Zodiac Academy 4: Shadow Princess

After another sleepless night haunted by the shadows, I managed to fall into a deep sleep right around dawn. By the time my alarm screamed enough to rouse me again and I crawled out of bed, I found a bunch of messages from Darcy and the others wondering why I’d missed breakfast. I groaned into my pillow, still feeling dog tired despite the sleep I’d managed to get. But I couldn’t stay in bed any longer. At least I had a free period first thing today and I didn’t have to worry about being late for class.

I shot a message to Darcy explaining myself, though it wasn’t really that out of character. But she’d been a little overprotective ever since I’d admitted to dabbling with shadows and they’d started haunting me with more vigour. I didn’t want her to worry, but it was nice having someone who did. 

I got up and dressed quickly, pulling my headphones on as I started up a playlist and headed out of my room in search of food. 

The sun was shining brightly again today, the sky blue above me as I walked, causing me to squint against the headache growing in my skull. I wasn’t suited to missing this much sleep. Since I’d been given the shadows, I wasn’t sure I’d gotten much more than three or four hours a night and with the alcohol I was consuming to try and drown the nightmares too, I was definitely suffering. 

I pulled a pair of sunglasses from my satchel and put them on, withdrawing into my own personal cocoon where the sun couldn’t assault me as the mellow soundtrack I’d selected helped me relax. 

I’d missed breakfast, but the lunch options were already available in The Orb and I grabbed myself a sandwich and a coffee before taking a seat in an armchair beside a fireplace at the side of the room.

The warmth of the fire washed over me, tickling against my magic supplies and slowly topping them up. Now that I knew this was how I replenished my magic, it was kinda obvious. I felt a bit stupid for not realising it sooner, but then who didn’t like sitting beside a warm fire when it was cold outside? I’d just thought the peace and tranquillity I’d felt around the flames was normal, not anything magical.

It was quiet inside The Orb, not many students bothering with this place in the odd hours between meals even if they did happen to have a free period too, but that suited me just fine. 

Darcy sent me a message to say she was hanging out down by the lake with the Ass Club and I replied to say I’d join them after I’d eaten. I just needed to mop up a little of the tequila I’d consumed last night and I’d track them down. Maybe Geraldine would take pity on me and offer to heal away my self-inflicted suffering too.

I scrolled through FaeBook as I ate, laughing to myself as I spotted a Griffin support group with the subtitle how to say no to Fae with a dump fetish. The author hadn’t quite had the balls to name Max Rigel but it was pretty obvious that the group stemmed from that rumour. The pranks we’d played on the Heirs just kept snowballing, delivering more and more rewards as time went on and I couldn’t for a moment feel bad about it. 

With that amusement tugging at my lips, I took a moment to send Caleb a suggestive photo of a Pegasus as it bent forward to graze.

Taunting him about it might have been dumb, but if he wanted to punish me for it I was pretty sure we could come up with an acceptable way for him to do it.

A prickle ran down my spine and I looked up as I felt eyes on me. My gaze fell straight on Darius Acrux as he strolled into the room and I immediately fell still as his focus zeroed in on me. 

Darius stalked towards me and I fought the urge to straighten in my chair, acting like his presence was utterly irrelevant to me, despite the little flood of adrenaline which had just entered my veins.

He didn’t bother with hellos and leaned forward to snatch my sunglasses from my face, tossing them down on the table in front of me. 

My muscles tightened in response but I forced myself to remain still, pushing my tongue into my cheek as I gazed back at him impassively. 

“It’s too dark in here for sunglasses, Roxy. Are you hungover again?” he asked. “Maybe you need to work on your drinking problem.”

I half considered biting back at him but I held my tongue instead, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of engaging in whatever strange game he was playing. 

“Are you ignoring me?” he demanded, leaning forward to place his hands on the arms of my chair. 

I was vaguely aware of students backing away from us, a ring forming as they watched to see how this would go down. 

“What do you want me to say?” I asked, my voice bored as I pulled my headphones down to hang around my neck. 

