We kept going until we reached the centre of the crowd and the heat of a fire brushed against my skin alongside a sickly smell that caught in my throat and made me gag.
“What the hell is that?” Darcy whispered in fear.
We fell still at the front of the crowd but Orion moved forward with a curse.
The fire blazed brightly right before us and my heart pounded a warning I didn’t understand.
“I’ve only ever seen Dragon Fire burn like that,” Diego’s voice came from my left and I turned to find him beside me in the crowd of bodies.
His gaze was set on the blaze before us, his lips parted in shock and he didn’t seem to have noticed the state of my sister and I. Before I could ask him what was going on, Orion raised his arms and directed a torrent of water to douse the flames.
Several of the surrounding students summoned orbs of silvery light to hang above us as we were plunged into darkness and I inched forward as a dark shape was revealed on the ground before Orion.
My bare feet pressed down on the cold path and a warning shiver raced along my spine but I didn’t stop. Something drew me closer. I needed to know what that shape was.
Darcy stayed beside me as we moved into the ring of empty space left by the crowd and sidestepped Orion to get a better look.
“Holy shit,” I breathed and Darcy clapped a hand to her mouth.
A body was curled on the ground before us, their flesh burned to a blackened crisp and their limbs coiled up in a foetal position.
Orion straightened and started yelling at the students to disburse, commanding any witnesses to come forward and directing someone to fetch Principal Nova.
I stood transfixed by the gruesome sight, my limbs locked into place and my eyes wide.
“We should get out of here,” Darcy breathed but my feet were rooted to the spot as though I had some reason to stay.
“Wait,” I breathed, not really knowing why as I took a hesitant step forward.
The ground ringing the body was blackened with soot and wet from Orion’s magic. My bare foot pressed down in the muck and I shuddered.
I could feel a strange kind of tug on my magic right in the centre of my chest and as I focused on it, a faint tingling came to my fingertips.
“Do you feel that?” I asked, my voice low.
Darcy nodded warily and that was all the confirmation I needed.
I gave in to the pull of my magic and let it slip into my fingers as I set it loose.
The corpse before us twitched, its arm shifting as its charred fingers fell open. I almost screamed, staggering back and bumping into Darcy as horror gripped me. But before the sound could make it from my lips, something flew from the corpse’s fist and shot straight towards us.
The dark card slapped against my chest and I gripped it automatically, glancing down in surprise. It was smooth and firm in my grip, miraculously undamaged by the flames which had destroyed its owner’s body.
Students still lingered despite Orion’s attempts to disperse them and more than one camera flashed.
“IN FIVE SECONDS I’M DOUSING ANYONE STILL HERE WITH ENOUGH WATER TO WASH YOU RIGHT OUT OF THE GROUNDS!” he bellowed and the lingering students hurried to comply, a few releasing squeals of fright.
“What are you two still doing here?” Orion barked and I spun towards the sound of his voice, instinctively shifting the card into the pocket of the large jacket I wore.
“We were just...” Darcy began, trailing off as she failed to come up with an appropriate excuse.
Orion’s hard gaze was punctuated by his ticking jaw.
“Get the hell out of here!” he snapped, all echoes of his compassion towards us banished.
Darcy flinched as if he’d hit her and we stumbled away from him, scrambling back along the cold path.
We followed the dispersing crowd until we’d rounded a corner and I stopped to pull the card from my pocket.
Darcy gasped as her eyes fell on the picture of a cloaked skeleton riding a horse, its empty eyes were staring up at us in warning. At the bottom of the card was a single word: Death.
Darcy reached forward to take it and as her fingers brushed the card, the warmth emanating from it flared to a burn. I almost dropped it in surprise but a set of pale eyes seemed to blink at me on the edges of my consciousness and for a second it was as though Professor Astrum was standing before us. The image was gone as soon as it had come and I frowned at Darcy in confusion as I flipped the card over.
On the back of it were words written in a swirling silver script and as I read them, my heart plummeted into the pit of my stomach.
I made a mistake and now my time is up.
The Shadow has discovered me and there is no hope for me to escape their wrath.
The answers you seek are hidden between Leo and Libra.
Don’t trust the flames.
Claim your throne.
- Falling Star
Fear took hold of me in taloned hands and it squeezed until I couldn’t breathe. Professor Astrum had been murdered. The only person who’d tried to help us in this screwed up Academy was gone. He'd been so afraid, as if he'd known something terrible was going to happen. And now it was too late to do anything about it.
We were alone against the Heirs.
And I was beginning to think we were destined to fall at their mercy.
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ZODIAC ACADEMY: ORIGINS OF AN ACADEMY BULLY (A PREQUEL NOVELLA TO THE SERIES)
ZODIAC ACADEMY: THE AWAKENING
ZODIAC ACADEMY: THE RECKONING
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WOLF GAMES
WOLF GAMES: ISLAND OF SHADE
WOLF GAMES: SEVERED FATES
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HUNTER TRIALS: INTO THE DARK (COMING SOON)
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CREEPING SHADOW
BLEEDING SNOW
TURNING TIDE
WEEPING SKY
FAILING LIGHT
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CAGE OF LIES SAGA:
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AGE OF VAMPIRES SAGA:
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Eternal Reign
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Eternal Curse
Eternal Vow
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Eternal Storm
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SUPERNATURAL BULLIES AND BEASTS
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Zodiac Academy: Origins of An Academy Bully (A Prequel Novella To The Series)
Zodiac Academy: The Awakening
Zodiac Academy: The Reckoning
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Zodiac Academy: The Awakening: An Academy Bullymance (Supernatural Bullies and Beasts Book 1) Page 37
