Zodiac Academy 3: The Reckoning: An Academy Bully Romance (Supernatural Bullies and Beasts)

by Caroline Peckham

  “Whhhy?” she moaned.

  I couldn't fight a laugh and Orion threw me a wink, remaining where he was.

  “Let's see it then.”

  Oh no. No no no. Go away.

  He chewed the inside of his cheek, his eyes firmly on me and I knew he was purposefully trying to unsettle me.

  I sighed, dropping my eyes to my peach as Diego fiddled with his banana in the corner of my eye.

  I took a breath, trying to ignore the hot teacher staring at me while I held my hand over the peach and shut my eyes.

  “You're not facing Venus,” he pointed out and I opened my eyes again, biting my lip as I glanced up at him.

  “Right...yeah.” I got my star chart up on my Atlas and swivelled in my chair, placing my peach at the edge of the desk and summoning magic to my fingers. The different Elements kept rising in my veins, trying to interfere with the pure energy beneath it. I pushed them back again and again, readying to cast the spell.

  I imagined a shield into existence, willing it to surround the peach. The fruit pinged off of my desk as air exploded from my palm and it smacked right into the centre of the board, bursting into a cascade of orange pulp.

  “Woops,” I breathed while Tory fell apart beside me.

  “Oh my god, Darcy, do not try that on yourself,” she laughed.

  “Again,” Orion commanded, speeding back to his desk in a blur before returning to me and placing another peach down. “Concentrate.”

  I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Could you just look away or something?” I ushered him back and his brows lifted in surprise.

  “No, I'm happy right here.” He smiled cruelly and I clenched my jaw.

  Is this because I didn't reply to your messages again, Professor Unprofessional?

  “Fine,” I said, pushing my shoulders back. Screw him, I'll do this whether he's here or not.

  I focused once more, drawing back the other Elements and shutting out everything around me as I released the power from my palm. A light shimmered in my hand and floated down around the peach. I smiled victoriously but I was too cocky. Fire exploded from my palm and disintegrated the entire thing into a gloopy puddle.

  Orion barked a laugh, running off to get me another peach, while tossing out more fruit to other students who'd destroyed theirs. As he returned, Diego sent his banana shooting out of the skin and flying over Orion's head.

  He folded his arms, gesturing for me to try again and I narrowed my eyes at him.

  Could he seriously go and watch someone else now? Why is he so intent on monitoring me?

  When Orion finally left me to practise, I started to get the hang of it. By the end of the lesson, I’d attempted it successfully a couple of times but I was still nervous about trying the spell out on myself. It was so not worth any accidents. Besides, I was definitely not going to be having sex any time soon anyway. Lunar Eclipse or not. The moon was not gonna control me.

  The classroom was a mess when the bell rang and everyone started filing out of the door.

  “Miss Vega.” Orion caught my wrist as I headed for the exit, pulling me back and heat scattered through my body. “Stay and help me clean up.”

  My heart tripled its pace as I nodded, terrified and thrilled about spending time alone with him.

  “I'll catch up,” I said to Tory and the others and they waved goodbye as they left the room.

  I still had my peach, intending to practice on it later and I tucked it into my blazer pocket as the final students exited. Silence descended and I decided to play innocent as I picked up the trash can and moved to the board, cleaning up chunks of fruit which were splattered all across it. I felt Orion's eyes burning into me as I continued cleaning up just like he'd asked and my heart pattered excitedly.

  “You didn't reply to my message,” he said and a smile pulled at my mouth.

  “Is that your new catchphrase?” I asked airily, placing the can down.

  He was behind me in a flash, one hand on my throat and one on my stomach as he jerked me back into his chest. His teeth grazed my ear and my whole body convulsed with pleasure.

  “You're supposed to fight back,” he growled.

  “I will if you try to bite me, but that's not what you want.” I turned in his arms, gazing up at him under my lashes as my heart fell into a rampant beat. “Is it?”

  He swallowed and his Adam's apple rose and fell. “The Lunar Eclipse is approaching. All Fae act crazy when that happens. I can't be blamed.” A smile danced around the corners of his mouth, revealing the dimple in his right cheek.

