Zodiac Academy 2: Ruthless Fae: An Academy Bully Romance (Supernatural Bullies and Beasts)

by Caroline Peckham

  Xavier scoffed dismissively. “How’s school?”

  “Fine. What’s going on with you?” I asked, refusing to be diverted.

  “Gotten rid of the Vega girls yet?” he asked, ignoring me.

  “Not yet. Why is it so dark in here? You look like a damn Bond villain lurking in that chair in the shadows.” I threw a few orbs of light burning into existence overhead and moved to stand before him.

  “It got dark and I didn’t see the point of turning on the lights.” He shrugged and I frowned at him. Xavier was normally perky to the point of being damn irritating. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen him without a smile on his face let alone the morose expression he was sporting now. He looked downright depressed and his dark, curly hair was dirty, his clothes dishevelled like he hadn’t even showered.

  “Tell me what the hell is going on,” I demanded.

  Xavier looked up at me, his lips parting, his eyes filling with tears. Acrux men didn’t cry. Father had beaten that impulse out of us years and years ago.

  I dropped down to my knees in front of him, catching his hand between mine. “You can tell me anything, Xavier,” I said seriously.

  He gripped me tightly, looking into my eyes like he was afraid to find a lie hiding there.

  “My Order emerged,” he breathed and the terror in his voice told me all I needed to about what had happened.

  “You’re not a Dragon?” I asked, my own voice cracking with fear for him. Father would have been more than furious to discover that his son was anything other than a full blooded Dragon Shifter. It was a matter of pride and respect; he ridiculed families with mixed blood, he believed wholeheartedly in the superiority of our kind. One of his sons being anything other was totally unthinkable.

  Xavier shook his head slowly, trying to withdraw his hand from mine as footsteps sounded on the stairs behind me but I refused to release him.

  “It doesn’t change anything for me,” I growled. “You’re still my brother, I don’t care if you’re a Werewolf or a Vampire or a-”

  “So he told you, did he?” Father’s cold voice came from the doorway behind me and the hairs along the back of my neck stood to attention in warning.

  Xavier snatched his hand out of mine, blinking away the evidence of the tears which hadn’t even fallen. I stood before him, placing myself between him and Father.

  “It doesn’t matter,” I said firmly, though the simmering rage in my father’s eyes told a very different story. “I’m the oldest. I’m the first in line anyway, Xavier never wanted to challenge me for that role so-”

  “Yes, I still have my Heir but I’ve lost the spare. Did he tell you exactly what Order he is?” Father snarled, his eyes changing to their Dragon form and a trail of smoke leaving his nostrils. He was so angry about this that he was battling against the urge to shift. I didn’t think I’d ever seen him look so close to the edge before.

  “Not yet. But surely it’s not the end of the world if-”

  “Shift,” Father commanded, his gaze passing me to land on my brother.

  Xavier got out of his chair and backed up, shaking his head in panic. His skin looked odd though, like there was light shining from within it, trying to break free.

  “I told you, I’ll get control of it; I won’t shift ever,” he said anxiously. “No one will ever find out that I’m-”

  “SHIFT!” Father bellowed, using fear to force the change on him.

  Xavier cried out in panic as the light beneath his skin grew to a powerful glow and he bucked forward as his Order form took over.

  I backed up as his form changed, giving him room to become-

  “Fucking hell,” I breathed, my eyes widening in panic.

  “My thoughts precisely,” Father hissed venomously.

  Xavier had transformed into a lilac Pegasus complete with golden horn and rainbow patterned wings. His coat shone with glitter in the light of my magical orbs and his wide, horsey eyes looked back at us fearfully.

  I stared at him with my mouth hanging open, scrambling for something, anything to say.

  “I... didn’t know we had any recessive Pegasus genes in the bloodline...maybe he's linked to the constellation,” I muttered, unsure what else I could say.

  Father hated the weaker, more common Orders. He was a Dragon through and through; he loved power, invoking fear and breathing fire. A Pegasus was about as far as you could get to the opposite end of the Order spectrum. They were flying horses who pooped glitter, granted wishes and were... cute. Xavier hadn’t even been lucky enough to have a dark coloured coat, it was lilac. Lilac!

  “I still think we should kill him to cover this up,” Father growled and I flinched at the casual way he said it, like murdering his son was a genuine option. “But your mother has finally grown a backbone and won’t allow it. She even came up with a backup plan in case I killed her too so that the information about this disaster would be leaked to the press the moment she died. So for now we’ve contained him here. This is a goddamn disaster. Can you imagine what the other Celestial families would say if they found out about this?”

  I wanted to protest on Xavier’s behalf but I couldn’t think of a damn word to say.

  “It’s... he’s... we can hide it,” I said finally, feeling a rush of love toward my mother for finally standing against my father in something. She might have been a poor excuse for a woman but deep down inside she loved her children and this was better proof of that than I ever could have imagined.

  “Hide it? If he ever expects to be able to wield his magic, he will need to fly in the clouds to replenish it. Even if we gave him stacks of gold and claimed he didn’t like to transform for some reason, someone would see him prancing about at some point. There’s no way we can send him to the Academy next year. I doubt he will ever be safe to leave the house again!”

