I slammed my fist down on the table with a loud bang as I pushed out of my chair and growled at him, a clear challenge in my gaze.
"You don't speak about him like that," I snarled as Father surveyed me with a wild glint in his eyes.
"You, on the other hand, Darius are a truly fine specimen, aren't you?" he commented, looking over my huge frame and smiling to himself like he could claim all responsibility for everything I was and call it his own accomplishment.
"Apologise to Xavier," I demanded, but I may as well have been talking to myself because he just went on with his fucking monologue.
"Tall, broad, stronger than any other Fae physically and magically, ferocious and bloodthirsty, single minded and cruel," he listed as if those words could sum up the total of what I was. "And above all, powerful. Almost powerful enough to rival me in fact."
"You and I both know I outmatch you," I said in a dangerous tone as I leaned forward over the table. "You'd be dead by my hand if you hadn't used Clara to save your miserable life."
"Power comes in many forms, son," he replied with a shrug of his broad shoulders, not seeming the least bit concerned about me leaning over him with his death in my eyes. "The sooner you admit that, the sooner you will grow into the man I need you to be and stop with this foolish nobility. We're Fae, not field mice. We see what we want and we take it if we can. The strongest naturally rise to the top. You cannot deny that is who you are through and through. It is why you fight me so hard after all. You want things that I own - my crown, my power...even pretty little Roxanya Vega who stole your black heart and corrupted your dark soul with that crippling curse."
"What curse?" I asked with a sneer, not buying into his bullshit for a moment.
"Love," he replied simply like it was a dirty world that stained his tongue. "It's why I took her, you know? Because you wanted her so much. The Fae in me saw how precious she was to you and I took her because I could. Because I'm more powerful than you, which is true for one single, undeniable reason."
"What's that?" I asked.
"You're debilitated by your emotions. Your love for her makes you weak. If you truly wanted to kill me, you could have done it already - you only have to cut through her to get to me. But you won't, will you?"
"Never," I agreed, not bothering to try and hide how I felt about her because he already knew anyway.
"Pity," he said with a sigh. "But I'll burn that weakness out of you in time. Aren't you going to open your gift?" He pointed at the Atlas which lay forgotten between us on the table and I growled as I looked down at the black screen with a play button illuminated in the centre of it.
"What is that?" I asked, wondering again where the hell Roxy was and fear knotted in my gut.
"A reminder," Father shrugged. "Of who I am and what I am capable of. You may need to work to keep your emotions in check when you play it though - if you lay so much as a claw on me in reaction to it there will be dire consequences for your brother."
I glanced at Xavier who still sat in his chair, glaring at our father with his chin raised defiantly like he was willing to take whatever punishment he chose to dole out. But I refused to be the architect of his pain.
I snatched the Atlas from the table and hit the button to play the video. Roxy's screams filled the quiet room the moment I did and the camera moved to show her strapped to a wooden chair in the centre of my father's chambers. She was in her underwear, her flesh carved up with countless cuts and stab wounds and her brow was lined with sweat that made her dark hair cling to her face.
"Again," Father's voice came, making it clear he was the one recording this and Clara shot forward from the corner of the room with a bloody knife in hand before slamming it into Roxy's stomach.
Horror washed through me in a wave so potent that I couldn't draw in another breath as I stared at the images, my chest seizing up and my muscles locking with fury and a desperate desire to go to her, rescue her, go back in fucking time and stop this from happening.
Clara stabbed her again and again and she screamed in agony before Vard moved to stand before her, his single Cyclops eye boring into her tear filled gaze as he licked his lips hungrily.
"Who freed you from the shadows?" he purred, his voice slick and oily and turning my stomach.
"Fuck you," Roxy hissed between her teeth, panting heavily as she began to bleed out and she sagged against the restraints holding her in place on the chair. "I freed myself."
Clara backhanded her so hard she fell back against the wood with another curse of pain and the video was cut off just as my father demanded more.
"We had a rather long night," he said, stifling a yawn as I fought with everything I had not to shift and attack him even while my flesh trembled with the need to destroy him for this. I had to hear him out, because he still had her and I didn't know where Vard and Clara were or what the fuck might happen to her if I leapt across this table right now and ripped his miserable head from his shoulders.
"You're a fucking monster," Xavier breathed, but he was ignored entirely.
"I announced a new law this morning," Father went on like this was just a normal conversation to have over breakfast. "Fae no longer need to wait until graduation to get married. I'm done waiting around for you to fall into line, Darius, so I'm making this simple. Today you will marry Mildred and then you will fuck her. You will fuck her day and night until you put an Heir in her belly to secure my legacy and the purity of our bloodline."
"Mildred?" I choked out, trying to make my thoughts align as they stayed fixed on my girl and the desperate need in me to get to her and save her from this fucking animal.
"Yes. I don't care what you have to use for motivation to get your cock hard for that troll of a girl, but believe me you'll figure it out. Perhaps you'll get lucky and she will fall pregnant quickly for you and give you nine months reprieve before you'll need to put another Heir in her belly."
"I'm not marrying her," I hissed. "I won't. I love Roxy and I'm never going to be with anyone else."
