Zodiac Academy 5: Cursed Fates

This isn’t it.

I won’t let him go.

I’ll follow him beyond the veil.

I’ll climb into the stars and drag his soul back out of them if I have to.

This. Is. Not. It.

The twisting maelstrom of snow swirled around me and a shadow caught my gaze amongst it. I let my Phoenix fire fall still, dropping my head to search the thick fog of white before me. A figure had moved in the mist, I was almost sure. Or maybe I was just so desperate for it to be true.

“Hello?!” I cried, running forward, stumbling over rocks and snow as I sped blindly into the blizzard.

The sound of footsteps crunched toward me and my pulse thumped wildly out of rhythm.

“Help!” I screamed.

I rammed into someone and stumbled back, their hand latching around my wrist before I lost my footing.

My heart splintered as my eyes fell on him. Because surely the stars were trying to destroy me tonight. Of all the Fae to answer my call, why did it have to be him? His long, dark hair was flecked with snow, his brow taut with worry as he took in my bloodstained clothes.

“Seth,” I rasped, then tugged on his hand because what choice did I have? “I need your help,” I growled determinedly.

He nodded in alarm and followed without question as I dragged him as fast as I humanely could towards the cave. I tore inside, barely able to draw breath as I saw Orion on the ground, looking so pale, so absent. Blood pooled around him, the puddle so wide we had to run through it to reach him.

“Orion,” Seth breathed then yanked his hand free of mine. “What the fuck happened?”

My lungs compressed as I turned to him, searching his face for any sign of compassion. But it was too dark to see his expression clearly and in the depths of my soul, I knew it was possible that he wouldn’t care. But that wasn’t going to stop me.

“Don’t ask questions – help him!” I demanded.

I shoved him toward Orion with all the strength I had as more tears blurred my vision.

Seth dropped to his knees and ripped Orion’s shirt open, resting his hands on his chest and casting healing magic. “Shit. Darcy…I think he’s dead.”

“He’s not fucking dead until I say he is!” I shouted so loud that my voice rang around the cave and echoed back to us. I fell down beside Seth, giving him a pleading look. “You’re at least going to try, aren’t you?” My voice cracked because I didn’t know. Seth had hurt me so deeply, hated me so fiercely. He’d never cared for Orion, but was he really heartless enough not to help?

“Aren’t you?!” I snapped, shaking him.

“I’ll give him everything I have,” Seth promised as the green healing light spread further from his hands. A ragged breath left me and another sob ripped free of my chest.

I clutched onto Seth’s arm, too terrified to touch Orion and feel how cold he might be, how still. My tears rolled onto Seth’s jacket as sheer panic reached into my heart. He wasn’t moving. Wasn’t responding at all.

“Please,” I begged, turning my head toward the cave roof and imploring the stars to listen. “Don’t take him from me. I’ll give you anything you want. Anything.”

I felt Seth’s eyes on me, but when I looked down he was focusing on Orion again.

Seth clenched his jaw, magic pouring from him as his brow creased with concentration. “Come on you asshole, wake up and tell me you hate me.”

I unknotted my sweater from Orion’s waist with shaking fingers, terrified to look at the stab wound, but I had to see. I had to know.

Blood oozed from the wound and I clamped my hands over it with a wail of grief. “Why isn’t it working?”

I fell forward, my ear resting against Orion’s chest as I desperately listened for his heartbeat. “Please don’t leave me.”

I couldn’t hear anything over the sound of my own thrashing pulse and I quickly pulled away, dragging Seth’s hands back onto him.

“Keep trying,” I commanded and he rested his hand directly onto the wound, letting Orion’s blood coat his skin as magic flowed from him in waves. The green light pulsed in time with my heavy breaths as Seth poured more and more of his magic into healing him. The wound started to close, but it was so slow, the skin knitting back together at the edges, but not nearly enough.

“Power share with me,” Seth said through his teeth, his muscles bunching with exertion.

I turned away, hurriedly letting a line of Phoenix fire roll from my hand and burn in a twisting coil behind me, warming my back and slowly trickling some more magic into my veins. Then I laid two bloody hands over Seth’s, shutting my eyes in concentration. I didn’t have much to give yet, but any drop I had was his. There was just one problem: I had to let down my barriers to power share with my mortal enemy.

“Do it,” Seth growled and I squeezed my eyes tighter, trying to force the barrier down even though it felt like a wall of iron at the edges of my skin.

“I can’t,” I gasped.

“You can,” Seth growled. “Do it for him.”

I pictured Orion, focusing solely on him and how easily I could let his magic flow into my veins. We’d done it instinctively plenty of times. It was as simple as breathing.

