Lance leapt from my back in well practiced movements and a shudder ran down my spine from the tip of my snout to the end of my tail as I shook off the scales and fire of my Dragon form and retreated back into my Fae flesh. It was harder to do than usual as my rage fought with the desire to stay in my Order form but I forced it back, needing to vent about this situation to Lance while we were able to talk in private.
The second my bones had realigned I turned to him and started on a rant which I wasn’t sure would ever end.
“Can you believe the balls of that fucking girl?” I snarled, scraping my hands through my hair so hard that I was fairly sure I’d drawn blood along my scalp.
“Put some pants on before you kick off, will you?” Lance muttered, tossing my clothes at me as he turned away and began pacing along the shore.
I bit my tongue as I forced my legs into my pants and he set to work casting the familiar spells of silence and repulsion just in case anyone was trying to spy on us. Though out here that seemed more than unlikely. But he never let his guard down, even when we could be sure of privacy. His movements were tense but the rage I was still feeling seemed to have burned out of him a little during our flight here.
I didn’t have the patience to do any more than pull on my sweatpants before I started up again.
“How did she even get into my room? It was still locked when I went to put that fire out. And I followed her back to Ignis House right before we found it too. She was right ahead of me in the crowd so I don’t even see how she could have managed to-”
“The Vegas never made it to the assembly on Astrum’s death,” Lance interrupted. “Darcy broke into my office while she should have been there and tried to steal some stardust so that they could go home. I’m guessing Tory went to your room to get some gold. I don’t know how much I told you about how they were living in the mortal world?”
“Why would I give a shit about that?” I snapped.
“Because it might help you understand Tory’s motivations. It’s obvious that you’re more than just pissed off about this because she got one up on you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I demanded, prowling towards my friend while he looked back at me like I wasn’t a goddamn Dragon capable of biting his head off if he pushed me the wrong way.
“It just seems like you’re taking it a bit personally,” he replied with a shrug. A fucking shrug.
“Of course I’m taking it personally - she stole from me and set my whole room alight!” I yelled.
Lance snorted a laugh and I snarled as I ran at him, fully intending to punch that stupid look off of his face. He shot away from me using his Vampire speed and I spun around, finding him behind me and out of reach again.
“My point is,” he continued like I hadn’t just tried to attack him. “That the two of them were living in this shitty apartment which was really just one tiny room with mold on the walls and a broken window which made the whole place cold and fucking miserable. I’m pretty sure they were sharing a beat up couch for a bed and they could barely even afford to pay the rent. Tory was stealing motorbikes for money and they were both the kind of skinny which spoke more of a lack of food than a dietary choice.”
“Do you expect me to feel sorry for them?” I asked incredulously, though I couldn’t quite fight off the mental picture he was painting for me. I couldn’t even imagine living like that. Money had never been something I’d even thought about. I took it for granted, it was the least important thing in my life because we had way too much of it. To think of the Solarian Princesses living in squalor like that was absurd but I knew Lance wouldn’t lie to me either.
“No. I don’t expect you to feel sorry for them, but it makes sense for you to try and understand them. The only real reason they came to Zodiac Academy in the first place was to claim their inheritance. And then you and the other Heirs did everything in your power to drive them out. But without graduating from the Academy, they can’t claim their inheritance and they’d be back to having nothing. So when you all did what you did to them on the night of the party and they wanted to run, they needed two things. A way to leave. And money.” He sounded so fucking reasonable in his argument that I felt some of my anger melting away.
“So, what? I’m just supposed to give them a free pass because they were desperate?” I asked incredulously.
“They’re Fae, it’s in their nature to fight back just like it’s in yours. Question is, do you think that what she did to you shows she’s more powerful than you? Especially if you line it up to the various things you’ve done to her...”
“Obviously not,” I spat. “But how am I supposed to just carry on like she didn’t do it?”
“I think she got a good grasp on your rage when you realised what she’d done,” Lance continued in a low voice. “For a moment there I felt like I was looking at Lionel instead of a man who swore never to be like him.”
This time I didn’t give him a chance to escape me as I swung towards him. I slammed my palms against his chest and forced him back a step, glaring right in his eyes in a clear challenge.
“Say that again,” I snarled.
Lance didn’t even fucking flinch which only pissed me off more. “How did it feel when you pinned her to the ground by her neck?” he breathed. “Did that make you feel good? Did you put her in her place?”
I swallowed hard against a lump in my throat as shame prickled up my spine. “I wasn’t going to choke her. I didn’t even tighten my grip. I just...”
“You just wanted her to think you might. Sound familiar?”
I turned away from him suddenly, not wanting to see that accusation in his eyes. I refused to admit I was anything like my father but a small voice in the back of my head was telling me he was right. Roxy had stopped fighting back by the time I put my hand around her throat. My magic had already immobilised her and I’d known that I’d already won. The rest of what I’d done to her hadn’t been about winning it was about rubbing it in. Just like my father always did to me. Driving salt into the wounds.
