I shoved the door open into the corridor, my eyes locking with Diego's where he stood at the far end of it.
I grinned, waving my satchel at him triumphantly as I charged in his direction. After my classes tonight, I'd head straight back to my room, brew this potion and be myself again!
My foot slid out beneath me as I hit the puddle my coat had formed earlier and my heart lurched into my throat as I fell backwards and my butt impacted with the ground.
“Ow,” I groaned, pushing myself upright and finding Diego there to pull me up.
“You alright?” he asked, starting to laugh.
“Yeah.” I rubbed my ass, hobbling along as I shook out my sore ankle, refusing to let anything dampen my mood right then. “Thanks for looking out for me.”
“No problem,” he said brightly. “Next time I need a lookout, I know who to ask.”
“To be honest, Tory's probably a safer bet when it comes to this sort of thing.”
“No way, you were doing great until you slipped over and nearly broke a leg,” Diego taunted, releasing another few notes of laughter.
“That's the problem,” I giggled. “Whenever I try to pull off something impressive, I always end up on my ass.”
My Fire Elemental class had been yet another disastrous combination of over flamboyant flames and out of control infernos. I just couldn’t wrangle it into my control, especially while wearing the protective suit that was required for class.
I’d tried to speak to Professor Pyro about it. I’d even told her that when I practiced without the suit on I had much more control but she’d dismissed my theory as nonsense, telling me it was all in my head. She’d also docked me twenty House Points for failing to practice with Darius yet again. The Fire Heir had smirked in response to that, flexing his muscles at me in a clear challenge, the words make me ringing in my memory as I scowled at him.
I half considered asking Caleb to help me instead. He held the Element of Fire too and even though it wasn’t his primary power, he was still likely to be capable of assisting me. But even though he seemed slightly less abhorrent than the other Heirs at times, I still didn’t trust him as far as I could throw him. And I got the feeling that he wouldn’t undermine Darius’s decision about helping me even if I begged. Which I absolutely wouldn’t do.
So I was left with the infuriating option of practicing alone every night after my evening runs. I ended each run in the Fire Arena wearing my running stuff rather than the flame-proof outfit and I was definitely managing to do more with my powers when I did that. I could control the size of the flames and even get them to move in basic directions. But Professor Pyro didn’t believe that had anything to do with my outfit and claimed it had more to do with stage fright. I might have believed her if it weren’t for the fact that I was steadily improving in all of my other lessons.
To prove my point, I’d asked Darcy, Sofia and Diego to join me in the Fire Arena after dinner so that I could show them the improvements I’d made and get them to confirm I wasn’t insane. Darcy had been having similar troubles with her Fire magic and I wanted her to try wielding her flames without the suit too. Maybe I was onto something.
To make sure I had time to do that, I’d headed out on my evening run early and I ran through Water Territory with my headphones on and my heart rate up.
I loved running here. Back in Chicago it had been all back alleys and concrete jungle. I’d been dodging cars, pedestrians and trash cans at every turn. In the Academy grounds I was more likely to come across a herd of Pegasus, a swooping Griffin or a shimmering waterfall. It was beyond beautiful here and the differences between the four territories always took my breath away.
I headed over a small bridge and began to circle the lake, adjusting my breathing as the hill elevated beneath my feet.
A prickle ran along my spine as I reached the top of the hill and I stumbled to a halt as a Nemean Lion leapt out of the trees in front of me.
My breath caught in my lungs as the huge lion roared excitedly and shook his mane before bounding into the trees on the other side of the path. The student was obviously enjoying stretching their powerful legs in their Order form and I stared after them in surprise.
Shit I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that.
“You should pay more attention to your surroundings,” Darius called and I turned to find him leaning against a tree like he had nowhere else in the world to be. He was wearing a mud stained sports kit with the Ignis symbol emblazoned across his chest so I guessed he’d been at Pitball training, but that didn’t explain his sudden appearance here.
This wasn’t the first time I’d seen him while I was out running and I was starting to get the feeling that he was following me. His reasons for doing so couldn’t be anything good so I’d changed up my route every night this week but I still kept bumping into him regardless.
I glanced about in case the other Heirs were going to spring a trap at any moment but there was no sign of them. I pointed to my ears, shrugging like the heavy bass of the music in my headphones prevented me from hearing him then ran on.
He didn’t make any move to follow me but I upped my pace regardless, turning from the main path and heading back towards The Orb. The last thing I needed was to go head to head with an Heir right now. I was all for bringing them down covertly but I wasn’t ready to confront them directly... yet.
I made it back to The Orb and slowed as I used my Water magic to clean the sweat and spattered mud from my skin and clothes. Professor Washer had taught us how to do it last week and even though his description of reaching ‘every little nook and cranny’ had made me vomit in my mouth, I had to admit that it was a damn handy bit of magic.
One of my favourite tracks came on over the headphones and I smiled to myself as I walked into The Orb, giving my attention to the song as All The Small Things blasted in my ears.
I stepped through the door without really looking where I was going and crashed straight into a hard body.
“Sorry,” I muttered, stepping back and glancing up to find Professor Orion looking down at me with a super unamused expression on his face. He was wearing a sports kit splattered with mud too and I vaguely remembered that he was the Pitball coach.
