Before any of us could offer up anything in response, she tossed the stardust over her head and disappeared.
We’d snuck out here an hour ago to meet her, the moment she’d figured out our latest search destination but now that guests were starting to arrive for my birthday party, it would be a lot harder to sneak back in. Especially with Father’s extra guards patrolling the grounds. He’d supposedly hired them to guard against Nymphs, but they were either just a front to keep up appearances, or they were to make sure no one got close to the house without him knowing in case anyone figured out what he was doing here.
I slipped the axe and holster from my back, pulled my ripped shirt off and glanced at my brothers. There was a simple way to get them back into the building, but doing it meant breaking the code my father had always insisted I stick to.
Why do I even give a shit about his codes?
“You’re going to need to construct a decent cloaking spell,” I said to them as I tossed my shirt and axe to Max.
“Why?” Cal asked, eyeing me like he couldn’t figure out what I was up to even though I had to guess it was clear I was going to shift. Strip shows really weren’t my thing.
“Because I’m going to fly us all back in.”
“No fucking way,” Seth breathed, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet as Max grinned excitedly.
“You mean it?” Cal asked, his eyes widening.
“Yeah, I mean it. I’m sick of you assholes always being stuck on the ground. It’s time you realised how much better it is to be a Dragon than any of your shitty Orders.”
Max snorted a laugh and Seth began to howl half a second before Cal slapped a hand over his mouth to silence him.
“Very subtle, asshole,” Caleb chastised.
Seth peeled his hand back off of his mouth then leapt forward and ran the pad of his tongue right up the side of my cheek. “Holy shit, I’m so fucking excited I could pee myself. This is as good as the time when I was on the moon and I jumped clean over that crater when everyone said I wouldn’t be able to.”
“If you piss on me, I’ll toss you into the lake,” I warned, dropping my sweatpants and handing them and my sneakers to Max to put in his bag too before turning away from them so I had room to shift.
My body split apart and reformed and I fought to contain a roar as fire washed beneath my scales and I flexed my claws so that they dug into the sun-baked dirt beneath me.
I’d only ever let Lance and Roxy ride me before now and I’d been breaking the rules to do it, but that suddenly seemed so pointless. Father was obsessed with the idea of Dragon supremacy, but who gave a shit if I wanted to let some of my friends ride me through the clouds? It didn’t make me a fucking pack mule. It just showcased what my Order could do.
I turned my head to look at the other Heirs as they hesitated. I mean, yeah, it was a pretty fucking huge deal, but I needed them to move their asses before Father came looking for me. If he realised we’d left the manor, he might figure out that we’d had something to do with the deaths of a bunch of his Nymphs.
Seth stepped forward first but Caleb shot into action a moment later, leaping up onto my back and settling himself between the spines on my shoulder blades with a breath of excited laughter.
Max and Seth climbed up right behind him and I walked forward several steps as I adjusted to the feeling of them all riding me at once before risking my wings.
“Are you sure about this, Darius?” Max asked, but the edge of laughter to his tone said he absolutely didn’t want me to change my mind.
I twisted my head to look at them, blowing a puff of smoke into their faces in answer before snapping my golden wings out either side of me and launching myself into the clouds at speed.
Seth whooped in excitement a heartbeat before a silencing bubble washed over my scales to contain the noise alongside a concealment spell to make sure no one spotted them and then they were all yelling and cheering as I beat my wings hard and shot into the sky.
I flew as hard and as fast as I could, my heart pounding as I broke through the clouds and soared beneath the stars, showing them the world the way I loved it the most for a few endless moments before diving back to earth again at breakneck speed.
The other Heirs all yelled and whooped as we plummeted through the clouds and I twisted through the air to give them a real ride. I could feel them clinging to my spines with all their strength as they almost fell and I released a burst of Dragon fire from my mouth which whipped around us as I dove through it.