  I shook my head in denial but I was so shocked that I couldn’t even think of anything to say to try and help my brother.

  Father’s hand closed on my shoulder. “I need to talk to you about your actions, Darius,” he said, turning me away from Xavier. “This problem will have to wait and I can’t bear to be in a room with this abomination a moment longer. Think of the shame he could bring to our family!”

  Father steered me out of the room and I cast a look back at my brother before the door could close between us again. He shuddered back into his Fae form and crumpled down to the floor, burying his face in his hands.

  The door clicked shut and Father dragged me away, leaving that heartbreaking image seared into the backs of my eyelids.

  I didn’t pay much attention to where we were going until we ended up in his office.

  He closed the door and the sound of the lock turning drew me back to the moment as my heart leapt in response.

  I made sure my features betrayed nothing of the inner turmoil of my feelings over the discovery of Xavier’s Order though. My face was a flat mask, expressionless, patiently awaiting whatever Father had in store for me.

  “So.” He reached across the desk and swung the monitor there around to face me. Pictures filled the screen, my room on fire, the devastation following the blaze, my face filled with rage, me half-way through losing control of my Order form and leaping out the window as my clothes were shredded off of me. I silently thanked the assholes in Ignis House for leaking these shots to the press and made a vow to track each of them down and punish them for it. I glanced back at my father and spotted the simmering rage in his eyes.

  I swallowed a lump in my throat.

  “I’m told the FIB think the blaze was likely an accident-”

  “I don’t give a damn how it started,” he hissed. Sometimes I’d have preferred it if he’d just yell at me. “What I care about is my Heir looking like a little fire just ruined his goddamn life. Like he can’t even control his Order form when things go wrong.”

  “I...” I dropped my gaze from his and inspected the carpet by my feet. “You’re right, I should have kept my emotions in check.
I’d just found out that our efforts on the night of the dance still hadn’t been enough to drive the Vegas out of the Academy and then all of my stuff-”

  “Those girls are clearly tougher than we expected them to be after being raised in the mortal world. That approach isn’t working as effectively as we’d hoped... We may need other ideas about the best way to deal with them.”

  My mouth fell open in surprise. He’d been hounding me into tormenting the twins. I’d been taking call after call from him to check on our progress with forcing them out. He’d pushed me to go to greater and greater lengths to chase them off. He’d made it clear that the Council saw this as a test of our strength and now they just wanted us to back off?

  “Are you telling me to stop tormenting them?” I asked with a frown.

  “Of course not. But it seems like you haven’t gotten a clear read on them. I want to meet them to figure out exactly what we’re dealing with.”

  I gritted my teeth at the implication that I couldn’t manage this on my own.

  “I don’t understand what you want me to-” I began.

  “You don’t need to understand,” he replied darkly. “You’re my Heir not my equal, if I want you to do something then you will. I’m not interested in your questions on my methods.”

  I bit my tongue against answering back, knowing it wouldn’t earn me anything good.

  Father released an irritated breath, looking at the photographs on his monitor again. His jaw clenched as he scrutinised them.

  “How many times have I taught you the importance of containing your emotions?” he asked quietly and my muscles tensed in anticipation of his next move. I knew what was coming.

  The back of his hand collided with my face and I was knocked back a step as my lip split and blood coated my tongue.

  I flinched a moment before the next blow landed and he snarled with rage at that minor failure. He closed his fist for the third strike and the force of his punch knocked me back into the bookshelf which stood against the wall and stumbling down to one knee.

  The door crashed open and Lance ran in shouting out in anger as my pain called him to my aid through our bond.

  Father snarled at him, throwing out a hand as he cast magic to hold him back.

  Lance hurled his own magic into action, a powerful wind blasting into the room aimed directly at my Father. Before it could do what he’d intended, Father summoned his own air magic, catching Lance’s power in a net of his own and turning it back against him.

  The maelstrom grew flaming talons as it whipped around my friend, slamming his arms down to his sides to immobilise him and halt his magic in its tracks. The flames grew into cords which tightened around Lance, burning through his clothes and searing his flesh as they held him in place.

  Lance cried out in pain as he fell to the ground and my Father’s magic continued to burn him.

  “Stop it!” I yelled from my position crouched on the floor, flames bursting to life in my right hand while a dagger formed out of ice in my left. I got to my feet and took a step towards the man who was responsible for everything bad in my life.

  Father turned his steely gaze to me. “Are you sure you’re ready to challenge me, boy?” he spat dismissively. “Because I’d think long and hard about your next move if I were you.”

  I glared at him, my gaze flicking to Lance and back again as I struggled with the fire which ached to be set free in my veins and the knowledge that I couldn’t win this fight. I wasn’t strong enough to face him. Not yet.

  I shook my head slightly, lowering my eyes as I extinguished the flames in my palm and the icy dagger spilled through my fingers as nothing more than a puddle of warm water.

  It took less than half a second for my father’s power to slam into me. I was thrown backwards, tumbling across the floor.