“And there was me thinking that Blue was the clumsy twin,” he said dryly.
“Just thought I’d mix it up a bit,” I replied with a shrug, shifting one of my headphones off of my ear so that I could hear him properly.
“Well I think I prefer it when you’re predictably different to each other,” he said, making a move to walk away from me. His sleeves were pushed back and my gaze fell on the red symbol for Leo that was raised on his forearm. It didn’t really look like a tattoo, it was more like a brand.
“Isn’t Darius a Leo?” I asked quickly, snagging his attention before he could walk away. My mouth always did run away with me and apparently even Mr Grumpy’s best death stare wasn’t enough to make me back down. But if their connection could help us figure out what Astrum’s message had meant then it was worth annoying him over.
“Why would I have any interest in discussing Mr Acrux’s star sign with you in my free time?” he asked dismissively.
“Because you’re a Libra,” I said. “And you’ve got matching best friends forever tattoos, I just thought it was a bit strange.”
Orion’s bored expression dipped into a scowl which warned me in no uncertain terms to back off but I raised my chin as I waited for his response. I may have just stepped into the arena with a pitbull but I couldn’t back out now.
“Perhaps if you spent as much time studying as you do inspecting other people’s bodies then you might not have so much trouble keeping up in my class,” he suggested.
Before I could respond, he turned and walked away. I watched him leave through narrowed eyes. Something weird was going on between him and Darius and I had the feeling it involved me and my sister.
“Your majesty! We’ve brought a selection of meals to the table for you to choose
from!” Angelica called.
I turned as another enthusiastic Ass member waved me over to our table in the centre of the room and moved forward to greet all of them while firmly reminding them to drop the royal titles. Again.
I smiled as I spotted Sofia, Diego and Darcy chatting together on their way towards the food too and I slipped between the crowd to join them as we dropped into chairs in the middle of the Ass Club.
“Did you have a good run?” Darcy asked with a smirk.
“Yeah. You should all join me next time,” I said.
“Ew,” Sofia commented. “I prefer to exercise in my Order form or not at all.”
“Yeah, I’m really not built for running. Or any kind of physical activities,” Diego added, tugging his beanie hat a little lower like he was imagining it blowing away.
I rolled my eyes at them. “Your loss.”
Geraldine appeared and took the seat beside me. I smiled warmly at her as she offered me a slice of pizza from her plate. She was wearing a white Pitball kit too with the symbol for earth emblazoned on her chest but she’d taken the time to remove the dirt from hers.
I relaxed back into my chair as I took a bite of cheesy goodness.
“I overheard you talking to Orion about his tattoo,” she said as she began to eat too. “And I followed him to take a closer look at it out of interest.”
“Look at you, Geraldine, I’m beginning to think I’m totally corrupting you,” I teased.
She blushed a little but went on. “Did I hear you say that Darius Acrux has one that matches?”
“He does,” I agreed. “And I’ve seen the two of them... hanging out.” I shrugged, it hardly sounded like the conspiracy theory of the year but I knew in my gut that they were up to something.
Darcy overheard our conversation and leaned in to join our discussion too.
“Do you know something?” she asked, obviously noticing the fact that Geraldine looked about fit to burst.
“By golly, I think I do. From the looks of that tattoo and what you’ve told me... I mean, hot, gooey oat cakes, I can’t believe I’m even thinking this but...”
“But..?” I urged.
“Well it looks like they’ve undergone a protection bond,” she said dramatically, looking around at us with wide eyes like she’d just informed me she was pregnant with fourteen kittens.
“Sorry Geraldine but we’ll need a bit more explanation there,” I said and Darcy giggled.
“Oh, of course. So, a protection bond is an ancient piece of magic which links two souls together. In generations past, members of my family were selected to be guardians for members of yours,” she added proudly.
“Oh, wow,” Darcy said as that was clearly the response Geraldine wanted.
I shifted a little in my seat. My soul was perfectly content not being bound to anyone else’s, thank you very much. Geraldine leaned forward conspiratorially to continue her explanation and I was glad she wasn’t making a suggestion to bond herself to us.
“In effect, magic is used to fuse the two of them together by linking their souls. Its purpose is to protect the life of an important person AKA the ward - in this case, Darius - by making sure that the guardian - Orion - will always place themselves between him and danger. So in effect, if Darius were to come under attack, Orion would feel it and be duty bound to come to his aid. It was said that guardians could even feel the pain of their wards if they were injured and would give every last drop of their magic to protect and heal them.”
“So a guardian would die for their ward?” Darcy asked, her voice dropping to a whisper.
“Absolutely, if it was necessary to save their ward’s life. Apparently the bond does more than just make the guardian protective though. It also draws the two of them together, their souls aching for each other’s company if they spend too much time apart. It’s supposed to be very intense. It is quite an outdated practice though. Years ago, the powerful families used to force people to be their guardians against their will. So laws were put into place to stop that from happening. Now, a guardian must volunteer to take up the position and complete various assessments and trials before they can be bonded to their ward. Orion must care very deeply for Darius to have agreed to such a role. It’s not something that can be undone once the magic is cast; being a guardian is for life. Only death can release either of them from the bond.”
