely that it barely even felt like it belonged to me anymore. It had never healed when he’d left. And now he was asking me to surrender for some finite amount of time, and the worst thing was that my heart wanted it too.

  I pushed away all of the doubt and fear inside me over us and just took one sweet moment for myself, surrendering to this love and letting it consume me like fire. The second I pulled him closer, he groaned in desperation and my heart beat like powerful wings as his mouth fell against mine. I knew nothing was fixed between us, that it possibly couldn’t ever be, but I’d craved him for so long and I couldn’t think. I wanted it to be us again. Just one more time.

  His tongue moved with mine and I felt the stars colliding somewhere above us as he put his hands on me, raking them up my back with a growl of need. His fingers dragged between my shoulder blades and I moaned, shivering all over from his firm and demanding touches. Phoenix fire sparked from my flesh and I couldn’t control it as he grasped my hips and the heat of his chest moulded against my body.

  I didn’t dare break our kiss as he lifted me so I wrapped my legs around his waist. Little fires blazed in my periphery and his hand shot out to douse them with water before the whole place went up in flames. He sped across the room, knocking over a lamp as he crushed me to the wall and the wallpaper went up in blaze. He broke the kiss and slammed his hand to the wall, sending ice spilling up and away from us, coating the whole room and turning it into a shimmering winter wonderland.

  “Oh shit,” I breathed, looking at the mess we’d made of Gabriel’s home.

  “You can burn the house to the ground if you want, beautiful, I’ll happily rebuild it brick by brick when you’re done with me.” He captured my chin, yanking me back to look at him and my breathing faltered as I fell into the endless depths of his eyes. The truth sat on my tongue, weighing it down as heavily as lead. That I’d never be done with him. I loved him too completely. In every minute of every hour, right down to the space between seconds.

  This was a terrible idea with a million repercussions that I’d have to face tomorrow. But weren’t all the best ideas that kind?

  I gripped the back of his neck, drawing him toward me, my palm sliding down to his chest to feel the furious, desperate beating of his heart.

  The whole world came crashing down around us, the roof shattering above and I cast an air shield with a scream as Orion clutched me to his chest and started running. Dragon fire spilled through the air, tearing across the room and ringing around us in a blaze that melted the furniture. Orion didn’t slow as he ran at the flames, but the heat sweeping toward us told me he’d die if he tried to get through. I did the only thing I could think of to stop him, ripping his legs out from beneath him with a whip of air. He hit the ground and we tumbled toward the fire before I threw up a wall of air to stop us before we rolled into it.

  Orion wrenched a pouch of stardust out of his pocket, tossing a pinch over us but it fell in a cascade of glitter around us without us going anywhere. “The wards aren’t completely down,” he cursed.

  Debris tumbled down from above as a huge shadow blocked out the light of the moon and Lionel’s Dragon form dropped out of the sky, landing on the shattered roof and glaring down at us, his jaws wide and fire flickering in the back of his throat. Panic bled through me as I cast air beneath us the same time Orion did, grabbing onto each other as we propelled ourselves over the flames. Lionel snapped his jaws at us and I blasted out a line of Phoenix fire at him before we hit the ground, making him rear away.

  Orion lifted me up again and started running once more, blasting a window apart ahead of us and diving out of it. A huge wall of shadow stood in the sweeping vineyard ahead, ringing the entire property and trapping us in.

  “No,” I gasped.

  Clara stood between the vines with a crazed smile on her lips and the awful Seer Vard stood just behind her.

  “Now, my King!” he cried and Lionel released a huge blast of fire which crashed over our combined air shield.

  I yelled in exertion as Orion and I threw more and more of our power into the dome surrounding us, the fire spilling everywhere until it was all I could see.

  I acted fast, casting an illusion of the two of us standing in our place then blasted the ground apart as Orion helped to conceal the hole. He shot down into the tunnel I carved as I held onto his back just as the fire surrounding us fell away. The illusion wouldn’t last long, but it might give us just long
enough to get beyond the wards and stardust out of here. Lionel must have broken through them somehow, despite the strength of them. And my gut told me Clara had had a hand in it, her power unimaginable. It made me sick to think Vard had seen us here. That we actually thought we’d been safe.

