“Happy birthday, Lance,” he said with a slanted smile as he offered up the gift which looked like it had been wrapped by a kid. I smirked as I shot over to him and took it, ripping off the paper and finding a small box inside. I opened it, gazing down at the little glass ball inside which swirled with the colours of a sunset.
My brows arched in surprise. “Is this a memento?”
“Yeah.” Darius combed a hand through his hair. “Look, I don’t wanna fall out with you over the Vegas. My father forced you to be on my side no matter what by making you my Guardian and I’m not gonna make you feel shitty about making your own mind up about the throne. We’ll just have to agree to disagree.” His brow furrowed. “And even though my mom isn’t really dead, being at her funeral today made me think about how easily you can lose the people you love. I won’t lose you because I don’t like your opinions on something that hasn’t even come to pass yet.”
I twisted the orb between my fingers, gazing at him and noticing how much of a man he’d become recently. “I’m always in your corner, Darius,” I said seriously. “But I know what I’m asking of you is a lot.”
“You’re still asking it then?” he jibed and I grinned.
“No point denying it.” I shrugged and he folded his arms, jerking his chin at the memento.
“Aren’t you gonna put my ball in your mouth then?” he asked.
I laughed. “Alright, but only because you asked so nicely, sugar.” I reached for his zipper and he snorted, batting my hand away.
“Get on with it, asshole,” he pushed and I lifted the orb to my lips and pushed it into my mouth.
The world around me changed. I was suddenly on top of a mountain sitting on the back of a huge golden Dragon. My heart lifted at the sight of the incredible sunset beaming out toward us above a sea of cloud below. Pastel colours bled into the sky, all of it painfully temporary as the sun sank away beneath the horizon. Darius released a booming roar then took off, sending snow crumbling out beneath his talons as he carried me toward the sunset. I felt the wind on my face, the lasting heat of the sun’s ray against my flesh. The memory was perfectly captured, the magic of it astounding.
Darius circled away from the sun and I gazed at the seam in the sky where night divided from day, a pool of stars chasing away the light. Darius raced toward them until it felt like the heavens were going to swallow us up and peace caressed my heart.
I took the memento from my mouth and the memory evaporated around me so I was stood gazing at my closest friend once more.
“We’ll go there again one day,” he promised. “Somehow, we’ll figure out all this bullshit. I just wanted you to have a piece of something good. A time when things were better.”
I gave him a sad sort of smile and he moved forward to embrace me. I clapped him on the back knowing with absolute certainty that, Guardian bond or not, Darius Acrux was a friend made for me by the stars themselves. And nothing would ever change that.
“Shall we find out what my father knew?” I asked and he nodded as he pulled away, tension lining his brow.
I placed the memento in the drawer by my nightstand then headed to the sliding door, following Darius outside where we moved to sit at a table next to the pool. I laid the diary down as Darius started casting illusions to hide us and a silencing bubble too.
The full moon was hidden behind a small gathering of clouds above, but as I flipped open the first page of the diary, the clouds shifted and silvery light filtered over us like a fog. Letters lit up on it in silver, shimmering like stardust as they twisted around the paper then settled into place in dark ink, the light falling away. I held my breath as I tracked my eyes over the words and the hand drawn image of a fallen star at the bottom of the page. This is it. This is what we’ve been waiting for.
Your first and most urgent task.
Dearest Lancelot,
It’s time for you to learn the ways of the Zodiac Guild. The last of us lie dead, but I am the only one who found a grave. My death was planned meticulously for this purpose. And in my death, I can only hope you are the man Queen Vega foresaw you to be.
It is time for you to resurrect the Guild. You will take Ling Astrum’s position as Guild Master and initiate your most trusted, loyal friends to its cause.
The Imperial Star awaits you in my tomb at The Everhill Graveyard. Know this, it can only be wielded by a reigning sovereign, so it must stay out of Lionel Acrux’s hands if he has ascended to the throne.
