Zodiac Academy 6: Fated Throne

“I can feel your amusement from a mile away,” Max drawled from his seat as me and Geraldine tried to sneak up on him with an orb of water cast between us, hanging over his head.

“You can feel no such thing, Maxy boy,” Geraldine said airily. “I am feeling nothing but contempt for you, you salacious sealion.”

“Bullshit.” Max twisted around in his armchair and Geraldine and I dropped the water on his head.

He threw out a palm, casting it away from himself at the last second as he wrangled the Element and we dove to the floor as the water went crashing over our heads while we squealed. Caleb shot out of its path just as Seth burst through the door behind him into the Hollow, taking the full brunt of it and tumbling back down the stairs.

We all burst out laughing and Seth came running back into the room with a vine in his hand which he struck like a whip, breaking a hole in the floorboards. “Alright, which one of you water Elementals did it?” He narrowed his eyes at me and Geraldine on the floor, then looked to Max who had slipped casually back down into his chair like nothing had happened.

“Right, c’mere.” Seth whipped the vine and grabbed Geraldine by the ankle with it, dragging her toward him.

I caught her hand with a laugh as she wailed like a banshee and I was hauled across the floor with her.

“Let me go, my lady!” Geraldine cried. “I shall go into the eternal night for you. You must live on to produce many a babe with the most handsome of kings!”

“Well that would be me then.” Caleb shot forward, diving onto my back and clinging on as Seth heaved us all across the floor.

“Caleb,” I laughed as he tickled me to try and make me let go of Geraldine.

“Let the Wolf have her!” Caleb cried dramatically and I lost my grip on her, leaving Seth to yank Geraldine across the floor at his feet and he started binding her with more vines.

“Fungal festoons!” she wailed. “I die in the name of my queens! I will be remembered as Grus the Great. The most loyal of friends, fiercest of allies-”

“Not today, Gerry!” Max leapt over me and Caleb, running at Seth, his footsteps pounding across the floor.

He blasted Seth with a gust of air that sent him stumbling back and Seth howled as he cast vines at Max’s legs to trip him up.

“I’m your real enemy!” Max cried.

“You did it?” Seth feigned shock with a snort of amusement then Max Pitball tackled him as he leapt over Geraldine and they started wrestling on the floor.

Caleb shot to his feet, whipping me up and throwing me over his shoulder before racing over to toss me into the dog pile, diving into it himself. Seth’s teeth sank into my arm and I yelped, smacking him with a laugh.

Geraldine broke her binds, launching herself at us with a yell and grabbing a fistful of Seth’s hair, wrapping her legs around his waist from behind as she fell backwards to wrench him away from me. My leg got caught under hers and Max’s face smooshed into my stomach as Caleb kicked him in the head. We were a tangle of limbs and we all started belly laughing as none of us could get up.

The door flew open and my laugh stuttered out like a car running out of gas as I stared up at Orion in the doorway, gazing down at us all in shock. Ohmagod.

“What the fuck?” Max balked, managing to get up and pulling me after him.

I knew that Tory had given him a way out of the palace, but it still didn’t make me any less surprised to see him here. What the hell was going on?

Geraldine leapt up, lifting her chin and pointing at Orion. “Treacherous lech! Why are you here?” she demanded.

“Watch it, Grus,” Orion said in a low voice, his eyes moving over the rest of us and pausing on me.

“What’s going on?” I asked, stepping forward as worry hit me. Was it Tory? Darius?

“I need to talk to you. Alone,” he said, glancing at the others like he was hoping they’d all fuck off.

“No,” I said immediately. “Whatever it is, you can say it to all of us. We don’t keep secrets anymore.”

His jaw ticked and Max folded his arms beside me, saying he was going absolutely nowhere.

“She’s right, dude,” Caleb said. “Spit it out.”

“Or are you just here to try and convince Darcy to take you back? Because this dramatic declaration is pretty lame so far,” Seth threw in, making heat rise in my damn cheeks.

