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

by Caroline Peckham

  She grinned excitedly at me which lifted the Z and A she'd painted on her cheeks. “I'll explain as it goes along.”

  “Miss Vega and Miss Vega! The two of you! Roxa- I mean Tory and Darcy!”

  We turned, finding Principal Nova in a smart dress and a Pitball cap wading through the mass of students, smacking them on the heads with a rolled up programme as she forced her way through. “Move, move move.” She struck someone every time she said the word then finally arrived in front of us with a flustered smile. “You both have Pitside seats reserved for you with the Celestial Councillors and other prestigious attendees.”

  “Thanks but no thanks,” Tory said quickly.

  “We'll stay with our friends.” I gestured to Sofia and Diego and Nova glanced at them like they were a disappointment to her in every way.

  “Oh...really?” Nova frowned. “Fine. Just bring them with you if you must.” She ushered us along and Sofia let out a squeal of excitement as Nova led us down the steps all the way to the front row.

  We filed alongside the pitch and I noticed a faint shimmer around the very edge of the grass. “What's that?” I pointed and Sofia immediately answered.

  “It's a force-field to protect the crowd from any rogue magic which might fly our way.”

  “Oh that's comforting,” Tory said, gazing up at the roof as she drank in the place.

  The sound of the crowd was a constant buzz of excited chatter and I was totally infected by it as Nova led us to seats front and absolute centre of the pitch.

  “This is amazing!” Diego whooped, slinging his arm around Sofia as they dropped into a couple of seats. We were about to sit beside them when Nova grabbed both of our arms and turned us to face the row above; it was cordoned off and covered by a dark glass shelter. Sat within it were the Celestial Councillors with fancy looking drinks in their hands. Seth's mom, Antonia, wore a Zodiac Academy cap and Max's dad, Tiberious, wore a jacket with Rigel stamped on the breast. Lionel and Catalina were the only ones who didn't wear any of the Pitball regalia and I was kind of surprised to see them there at all. What surprised me a little less was Lionel's butler standing two feet away with a tray of ice water and glasses. His expression was formal but his eyes kept whipping to the pitch and I wondered if he cared more about Darius's game than his parents did.

  Nova announced our presence and they all looked to us, some with more enthusiasm than others. None less than Lionel. I was grateful when Nova's sharp talons released my arm and I could drop into my seat.

  She moved further up the row, sitting beside a bald man in red and white Starlight colours who was waving a flag; I guessed he was the other Academy’s principal.

  Dramatic music filled the stands, a heavy drum pounding through the air to a quickening beat. My knees bobbed as the lights dimmed across the crowd, narrowing entirely onto the pitch.

  The drumming grew louder and louder until it was all I could hear then spotlights fell onto the front centre of the pitch and the beat dropped to a familiar dance song.

  A large group of Zodiac Academy cheerleaders appeared in tiny skirts and crop tops, waving their pom poms, doing cartwheels and flips. Heading the group was none other than Marguerite and I noticed Kylie and Jillian amongst their ranks of powdery make-up and big doll eyes.

  I might have disliked them but damn their routine was impressive. Two girls shot up into the air almost fifty feet, propelled by air magic before tumbling back down in perfect synchronisation, ready to be caught by the waiting group below. They all lined up across the pitch and Marguerite cartwheeled past the line; every time she passed someone their pom-poms burst into blue and silver flames, eliciting a huge roar from the crowd. I found myself clapping and cheering along, unable to help it. They were dazzling, their magic making their routine almost unbelievable to watch.

  They ended in a huge pyramid with Marguerite balancing atop it, one leg pulled above her head and her other hand firing colourful sparks into the air.

  They headed off the pitch to booming applause from the Zodiac fans, and even Starlight Academy students clapped with enthusiasm.

  The Starlight cheerleaders were next, rushing onto the pitch in a blur of red and white. The magic they used was tamer than the Zodiac team’s, but their routine was just as slick, the girls hitting every mark. They ended it by casting a shower of sparks into the air that wrote out Starlight which flashed several times before scattering away on the wind.

