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

by Caroline Peckham

“Blue,” he whispered, but I didn’t know what he was asking of me. To drop the bottle or to not drop it.

  I gasped as he ran at me, my heart sinking, knowing that this alcohol meant so much to him. He grabbed hold of my hand and prised the bottle from my fingers, dropping it himself. The smash hit my ears, but I didn’t see it because he dragged me against him, his mouth crashing into mine with the heat of a volcano.

  I was still angry, so damn angry, but I couldn’t stop kissing him. I clawed at his arms then wrapped my hand around his tie and pulled hard enough to choke him. He dragged me away from the window, shoving me up against the door instead, every part of us colliding. Our bodies, our teeth, our souls. It was sloppy and desperate and everything.

  I groaned, still trying to hurt him as I dug my nails into his forearms and he bit down on my lip in response. He suddenly caught my chin, wrenching my head sideways and sinking his teeth into my neck. My magic immobilised, but I didn’t need it. I wanted to claw at him until I shredded right through to his heart and made him feel how I had when I’d seen my sister hurt by Darius.

  His arousal ground against my leg but there wasn’t a chance in hell we were going there right now. I was still furious and wanted a proper apology.

  When his hand took a turn south, I slammed a palm to his chest and he extracted his fangs from my throat, releasing a frustrated sigh. His pupils were dilated and I could see the excitement burning beneath them as he dipped his head for another kiss.

  I pressed my hand to his mouth, shaking my head as anger grew deeper roots inside me. “No.”

  His brows drew together and he gently removed my hand, kissing the back of it. “Was I too rough?”

  “No.” I fought a blush but it scorched right through me.

  “Not rough enough?” he teased and I battled a grin, refusing to meet those hungry eyes of his.

  “I’m still mad at you,” I said, folding my arms and willing away the burning need between my thighs. But I wasn’t going to ignore all of my principals and let him have me. I’d imagined it so many times in this office, but not like this. Not with a pit of rage in my chest which just kept widening and widening.

  “You’ll get over it.” He brushed his thumb across my neck to heal the bite mark and I glowered at him.

  “That’s all you have to say? I’ll get over it?” I hissed.

  “Well…yeah.” He shrugged, seeming kind of out of his depth for a second.

  I pushed my way past him, ignoring the craving in my soul that begged me to stay as I strode toward the door. He beat me to it, barring my way with an anxious look in his eyes.

  “Wait,” he commanded and I lifted a brow. “I need you to do something for me.”

  “Are you serious?” I balked, completely baffled by him.

  “Blue, please. It’s important,” he pressed, his brows raising hopefully.

  I tsked at him, reaching for the door handle, but he caught my hand and drew me into his arms instead. His palm pressed flat to my back and he nuzzled against my head in a way that was almost like Seth. “I’ll make this up to you. But nothing I say right now is going to make it right.”

  Sorry would go a long way. But hell if I’m going to spoon feed you.

  “What do you want?” I demanded and he held me tighter, his mouth falling to my ear.

  “I need you to talk to Diego Polaris. I believe his Uncle Alejandro is up to something criminal that involves Darius’s father.”

  “Like what?” I breathed in alarm, leaning back to search his eyes.

  He shrugged. “I don’t know yet. But Diego would never trust me or Darius. I need someone close to him to ask about his uncle. Where he lives, what he does for a living, whether he’s involved in anything suspicious. Anything you can learn at all that could help.”

  I chewed on my lip, unsure what to say. “Diego’s my friend, I don’t want to lie to him.”

  “Then don’t lie.” He traced his thumb across my cheekbone. “Just ask.”

  I glanced at the door, uncertain if I should agree. I didn’t want to offer anything to Orion right now, but this sounded like something bigger than us.

  “Please, Blue. I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t desperate. Lionel is a danger to us all.” His eyes bored into mine and I knew I couldn’t refuse this request. Darius’s father terrified me so if he was up to something shady, I had to do what I could to stop him.

  “Alright, but what is it you think him and Lionel are even up to?”

