Zodiac Academy 4: Shadow Princess

Darcy glared at me with a poisonous hatred in her eyes and I stared coolly back at her.

This is what you get for refusing to bow to me and for fucking a teacher like no rules apply to you in this world.

I moved towards her, taking in the smeared fake blood around her mouth, her ruffled hair and the bite mark on her lip that Orion hadn’t had time to heal. I reached out to it and she flinched back.

“I’m healing it,” I stated and she gritted her teeth, letting me press my thumb to her lip. I sent a flare of healing magic into her skin then dragged my thumb across her mouth to coat it in fake blood and lipstick, pulling my hand back and smearing it over my lips.

“What are you doing?” she hissed, looking disgusted and to be fair, it was pretty gross, but totally necessary.

“No one’s going to think you screwed me if there isn’t a little evidence.”

“Why do you even want people to think that?” she snapped. “It’s screwed up.”

“Because it’s fun, babe. And also because of the way it makes you feel. Like shit.” Which is how I’ve felt around you for a long fucking time. I’m owed some payback.

And maybe, just fucking maybe, I was a teensy bit hurt. I’d known she was screwing someone else, but I’d doubted what I’d seen the night of the Lunar Eclipse. It just kept circling back to me though. I’d tried waiting outside her Liaison sessions a couple of times, but Orion kept that room firmly silenced.

Still, a nagging thought inside me had willed me to keep looking. And then what do ya know? I’d seen her wrapped in his arms on the dance floor. Not that I’d been sure with his disguise in place, but I had a gut feeling. And I was determined to see the truth at last. So I’d given them long enough to compromise themselves then followed them down here. And that was the best decision I’d made in a long ass time.

Admittedly, I was still kinda surprised. Because Darcy always seemed like such a good little girl. And yet deep down, she was bad and twisted. But if she craved excitement like that, she didn’t have to go and break Solarian law to get her kicks. I mean seriously, a fucking teacher, Darcy??

I pushed a hand into my hair, messing it up enough to be believable while Darcy surveyed me with a dark scowl. I was glad she felt something for me. Something that burned her up on the inside and couldn’t be ignored. She deserved this. Because this was what she did to me in reverse.

“So who else knows about your secret? Tory?” I guessed and her face paled.

“No,” she said quietly. “I didn’t want to risk bringing her into this.”

I released a low whistle. “Lying to your sister, that’s low.”

“Screw you,” she snapped.

I was genuinely surprised. I imagined she would have mentioned that little piece of info to Tory, but apparently not. So one of the infamous twins was keeping secrets from the other. Maybe their united front was breakable after all.

“Here.” I held out my hand for her to take and she reluctantly complied.

I yanked her toward me and she braced herself against my chest, pushing away from me. “Now’s the part where you can let out a bit of that rage on me, Darcy. No need to hold back, if we actually fucked it would be rough as hell.” I offered her my cheek and her brows arched.

“You want me to hit you?” she asked with way too much hope.

“Hit, scratch, bite, go nuts. But don’t blame me if it turns me on.”

Her palm smashed across my face and holy fuck she actually had a decent arm on her. I blew out a breath of laughter and she hit me across the head then clawed her nails down my arms with a furious snarl.

I backed up, smirking as she came for me like a hungry wolf, slamming her small fists into my chest. I caught her wrists when I’d had enough, grinning as her eyes spat venom at me.

“Come on then, babe.” I slid my fingers between hers and tugged her along. “Let’s go have some real fun.”

She remained quiet as we walked and I stole a glance at her as tears glittered in her eyes. The way the two of them had reacted had been a bit surprising. Orion giving me a death threat over her made me think he had at least some kind of feelings for her, but Darcy? She couldn’t like him like that. He was just some asshole teacher with failed dreams. I mean sure, he was ripped as fuck, magically powerful and I’d had plenty of my own wet dreams about him, but whatever.

