Zodiac Academy 6: Fated Throne

When Max returned the next morning at dawn, he made me and Gabriel leave so that he could wake Tory. I hadn’t spoken to her, just curled up in bed between her and Gabriel while she slept. Me and my brother had stayed up talking half the night in a silencing bubble about Tory, the Imperial Star, Lionel’s awful Orderist shit and just…everything.

I was out in the woods close to King’s Hollow, pacing and practising my earth magic, making a whole tree regrow its leaves like it was in the height of summer before they all turned crisp and brown and came fluttering down around me in the air again. Gabriel had gone flying to ease his own anxiety and every now and then a shadow would cross overhead and I knew he was close.

When Max finally texted an hour later to say we could come back, I ran through the trees as fast as I could, desperate to see my sister. It had been agony waiting. And I’d longed for her to come back to me for so long. I didn’t want to waste one more single second away from her.

I made it to the treehouse and Gabriel landed in front of me. I crashed into him and he wrapped me in his arms, holding me tight. Max stepped out of the door and we parted as he gave us a tight smile, his eyes ringed with darkness.

“How is she?” I begged.

“She’s okay,” he said, but his voice was laced with an undertone of worry. “At least, I think she will be in time.”

Tears burned my eyes and I wrapped my arms around his neck, feeling his Siren power reaching out to soothe me. I let my defences down so he could and brushed my fingers over the back of his neck as I released some healing energy into his body to fight the exhaustion he must have been feeling.

“Thank you,” I breathed as he held onto me for a moment before stepping back. I could never repay him for this. One look in his eyes told me what this had cost him, and there were no words which could ever encompass my gratitude for that.

He gestured for us to go inside and I ran into the tree trunk with Gabriel hot on my heels. We raced up the spiralling stairway and I pushed through the door into the lounge. I sprinted to Max’s room and forced myself to stop before I just burst through it. I couldn’t possibly understand what she was going through right now, and as much as I wanted to believe she would need me close, maybe I was wrong. Maybe she wanted space. And though the idea of that broke me, I knew I had to offer anything and everything she needed.

I knocked gently and Gabriel remained quiet, though he could probably see exactly how this was going to play out.

“Tor?” I called, my voice quavering. Please be okay.

“Darcy?” she called back, hope filling her voice and tears rushed down my cheeks.

“I’m here with Gabriel.” I pressed my forehead to the door, letting the tears run, not bothering to even try and hold them back. “Can we come in?”

“Yes,” she croaked and I twisted the door handle, pushing the door open to reveal the darkened room with a lamp switched on by the bed. She was curled up in a ball at the heart of the covers and she pushed herself up to look at us, her face blotchy from crying. I rarely ever saw my sister like that; it made me want to find Lionel Acrux this very second and make him bleed for what he’d dared do to her.

Gabriel’s shoulder brushed mine as we waited for her to speak, but she didn’t, she just opened her arms to us with a choked sob and I ran to her, jumping onto the bed and falling on top of her as I crushed her in my arms.

“I’m so sorry,” she sobbed and I held her tighter as I fell into the space beside her, kissing her forehead and keeping her close.

“Don’t be sorry for anything,” I growled. “It wasn’t you. It was Lionel.”

She shuddered at his name and I clutched her tighter as Gabriel joined us in the bed, his strong arms wrapping around us until all of our souls seemed to connect. We just held each other and I felt the love of my family binding us all so tightly together that nothing could ever break us. Not Lionel, not the stars. They might have tried to shatter our wills and crush us beneath them, but they’d never succeed. We’d always end up back together. Where we were meant to be.

“Are you okay?” I breathed and she nodded.

“Yeah, not perfect, but I’m okay,” she said. “And that’s better than I’ve been in a long time.”

After a while, a quiet kind of peace fell over us all and the wound in my heart started to heal. This would always leave a scar. But now I had Tory back, I was going to make sure nothing ever happened to her again. And that she got what she deserved. A fucking happily ever after.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I whispered to Tory as our heads lay on one pillow, facing each other while Gabriel wrapped his arms around her from behind.

