“Maybe,” I said with a shrug, lifting my drink to my lips.
“If you’re a Dragon maybe you can marry Darius and save him from Mildred,” Xavier suggested casually.
I half choked on my coke and set it down quickly as I coughed. “Fuck no,” I said once I could speak. “Mildred is welcome to him. I want a front row seat to their wedding so that I can laugh my ass off but that’s the only reason I’ll be attending.”
Darius scowled at his brother, seeming unhappy with the turn of the conversation. “Even if Roxy wasn’t the most annoying woman I’ve ever met and I could overlook her many personality flaws for long enough to consider marrying her, it wouldn’t matter,” he said in a flat tone. “She isn’t pure blooded. Her mother was a Harpy and her father was a Hydra. Not to mention insane. I don’t think Father would give her even a moment’s consideration, do you?”
“He’s right,” I agreed instantly, finally finding something I could agree with Darius Acrux on; we could both absolutely agree that the idea of marrying each other was abhorrent. I eyed his tight t-shirt for a moment, the tattoos showing beneath the sleeves drawing my eye. I mean, yeah the sex would obviously be hot but the rest of it would be just awful. So there was no fucking way.
“I’m not pure,” I said, driving my point home. “There’s nothing clean and innocent about me. I might be a princess but my crown would be made of broken, dirty things, not gold and jewels. I’d never be good enough for Daddy Acrux. And that’s just the way I like it.”
Darius actually smirked in response to that and Xavier seemed amused too.
“I actually need to go and check something downstairs before we can head out for our race. Can you keep Roxy company for me?” Darius asked his brother, already edging towards the door.
“Oh, erm, well... do you really think that’s a good idea?” Xavier asked nervously, shooting me a glance before looking back to his brother. “What if I...”
“You won’t,” Darius replied confidently. “You’re in control. The more practice you have the better anyway. And I won’t be long.” He headed out of the door before either of us could say anything else and I smiled at Xavier a little awkwardly, wondering what that was about.
“So...” he said, trailing away from me across the room. “You and Darius are friends now, eh? I thought you hated him?”
“Ew,” I replied, scrunching my nose up. “I do hate him. I’m purely here to win one of his shiny bikes off of him and laugh when he cries about it.”
“It just seemed like I walked in on...”
I scowled at him hard enough to make him drop that line of thought and Xavier laughed.
“Okay, there’s no you and Darius,” he agreed quickly. “But you might be doomed if that’s not what you want because I saw the way he was looking at you and Darius always gets what he wants once he sets his mind to it.”
“Gross, dude, you’re gonna make me hurl,” I said, grimacing at him. “And I can assure you the hatred between me and your brother is entirely mutual. Neither of us want anything else.”
Although as I said that, I couldn’t help but remember waking up in his arms and feeling like I actually belonged there for several long minutes. Of course I’d been hungover and confused so that didn’t mean anything and I’d been reminded of why that thought was insane quickly enough.
I cleared my throat and set my drink down.
“So what are we going to do while we wait for Darius to go braid his hair?” I asked.
“Err, I dunno, do you wanna come play Xbox in my room?” Xavier took a step back towards the door he’d emerged through and I glanced over his shoulder at the dark space beyond.
“No offence dude but that looks like a total boy pit in there. I can smell the unwashed gym socks from here and I wouldn’t really know where to begin playing Xbox anyway.” I’d had the odd turn on games consoles growing up but it wasn’t really my thing.
Xavier laughed and folded his arms as he leaned back against the wall. “So what do you suggest then? I haven’t really left my rooms in a while and I’m running low on ideas for entertainment.”
“You’re like Rapunzel locked up in your tower,” I teased. “But instead of long golden hair you’ve got an Xbox and too much time on your hands.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” he muttered.
“Well what did you like to do for fun as a kid around here? Before the teenage angst kicked in.”
Xavier looked at me for a long moment like he couldn’t really think of anything then a smirk pulled at his lips. “We used to have tray races sliding down the stairs,” he said. “But we’re probably too big for that now.”
“Pfft, Darius is probably too big with all his spare muscles and that big puffed up head of his but I’m sure we can manage,” I said.
Xavier’s eyes lit with mischief for a moment but then the dare faded out of them and he shook his head. “It’s a dumb idea.”
“Oh come on Rapunzel, let down your hair,” I begged. “I’ve been dragged all the way out here with promises of a race just to be ditched. And you were tasked with making sure I had fun.”
“I’m pretty sure I’m just supposed to keep you company-”
“The fun was implied,” I said. “It was just hard to tell because Darius always has that serious as shit expression slapped on his face. But it was definitely in the small print.”
Xavier cracked a smile and I beamed as he caved.
“Fine. One race. But I warn you, I’m the champion so you’re about to lose.”
“Bring it on,” I taunted.
Xavier ducked back into his room and reappeared a moment later carrying two big silver trays which were probably worth enough to buy a small car.
“Luckily the servants haven't been up to collect my leftovers from dinner yet,” Xavier explained with a grin as he held them out for me. He moved to Darius’s bed and threw the duvet and pillows to the floor before yanking the mattress off of the frame. He might not have been as powerfully built as his brother but he was clearly strong in his own right and he dragged the heavy mattress across the room easily before heading back out into the hall.