If things have gone as hoped, you will have access to the rings of the Vega Princesses. Both are needed to open the tomb, but be warned, this ancient graveyard is heavily protected. Only those proficient in dark magic can enter.
Go now while the stars are in alignment.
You can do this, my boy.
Holy shit. My dad had a grave. I recalled my mom telling me he’d been cremated. She even had an urn on her mantlepiece. Had it all been a farce?
“Well this has been a waste of time,” Darius sighed and I looked up at him.
“What?” I balked.
“The moon isn’t doing shit,” Darius said, gesturing to the diary with a frown. “Maybe it needs to lay in the moonlight for a while?”
“You can’t see it?” I asked in surprise.
“Wait, you can?” he gasped, shifting closer.
I nodded, a laugh escaping me. “I guess it’s for my eyes only. Actually, my dad mentioned something about that in his letter to me-”
“What does it say, asshole?” he demanded.
“It says where the Imperial Star is,” I whispered, my heart pounding excitedly. “And we need to go get it right fucking now.”
I stood from my seat, pushing the diary into my pocket and Darius jumped up with a dark, unbridled wildness in his eyes. I’d continue reading tonight just as soon as we had the Imperial Star.
“Fuck yes.”
“The only thing is, it looks like we won’t be able to use it. It says only a reigning sovereign can wield it,” I sighed.
“Well let’s at least keep it the fuck away from my father,” Darius said firmly and I nodded.
“You’d better remember everything I taught you, because my dad says we’ll need dark magic to reach it. Have you kept all of my artefacts?” I asked.
“All of them,” he confirmed. “They’re at the academy.”
“We need the twins’ rings too, the ones their mother left for them,” I said and Darius nodded, his brows pulling together. “Alright. Do you know where we’re going?”
“Yes, my dad has a tomb at The Everhill Graveyard in western Lacrovia. The Imperial Star’s with him,” I said with a grin, remembering visiting the place as a boy. My dad had taken me there to steal bones, using his gifts to gain access to some of the crypts and graves that were less protected, though he’d always warned me not to attempt it at night. And never alone. We didn’t have much choice but to go this second though; there was no time to waste with Lionel out of town and the stars in alignment for us.
“Fuck yes. Then we’ll go to Zodiac. You can get into King’s Hollow and you’ll find all of the artefacts in the chest in my room while I get the ring from Roxy,” Darius said.
“Okay,” I agreed, my heart pumping with excitement for the first time in a long time. “Let’s go and get one up on the King.”
“I can feel your amusement from a mile away,” Max drawled from his seat as me and Geraldine tried to sneak up on him with an orb of water cast between us, hanging over his head.
“You can feel no such thing, Maxy boy,” Geraldine said airily. “I am feeling nothing but contempt for you, you salacious sealion.”
“Bullshit.” Max twisted around in his armchair and Geraldine and I dropped the water on his head.
He threw out a palm, casting it away from himself at the last second as he wrangled the Element and we dove to the floor as the water went crashing over our heads while we squealed. Caleb shot out of its path just as Seth burst through the door behind him into the Hollow, takin
g the full brunt of it and tumbling back down the stairs.
We all burst out laughing and Seth came running back into the room with a vine in his hand which he struck like a whip, breaking a hole in the floorboards. “Alright, which one of you water Elementals did it?” He narrowed his eyes at me and Geraldine on the floor, then looked to Max who had slipped casually back down into his chair like nothing had happened.
“Right, c’mere.” Seth whipped the vine and grabbed Geraldine by the ankle with it, dragging her toward him.
I caught her hand with a laugh as she wailed like a banshee and I was hauled across the floor with her.
“Let me go, my lady!” Geraldine cried. “I shall go into the eternal night for you. You must live on to produce many a babe with the most handsome of kings!”
“Well that would be me then.” Caleb shot forward, diving onto my back and clinging on as Seth heaved us all across the floor.
“Caleb,” I laughed as he tickled me to try and make me let go of Geraldine.
“Let the Wolf have her!” Caleb cried dramatically and I lost my grip on her, leaving Seth to yank Geraldine across the floor at his feet and he started binding her with more vines.