“Shut your mouth,” Orion snapped at him. “I’m here about the Imperial Star.”

“Did you find something in the diary?” I asked, my heart jack-hammering in my chest.

He nodded, his jaw grinding as he gazed at the others, then seemed to decide he had no choice but to trust them. “I know where it is. I need you and your sister’s rings. The ones your mother left for you. Darius is getting Tory’s.”

“What’s it for?” I asked in confusion.

“I think they’ll let us gain access to my father’s tomb,” Orion explained. “That’s where the Imperial Star is. But it’ll be dangerous-”

My heart jolted. “I’m coming with you,” I said firmly, no room for negotiation.

“No. Me and Darius can go,” he said. “No one else needs to put themselves at risk.”

“I’m coming whether you like it or not,” I growled and a crease formed between his eyes.

“Isn’t that what you said to me last night, babe?” Seth joked and I ignored him as Orion bared his fangs, but didn’t take his eyes off of me.

“It’s not safe,” he said firmly.

I stepped forward, lifting my chin as I gazed up at him. “I’m a Phoenix who can destroy Nymphs, who has four Elements, who’s fought the shadows and won. And I will not be told no by anyone, Lance Orion.”

His throat bobbed and a beat of silence passed before he snatched my hand, tugging me forward. “Fine, you can come.” He pulled me down the corridor into Darius’s room and kicked the door shut, which opened one second later as Geraldine threw it wide with the Heirs at her back.

Her chest was puffed out like a peacock and she had a look of war in her eyes. “You will not dismiss us, you vainglorious Vampire! Where my lady goes, I go. And though these men may seem tricksome and can be downright scallywags, they are also loyal and steadfast. If there is danger afoot, there is no better band of knights than these to follow one of the true queens into the night.”

“I’m not following anyone anywhere,” Max growled. “We’re going for the Imperial Star, that’s it.”

“To stop Lionel,” Caleb agreed.

“Yup,” Seth added and Orion growled, his hand still tight around my wrist.

I prised his fingers off, giving him a firm look as my flesh tingled from his touch. “It’s not up for debate.”

“Fuck, fine,” Orion hissed. “But you’ll all do exactly as I say because this place is protected by dark magic and the spells we’re gonna need aren’t in the damn curriculum.”

“You can’t boss us around anymore, sir,” Seth mocked. “You’re just a Power Shamed nobody. You’re lucky we’re even acknowledging your existence and you know it.”

Orion opened his mouth to snap at him again, but I got there first.

“Shut up, Seth. Do as he says. We’re not fucking this up. We need to get the Imperial Star,” I demanded and Seth growled at my tone, but didn’t bite back.

When I turned to Orion again, I swear he was smirking, but it was gone a split second later so I couldn’t be sure.

Orion gave me an intense look. “We won’t be able to wield it against Lionel.”

“What, why?” I asked, my heart sinking.

“It can only be used by a reigning sovereign,” he said and the others cursed.

“Well so long as Lionel doesn’t get it, it doesn’t matter,” I said firmly, though it was infuriating to know we were this close to so much power and it wouldn’t be able to help us.

Orion nodded then strode over to the solid gold chest at the back of Darius’s room, opening it up and taking out a wooden box of Pitball cards I recognised. He retrieved a draining dagger from it and I stiffened. I’d seen Orion stabbed with a blade like that. Tory had succumbed to the shadows so many times because of one too. I didn’t want that shit near anyone I loved ever again.

He packed it up with a bunch of bones and tools in a backpack before shouldering it. Then he met my gaze and I stepped toward him, fighting away any fears I had about using this stuff, because we had to get the Imperial Star. And I’d do anything to make sure we got it before Lionel did.

“What do we need to do?” I asked.

“What happened to you and me going alone, brother?” Darius’s voice boomed as he stepped into the room with Tory a few steps behind him.

I smiled at her and she grinned, pushing through the Heirs to reach my side.

“Seriously?” Orion groaned.

