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

by Caroline Peckham

  “Yeah, you’re right.” Darcy looked around as the rest of the students left us behind and reached out for the cave wall.

  She closed her eyes as she concentrated and I looked around, seeing if I could spot anything that might help.

  A faint tremor ran through the ground at my feet and I shifted to keep my balance.

  “I think we should go right,” Darcy murmured, her voice heavy as she concentrated on the feeling of her earth magic.

  I opened my mouth to respond just as a guttural roar sounded somewhere in the caves behind us, sending a shiver of fear racing up my spine.

  Darcy’s eyes snapped open and she looked at me, her gaze filled with the same terror that sound had woken in me.

  “What was that?” I breathed.

  Darcy shook her head, no words coming out.

  The roar came again and I stumbled towards her. “Right?” I confirmed, looking at the narrow passage which led that way. It was darker than the others, narrower too. On looks I wouldn’t have picked it but maybe that was a good thing. We should be trusting our magic, nothing else.

  “Yeah,” Darcy agreed.

  We ran for it together and the darkness pressed close as the cavern swallowed us. Up ahead an orange glow seemed to flicker just out of sight, giving just enough light to let me see the walls which pressed in on either side of us.

  After a few feet, the passage narrowed too much for us to jog side by side and Darcy slipped ahead of me. We kept going, our panting breaths echoing against the cold rocks as the passage slowly started to curve up hill.

  “You were right!” I said encouragingly as we upped our pace a little more.

  I reached out to brush my hands over the walls either side of me as I ran and that deep roar sounded behind us again.

  “Shit, you don’t think she meant that part about us getting eaten, do you?” Darcy begged, looking behind her as she kept running.

  “No,” I breathed, though it sounded a hell of a lot like a yes somehow.

  We tumbled around a corner into a wide chamber with a low fire burning at the centre of it, causing the orange glow.

  We staggered towards the flames and my heart pounded as I looked around at the chamber we’d emerged in. Seven other passages led out of here, but it was impossible to say which we should follow to get back to the surface.

  The growl came again, so close that the earth beneath our feet shuddered with the force of it.

  “What the fuck is that?” I gasped.

  Darcy was shaking her head, backing up closer to the fire.

  I looked between the passages at a total loss.

  “We need to feel the way on again,” she said, dropping to her knees.

  “Okay,” I agreed, though I wasn’t entirely sure what she meant.

  I dropped down too, closing my eyes as I pressed my palms to the dirt beneath us.

  I pushed my awareness away from myself, searching with my earth magic for a connection to the rock and soil surrounding us. For a moment it was overwhelming, so much of it pressed in on us from every direction, above, below, to each side but suddenly my attention caught on the space we were in instead.

  I felt the fissure in the soil, the divide which ran through it like veins in a body.

  The other tunnels branched away from this space and I could push my awareness towards them too, feeling them out as I tried to figure out where they went.

  “I’ll start on the right, you start on the left,” Darcy directed and I quickly agreed.

  I dug my fingers into the soil, pushing my consciousness towards the tunnel to my left and trying to figure out where it led. Up and down didn’t seem to mean anything to what I was feeling but as the tunnel spread away from us I could feel the rock around it growing thicker, colder, wetter.

  That had to mean it went down. I shook my head and drew back to where we were, exploring the next tunnel with my magic instead.

  I pushed my awareness into the dark space, but felt it end abruptly in a sharp blockade. There was no opening beyond that, it was a dead end.

  “Not the two on the far right,” Darcy breathed as she continued her search.

  “Must be one of the middle ones,” I agreed.

  I began to spread my magic out again but just as I did, a huge tremor rattled through the ground beneath me.

  I cried out as I pitched forward, the soil and rocks splitting behind me like they were nothing more than soft butter being carved by a knife.

  My eyes snapped open and I spun around, the ground bucking beneath me and throwing me back into Darcy just as an enormous roar filled the cavern, rattling off the rock walls and drawing a scream of terror from my lips.