My barriers fell and we both inhaled sharply as my magic clashed with Seth’s, winding around it and twisting into something truly powerful. The green light grew brighter as I gave Seth every scrap of power in my veins. His magic felt lighter than I’d expected, not cold and dark and cruel. It was like a warm embrace, soothing, calming, like the man it belonged to really wanted to get me through this ordeal.

The wound healed so slowly it was painful to watch, and Orion never stirred. I could hardly bear to look at his face, the blood around his mouth, the stillness of his features.

I won’t let you go. I promised I’d do anything in my power to keep us together and I’ll do it, goddammit. I will do it.

Seth’s magic began to slow and he cursed under his breath, tugging more forcefully on my power, but I was starting to hollow out. I wasn’t replenishing fast enough and I had little left to give. I could feel Seth’s magic waning too and the panic that invoked in me was insufferable.

“No,” I begged of him, of the world. “We can do this.”

“Darcy…”

“Don’t,” I snarled, refusing to meet Seth’s eye. “Keep going.”

He nodded, but the green light was fading and the wound wasn’t nearly healed enough.

I refused to accept the reality that was closing in on me on all sides. The world was becoming so small, I didn’t know how I’d ever fit in it without him. I’d be crushed by the loss of him.

“I’m almost out,” Seth said heavily, like he really cared. And fuck, I needed him to care. I needed him to scrape out the magic from every crevice of his body and pour it into Orion in the hopes that it would be enough to save him. The fire behind me wasn’t restoring my magic fast enough; I was channelling it into Seth as quickly as I was gaining it. And if Seth ran out, I knew we’d fail. I’d fail. I’d break our promise. I could feel it burning within me, but it was shrinking like a flame about to go out.

My hope stuttered and panic reached into me, demanding I accept the truth. That he was really gone. That my world was going to be absent of him for the rest of my life. And that thought was enough to tear my heart in two, never to be repaired.

We hadn’t had enough time. And he was too young to die here, broken and cold in some cave. Fate was bloodthirsty and callous, taking him like this when all he’d wanted was to save his sister. It broke me in a way I didn’t think I’d ever heal from.

Seth pulled one hand back, wrapping it around my shoulders. I tried to shake him off, but he wouldn’t let go. His grip tightened and he nuzzled into my hair.

The ground shuddered beneath me and my tear-soaked lips parted as I looked to the cave entrance. A huge shape moved out in the snowstorm, disappearing a second later.

“Darius,” Seth gasped.

Hope tore through me like a blazing ray of light. “Darius!” I screamed, the desperation in my voice clear.

He came charging in, pulling up a pair of sweatpants. His gaze swept over us, taking in our hands on Orion’s stomach then moving to his best friend’s face with a look of utter horror.

“Help us!” I begged and he knelt down on my other side, laying his hands over mine.

“Drop your barriers,” he commanded both of us and for some reason, it was easier with him. The strength of the two Heirs tugged on my magic and I forced my mind onto the Phoenix fire at my back, drawing on its power and feeding, feeding, feeding it to them.

The green healing light flared once more as Darius’s power joined what remained of ours. The rush of his magic was burning hot, flaring through my veins like pure starlight. The healing energy grew stronger and stronger and my chest physically hurt as every ounce of magic was dragged from my veins, forced to do the Heirs’ bidding.

I couldn’t see the wound beneath the green light and had to squint against it as I lost sight of Orion behind it.

“Fuck,” Darius grunted, slumping forward as he gave everything he had.

“Don’t give up,” I pleaded.

“Not for the world,” he swore.

A groan sounded and my whole chest nearly burst with relief. “He’s alive,” I gasped, the light dimming so I could see him beyond it.

“Holy shit, it worked,” Seth rasped and the three of us removed our hands at once.

I inhaled sharply. The wound was gone, nothing but a red scar lining his skin amongst the blood

My gaze flicked to Orion’s face and his eyes snapped open a second before he lunged at Seth. He knocked him over backwards with a snarl, ripping into his throat with his fangs.

“Lance!” I screamed, leaping forward as relief and terror tangled inside me.

Seth was shouting in rage as Orion savagely drank from him, blood spilling over his clothes as he tore his throat open.

“I haven’t got any magic left – stop him!” Seth yelled, shoving his shoulders.

Orion pinned him down, gripping his hair and violently wrenching Seth’s head sideways to gain more access.

“Fuck!” Darius grabbed Orion by the shoulders, but he was like an animal, ripping into Seth’s flesh until he started gargling on his own blood.

“Stop!” I begged, fear clawing at my heart as I realised he was going to kill him. I grabbed hold of Orion too, tugging back with all my might. With a roar of effort, Darius tore Orion off of him and bared his own throat.

“Bite me,” Darius demanded. “Take what you need.”

