Everyone surrounding us noticed her behaviour and one by one their gazes fell on me too.
Gasps and curses passed around and I could feel so many sets of eyes on me that a blush began to prickle its way beneath my cheeks.
Sofia and Diego were staring and Angelica began to cry. Milton’s eyes had stretched so wide that I was worried they might fall out of his head. It seemed like they were all about to talk at once but before they could, Geraldine released a noise which could only be described as a pterodactyl shriek.
If anyone in the room hadn’t been looking at us, they were now and some helpful little douche canoe even cut the music.
There’s something quite intimidating about a room filled with two thousand people falling silent so that they can try and get a look at you. I was seriously tempted to bolt. And I was wondering why I’d thought it would be best to do it this way. Darcy had suggested getting our friends to come to my room so that I could tell them before the whole campus found out. But I’d wanted to do it like this. All at once. Over and done with. Rip the band aid off. It was starting to seem like I was a fucking idiot to think that though.
“Oh, my lady!” Geraldine cried as words returned to her after her prehistoric outburst. “What in the name of the stars, by the light of the great and bulbous moon and long hard night has happened? Great gargoyles, galloping Griffins, ghastly goulash and gargantuan gazelles! For the sake of Lady Petunia and all that’s wrong in the world, how in Solaria did such a travesty occur?”
Geraldine burst into tears, sobbing so loudly that I couldn’t even have responded if I’d wanted to.
I exhaled slowly and dropped into a chair, pulling a plate of pizza closer to me and taking a bite. It tasted kind of like cardboard.
A clamour of noise burst out all around me and one question in particular kept ringing in my ears. Who? Who? Who?
Darcy took the seat beside me and Sofia moved to my left, winding an arm around me. Diego’s hand landed on my shoulder and as I looked up at him in surprise, I found Milton there too. All of my friends closed in around me as Geraldine continued to sob so loudly that her voice echoed off of the walls.
“Oh sweet torture, oh purest hell, how could fate be so cruel?!” Geraldine cried.
“Attention students!” I was saved by the sound of Principal Nova’s voice as she called everyone to order and after a few more shouts to get their attention, the students all returned to their seats and turned to look at her.
Geraldine kept sobbing so I tossed a silencing bubble up around her and Angelica as they held each other and tried to come to terms with what had happened to me. It was sweet in a completely over-the-top-Geraldine kind of way and I loved her for it, but it just wasn’t me. Sure, I’d cry about this but not here, not where everyone could see me bleed. I refused to. But I did kinda envy her for her freedom. She was so unashamedly herself at all times.
“Due to the ongoing Nymph situation, it is my duty to inform you of new and tighter safety measures which will be put into place at the academy over the coming weeks,” Principal Nova called and I turned to look at her across the sea of students.
There were still way too many eyes on me, but I ignored them. Let them look. They’d get bored eventually. My pain would lose their interest. My choice would become just another thing about me that people judged me for and then forgot. I just had to weather the storm until that happened.
“We are tightening the security measures around campus. There will be magical shields going up which will mean no flying Orders will be able to pass on or off of campus without being detected. We have over a hundred new security personnel starting up patrols around the outer wall. Due to this, we no longer feel the need to enforce a curfew within the grounds, but we urge you not to go off campus unless necessary for your own safety. We are also going to start teaching Elemental Combat to all of you, not just the older students and your timetables will be adjusted to include these classes,” Nova said. “In addition, all after school clubs will be supervised by an extra member of staff. Professor Prestos has agreed to assist with the swim meets at Aqua Lake, Professor Washer is going to join Professor Orion at Pitball and Cheerleading practice-”
A groan went up amongst the cheerleaders as Washer smiled widely from his position at the front of the room.
Well that’s just great. As if cheerleading needed to be any more painful.
Darcy suddenly straightened in her chair and I followed her gaze as Orion strode into the room. No one would have known he came really damn close to death last night. Outwardly he looked exactly like always but as his gaze met mine, my heart twisted sharply with guilt. We should have been there to help him. I couldn’t bear to think about what would have happened to Darcy if she’d lost him.
Nova was still talking about the extra security measures, but all of a sudden every drop of oxygen seemed to be sucked from the room as Darius stepped in behind Orion.
His gaze moved straight to me and my heart stilled as I took in the dark rings around his deep brown irises which seemed to stand out so clearly despite the expanse of space between us.
My grip on Darcy’s hand tightened as my ears began to ring and a well of pain opened up inside me. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think and absolutely couldn’t tear my eyes away from the sight of him standing there looking so broken.
He didn’t move. It almost seemed like he was rooted to the spot.
My heart was pounding so hard it hurt and the backs of my eyes began to burn.
“No!” Marguerite shrieked suddenly, interrupting Nova’s speech as she leapt to her feet and pointed at Darius. “Not you! Not you and her! You can’t have been destined for that whore!”
A ringing silence followed her words for all of three seconds as everyone stared between me and Darius in disbelief and suddenly everyone was talking at once, completely ignoring Nova as she called out to get their attention back and they all demanded answers which I refused to give.