“Fuck.” I started pacing, scraping my hands through my hair again as I tried to force away the image of her glaring up at me as I pinned her to the ground. “I can’t...she drives me insane, you know that? She challenges me at every goddamn turn. No matter how thoroughly she’s beaten she still gets back up and looks me right in the eye again. Every. Damn. Time. And she hates me, it’s obvious, she says it right to my face but then every now and then she looks at me like...”
“Like what?” Lance asked curiously, drawing a little closer.
I dropped to the sand with a heavy sigh, my anger burning low as all kinds of unnamed emotions swirled to the surface instead.
“I dunno. Like she’s trying to work me out. Or maybe she wants to. But then she goes right back to calling me names or standing in opposition to every little thing I do or screwing Caleb...”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Lance asked, taking a seat beside me.
“Nothing,” I said instantly. “It just pisses me off. It’s like she gives him a free pass for all his bullshit but expects me to grovel at her feet for just being Fae.”
Lance didn’t say anything in response to that and I raised my head to scowl out over the water.
“Enough about the fucking Vegas,” I muttered.
“You were really only talking about one of them,” Lance pointed out.
“Well Roxy is always in my face. She lives in my House, I have to help her with her fire magic, she’s screwing my friend, so-”
“That’s the second time you’ve brought that up.”
“What are you, my fucking critic or my friend?”
“Both most of the time,” he joked.
“Well right now I just want a friend. Stop pointing out my flaws and just agree with me while I rant about the situation.”
“Okay, if you think it’ll make you feel better,” Lance agreed. “Tory Vega is such a bitch. You went way too easy on her and I reall
y hope she’s off somewhere crying right now because she knows how wrong she is.”
A faint smile tugged at my lips and Lance leaned back on his elbows as he went on.
“I also heard that she’s fucking awful in bed and Caleb is only screwing her because he feels sorry for her. Besides, everyone knows she really wishes she could fuck the Fire Heir but he’s way out of her league so she just cries herself to sleep over it every night instead.”
“Fucking Vegas,” I muttered, half a smirk tugging at my lips.
“Fucking Vegas,” he agreed.
We sat in silence, listening to the waves crash against the shore for a few moments and I tried to stop thinking about Roxy Vega and all the things I hated about her. Plus some of the things I didn’t.
I let out a long breath, closing my eyes for a moment as the Dragon finally fell back asleep within my chest. Roxy’s brown eyes found me in the dark, the way they’d widened slightly as my fingers gripped her neck. The flicker of her pulse against my thumb, which gave away exactly what she thought of me in that moment. She thought I might kill her. She’d believed it. I’d wanted her to fear me and succeeded in painting myself as a monster in her eyes.
So why did that suddenly seem like a bad thing?
I swallowed thickly and opened my eyes again, not wanting to look at her in my mind. Which was where she was. Too fucking often.
I shook off the feelings of guilt before they even had a chance to surface. She’d stolen from me. Burned down my room. Looked me in the eye and made it beyond clear she hated me. I didn’t care what her reasons were. I didn’t care if I’d pushed her to it.
She hated me. And I hated her.
Simple.
Good Morning Gemini.
The stars have spoken about your –
You have a new private message, Darcy!
You have a new private message, Darcy!
You have a new private message, Darcy!
“Is this broken?” I muttered to myself, sitting upright with a yawn and pushing my bed covers down as I blinked hazily at the screen. It was earlier than I’d usually get up, but I’d kept dreaming about Tory on the beach, blood everywhere, waking in a burning sweat. I tapped on the private messages and my lips pursed as I found they were all from Orion.
Lance:
Come meet me in my office before breakfast.
Lance:
And if we’re lucky, through breakfast.
Lance:
And I’m always late anyway so after breakfast too ;)
I scowled, shaking my head. Was he serious right now?
I tapped out an answer to shut him down, my gut writhing and squirming as hurt niggled at me. He didn’t even realise I was pissed at him. How could he think we were on good terms? That I’d actually go and screw him?
I let out an actual growl, hitting send on my message.
Darcy:
Obviously not
I didn’t even give him a full stop, let alone an x. I really didn’t want to think the other night had been a mistake but Orion had held me back whilst his goddamn Dragon friend had threatened to choke my sister to death. But not before he smacked her around like a lion toying with its prey.
I was fuming. I wanted to tear out both Orion and Darius’s eyeballs for it. I wasn’t usually the outwardly feisty twin, but today I was on a warpath.
I lifted my Atlas to read my horoscope like I’d intended, trying to slow my breathing.
Good morning Gemini.
The stars have spoken about your day!
Mars is firmly backing you today so if you feel like going in to battle, that may be because of its presence. Now is a good time to face your issues head on. So long as you have faith in the red planet’s guidance, you will win any argument you strike up. But be careful, you will collide with a Libra today who also has Mars in their chart. If you clash too hard, the results could be disastrous.
“Good, I fancy a disaster,” I murmured just as another message flashed up from Orion.
Lance:
Is this about your sister?