“Well you didn’t really expect me and Darcy to just bow out, did you? I thought you’d have learned your lesson about that a long time ago,” she said airily.

Geraldine let out a squeal of excitement, clapping her hands. “The Vega princesses shall never bow to anyone!”

“Uhuh,” Darius said then muttered something else under his breath which sounded suspiciously like ‘we’ll see about that’ before continuing in a louder voice. “Let’s go. Get your weapons.” He turned around and headed out the door, revealing the axe strapped to his back that glinted with the flames that lived within it.

“That reminds me.” I looked to Geraldine in excitement. “Me and Tory made you a weapon.”

“Gracious!” she gasped. “What unworldly thing could I have possibly done to deserve such a gift?”

“You’re you, Geraldine,” I said with an earnest look. “That’s enough.”

“Never change,” Tory added with a smile, grabbing her hand and towing her out of the room after the Heirs.

I went to follow but Orion caught my arm, turning me back to face him with a look of uncertainty.

“Can I…” He had a long box in his arms and he placed it down on the bed with an expression of longing. The wood was carved with the Orion constellation which I’d engraved in it myself. My breath snagged in my lungs and I stepped past him, opening the box and taking out the beautiful sword forged in Phoenix fire. The one I’d made for him as a gift the night before he’d been arrested. I’d tried not to think about that night, but it was written into my soul as clearly as the zodiac was written into the stars. There was no escaping it. No way of hiding how much it had meant to me. But it only made his betrayal sting deeper.

I held it out to him with a taut frown. “It’s yours. Always. Just because we’re not…well, just take it, okay?” I handed it to him and his fingers brushed mine as he accepted it, an arrow of electricity firing through me from his touch.

“Tentacles on a tuna fish,” Geraldine exclaimed from the other room. “Look at me go!”

I gave Orion an awkward smile and jogged out of the room, finding Geraldine with the flail we’d made for her, the spiked ball of metal swinging on a chain at the end of the huge stick. She swung it around her head, under her leg, over her shoulder, all with impossible skill.

“I’ve flung a flail or two in my time,” she announced. “It is absolutely divine, my ladies. I couldn’t be more grateful. In fact, perhaps a song is in order?”

“We don’t have time for songs,” Caleb growled, glancing at Darius. “Right?” His eyes were pleading and Seth slung an arm over his shoulders, his hands wrapped in his metal gauntlets.

“Don’t be a killjoy, bro. Let’s sing that Vega song about them sucking our cocks,” Seth said with a smirk and Geraldine bristled, pointing her flail at him.

“Do not besmirch my beautiful lyrics ever again, you foul mouthed mutt!”

Max laughed and Geraldine rounded on him with a growl.

“And what are you chuckling at, you overgrown sea cucumber?” she demanded.

“Calm down, Gerry,” he said.

She looked like she was about to explode, but Orion shot to the centre of the group with the sword in its scabbard at his hip. “We’re leaving. Stop bickering or some of you will get left behind when we stardust out of here.”

“Pfft, as if Darius would leave any of us here,” Seth said but Darius folded his arms with a look that said he would and everyone fell into line.

Orion strode to the door just as my Atlas buzzed and I took it out, finding a message from my brother.

Gabriel:

The K.U.N.T.s were out in force when I stardusted home an hour ago. Let the Vampires take you and your sister to the boundary. The others won’t be stopped.

Good luck tonight.

He started sending a bunch of pictures of his baby and family and my heart squeezed. Dammit that baby was cute. I just wanted to squeeze his chubby cheeks and tickle his round belly and – oh right, I’ve got a life or death mission to go on that needs my attention.

“Lance,” I called to him, jogging over and showing him the message before letting the others see.

“Caleb, take Tory,” Orion commanded then scooped me up before I could disagree and shot off down the stairs.

I clung to him, stifling a scream as he clutched me to his chest and moved at the speed of light, sprinting faster than he ever had with me in his arms before. I couldn’t draw a single breath until we stopped and the world spun. We were standing beyond the fence of the academy and the cool night air whipped around us.