Father sighed heavily like I was testing his patience. "You will. Because every night that oaf isn't pregnant is another night your sweet Roxanya gets to spend like that." He pointed at the Atlas in my hands and I tossed it away from me in disgust so that it thumped down onto the table. "And if that's not motivation enough, then Vard has been hungering for more of a taste of her, so perhaps I'll start sending her to his bed as well."
"You can't," Xavier breathed in horror and Father just huffed a breath like his mere presence was offensive.
"Of course I can. I'm the King. I can do whatever the fuck I want. But I can be kind, too. In reward for you putting an Heir inside the Canopus troll, when I find it, I'll use the Imperial Star to stop the heavens from colliding every time you are alone with Roxanya. You can have her too, in reward for good behaviour that is."
"Have her?" I asked in confusion, my brain struggling to keep up with this fucking mess that had unfolded all around us.
"Phoenixes are useful and there is deep power in her blood. I think it is worth allowing crossbreeding in this one circumstance. Any children you sire with her can be Guardian bonded to the Heirs you make with Mildred. This way you can have it all. I think I'm being more than fair."
"Fair?" I balked. "You can't seriously believe-"
"Enough!" Father roared suddenly, the air vibrating all around us as his power flared with his rage. "I won't have any more complaints or insolence from you, Darius. You have a wedding to attend and if you don't go through with it, I will personally carve Roxanya's heart from her chest and lay it at your fucking feet."
He stood abruptly and stormed from the room, throwing the door open wide and letting it crash against the wall as he left me there, drowning in fear and the most suffocating realisation that I was going to have to do this. There was no way out of it.
"Darius?" Xavier's voice seemed to come from far away and I couldn't even bring myself to look at him until he started shaking me, barking an order at me to
fucking listen to him. "There has to be some way out of this," he insisted passionately. "I'll go and get Lance. We'll figure it out. We will. Promise me you won't give up."
Words failed me for several long seconds and in my mind all I could see was the girl with the long brunette hair and eyes which could peer straight into my dark soul without flinching away from it. She was the owner of all that I was and I knew I'd make any sacrifice I had to to save her.
Movement by the door drew my attention and I looked up as Vard strode in, followed by a group of servants who were carrying suit bags and styling products and my gut lurched as I realised this really was happening.
"His Majesty requests you arrive at the chapel within half an hour for the ceremony," Vard said politely, combing his fingers through his long, greasy black hair as he strode closer and I stood to face him.
Xavier muttered something about needing the bathroom and scurried from the room, tossing me a look that said he was going to find Lance and though I desperately hoped that my best friend might be able to come up with some way out of this for us, I didn't hold out much hope.
Vard smirked cruelly as he shifted, his eyes merging into one as he tried to draw me under his power. I didn't resist, knowing I had to comply with everything Father commanded until I figured out how to rescue Roxy from him.
"Your bride is beautiful," his voice spoke inside my head, pushing my mind onto an image of Mildred with her undercut jaw, moustache and seriously masculine features, not to mention her vile personality. She was ugly right down to her core and everyone knew it. But Vard managed to seek out images of Roxy within my mind and he tried to merge the two like he seriously thought he could manipulate me into feeling desire for that hag.
He kept nudging inside my brain to try and make me more compliant for a few more minutes, but the moment he withdrew, the Phoenix Kiss Roxy had gifted me flared to life beneath my skin and burned all of his manipulation out of me.
Fuck him for thinking he could just make me forget my girl and want that fucking bitch Mildred. But the worst thing was that it didn't even matter that he'd failed. I was still going to marry her. I had to. Even though it broke me and I feared it would break Roxy too, I had to do it.
Father hadn't been lying. I knew him too well to think he'd value her over his desire to force me into line. He'd kill her alright. He'd probably force me to watch too. And I couldn't allow that. Even if the cost of protecting her meant betraying her like this.
I stayed silent as I let the servants dress me for my wedding in a perfectly tailored black suit with a black dress shirt and cravat beneath it. Someone styled my hair and another even laced my fucking shoes and I just let them do it, not giving a shit about any of it and just wishing Lance would appear with some answer I couldn't see.
But when Xavier returned, his eyes were wide with desperation and as he hurried over to me, I found I already knew what he was going to say before the words left his lips.
"He's not there. It doesn't look like he's been there all night. Do you think Father would have done something to him?"
"Of course he has," I growled, rubbing my thumb over the Libra brand on my left arm and wishing that Lance could feel it via our connection even though I knew it was pointless.
Xavier looked utterly crestfallen and I just closed my eyes, trying to pretend that none of this was really happening while racking my brain for any idea that might help my girl.
"Time to go," Vard commanded and my eyes snapped open as I levelled a glare on him that would have seen weaker men piss themselves.
"One of these days, I'll rip you open and tear your intestines out," I swore to him. "And then I'll hang you up by them and let the crows finish the job."
Vard’s eyes glazed over with a vision and the way his face paled let me know that he'd just seen a path to a future where I made good on that promise. And I really hoped it came to pass.
