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

by Caroline Peckham

  “Leap of faith?” she asked.

  “Okay but be safe.” I bit into my lower lip.

  Tory raised her hand as the motorbike remained firmly above it then leapt forward, landing on the other side of the door. I didn’t wait for my rational side to kick in, I darted forward and jumped after her.

  Heat washed over me. My clothes singed, but nothing else. I landed beside Tory and we dropped the fire casts in our hands, falling into each other’s arms as we cheered.

  Geraldine’s side of the crowd went crazy, but as I looked to the Heirs, I saw something in their eyes I never thought I’d seen in them before. Fear. Darius’s gaze shifted between us and laughter built in my throat. If we really were impervious to fire, he couldn’t use it against us. And as a Dragon Shifter, that had to suck.

  I started laughing and Tory joined me as she flipped them the finger.

  The four of them stood, marching out of the crowd and leaving the Arena so fast, I was certain they were going to discuss this turn of events. But I didn’t care. We’d completed our third trial and discovered how strong we really were in the process.

  ***

  We headed to The Orb for an evening of celebrating with the A.S.S and to top off one of the best days ever, Geraldine taught us a spell to boobytrap a huge tower of cupcakes on our table. When Max predictably came over to steal one, the entire pile exploded in his face, coating him head to toe in frosting. By the time I headed back to Aer Tower with Diego at my side, a permanent smile was etched onto my face.

  Principal Nova had sent Tory and I an email stating that she expected us to emerge as a rare kind of Dragon any day now. Though she’d not heard of any kind that were impervious to fire so she was hopeful that we would be a very rare breed.

  I wasn’t sure I was ready to shift into a creature that size, but I imagined it was something I’d get used to in time. Especially if it meant the Heirs no longer screwed with us.

  As I rounded into eleventh floor with Diego, I caught his arm before he headed to his room. “Diego, the Fairy Fair is on Sunday.”

  “I know,” he said sullenly. “Sofia is going…”

  “Yeah.” I frowned. “So I thought maybe you might wanna go with me? Could be fun?”

  His eyes brightened. “Oh, yeah. That sounds great, chica.”

  “Good.” I grinned and he pulled me into a hug where we clashed heads and I awkwardly patted his back then stepped away. “Night then.” I slipped away to my room and pushed the key into the lock. Except it was already unlocked.

  My heart stammered as I pushed the door open, finding Seth Capella lying on my bed.

  “What the hell?” I demanded, stepping into the room. “Get out.”

  He sat up, his eyes frighteningly dark as he rose to his feet. What was with him today?

  My blood chilled as he stalked toward me and I almost backed up into the corridor to escape. But this was my room and he was the one trespassing.

  “Fire doesn’t burn you,” he stated, cocking his head with a wolfish look that said he was on the hunt for his next kill. “But I bet vines can choke you. And air can suffocate you.” He toyed with both Elements, one in each hand.

  “What’s up with you?” I breathed, conjuring an air shield to protect myself.

  He licked his lips, stepping closer then suddenly slapped on a smile which was somehow more terrifying. “Nothing little Omega. Are you going to challenge me soon?”

  “Challenge you?”

  “Yeah that’s the only way you can get out of my pack. So challenge me, babe. I’m hungry for the fight. Don’t keep me waiting too long.” He walked out of the door and I leaned back against the wall, waiting for my heart to settle before quickly shutting and locking it.

  Why is he so damn angry?

  A thought entered my mind which held me hostage with terror for one long moment.

  My eyes whipped to the desk and I hurried forward, pulling the top drawer open with a pang of absolute dread. He hasn’t found it, please tell me he hasn’t found it.

  Horror filled me. It was gone.

  I almost went into complete panic mode when I spotted it peeping it out behind my desk lamp. My heart lurched as I grabbed it, clenching my fist around it.

  I didn’t leave it there. Did I?

  I tried to recall the last time I’d moved it, but between my Elemental Trials and daily Hell Week pranks, my mind drew a blank. I must have moved it. Seth would have killed me if he’d found it.