“Fungal festoons!” she wailed. “I die in the name of my queens! I will be remembered as Grus the Great. The most loyal of friends, fiercest of allies-”
“Not today, Gerry!” Max leapt over me and Caleb, running at Seth, his footsteps pounding across the floor.
He blasted Seth with a gust of air that sent him stumbling back and Seth howled as he cast vines at Max’s legs to trip him up.
“I’m your real enemy!” Max cried.
“You did it?” Seth feigned shock with a snort of amusement then Max Pitball tackled him as he leapt over Geraldine and they started wrestling on the floor.
Caleb shot to his feet, whipping me up and throwing me over his shoulder before racing over to toss me into the dog pile, diving into it himself. Seth’s teeth sank into my arm and I yelped, smacking him with a laugh.
Geraldine broke her binds, launching herself at us with a yell and grabbing a fistful of Seth’s hair, wrapping her legs around his waist from behind as she fell backwards to wrench him away from me. My leg got caught under hers and Max’s face smooshed into my stomach as Caleb kicked him in the head. We were a tangle of limbs and we all started belly laughing as none of us could get up.
The door flew open and my laugh stuttered out like a car running out of gas as I stared up at Orion in the doorway, gazing down at us all in shock. Ohmagod.
“What the fuck?” Max balked, managing to get up and pulling me after him.
I knew that Tory had given him a way out of the palace, but it still didn’t make me any less surprised to see him here. What the hell was going on?
Geraldine leapt up, lifting her chin and pointing at Orion. “Treacherous lech! Why are you here?” she demanded.
“Watch it, Grus,” Orion said in a low voice, his eyes moving over the rest of us and pausing on me.
“What’s going on?” I asked, stepping forward as worry hit me. Was it Tory? Darius?
“I need to talk to you. Alone,” he said, glancing at the others like he was hoping they’d all fuck off.
“No,” I said immediately. “Whatever it is, you can say it to all of us. We don’t keep secrets anymore.”
His jaw ticked and Max folded his arms beside me, saying he was going absolutely nowhere.
“She’s right, dude,” Caleb said. “Spit it out.”
“Or are you just here to try and convince Darcy to take you back? Because this dramatic declaration is pretty lame so far,” Seth threw in, making heat rise in my damn cheeks.
“Shut your mouth,” Orion snapped at him. “I’m here about the Imperial Star.”
“Did you find something in the diary?” I asked, my heart jack-hammering in my chest.
He nodded, his jaw grinding as he gazed at the others, then seemed to decide he had no choice but to trust them. “I know where it is. I need you and your sister’s rings. The ones your mother left for you. Darius is getting Tory’s.”
“What’s it for?” I asked in confusion.
“I think they’ll let us gain access to my father’s tomb,” Orion explained. “That’s where the Imperial Star is. But it’ll be dangerous-”
My heart jolted. “I’m coming with you,” I said firmly, no room for negotiation.
“No. Me and Darius can go,” he said. “No one else needs to put themselves at risk.”
“I’m coming whether you like it or not,” I growled and a crease formed between his eyes.
“Isn’t that what you said to me last night, babe?” Seth joked and I ignored him as Orion bared his fangs, but didn’t take his eyes off of me.
“It’s not safe,” he said firmly.
I stepped forward, lifting my chin as I gazed up at him. “I’m a Phoenix who can destroy Nymphs, who has four Elements, who’s fought the shadows and won. And I will not be told no by anyone, Lance Orion.”
His throat bobbed and a beat of silence passed before he snatched my hand, tugging me forward. “Fine, you can come.” He pulled me down the corridor into Darius’s room and kicked the door shut, which opened one second later as Geraldine threw it wide with the Heirs at her back.
Her chest was puffed out like a peacock and she had a look of war in her eyes. “You will not dismiss us, you vainglorious Vampire! Where my lady goes, I go. And though these men may seem tricksome and can be downright scallywags, they are also loyal and steadfast. If there is danger afoot, there is no better band of knights than these to follow one of the true queens into the night.”