My vision blurred as the backs of my eyes burned more fiercely and I ripped my hand out of Darcy’s grasp, shoved out of my seat, knocking it over and pushed through my friends.
“Tory, wait!” Darcy called but I just shook my head.
“I just need to be alone,” I choked out as I turned and tried to run, but the wall of bodies surrounding it made it impossible for me to escape. “Move!” I demanded but they didn’t and I couldn’t breathe. I had to get out of there, I had to escape this room, these people, him.
I threw my hands up before me and blasted an escape route into existence with a gust of air before racing for the doors.
No one recovered fast enough to stop me and I sped out the exit before throwing a layer of vines over it to seal it shut behind me and give me time to escape.
I ran across the courtyard towards the Lunar Leisure building and skirted the silver walls of it until I made it into the shadows on the far side.
My heart crashed and tore apart against my ribs as I leaned back against the cold wall and tears ran down my cheeks as I wrapped my arms around myself and tried not to fall to pieces.
This was my choice. Mine. It shouldn’t have hurt this much to follow my heart. And that was what I’d thought I was doing. But if that was the case then why did it feel like I was being torn to bits from the inside out?
“I’m not usually good with crying,” Orion’s voice came to me and I quickly scrubbed the heels of my hands over my eyes as I tried to force the tears away. “Don’t stop on my account though. You did a good job of running away, but it’s a little harder to outpace a Vampire than the others.” He looked me up and down for a long moment like he wasn’t really sure what else to say. “I came to see if you were alright, but you’re obviously not-”
I threw myself at him and wrapped my arms around his neck, squeezing him tightly just to make sure he was really standing before me.
“I’m so sorry, Lance,” I breathed. “I should have been there to help you last night, you could have died, I could have cost yo
u-”
“We both know that you couldn’t have resisted the call of the stars no matter where you needed to be. Besides, I’m not dead,” he replied, trying to shrug it off as his arms slowly closed around me, but we both knew there was so much more to this than that. So much pain. He’d gotten his sister back only to find out she was a monster, that the shadows had corrupted her beyond recognition. I couldn’t even imagine the agony of that.
“I’m still sorry,” I murmured, forcing myself to release him as I stepped back.
“Do you want to talk about Dari-”
“No,” I breathed. “I can’t…I just, need to move on with my life.”
Orion gave me a pitying look which said he didn’t believe for one second that I’d be able to do that.
“He understands your decision,” he said softly. “Even though he hates it. He knows why you felt you had to…”
“You’re a good friend, Lance,” I said, wiping the tears from my cheeks. “But it doesn’t matter what either of us think about it now, does it? The stars gave us our chance and that’s the end of it.”
The look he gave me said he wished he could do something to change that, but he knew as well as I did that he couldn’t.
“I just don’t want you to think he’s his Father,” Orion said in a defeated tone like he knew that there was no point to this conversation.
“I don’t,” I replied honestly because I did understand that much about Darius. He wasn’t the monster who’d created him, but he had more than enough darkness in him anyway and I’d borne the brunt of that too often.
Orion looked like he wanted to say more, but he just released a sigh which spoke of defeat. “Do you want me to run you back to your House?” he asked as the sound of students partying in The Orb slowly grew again.
“Yes please,” I said, offering him a real smile. Escaping was about the only thing I wanted to do right now.
By tomorrow, everyone would be over the shock and I’d walk amongst them with my head held high and my lips sealed. No one else needed to know the details of what had happened between me and Darius. The fact that we were Star Crossed was enough.
“Hop on then,” he turned his back to me and I jumped up onto it with the hint of a laugh. Who’d have thought my Cardinal Magic Professor would be giving me piggy back rides around campus when I first started out at this school?
Orion shot away with his Vampire speed and before I knew it, we’d stopped outside Ignis House and I was sliding back down to the ground.
“I’ll tell Blue where you went,” he said, taking a step back, but I reached out and caught his wrist to stop him before he could shoot away again.
“Thanks.”
“You know, I owe you an apology too,” he said and I hesitated without releasing him.
“What for?” I asked, my brow pinching.
“When you first came here I assumed the two of you would be weak girls, incapable of rising up to claim the position you’d been born for. I thought you’d be all sorts of things and no matter which of them were true, I didn’t once consider the idea that you might actually be capable of claiming your birth right. Or that you might deserve it. And I was wrong about that.”
My lips parted in surprise, but I couldn’t find any words to give him in response.
“And for what it’s worth…Darius is starting to see that too. He might not be ready to admit it, but he can see your potential. And I know it’s destroying him to think of all the things he did to you in an attempt to keep you beneath his heel. Even if he believed he was justified in doing it at the time.”
Silence hung between us for a long moment and I smiled sadly.
“I can see why Darcy loves you,” I said eventually and Orion’s eyebrows rose in surprise.
“Are we the sappy declarations kind of friends now?” he asked in a tone that suggested he found the idea of that about as horrifying as I did.
“Well, you’re still an asshole, but you’re a good man too.” Magic spilled from my fingertips where I still held his arm and Orion looked at me in confusion as I conjured tiny brown vines into existence, plaiting and braiding them together until they formed a ring around his wrist.
