***
I sat in Tarot with Hadley on my right and Grayson on my left. It was one of the few classes where we weren’t divided up into our Orders, and Professor Nox conveniently foresaw anyone’s death in the stars if a single K.U.N.T. made any kind of fuss about it.
I’d finally mastered a silencing bubble thanks to Darius mentoring me on it, so me and the guys could talk undisturbed within it as we read the cards for each other. Athena sat with Ellis across the room, looking bored as hell by whatever Max’s sister was saying, occasionally throwing us wistful glances. The four of us had become really tight recently, meeting at the caves every lunchtime and evening, our hideout now filled with all kinds of shit we’d stolen from around campus. Grayson and Athena had even managed to get a few beds down there, sneaking them out of Aer Tower in the night with their air magic and stowing them in the caves.
Despite my attempts with her, Ellis didn’t ever seem inclined to hang out with us, and we’d pretty much accepted that she wasn’t interested in being our friend. Or maybe she was just too afraid of Lionel’s Orderist law to thwart it. Occasionally she tried to draw me into a conversation about how great my father was and I fed her a few bullshit lies that implied I agreed before making a hasty exit. She’d probably be joining up to the K.U.N.T. one of these days.
Grayson elbowed me in the ribs as he took his Atlas out. “That witch has banned Halloween, I fucking knew it,” he growled, showing me the announcement on the screen and I realised most people in class were checking their Atlases. Even Gabriel Nox was looking at his with a scowl that could have broken glass.
All students are reminded that social events are restricted to Orders and parties are forbidden to no more than three students at a time. Halloween is a sacred occasion intended for remembering the passing of the dead. Ensure you spend your evening respecting those lost. Costumes are strictly banned. Any student seen dressing up or pretending to be anything other than their blood born Order will face severe consequences.
Have a wonderful day.
Glory to the star-chosen King.
Principal Elaine Nova.
A bunch of students looked my way, some of their expressions hateful, others fearful, some adoring. I despised being Lionel’s little prince. I wished I could make a stand and tell the world I wanted nothing to do with him and publicly reject everything he stood for. But that would be the same as placing a noose around my neck and jumping off a bridge. I didn’t wanna die. And at least I had Sofia and the other spares to confide in. But I could never be too careful about who I aired my opinions to.
The class broke out into chatter and I disbanded the silencing bubble around my friends.
Professor Nox tucked his Atlas into his back pocket and folded his arms. “Quiet,” he said in a commanding tone and everyone obeyed. “You heard the rules. All joy is cancelled tonight. Class dismissed.”
Everyone stood from their chairs and I shared a frown with Hadley who looked ready to go on a killing spree.
“It’s our freshman fucking year and we’ve literally had no fun,” Grayson grumbled.
“Capella twins, Mr Altair and Mr Acrux, stay behind please,” Professor Nox said sternly and I looked down at my half filled out Tarot worksheet on the desk. Shit.
Everyone headed through the exit, moaning about the giant dump that had just been taken all over Halloween.
“This year sucks.” Grayson kicked a chair. Nox arched an eyebrow at him and he whined like a dog.
“Take your anger out on someone else’s furniture, Grayson,” Nox warned and he folded his arms with a huff.
“You’re such a pup sometimes, Gray,” Athena teased.
“Shall I call your mommy up and tell her you wanna go home and suckle on her teats?” Hadley jibed and Grayson lunged at him with his teeth bared. Hadley shot calmly out of his way with his Vampire gifts, appearing behind Athena where she was sitting on her desk. He lunged forward with his fangs bared, excitement in his eyes, but slammed into a close-knit air shield she’d erected and stumbled away from her again with a curse.
“Not happening, Hadley,” she said lightly and he growled.
Professor Nox moved to shut the door and cast a silencing bubble around us, making me frown.
“What’s going on?” I asked in confusion.
“The stars have gifted me a vision about you four,” he said with a smirk.
Darius had told me this dude was trustworthy and I knew he was a friend of Lance’s, so I felt pretty certain that he was on our side. But it was still weird for a teacher to be all friendly and shit.