  The cheer squads returned to their seats at the edge of the pitch and the drums started up once more, announcing the beginning of the game. The tension in the stadium made me sit forward in my seat, snaring all of my senses at once. The scent of the turf, the excited murmuring of the crowd, the pressure in the air.

  A fierce looking woman appeared on the opposite side of the pitch, leading the ten members of the Starlight team up from a passage that led under the stadium. She wore a black t-shirt with the four Elemental symbols printed on it in white.

  The students of Zodiac Academy applauded but those from Starlight went wild, standing up and bashing their hands together, crying out to their team with pure energy.

  My stomach clenched as Orion appeared in the underground passage and led our team out, wearing the same black kit as the other coach. His brow was taut but his expression was full of anticipation, his mouth set in a way that told me how much he adored being on that pitch.

  My heart pattered wildly as I took in his biceps bulging against his shirt sleeves and the defined muscles of his legs.

  I can't believe I kissed a teacher.

  I can't believe I can't tell anyone.

  I can't believe I'll never get to do it again.

  I finally shifted my gaze to the ten Zodiac players behind him, all lining up opposite the Starlight team. The four Heirs were centrally placed and on either side of them I recognised Darius's friend, Damian Evergile, with his dark hair and harsh features, and the beautiful Ashanti from Seth's pack with her surname, Larue, printed across the back of her shirt.

  The two Keepers were dressed completely in silver; one was the fair-haired Justin Masters from the A.S.S and the other was a tall girl with thin lips and the surname of Badgerville on her back. The final two members of the team were Geraldine who was playing the position of Earthbacker (whatever that meant) and someone called Jones who was in the position of Waterback.

  “I'm confused already,” I said, leaning in to speak to Sofia.

  “Well,” she piped up excitedly. “There's ten players on a team, the two Pit Keepers guard the Pit from the opposing team to stop them getting any balls in. The easiest way to remember the other players is that there are two of each Element, one plays defence to keep the other team away from the ball, the other plays offence to get the ball into the pit. For example, there are two Earth players on every team. Our Earthbacker, Geraldine, is defence and Caleb is the offensive Earth player called an Earthraider.”

  “What's Darius?” Tory asked, leaning forward to speak to Sofia as she pointed him out at the centre of the team.

  “He's defence for fire which is called a Fireshield. The fire offence is called a Fireside.” She pointed. “Damian Evergile is playing but it's normally Milton Hubert.” She gave us a look to say he must have been replaced and I bit my lip on a grin.

  A female referee jogged out onto the pitch dressed in white with a large, metal ball under her arm.

  Tory perked up. “Oh it's my Liaison, Professor Prestos.”

  Her legs were a deep tan beneath her shorts and as she turned to glance back at the crowd, weaving her fingers into her high ponytail I noticed how pretty she was.

  “Do you even go to your Liaison classes?” I teased.

  “We have an arrangement which works mainly via email. You should try it with Orion, see if he'll let you out of them,” she said airily.

  My mouth dried out at her words. “Oh well...he'd never let me.” And I don't want to stop them.

  “Maybe you should ask.”

  “Na,” I said,
waving her down and she shrugged, turning back to face the match.

  Maybe I should try and get out of them though. How awkward is it gonna be when we're next alone in a room together? And how will I stop myself from thinking about that earth-shattering kiss?

  Oh god. I’d better be ready to deal with that.

  Orion and the Starlight coach shook hands and my gut writhed madly as they both spoke to their teams, clapped some of them on the back then jogged to join us in the sectioned off area of seats.

  Orion's eyes fell on me for half a second before shooting in the opposite direction, leaving my stomach in shreds. He sat a few seats down with Nova and I relaxed a little, drawing in a deep breath.

  Prestos moved between the two teams, standing in the middle of them and placing the ball down between them. The Pit was nearly twenty yards away beyond them and my fingers curled up as I wondered who was going to score first. Even though I hated the Heirs, I still kinda wanted to see our team win.

  Come on Zodiac.

