"Okay, sooo... that big guy over there is saying; 'I just got that new butt plug you recommended, Brenda, and you're right, it does help keep the stick even further up my ass'."
Orion snorted a laugh then nodded. "First off, every guy here is a 'big guy' so I'm gonna need more to go on than that. But also, I definitely heard more than a few of them talking about those new Dragon scale butt plugs that are all the rage right now, so I'm sure you're right."
"And I heard the sticks have extra splinters which explains why they're all grumpy fuckers. Aside from Dante - he clearly had his removed."
"What about Darius?"
"Darius may have forgone the butt plug, but the stick is most likely still pretty firmly up there. But the stars won't let me get him naked to check."
"I'll be sure to tell him you want to get him naked when he crawls into my bed tonight," Orion said.
"If you must. Getting naked has never been my issue. Sex is a whole lot simpler than...all that other relationship shit. Now focus on the game and tell me what that Christopher dude is saying to Lionel. Is it something like; 'I only wish to lick your ass, oh King of the Dragons!'?"
Orion inclined his head as he trained his senses on the big bald Dragon in question while he spoke to Lionel on his throne. I watched the conversation too, noting the way Christopher nodded excitedly at something Lionel said as he placed a possessive hand on Catalina's thigh.
Darius's mom nodded robotically and Christopher grinned as she got to her feet.
"What the fuck..." Orion murmured, drawing my attention back to him as he pushed himself upright, frowning over at Catalina as she walked out of the pavilion with Christopher beside her.
"What?" I asked. "Where are they going?"
Orion looked more than a little sickened as he glanced between them and Darius who was still caught in Mildred's grasp on the dance floor.
"We have to go after them," he hissed.
"We can't," I replied and my pulse picked up as I checked around to see if anyone was paying us any attention.
“Lionel just told that big motherfucker that he could have Catalina for the night,” he growled urgently. “And then he Dark Coerced her to go with him and do whatever he wanted.”
My lips fell open and I shook my head, though I didn't know why I was trying to deny it. I knew exactly how much of a monster Lionel Acrux was. I knew that he'd been controlling and abusing everyone around him for years and years, so this shouldn't have surprised me but it did. She was his wife. The mother of his sons. And he was just handing her out as a favour to some gross old sleezebag to use however he wanted for the night like she was nothing?
Catalina had been on my mind a lot over the last few weeks since I'd been brought back to myself, and I'd been worried about her stuck here in this house. But I'd never once imagined she was being subjected to something like this.
"Wait," I growled as Orion made a move to leave. "Can you hear them? Catalina and that fucking pig she’s gone off with?"
He paused a moment, looking around and focusing. "Yes. They're still walking back towards the palace. He's...telling her rather graphically what he plans to spend the night doing with her."
"But he's not touching her yet?" I confirmed, trying to keep my vacant mask in place as I looked out over the sea of Dragons.
"Lionel told him to be subtle about it. He said to wait to enjoy his prize behind closed doors."
"Then we have a few minutes. I'm going to make an excuse to leave. Can you slip out and meet me at the end of the path?"
"What about Darius?" Orion asked, his gaze moving to his friend who was still stuck with Mildred.
"We have to do this without him," I said. "No one cares if we're here or not, but the son of the King will be missed."
Orion cursed then agreed, shooting away from me as I took off across the pavilion, heading for the throne where Lionel still sat.
"There you are, Roxanya," he said with a smile that turned my insides.
"My King," I greeted, dipping my head even though it went against every instinct in my soul. "I miss you."
He sighed, seeming both pleased and irritated by the show of needy behaviour like I knew he would be, and he beckoned me closer as he got to his feet. "I don't plan on this party going on much longer. Why don't you head back to our bed and make sure Clara isn't up to any mischief?"
I nodded eagerly, feeling like a whipped little puppy dog as he cupped my face in his palm and placed a wet kiss on my cheek before waving me away. I turned and headed out of the party as fast as I could without drawing attention.
