Zodiac Academy 5: Cursed Fates

I thrashed against the table as the sickly warm trickle of blood slid over my skin from countless wounds and I cursed at Lionel as colourfully as I could manage while my body trembled from the pain.

Darius was fighting with a brutal savagery that made my heart pound and ache in equal measures. He was utterly fearless, entirely focused on ending the man before him as his father fought to keep him back. He threw everything he had into attacking, barely giving any time to defending himself aside from blocking the worst of his father’s strikes.

Lionel was furious, the Dragon in him plain to see and with each blow he struck against his son, I grew more and more afraid that he’d kill him.

Darius roared with all the power of his Dragon as he threw a torrent of flames arcing across the room at Lionel who shielded with air before they could eviscerate him.

Darius ran at him again, but as the smoke cleared, Lionel stepped forward to meet him with shadows coiling around his body and a manic gleam in his eyes.

His gaze slid to me where I remained bound to the table by his magical chains and I cried out as he threw a blast of the dark magic straight for me.

Darius leapt into its path, taking the hit to the chest with no chance of shielding against it so that he was knocked back against the table.

“Darius!” I gasped, yanking on my bonds as I ached to help him and he grunted as he fought to heal himself from the damage the shadows had caused.

He twisted away from his father, throwing shards of ice his way to occupy him as he glanced down at me with pain in his eyes.

He reached for the magical chain which bound my ankle in place, but I shook my head fiercely.

“Finish him first,” I snapped, not wanting him to waste a moment of time trying to free me in case it cost him this fight.

Lionel threw more shadows our way and Darius snarled as they burrowed into him, his hands writhing with darkness for a moment before he banished the shadows in favour of flames again.

I gritted my teeth against the agony of my wounds as I fought to break apart the air magic which immobilised my hands. The longer Lionel fought his son, the more I could feel his hold on the magic containing me slipping and the moment it cracked, I’d be ready.

Lionel threw shadows out from his body and I gasped as all of the light in the room was suddenly blotted out. A deep, pounding rhythm started up in my chest as the shadows within me rose up to the surface of my skin unbidden, aching to join with his and wreak havoc on the world.

I moaned, on the edge of ecstasy as they called to me, promising me freedom from the pain of my flesh and offering me all the power I could ever want and more.

But I didn’t want power. I never had. Not like that. What I craved was love. Family. The kinds of things you couldn’t just take and had to earn.

With a cry of effort, I drew on all of the strength in me and used it to force the shadows back. The dark energy in me had latched on to the shadows Lionel was commanding and as I banished mine, I stole his from him too, locking them down again and revealing the room once more.

Darius didn’t miss a beat, charging forward with a bellow of rage and his fists coated in gloves of ice as he tackled Lionel to the ground and started pounding on him with a terrifying ferocity as he roared in his face.

My heart thrashed frantically as I watched this wild creature who’d offered me his love after all the shit we’d put each other through taking down the man who’d ruined him.

Darius beat him with a brutality that wouldn’t be sated by anything less than death. Blood coated his hands, his arms, and even speckled his face, but he wouldn’t relent as Lionel struggled beneath him. His features were set in a determined mask of rage and everything about him spoke of violence and danger which sent a shiver running right through me.

There was no doubt in my mind that the rage which had driven him to this was fuelled by his feelings for me. And knowing that he would risk it all for me made the pain in my body fade away as I watched him.

Darius was savage, brutal, vicious, broken and mine. And in that moment, I had no desire for the darkness in him to ever let up. I wanted him. Every damaged, depraved, dirty piece of his soul was made to fit with all the twisted, ruined parts of my own. And if the stars didn’t like it then I’d happily climb up into the sky and tear them all down for him.

Right after I watched him kill his father.