  “That sounds like a very convenient excuse to break the rules,” I accused, my eyes flipping to the door and back. “And what would your girlfriend think?” I gave him a stern expression, my gut knotting tightly as I waited for his response to that.

  “What girlfriend?” he asked lightly.

  “Francesca,” I said, trying to step away from him but he held on tight.

  He grinned wickedly. “You're jealous.”

  I inhaled sharply as he scooped me up, turning around and planting me on the edge of his desk. He stepped between my knees and desire rippled through me.

  “She's not my girlfriend.” His thumb skated across my inner thigh, feather-light, lasting only a moment, but the reaction was pure chemical. His skin was weaponised and I was the victim of his lethal touch.

  “She's not?” I asked and he shook his head.

  He released a measured breath, his gaze falling down, down all the way to that place where my skirt rode up and his fingers lay against my flesh.

  He glanced at the door with a taut frown. “You should go,” he said, his tone deep and soft, like he'd meant to say the exact opposite of those words.

  I nodded, leaning forward to get up, but he didn't move and I fell into the trap of his scent. I was too close and his hand was still between my thighs.

  I'm going to get up, push him aside and walk out of here before I do anything stupid.

  I pressed firmly against his chest and the heat of his skin flooded into my own. I applied more pressure but he still didn't budge.

  “This is a bad idea,” I warned.

  I let my hand glide down his body, taking in the firm press of his muscles, the soft rise and fall of his chest, every line and plane I'd studied in class. Gah, why does he have to be so irresistible?

  “I'm going to go now,” I said with about as much conviction as he’d used.

  “Are you?” he asked, his free hand sliding around my waist, his fingers curling, reeling me in as he stepped further between my legs.

  “I am,” I said, breathless, desperate. And not to leave. But to touch him without fear of what would happen if we crossed this line on school property. Of the trouble we'd both be in if anyone ever found out.

  “Yes,” I whispered a lie and his eyelids lowered half way, his seductive gaze drawing me in even further. We were baiting each other. This was inevitable. He knew it. I knew it. And frankly, we were fooling ourselves to believe we hadn't already crossed a threshold into forbidden territory on multiple occasions.

  Our movements were slow and so delicate as if the softness of them meant this wasn't happening.

  I shifted my hand to his right bicep and let it ride the swell of his muscles all the way to his bobbing throat. I reached up to the crook between his neck and his ear where heated skin met rough stubble.

  My gaze lingered on the spot where my fingers brushed his flesh, but I felt his eyes on me like a hawk's.

  “If you don't kiss me I'll go mad,” his voice rumbled through his chest and a magnetic heat tugged me toward him.

  It was my call. Kiss him and bring the world down on our heads, or let go, walk away and never look back.

  I'm the sister who makes sensible decisions.

  I don't play games with the devil.

  And yet here I am tempting him with my own two hands.

  The drumming beat of his heart matched mine. It seemed to sing my dilemma. Walk away. Stay. Walk away. Stay. />
  A knock came at the door and I scrambled backwards over the desk in my haste to put distance between us, dropping down over the other side of it. If my heart had been beating hard before it was nothing in comparison to this rioting panic. I flattened my skirt, my cheeks flushed as I tried to hide any evidence of what we'd just been doing.

  Orion straightened his tie and gave me a look that said, don't tell. Did he really think I would?

  He cleared his throat, dropping into his desk chair. “Come in,” he called, sounding bored.

  The door swung open and Principle Nova stepped in, barely seeming to notice me as her eyes locked straight on Orion. “I've called a faculty meeting in my office about enforcing curfew. The students are totally ignoring it. You don't mind giving up your lunch to sit on it, do you?”

  Orion's jaw ticked – the only sign this irritated him beyond belief. “Very well. Miss Vega was just leaving.”

  Nova nodded, looking to me with the barest hint of acknowledgment. The lines under her eyes spoke of little sleep and she kept wringing her hands together in a way that said she was on edge. I guessed the Nymph attack was causing her a lot of sleepless nights. No doubt the FIB were on her case and the press too.