The path seemed abandoned as I strode down it purposefully, but as I drew closer to the palace, a blur of movement caught my gaze and I was swept off of my feet as Orion grabbed me and sped us inside.
I could hardly keep my bearings as he shot past the household staff, down long corridors and headed into the guest wing of the palace before skidding to a halt outside a closed wooden door.
He dropped me to the floor and kicked the door open before shooting inside and throwing a blast of air magic at Christopher's back before I even made it over the threshold.
The Dragon Shifter had already taken his shirt off and Catalina was in her underwear on the bed, her eyes wild as she spotted us.
Christopher stumbled back beneath Orion's attack but recovered quickly, lifting his hands and throwing a torrent of Dragon Fire straight at Orion who barely managed to shield in time to protect himself from it.
The flames ricocheted off of the shield and Catalina screamed as they were directed at the bed where she lay instead.
I cursed as I threw magic towards her, mixing ice and air into a powerful shield around her and grunting with the effort of maintaining it as the Dragon fire blasted the bed apart with a tremendous crash.
The second the flames died down, Orion hit Christopher with a shot of air so hard that he was thrown back against the wall where his head made a horrible cracking sound against the bricks before he dropped to the floor unconscious.
"Shit,” I gasped as I dispersed my shield, panting in relief as I found Catalina cowering beneath it.
I hurried past Orion as he moved to make sure Christopher wasn't about to wake up and grabbed her hand, pushing Phoenix fire beneath her skin and seeking out all of the Dark Coercion that Lionel had forced on her yet again.
"Are you okay?" I breathed, looking around for her clothes and finding her dress burned to a crisp on the remnants of the burning bed.
I took her hand and hauled her up and she glanced between me and Orion with relief and fear filling her gaze in equal measures.
"You shouldn't have done that," she breathed, wrapping her arms around herself and Orion shrugged out of his jacket before handing it to her so that she could cover herself up.
"We weren't going to just let him abuse you like that," Orion snarled in disgust.
"It wouldn't have been the first time," she said, shaking her head hopelessly. "Lionel has been using me to help him secure deals for years. At first it was just flirting which I did willingly enough, but then..."
"You were Coerced to come here tonight," I said angrily. "That doesn't sound like you were willing to me."
Catalina blanched. "A few years ago, one of his political contacts wanted more than flirting from me and when I refused, he tried to pull out of a major deal Lionel had wanted to make. So, to save the deal he told me to go through with it and when I refused again, he just..."
My blood burned with fury and outrage on her behalf and I pulled her into a tight embrace as she trembled in my arms.
"I know you were trying to help me, but if Lionel figures out what happened here, he'll kill all of us," she breathed fearfully and I looked around at Orion with concern, wondering how we were going to get out of this.
A knock at the door almost made me jump out of my skin and fire blazed to life in my palm as I whirled around, finding Gabriel standing there with a grin on his face.
"Oh good, I wasn't certain if I'd get her
e now or after the roof caves in and I would have been a lot more pushed for time if it was after," he said like him just casually appearing right now was no big deal and there wasn't a half dead Dragon on the floor while fires burned all around the room.
"Gabriel, what the-" I began but he waved me off, tossing Catalina a hoody and a pair of sweatpants.
“Have you seen what to do, Noxy?” Orion asked hopefully.
"Yes, we need to add some of Catalina's blood to the fire on the bed then get the fuck out of here," Gabriel said. "Lionel will think Christopher accidentally killed her in the throes of passion and he'll be sent to Darkmore for her murder. I'm gonna fly her out of here and he'll be none the wiser."
"Where are you taking me?" Catalina asked anxiously as she pulled the clothes on automatically before handing Orion his jacket back. "I can't leave my boys. They need me, I-"
"Hamish Grus will take you in," Gabriel promised, moving towards her with a small knife in his hand. "Darius and Xavier will be able to come see you in time. But we have five minutes to get out of here or this path changes again and you need to add some blood to the bed for evidence before we can go."