Orion sank his fangs into Darius with a desperate hunger, clinging to his arms and nearly knocking him off of his feet. Darius clutched onto him, pressing his face into his hair as he held him. “I can’t believe I almost lost you after…” he trailed off, pulling him even closer and the sight sent warmth into my frozen limbs.

I stood trembling, balling my hands up to stop myself from interfering. He needed to feed. He was drained beyond belief and disturbing him now was clearly dangerous. But hell, I wanted to go to him. I needed to wrap my arms around him and feel the heavenly pounding of his heart.

Seth swore between his teeth as he clutched his neck, blood rushing down to stain his shirt.

“Darius,” I warned and his gaze fell to Seth who looked on the verge of passing out.

“Alright Lance,” he said gently, clutching him with a heavy sigh. “That’s enough.”

Orion pulled back a step, his gaze whipping to me. He was a beast coated in blood, his gaze consumed by shadows. Then the darkness receded and his eyes were full of love and apologies and fear. His eyes suddenly fell closed and he stumbled backwards unconscious. Darius caught him before he crashed to the ground, lowering him to lay down with a look of concern.

I gasped, rushing forward and kneeling by his side.

“It’s blood loss,” Darius explained in a hollow tone. “He’ll need time to recover.”

“Yeah, I’m starting to understand how that feels,” Seth wheezed as Darius dropped to his side and pressed a hand to his neck to heal him. “Thank fuck you didn’t run out of magic during that or he’d have killed me.”

I pressed my hand to Orion’s cheek, feeling the warmth of him and sagging forward as my heart started to settle. He was going to be okay. We had time stretching out before us, years and years and years. And I was going to cherish every damn one of them. I wasn’t going to let a second go by without coveting each moment we had together.

My relief washed through me, but a darker emotion was chasing it away as my thoughts started to click together. Rage bit at my heart and I rounded on Darius with a snarl, standing up to face him. My Phoenix fire flickered behind him, casting his face in shadow.

“Where were you?!” I snarled, shoving him in the chest as he pulled Seth to his feet. “We needed you. He needed you.”

“I…” Darius shook his head. “Something happened.”

“Not good enough,” I hissed, throwing my palms into his chest again and he made no move to fight me off. “You knew how much this meant to him!” I threw a punch at his jaw, then clawed at him in my fury. How could he have abandoned him tonight of all nights? If he’d been here, we would have had enough magic left to face Clara. None of this would have happened.

“I know,” Darius said weakly and something in his posture looked so defeated that I sensed something awful really had happened to keep him from coming. “How did this happen?”

I glanced at Seth, swallowing thickly as I realised I couldn’t talk about this in front of him.

Seth folded his arms, his body bloody and his eyes shadowed. “If you think I’m gonna walk out of here without an explanation, you’re really fucking deluded.” He looked to Darius. “Are you keeping secrets from me with a teacher and a fucking Vega?”

I could have sworn Darius flinched at the word Vega. “You know I practise dark magic with Lance,” he said, his voice kind of empty as he looked to me. “Go ahead. You can speak in front of him, I trust him.” He walked past me, dropping down beside Orion and lifting him into his arms.

“Well I happen not to trust him,” I said bitterly, moving after Darius to brush my hand over Orion’s forehead and check he was still okay.

“Clara came back,” I told Darius as evenly as I could without falling into a pit of anger. Of hate. I’d helped bring her back, I’d had a hand in almost losing Orion. But if Darius had been here…if Tory had. Where was she? “Clara did this to Orion. She seemed lost to the shadows.”

“Hang on, Clara Orion, as in his sister?” Seth balked, moving to my side as we walked out of the cave. Darius clutched Orion to his chest, staring at him like he had a thousand words to say to his friend.

“It’s a long story,” I said wearily.

“Yeah and I’m waiting to hear it,” Seth said sharply.

“Not now.” I looked to him and he frowned, reaching out as if to touch me then thinking better of it.

“Alright,” he grunted. “Are you…okay?”

“I’ll be okay when he’s okay,” I said, turning to look at Orion again. Snowflakes collected in his hair and those that landed on his cheeks melted with the heat of his flesh. The sight soothed every screaming nerve ending inside me.

Darius glanced over at me with a frown, something twisting in his gaze. I realised my mistake, pressing my lips together as he surveyed me in the dark. I could barely see any more of him than his shadowed silhouette, but I could feel his scrutiny. I couldn’t hide my feelings for Orion, not right now, not when I was still rattled to my core. So I remained quiet, and I was thankful when Darius did too.

“Seth,” Darius growled, stopping as the snow fluttered down over us. “You need to go. We’ll talk about this later.”

