Zodiac Academy 7: Heartless Sky

The stardust spat us out on Moon Street before one of the most desirable properties in the city, just a stone’s throw away from the grounds which surrounded The Palace of Souls.

It had once been owned by a lot of the most politically influential families in the kingdom, but not anymore. Lionel had taken possession of this run of houses, alongside several others in the city, and had gifted them to the Nymphs to use in the name of this so-called peace he’d brokered with them.

The house was starkly white with imposing walls that cast dark shadows across the road, fronted with a porch held up by impressive pillars that were shaped like the Orders. From Minotaurs to fierce looking Medusas and Harpies, the masonry was so skilled and beautiful, the pillars almost looked alive.

Spring birds twittered in the nearby trees and I relished the warmer feeling of the air with the shift in seasons fully upon us.

My skin prickled as I looked down the street, the illusion spells we’d worked together to cast shimmering against my skin as they bounced the morning light off of us and directed all attention away from our position.

Darius took the lead as he jogged up the steps of the grand town house and the three of us stayed close to him as he headed up to the door, pressing his hand to the wood to check for magical locks.

Seth’s shoulder knocked against mine and I glanced at him, the illusion allowing us to see one another even though no one else would be able to, so I could drink in the excited look in his earthy eyes.

“Ready?” I teased and he grinned wider, magic crackling at his fingertips as he practically buzzed with energy.

“I’m just so ready to start fighting back properly,” he replied with a Wolf’s snarl on his lips. “And this feels like the beginning of it, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, I guess,” I agreed.

“We should do something wild to celebrate if this goes well,” he said. “Like throw a party or go base jumping, or cage fighting, or karaoke or something. What would you do if you could do anything at all to celebrate?” he asked, knocking his arm against me again and making my muscles tighten at the contact in the most exhilarating way.

“I need to hunt,” I said instantly, my gaze moving to his neck as I lost myself in the fantasy of my mouth against his skin and the hot rush of his blood between my lips as I pinned his body beneath mine. “And I need to get laid,” I added without thinking.

Seth’s brows shot up and he blinked at me a couple of times as I realised what I’d just said and I laughed it off, shaking my head to clear it of the desire I was feeling for his blood just as Darius declared there were no magical locks or wards on the place. That wasn’t surprising really. Even Lionel wasn’t dumb enough to start teaching the Nymphs how to harness their magic and cast spells like that which could so easily be used against our kind.

“Okay, I’m gonna make sure everyone inside is asleep before we break in,” Max said. “We don’t want them to sense our magic and be on alert before we even get close enough for me to manipulate one. You guys should make sure your mental shields are up or you’ll find yourselves snoring too.”

I nodded along with the others, tightening my hold on my barriers, though they didn’t really need any reinforcing. I’d been keeping them locked up tight recently anyway, my thoughts too scattered and my emotions too confusing for me to want him picking up on them. I didn’t need the drama involved with his questions if he detected some of the shit I had running through my head, especially when some of it could pose a threat to the balance we all maintained between the four of us.

I glanced down the street, this area pretty familiar to me seeing as it wasn’t too far from my family home. My mom had contacted me a few times through the journal to say they were alright, and she’d been letting us know Lionel’s schedule so we always knew his movements. Not that it helped us a whole lot considering the entourage of Dragons he often travelled with, the FIB who attended his events in force, and the Shadow Princess hounding his every move. But Gabriel had a team who was working to push his defences at public events and figure out how easy it was for Vard to detect our movements.

I felt the brush of Max’s power against my shields, and I couldn’t help but yawn despite the strength I held against his gifts as he worked to take down anyone close enough to sense us while we were here.

I glanced around at the empty street as he worked, wondering how long we could risk hanging around here before one of the Nymphs felt our power and raised the alarm. Best we worked fast to avoid that.

Max nodded as he finished and Darius gripped the door handle, melting it and the lock in his grasp before pushing it wide so that the four of us could step inside.

We dropped the illusions the moment the door was closed behind us and I shot away from the others, pulling my twin Phoenix fire daggers into my grip. I raced in and out of every room in the house to check how many Nymphs we were dealing with, only discovering one in the kitchen, slumped over the counter and fast asleep beside the stove.

I skidded to a halt before the others who had only made it a few steps into the house and gave them a cocky grin as I stowed my weapons away once more and pushed my fingers into my blonde curls to tame them.

“He’s in the kitchen and he’s a big fucker. The rest of the house is clear,” I announced, earning myself a grin from Seth and a nod from Darius.