I stared up at Orion as his eyes roamed my face and my toes curled.

“You can put me down now,” I said breathily, my heart hitting a wild beat and I tried to convince myself it was from the speed we’d been moving at. But who was I kidding?

He placed me on my feet and silence rippled between us as I remained snared in his eyes.

“Happy birthday,” I forced out.

I’d been considering messaging him all day, but hadn’t been able to bring myself to do it. Now he was right in front of me, I didn’t want him to think I’d forgotten. Maybe I should have been a dick about it, but he was already spending this day as a prisoner with nothing to do and nowhere to go. Well, until now I guessed.

“It’s not as happy as my last,” he murmured then Caleb arrived with Tory, setting her down beside me, leaving me trapped in a happy memory of the past and wishing I could go back to it.

“Did you really need to do a lap of the whole academy?” Tory tutted, flattening her messed up hair.

“I needed to limber up before we go into battle,” Caleb said with a smirk.

“We’re not going into battle, we’re going to a graveyard where all kinds of bullshit spells are waiting for us,” Orion said.

“Well I limbered up for creepy spells then.” Caleb shrugged.

Seth appeared in Wolf form with Darius and Max on his back and they all slipped through the gap in the fence. Seth shifted back, putting on some sweatpants and sneakers as Max threw them to him and pulling his hair up into a topknot. Geraldine appeared in her Cerberus form, one of her three large brown dog heads jamming between the bars as she tried to squeeze through. She was damn huge. Bigger than Seth in his Wolf form and he could barely fit.

She shifted back into her Fae form with a laugh, her breasts squashing against the bars as she moved through the gap.

“By the sun, Gerry,” Max snapped, stepping forward to try and shield her from view.

“Oh do stop being a possessive porpoise, Maxy boy. It really is unbecoming.” She took her clothes from him, pulling them on before snatching her flail from Darius who’d been carrying it for her.

“Let’s go to war,” Seth said excitedly, knocking his shoulder into Caleb’s as he howled.

“We’re not going to fucking…argh, never mind,” Orion said, stepping closer to me and Tory. “Have you got the rings?”

“Yup. Here you go, dude.” Tory held hers out, but I grabbed it before Orion could, pushing it onto my finger beside the other ring.

“Wherever these go, I go,” I said with a challenge in my voice. If he thought he was going to ditch me at any point tonight for my own safety or some bullshit, it wasn’t gonna happen. I was going to personally make sure that star was brought back here no matter what.

“Dammit,” he muttered and I grinned triumphantly. I knew it.

Tory laughed. “You can’t get one over on her anymore, asshole.”

“I wasn’t trying to-” Orion stopped himself mid-sentence, shaking his head. “Let’s just fucking go.” He took out some stardust, throwing it over us before anyone could say another word and we were dragged away into the stars.

My feet hit the ground, but I didn’t stumble, blinking around at my friends then to the huge black metal fence rising up ahead of us. Silence fell and I could feel the power of this place humming in the air, sending a trickle of anticipation running down my spine.

Behind us was a dense forest, the shadows between the boughs as black as night. A low, doggish howl sounded somewhere within the trees and everyone stilled.

“Darius,” Orion growled, a warning in his tone I didn’t understand.

“What is it?” Tory hissed as I stepped closer to her.

“Reaper Hounds,” Darius revealed darkly.

“They’re bound here to protect the perimeter,” Orion explained, casting a silencing bubble around us. “No one look them in the eyes, they’ll rip the soul right out of your body if you do.”

“They’ll do fucking what?” Max balked.

“Rip the soul from your very being, Maxy boy, do keep up,” Geraldine said, raising her flail. “All of you should go ahead, I shall face these villainous fiends for my queens. I’ll dive into the dark forest and return these beasts to the hell from whence they came.”

“No Geraldine,” I gasped. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“No, you’re not. Everyone needs to shut their eyes right now,” Orion commanded as more howls sounded out in the trees and my heart thrashed at the noise. “Don’t engage them, no matter what they do. Don’t open your eyes, don’t run, and do not fight back.”