“You’re sure you don’t need any help?” Seth asked, looking to me then Orion like he gave a damn. And I guessed he must have or he wouldn’t have still been standing there. I was too exhausted to know what to do with that thought. Seth Capella had saved his life. He’d done all he could, come to my aid when I needed help. And that was confronting in so many ways, I couldn’t handle it right now.

“No. I’ll take him home,” Darius said firmly.

Seth nodded, frowning before heading away down the beach, the storm swallowing him in seconds.

“Where’s Tory?” I asked, wondering if his absence had anything to do with hers too.

“Dunno,” he grunted, placing Orion down on the ground and shedding his sweatpants. “Are you coming with us or going back to your House?”

“I’m coming,” I said without a second’s hesitation.

“I can take it from-”

“I said, I’m coming,” I snarled and Phoenix fire flashed at the edges of my eyes.

He nodded mutely, turning away from me and leaping forward, his enormous Dragon form tearing out of his body and landing in front of me.

He gently scooped Orion into one of his taloned feet, his reptilian eyes fixing on me. I could have sworn they were less gold than usual, ringed with darkness.

I shed my coat and pulled my shirt off, revealing my halter-neck sports bra beneath it. I let my Phoenix wings free and a fiery blaze spread out either side of me as they extended. I picked up Darius’s sweatpants to take with me, figuring he’d probably appreciate them at the other end of this flight. My stomach soared as I launched myself into the sky, following the golden dragon tail which was twisting away from me into the battering snow storm.

I urged fire into my veins to chase away the freezing air and raced beneath Darius, soaring through the thick clouds. I pressed my hands to Orion, letting the fire in my blood seep into him too. Nothing felt as good as the heat of his skin against mine. He’d come so close to death, my mind was still in shock knowing he was still here with me now.

We sailed through the maelstrom, racing across campus and it wasn’t long before we landed in the woods close to Asteroid Place.

Darius placed Orion on the ground a moment before he shifted and I withdrew my wings, plunging us into darkness. I tossed Darius his sweatpants and when he had them on, he lifted Orion into his arms again and moved toward the gate. I kept close to him, wondering what the hell would happen if a professor found us here like this, covered in blood with an unconscious teacher, sneaking into their private residence.

I took Orion’s hand as we reached the gate, pressing his palm to it to unlock it with his magical signature. We crept forward past the pool, heading down the alley between Orion and Washer’s chalets. I touched his hand to the door again and Darius arranged him over one shoulder so he could hold his own hand against it too.

“He’s got a bunch of magical locks on this door,” he muttered in explanation, his brows pulling together in concentration.

A moment later, the door swung inwards and we hurried inside.

I shut it behind us and breathed a sigh of relief as warmth swept over me, following Darius through to Orion’s bedroom where he laid him on the bed.

I immediately crawled onto it, moving to his side and taking his hand. Darius stood watching us, just a shadow in the dark, but I couldn’t conceal my feelings for Orion. They were too raw, my heart too exposed.

“You care about him,” he stated, his voice horribly empty.

“Yes,” I said powerfully, defiantly. Because he was Orion’s friend and I didn’t care if he knew right now. He had to accept it one day anyway, because I was never going to stop loving him.

“And he cares about you?” His voice still had that strangely hollow quality to it I didn’t understand.

I wasn’t going to answer for Orion, so I just stayed quiet. But maybe that was answer enough. “Where were you tonight, Darius?” I asked, my tone sharp. “What was more important than helping your friend?”

“I have to go replenish my magic so I can heal him some more,” he said, completely ignoring my question. “I’ll be back in a few hours.” He headed to the window, pushing it open and jumping out of it without another word.

I scowled after him in fury, unable to believe he wouldn’t even give me an explanation for abandoning Orion tonight. I moved to shut the window then hurried to the bathroom, fetching towels before getting a jug of hot water from the kitchen.

I couldn’t stand to see Orion looking half dead, covered in blood. So I sat beside him, washing it away as best I could, trying to erase the pain that had nearly split me in two. But I had a feeling that some part of this night would always be with me, scarred on the inside of my chest. I’d almost lost him to the shadows, to his sister. And now Seth was entangled in this too. He wouldn’t let it lie, he’d want an explanation.

I set a fire burning behind me, twisting and dancing in the air as it worked to restore my magic. I’d never felt so powerless as I had when Clara had hurt him. And it terrified me that her shadows could suppress my Order like that, taking charge of the shadows in me and keeping my Phoenix subdued.

I tried to chase away the awful fears as I tugged the remains of Orion’s shirt off and washed away the stains on his arms, his stomach, his mouth. His breathing was soft but his brow was pinched like he was entangled in a nightmare. So when I was done, I curled up beside him, resting my head on his chest and humming a nameless tune, just something to let him know that I was here. And I wasn’t going anywhere, even if every star in the sky decided to fall down and burn the world tonight.