“What did you see?” Athena gasped, swinging her legs excitedly.
“That you will all be attending a party tonight after all.” Nox grinned conspiratorially.
“Fuck yes, where?” Grayson asked, bounding towards him, having no trust issues whatsoever.
“Do you know Geraldine Grus?” Nox asked.
“The crazy Ass lady?” Hadley balked and I stamped my foot at him.
“Don’t call her that,” I demanded and he raised his eyebrows at me in surprise.
I hadn’t been able to tell them my mom wasn’t actually dead and had taken refuge with Geraldine’s father. It was too risky letting anyone know about it, but I sure as shit wasn’t gonna stand for anyone badmouthing any of the Gruses. They’d taken my mom in and not once questioned her loyalty. I owed them everything for that. Besides, I knew crazy and it wasn’t them. It was my Uncle Benjamin who’d lost the plot when my father had banished him from the Dragon Guild after apparently losing over two hundred gold bars and three hundred bags of stardust in a game of Minojack. The guy had shown up at our door a bunch of times over the years, begging for forgiveness while jacked up on some sort of drugs, promising he could win my father the world if he just leant him a few auras.
“Woah, chill man,” Grayson said with a smirk.
“Geraldine is looking for recruits to a good cause,” Nox explained.
“I’m not becoming a part of her loony royalist society,” Hadley said coolly.
“You don’t have to. Her cause runs far deeper than that,” Nox explained then lowered his tone to a whisper. “A rebellion.”
My heart rate ticked up in excitement as I shared a look with my friends. “Like, against my father?”
“Exactly,” Nox said, his eyes glittering mischievously. “And as faculty I am absolutely not allowed to be involved. So of course, I have involved myself up to the neck and am working hard to see who may make suitable recruits.”
“Are our brothers in it?” Athena asked.
“Yes,” Nox said and I pursed my lips at not being included sooner. “They’re having a party tonight. Head to the northern door of the Pitball stadium at seven and tell Geraldine that Agent Foxy sent you.” He sighed as we laughed. “I didn’t pick it, Geraldine did. I tried to change fate before she decided but she’s a very stubborn girl.”
“Fuck yes,” Grayson whooped and Athena howled excitedly.
Hadley watched her with a hungry look as he shot to my side and I gave him a taunting smile. We headed out of class and had to split up as we walked back to our Houses. The K.U.N.T.s were out in force tonight, but that just made me more excited about sneaking past them later on. I really wanted to feel like I was defying my father, and this seemed like the best opportunity yet.
At half six I showered and packed my Pegobag with some clothes for the party and lay on my bed with a towel wrapped around my waist, anxious to go. I’d styled my hair back and pushed some shimmer wax through it that made it glitter.
I was wasting time Faegling dijazzles on my Atlas, still mortified as shit over what had happened yesterday. But I wasn’t gonna call it quits. I was going to have the best looking dick in the herd, I just had to figure out how to make that happen…
I tapped on a link for the ten hottest dijazzles of the year and my brows shot up as I scrolled onto number eight. Instead of gemstones, the guy had pierced his dick with crystals and it looked pretty damn
sweet.
A message popped up at the top of the screen and my heart thudded harder.
Sofia:
I’m a little drunk.
Halloween is my favourite holiday.
I’m naked right now.
I sat upright with a stupid grin, tapping out my answer. Two truths and a lie was our game and as much as I wanted option number three to be true, I didn’t think I was that lucky of a guy.
Xavier:
The third one is the lie…
Sofia:
You’re right. Are you disappointed?
My dick tingled at her words and I sucked my lower lip, about to respond when a bang sounded against my window followed by a groan.
“What the fuck?” I jumped up, finding Hadley clinging to the frame outside.
“I came at it too hard. Let me in,” he called, rubbing his nose and I snorted a laugh as I opened it for him.
He dropped into my room dressed in a crisp white shirt and slacks, his dark hair pushed back. He had a look of his brother Caleb tonight, everything about him dripping cockiness.