I followed behind him and he told me to wait as he headed off down the curving stairs with the mattress.
Within a few moments he jogged back to me with a grin on his face, pushing his dark curls back before holding his hand out for his tray.
“I haven’t done this in years,” he said. “You’re a bad influence.”
“You have no idea,” I agreed.
“I can see why Darius likes you.”
“Ew, no, stop that,” I said, faking a shudder. “You’re just trying to put me off my game because you know I’m about to win.”
We moved to the top of the stairs with the two trays and my heart started to beat faster in anticipation.
“Are you sure you wanna do this?” Xavier asked a little nervously. “I made a crash pad at the bottom with the mattress but we always used to end up smacking into the walls. You might get hurt...”
“Well just think how proud Daddy Acrux will be if you manage to kill one of the Vegas for him,” I said.
Xavier smirked and moved his tray to the top of the staircase, sitting on it as he prepared to race. I quickly copied him, gripping the two handles on either side of me as I teetered on the edge of the top step.
“Three, two, one-” Xavier leaned forward and whooped as he sped away down the stairs.
I was a little more cautious but as the tray spilled over the edge, I couldn’t help but scream in excitement as it shot down the spiralling staircase at speed.
I flew around and around, my hair pulled back behind me before crashing into the mattress at the bottom of the stairs and laughing as I tumbled across it.
Xavier snatched my hand, dragging me upright and grinning so widely that for a moment it almost looked like he was glowing.
“Again,” he demanded. “This time don’t be a chicken shit at the start line.”
I barked
a laugh and grabbed my tray, running back up the stairs at his side.
We rearranged ourselves on the trays again and my heart pounded with the fun of the game.
The second time, I threw my weight forward at the same time as him and we shot down the stairs side by side, whooping with laughter before spilling onto the mattress at the bottom.
“I won that one,” I exclaimed while Xavier shook his head.
“You wish.”
“Okay, cheater. Let’s up the ante.” I grabbed my tray and he grinned as he ran up the stairs at my side, his skin almost seeming to glow again. I frowned to myself, wondering if I was imagining it. I’d never seen a Dragon glow like that before.
We positioned ourselves at the top of the stairs once more and I raised a palm behind me.
“I’m gonna give us a push,” I said, grinning mischievously.
Xavier smiled so widely that it made me laugh. Something about him just drew me in. He was so different from his brother it was untrue. Even though I hardly knew him, hanging out with him was like hanging out with an old friend.
“Hold on tight.” I called on my air magic and directed it to push us down the stairs.
In my excitement I pushed a little too hard and I screamed as the magic slammed into my back, practically lifting us off of the ground as we shot over the top step.
Xavier yelled too and we zoomed down the spiralling stairs so fast they were a blur.
The tray skidded off of the final step, my scream rising in pitch as I flew straight towards the wall. I flung my hands up again and we bounced off of a cushion of air magic instead of going splat before falling back onto the mattress.
I was laughing so hard that I could barely catch my breath and as I turned to look at Xavier beside me I found him glowing so brightly that he actually lit up the space around him.
“Shit dude,” I said between breaths of laughter. “You’re sparkling.”
“What?” Xavier gasped, scrambling up onto his hands and knees. “No I’m not!”
I laughed harder. “Yes you are! If I didn’t know any better I’d say you were about to turn into a Pegasus!”
Xavier’s eyes widened with panic and he tried to push himself to his feet as he shook his head but before he could manage it, tremors wracked his body and he shredded right through his clothes.
My mouth fell open as I stared up at the glimmering lilac Pegasus before me. He still had half a t-shirt hanging around his neck and his horsey eyes were wild with panic.
My smile widened as I looked up at him. He was probably the most beautiful Pegasus I’d ever seen.
“Well shit,” I breathed. “No wonder I like you so much. You skipped the asshole Dragon genes!”
I pushed myself to my feet, grinning at him as he tucked his rainbow wings tight in the small corridor, stepping from hoof to hoof.
“I think my mortal is showing because I really just wanna tickle your horsey ears right now,” I teased, drawing closer to him.
Xavier looked at me cautiously, his ears twitching as he lowered his head, slowly moving into my personal space.
“Seriously?” I asked as he seemed to be offering me the chance to do as I’d said.
He whinnied softly and I could only grin more as I reached out and ran my hand straight up the centre of his nose.
Xavier released a heavy breath, his eyes boring into mine in a way that almost broke my heart.
“Why do you look so sad?” I whispered as my fingers slid down the side of his head, tickling his ear like I’d promised.
He nuzzled his nose against my shoulder and it was like he was aching for this contact. I wrapped my arms around his neck and squeezed him, trying to figure out why the hell I wanted to cry.
“Shit,” Darius murmured behind me and I turned my head to look at him in surprise. “Roxy...” His lips parted and for a moment he just stared at me, his eyes filled with the same panic I’d seen in Xavier’s right after he’d shifted.
“What?” I asked, brushing my fingers over Xavier’s mane.