“Smile babe,” I instructed. “If your friends don’t believe you – and that includes your mouthy sister –my tongue might start to loosen…”

She blinked up at me, setting her jaw. “I’m not going to pretend I like you as a person. Tory would never believe that anyway.”

“Agreed. You’re drunk and you hate-fucked me, cool?”

“Fine,” she huffed. “But how long is this game going to last, Seth?”

“As long as I say it does.” I shrugged and she blew out a breath of frustration.

We arrived back in the main cavern and I kept her hand firmly in my grip as people looked our way. Their eyes slid over our appearance and whispers were exchanged. I felt Darcy bristling beside me then she quickly hid it under a mask of indifference. I released her hand, pressing my palm to the small of her back instead and guiding her toward her friends across the room.

My heart sank when I realised I couldn’t tell the other Heirs the whole story about this. I had to keep their affair a secret until I’d had my fun or Darius would tell me to stop for the sake of his pal Orion. But shit, I wasn’t going to keep it completely to myself. I just wouldn’t tell them what I had on her.

The fun had barely even begun tonight. By the end of the evening, Darcy and Tory Vega would be ruined. What we had planned was going to pull the rug out from under their feet. And now that I had control over one of them, things would be even easier. The night couldn’t have gone more my way. And although Halloween was one of the most chaotic days of the year, I currently had Jupiter in my chart and that was the luckiest planet of them all.

Caleb spotted us first, his arms around Tory as they danced together. Even though he’d been pissed as all hell when he’d first seen her costume and had sworn to stay away from her all night. Good job there, Cal.

Darcy put on a casual expression and I was surprised at her acting skills. But then again, she had been fucking a teacher for who knew how long and no one else knew about it.

“Hey man,” Caleb called, his eyes running over me and Darcy as the cogs worked behind his eyes.

Tory turned and I felt Darcy tense ever so slightly beside me.

Tory glanced between us like she couldn’t work out what she was seeing. “Are you okay?” she blurted and Darcy glanced at me, her jaw tight.

“I’m fine, can we talk though?” she asked her sister, but I caught her arm before she could even think about leaving me out of this show.

Tory eyed my hand on Darcy’s arm like she was about to rip it off.

I hooked my hand around Darcy’s waist as she hesitated, pressing my mouth to her ear. “Don’t leave them in suspense, babe.”

She pushed away from me, shooting me a glare before moving to stand with Tory. “I did something stupid.” She looked to me with pursed lips. “Him.”

Tory’s mouth fell open. “What? No you didn’t,” she refused.

“I did,” Darcy sighed. “I need a drink.” She tried to walk away but Tory caught her arm, shaking her head in disbelief.

Caleb’s eyebrows shot to his hairline and he looked to me, silently communicating his question of did you actually screw Darcy Vega?

I shrugged innocently, but when I got a moment I was going to share this with him and he was gonna laugh his ass off.

Geraldine Grus appeared out of the crowd with an armful of punch and Darcy grabbed one of the cups, tossing it back and wiping the remaining fake blood from her mouth.

“Fried cannelloni, you could cut the tension here with a cake knife. What in the rave cave is going on?” Geraldine asked.

“Darcy says she screwed Seth,” Tory said in disbelief and Darcy looked like she wanted to crawl into a hole in the ground and die. I smirked, absorbing her reaction and drinking in her discomfort.

Hurt for me, babe.

Geraldine’s mouth fell slack and she passed another drink to Darcy who chugged the whole thing again.

“Did you choose to?” Tory demanded like she couldn’t believe anyone would fuck me willingly.

I growled in anger at the accusation. Fucking Vega.

“Yeah,” Darcy said, eyeing more of Geraldine’s drinks hopefully. “It’s not like I like him. It’s just sex.”

Tory frowned as if she didn’t recognise her sister and that was probably the harshest blow I could have dealt Darcy. I almost felt bad about it. Not quite though.

Max and Darius arrived, obviously sensing drama and I nodded to them in greeting.