  I kept an eye on Max, noticing him shifting foot to foot, rubbing the back of his neck then his stomach, his thigh. Seth was only a few feet away from him, his hair tied up in a bun and the word Airstriker in silver on his back above his surname. He kept lifting a hand to scratch his head then curled his fingers up and balled them at his sides, refusing to do it. Caleb was rubbing surreptitiously at his crotch which was glittering under the intense spotlights on the pitch. And Darius looked like he wasn’t even slightly over his anger with Milton Hubert as he clenched his jaw so tightly he must have been in danger of cracking a tooth.

  I descended into giggles, sharing a look with Tory as she fell apart too.

  “Team Captains, step forward!” Prestos instructed and her voice rang out around the stadium from a microphone she must have been wearing.

  A tense silence fell over the entire crowd and my whole body knotted with tension as Darius stepped up from Zodiac and a tall guy with a ripped body and deep green eyes stepped forward to meet him.

  Prestos jogged back to the edge of the pit, lifting a whistle to her lips. A huge timer appeared high up above, glittering with magic as it readied to count down from five minutes- was that all?

  Before I could ask Sofia for more information, Prestos's whistle screeched and Darius swung a fist right into the Starlight Captain's face. As he lurched sideways I saw the name Quentin on the back of his shirt alongside the position of Earthraider.

  “Oh my god,” I gasped as Darius lunged to pick up the ball, only to receive a knee right to his chin. Darius was ready, lurching back and throwing a kick while the entire stadium bellowed in encouragement.

  Quentin took the blow to the stomach, stumbling away and Darius grabbed the ball which looked pretty damn heavy. The second he had it, the two teams charged forward. Geraldine roared like she was going into battle, magically tearing up the ground beneath the feet of the Starlight team so they stumbled wildly, unable to get their hands on Darius. He made a beeline for the Pit as the four Keepers grouped in around it.

  “Go on!” Orion roared from my right, rising to his feet as more and more people stood up all around us.

  Darius was charging along, devouring the ground between him and the Pit. He was going to make it. He was right out ahead and the rest of the Zodiac defence were bringing Starlight's team members to the ground with fierce tackles, blasts of fire, gusts of air-

  A vine whipped out and caught Darius by the leg and as he fell, he turned, launching the ball into the sky with all his might. He sent a blast of fire out to propel it forward, sending it cascading down toward the two teams like a meteor on a collision course.

  Seth jumped high above the two teams with a propulsion of air, but the Starlight Airstriker had the same idea, flying up beside him. They smashed into one another, hitting the ground hard and Seth started throwing wild punches at him without hesitation. He jammed his knee into his chest and held him in place.

  “You're out, Cubin!” Prestos shouted and her voice resounded throughout the whole stadium.

  The Starlight Airstriker hobbled off the pitch to a bench where a row of substitute team members were sitting.

  My eyes whipped back to the match and Starlight's Earthbacker now had the ball, racing for the Pit at the centre.

  Max tried to knock her aside with a blast of water, but stumbled to a halt before he could cast it well enough, clasping onto his neck and rubbing like mad. “Ahhh it burns!”

  Tory and I fell apart into laughter as I noticed his skin was turning blotchy with violent purple patches. “Ahhhh!”

  “Rigel! What the fuck is going on?” Orion bellowed just as a blaring BUZZZZZZZZ announced Starlight getting the ball into the Pit.

  A scoreboard lit up above the stands, showing Starlight had scored one point but then words in red flashed beside it.

  Cubin OUT = -1 point.

  The scores returned to zero and the Starlight crowd groaned collectively.

  The clock reset to five minutes and the teams split up so they were scattered between the four Elemental corners with the Keepers still ringing the Pit.

  “What happens now?” I asked Sofia.

  “Now it's round two. Every round lasts five minutes. After an hour, it'll be half time then they play for a final hour. Just watch, it's about to get seriously intense.” She pointed to the four corners of the pitch. “There's only one ball in play per round, it'll be fired into the pitch randomly from the four Elemental Quarters. A Fireball is scorching hot, an Earthball is seriously heavy, an Airball is light and will be shot far up toward the roof and a Waterball is freezing to touch. If no one gets the ball in the Pit before the five minutes are up – boom!” She mimed an explosion with her hands and my mouth fell open.