  I breathed a sigh, stuffing it into my top drawer and letting my worries ebb away. Seth was just being his usual unpredictable self. One minute he was all over me and the next he was trying to destroy my life and make me renounce my claim like a jackass. His moods changed like the wind and hell if I was gonna let him rattle me.

  I strode along the glass tube which created the corridor in Aqua house, glancing above my head as a shoal of glimmering silver fish swam overhead. The sun was setting and the light which made it this deep into the lake was quickly diminishing. Soon it would be too dark to see the view through the glass structure and the calming sight of the creatures beneath the lake would be lost to me.

  For a moment I considered shifting into my Order form and heading out for a swim to see if that might relax me. But I shrugged the idea off. What I really needed was an outlet for this anger, not a way to try and calm it.

  After watching the damn Vegas ace their Fire Trial, I’d ended up with a face full of fucking frosting courtesy of Geraldine goddamn Grus. But because of the sneaky way she’d gone about setting that trap for me I hadn’t even been able to challenge her over it. It would have seemed weak to start throwing about accusations, especially while I was covered in cake.

  My Atlas started ringing in my pocket and I hooked it out, raising an eyebrow as my Dad’s name appeared on the caller ID.

  “Hey, Dad. What’s going-”

  “I don’t have time for pleasantries, Max,” Dad said quickly and I didn’t miss the excited tone to his voice. “The FIB have just apprehended a Nymph - a live Nymph!”

  “Shit,” I breathed, falling still in the middle of the corridor as I gave him my full attention. I waved a hand quickly, forming a silencing bubble against any nosey fuckers who might be lurking nearby before I went on. “Are they interrogating it?”

  “That’s why I’m calling you,” he said briskly. “They’re bringing it to the Court of Solaria now so that we can perform the interrogation ourselves. We’ve never had an opportunity like this before and the other Councillors agreed that we should handle the situation personally.”

  “Is it safe?” I asked, unable to halt the creeping fear which slid through me at the idea of my dad getting close to one of those things. There was a good reason why they were never apprehended. A Nymph’s rattle could disable even the strongest Fae if they were close enough and one wrong move could lead to them getting their probes straight into your heart. It wasn’t worth the risk.

  “That’s the genius part of it,” Dad said, barking a laugh as his excitement bled through the phone. He was just as powerful as me and even the tone of his voice could transfer emotions when he was hyped up. “Agent Sky came up with the idea to cut its fingers off before healing the stumps. No probes! It’s completely disarmed and primed for a safe interrogation.”

  “That’s...wow. So you think you’ll be able to get some answers out of it then? Locations, numbers, plots?”

  “Oh I’m confident of it. They’ll be transferring the captive here within the hour. And I convinced the other Councillors that it would be educational for you and the other Heirs to observe the interrogation.”

  “No shit!” I cried, a grin biting into my cheeks.

  “Yes shit,” Dad laughed. “So gather the other boys and get here as quick as you can. I take it Darius has stardust to hand?”

  “Of course he does,” I joked. “When do you ever see a Dragon without a pocket full of it?”

  Dad chuckled again. “I imagine Lionel would bathe in the stuff if it
wouldn’t get lodged in his butt crack, just because he could.”

  I snorted a laugh too. Dad always liked ribbing on the other Orders, laughing at their shows of power. We both knew that the only real power that counted was ours - if you could make people feel the same way as you then you never lost an argument. Of course, the Councillors and other Heirs were strong enough to combat our power so it didn’t make a difference to our relationships with them, but almost everyone else we met fell under our sway easily enough.

  “I’ll call the guys now,” I said. “We’ll be there within the hour.”

  “Good.” Dad hung up and I sent a quick message to the other Heirs telling them to get their asses here ASAP.

  I dropped the silencing bubble and started jogging as I headed up to my room.