“Even if one rips my arm off?” Seth questioned. “Because I can’t make any promises in that scenario.”

“They won’t attack unless provoked,” Orion growled. “So feel free to jab one in the eye, Capella, but do it somewhere away from the rest of us.”

A growl came from the trees and I caught sight of a huge black figure moving between the boughs before I slammed my eyes shut. Oh shit.

“Everyone hold hands and follow me, we need to get to the gate, the wards wouldn’t let us stardust any closer than this,” Orion said and his rough palm grasped mine.

My other hand slid into Tory’s and we all started walking as more howls rang out in the forest.

My heart galloped in my chest as we walked, leaves crunching underfoot as we went, sounding like gunshots in the quiet. A snarl sounded right beside me and my breathing quickened as sniffing filled the air and the padding of heavy paws passed close by.

Hot, rancid breath made my hair flutter and my face warm. The beast must have been huge standing at least as tall as me, and the scent of rot clung to it, making my stomach turn.

“We’re almost there,” Orion muttered.

“You’d better not be opening your eyes,” I hissed and his fingers squeezed mine.

“Someone’s got to look, might as well be the Power Shamed nobody,” he said under his breath and my nails dug into his flesh.

“You’re not nobody,” I growled seriously. You’re one of the most important somebodies I know.

“Are you ready, Darius?” he called, not responding to me.

“Ready,” Darius confirmed and a snapping noise sounded somewhere behind me.

“What’s he doing?” I whispered, then another growl sounded by my ear and I flinched.

“He’s casting a dark spell on a Fae bone,” Orion murmured. “Reaper Hounds can’t resist the scent of death.”

A whoosh reached me as Darius threw the bone and the dogs howled and bayed. It sounded like a large pack of them were racing away from us, the ground shuddering beneath me as they went.

“Hurry!” Orion barked. “Everyone keep close. You can open your eyes but if there’s any sign of them returning then shut them immediately.”

I cracked my eyes open as Orion pulled his hand from mine and Darius raced past me. We stood in front of a huge gate which had deadly looking spikes at the top of it. Written in the iron across the middle were the words The Everhill graveyard.

Orion passed Darius a draining dagger, holding another of his own. They both sliced into their palms before starting to move the blades in perfect synchronicity with one another, seeming to cut into the air itself. The movements were complex and each slash lessened the magical tension in the air.

A furious howl split through the night and sent a tremor of fear through me.

“I think they’ve figured it out,” Seth hissed.

“They’re coming back,” Caleb said urgently, but Darius and Orion were lost to a trance as they worked to break the wards.

“Get your weapons ready,” Tory gasped and everyone did so as the thumping of paws drew closer once more.

Tory and I raised our free hands, keeping our other ones locked together. My Phoenix fire burned hot against the inside of my flesh and our power instinctively merged, an inferno spinning between us, ready to be unleashed.

I shared a look with Tory then clamped my eyes shut, the howls drawing nearer and nearer.

The paws were thundering toward us at a furious pace and from the snapping of teeth and terrifying snarls, I had a feeling Seth was right. They knew what we were doing. And they were coming for blood.

“Devils of death, I will flail you into the afterlife!” Geraldine cried.

A growl sounded then a yelp followed as a blow was struck against one of the beasts and my heart lurched.

I kept my palms raised, flames curling between my fingers as I waited to attack, pushing my earth magic into the ground as I used it to sense their approach.

A snarl sounded right ahead of us and I felt Tory press closer as we raised our hands together and stepped away from our friends to make sure we didn’t hurt them. I could feel the hound’s breath, taste its sickly scent on the air and feel the shudder of its paws in the ground through my magic. We released the power of our Phoenix in an explosion of fire, a rush of adrenaline scoring through my veins. The flames blazed through my eyelids as it wheeled away from us and one of the beasts yelped and screeched.

“Fuck yes!” Tory whooped and a grin spread across my face.