While he tried to fight off the fear that flickered over his features, I turned and strode from the room. I knew where the fucking chapel was and I wasn't going to be dragged there like some snivelling coward.
Xavier ran to meet my pace, a pained whinny spilling from his throat as he tried to catch my eye but I just stayed focused on my destination. I had no choice. Father had set this trap too well.
We made it through the palace quickly and I stepped out into the fresh snowfall beyond the doors to the rear of the building before heading away to the west of the grounds where the chapel lay.
For a moment I just looked at the snow, thinking of how Roxy had told me her only Christmas tradition was a snowball fight with Darcy and remembering the way she’d laughed with me when we’d wrestled in the snow exactly a year ago in the grounds of this very place.
I should have told her then how much I wanted her. I should have been a true Fae and owned up to all the shit I’d put her through and just told her how much I admired her, hungered for her, needed her.
But I’d known I wasn’t good enough for her. Even then I’d known it, so rather than just tell her how I felt I’d hidden it. And look where that had gotten us.
I’m so fucking sorry, baby.
My heart was thumping to this horribly final rhythm that felt like a fucking death march as I walked towards my fate and all I could do was keep walking.
The chapel was set on the edge of the river which wound through this part of the grounds. There was a huge oak tree beside the beautiful stone building which was decked in fresh snow like everything else. It would have been stunning if I wasn't here for such a fucked up reason.
Someone pulled the doors wide for me as I arrived and Xavier snorted in distress as we stepped into the pretty little building.
There were six stained glass windows running along either side of the chapel, each with a different zodiac sign represented and my gaze snagged on the Gemini twins for a moment as my heart twisted sharply at the thought of what I was about to do.
The minister was already waiting for me before the altar and I took in his watery eyed face and white hair before dismissing him. He was just another tool my father was wielding against me.
Father rose from a seat in the front pew and my heart leapt as he tugged Roxy up beside him, yanking her to his side as he gave me a look that said he knew he'd won.
It was only us in here, and I wasn't sure if that was because he hadn't invited anyone else or if he just wanted a moment to twist the knife in my gut before letting them in.
Roxy’s face was pale and I found fear and pain in her big eyes, the echoes of what he'd done to her last night still lingering even though he'd healed her now. He'd put her in a white dress just to fucking mock me and the way the lace clung to her body made me ache for this to be some other reality. For it to be me and her standing here alone while I promised her everything I had to give.
She was breath taking to the point of pain and looking at her felt like there was a knife carving right through my heart because she would always be mine and could never be mine.
"Roxy," I breathed, looking into her eyes and trying to convey everything I was feeling to her without words.
I wanted to rip her from his arms, drag her away with me and just run and run until we were so lost that no one could ever find us again.
“Darius, I’m sorry,” she began and I was relieved to see he hadn’t managed to crush her with the shadows this time, but that just meant she was feeling every bit of pain he doled out to her.
"Drink this, Roxanya," Father commanded, holding out a vile of red liquid and making her take it into her hand.
"What is that?" I growled, wanting to snatch it away from her and throw it as far as I could.
"Drink it or I'll kill Xavier," Father added casually and I growled loudly as I stepped between him and my brother who whinnied in fright but still stood firm with me.
“It’s okay, Darius,” she insisted even though we both knew it wasn’t.
I reached out to snatch it, but I wasn’t fast enough to stop Roxy from unstopperi
ng the bottle and drinking the contents down.
"What was that?" I yelled, not caring if the fucking minister was watching or not.
"Just a little essence of autumn bloom. So long as she drinks the spring shine elixir I have prepared within half an hour it won't be fatal. I wanted to be sure you didn't get any theatrical ideas about making some grand gesture during the ceremony,” Father said casually like he hadn’t just forced her to drink a deadly potion.
I shook my head, trying to deny that this was seriously fucking happening. Spring shine elixir took four days to brew and I didn't know of anywhere that I could find some faster than that. He'd stolen the last inch of hope I'd been holding onto thinking I might find some way out of this.
"Cheer up, Darius," Father said, his gaze flicking over me, assessing me like he was absorbing all of my pain. "I'll give you two minutes with Roxanya to say what you need to before the rest of the guests arrive and then I won't hear any more of this foolishness. If you wish to have her to yourself again after that then get an Heir in your bride and learn to behave yourself."
He gave Roxy a shove towards me and I caught her face between my hands, creating a silencing bubble around us as my mind whirled with a desperate desire to find some way out of this.
"Tell me what to do, baby," I breathed, looking into her green eyes, hoping she might have thought of something I hadn’t.
She swallowed thickly and shook her head. "There isn't anything," she breathed, a tear slipping down her cheek as she looked up at me. "I'm sorry, Darius. I don't want you to have to do this for me."
"I would do anything for you," I growled fiercely, swiping the tear from her cheek as it felt like my entire chest was caving in and I tried to linger in this moment forever, never wanting it to end and for the future I couldn't escape to come to pass.
"I'm yours," she breathed, her mouth touching mine with her words. "Whatever you have to do...even if Mildred really does have your-"
Zodiac Academy: Fated Throne Page 70