  “Holy shit,” Tory breathed and I nodded in absolute agreement of that.

  “If the ball is dropped at any point in the game, including just before it explodes, the team loses five points. So everyone on that pitch is prepared for the injuries they'll get if it goes off,” Sofia explained.

  “That's insane,” I breathed.

  “Nope.” Diego leaned forward from his chair with a manic gleam in his eyes. “That's Pitball.”

  I bounced from foot to foot as Prestos lifted the whistle to her lips and the second round was about to begin. I eyed the other team’s Waterguard as I prepared to block her moves. She was big for a girl but I still had at least sixty pounds on her and I’d be using that advantage to tackle her if the ball shot out of the Water Hole in our Quarter.

  The whistle blasted and the ball shot from the Air Hole instead, racing up towards the silver dome overhead as Seth leapt after it, propelling himself higher with air magic.

  I started running as fast as I could, the Starlight Waterback keeping pace for a while until I threw an elbow into her face and sent her rolling through the mud behind me.

  I had my sights on the ball but as I ran, the material of my shorts was bunching between my legs and I suddenly doubled over as the burning raced over my balls.

  “What the fuck are you doing Rigel?!” Orion yelled from the side of the pitch but I was near blinded from the burning pain in my left testicle.

  I howled like a newborn baby for a moment before regaining the clarity of mind to draw on my water magic and flood my shorts to wash the burn away. It looked like I’d just pissed myself but it helped. As a moment of relief came for me, I swept the water over my entire body and sighed in satisfaction. It hadn’t completely doused the flames across my skin but it had definitely taken the edge off.

  I looked up to see Caleb sprinting down the midfield with the lightweight Airball beneath his arm and a determined snarl on his face. The Starlight players were racing to intercept him but even without his Vampire speed, which he couldn’t use in the game, the boy was born fast.

  “Take it home Cal!” I bellowed, throwing my arms out as I shot a jet of water at the Starlight Pit Keeper closest to him as she made the mistake of stepping out of the no-magic zone around the P
it.

  Heavy footsteps announced the arrival of the Starlight Waterback three seconds before she tackled me and I grunted as she threw her shoulder into my stomach, driving the air from my lungs.

  I stepped back to brace myself but my foot slid in the mud of my own damn puddle which I’d created while trying to stifle the burn.

  My boot twisted beneath me, her weight dislodging me instantly and I went down hard beneath her.

  I had every intention to throw her off of me with a blast of air but as my back was pressed firmly to the ground, the burning erupted across my flesh once more and I yelled out as stars burst before my eyes. I couldn’t concentrate on my magic and for an achingly long moment she held me pinned to the mud.

  A whistle blew and then the most horrifying words sounded. “Rigel! You’re Out!”

  The Waterback was gone before I even made it back to my feet and I cursed loudly as I clawed my way upright, flooding my skin with water again in an attempt to stop the fire which was licking across my skin.

  I looked back just in time to see Caleb slam the ball home but with the point we’d lost for me getting knocked out, it still left us in a draw with no points scored.

  My ass hit the bench as I was forced to sit out a second round before I could return to the game but I yelped the moment it did, lurching upright again as the pressure caused my ass cheeks to burn with hell fire.

  A dark shadow shot towards me from my left and before I could blink, Orion was in my face.

  “What the hell are you playing at out there?” he snarled, snatching hold of the front of my shirt and pulling me nose to nose with him.

  “Ah, shit!” I cried as his grip increased the burning along my back. “Someone’s done something to my goddamn kit!”

  I lifted my shirt to show him the purple welts which lined my skin and his eyes narrowed as he looked me over before reaching out to heal me.

  Green light slid from his palm as he pressed it to my stomach but it was no good, the burning persisted.

  Orion hissed between his teeth as he pulled his hand back and quickly washed it off with a blast of his own water magic.