Darius growled at me. “I want you to bow your head when I walk into a room. I want you to learn your place and stick to it. If I say jump, I want you to say how high.”

I leaned forward, invading his personal space just as he was invading mine, holding his eye. “I think,” I breathed quietly, though I knew any Vampires in close proximity would hear us anyway. “That you made a mistake with me. You took me to your room when you saw me in pain. You looked after me when you should have left me to suffer. You brought me to your house to play on your bikes and let me find out your secrets. And then you realised that even showing me all of those parts of yourself weren’t enough.”

“Enough to what?” he snarled. 

“Enough to change the way I see you. To make me hate you any less.” He flinched minutely at my guess, just enough for me to think I was right about it. “But the bit I’ve been struggling to figure out, Darius, is why do you give a shit what I think about you? Shouldn’t you want me to hate you like I do? Why are you so damn obsessed with me?”

“I’m not obsessed with you,” he snapped. “I just want to get rid of you. And I want to sit in this seat. So move.”

I half considered fighting him over the chair but I wouldn’t win and it was just a fucking chair. I pushed myself to my feet suddenly, forcing him to straighten and release his grip on the armrests as he scowled down at me. 

I looked up at him impassively and I could see just how much that pissed him off. Barely an inch of space divided us and my heart was thundering a panicked tune but I refused to let him see me flinch. 

I reached up, parting my hair and pulling half of it over my shoulder, twisting it in my grip as I looked at him. “Shall I start tying it in pigtails?” I asked innocently. “So that you can pull on them whenever you see me?”

“Be careful what you wish for, Roxy,” Darius warned, reaching out to take my hair into his grasp. “If I pull on your hair, you’ll be screaming my name in response.” He tugged just a little and I snorted dismissively.

“Why don’t you let that little fantasy keep you warm while you’re sitting in my chair?” I asked, shifting aside and gesturing to the seat he wanted me to vacate so badly. 

Darius narrowed his eyes at me as he dropped his hold on my hair and folded himself into my seat, leaning back and spreading his legs like his balls were so fucking big he couldn’t possibly close them. 

I pulled the edges of my skirt out to the sides and gave him a mocking curtsy. “Enjoy it, your highnass.”

Before he could respond, I scooped my sunglasses off of the table where he’d tossed them, turned my back on him and shifted my gaze across the room to the red sofa where he always sat with the other Heirs. It was empty which was a damn shame because it looked really fucking comfy.

I smirked to myself as I strolled straight into the gathered crowd who parted for me like I was contagious and I cut a beeline for the red couch. My heart was pounding, my throat thick. I knew this wouldn’t end well for me but I just couldn’t bear to let him get away with his bullshit. 

I put my sunglasses in my pocket and threw up a shield of air magic, strengthening it with everything I had in a tight ball around me as I closed in on the couch. 

A defiant grin hooked up the corner of my mouth and I spun back to look right in Darius’s eye as I dropped down into his usual spot at the end of the couch. 

Everyone in The Orb fell deathly silent. Out of the corners of my eyes I could see them all backing up. My heart was racing and I held my breath, waiting to see exactly how far this asshole was willing to push me today. 

One look in his eyes told me it was going to be really damn far. 

Darius stood so suddenly that the armchair he’d taken from me fell to the ground with a clatter behind him. He stalked towards me, the crowd backing up so far that they were practically outside now, a ring of fearful eyes watching us from the edges of the room.

As Darius closed in on me, the shadows stirred beneath my skin, whispering promises of help and violence. But I didn’t call on them, I focused on holding my air shield in place and waited for the attack we both knew was coming.

Darius snarled, his fingers flicking towards me so a gigantic fireball shot right at my face. It hit my shield and I gritted my teeth as it exploded up and over it, sending more magic to reinforce the spot that was coming under attack.

The moment my focus shifted to reinforcing that patch of the shield, another attack hit me from behind, more fire blooming as I sucked in a sharp breath and my shield crumpled.