  I opened the metal door and stepped into the huge glass dome which was my home here at Zodiac. The lake rose to the centre of the glass bubble, lapping around the middle so that my room was half submerged. I looked up at the darkening sky as the last rays of the sun painted it in streaks of russet. The moon hung low in the sky already, almost full and lighting a hunger in my flesh. The closer we drew to the Lunar Eclipse, the more the moon called to me. I was really looking forward to the party that would take place that night. Inhibitions went to hell during an Eclipse and Fae followed their most primal emotions. It was refreshing for me to see people acting on the emotions I could feel pouring from them rather than just trying to repress them all the time.

  I touched my fingers to the glass wall of my room and created a layer of ice to grow over the orb, blocking the view of the lake and the sky to make sure we had privacy.

  I stripped out of my clothes and found a grey suit in the back of my closet, changing into it swiftly. If we were seen at the Court of Solaria, no doubt our photographs would be taken to go with a fluff piece about us helping with the war effort in tomorrow’s papers. It was important we looked the part if we were spotted.

  I moved to the mirror, pushing some product into my mohawk to flatten it a little then strapped on one of the watches from my top drawer, opting for a platinum piece to compliment the suit.

  A knock came at the door and I opened it as Darius strolled in wearing a black suit with a grey shirt beneath it. He nodded to me, but his attention was on his Atlas as he listened to someone on the other end of it.

  I spotted Caleb striding up the corridor outside and left the door open for him.

  “Just trust me, Mother,” Darius said firmly. “I have it on good authority. And if I’m wrong and you spend a night in the mortal world for no reason then what difference does it make? It’s worth it to make sure Xavier isn’t at risk.”

  I glanced at him, wondering why he might think his brother was in danger, but he’d taken a seat on the couch with his back to me.

  I drew closer to him and a wave of concern swept over me followed by relief at whatever his mother was saying in response.

  “Thank you,” Darius said, his shoulders sagging. “I’ll see you next week once it’s all over.”

  He cut the call and I moved to perch on the arm of the couch as Caleb entered. He’d opted for a black suit too but the white shirt he wore with it was full of creases. He seemed distracted and he dropped onto my bed with a sigh; irritation flowed from him muddled with disappointment, frustration, a touch of rage... all in all I’d say that Tory Vega had done a number on him.

  “Is everything alright with Xavier?” I asked Darius, opting to avoid the subject of Tory while the two of them were here. That girl was causing cracks in our group and I wasn’t sure that they’d heal until we got rid of her and her sister for good.

  Darius let out a long breath and for a moment a flicker of fear came from him but he held it in check, clearly not wanting me to read into it.

  “He’s just going through a few things at the moment. It’ll all resolve itself in time,” Darius said, obviously not wanting to go in to whatever it was.

  I nodded, accepting his decision to keep whatever was bothering him to himself. Sometimes I worried that his secrets would catch up on him one day though. His father had done too good a job of teaching him to bottle things up but sometimes emotions needed an outlet beyond rage.

  I shifted my gaze to Caleb and he noticed, leaning back on my pillows with his lips pursed.

  “I don’t think I can keep seeing Tory,” he said darkly, more than a little anger pouring from him.

  Darius sat up straighter in his chair, relief and excitement slipping from him. I caught his eye and he shrugged innocently, but not before I felt a touch of his lust too.

  Yeah, we need this girl gone before the two of them come to blows over her.

  “I thought you were going to keep things the same with her so that she didn’t catch on to the fact that we were coming for her?” I asked, though I’d known when Cal said that he’d have trouble doing it. The moment he realised he’d been screwing the girl responsible for making him a laughing stock, his anger had tainted the air all around him so strongly that I could taste it even when he left the room. It was more than that though, he was embarrassed too, knowing she was laughing at him and leading him on. Hell, it pissed me off enough and she hadn’t even done it to me.

  “I know,” he muttered. “I just... I’m not going to be able to keep my temper in check if I’m hunting her. It’s hard enough not to be too rough with her when I’m not pissed at her. I don’t think I can control myself while I’m this angry and I could end up going too far.”

  “So rough her up a bit,” I said with a shrug. “Maybe she’ll like it.”