“Well spread me on a slice of honey wheat bread,” Geraldine breathed, handing another drink to Darcy, but she didn’t touch this one. “We’ve all gone down under to play on an Heir’s dickeridoo. But you can put the instrument down, Darcy. I for one would never play it again in my life.”

“Did I just get rejected again?” Max grumbled.

“I need some air.” Darcy pushed her way through the crowd and Tory stormed after her.

Something bitter settled in my gut but I ignored it, clenching my jaw and turning to the Heirs. I’d won. This was a good thing. And I wasn’t going to let anything ruin the sweetness of my victory.

Geraldine realised she was left alone with the four of us and promptly turned away with her head held high.

“Dude, did you really screw Darcy Vega?” Caleb asked in complete disbelief.

I cast a silencing bubble around us, a smile pulling at my mouth. “No,” I revealed and they all gave me their undivided attention. “I’ve got something on her. Now she has to do what I say.”

“What did you get?” Darius demanded.

I mimed zipping my lips. “Can’t tell you that just yet, brother. But I will. All in good time.”

Caleb rolled his eyes. “Just tell us, man.”

“Be patient,” I said simply. “And enjoy the show.”

Max clapped me on the back with a look of excitement. “Right, well I’ll get it out of you later, but right now we need to get on with the plan.”

“Agreed,” Darius growled, his eyes dark. “Come on.” He moved forward and the crowd parted for us without any encouragement. Our silencing bubble moved with us as we went, keeping any nosey assholes from listening in.

“I don’t know about this, guys,” Caleb said and Darius growled deep in his throat. The tension between them made me uncomfortable. I hated having rifts in our pack.

I nuzzled against Caleb and he glanced at me with a frown as I tried to make him relax.

“We won’t let it go that far,” I encouraged.

“Pfft.” Max turned to us with a scowl. “We’ll let it go as far as it needs to.” He glanced away again and I shared a look with Caleb that said I had his back. I knew the boundaries we had to walk within here.

Darius led us into a passage leading off from the main cavern and as soon as we were in the dark, he ran his hand across the wall, searching for the concealment spell we’d put there. A soft glow emitted from his palm then the crevice in the wall appeared, revealing where we’d stashed the potions in preparation.

Darius held onto the four vials, his gaze flipping between them. There was a deep red one, a dark purple one and two clear concoctions which were the antidotes to the coloured potions.

I swiped the purple one from his hand with an antidote and pocketed them. “I can deal with that easy enough.”

“Caleb, you do it.” Darius held out the other potion to him, but Caleb shrank from it.

“No way, bro. I’m not getting involved.”

“Your ass must be getting pretty chafed up on that fence you’re sitting on,” Max growled. “You can’t have it both ways. You’re with us or you’re with them.”

“I’m not with them,” Caleb said coolly. “But I’m not fucking with Tory.”

“By the stars,” I sighed, a low whine leaving my throat. I hated all this tension. Why were things so difficult these days? “Once the Vegas are out of the running for the throne, you can still mess around with Tory. It won’t matter,” I implored. “But we’ll only get their submission if the whole world loses faith in them.”

This was what we’d decided. So long as the Vegas had support, from their friends, from each other, from Solaria, they could dream all they liked about sitting on our throne. So we needed to take the air from under their wings.

Caleb nodded firmly. He wouldn’t stop us, but he wouldn’t help us either. “I’m not sticking around for it though,” he added and he shot away from us before we could protest. So much for standing together.

“Fine, I’ll fucking do it.” Max snatched the potion from Darius’s hand. I noted that Darius hadn’t offered to do it either, but in fairness he probably wouldn’t get near Tory without her ripping his head off. He kept the other antidote when Max didn’t take it, pushing it into his pocket with a frown.