  She nodded to me, turning and hurrying back out of the door. Orion moved to follow, sweeping me along with him by pressing a hand to the base of my spine.

  His fingers circled for half a second, then he shot away after Nova at double speed. I felt him everywhere for a lasting moment, then he was painfully absent all at once.

  We made it into The Orb for lunch while managing to avoid any Hell Week pranks and I slipped through the tables towards Geraldine and the Ass Club with my sunglasses back in place and my stomach rumbling. The idea of food still made me feel a little queasy but it was time to bite the bullet and go for something greasy.

  “Oh my, Your Majesty,” Geraldine gasped as she spotted me. “Whatever is the matter? You look positively frightful! Like the cat took a dump on your pillow!”

  I snorted a laugh and dropped into a soft armchair with a sigh. “I’m suffering, Geraldine,” I admitted. “Though it’s through no fault of the cat. I can only blame Mr Jack Daniels and his friend of the Comforting Southern variety. I spent a little too much time in their company last night and I’m suffering the consequences.”

  “Oh! Well holy banana bread, why didn’t you say? I have a home remedy for what ails you. I can whip it up in three shakes of a Manticore’s heiny! Just you wait there and I’ll see if I can find the salmon slugs and whispering onion dew...” She hurried away from me and I grimaced.

  “I’m not consuming anything with slugs in it,” I groaned. “I just need something nice and greasy.”

  “Let me see what I can find,” Sofia offered, getting to her feet. “I feel responsible anyway.”

  “I’m a big girl, I can make my own terrible decisions,” I said dismissively, though I was still surprised at just how drunk I’d ended up. I guessed I’d just lost track somewhere and let it get out of control though that wasn’t usually like me. “But I will love you forever if you feed me so I’m not protesting that idea.”

  I looked around for Darcy but she still hadn’t appeared. I guessed Orion was making her find every exploded bit of peach and banana in the classroom and I was just glad that he hadn’t singled me out for that task. If I’d had to scramble about on my hands and knees looking for manky bits of fruit I was sure I’d have hurled.

  A blur of motion shot towards us and my heart leapt as Caleb appeared in the chair beside mine, kicking his feet up on the table and leaning back as if he’d been there the whole time.

  “Morning, sweetheart,” he said with a grin.

  I guessed he was over his embarrassment from this morning already. We’ll just have to work harder next time.

  Diego straightened in his chair opposite us, eyeing the Earth Heir warily.

  “No, no,” I said, waving Caleb away from me. “I can’t do perky this morning. I’m in a decidedly down-beat mood. Please take that sunshine smile away from me.”

  “Ouch,” Caleb said, clutching at his heart like I’d wounded him but I only tipped my head back against my chair to close my eyes for a moment.

  “I’m unaffected by your pain,” I assured him.

  Caleb lowered his voice seductively but made no effort to stay quiet enough not to be overheard. “But I was going to ask if you want to play a game with me...”

  Diego spat a mouthful of his coffee out and it sprayed the table between us.

  “Shit, man! Watch out!” Caleb snapped, giving him an ounce of attention as he wiped at his uniform, though I was fairly sure Diego hadn’t gotten him.

  Diego apologised, hurrying off to find some napkins and Caleb watched him retreat through narrowed eyes.

  “Washer dropped in on our sex ed class,” I explained before Caleb decided to seek vengeance against my friend. “He’s taken a bit of an interest in you and me and he got me to admit to our hunting game in front of the whole class.” I couldn’t hide the grimace which followed those words and Caleb leaned towards me with a frown.

  “When you say he’s taken an interest in us, do you mean he’s been looking at your memories?” Caleb asked darkly.

  My heart thumped a little harder in response to the threat laced in his voice and I could only nod in response.

  “I’ll sort that out, sweetheart. That old pervert needs to remember who he’s spying on.” He got to his feet suddenly and I reached out to catch his hand before he could speed away.

  “What are you going to do?” I asked and he looked down at me in surprise.

  “I’m going to make sure he stays out of your head,” he promised. “And in the meantime, you can have your lunch and get your energy up for our game.”