  Darius growled at me and I looked around at him in surprise as a wave of anger slammed right into me. Emotions always tasted more potent when they were aimed at me like that and for a second I felt exactly what it was like to have a Dragon point his rage at me.

  “What if he ends up killing her?” he snapped like I was an idiot. “The law won’t protect him from murdering a royal.”

  I scoffed and looked back at Caleb but I was surprised to find him nodding.

  “I could,” he said darkly. “There’s a reason why the Vampire Code discourages us from indulging in the hunt. The bloodlust blinds me while I’m hunting and it’s...hard to rein it in sometimes.”

  Darius growled again and I huffed at all the anger in the room.

  The door opened and I looked up as Seth came in. He was wearing a black suit too and I groaned irritably.

  “Should I get changed?” I asked. “You all look like you’re matching on purpose now.”

  Darius rolled his eyes and shrugged out of his jacket. “Better? Now I look like I didn’t even bother dressing properly. The stories will be about that instead of focusing on your inability to match or the possibility that we’re conspiring to make you look like the odd one out in a grey suit.”

  I smirked at him because it was better. I hated it when the press made comments about me like that, but Darius just let it all roll off of his back. And with my ability to read his emotions I knew he genuinely didn’t care about it, so I didn’t even have to feel bad about him taking the fall for me.

  Seth moved to take a seat beside Darius, nuzzling into him despite the way Darius shifted back an inch to avoid him. It always amused me to watch Seth pushing his wolfy ways onto Darius and Caleb despite their Orders preferring their space. They tried to accommodate him as much as possible but their natures would always collide to some degree.

  “So what were you talking about before I arrived?” Seth asked, his hand moving to Darius’s thigh.

  I raised an eyebrow at him as I felt a touch of lust coming from him and Seth whimpered guiltily, taking his hand back before Darius could push it off.

  “The moon is making me horny as fuck,” he complained. “And my pack still won’t come anywhere near me. I’ve got needs.”

  “Tell me about it,” Darius complained. “All fucking week it’s been getting worse and the Eclipse isn’t until Monday.”

  “Which makes it even harder
for me to break things off with Tory,” Caleb moaned, falling back onto my pillows dramatically.

  “What are you, a teenage girl?” I asked him, taking a pillow from the couch to toss at him. “Just find some other girl to screw.”

  “It won’t be the same,” Caleb growled, pulling the pillow over his face. “She’s so fucking hot. She keeps surprising me and it makes me so hard I can’t-”

  “Shut the fuck up about it,” Darius snapped, pushing himself out of his seat. “Keep screwing her or don’t. I don’t wanna fucking listen to any more talk about her or her goddamn sister.”

  His anger pulsed through the room and I sighed heavily. I was gonna need a rage detox after spending a night in their company. Maybe I could find a Pegasus to screw when we got back from the interrogation; they always had happiness to spare. I wasn’t even sure why Caleb hated that rumour so much. Who didn’t like screwing a girl who smiled the whole time like you were doing her a favour with every thrust?

  Seth got up too and moved closer to Darius with a whimper, reaching out to comfort him. Darius batted him away but Seth persisted, brushing his hands along his arms and whimpering like a kicked puppy every time he was rejected.

  I swiped a hand over my eyes.

  “Is your guard dog going to keep us waiting much longer?” I demanded, checking my watch.

  “You know Lance.” Darius shrugged. “He’ll be late for his own funeral. But if I show up without him Father will be... disappointed.”

  I pushed my tongue into my cheek. Yeah, disappointed enough to beat the shit out of his son no doubt. Darius had never told us what Lionel did to him, but we all knew. I’d felt the emotions coming from him after one too many run ins with his father and Cal had overheard Lionel screaming at Darius while kicking him until his ribs broke when we’d been at their house for a barbecue once. He’d tried to intervene but his mom had stopped him. When Darius had returned, he’d been healed like it had never happened and we’d tried to confront him about it. He hadn’t confirmed it or denied it. He’d just thanked us for giving a shit and told us not to worry about it. As if that was possible.