  “Bad fucking shit, that’s all. I have to protect Darius and I need to know what Lionel’s planning.”

  “How do you know he’s planning anything?” I tried to pull away but he held on tight.

  “I overheard him at the party.”

  “Saying what?”

  “Darcy…”

  “You can’t expect me to help you if you’re not honest with me,” I said firmly.

  He sighed, leaning back against the door. “He’s planning something bad around the time of the Lunar Eclipse. That’s all I know.”

  I thought of Astrum’s warning in the card I’d found at the Acrux manor and my gut knotted.

  Do not underestimate the beast who shadows you.

  He is the ultimate power, ruling over your lives and the lives of many others.

  Had those words been referring to Lionel?

  The school bell rang out shrilly and we moved instinctively apart as reality came crashing down on us. His hand circled around the doorknob as he surveyed me.

  “Good luck with your Water Trial,” he said earnestly.

  “Thank you.” I moved forward but he didn’t open the door.

  “Are you still angry with me?”

  “Yes,” I replied, but a part of me wished I didn’t have to be. I wanted to rewind two nights and fall into his arms all over again. But everything was messed up between us and I couldn’t forgive him for holding me back from helping Tory.

  “Let me go,” I whispered when I could see he wasn’t planning on moving.

  His eyes hardened as he tugged the door open and the sound of chatter and movement of students filled the halls. I stepped past him and glanced back over my shoulder but he was already shutting the door. I swallowed hard and walked away, wondering if we were done before we’d even started.

  I headed out of Jupiter Hall onto the path and spotted Seth lingering beside the door. “Hey is he hassling you?” He strode toward me, his brows drawn low.

  “I can handle Orion.” I started walking, meaning to head past him but he caught my arm. I raised my brows, giving him a hard look that told him to let go.

  “I’m starting to see that, Omega,” he said with a sideways smile. His hand lingered on my arm, sliding higher and inching toward my hair. “But I’m still your superior.”

  I stepped away, narrowing my eyes. “You might be better at magic, Seth, but you’re not superior to anyone.”

  “You really haven’t grasped how Fae work yet, have you babe?”

  “I’ve grasped it,” I said in a low voice. “But more power doesn’t equal better.”

  He frowned as if he was struggling to understand that.

  A loud growl made my heart lurch and I turned, spotting Seth’s pack walking down the pathway toward us, brushing their hands over each other and nuzzling as they moved.

  A girl with dark hair and bright eyes headed the line. “Still betraying us, Seth? We’ll have to hold fights for a new Alpha soon.” Her tone was void of warmth and her eyes as hard as steel as they fell on me.

  Seth moved closer to me, a deep growl rumbling in his throat. “You’re the one betraying me, Alice. All of you are.” His eyes swept across the group and a few of them dipped their heads.

  “Maybe we’ll deal with the problem ourselves.” Alice stepped toward me and I raised my hands, fire bursting to life in my palms. If she wanted a fight, she’d caught me in a bad enough mood to get one. Besides, Mars was backing me today so hopefully I had the upper hand.

  Some of the pack started howling
in anger and my blood chilled, but I refused to back down. Seth moved in front of me, squaring up to Alice. “Accept her or get out of my sight,” he snarled.

  “I don’t even want to be in your pack,” I said, frustrated but it was clearly the wrong thing to say as Alice snarled at me.

  “Are you going to let her speak like that?” Alice snapped.

  “Don’t you dare question me.” Seth drew himself up to his fullest height, glaring down at her with his teeth bared. She held his eye for a long moment before bowing her head with a growl of annoyance. She jerked her head to beckon the pack, leading them away from us and Seth released a low whine as they went.

  Pain emanated from him, but I tried not to feel bad. He deserved to suffer like this after what he’d done to me. But I still didn’t want to be his Omega and maybe I was starting to feel one-percent shitty about his situation.

  “Just cut me from the pack, Seth, then this will stop.”

  He turned to me with a desperate look in his eyes that cut right into me. “It’s not that simple.”