Catalina looked completely overwhelmed but she took the knife and cut into her arm, her blood spilling onto the charred remains of the bed. Gabriel caught her arm when he was satisfied it was enough and healed her.
She still didn’t seem entirely convinced about leaving though, so I gave her a light push towards the door, urging her to just go.
The fires were growing all around us, licking up the walls and setting the curtains alight as they spread and smoke filled the air.
"Christopher will know the truth when he wakes," I pointed out, but Gabriel just smirked like an all-knowing bastard and tossed Orion a little bottle of potion.
"Memory wipe," he explained. "And I had to give up a night alone with my wife to get my hands on that so fast, so you'd better know how much you fucking owe me for it, Orio.”
"And no one's gonna question why he just conveniently lost his memory over what happened here?" I asked suspiciously as Orion shot over to pour the potion down Christopher's throat.
"Nope. Now step outside," Gabriel commanded, catching Catalina's arm and tugging her into the hall.
I followed right behind her and a splintering crack sounded from the roof of the room behind me just as Orion shot out too. A huge beam fell from the roof with an enormous crash, lumps of masonry tumbling down over Christopher where he lay on the floor and my eyes widened in surprise.
"See - no reason to question why Christopher can't remember," Gabriel said casually, tossing the door closed on the destruction and tugging Catalina into a jog as he crossed the corridor before lifting an old tapestry that hung there and pointing out a Hydra symbol on the bricks behind it.
I quickly placed my palm against it and the bricks rearranged themselves to reveal a doorway as Gabriel directed us into the hidden passage.
The rest of us followed quickly and Gabriel pulled a hidden lever which activated the earth magic embedded in the wall and closed the entrance behind us. We all fell still as the footsteps of someone coming to investigate the sounds of destruction reached us and Orion tossed a silencing bubble over us to make sure we weren’t detected.
Gabriel lit a Faelight ahead of us and beckoned us into the cold passageway hidden within the walls, leading us down a long slope and on and on until we finally came to a fork in the path.
Another Faelight lit the passageway to our right and I gasped in alarm as I spotted the large figure there before Dante's features came into focus.
"Come on, Gabby, I want to get home in time to actually get some sleep tonight," he called, making me grin as Gabriel frowned at that nickname.
“What did you just call me?” he asked.
“I thought you might like your sister to have a cute little nickname for you,” Dante said grinning broadly and Gabriel shook his head.
“No. No fucking way.”
“I think it might catch on,” Dante teased and Gabriel shook his head as he dismissed him.
"It won’t. You two need to take this passage," Gabriel said, pointing to the one on our left. "Follow it to the stairs then head up one flight and exit there. No one will ever even suspect your hand in what happened to Catalina. And me and Dante will make sure she gets to Hamish safely once Darcy lets us back out of the tunnel at the far end."
"You're certain my boys will be okay?" Catalina asked, pinning me in her gaze, clearly not sure what to make of Gabriel.
"You can trust him," I swore to her. "He has The Sight. If he says this will work, then it will."
"Okay," she agreed hesitantly.
"I'm sorry, Catalina," Orion rumbled, stepping closer to her with his eyes full of pain. "If I'd known what Lionel was doing to you, I would have-"
"Shhh," she breathed, reaching out to cup his jaw in her hand and soothing him like he was her child. "I want you to know I'm sorry too. For flirting with you and making you so uncomfortable. I've never seen you that way, Lance. You're like one of my boys." A tear slid from her eye as she pulled him close and wrapped her arms around him. "I was just trying to warn you about Lionel but the spells he put on me made it almost impossible, and now it's too late-"
"It's not your fault," Orion growled, holding her tightly. "I'm sorry I didn't see it, but I swear we'll make him pay one day. You're free now. That's all that matters."
"We have to go," Gabriel said so firmly that none of us questioned it and Orion released her so that we could all go our separate ways.