She shook her head, her eyes wet, but no more tears were falling. And knowing Tor, she wouldn’t let any more fall for Lionel Acrux after this.

“Not yet,” she breathed and I nodded.

“If there’s anything you need, tell me,” I said and a smile hooked up the corner of her mouth.

Gabriel propped his head up on a pillow behind her and grinned mischievously like he knew exactly what Tory was going to ask for.

“I want to go flying,” she said. “I want to fly with you and Gabriel somewhere far away from here.”

“Tonight,” Gabriel promised. “We can sneak off campus after classes and go together.”

I clutched Tory’s hand as my heart ached. “Anything else?”

“Coffee,” she half sniffed, half laughed and I grinned. “And some of Geraldine’s buttery bagels.”

“I’ll get her to bring some,” I said, returning her smile but Tory caught my hand before I got out of bed.

“And I want things to go back to normal. Don’t act like I’m made of glass. Promise?” she asked, the fire in her eyes saying she needed that more than anything else.

I nodded firmly, my heart squeezing with love for her. “I promise.”

I took out my Atlas, shooting Geraldine a message and she replied in half a second flat.

Geraldine:

My lady will have the butteriest of bagels brought to her door this very instant!

Gabriel sat up and Tory moved to sit beside him, resting her head on his shoulder.

“Darius is bringing coffee,” Gabriel said and Tory sucked in a breath, but he went on before she could say anything. “Max has told him to stay outside. He won’t see you until you’re ready.”

She nodded, her eyes swimming with some dark emotion, but there was love there too. The black rings in her eyes were always evidence of that these days. The way they were bound was imperfect and cruel, but it was still a mark of how absolutely meant for each other they were. And I swore on all I was, I’d help them find a way to fix it.

“Tell me the future is good, Gabriel,” Tory whispered and I looked to him, needing to know that too.

Gabriel frowned thoughtfully, taking her hand and squeezing it. “The future can be good.”

It wasn’t a promise, but it was hope. And for now that was enough.

It wasn’t long before Geraldine arrived and I hurried downstairs to fetch the bagels from her. She’d brought an entire basket, fit to bursting with bagels, butter and a whole range of jellies, toast, pastries and juice.

She burst into tears as she saw me, placing the basket at my feet and dropping to her knees in the mud. “Tell me she’s well! Oh Darcy, I must hear that her spritely heart is beating and that her tongue is sharp and her wit is keen. Oh my lady, please tell me Tory is whole and sound and that the stars have gifted her with a thousand hopes and joys. Has she awoken with a sparkle in her eye and a spring in her step?” She clutched onto my legs, tipping her head back and baying like a hound.

I dropped down before her, hugging her tight as I felt her pain begin to split me apart again. “She’s going to be okay. It’ll take time, but she’s back, Geraldine. And she’s not going anywhere ever again. I’ll make sure of that.”

She sobbed against my shoulder for a few long minutes before finally pulling herself together and getting to her feet. “Well, we must have a stiff upper lip, hmm? Mustn’t let her see us blabbering like bandicoots with our faces as wet as fishes.”

I nodded, smiling at her as I picked up the basket of food. “Thanks for this.”

“You are most welcome, and if you need anything more, summon me. As your most faithful friend, I shall always, always come.” She turned and headed off into the trees and my gaze caught on Darius standing there with his shoulder pressed to a trunk, his eyes fixed on the window of Max’s room above us.

He had a thermos in his grip and as he looked to me, he frowned. “This is for her.” He held it out then pulled a packet of Tory’s favourite chocolate wafers from his pocket.

I moved forward to take them and he caught the back of my neck, pulling me into a tight hug. I swear I’d never been hugged so much in my life as I had this morning, but I knew we all needed it. My gaze caught on Caleb and Seth standing further off in the trees, watching us with anxious expressions.

“Don’t ever let her go again, Darius Acrux,” I growled in his ear. “Don’t you hurt her or let her down or make her cry. I don’t know how we’ll fix everything, but we will. And when we do and you two can love each other like you’re meant to, I won’t take any shit from you.”

He chuckled in a low tone as he released me and tapped me on the nose. “It’s a deal, Gwen,” he said and I punched his arm playfully before turning away with a smirk.