“I’m not following anyone anywhere,” Max growled. “We’re going for the Imperial Star, that’s it.”
“To stop Lionel,” Caleb agreed.
“Yup,” Seth added and Orion growled, his hand still tight around my wrist.
I prised his fingers off, giving him a firm look as my flesh tingled from his touch. “It’s not up for debate.”
“Fuck, fine,” Orion hissed. “But you’ll all do exactly as I say because this place is protected by dark magic and the spells we’re gonna need aren’t in the damn curriculum.”
“You can’t boss us around anymore, sir,” Seth mocked. “You’re just a Power Shamed nobody. You’re lucky we’re even acknowledging your existence and you know it.”
Orion opened his mouth to snap at him again, but I got there first.
“Shut up, Seth. Do as he says. We’re not fucking this up. We need to get the Imperial Star,” I demanded and Seth growled at my tone, but didn’t bite back.
When I turned to Orion again, I swear he was smirking, but it was gone a split second later so I couldn’t be sure.
Orion gave me an intense look. “We won’t be able to wield it against Lionel.”
“What, why?” I asked, my heart sinking.
“It can only be used by a reigning sovereign,” he said and the others cursed.
“Well so long as Lionel doesn’t get it, it doesn’t matter,” I said firmly, though it was infuriating to know we were this close to so much power and it wouldn’t be able to help us.
Orion nodded then strode over to the solid gold chest at the back of Darius’s room, opening it up and taking out a wooden box of Pitball cards I recognised. He retrieved a draining dagger from it and I stiffened. I’d seen Orion stabbed with a blade like that. Tory had succumbed to the shadows so many times because of one too. I didn’t want that shit near anyone I loved ever again.
He packed it up with a bunch of bones and tools in a backpack before shouldering it. Then he met my gaze and I stepped toward him, fighting away any fears I had about using this stuff, because we had to get the Imperial Star. And I’d do anything to make sure we got it before Lionel did.
“What do we need to do?” I asked.
“What happened to you and me going alone, brother?” Darius’s voice boomed as he stepped into the room with Tory a few steps behind him.
I smiled at her and she grinned, pushing through the Heirs to reach my side.
“Seriously?” Orion groaned.
“Well you didn’t really expect me and Darcy to just bow out, did you? I thought you’d have learned your lesson about that a long time ago,” she said airily.
Geraldine let out a squeal of excitement, clapping her hands. “The Vega princesses shall never bow to anyone!”
“Uhuh,” Darius said then muttered something else under his breath which sounded suspiciously like ‘we’ll see about that’ before continuing in a louder voice. “Let’s go. Get your weapons.” He turned around and headed out the door, revealing the axe strapped to his back that glinted with the flames that lived within it.
“That reminds me.” I looked to Geraldine in excitement. “Me and Tory made you a weapon.”
“Gracious!” she gasped. “What unworldly thing could I have possibly done to deserve such a gift?”
“You’re you, Geraldine,” I said with an earnest look. “That’s enough.”
“Never change,” Tory added with a smile, grabbing her hand and towing her out of the room after the Heirs.
I went to follow but Orion caught my arm, turning me back to face him with a look of uncertainty.
“Can I…” He had a long box in his arms and he placed it down on the bed with an expression of longing. The wood was carved with the Orion constellation which I’d engraved in it myself. My breath snagged in my lungs and I stepped past him, opening the box and taking out the beautiful sword forged in Phoenix fire. The one I’d made for him as a gift the night before he’d been arrested. I’d tried not to think about that night, but it was written into my soul as clearly as the zodiac was written into the stars. There was no escaping it. No way of hiding how much it had meant to me. But it only made his betrayal sting deeper.
I held it out to him with a taut frown. “It’s yours. Always. Just because we’re not…well, just take it, okay?” I handed it to him and his fingers brushed mine as he accepted it, an arrow of electricity firing through me from his touch.
Zodiac Academy: Fated Throne Page 44