Orion lit a Faelight as we hurried up the passageway and I kept close beside him, hoisting my skirt up so that I could move faster in my dress and heels.
When we reached the end of the passage where Gabriel had told us to exit, Orion caught my arm suddenly, his eyes full of anguish as he looked at me.
"She was trying to tell me," he said roughly, his fingers digging in.
"Tell you what?" I asked in confusion.
"Whenever she came pawing at me or flirting with me, she always used to say the same things over and over. Always the same words in the same order and I was so caught up in being horrified that my friend's mother was trying it on with me that I never really thought about what she was really saying."
"What words?" I asked.
"Handsome, enamouring, lovely, powerful. And sometimes she’d add unbelievable and sexy too."
"So..."
"The first letter of each of those words spells out the message she was trying to give me. ‘Help us.’"
My throat tightened and tears pricked the backs of my eyes as I realised he was right. How long had she been suffering under her husband's control? How long had she been forced to do anything and everything he wanted while watching him abuse the children he wouldn't even let her show affection to?
"He's a fucking monster," I hissed, throwing my arms around Orion as I saw the devastation on his features so clearly that it made me hurt even more.
"If I'd understood sooner-" he began in a horrified whisper, but I shook my head violently.
"There was nothing you could have done. But there is now," I said fiercely. "Find the Imperial Star. We’re so close, Orion. The full moon is only a few days away and then you'll be able to read your father's diary and we can get our hands on it. A few days and we will have what we need to destroy him. For all of our sakes."
"You're right," he agreed with a determined snarl. "Just a few more days."
W ith Catalina gone, something in me settled. But to see the woman who’d been suppressed within her all these years had left me feeling guilty and ashamed. She’d tried to ask for my help and I hadn’t seen the wood for the trees. It was another black mark against my name. I wondered if the queen had told my father what I’d become. Just a nothing, nobody who made too many poor choices.
I’d spent years trying to ensure Darius could be strong enough to fight his father, my own hunger for vengeance thriving on his. But the Vegas returning had changed eve
rything. And with hours alone with just myself for company, I started to run over all the decisions I’d made and started questioning everything. Every one of them but her. I couldn’t regret her.
I should have done more to help Clara.
I should have pushed Darius harder, got him ready to fight Lionel before any of this ever happened.
I should have helped the Vegas from day one.
But I guessed if what Jasper had said was right, I’d always been on the right path. I was meant to end up in prison to meet him. I just wished it hadn’t cost me Darcy.
I rubbed my eyes, draining the last of the bourbon in my glass and sighing as I knew it was the end of my supply. Darius would bring me more, even though he cursed me for it every time. I was fast slipping back into old habits, but whereas alcohol had once given me some relief from my demons, nothing could rid me of the loss of my girl. I’d considered calling her a hundred times during this evening alone, but I always ended up talking myself out of it. Just because I wasn’t in Darkmore, didn’t mean I was free. I was still a Power Shamed loser who would never hold any kind of position in society again. And once Lionel was done with me, I’d be back behind bars for the remainder of my sentence.
I’d considered running, talking it out with Darius over and over. But even if I made it beyond the barrier and Darius stardusted me away before I was caught, what use would I be then? Lionel would hunt me to the ends of the earth. Darius would be put under surveillance, his memories tapped into if he ever came to visit me. And there was no way he would be able to keep away with the bond tying us. Besides, tomorrow was the full moon. And Lionel had no idea that I hadn’t been reading the diary all this time. So he also wouldn’t realise how important tomorrow was or what I might find.
Tory had been listening in on Vard’s conversations with Lionel, and she was sure he didn’t seem to have any clear idea of what was in the diary or how I was deciphering it. He only knew that I needed space to work and it would take some time. Luckily for us, that meant there was a chance that I could get the location to Darius and the twins before Lionel ever figured out I even knew where it was.
Zodiac Academy: Fated Throne Page 41