I headed back inside and found Tory and Gabriel waiting in the lounge. I passed Tory her coffee and she eyed it for a long time when I told her who had brought it, but she didn’t say anything about him.

I set about laying the basket of food on the coffee table and we all sat around it on the floor, eating the incredible freshly baked food until we were stuffed.

Once Tory had been caught up on everything that had been going on without her around, we just talked and talked about some of the good in the world. Gabriel told us about how his baby boy was growing out of his clothes nearly every month and how his wife could feed him, clean the house and do a workout in some stupid amount of time because of the gifts of her Order.

For a while, the rest of the world just faded away and for the first time in a long time, I felt truly happy.

***

I stood up to my waist in the warm water of the lagoon in Water Elemental class in my last lesson of the day. Tory was feigning being ill with Fae flu so she could recover a bit more today and prepare to return to lessons tomorrow and Gabriel had insisted I go to classes for the day so we didn’t draw any attention to Tory.

The joy of getting her back was tainted by the fact she would now have to continue going to Lionel whenever he summoned her, pretending that she was still a slave to the shadows. I’d tried to fight it, coming up with any other option that I could think of, but in the end Gabriel had insisted it was the only option. And I really couldn’t argue with him considering he had The Sight.

“That’s it, Miss Vega,” Washer called, wading toward me. He parted the water around him with his magic so he was walking on dry land, giving me a full view of the bulge in his tight speedo before letting the water lap in all around him again. Was that really necessary??

“Let’s see it one more time,” he encouraged and I turned my attention to the water, placing my hand into it and causing a whirlpool to form around it, swirling faster and faster until it started to drag students in closer and they had to fight to get out of the current.

“Wonderful!” Washer cheered, slapping me on the back one inch away from my ass. “Now pair up with Miss Grus and let’s see you create a whirly wet hole together.”

“Er, sir?” Damian Evergile called over to him with pursed lips. He’d pinned his K.U.N.T. badge to his swimming trunks like a douche. “You shouldn’t be pairing people out of their Orders.”

Washer shot him a glare. “Well Miss Vega here has no other students of her Order in the class at this moment, so what do you expect me to do?” he snapped, and I swear I’d never seen him get so angry.

Max suddenly came surfing across the water on a wave, kicking Damian in the head and Geraldine started cheering, jumping up and down as her breasts bounced in her tight swimming costume.

“Hey Gerry, watch this!” Max called, circling around the guy until he came to a halt standing right on top of his head, casually leaning on a pillar of water he cast beside him.

“Wonderful work, Mr Rigel. Take twenty points for House Aqua,” Washer said as Damian started flailing, his arms flying out of the water as he struggled to get Max off of him.

Darius walked across the water on the surface, just as Max hopped off of Damian’s head and dived under. He resurfaced with the boy locked in a choke hold and Darius smirked darkly.

“We’ll give him some private tuition over here, sir,” Darius called to Washer who smirked back.

“Ah yes, Mr Acrux, that sounds like a great idea. Make sure you keep yourselves nice and lubricated while you’re working, it makes wrangling the water Element so much easier.” He bent down, scooping up a handful of water and rubbing it over his tanned, waxed chest, spending extra time massaging it into his nipples. Ergh.

I walked over to work with Geraldine with a shudder and we started working to make a whirlpool together as the sound of Damian screaming came from behind the waterfall. I laughed darkly and Geraldine laughed like a sea witch too. Max and Darius hadn’t even bothered to cast a silencing bubble, but I guessed being the son of Lionel Acrux meant no one was going to question you on shit now. The other K.U.N.T.s in the class were silent and I doubted they wanted to meet the same fate.

“That’s it my dears,” Washer called to us encouragingly. “Put your hips into it like this.” He grabbed the hips of some unsuspecting freshman, pressing his crotch to his ass and swirling his hips in a circular motion, guiding them with his own. Ohmagod.

“Yep, we got it,” I said.  “Demonstration not needed.”

Washer continued to swirl the freshman’s hips a few more times before stepping back and scruffing the boy’s hair, sending him on his way. The kid headed off, looking pale faced and violated, which was basically how most people looked after an incident with Washer. He was so gross.