  My eyes widened as a huge creature burst from the soil beyond my feet.

  It was like a cross between a giant worm and goddamn dragon. Its huge mouth was lined with rows of razor sharp teeth and blind eyes cast about hungrily as it swung its pale head left and right.

  “Holy shit,” I gasped and its head whipped towards me instantly.

  I screamed as it lunged for me, throwing my hands up in panic and casting a huge wave of earth power from my palms on instinct. A wall of rock shot up out of the ground between us and the creature seconds before it could reach us. The sound of crumbling stone rang out as it collided with the wall I’d made and my eyes widened in horror as a crack tore right through the centre of it.

  Darcy’s hands locked around my arm as she heaved me up. I snapped out of my momentary panic and scrambled after her as she raced across the cave towards the three central tunnels. We hadn’t had time to figure out which one we should take and as the sound of breaking stone followed us, we had to take a leap of faith.

  Darcy shot into the left tunnel and I was right on her heels as we sprinted into the dark.

  The roar came again and the ground at our feet shuddered and trembled as the creature gave chase through the labyrinth of stone.

  I had no idea if it was using the tunnel to pursue us or if it might burst from the dirt at our feet at any moment.

  We ran and ran, adrenaline coursing through my veins as I pushed my body to its limit and we slowly seemed to put a little distance between us and the hell creature which was hunting us.

  The ground was rising slightly beneath us as we went and my heart soared with the idea of us making it to the surface.

  “A little further,” I panted, refusing to back off the relentless pace while pressing my hand to Darcy’s shoulder, making sure I didn’t lose her in the darkness.

  “We must be close,” she panted back as the incline increased sharply and hope strummed a beat in my chest.

  The ground still shook, roars chasing us as we climbed up and up, the promise of fresh air and freedom calling my name as our footsteps pounded through the echoing tunnel.

  We were nearly there, just another few steps. I was sure that I could hear the sound of the crowd cheering somewhere close by.

  My face collided with Darcy’s back and I cried out as I slammed down onto my ass in the dirt.

  “There’s no more tunnel!” Darcy shrieked in panic and my heart skipped a beat as another roar sounded behind us in the dark.

  “There has to be!” I protested, crawling forward on my hands and knees as I swept my hands over a wall of soil which blocked the way on.

  The creature growled behind us and the walls trembled again.

  I pressed my magic out from me, hunting for some way forward, refusing to believe we’d taken the wrong turning. My heart sank as I found nothing but packed dirt all around us, boxing us in, burying us alive, the perfect prey for the creature which drew closer at every moment.

  “It’s not deep!” Darcy yelled suddenly. “We have to dig our way out. We’re only a few meters below the surface!”

  I gasped as I realised she was right, the weight of the soil before us was so much less than it had been, we were almost there, nearly free.

  “Then let’s dig!” I agreed forcefully, throwing myself forward and clawing lumps of
soil aside.

  Darcy was right beside me and with the help of our magic we burrowed into the wall blocking our way out. I lost her in the dark as I scrambled into a tunnel where the soil fell down all around me, covering me, choking me, suffocating me...

  I kept going, digging and digging towards that promise of freedom which was so damn close I could taste it.

  The weight of the soil pressed down, the roar of the creature drew close and with a final surge of my earth magic, my hands finally broke the surface.

  I grunted with effort as I dug myself out of the ground and suddenly a hand closed around mine. Darcy was dragging me out.

  Fresh air surrounded me and I couldn’t help the sob that tore from my throat as I gulped it down hungrily.

  I shook on my knees, looking up as the cheers of the crowd flooded in on me.

  A large group of students were already assembled beside Professor Rockford and the giant timer was ticking down the final minute.

  But it didn’t matter that we’d come last. We’d made it.

  I was covered from head to toe in dirt. Every inch of my body shook with fear and fatigue. But we’d done it. We’d passed the final trial. And no one could say we hadn’t earned our placed in this damn school now.

  We’d made it through every trial.

  And we were here to stay.