Max jerked his head at me and I walked away with him, glancing back at Darius as he scowled in the direction Caleb had taken. My heart hurt to know things were tense between them. I wanted to fix it, but I knew Caleb had no intention of cutting Tory out of his life altogether. We were all starting to accept that the Vegas were a pretty permanent fixture in our lives for the foreseeable future. But that was why it was so important to get them to submit. We needed to deal with this now before they got any stronger, any better trained.

“You’re hurting,” Max commented.

My skin prickled at his words. I never shielded my emotions from him, but at that moment I suddenly got defensive. “It’s just Caleb and Darius, I hate that they keep fighting.”

“No…it’s not that,” Max said in a low tone. “I felt it back on the dance floor. Is this about Darcy Vega?”

Her name sent ice trickling down my spine and I clenched my jaw, refusing to answer.

“If you’re pining for her-”

“I’m not,” I snarled more aggressively than I’d intended.

Max threw me a look, his eyes softening. “I get it, man,” he said in an almost whisper. “I mean, I’m not exactly keeping my own shit together right now.”

“Because of Grus?” I guessed.

I saw the way he looked at her, the way he kept talking to her, spending time in her general area. I’d never seen Max try so hard with anyone and none of us had called him out on it because we were pretty much all dealing with the same longing for forbidden fruit.

“Yeah,” he grunted. “I feel like a fucking hypocrite. But Grus isn’t a Vega…”

“Well I’ve got my Vega locked down,” I said firmly.

“Right. Your Vega. Do you hear yourself? For the love of the moon, we need to all keep our heads.”

“I know. I’m totally fine,” I said firmly.

“Don’t lie to my face,” he said sadly and my stomach knotted. “I can feel it. And I’m not judging you, but whatever it is that happened between you and Darcy tonight is clearly bothering you. So find a way to deal with it.”

“I am.” And that was the truth. I had the perfect way to deal with it. I’d torture both her and her pet teacher until they were in fucking agony. That was dealing with it.

A growl rumbled through my chest and Max brushed his hand over my arm, drawing some of my anxiety into himself. I sighed as he pulled it away, loosening the thorns wrapped around my heart so I could breathe easier.

“Thanks,” I murmured as we headed through the crowd.

I spotted Tory by the drinks table with a group of her friends and nudged Max in her direction. Darcy was nowhere in sight and I frowned as we arrived before the rest of them.

“Stay the fuck away from my sister!” Tory called, pointing at me in a way that was definitely a death threat.

I rolled my eyes. “Chill out, babe. You think you’re the only one who can fuck around with an Heir and that’s okay?”

“Caleb isn’t like the rest of you,” she hissed and Grus nodded her agreement beside her.

“Whatever. You don’t know him,” Max growled defensively. “We’ve been friends our entire lives. He will always pick us in the end.”

Tory placed her drink down on the table, marching toward me with furious strides. She pulled up short in front of me and I folded my arms, gazing down at her and waiting for her anger to pour out.

“You’re just a sad little mistake she won’t even remember,” she said venomously and Max slipped away beyond her.

For some reason, her words actually stung. It wasn’t like I’d even screwed her sister, but I suddenly saw how much this girl detested me shining out of her eyes. On some level, I’d always thought of our back and forth as a game. This was just how Fae had to behave. I didn’t hate the Vegas on any real level. It was just politics. But both of them despised me to my core. And something about that didn’t sit right with me.

Max suddenly reappeared, clapping a hand to my shoulder. “Come on, let’s go.” His intense look said he’d successfully put the potion in Tory’s drink and I strolled away with him as she returned to her friends. She swiped her drink from the side and took a sip and I pulled Max to a halt. “Watch her. If it goes too far, give her the antidote.”

“Darius has it.”

“Well go get it from him,” I insisted, my heart pounding overly hard. Are we going too far with this shit?

I shook off the feeling, nodding in goodbye to Max and hunting for Darcy. I spotted her at a table with a bottle of water, sitting opposite her weak ass friend who always wore a hat. Couldn’t recall his name. The guy’s costume consisted of a couple of weird horns protruding from that awful fucking beanie and a brown T-shirt. The fuck is he supposed to be? A horned turd?