I snapped my wings out and swooped over the roof of the manor at the last second before coming to land on the flat roof of the tower which held my rooms.
The Heirs slid from my back, laughing excitedly before I shifted back into my Fae form and I offered them half a smile. It was good to see them enjoying themselves, but I hadn’t been able to take real joy in anything since Roxy had been taken from us. My heart felt like it was locked in a cage of ice and if we didn’t manage to find her soon then I wasn’t sure what would become of me.
I looked towards the other Heirs just as Max disbanded the concealment spell around them and my eyes managed to focus on their smiling faces instead of only seeing darkness where they’d been.
We headed down into my rooms and I used water magic to clean the dirt from my flesh as Seth took to my bathroom and set the shower running.
I changed into the charcoal suit Mom had left out for me and styled my hair like a diligent little Heir as I prepared to face the charade which was my birthday party. I didn’t know many twenty-year-olds who chose to celebrate with a sit-down banquet and a formal dance, but I didn’t give enough of a shit to complain about it. If I had my way, we wouldn’t be celebrating at all. Hell, if I had my way, I’d have spent the day alone with Roxy doing literally anything and it would have been perfect.
Seth lingered in the shower until Caleb cursed him and shot in there to toss him out. Max had cleaned himself off with water magic too and he chuckled as he tightened his tie, a little knowing smile on his face as he glanced towards the bathroom where the sound of them arguing spilled from the doorway.
Seth fell out of the room a moment later, soaking wet and butt naked with his ass leaving a print on my carpet as he cursed Cal out.
Caleb’s laughter came from the bathroom and Seth stomped away, drying himself with air magic before dressing in his grey suit. Before he’d even managed to pull his jacket on, Cal shot back into the room and dressed himself in a flash of Vampire speed before coming to a rest leaning against the door and inspecting his fingernails as if he’d been waiting for us for ages.
A knock sounded at the door and I called out for Jenkins to enter a moment before the wizened old butler stepped into the room.
“Your guests are waiting for you, Master Darius,” he simpered, bowing low like he wasn’t a conniving asshole and I dismissed him with a flick of my hand.
I looked around to make sure the others were ready and Seth used air magic to style his long hair into perfect waves as he hurried to catch up with us.
The closer we got to the banquet hall, the heavier the weight in my chest felt. I didn’t want to put on this show. I didn’t want to play this part. I ached to make a public challenge against my father and expose his lies and treason to everyone in the kingdom. And instead I was being trotted out like a fucking show pony. It made me sick to my stomach to think of sitting through his bullshit all night, but we had a plan which might just make it worth it.
Tonight, the other Heirs were going to stay with me in my rooms and we were going to use our combined magic to try and locate where the fuck he was keeping Roxy. I knew the power of the Guardian bond would continue to bind her to him even if we got her away from him, but I just had to get her out of his clutches.
If we could just get her back to her sister, I was sure we could find a way to pull her out of the shadows and then the Guardian bond could be dealt with in its own way. Even if the only way to sever it was to kill my father, that w
as alright because I planned on doing that anyway. His tie to her only gave me more motive.
The sound of a string quartet reached me as I approached the banquet hall and Seth brushed his hand down my back in a comforting gesture as if he could sense how much I was dreading this farce. Max pushed calming emotions over me and I allowed them to slip beneath my skin, needing all the help I could get to hold it together tonight.
Jenkins hurried ahead, announcing our arrival as the huge double doors were swept open and the guests all turned to applaud me as I entered the room.
I smiled politely and let myself be passed from hand to hand as I was greeted with enthusiastic handshakes and praised over everything from the breadth of my shoulders to the cut of my suit to the noble sacrifice I’d made when I’d chosen to become Star Crossed. It was a fucking sham and I hated every moment of it but I smiled and nodded, complimented fugly dresses and praised the beauty of women older than my mother as they pressed their fake tits against me and offered up flirtatious suggestions.