I stumbled to my feet as his fire ripped through my defences but squared my shoulders, refusing to back down.

I didn’t need to fear the flames but I doused them none the less, sucking the oxygen from the space surrounding me and holding my breath as the flames failed to get close enough to damage my clothes.

Darius smirked as he closed the distance between us, no longer held away by my shield.

I scowled at him as he drew closer. Why was he always hounding me? What made him think that he could just treat me like this whenever it suited him? Heat was building in my chest as my rage grew. I was so sick of his bullshit, so sick of being his victim.

The shadows stirred beneath my skin again and I was almost tempted to call on them. If the room hadn’t been full of witnesses then I’d have done it. But as it was, I had to fight to hold them back as they licked between my fingers for half a heartbeat.

Darius hesitated for a moment, his gaze slipping to my hand. A wall of fire suddenly sprang up all around us, sealing us within a dome of his power and hiding us from the prying eyes of the students outside it.

He flicked his other hand and I felt a silencing bubble slide over my skin half a second before he started laying into me.

“Are you calling on the shadows again, Roxy?” he demanded. “Is that the real reason you were wearing those glasses?”

“No,” I snapped. I hadn’t lost so much control that I couldn’t keep them hidden within my flesh.

“What is it, then?” he asked as if he had a right to ask me anything.

“Just fuck off, Darius,” I snapped. “Aren’t you supposed to be in the middle of pushing me about again? Isn’t that how you get your kicks?”

“Yeah, it is,” he agreed.

“Well come on then, big man, why don’t you show me why I should be oh so terrified of you so that I can go back to my day, pretending that you don’t exist.”

Darius’s jaw clenched. “Orion told me you’ve been drinking.”

“So? That’s my business, not yours. Why do you give a shit anyway?” I growled.

“Because the shadows are a problem for all of us. And if my father gets word of you wielding them then pissing me off will be the least of your worries. So if you’re having trouble controlling them then we need to do something about it.”

“Right. Because he’ll actually kill me where you prefer to just make me so miserable I’m tempted to end my suffering for myself,” I growled, ignoring his half assed suggestion of help. I wouldn’t have to spend so much time trying to figure out how to strengthen my hold on the shadows if I didn’t have to fear him and his family. It was his fault I felt the need to go to them so often, his fault they were gaining enough access into my psyche to be causing me problems.

“Fuck off, you’re not suicidal,” he replied dismissively. “Nobody burns as hot and cold as you do if they don’t love life.”

“You don’t know anything about me,” I snarled.

“Yeah I do. And that’s what you can’t stand,” he replied darkly. “Because we’re the same you and me. Both fucked up, broken pieces on a game board that’s bigger than we can cope with. Both hoping to find some way of winning despite the odds being stacked against us all the damn time. Both addicted to things that push our boundaries and make us feel alive. Because at the end of the day, even feeling the worst of things is better than feeling nothing at all.”

I glared at him, not wanting to admit for a moment the way his words resounded with something deep inside me. He was right though. I’d rather be sobbing with sorrow, screaming in fear, laughing until I was breathless or riding the very edge of a high than just keeping to the middle path. The thing I feared most in life was boredom. I didn’t want to live an easy life, I wanted to blaze through an adventurous one and I’d choose to burn out entirely before I’d let myself whither in emptiness.

“So what?” I snapped.

“So I won’t let you ignore me, Roxy,” he snarled. “I’ll have your attention even if I have to take it without your permission.”

“Why?” I demanded. “Why not just go after someone else?”

“Because we don’t get to choose our obsessions. And you’re mine.”

I stared at him in surprise, not knowing what the hell I was supposed to say to that while my heart pounded out of rhythm and my stomach did some kind of graceless somersault.

“What if I don’t want to be?” I asked eventually.

“Then that’s just tough.” Darius flicked his fingers at me so suddenly that I didn’t even have time to react before a blast of water hit me square in the chest. 

The wall of flames fell away and I was propelled across the room, falling in a wet heap on the floor to a chorus of oooohs from the students who had stayed to watch our spat play out.