  The tunnel was completely unstable, collapsing in behind us as I blasted through the earth, casting a Faelight to see by as we moved faster and faster. One falter by either or us and we were done for.

  A tremendous roar above ground told me Lionel was coming for us and an awful thundering, ripping sounded through the earth over our heads.

  “Faster!” I screamed, clinging to Orion with one arm while tunnelling deeper, further.

  Light spilled over us as the earth was cleaved apart above and tendrils of shadow clawed through it, digging us out.

  I felt the tingle of magic against my body, the ward surely just ahead. But something wound around my waist, dragging me backwards and wrenching me above ground.

  I was flung into the vineyard and I rolled at speed, the air knocked out of me as I crashed through the vines, softening the earth with my power a second too late. I got to my feet with my head spinning, not hesitating as I spotted Lionel in his Fae form, a dark robe wrapped around him as he raised his hands and the force of a hurricane blasted at me. I threw my own air against his, digging my heels in to stop him forcing me back, desperate to turn and look for Orion. But I couldn’t take my eyes off of this monster.

  Vard strode up behind him, glee twisting his features as he watched and whispered in Lionel’s ear, giving him an advantage I couldn’t counter. But I had to damn well try.

  I held my shield up with one hand then cast Phoenix fire toward him with the other, a tunnel of flames racing away from me. Clara shot into his path, throwing out a swathe of shadow which swallowed up the fire before she was thrown backwards with a shriek.

  “Fight me like Fae!” I roared at Lionel.

  “Now, sire!” Vard barked then a whip of air slammed into my shield, cracking through it like a nut.

  I cried out, blasting more Phoenix fire away from me as Clara shrouded Lionel in shadow. I couldn’t see where any of my enemies were as I continued to throw my power at the Dragon King. Another whip of air caught my wrists, twisting them violently to the sides and I screamed as Lionel snapped every bone in my hands.

  Orion suddenly crashed into me from the side, carrying me away from them once more as fast as he could possibly go.

  “Heal me!” I gasped in a panic, unable to cast anything and he reached up to press his hand to my arm. His power washed into me and the bones started snapping back into place, but his magic was waning and fear hit me.

  “Fuck,” he growled.

  He’d used too much magic tonight and he hadn’t fed. I should never have let my guard down. I should have let him feed as soon as I’d replenished my own magic back at the house.

  His power stuttered out and he put on a final burst of speed, giving everything to just getting us beyond the wards.

  We reached the wall of shadow and I turned my hands to it, blasting out as much Phoenix fire as I could to carve a hole in it.

  Something collided with Orion’s back, knocking us down in a tangle of limbs and I groaned in pain as I was crushed beneath him. Clara dove on us with a cry of elation and something sharp slammed into my neck before I could turn my flames on her once more. The strength faded from my body as my cheek pressed into the damp earth and my heartbeat started to slow, my limbs as heavy as boulders.

  A bare foot pressed against my side, kicking me over and I found myself looking up at Lionel as my body continued to shut down. Orion’s hand brushed mine, but I couldn’t turn my head to look and see if he was okay.

  “Medusa venom,” Clara announced with glee in her eyes. “Uncle Vard’s idea. Isn’t he a clever little Seer?”

  Vard stepped into view, smiling proudly with his chest puffed out and hatred rippled through me.

  “Your visions are finally paying off, Vard.” Lionel smiled smugly but it turned into a sneer as his gaze dripped over me.

  He reached down and panic made my blood run cold as I was sure he was going to take the Imperial Star from me. Instead, his fingers wrapped around my throat, his eyes filled with a promise of death. “Take one last look at the night sky, Gwendalina. The next time you see the stars, you’ll be up there with them.”

  I sat on a chair to the side of the sweeping room where the party was being held, more than a little lost for what to do as the hours slipped by and I began to wonder if I’d been forgotten. Lionel had disappeared alongside Clara and Vard ages ago without any explanation, just telling me to wait here until he returned. So I was left to sit with my shadow bitch mask in place while the Heirs and Xavier made small talk and the Fae who had come to spend Christmas Eve with the King were left to their political schemes without him.

  More than a few of the Fae here had approached me on and off, but I warded them away with flat looks and bored expressions. The stars only knew how I was ever supposed to win them back around to following me if we ever managed to take Lionel down. I could see what they thought of me - some vapid pawn he'd overpowered. But I'd show them. Before this was over, I'd make them see that nothing could tame me for long.