  “Fairrrry faiiiiir!” someone crowed outside my room and I laughed. It seemed everyone in the Academy was going to the Fairy Fair today and I was brimming with excitement after acing my final trial. Curfew had been pushed back until eleven pm tonight to allow students to enjoy the fair, but from the gossip in the halls it sounded like that was because most of the faculty wanted to attend it too.

  My hair was half pulled up with a silver clip and I wore a knit black dress with pantyhose, long boots and a leather jacket. I didn’t bring anything but my Atlas, keys and some cash for the rides.

  Although this was technically a mission to talk to Diego about his dodgy uncle, that didn’t mean we weren’t going to have a great night. And who knew? Maybe it would cheer him up. He’d been in a mood all week knowing Sofia was going to the fair with Tyler, but I was determined to take his mind off of it. And maybe give him a straight talk about asking her out instead of dancing around the matter.

  Tory was going with Caleb and though I was a little worried about her spending so much time with one of the Heirs, it did sound like he was treating her okay when they were alone. I couldn’t believe he’d actually stood up for her against Darius the other day. It wasn’t exactly an apology, but he was making some effort at least. And besides, Tory knew how to handle men. I’d once seen her kick a six and a half foot biker to the curb because she was (and I quote) ‘done with screwing a guy who had smaller balls than her’. That was Tor. And I damn well loved her for it.

  The one thing casting shade on my evening was the fact things were still broken between Orion and I. I’d been avoiding him to focus on my trials but that had gone a little too smoothly. He hadn’t messaged me, hadn’t come up to me in the halls, hadn’t even shot a glance in my direction whenever I’d come close to bumping into him. I was owed an apology, but if I wasn’t going to get one then had to try and move on from him - no matter how much that process would suck. I sure as hell wasn’t going to let myself dwell on that tonight, though. I was owed a bit of fun.

  A knock came at the door and I pulled it open with a bright smile. Diego had a smart white shirt on with a grey jacket and jeans. He’d cut his hair so it was shaved at the sides and swept back stylishly over the top. My mouth parted as he gave me a crooked smile. He looked good. Better than good. Diego looked hot. What the crap?

  “What do you think, chica?” He brushed his hand over his new hair and my smile widened.

  “Sofia’s gonna eat her heart out,” I teased and he released a laugh.

  “Maybe. Come on then, my carriage awaits.” He held out his arm and I laughed as I took it, pulling my door closed and locking it as we left.

  I felt his eyes lingering on me and gave him a curious frown. “What?”

  “You look like la luz de las estrellas.”

  “What does that mean?” I asked, heat rising up the back of my neck.

  “Like the light of the stars,” he said and I glanced away, waving a hand to brush off the comment. It was awkwardly nice coming from a friend, though I did sometimes sense Diego liked me more than that. But I hoped I was wrong.

  We headed out of Aer Tower where students were moving across campus towards the parking lot and shuttle buses. The night’s sky was clear and the air crisp, my breath rising before me from the winter chill.

  We walked to Earth Territory and I felt eyes on the back of my head as we headed along the path. I glanced over my shoulder and my heart clenched as I saw Orion taking the path toward Asteroid Place. He stared at me for a long second, his eyes flaring as he took in Diego’s arm linked with mine. I pressed my lips together, turning away. I didn’t know why he looked so damn angry, he was the one who’d asked me to dig up the dirt on Diego’s uncle.

  We fetched Diego’s rusted red car and it chugged along the road that led out of campus, my excitement growing as we left Zodiac behind.

  “One day I’m gonna make something of myself, you know? I won’t drive a tin can or ever have to answer to anyone again,” Diego said, a fire in his eyes.

  “Oh really?” I asked with a grin, glancing over at him as his hands tightened on the wheel. His arms flexed and I noticed actual muscle there. Had he been working out?

  “Yeah. My mamá called me last night,” he revealed and I wondered if this was my in to ask about his uncle. “She said she was proud of me, Darcy. She’s never said that, you know? If I pass The Reckoning tomorrow, she said she’ll come and visit me.”