“What’s this?” he asked, raising his hand to inspect it and I had to say I’d done a damn good job too.
“I promised you a friendship bracelet,” I teased. “We can get together for a slumber party another time though.”
He snorted a laugh at me as he backed up. “I’ll treasure it always. Goodnight, Tory.”
“Goodnight.”
He shot away from me and I was left alone, but somehow that didn’t seem so lonely anymore.
The first day back in the new semester set my stomach swirling with butterflies. So much had changed. And yet school still continued like nothing had happened. But Tory’s dark fate was written in the stars, Orion’s sister had banded together with our enemies and the shadows that lived in my veins felt like nothing in comparison to the ones growing on the horizon.
With each passing day, it felt like we were waiting for something terrible to happen. For Lionel to make a move for the throne, or for Clara to come back to finish what she’d started. Nearly losing Orion had made me feel fragile, weak. But we’d been impossibly lucky. And now I knew this time needed to be spent getting stronger. More prepared. Because if Clara or any of Darius’s nightmare family showed up again, I was going to be ready to make sure they never hurt anyone I loved ever again.
I headed out of my room dressed in my uniform, taking a deep breath as I tried to settle the unease that had taken root in me. The shadows were more hungry these days, always trying to lure me into a pit of darkness and sweet promises. But somehow, I found it even easier to pull away from them now. When they tugged at me, all I could see was Orion’s blood. All I could feel was that hollow, terrible fear of thinking he was gone. They reminded me of Clara, of the worst night of my life. And I’d never let them have me.
I took out my Atlas, reading my horoscope as I walked along the corridor towards the stairs. I was going to pay serious attention to them from now on. If the stars had any warning about my day, I was going to find it and try to heed it. But sometimes they were so cryptic, it was almost like they were designed to make sense only after they’d come to fruition.
Good morning Gemini.
The stars have spoken about your day!
You may feel the world is hanging over you right now. A great task presents itself which you feel far too small to conquer alone. But take courage, for so long as those around you are in balance, you won’t have to be. With the moon in your chart, you may feel more emotional at the moment. But take comfort in her lulling presence. It is a time for reflection, focus and preparation for the coming days.
“Morning, babe.”
I looked up from my Atlas with a frown, spotting Seth in the stairwell leaning against the wall. He looked like a cruel god with his dark hair and muscular frame, his angular features perfectly arranged into a cool indifference. Was he freaking waiting for me?
I slowed to a halt in front of him despite the fact that ninety nine percent of me wanted to keep walking. I still hated him. But there was something slipping through my veins now which I couldn’t ignore. Gratitude.
If it hadn’t been for him, Orion would be dead. It was as simple as that. And as twisted and as screwed up as that was, it was still the truth. The hardest part about that, was I had to accept that he wasn’t bad to the bone. He had a fragment of good in him which I would never be able to ignore because of what he’d done.
“What are you doing here?” I narrowed my eyes and he moved forward, dropping his arm over my shoulders and steering me down the stairs.
I tried to shrug him off, but he held on tight and I ground my jaw as his muscles locked me in place. I didn’t see the point in starting a fight for the sake of getting rid of him. And maybe I was a tiny bit interested in what he had to say.
“I thought we could have a little chat.” He waved his han
d so a silencing bubble expanded around us and I shot him a glare.
“What do you want?” I pressed, my tone sharpening. I may have been grateful to him, but I still didn’t trust a single hair on his head.
“So suspicious,” he taunted. “Maybe I just want to talk about the weather. Or how your roots need doing.” He glanced down at my hair and I scowled, trying to shrug him off again. He laughed darkly. “Or maybe I wanna talk about what you and your boyfriend were doing down in that cave on New Year’s Eve.”
“That’s none of your business,” I said, my heart thumping harder in my chest.
“Yeah, see...that shit’s not gonna fly with me, babe. I’m owed an explanation.” He gave me a razor sharp look, proving that he was just as much of a dick as always. “I know you were doing dark magic. But what I don’t know is how Orion ended up skewered. Because it sure looked like someone did the stabbing.”
I anxiously thumbed my mother’s ring on my finger which I’d found at the Palace of Souls. “Why don’t you ask Darius? He’s your bestie, isn’t he?” I asked and his scowl deepened at my words. If Darius wasn’t being open about it, then that was up to him. But it sure as shit wasn’t going to come from me.
“I’m asking you about it,” he growled.
“He slipped on a wet rock and fell onto his draining dagger,” I said flatly.
Seth wheeled me around, throwing me back against the wall with a snarl. Students scattered around us, squealing in fright. I clenched my jaw, glaring at Seth as magic trickled into my blood. I wasn’t scared, I was mad. The kind of mad that made my veins scorch. Part of me wanted to burn him into a pile of ash and never have to deal with his bullshit again. But I didn’t think murdering an Heir was going to solve my problems. Even if it would feel freaking amazing.
He pressed his hands either side of me on the wall, caging me in as his upper lip peeled back on a wolfish snarl. “Don’t lie to me, Vega. I’m owed the truth.”
Zodiac Academy 5: Cursed Fates: An Academy Bully Romance (Supernatural Bullies and Beasts) Page 9