“Why are you naked, man? Get dressed.”
“I’m gonna fly there.” I pointed to my Pegobag and Hadley scowled at it, swiping it up.
“No. You need to look hot tonight.” He shook my clothes from inside it which consisted of a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, then clucked his tongue and walked past me to my closet.
“Er, why?” I asked in confusion as he rifled through my things, taking out a black shirt and smart pants before throwing them at me.
“Because you need to get your cherry popped,” he said with a grin and I scowled.
“Who says I haven’t-”
“Everyone,” he deadpanned. “Literally everyone says you haven’t so maybe you should fix that. Like stat.”
I didn’t answer as heat climbed my neck, pulling on the clothes he’d picked out for me.
“Yeah, that’ll do it.” He clapped me on the shoulder. “Now get on my back, I’m your ride for the night, sugar.”
I whinnied a laugh. “You’re an asshole.”
“Yeah, but assholes get laid,” he pointed out, turning around and patting his shoulder. “Come on, hop on.”
“There’s only one girl I want, man,” I muttered and he sighed.
“I know, I know, but Sofia is taken. And if you wanna steal her then you also wanna impress her in bed, right?”
“Well yeah, but-”
“No buts, you need to fuck as many girls as you can as practise,” he said casually and I frowned. “Then you can lay on the charm, show her your magical dick and bam, she’ll be yours for as long as you want her.”
“I don’t just wanna fuck her. I want her to be mine,” I growled and he glanced back at me with a derisive look.
“Seriously? You want to settle down with this girl when you haven’t even screwed any other Fae?” he asked.
“You’re starting to sound like Grayson,” I said.
“Grayson’s pack of fangirling mutts don’t appeal to me,” he scoffed. “I like a girl who’s a challenge. But once I’ve had her, then it’s time to find new prey. Maybe you’re like that too? Once you’ve had Sofia and she’s fucked you until you shit glitter, you’ll get over her.”
“It’s not like that with her,” I said, a growl to my tone that was almost Dragon worthy.
“How would you know?” He arched a brow and dammit I didn’t have a fucking answer to that. “See? You’re an Alpha, it’s in your blood like it’s in mine. But you’re gonna be an Omega in the bedroom if you don’t get laid multiple times. And preferably before you try it on with a girl you actually like.”
Maybe he had a point. But I also couldn’t see myself wanting any other girl. There was just something about Sofia. And whenever I saw her in Tyler’s arms I wanted to force him beneath me and take her away from him. Make her want me instead. But what if Hadley was right? What if I managed to take her then had no fucking clue what to do with her body? Oh shit, I could mess up everything. What if I accidentally put it in her butt?
“Let’s just go,” I muttered, moving to get on his back.
“I’m gonna run at my top speed,” Hadley warned as he climbed out of the window and stood on the small ledge beyond it. The three floor drop below made my gut swoop, but I was more than used to heights by now. “Ready?”
“Ready,” I said with a smirk then he leapt forward, plummeting through the air before softening the earth to break his fall and charging off across campus.
The world became a blur around me and I laughed at the rush rocketing through my blood. This was insane.
A thrill buzzed in every piece of my flesh before he jerked to a halt on the north side of the Pitball stadium, stumbled down a hill and we went crashing into the mud. I neighed a laugh as he rolled, pushing himself to his feet and looking down at himself in horror.
“Fuck,” he hissed.
“It’s okay, I got you.” I leapt up, moving toward him. “I learned a cleaning spell this week.” I reached out, starting to syphon the mud off of his clothes and his eyes widened hopefully. “Who are you trying to impress anyway?” I taunted as he fixed his hair and his muscles bunched.
“No one. But we’re not gonna get laid looking like shit,” he growled pissily. His hot head went off more times a day then I could count, but I’d lived my whole life under the roof of the angriest Dragon in Solaria, so it was nothing I couldn’t handle.
“Right, that’s why you look ready to break someone’s neck,” I commented with a sideways grin and he shrugged, his scowl in place to stay.