  “That’s great, Diego. So I guess your uncle told her how well you did in the Air Trial?”

  He glanced at me. “Come on, we both know I hitched a ride in that trial. And I’m so grateful for it. But my grades are good and I’m getting better at casting air so I guess he told her that.” He shrugged one shoulder and I had the feeling he wasn’t telling the whole truth.

  “He seemed a little...uptight,” I said carefully, not wanting to overstep the mark.

  Diego’s features twitched into a dark expression for a moment, one that spoke of fear. But it was gone as quickly as it came. “He’s um…”

  I waited for him to find the words, sure if I pressed him too hard he’d shut down this conversation.

  “Well he’s a bastardo is what he is,” he snarled and the ferocity of his tone made my heart beat a little harder.

  “Oh?” I breathed.

  “He puts pressure on my family, makes them do things…”

  “What things?” I gasped and his shoulders tensed as he glanced over at me.

  Some horrible memory flashed in his eyes and he swallowed hard. “I shouldn’t really talk about it.”

  “I’m your friend,” I said gently. “You can tell me anything.” A knot in my stomach reminded me that I was supposed to pass this information on to Orion. But would I really betray my friend like that? I didn’t know if I could. And it wasn’t like Orion deserved my help right now. But then if Alejandro was up to something dangerous, it could be disastrous if I didn’t pass on what I learned...

  “Alejandro is el diablo,” Diego hissed. “He uses my mother, his own sister, and my father for his work. When I was younger, they’d go off for days together and leave me at home with mi abuela.”

  “What’s his work?” I asked.

  Diego rubbed his chin, firmly looking out the window. “I don’t know,” he muttered and I was certain he was lying. The setting of his jaw said this conversation was done and I hoped I’d be able to bring it up again later.

  I sat back in my seat and Diego soon put the radio on, our conversation shifting to the fair. It wasn’t long before we pulled up on the outskirts of Tucana in a sprawling field set up for parking. Beyond it, the fair was lit up in ne
on lights and a smile dragged up my lips as excitement flitted through me.

  I hopped out of the car, bobbing on my heels as I waited for Diego and we joined the crowd which was heading toward the entrance. A large Ferris wheel and rollercoasters sparkled with lights beyond rows of stands and anticipation built in my chest. I’d never been to an amusement park in my life and I’d always loved the idea of the rides. Tonight, I’d be going on all of them.

  I cast an eye around for Tory, wondering if she was here already. There were plenty of students and teachers amongst the crowd and I even spotted Washer up ahead, creaking along in his leather pants with a turtleneck red sweater on. His arm was around a woman with dark hair and my heart nearly stopped when I realised it was Principal Nova. She laughed at something he said, swatting his chest playfully and he grinned at her.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me?” I muttered to Diego, pointing them out. “They’re together?”

  “No wonder he gets away with murder at Zodiac,” he replied.

  We headed to the lit up archway with the words Tucana’s Fairy Fair in curling letters over the top of it. Diego took the lead, paying the entrance fee for us both before I could utter a word of refusal, then caught my hand and tugged me through onto the grass between the first row of stands.

  “Thank you,” I said. “Drinks are on me.”

  “I like treating you,” he said and the intensity in his gaze made me look anywhere else.

  We headed past the stands which were selling an array of strange food and crazy-looking drinks which sparked and bubbled. There were sweets of every kind, from huge cotton candy which changed colour every few seconds, to popcorn which steamed and was coated in melted chocolate, to huge tubs of every flavour ice cream including Faeberry Ripple and Rum and Faeson.

  We passed a drinks stand which was selling steaming mugs of hot honey cider and I bought two for us, passing one to Diego. It tasted like a dream, so spicy and sweet with the kick of alcohol burning all the way down into my gut and warming me through.

  The next row of stands we came to was a long line of games and I hurried over to one where the prize was a four foot Pegasus stuffed toy. Its horn glittered and every part of its coat shone like stars.