  “Well make it simple,” I said with a shrug. Before I could react, he wrapped me in his arms, nuzzling into my hair with a groan.

  “Maybe I don’t want to let you go.” His mouth grazed my temple, then he drew away and headed off down the path, my heart beating frantically as I watched him leave.

  I didn’t like to admit it but I was starting to accept that Seth had feelings for me. And for some reason that terrified me far more than him hating me ever could.

  I ran through The Wailing Wood with my headphones on and the music pumping loud enough to bust an eardrum or drown out the echoes of the shadows which were still whispering on the verges of my mind.

  I’d barely slept. Each time I drifted off, the darkness had been waiting for me, thick with promise and expectation.

  I didn’t know if I was more afraid of it taking me or of me choosing to go willingly.

  I knew it wasn’t real, just a memory of what Darius’s dagger had exposed me to but the goosebumps lining my flesh were still in place since the moment I’d woken up on that beach. I felt cold. All the way down to my bones. And even the fire magic in me couldn’t do much to fix it.

  My heart was pounding against my chest, my breaths coming hard and fast as I pushed myself to my limit. I had twenty minutes until my Water Elemental Trial and I intended to use each of them up before I arrived. If I could pound the shadows out with a heavy bass and hard exercise then I’d do it.

  I took a turning south towards Water Territory, increasing my pace as I hit a downhill.

  The lake shimmered between the trees as they began to thin and I took a turn quickly, gasping as I spotted someone standing right in my way. I couldn’t stop in time, my sneakers skidded in the mud and I slammed straight into Darius Acrux’s chest.

  My headphones were knocked loose, falling to hang around my neck and the world came crashing back in on me.

  He caught my forearms to stop me from falling and looked down at me in surprise.

  I fought to catch my breath, some kind of violent death metal song clashing out of the headphones hanging around my throat as I stared up into his dark eyes.

  Darius looked at me in surprise, his lips parting like he had something to say but he hadn’t quite decided what. His grip on me tightened a little, just like it had on my throat last night.

  “Get the fuck off of me,” I growled, yanking my arms back.

  His eyes darkened instantly like a wall had slammed into place behind them.

  “Gladly,” he snapped. But instead of releasing me, he shoved me hard and I fell back onto my ass in the mud.

  Pain ricocheted through my hips and tears stung the backs of my eyes as something in my chest twisted sharply.

  My mouth fell open in shock as I looked up at him, the cold of the ground burrowing into my bones quickly and banishing what little warmth I’d managed to glean from my run.

  For a second I remembered laughing with him after we’d crashed his motorbikes and somehow survived and I swallowed thickly against the sensation that I’d lost something with him now. It was like that had been someone else. Not this cruel, hard shell who stood over me, only looking to cause me pain.

  “Whoops!” Caleb said cheerily as he shot onto the path beside us. I caught the sounds of Seth howling somewhere in the trees too. “Did you fall down, sweetheart?” He offered me a hand to pull me up but I looked away from him, pushing myself upright instead.

  “She was just getting used to the feeling of being where she belongs. Beneath our feet,” Darius growled.

  Caleb looked between us, a frown pulling at his brow for a moment as he seemed to realise he’d walked in on some kind of altercation.

  I didn’t bother to respond to Darius, sidestepping him quickly as I made to continue my journey to my Water Trial.

  “Did you just shove her in the mud?” Caleb asked incredulously.

  “What does it matter to you?” Darius snapped.

  “It’s just a bit...”

  “What?” he snarled.

  “Weak,” Caleb snapped back and I paused, glancing over my shoulder as I looked between the two of them.

  Darius moved to square his chest against Caleb’s, rising up to his full height and making the most of the few inches he had on him.

  “You wanna say that again?”

  “Any asshole can push a girl in the mud, it’s got nothing to do with your power or hers,” Caleb snarled. “And it’s a petty fucking thing to do to her.”

  My heart beat a little faster at his words. Caleb had made it clear that he stood with the Heirs always, I’d never expected to hear him standing up for me against one of them. Even if it was just because he didn’t like the way Darius had gone about belittling me rather than objecting to the idea as a whole.