“You can’t...please promise you won’t tell anyone you saw him like this,” Darius begged, reaching out towards me then dropping his hand again like he didn’t know what to do.
“Like what?” I asked in confusion.
“Trust you not to even notice when you’ve stumbled upon a secret that could get you killed,” he muttered. “No one can know that Xavier isn’t a Dragon.”
“Why?” I asked incredulously. “He’s beautiful. And I’d much sooner be a Pegasus than a grumpy ass Dragon.”
Xavier suddenly shifted back into his Fae form and I squeaked in surprise as I found myself in the arms of a very naked boy. He squeezed me against him so tightly that I could hardly breathe.
“Thank you,” he whispered in my ear.
“For what?” I asked in complete confusion, not really hugging him back because he was really fucking naked. I opted for awkwardly patting him on the back as he refused to release me.
“For not even batting an eye. For actually thinking there’s something good about this.” Xavier leaned back and I looked up into the eyes of someone who was completely broken.
“Xavier,” I breathed, laying a hand on his cheek for a moment, unsure how to even begin to respond to the pain in his eyes.
He pressed a kiss to the top of my head and released me, hurrying away up the stairs before I could say anything else. The door to his bedroom clicked shut and I was left standing with Darius who was looking at me like I’d just summoned the moon to come and sing us a lullaby.
“Stop looking at me like that,” I said, folding my arms in case he got any weird ideas about hugging me too because it actually looked like he might for a moment.
Darius took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.
“You can’t begin to imagine the difficulty Xavier’s been going through since his Order emerged. My father...” He shook his head, obviously deciding against elaborating on that but it wasn’t hard to imagine Daddy Acrux would have been a total dickwad about the situation. “Thank you,” he added. “Xavier really needed to see that someone could just accept him for who he is.”
“No problem,” I said, looking away from him because in that moment it didn’t really feel like he hated me at all and it was too weird. “So have you finished reapplying your lipstick? Can we go race now?”
Darius snorted a laugh and turned away, beckoning me after him.
“You’re ready to lose now then?” he asked.
“Whatever you wanna believe.” I shrugged. I didn’t need to trash talk him, I’d beat his ass easily enough and then he’d eat his words while I rode away on my shiny new bike.
We headed down the corridors in silence as Darius seemed lost in thought and I wondered if the storm had eased up at all since we’d been inside.
“I meant what I said about keeping Xavier’s secret,” Darius said as we headed down the stairs to the front door. “Father would-”
“It’s fine,” I said quickly, not needing him to threaten me into agreeing. “I don’t see why it matters but I won’t tell anyone if it would hurt Xavier. I actually like him and I wouldn’t want him to suffer because of me.”
“Thank you,” Darius murmured and I could feel his gaze on me but I just shrugged, not looking back. I wasn’t doing it for him anyway.
Jenkins was waiting with my leather jacket at the foot of the stairs and I took it from him with a word of thanks.
Darius didn’t head back through the front door but led me to a door on the other side of the space where a staircase led down to the underground parking lot.
Lights flicked on around us as we headed out into the cold space. He strode through the echoing lot filled with luxury vehicles and I couldn’t help but imagine just how rich I could get by robbing this place. Hell I could probably be set for life by stealing a few golden picture frames and things from the unused parts of the house and they’d never even realise they’d been robbed.
I followed Darius to a meta
l key cabinet to the left of the elevator and he punched in the code to unlock it while I watched and memorised it. 1678#43.
I yawned like I had zero interest in what he was doing and pulled my Atlas from my pocket, adding the code into the notes section before casting an eye over the messages I’d received in the last hour.
Caleb:
My power is running low tonight, sweetheart. You wanna help me out?
Caleb:
I’ll make it worth your while...
A picture followed that of him lying shirtless on his bed in Terra House and I smirked as I tapped out a reply.
Tory:
Sorry, I’ve had a better offer tonight. But feel free to bite someone else, I don’t mind at all. Besides, you lost our game today so you can’t get your fangs in me until you win...
Caleb:
What better offer? And if you won’t let me put my fangs in you, how about something else? ;)
I bit my bottom lip to keep my smile contained before responding.
Tory:
Can’t tonight. But you can always try to catch me tomorrow...
Caleb:
You’re killing me. Why don’t I just come to Ignis now and I can help you relax before your Air Trial tomorrow?
Tory:
I told you, I got a better offer. I’m not even on campus.
I shoved the Atlas back into my pocket and looked up to find Darius watching me.
“Am I keeping you from your friends?” he mocked.
“That’s one of your friends actually. He’s very persistent.”
Darius’s jaw tightened as he looked me over. “Which one do you want?”
“What?” I asked with a frown.
He nodded towards the other end of the lot where the bikes were parked up. “Pick a bike.”
“Oh right.” I pursed my lips and walked towards the super bikes, eyeing their gleaming perfection with a little adrenaline trickling along my limbs in anticipation.
My Atlas started pinging in my pocket again and again and Darius released a low growl of irritation. He raised his own Atlas and started typing something but my attention was fixed on the bikes.
Zodiac Academy 3: The Reckoning: An Academy Bully Romance (Supernatural Bullies and Beasts) Page 23