“Fuck off,” I told him as I arrived and the guy had the gall to glare at me and not move.

“Go away Seth,” Darcy demanded, her hand tightening around the water bottle in her grip.

“I need a word,” I said firmly, a note of threat to my tone.

“I don’t want to talk,” she hissed and there was that look of hatred again.

“Well I do.” I grabbed a chair. “Let’s all have a nice little chat about our night then. I saw something interesting in one of the caves earlier…”

Darcy shot me daggers then turned to her friend. “Can you give us a minute? I’ll come find you.”

He frowned, looking uneasy but complying as he dropped out of his chair. “I’ll be right over there,” he said like that would be of any help to anyone.

I cast a silencing bubble around us and Darcy took another swig of her water. “What do you want?” she asked icily.

“I want you to drink this.” I placed the little vial down in front of her, casting an illusory spell over it so the rest of the room would see nothing but another bottle of water.

“What – no,” she gasped, pushing it back toward me, her eyes wide with fright.

She went to stand up but I caught her wrist. “It’s not a request, babe. You know the deal, do as I say or Orion will pay the price.”

“How can you be so awful?” she breathed like she really wanted to know the answer to that. The truth came to my lips, though she’d never get it.

I was raised to be ruthless, to step on heads and force other Fae down beneath me. It was the way of the Wolf and the way of Fae. With those needs combined, I was the fiercest Alpha in the entire world. One chink in my armour could mean me falling from grace. And without my throne, what did I have?

“Just drink it,” I said in a flat tone, swallowing any and all emotion I had toward doing this. I could go to a dark place in my mind when I had to. Switch off. Check out. And that was where I needed to go now.

She shook her head. “What is it?” she asked like she actually thought I might poison her.

“Do you really think I’d kill a Vega Princess? I’m not a fucking idiot.”

“Then what is it?” she snarled.

I sighed, uncorking the vial and dabbing a bit on my finger before licking it off. “See, not poison. Now drink.” The potion tingled along my tongue and I swear the feathers around my neck shifted. Fuck, this shit is strong.

Darcy lifted the vial to her lips and I wondered whether she was really so self-sacrificing for another Fae. Did she actually care about the dude that much? I mean shit, the only people I’d drink some random potion for were the other Heirs or my mother.

Darcy shut her eyes like this decision physically hurt her then took a sip, then another. I shifted in my seat then snatched it away on instinct.

“That’s enough,” I muttered, stoppering the vial and stuffing it in my pocket. She was supposed to drink it all, but whatever. That shit was strong. It would be enough.

“Watch out for those ravens,” I said, planting the thought in her head.

I slid out of my seat, giving her a lingering look as she stared after me in fear.

I ran a hand through my hair as anxiety rose its head in my chest. With a slow inhale, I forced it deep down into that locked box inside me where all my other uncomfortable emotions lived.

I moved back into the shadows at the edge of the cave, taking out my Atlas and spotting the other Heirs doing the same in preparation.

Tory was back on the dance floor, swaying to the beat, her hands in the air. My gaze flipped to Darcy and she flinched suddenly as if something had appeared in front of her. “What? No, I can’t talk to you…you’re not real.” She scrunched up her eyes and shook her head. “No go away, go away.”

A few people close by started watching her and I smirked.

“Shoo, birdy.” Darcy wafted thin air with her hands, knocking her water bottle over. “All these birds just need to go somewhere they can fly free, its not safe in a place like this.” She shook her head again, lost to the potion.

A second later, she screamed in alarm, jumping out of her seat. She held her hands above her head, ducking down and casting flames in her palms.

I started recording as she stumbled back into a group of people and pointed above her. “The ravens! They’re everywhere! What can I do?” she cried in alarm. The potion would give her hallucinations for at least half an hour and we’d have plenty of footage by then.