I shoved myself to my feet with a snarl of rage but Darius was already striding out of the room on the far side of The Orb, throwing a smug grin back at me just before he disappeared out of sight.

“Show’s over, assholes!” I snapped at the crowd, raising my hand as I slowly drew the water out of my clothes and into a ball which hung before me.

A group of seniors were clearly filming my less than graceful recovery, so I tossed the water their way before turning and stalking outside too. Firmly heading in the opposite direction to Darius goddamn Acrux. Because fuck him and his goddamn asshole agenda against me. If he wanted my attention then I’d just work doubly hard at making sure he didn’t get it. And more than that, I’d avoid him like the plague so he wouldn’t have the opportunity to force his presence on me with another attack like that again.

As I headed outside, I checked my Atlas, groaning as I realised my free period was coming to an end and I had to go straight to class. I’d been hoping for a bit of time to chat to Darcy this morning about all things shadow, Dragon and Vampire related but it looked like it would have to wait.

Just before I could shove my Atlas away, I noticed a reply waiting for me from Caleb to my teasing about the Pegasass situation.

Caleb:

So the first time you choose to message me without me messaging you first, it’s to send me that shit?

I frowned, wondering if he was right about that. Did I really never message him first? Probably not. I’d learned a long time ago not to give assholes too much attention anyway. Douchebags liked to think the world revolved around them and I’d have nothing better to do with my time than sending them countless messages. Which was not true.

Tory:

What’s the matter, Caleb? Can’t you take a joke? 😉

Caleb:

Maybe you just don’t know how to be funny.

Tory:

Cry me a river…

Caleb:

Come to Terra House tonight.

Tory:

Why?

Caleb:

You know, this playing hard to get shit might get old eventually…

Tory:

That must be why you’re about to call everything off then.

Caleb:

Not likely. But I’m not going to keep asking nicely, maybe you’ll respond better to commands – you are coming to stay in my bed tonight.

Tory:

Wrong.

I smirked to myself and tossed my Atlas back in my satchel. No doubt I’d find a shit ton of messages from him later on or he’d just come to hunt me down in person. I honestly didn’t know why he kept falling into the same trap but it was fucking hilarious so I kept on setting it up.

I didn’t have any time left to meet up with Darcy and the others down by the lake so I headed straight for our lesson instead. We were about to have our very first Physical Enhancement class which I was actually pretty hyped about. I had my gym bag with my kit in it and Professor Prestos who taught the lessons was my Liaison so I already knew her semi-well despite the fact that most of our contact was carried out via email. She seemed cool though and I’d always done well in sports so I was hoping that this lesson would at least come pretty easy to me.  

I headed through The Wailing Wood, taking the track which led north west towards the Pitball stadium where we’d been told to meet for this class. Apparently that wouldn’t be the same every lesson though so I’d have to keep an eye on my schedule for changes in its location.

Darcy called out to me as the stadium came into sight and I fell into step with her, Sofia and Diego. I cast a wary glance at our woolly hatted ‘friend’, staying on the other side of the group to him. Darcy was more inclined to buy into his apologies than me. I personally found it hard to forget the casual way he referred to me as a whore or the general creepy ass fact that his hat had his grandma’s soul knitted into it. I mean, what the actual fuck? You couldn’t pay me to wear something like that. And I sure as shit didn’t want it near me. What if she was in it, lingering amongst the head sweat, dandruff and loose hairs, whispering to him about the way my skirt was too short or my attitude too slutty for her liking? Not that I gave a shit what some dried up soul crust thought of me, but I still didn’t want her near me. The idea of her grossed me out.

Professor Prestos was waiting outside the stadium in a tracksuit with a stopwatch hanging around her neck.

“Hurry up!” she called. “You’ve got four minutes to get changed and back out here. Every minute you’re late will lose you a House Point!”