Father was nowhere in sight yet thankfully, but Mildred sped through the crowd with a squeal of snookums! before planting a wet kiss right on my mouth and painting aubergine lipstick all over my jaw.
My smile was tight, my posture rigid, but no one noticed. No one cared. They wanted to buy into the pretty lie of my perfect life and get as close to the most powerful Fae in the room as they could manage.
Eventually there was a call for us to take our seats for dinner and Mom appeared out of the crowd. She offered me a pat on the cheek and her eyes burned with understanding before she whisked Mildred away, directing her to a seat further down the table from mine so that I at least didn’t have to endure her pawing me throughout my meal.
I sat to the right of the chair at the head of the table with Xavier on my left and mother opposite him.
Father’s newest groupie slunk into the room while everyone was distracted by finding their places and my gaze snagged on him as he moved to claim a seat at the table. Vard was a Seer who had turned up at the start of the summer claiming to want to help my father rise to greatness, and of course the vain bastard had accepted instantly. I didn’t like the Cyclops one bit. There was something seriously disconcerting about him and as he swept his long, black hair away from his face my attention caught on his mismatched eyes. There was a scar running through one of them which had left it swirling with darkness that seemed all too clearly linked to the shadows for my liking.
There were around a hundred guests in attendance and the other Heirs took seats further down the table with their parents where they shot me sympathetic looks as I forced myself to engage in polite conversation and we waited for my father to show up.
Lance’s mother, Stella, strode along the table, shaking her ass as she walked and looking like she thought every man here was hers to choose from. But it was more than obvious to me that the only one of them she wanted was my father. Unfortunately for her, despite her continued loyalty and devotion, Father seemed more than happy with the trade he’d made to her daughter so she could shake her ass all she wanted but it didn’t seem to be luring him back.
“Happy birthday, Darius,” she purred as she dropped down into the chair opposite mine, to the right of where my father was due to sit. “I do hope you’ve had an exhilarating day.”
I hesitated a beat before responding as I tried to figure out if she knew something or if she was just being her usual odd self. The bulk of Father’s Nymph army were currently camped out in the grounds of her estate and I’d been hungering to strike at them there since we figured that out. Especially since Darcy hoped to get hold of the soul hat Diego had left for her somewhere in the woods. But there were far too many of them there for us to be able to risk it.
On the raids we’d completed up until now, we’d been diligent in making sure not a single Nymph survived us. Just one witness would have our cover blown and if Father found out we’d been working against him with Darcy, everything could go to shit fast. But as Stella gave me that plastic smile of hers, I felt certain her question hadn’t been relating to the fight we’d just had so I just gave her a bullshit smile in return.
“Who doesn’t love birthdays?” I deadpanned, making it clear I wasn’t much of a fan. At least not this year. But of course she just grinned like I’d told her it had been the best day of my life and took a moment to adjust her short, black hair as she greeted my mother like they were old friends. Mom acted like she was interested in what Stella had to say and of course there was no mention of the fact that they clearly hated each other.
“Lord Acrux and his Guardians, Clara Orion and Roxanya Vega!” Jenkins announced as the double doors swung open and my heart fell right through the pit of my stomach as all heads turned towards them.
I pushed out of my chair, almost knocking the thing to the floor in my haste as my mouth fell open and Father swept into the room with Clara on one arm and Roxy on the other.
She was heart stoppingly beautiful, wearing a full-length black gown which clung to her figure like a spill of ink. Her mahogany hair had been curled and hung down her spine and her makeup was like a work of art, dark and sultry around her eyes which only highlighted the ring of black the stars had given her and her lips were painted a deep, blood red which made me ache to taste her kisses again.
Father moved into the room, strutting like a peacock with an ass full of new feathers, but I only had eyes for her.
The guests had all broken into murmured conversations and gasps of surprise and the other Councillors moved to join my father as he began to spin some bullshit story about how Roxy had seen the light and decided to throw her support in with them.