“So Darius is bound by this just as much as Orion is?” Darcy asked in an undertone.
Geraldine nodded seriously. “Oh holy pop-tarts! Speak of the devil,” she muttered, looking over my shoulder.
I turned to see Darius striding into the room with Seth, Max and Caleb at his side. They were still in their dirty Pitball kits which seemed to be drawing even more attention to them than usual and I couldn’t deny how good they looked in them. Caleb’s shirt had even been torn over one shoulder and my gaze lingered on the toned muscles of his chest which it exposed. Several girls called out to try and snag their attention, a few more of them waving and whistling. The Heirs absorbed the attention like they were owed it and I tried not to stare along with everyone else.
I swallowed thickly, hoping not to draw their attention.
Max’s eyes shifted over to us and I stilled as he pointed our way.
“Oh crap,” Darcy breathed as the others followed his gaze and the four of them cut straight through the crowded room towards us.
Students scrambled aside as they moved, a few even leaping out of their chairs to give them room to approach.
The A.S.S. bristled around us, some of them standing, others raising their hands like they might cast magic. I should have felt reassured by their show of solidarity but I knew it didn’t really mean anything. Fae had to fight for their own position, if the Heirs came against us one on one no one would intervene.
“Hey, little Vegas,” Max said as the four of them came to stand over us. I’d hardly seen him since he’d Song-Spelled me and I’d begun to hope that he was avoiding me because I knew his secret. Apparently not.
“What do you want?” I asked coldly.
“Just checking in with our favourite twins,” Seth cooed, reaching forward to stroke my hair. I slapped his hand away from me and glared at him. “Maybe I should make myself a Tory bracelet too.”
Silence had fallen all around The Orb as everyone waited to see what was going to happen.
My gaze slid to Caleb and he smiled lightly which wasn’t all that reassuring as I didn’t trust him one bit.
“Perhaps we weren’t clear enough the other night at the dance,” Max growled as he shifted forward to the front of the group. “But that was a gentle warning for you to leave this place. Maybe you should take it before things escalate.”
“Escalate?” Darcy demanded. “How could they possibly escalate?”
“Oh I’m sure the two of you have more fears you’d like to share with the group,” he purred and I could feel the pull of his magic as he used his Siren powers against us.
A pool of warmth and trust grew in my gut, a soft smile pulled at my lips. Max was kind, he was a good listener, why wouldn’t I want to let him help me deal with my fears?
Max grinned triumphantly and grabbed a chair, turning it so that he could sit on it backwards as he leaned close to me.
“Tell me about the boyfriend who left you to drown in that car,” he urged, reaching out to touch my cheek. “Did you give him your V-card too?”
A flicker of fear shuddered through me as I remembered sinking to the bottom of that river. But he’d been wrong about the V-card guess. I’d given my virginity to a wholly different asshole.
“No,” I breathed. “I didn’t.”
“You wanna tell the group who did then?” Max asked with a grin, his power wrapping me in thick cords and refusing to let go. In place of the fear that had been pulling at me, I felt lust building in my veins and my flesh heated at the memory of a dark room, roaming hands-
Oh hell no, you psychotic asshole!
I shoved all of my
will into fighting off the pull of his gift and my fist snapped out with every inch of rage I was harbouring against this douchebag. My knuckles collided directly with the centre of his throat. Max fell back off of the chair with a cry of pain and hit the floor with the chair on top of him. The Siren spell was broken and I was on my feet half a second later, flames springing to life in my hands.
I spared half a glance at the other Heirs but they only looked on in surprise. This was between me and Max and they weren’t going to get involved for once.
“You crazy bitch,” Max wheezed, his voice strangled with pain.
“I am a crazy bitch,” I agreed, glaring down at him. “And if you try that screwed up Siren shit on me ever again you’ll find out just how much of a bitch I can be.”
He hissed a curse and raised a palm, throwing a wave of water at me. I unleashed the fire in my hands, throwing a torrent of power into the blow and the two Elements collided in the space between us, cancelling each other out with a hiss of steam.
Max scrambled backwards, preparing a second blow and adrenaline shot through my limbs. I was outmatched here and he knew it.
I may not have been able to fight him with magic but I’d grown up in the shittiest part of town and I sure as hell knew how to brawl like a cornered alley cat.
Before he could cast another spell at me, I aimed a kick at his balls.
Max grunted a curse as he doubled in on himself, clutching his manhood. I leaned down to speak to him in a low tone.
“I’d think long and hard about trying to pull any more secrets from my lips,” I hissed. “Because some of the ones I’m keeping aren’t my own.”
His eyes widened in surprise as he looked up at me.
“If you tell anyone what I said when you were Song-Spelled then I’ll-”
I interrupted him before he could threaten me with anything, my voice low and cold. “It won’t matter what you do to me after. Your secret will be out there. So I think you were just about to agree to keeping your leech powers to yourself.”
Zodiac Academy 2: Ruthless Fae: An Academy Bully Romance (Supernatural Bullies and Beasts) Page 18