I flashed her a smile which she returned as I jogged past her into the Pitball locker rooms. We all focused on getting changed and I pulled on my own navy blue and silver trimmed tracksuit as quickly as I could. The sweatshirt had Vega emblazoned across the back of it and the sneakers that accompanied it had thick treads for off-road running.

We made it back outside just in time to avoid losing any points and waited for the stragglers. Prestos took the points she’d promised from them before calling out for all of us to follow her deeper into the woods.

“Today’s lesson is an assessment,” she called out. “There is a track through the trees, marked out by the bright pink arrows.” She pointed at the first arrow and I craned my neck to see where it pointed, spotting a high wooden wall blocking the track ahead of us, ropes dangling down the length of it for people to use to clamber over the top. “This is a test of physical ability but I want to see proper use of magic too. The different obstacles can be overcome with one or two Elements or tackled physically. So each of you will have advantages at different stages of the course.”

“But, Professor,” Kylie called out, interrupting Prestos and earning herself a frown from our teacher. “The Vegas have all four elements, so they get an advantage at every obstacle. So shouldn’t they have a handicap or something?”

Prestos laughed like Kylie had just told a hilarious joke. “Suck it up, Major. That’s the world we live in. Those with the most power are always at an advantage in Solaria. It’s up to those of you with less Elements and lower levels of power to find ways to utilise what you’ve got. Exploit friendships, Order gifts, anything you can to give yourself an edge. That’s what it is to be Fae. And any pathetic whining about it being unfair will get you a meeting with Principal Nova about your place at Zodiac Academy. This is the best academy in Solaria. You guys are either here for a reason or you’ll be gone before you know it. So Fae up and quit bitching or I’ll see you in detention.”

“Oh, I like her,” Darcy whispered to me and I grinned.

Kylie folded her arms but raised her chin, clearly meaning to do as she’d been told.

“So for this challenge, I want you all to work alone. That means no waiting for each other, helping each other out or doing anything to hinder anyone else either. This is a straight race. You’ll all start at once and I want you to run around the course as fast as you possibly can, using your magic to help you as and when you’re able. I’ll be ranking you on how quickly you can make it back to me. That will be your starting rank in this class and in each lesson following this, positions will change based on your performances. Top ranking students will earn privileges such as access to exclusive areas on campus. Low ranking students will earn themselves sessions in the gymnasium and after school classes to try and build you up. I wasn’t joking about your places at the academy being at risk because of this class. At Zodiac Academy we are looking to educate the best of the best. If you consistently fail this or any other class, you can expect to lose your position here.”

“I can’t believe I could lose my place here because I’m not great at gym class,” Diego groaned and I cast a glance his way.

“Well maybe now you’ll be motivated to work out more,” I replied.

“Hey, I’m not exactly tiny,” he protested, folding his arms and clearly tensing his biceps.

“I didn’t say you were. But in a school full of shifters with more muscles than is really fair, you’re definitely a little light on the brawn.” My gaze slid over a lot of the other guys in our class as I took in bulging biceps and broad shoulders everywhere I looked, it really wasn’t a bad view.

Diego huffed and Darcy gave me a look that said I was treading the line of bitch. I replied with a look of I know but I don’t care and she smirked at me.

“Okay, everyone! On my whistle…” Prestos gave a sharp blow on her whistle and we all sprang into action.

The moment we made it to the wooden wall, all of the air students including me and Darcy used our Elemental magic to propel us up and over it. Almost everyone else was forced to scramble for the ropes and climb it, though I did spot a couple of the more powerful water and earth elementals riding a column of water or earth up to the top too.

I landed in the thick mud on the far side of the wall and started running straight away. Darcy kept pace beside me and we raced towards the next obstacle. A wide river of mud fell away in front of us, ropes stretched out over it, tied between trees on both sides.

“Do we have to hang from them to cross?” Darcy asked, wrinkling her nose.

“Looks like it,” I agreed. “We could try and use earth magic to make a solid path but I think the ropes will be faster here.”