Our victory was short lived though as howls sounded out in the woods, revealing more beasts waiting in the dark.

“Get back!” I called to the others and Tory and I cast a wall of fire ahead of us to keep the hounds at bay.

My back hit Darius’s and suddenly I was falling, stumbling backwards and passing through the wards surrounding the graveyard.

“Get inside!” Orion roared, grabbing my arm and keeping me upright as he steered me around and I dragged Tory after me. The sound of clanging metal filled the air then my feet hit softer ground. “Open your eyes,” he commanded and I did, finding myself looking up at him, his brow etched with concern.

I wheeled around, checking everyone was okay and, miraculously, they were. I shared a look of relief with Tory before gazing around the dark graveyard we were standing in.

Tombstones stretched out ahead of us, all of them ancient and crumbling, marked with zodiac symbols and the names of the dead. There were larger tombs deeper into the graveyard, spreading away up a huge hill and a large stone mausoleum stood at the peak surrounded by trees.

I realised my hand was still locked with Orion’s and quickly pulled it free, my pulse thumping at the base of my throat as my palm continued to tingle from his touch.

“No one look back. We need to salt the earth to keep them out. It won’t last forever, but it should give us long enough,” Orion said and he and Darius moved back to the gate while we all kept our eyes forward. When it was done, they reappeared with dark expressions, talking in low mutters together.

“So?” Tory asked. “What’s the plan?”

“We’re in the outer ring,” Orion said, pointing out the gap that parted the outer graves from those further in. “The protection will be weaker here. The further in we go, the darker the spells will become.”

“And let me guess, your daddy’s tomb is somewhere in the middle?” Seth said with an arched brow.

“The graves are placed by levels of power,” Orion replied coldly. “So yeah. He’ll be somewhere towards the middle. If you’re too pussy to head that way, then feel free to stay here.”

“Have you got something you wanna say to me, asshole?” Seth growled, stepping toward him with his shoulders squared. “Because your attitude is bullshit.”

“I have nothing to say to you,” Orion hissed.

“Oh yeah?” Seth growled. “Well apparently the only pussy around here is you then.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Orion’s fangs snapped out and I stepped between them with a growl of my own.

“Stop it,” I snapped. “We have to move.”

Seth’s eyes slid to mine and he backed down with an innocent shrug. Orion looked between us with a grimace I didn’t understand, but said nothing more.

“Come on,” Darius growled and Orion fell into step with him as they led the way through the first line of graves.

I walked beside Tory behind them and felt the prickling of dark magic in the air, charging the particles around me. The second we reached the inner circle, the hairs rose along my flesh and my breathing stalled at the power in this place.

“Do you feel that?” Caleb growled behind me and we all nodded.

The ground started to tremble beneath our feet and I gazed around at the graves surrounding us uneasily. Geraldine screamed as a skeletal hand burst through the earth to her right and fire exploded from me on instinct, blasting it to pieces. But more and more of them were fighting their way from their graves, hundreds of dead bodies scrambling out of the dirt. Fear and horror wound through me as the undead rose and I planted my feet as I prepared to fight.

Darius swung his axe as a bony figure lunged at him and he smashed it to bits with one heavy blow. The moment the bones hit the ground, they started drawing back together and the corpse pushed to its feet once more.

“What the fuck?” Tory’s nose wrinkled and the two of us moved closer together, readying to blast them all back to hell.

“Find the tomb!” Darius barked at Orion.

Everyone started wielding their weapons against the skeletons as more and more of them crawled out of the ground. Some of them looked fresher than others, their bodies sinewy and rotting. And as one of them raised their arms, fire magic burst from them and sent a flaming ball towards Seth.

He shifted fast, landing on all four paws as a Wolf, ducking the fireball and slashing the skeleton to pieces with his Phoenix fire claws.

“Go!” Darius commanded and Orion looked to me, a decision in his eyes.

“Wai-” I started but he shot forward, throwing me over his shoulder and tearing away deeper into the graveyard, leaving the others behind.