She clamped her hands to her ears, garbling about the birds and people started laughing, taking out their own Atlases to record her. For some reason, I didn’t laugh along. In fact, I didn’t feel much at all.

I glanced over at Tory, finding her grinding against Milton Hubert before reaching for his friend too and guiding his hands around her with a moan. The two guys moved closer to her in excitement as she rubbed herself against them. The potion would make skin to skin contact feel fucking orgasmic and she was probably too drunk already to question it. My throat thickened. She was meant to act like a slut, not actually fuck anyone. If things went too far, someone was gonna have to swoop in with the antidote.

She placed their hands on her own shoulders and threw her head back as she delighted in the touch of the men around here. When Geraldine got close, she grabbed her hands too, whipping her dress off to give her access to more skin. Oh fuck no.

“Your highness!” Geraldine gasped and Max intervened, practically steamrolling her away before she could assist Tory. My heart pounded harder as I felt this getting out of control. The hat guy Darcy had been sitting with went over to help, but Tory just wrapped her arms around him too. He looked kind of terrified, but she wouldn’t let him go.

Darcy fell to the ground in my periphery, air magic swooping out around her and knocking people off their feet. “What do I do about the birds?! Help me!” she begged.

People screamed as they ran away from the magic pouring from her and I hurried toward her, scooping her from the ground, feeling eyes on us as I clutched her to my chest. A bunch of students were recording us from every angle as Darcy looked up at me, her eyes wild and her pupils dilated. “The ravens. Do you see them? They’re right behind you.” She was breathing wildly and I held her tighter with one arm.

The crowd started applauding me for helping her as I pushed through them, glancing over my shoulder and searching for my friends. Darius was closing in on Tory so I knew he’d deal with her.

I carried Darcy out of the main cavern then started jogging along toward the exit. She continued to garble about ravens all the way back to Aer Tower.

I soon brought her to her room, fumbling her keys out of her purse and nudging the door open when I had it unlocked.

I laid her down on her bed, taking out the antidote and holding it to her lips. “Drink.”

“They’re still here,” she muttered through the haze of her mind. “The shadows are all around me.” She blinked and for a moment I swore darkness swirled in her gaze. This potion was some crazy shit.

I tipped the vial into her mouth and she spluttered but managed to swallow it down. She clung to my hand, flinching every time a vision flared up. “They’re going to hurt me,” she gasped.

“They’re not. It’s not real,” I said firmly as her fingernails bit into my skin.

“Make them stop,” she begged, rearing up and resting her head against my chest. I stiffened before slowly closing my arms around her. She wouldn’t remember this anyway. Between the potion and the alcohol she’d consumed tonight, I might as well have been a ghost sitting here with her.

“Please,” she whispered, her hands curling around me. “Make the Heirs stop.”

My heart jolted as I held her, her words washing over me and making me feel like the biggest asshole in the history of the world. I tried to force that feeling down too, but it wouldn’t go anywhere.

“They will,” I said gently. “Just bow, Darcy.”

“I can’t…bow,” she said, the call of sleep making her voice soft. I laid her down on the pillow and a couple more words slipped from her lips. “I won’t.”

Her eyes fluttered closed and I realised I was still holding her hand.

I stared at her for far too long. The Vegas, to the very core of their beings, had iron wills. It was why we were trying this different tactic. But the frightening thing was, I saw my own will mirrored in hers at that moment. Even on the verge of oblivion, she fought. She refused to give in. That wasn’t going to change. Just like the other Heirs and I were never going to give in.

I pulled my hand from hers and drew a blanket over her before slipping out of the door and shutting it firmly. I lingered there for ten whole seconds, at war with my emotions. I finally managed to bury them deep in the pit of my soul and walked away, plastering a smile on my face as I headed back to the party.

I’m Seth Capella. I’m not weak. I don’t break for anyone. And I certainly won’t break for a Vega.