Angelica came over to work near us, glancing our way with a tight smile. “I heard he broke up with Nova,” she whispered as she cast a whirlpool of her own.

“How come?” I asked in surprise.

“He’s totally anti-Acrux,” she breathed. “And Nova’s like an Acrux uber fan, so I guess it didn’t work out.”

I glanced over at Washer in surprise who was now standing up on a rock in the centre of the pool with his hands on his hips as he did lunges. I guessed that made me like him one percent more, shame he was such a creep though.

“Angelica here has started making a spectacular spreadsheet,” Geraldine said proudly. “She’s working out which teachers are pro Acrux and who are against him.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say it’s spectacular,” Angelica laughed, waving her off. “But it might be handy for the you know what.” She gave Geraldine a wink and I frowned.

“What?” I whispered and Geraldine cast a silencing bubble over us quickly, her eyes darting left and right.

“We are starting an uprising, Darcy. In the name of the rightful queens. The A.S.S. will unite and cast an unstoppable wind through this academy that will drive out the turds.”

I snorted a laugh, but realised she was deadly serious and that analogy hadn’t been intentional. “Well obviously I’m up for any kind of Asscrux rebellion.”

“We are stockpiling weapons, my lady. I have many an A.S.S. collecting Griffin droppings in the early morn, and I have taken a chaos crystal or two from the potions lab.” She grinned widely. “Leave it all with me, I shall build an underground army ready to follow you and Tory into the depths of hell and back again. I have also sent as many of our dear Tiberian Rat friends as I could to my father before they could be taken for inquisition.”

“Is he helping them?” I whispered hopefully and she nodded.

“He is leading them to secret burrows in the north,” she whispered though the silencing bubble would stop anyone from hearing anyway. “As well as creating a network of friends and allies to our great and noble cause who will be at your back the moment you are ready to make your play for the crown.”

My heart lifted and my spirits soared. I loved hearing that people were fighting back, that the whole kingdom wasn’t just lying down and letting Lionel screw them.

“Alright, that’ll do for today!” Washer called. “Class dismissed.”

We headed back to the changing rooms and my heart pounded harder as I hurried to wash and change, excitement rushing through me at the thought of going flying with Tory and Gabriel.

“I have to go.” I waved goodbye to Geraldine and Angelica, running out of the lagoon in my sweatpants and crop top, parting the waterfall with a wave of my hand and letting my wings spread out from my back. I took off into the sky, fire rushing along my limbs as I swept through the cold air and took a winding route toward the outer fence where I could get past the wards. I was always careful to land far enough away from it and jog the last few hundred yards on foot though, just in case I was being watched.

I found Tory and Gabriel waiting for me on the other side of the fence and I crushed Tory in another hug as she laughed. She was thinner than she had been and sadder too, but I knew the girl I loved was still here and we’d soon figure out how to make Lionel pay for everything he’d done to her. I just hoped I could help to banish that haunted look in her eyes as soon as she was ready to open up to me. Gabriel tossed stardust over us and we were transported through the stars in a tunnel of twisting light.

We arrived out at the canyon where Gabriel had first taught us to fly in the incredible jungle of Baruvia. Tory took my hand and Gabriel’s on her other side, dragging us toward the edge of the canyon with a look of determination. My stomach lifted and adrenaline rushed through my veins as we all ran flat out and dove over the edge.

We free fell fast, our screams echoing around the canyon and making a flock of birds take off from the trees far below. My wings burst free the same time Tory’s did and Gabriel fell a few more seconds before shifting himself.

I laughed as Tory flew around me in circles, the smile on her face filling me up with purest sunlight. I had missed her so damn much, and I was never going to get tired of seeing her smiling.

Gabriel rushed up between us and sped towards the azure sky far above. Tory and I shared a grin before shooting after him, taking chase. We climbed higher and higher, the feel of the sun on my skin like a balm on my soul.

Through all the darkness, I’d finally found something good to hold onto. My brother, my sister, my friends. I would never take any of them for granted. And Lionel had better enjoy his time on the throne while it lasted, because the true queens would soon be coming to take it back.