Darcy nodded at my assessment and I moved towards the closest rope, jumping to grab it then swinging my legs back and forth until I managed to hook an ankle over the top of it. I locked my ankles together as I dangled beneath the rope like a sloth on a branch and started hoisting myself along, crossing the mud with my hair swinging beneath me and my arms burning with the effort involved in dragging myself across.

I grunted as I dropped to the ground on the other side, looking around to see Darcy half way across behind me.

“Keep going, Tor!” she called. “Prestos said no waiting for each other!”

I hesitated for a moment before calling out in farewell and running on. Kylie and Jillian had made it over too and there was no way I was going to let them beat me.

I raced on around the track, fighting my way beneath nets which covered muddy ground, wading through freezing rivers, running through fires and many more challenges which seemed almost impossible. But with the use of my magic and hard persistence, I finally rounded the last bend and sprinted back to Professor Prestos who stood waiting with her stopwatch and clipboard ready, a smile playing around her lips.

“Good work, Vega,” she said, jotting down my time. “You’re first back.”

I fell to the ground, panting to catch my breath with a big ass smile on my face. I was freezing cold, smothered in mud and about the happiest I’d been in a long time.

“I guess all that running finally paid off,” I joked.

“Dedication in all things usually pays off at some point,” Prestos agreed with a smirk.

We waited as I caught my breath and the sound of footsteps pounded towards us just as I got to my feet again.

Darcy sprinted around the corner, her cheeks flushed and blue hair flying around her face as she used her air magic to push her along even faster.

I started cheering her on, jumping up and down and clapping as she raced towards us and she laughed as she spilled over the finish line and collapsed to her knees in the mud, mumbling about dying from exhaustion.

“Good job, Vega,” Prestos praised again, this time aiming her compliments at my sister.

Once Darcy caught her breath, we found a fallen log at the side of the track and took up our positions to watch the rest of our class make it back over the line. It took over half an hour for all of them to appear and Diego ran through among the last of the pack.

“Good first effort, class!” Prestos called out as we all gathered around. “You’ll receive an email with your official ranking. It’s no surprise that the Vegas made top spots as the most powerful students we’ve ever had attending the academy. But don’t let that dissuade you. Plenty of the less powerful students have done well. Cygnus, you made fifty nine, despite the fact that you rank in the bottom quarter power-wise.”

Sofia beamed at being called out and I slapped her a high five in celebration.

“Dedication, determination, delivery. Being Fae means fighting for your position. So just as those of you at the bottom of the rank need to step up and fight to claim a higher position, those of you at the top are going to need to work hard to defend yours. There’s nothing easy about being powerful. It may seem that life at the top of the pyramid is all sunshine and roses to those of you at the bottom but remember: if you’re the best there will always be someone who wants to challenge you for that place. You will have to fight to maintain your position every single day of your lives. Because you’re Fae. That’s what we do. And if you can’t hack it, then I suggest you pack up and withdraw yourselves from the academy now. Because you’ve made it through The Reckoning which means the real work starts here.”

Prestos looked around at the class like she was hunting for anyone who didn’t make the cut and we all stood a little straighter, returning her gaze fiercely. When she was satisfied, she dismissed us so that we could all go and clean up before our next class.

“Wow, do you really think it’s all going to get even tougher from here on out?” Sofia whispered as we made our way inside to the showers.

“I think I’m beginning to realise why the Heirs come at us so hard all the damn time,” Darcy groaned, wiping a hand over her face which really just moved the mud around.

“Yeah, I get it,” I replied. “And I think we’ve also come way past the point of no return with them. If we’re destined to be locked in this power struggle with them for the rest of our lives then I say it’s time we concentrated everything we’ve got on learning how to beat them.”

“Hell yes,” Darcy agreed. “One of these days, I’m going to be the one knocking them onto their asses in the mud.”

I laughed, my power stirring beneath my skin as if it liked the sound of that. “I think it’s time for us to accept who we are. We’re the lost Vega Princesses, Heirs to our own throne and the most powerful assholes in the whole of Solaria. And I think it’s time we stop letting other people tell us what that means and deciding it for ourselves.”