I rolled my eyes, turning the Atlas off so I couldn’t even be tempted to reply. I dragged my butt into the bathroom and had a shower that lasted nearly half an hour, trying to drain away some of this furious energy. But it clearly wasn’t going anywhere. So by the time I pulled on my ripped skinny jeans, a fitted black sweater and painted my face for the day, twisting my hair up into a Viking braid that said war, I was ready to take on the whole damn school.
I grabbed my satchel on the way out of the door, tossing it over my shoulder. I headed into the stairwell and spotted Seth trotting toward me in my periphery. I quickened my pace but he circled around me, stopping me and several other students in the process.
“Move,” I demanded, trying to file after the other students as he let them by.
His brows jumped up. “Shit, babe, which stars spat in your cereal this morning?”
“All of them,” I huffed. “Now move.”
“Is that a challenge?” His eyes sparkled and I pursed my lips.
I cast air from my palm which crashed into his shoulder and shoved him aside. But he didn’t miss a beat, turning sharply and sliding his arm around my waist. I didn’t even care to throw him off, I just continued along at my own fast pace and hoped he’d fall behind.
“I think I like this angry side of you, do you want to take it out on me?” Seth murmured in my ear as we stepped out of the door onto the pathway.
My gut did a skydive as I found Orion standing outside, docking House Points from students for various offenses. I tried to walk away, but his eyes landed on me like lightning, shifting between me and Seth.
“Hey Professor,” Seth called. “What brings you out of bed before midday?”
Orion came at him so fast, I nearly fell over as he dragged Seth off of me. He threw him back through the door, bellowing, “Ten points from Aer!”
My heart somersaulted as I made my escape, marching into the crowd and trying to meld in. Damn my beautiful hair.
Orion was in front of me in a blur, moving so fast I walked straight into his chest.
“What the hell?” I demanded. “Get out of my way, asshole.”
Horrified inhales sounded around me and for some unknown reason Orion’s mouth curved up into a triumphant smile. “My office. Now, Miss Vega.”
“No!” I gasped, realising what he’d managed to do. Give himself a damn excuse to haul me away like a misbehaving student.
I tried to duck past him, but he caught my arm. The students around us had scattered and I gazed up at him, venom pouring from my eyes.
“Let me go,” I said icily.
“Make me,” he spat, dragging me along the path at a ferocious speed. I knew he would just toss me over his shoulder and carry me there if I made any further protest and I wasn’t going to deal with the humiliation of that.
He marched me up to Jupiter Hall like I was a prisoner of war about to be thrown into a firing line. My heart ricocheted off the walls of my chest as we arrived at his office and he unlocked the door, pushing me inside.
I took a deep breath as he stepped in after me and slammed it behind him. I fought the wince I knew he expected, clenching my jaw and glaring at him.
He raised his hand, casting a silencing bubble and I lunged forward, grabbing his wrist to try and stop him. It was already too late, which meant we were having this conversation now, whether I liked it or not.
“Screw you,” I hissed. “You had no right-”
“I have every right,” he snarled, stalking closer and sending a shudder rolling down my spine. “I’m your teacher.”
“Handy that,” I laughed dryly. “You didn’t act like one the other night, sir.” He cornered me against his desk, placing his palms down either side of me so I was enveloped in his scent and the taste of coffee on his breath.
“This is about your sister,” he echoed his message from earlier. “Isn’t it?” His fangs were on full display and I tried not to pay th
em attention but it was difficult with him so close.
“Of course it is,” I snarled, collecting my thoughts and preparing for the argument which I was clearly going to be forced into having on his terms. “You held me back while that bastard hurt her. Do you have any idea what that feels like? How would you feel if someone hurt your sister right in front of you?”
He jerked away as if I’d scolded him, turning his back on me and raking a hand down his neck.
My heart thumped out of tune and my mind wheeled as I wondered if that actually had happened to him once.
“So you do know how it feels,” I said darkly, moving away from the desk with my heart in my throat.
He grunted in affirmation, still not looking at me. “But you can’t intervene in a fight between two Fae,” he said in explanation. “You should know that by now.”
“She’s my family,” I said in disbelief. “I don’t care what I’m supposed to do, Lance. I’ll always look out for her no matter what the cost.”
Orion nodded, scraping a hand over his face then moving to sit behind his desk. He opened the lowest drawer and took out the predictable bottle of bourbon. Tears suddenly pinched my eyes. Tears of rage, but mostly of sadness that he needed that stuff. That he thought it would help whatever it was he was trying not to feel.
I stormed forward, snatching it from the desk before he could pour a glass. “Deal with your emotions.” I pointed the bottle at him. “Drowning them doesn’t make them go away.”
He stared at me as if no one had ever pointed out his drinking habit before (especially with the actual bottle). And as if no one had ever told him to stop. Well I was telling him now and he was going to goddamn listen.
I stormed to the window, wrenching it open and holding the bottle out by the neck, staring at him with a threat in my eyes. He was up from his seat, his expression contorted in a mixture of confusion, anger and disbelief.
Zodiac Academy 3: The Reckoning: An Academy Bully Romance (Supernatural Bullies and Beasts) Page 32