  My gaze swept towards the huge clock on the wall just as it ticked onto midnight and my heart squeezed as a chime rang out and the guests all paused in their political scheming to cheer for Christmas Day.

  This was the first time I was ever going to wake up on Christmas without Darcy. For as long as I could remember, we'd slept in bed together on Christmas Eve and she'd woken me up, bouncing around like an excited little puppy dog even though we didn't have presents to open or shit like that.

  Santa tended to forget foster kids who no one wanted. We'd always managed to get something for each other though - Darcy usually spent weeks hand making me a gift and because I sucked at stuff like that, I just stole shit she needed like good socks or new underwear. One time when we were fifteen, I'd stolen her this beautiful navy coat right off of a mannequin in a store window. It was lined and soft and seriously warm which was exactly what she'd needed for the long walk to school in the winter. But she only got to wear it once because our foster mother at the time saw it on her and flipped the fuck out, accusing us of thieving and threatening to call the police and social services on us. She didn't though. She just started wearing the coat herself and let Darcy walk to school shivering every day. Fucking bitch.

  I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't even notice Darius walking up behind me until he leaned down to speak in my ear, his stubble grazing my jaw and making me crave so much more from him than just that.

  "Such a beautiful girl shouldn't be sitting on her own at Christmas," Darius murmured and I turned to look at him as he pulled up a chair beside me and placed two glasses of champagne on the table.

  "Trying to get me drunk?" I teased, keeping my expression neutral in case anyone was looking our way.

  "Never," he disagreed, tipping back his own glass and leaning back in his chair as he surveyed me and casually flicked a silencing bubble up to surround us. "I hate seeing you all alone at things like this."

  "It's a travesty that I'm not dancing on a table while trying not to puke," I agreed, keeping my face as neutral as I could manage in case anyone was paying us any attention. "You owe me a proper night out after this is all over."

  "‘This’ being my father's reign of terror and you having to constantly pretend to be his little pet?" he asked with a note of bitterness to his tone.

  "That's the one," I agreed. "Shouldn't be long now."

  Darius snorted a humourless laugh and I almost smiled.

  "What are the chances of me stealing you away for an hour tomorrow?" he asked.

  "You want to sneak off to some field in the middle of nowhere and see if we can battle the stars for a hook up again?" I teased.

  "Well, I was going to suggest Darcy sneaks into Orion's summerhouse and the
four of us have a mini Christmas celebration, but your offer does have a certain appeal."

  I bit my lip as a smile tugged at the corners of my mouth and Darius gave me a look that said he'd fucking destroy me given half a chance. And if it was my choice I'd happily give him that chance. But the stars were a pain in my ass like always and I was going to be spending the night in his father's bed instead. Gross.

  The double doors on the far side of the room banged open dramatically and Lionel strode in with Clara and Vard either side of him, a smirk playing around his lips that said wherever he'd been he'd been up to no good. Stella scuttled in a step behind them, trying not to look like a butt hurt bitch over it, but I’d spent enough time around her to see through that shit. She hated that he’d traded her in for her daughter. And I mean, she had a point – it was pretty mortifying and totally puke worthy. But she was hungering for that place on his arm and even while she tried not to let it show, I could see through her bullshit.

  "I hope you've all had a wonderful evening," Lionel called, opening his arms to encompass everyone in the room with that statement. "But it's getting late and I'm sure you all want to get back to your homes for Christmas tomorrow."

  The music was cut off abruptly, and I exchanged a look with Darius before I could stop myself, wondering what had prompted this sudden end to the evening. I mean, sure it was late and all, but Lionel had been missing for a good hour or more and it seemed strange to reappear just to tell everyone to fuck off.

  The guests hurried to leave, the other Heirs waving at us as they followed their families out. Darius straightened in his chair as Lionel cut through the crowd, ignoring everyone else and aiming straight for us.

  "Still pining after my Guardian I see, boy?" Lionel asked, cutting Darius a look of disdain as he moved to stand over us.

  "I think he looooves her," Clara cooed, hopping up onto the table and placing her bare foot right on top of a cheesecake that had been left there without seeming to mind that at all.