Roxy didn’t add to the conversation, but she offered up her left arm, showing them the Aries brand on her flesh as proof while smiling lightly.
She didn’t look my way. She didn’t even seem to care where she was. She just stood there as my heart splintered right down the centre and I was frozen, not knowing what to do. I wanted to stride over there, rip her out of his arms and take her as far away from him as physically possible, but instead I was rooted to the spot. I didn’t know how to handle this. She wasn’t kicking or screaming or trying to escape, she was just standing there like she was made of stone and nothing in the world could touch her. I’d look insane if I tried to prise her away from him by force but was I seriously just going to stand here and stare at her?
My gaze raked over every inch of her body as I hunted for signs of mistreatment, but of course there wasn’t a physical mark on her because that would be all too easy to heal. Any trauma she bore was on the inside where no one could see, but she did look slimmer, paler…
I’m going to rip his fucking heart out!
A hand landed on my arm and Max’s power pushed against my barriers as he tried to soothe my rage. I couldn’t tear my eyes from her, but I could feel my muscles bunching, my hands curling into fists and some tiny, rational part of me knew that if I let myself give in to the desire to attack my father in front of all of these people then it wouldn’t help anything. Roxy and Clara would throw themselves between us and as much as I was willing to destroy Clara, I couldn’t lift a hand against Roxy. I’d sooner burn my own heart from my chest than put her in harm’s way.
With a grunt of effort, I let Max calm me, just enough to take the edge off. To let me think rationally, try and come up with a plan, some way to separate her from my father and keep her away from him.
The Councillors broke apart and Father turned toward me with a cruel smile lighting his face. To anyone else he was just a father wishing his son a happy birthday. But I knew this was a test, a challenge, a game. And I had to figure out how to win it.
“Ah, Darius, I’m so sorry we’re late. The girls were a little excitable while we were getting dressed,” Father purred as he approached us.
“Excitable?” I asked, forcing my tone to remain neutral as my gaze stayed fixed on Roxy.
She wasn’t looking at me, her eyes were on my fath
er as he spoke, her gaze focused on his face.
“It’s hard to concentrate when Daddy takes his clothes off,” Clara giggled, stroking his arm and running a hand down his chest. Stella stared at them venomously, but said nothing.
Roxy’s upper lip pulled back the smallest amount as she narrowed her eyes on Clara and for a moment it seemed like she was angry or bitter or…I refused to even consider the word jealous.
“Clara, be a dear and take your seat next to Xavier,” Father said, shaking her off dismissively and she pouted as she stomped around the table and dropped down beside my brother. “Roxanya, say happy birthday to my son.”
My heart stilled as Roxy turned to look my way, her gaze sweeping over me slowly, like she hardly even recognised me. She was so deep in the shadows that the girl I knew barely even seemed to be there anymore.
She released my father’s arm and he gave her a little nudge towards me so that she moved to stand so close that I could have reached out and touched her.
Max released my arm and backed up, tossing a silencing bubble over us to give us some sense of privacy as I could feel the eyes of the whole room on us.
“Happy birthday, Darius,” Roxy said, her voice rough and dark like it was swimming in sin.
She stepped closer to me and leaned in, brushing her lips against mine in a cruel mockery of all the kisses we’d shared before. Her lips were cold and her gaze empty. A shiver raced through me as I tasted the darkness on her. There was nothing in that kiss, not a single piece of the girl I loved and it felt like every part of me was breaking apart as I looked down at her in horror, wondering what the hell had happened to her to leave her so empty. How the shadows could have stolen so much and what else my father had been doing to her in the time that she’d been missing.
She pulled back but I caught her wrist, wanting to beg her to come back to me, hunt for some piece of the girl I knew in her eyes. But the moment my skin touched hers, a jolt of pain and darkness speared through me as the shadows in her invaded my body and wound their grip tightly around my heart.
Zodiac Academy: Fated Throne Page 2