Max strode past me in the direction I’d indicated, pushing his gifts out before him and sending a sense of peace and trust vibrating through the air as his navy blue scales crept across his skin to peek out from the edges of his clothes.

We fell into step behind him, keeping close as he headed into the kitchen and approached the Nymph who was still sleeping in his Fae-like form spread out across the kitchen counter.

My heart began to race as we closed in on this creature which was the enemy of our kind and yet looked so like us in this form that it was hard to even comprehend how dangerous it could be.

Max reached out to place a hand on the Nymph’s arm and I stepped closer, touching Max’s shoulder so that I could see what memories he was coaxing from the Nymph too.

Seth caught my hand just as I was tugged into the mind of our enemy and I curled my fingers around his, holding on tight.

Darkness shifted around us as Max worked to sort through the memories and I caught glimpses of a life lived by this creature with locations and faces shifting all around me so fast that it was impossible to fully distinguish them from each other until one jerked to a halt before us and I found myself watching it play out.

A Nymph in shifted form was stalking through the trees of a dark forest with patches of snow on the ground, his hand clamped tight around something red which caught in the dappled light spilling between the trees.

The creature whose mind we were currently trespassing in walked behind the other Nymph, listening to whispers which seemed to come from within his own mind as they urged him further up the sloping path.

The taint of the shadows coated my tongue and I was half aware of Seth whimpering at the feel of it and Darius stiffening in recognition where he held onto Max’s other arm.

“Feed it to me. Make me stronger,” the Shadow Princess breathed into the mind of the Nymphs and they upped their pace, passing through thicker and thicker woodland before stepping out into a huge clearing where a pyramid of onyx stone arched up towards the heavens.

The vision flickered around us and I watched a new memory unfold as the Nymph laid the red and gold platter onto a huge altar which seemed to be carved from the pitch black stone which made up the pyramid we were now standing within.

There were carvings all over the altar of a woman who I recognised as that shadow bitch Lionel kept by his side as she took part in various battles and sexual acts.

As the Nymph set the platter down, the entire room began to hum with a dark and rampant energy and the space above the altar pulsed and flexed, darkness seeming to form of its own accord as the shadows slipped through a rift into our realm and the demands of the Shadow Princess grew louder within the mind of the Nymph.

There were other items laid out on the altar, each of them connected to the rift which flickered in the space above it by a tendril of shadow which tainted the air and made bile rise in the back of my throat.

“Where is this?” Max’s voice echoed through the space, his tone laced with a seductive kind of lilt which made me want to answer him even though I didn’t have an answer to give.

The Nymph fell prey to his demands and more images flashed before us, moving so fast that I couldn’t keep track as he showed us how he had gotten to this place and where it was located in the far east of our kingdom.

“How many Fae have you killed?” Max asked next and I gritted my jaw as I was gifted memories of him working alongside other Nymphs as they broke into the houses of innocent Fae, butchering them and sinking their probes into the chest of men, women and children alike. I could feel their hunger, their need for that power like it was written into their souls.

There were more of those memories, more and more until rage was boiling through my blood as I felt the cruelty and violence in the creature so viscerally that it filled me with rage and the desire to wipe him and all who were like him from the face of the earth.

The vision shattered abruptly and I flinched as I was snapped out of it, finding myself back in the kitchen as blood splattered my face and made me suck in a sharp breath of surprise.

Seth was still gripping my hand tightly and Max looked just as shocked as I felt as we all looked up at Darius who was standing beside the severed head of the Nymph with his blood covered axe in hand and a snarl on his face that reminded me of his father for a moment.

“We need to destroy that altar,” he said firmly, taking a pouch of stardust from his pocket.

He threw it over the four of us before we could say anything else and we were whipped through the embrace of the stars and deposited back outside the magical barrier which hid The Burrows within seconds.

“I felt that death like it was my own, asshole,” Max snapped, throwing a fist at Darius’s face and catching him in the jaw.

“It needed to die,” Darius growled back, dropping his axe and throwing a punch in return.

“Not while I was inside its fucking head!” Max yelled angrily, launching himself at Darius and Seth tugged me back a step before they could plough into us.

I turned to look at him, finding blood sprayed across his face too and I reached out to wipe some of it from his cheek with my thumb.

“Turns out we’ve still got a bunch of Nymphs to kill after all,” I said with a grin and the smile he gave me in return made my breath catch in my throat.

“Shall we beat them inside to deliver the news then?” he suggested, glancing at Darius and Max as they continued to wrestle among the spring flowers and I nodded, shooting forward and sweeping him off of his feet as we raced back inside to find the others.