I finished getting the mud off of us and we headed up to the metal door in the tall wall of the stadium. I rapped my knuckles against it, my heart cantering in my chest as we waited for an answer.
A slot whipped open in the centre of it and two bright eyes peered out. “Speak your names!” Geraldine cried.
“Xavier Acrux,” I said.
“Hadley Altair.”
“You’re not on the list, away with you heathens,” she hissed.
“Agent Foxy sent us,” I said quickly and her eyes narrowed.
She finally stepped back and flicked her fingers through the slot. A spell hit me in the chest the same time it hit Hadley and we were forced back a step by the strength of it. A chill ran along my skin and I shivered.
“What was that?” I demanded.
“It unveils any illusion you may have been disguising yourselves under,” Geraldine explained. “You have passed the test. Come hither!” The door flew open and Geraldine stood there in lacy mask that covered the top half of her face and a flowing bubblegum pink gown which clung tightly to her figure. “Oh my dear Xavier.” She pulled me into a tight hug, squeezing me tight. “I am overjoyed that you have joined us at last.”
“Thanks,” I said as she released me and I gave her a bright smile. When I got a chance later, I was going to get her alone to ask about my mom, but I couldn’t risk saying anything right now.
Hadley pulled the door closed behind us and I gazed down the long corridor, nothing but silence meeting my ears. Where the hell was everybody?
“You’re the last ones in,” Geraldine said, stepping forward and casting a spell on the door which I guessed was to lock it. “You’ll need these.” She plucked a couple of masks from between her breasts and passed us one each. “I am utterly aggrieved that we can’t all dress up in our most outrageous costumes, but the A.S.S. committee agreed it wasn’t worth the risk of getting caught out and about across campus in our frillies tonight.” She sighed heavily. “Our identities must all remain hidden to protect each other though. So we shall don our masks and stick it to the big man while we’re here all the same.”
“Yeah, fuck my father,” I said with a grin as I put my mask on.
“All this defiance gets my wet Wanda working,” Geraldine exclaimed as she led us along dark corridors before pushing through a door into a stairwell and guiding us down a couple of flights.
“How did
you get on the Pitball team, Geraldine?” Hadley asked. “I wanna try out next term.”
“You must have the heart of a lion and the balls of a bull, young Altair,” she said seriously, lifting her chin as pride gleamed in her eyes.
“Check and check,” he said with a smirk and I rolled my eyes at him.
We headed through a door and my heart leapt as Geraldine let us into a silencing bubble and the sound of a crowd exploded in my ears. We were in a huge underground space the size of the Pitball pitch. It must have been right underneath it. The whole place was decorated with earth magic so it looked like a jungle, moss and vines covering the roof and floor, trees dotted around the place with ornate wooden stools ringing them. A band was playing in front of a dancefloor and to one side of it was a long bar stacked high with alcohol.
“Woah,” I breathed.
“I shall see you soon, boys, I’m off for a romp on the dancefloor.” Geraldine headed away, soon joining Max Rigel and swishing her hips to knock aside a girl who was dancing close to him. The other Heirs and who I guessed was Darcy were beyond them, all drinking shots and jumping wildly to the beat. I only recognised the Heirs because I knew them so well, but they’d all changed their hair and had cast illusions over their appearances to blend in.
“This is fucking awesome,” Hadley growled.
My gaze suddenly locked on Sofia in a pastel blue dress, her blonde pixie cut shimmering with glitter. I knew it was her from the deep connection I felt in my chest the moment I laid eyes on her. She was at the bar with a group of girls and there was no sign of fucking Tyler for once. She’s here. And she looks like a damn dream.
“I’m gonna go say hi to Sofia,” I said, turning to Hadley, finding his gaze locked on someone and his brow drawn low.
I recognised Athena sitting on one of the stools around the nearest tree, wearing a black dress that split up one thigh. Hadley’s friend Trent sat beside her without a mask on, his hand on her knee and Grayson was beyond them, talking animatedly as his pack of females all sighed or laughed at every word he said.
Zodiac Academy: Fated Throne Page 52