  Caleb leaned down like he was going to kiss me and I shifted back. “I can’t play today,” I said, shaking my head even though it made the ringing in my ears get louder. “I’m half dying here. I drank way too much last night.”

  “Oh, is that all? You were starting to make me think you didn’t like me anymore,” Caleb teased. He reached out to cup my cheek and my lips parted to make some protest about him touching me like that in public but before I could, the warm flow of magic slid through my veins.

  The pounding in my brain retreated, quickly followed by the sick feeling in my gut and every other symptom of the hangover from hell which had been plaguing me.

  I stared up at Caleb in surprise and he leaned down to speak in my ear. “Will you play with me now?”

  His stubble grazed my cheek and I turned to look up at him as he drew back a few inches.

  “What if I don’t want to today?” I breathed.

  Caleb pouted and a smile tugged at my lips. “Then I guess I’ll just have to bite you here.” He pushed my hair back over my shoulder and touched his lips to my throat. The contact made my skin tingle and I bit my lip.

  He kissed my neck, shifting an inch higher and kissing me again.

  I cleared my throat and pushed him back a step as I tried to hide the reactions my body was having to him. But as he could probably hear the fast pace of my heart, I doubted he was fooled.

  “I want to eat first,” I warned him. “I’ll play with you at twenty to one, that way I’ll have five minutes to get to class after I win.”

  “You won’t win,” he assured me, brushing his fingers over my knee for a moment before shooting away from me.

  I glanced around from within the confines of my sunglasses to see just how many people had noticed that exchange. I didn’t really want to be publicly marked as Caleb’s somehow. I wasn’t his girlfriend and I didn’t want anyone to think I was.

  As I glanced over at the Heirs’ couch, I found Darius looking right back at me and my heart leapt in surprise. I couldn’t really figure out the look he was giving me but something about it made me feel uncomfortable. I dropped my gaze and pulled my sunglasses off, tossing them back into my satchel as I ran my fingers through my hair, supe
r subtly making a curtain out of it to block my view of Darius.

  Sofia and Diego reappeared at the same time, and they placed a few big pizzas on the table with some bowls of fries. I thanked them with a wide smile as I dug in.

  “Where’s the bloodsucker gone?” Diego asked, not bothering to hide the sneer on his face. He hadn’t seemed quite so keen to show his dislike of Caleb to his face though.

  “I think he’s actually gone to tell Washer to stay out of my head,” I said. “Which I have no complaints about. If he can keep that sleazebag away from my dirty thoughts then I’m all for it.”

  “I imagine he’ll want something in return for that favour,” Diego said darkly. “The Heirs don’t just do things out of the kindness of their hearts.”

  I shrugged, not wanting to get into it with Diego. I knew I should have been keeping my distance from all of the Heirs but Caleb kept drawing me in. And at least with him there was no confusion about what he wanted from me. My body and my blood. Though sometimes I wasn’t sure which he desired more.

  Darcy reappeared as I was tucking into my second slice of pizza and dropped into her chair with a sigh.

  “Orion being an ass?” I asked, gauging her mood.

  “When isn’t he?” she replied, avoiding my eye as she grabbed some pizza for herself. I got the feeling she was holding back but decided not to push her on it with the others around. I imagined it involved Orion being a mega dickwad though.

  “How are you feeling about the Air Trial tomorrow?” Sofia asked and I was pleased to jump on a subject which didn’t involve my sex life.

  We spent the rest of our meal discussing our theories on what the trial might involve and I kept an eye on the time surreptitiously.

  Just before twenty to, I pushed my chair back and said goodbye to my friends. Darcy gave me a knowing look when I didn’t really say where I was going and I promised to meet her outside Tarot class in twenty minutes.

  Caleb still hadn’t reappeared but I was sure he’d start the hunt on time. I wasn’t going to make the same mistake as last time though; hiding inside made it easier for him to find me because he could pick out my heartbeat in the silence. There was a strong wind blowing today so I intended to hide in the woods where the creaking branches and wind whistling through the leaves should mask the sounds of my body from him.