  “Petty?” Darius growled. “Well I’d sooner that than be a pathetic little puppy, begging for every moment of her time. You literally let her run away from you rather than just taking what you want from her. What kind of Vampire are you?”

  “The kind who’s overpowered you more than once,” Caleb hissed, his fangs lengthening.

  I backed up a little as the air between them crackled with the promise of violence.

  “Wanna put that to the test?” Darius baited.

  Max crowed like a cockerel as he made it to the path behind me with Seth at his side but the two of them fell still as they looked at their friends in a stalemate. I wasn’t sure if Darius would bite Caleb’s head off first or if he’d get his throat ripped out instead.

  I glanced at the other two Heirs but they weren’t offering me any attention.

  “What’s going on?” Seth asked, a whimper escaping him as he took in the spiralling tension in the air.

  “Caleb’s crying because I pushed his little whore about,” Darius taunted and for some reason those words stung more than him shoving me had.

  Max looked at me with narrowed eyes and I backed up further. Whatever the hell this was, I didn’t need to stay around and watch it play out. I had a trial to get to and the fewer assholes I had around me during it the better.

  “Darius is just pouting because she won’t look twice at him,” Caleb retorted.

  Seth turned to look at me, a snarl aimed my way through bared teeth like this was my fault. All I’d wanted to do was go for a run. He couldn’t expect me to be on asshole patrol at all times, just in case I ran across one. They were freaking everywhere in this place.

  “Or maybe the two of you just want a dick measuring contest but you can’t find a microscope to judge it,” I snapped.

  Darius and Caleb turned away from each other to glare at me instead.

  Yeah, I’m out.

  I turned away and started running again. Mostly because they were making me late, partly because I just wanted to get the hell away from them. From Darius.

  “Come stay in Terra House with me tonight, Tory!” Caleb called after me but I didn’t respond to that either, I just kept ru
nning.

  A crowd had formed alongside the lake, slowly moving up onto the bleachers which had been erected for them to watch the challenge.

  I circled them, heading straight for the tents which had been set up for the freshmen to change in. One glance at the magical timer hanging suspended beside the bleachers told me I had six minutes until it started and I upped my speed in response.

  Darcy’s eyes widened in relief as I pushed my way inside the tent.

  “Where the hell have you been, Tor?” she demanded, holding out a black swimsuit for me to put on as I quickly tossed my headphones off of me and used water magic to wash the mud from my hands and face.

  “Fucking Darius,” I muttered, dropping my leggings. “Doesn’t matter, I’m here now.” I hadn’t told her about the shadows yet. I would. But she needed to focus on this first and foremost and there really wasn’t any time now.

  I dropped all of my clothes in a heap and dragged on the bathing suit, noticing a belt around it with a large, metal hoop hanging over my right hip, before hurrying out of the tent at Darcy’s side.

  She was still eyeing me with concern but I set my jaw, raising my chin. That seemed to be good enough for her and she grinned at me.

  “We got this,” she said firmly.

  “Let’s show that asshole who he’s fucking with,” I growled.

  “Those assholes,” Darcy teased. “There’s four of them, remember.”

  I snorted a laugh. “Five really. Orion just licks his ass too.”

  “Yeah,” she agreed, a frown pinching her brows.

  We reached the group of freshmen assembled before the lake and moved to take our places alongside them.

  Professor Washer strolled along the lakeshore in a fluffy red robe and I glanced at Darcy, exchanging a ‘thank god he’s covered up for once’ look with her.

  “The trial!” Washer called, gaining silence from the onlookers as well as the freshmen. “Is simple. There are coloured keys hidden in three different forms of water. One is a block of ice. Another, a relentless waterfall. And the third, the depths of the lake itself-” I suppressed a shudder at that one. “- to succeed in passing this trial, you must each claim a red, blue and yellow key and make it to the platform in the centre of the lake within the allotted hour. Only use water magic - no sneaky Siren transformations, Julian,” he purred the guy’s name and threw him a wink which made me gag.