  “You goddamn motherfucker!” Lance bellowed at my father’s back.

  “Sometimes this bond I put on the two of you is such a nuisance,” Father snarled in response to his continued insults.

  His boot collided with my ribs and the air was forced from my lungs.

  I clenched my fists and bit down on the cries of pain which wanted to tear their way out of my throat. I knew each noise I allowed free would only earn me another kick. Another punch.

  Lance continued to swear at him as his punishment progressed.

  When he was finally done with me, he stepped back and straightened his tie as he healed the wounds on his knuckles. I lay panting on the floor before him, agony searing through my body and the Dragon in me warring beneath my flesh, desperate to escape. I held it in check though; if I transformed he would too and I’d be no better off.

  “Clean yourself up before you join us for dinner,” Father said coldly as he strode from the room.

  He was half way down the corridor before he released Lance from the hold of his magic and my friend cursed as he scrambled towards me.

  I dragged myself upright using the edge of the desk and he caught my arm to steady me.

  I spat a wad of blood from my mouth and he started healing my wounds without bothering to ask my permission. I knew they hurt him almost as much as they hurt me anyway and he wouldn’t take no for an answer.

  I didn’t look at him while he worked, fixing my gaze on the photographs on my father’s computer instead. There was something about that fire that didn’t add up. Someone had taken that dagger which meant it was almost certainly set on purpose. They’d come at one of the most powerful Fae in the Academy, hell in the country, but why? Who would be that stupid? Who would risk my wrath when I caught them? The only people I could even think of who hated me enough to want to come at me like that were the Vegas, but the idea of them striking back at me was ridiculous.

  Whoever it was had already marked themselves for the full force of my vengeance. And I was sure as shit going to catch them. When I found out who the fuck had done it, I’d make them pay for the issues they’d caused me in blood and misery.

  My fist clenched with determination and anger burned deep in my chest.

  “Did I miss any?” Lance asked as he finished healing me.

  I shook my head; every injury was gone as if they’d never been there at all. They only ever scarred me in ways that weren’t visible.

  I glanced at Lance, though I didn’t thank him. He didn’t want me to. It made things more awkward whenever I tried. The bond forced him to help me when I needed him to whether he’d choose to or not. Though I’d like to think he’d want to regardless, but the fact that his choice in the matter was taken away meant I could never be sure of that.

  There were bags beneath his eyes and I could tell his magic was running dangerously low after his altercation with my father and his efforts in healing me.

  “Here,” I muttered, offering him my wrist.

  He hesitated. We’d both agreed not to do this too often; whenever he fed from me it felt like the bond between us sharpened, grew to something more tangible and harder to resist. But he needed blood and I had power to spare in this gold-infested house. Even the door handles were solid gold.

  Lance’s teeth slid into my flesh and I waited patiently as he took what he needed from me. An ache grew in my chest as he drew my power into him and I had to fight against the urge to pull him closer, to run my hands over his hair - I clenched my teeth.

  This bond is so screwed up in so many ways.

  “He’s getting worse,” I muttered. “Something will have to be done soon.”

  Lance groaned as he forced himself to release me and took a measured step back even though I could tell it was a struggle for him to do so.

  “Maybe we should escalate our plans,” he said, holding my gaze.

  “Yes,” I agreed. “Maybe we should.”

  “If you’re ready to push back harder, I can double my efforts in training you. Take it to the next level.” His gaze was wary as he suggested it, we both knew that what he was offering was dangerous, possibly even deadly.

  But if I wanted any c
hance of facing my father and winning then I needed every advantage I could get.

  I squashed the flicker of doubt that rose in me and completely ignored the sliver of fear that trickled through my blood.

  “I’m ready,” I said firmly. And even if we both knew that might not be the truth, neither of us mentioned the fact. It was time we started pushing back harder.

  “We will need to be particularly cautious with the FIB on campus,” Lance warned. If we were caught then we both knew that even my family name might not be enough to protect us from the consequences.

  I nodded firmly but didn’t back down. “I know. But it’s time we did this.”

  Lance offered me a dark smile. “Then as soon as we get back, we’ll begin.”

  I stood in the locker rooms outside our Water Elemental class with my bathing suit clenched in my fist as I tried to stop my limbs from trembling. Darcy was watching me from the corner of her eyes as she got herself changed into the skimpy outfit required for the class but she didn’t say anything. She knew I was trying to work through this on my own but I wasn’t totally sure if I could.

  I kept hearing the sound of water rushing in my ears, imagining a ceiling of ice forming above my head, my lungs were burning for air but my next breath would be the end of me...

  Darius and Max had prowled into class ahead of us and I knew the two of them would be waiting out there once I left this room. I wanted to believe I was strong enough to face them, but in all honesty I wasn’t sure if I was.

  The last time I’d been near a large body of water with the Heirs close by it had almost been the end of me. And while Orion’s reaction and punishment had reassured me that they weren’t allowed to murder me, I wasn’t sure what else was off the cards.

  The locker room emptied out until only my sister and I were left.

  “I could tell Washer you’re not feeling well,” Darcy said softly. “And you can just go back to your room while-”