Zodiac Academy 7: Heartless Sky

“I’m gonna gut them,” Darius growled in my ear as he clung to my back and I shot around The Burrows at high speed, hunting for the murderer as we had been for the past couple of hours.

The asshole had run from the scene of the crime, but they couldn’t be far. They had to be somewhere close and the metallic scent in the air said they were still wet with the blood of their victim.

We’d been stalking these tunnels back and forth, checking every room but then the patter of footsteps up ahead had drawn me this way, and I was ready to finish the traitor who lived among us.

“You gut them after I rip their limbs off,” I suggested and Darius chuckled darkly.

We rounded into a large cavern which had been set up as a kitchen, stone worktops everywhere and metal utensils hanging on the wall.

The sound of running water made my head snap around and I spotted Justin Masters by the sink, cursing as he scrubbed red stains from his sweatshirt.

I slowed to a halt and Darius dropped down from my back as I set Justin in my sights. Justin looked up at us, yelping in alarm and splashing water everywhere as he fought to turn the tap off, but instead turned it on full blast.

“You scared the crap out of me,” he hissed, managing to shut the water off at last. “What are you doing down here?”

He grabbed a towel, drying his hands and folding his arms, covering up one of the larger red stains on his sweatshirt.

“Looking for a killer,” Darius purred.

“Well good luck with that.” Justin turned away from us, marching in the direction of the exit on the other side of the room.

I shot past him in a bolt of speed, stopping dead in front of him and tipping my head down as I exposed my fangs. He backed up a step in alarm and I glanced over his head as Darius closed in on him from behind.

“What do you want?” Justin demanded, trying not to look me in the eye. “I can’t believe they even let you walk around The Burrows with free reign,” he muttered. “It’s uncomfortable for everyone to look at you.”

I snarled and Darius released a growl that rumbled through the room, grabbing Justin’s shoulder and yanking hard enough to spin him around to face him.

“What’s with the stains?” he demanded and I leaned closer to sniff a dark blotch of red on Justin’s shoulder.

“It’s blood,” I confirmed and Justin jerked away from me, realising how close I was, but finding himself bumping into Darius’s chest instead. He was trapped between two predators and there was nowhere for him to run.

“I cut my hand, that’s all,” Justin insisted.

Darius grabbed his hands, examining them and Justin tried to yank them free.

“I’ve healed it now, obviously,” Justin said quickly. “I think I cut an artery because it spurted everywhere.”

“How convenient,” I drawled and he flinched, glancing back at me.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, but sweat was breaking out on his brow and I knew we had him.

“What’s your Order, Jacob?” Darius demanded.

“C-cerberus,” he stuttered, starting to sense we were the danger in the room. “And my name is Justin. Why are you asking that?”

“Because a large beast is going around killing people in The Burrows,” I said, fisting the back of his sweatshirt and tugging him towards me so I could speak in his ear. “Another victim has been found and now we’ve discovered you here covered in blood.”

“If I’d killed them in my Cerberus form, my clothes wouldn’t be bloody, would they?” he hissed.

“They might if you’d left them close by for your getaway,” Darius said, grabbing hold of Justin’s throat and squeezing.

I fisted my hand in his blonde hair, making him curse and Darius and I yanked him back and forth between us like lions with a bone as we both hankered for this kill.

“Stop!” he wailed in terror and a twisted satisfaction ran through me. “P-please, I didn’t kill anyone. You can’t prove it.”

“A Cyclops could,” I pointed out.

“But I think we have enough evidence to put you down anyway, Jeremy,” Darius added and we shared a savage smile.

“N-no, please, just let me go,” he begged.

“You like to kill your victims by ripping them apart, mauling them with tooth and claw,” I growled, my hand ripping at his hair so hard, it was coming loose at the roots. “Maybe we’ll do the same to you.”

“It’s only fair, Joseph,” Darius agreed, his monster on full display.

“Holy raisins on a sandy flan!” Hamish burst into the room followed by Geraldine. “You cannot kill him, there must be a formal trial. We are not coots in a coop, we have to act within the laws of our kind, or what are we but cowboys riding wayward goats beneath the moon?”

“Papa is right,” Geraldine insisted, hurrying forward and picking up a kipper laid out in a trough of ice by the sink. She whacked Justin around the head with it, unleashing a screech worthy of a barn owl. “But if you are responsible for this, you unholy woodlouse, I shall shove this kipper so far up your sailor’s crocket, that it shall never see the light of day again!”

“I didn’t do it!” Justin yelled, his hand going to the wet, red mark on his cheek as Geraldine whacked him with the kipper again and again, saying a word with every strike.

“I. Shall. Bury. You. Like. A. Questionable. Orange. Laid. Out. For. The. True. Queens. To. Sup. Upon – Hear. Me. This. Day. And. Hear. Me. Ever. More.”

I stepped back to enjoy the show as Justin repeatedly took a kipper to the face then she started on his balls, slamming the whole fish against his junk and making him cough and fall to his knees.

“I’m innocent,” he rasped as Geraldine propped the kipper up on her shoulder like a weapon.

“We shall soon see which way the whelks fall,” Hamish said, puffing out his chest and grabbing hold of Justin’s arm. “You’re going to be locked up like a beetroot in a jam jar for the safety of the true queens and their people.” He dragged him out of the room and Justin looked back at Geraldine imploringly, but she just turned her back on him and placed the kipper back in the trough.

“He always did give me the colliest of wobbles,” she said with a shudder. “Perhaps my lady rivers were always telling me that a snake was lurking in my waters. A woman must never ignore the slithers in her rivers, I fear I have let the true queens down.” She fell to her knees, burying her face against Darius’ thighs and clinging to his pants so hard that they started to fall down.

“By the stars, Geraldine,” Darius muttered, trying to pull his pants back up, but Geraldine clung on so tight they slipped down with his boxers, exposing his bare ass. “Geraldine!”

He managed to get them back up as she let go of him, lunging at me and trying to get hold of my pants instead, but I shot away with my Vampire speed, coming to a halt beside Darius, our shoulders resting together.

“Let’s go tell the twins,” I suggested and Geraldine wailed, throwing a hand against her forehead.

“Oh, but you don’t know,” she gasped, shuffling toward us on her knees. “The thoroughbred steeds of my gentle ladies have been left unawares.”

“Unaware of what?” Darius gritted out.

“Our ladies Tory and Darcy have been swept away upon the wings of fate. Gabriel returned to tell us just moments ago after he delivered them to the doors of destiny.”

“What are you talking about?” I demanded.

“They have travelled to The Palace of Flames where their ancestors resided so many centuries ago to learn the ways of their kind. Our fine and gallant Gabriel believes they will be there for some time. Perhaps even months.”

“Months?” Darius choked out. “You’re joking,” he snapped. “Tell me you’re joking.”

A dangerous fire lit in his palms and Geraldine shuffled backwards on her knees with a wail. My gut sank and my arms went slack at my sides as sadness washed through me. Blue was gone? For months?

“Oh, but I am not. And yes, we shall miss them greatly, but we must also praise the stars for their kind and wondrous gift!”

“No,” Darius barked. “Tell me where they are right now.”

“I do not know. The location of The Palace of Flames has long since been lost to all memory and some say it is just a myth of a legend of a rumour,” Geraldine said dramatically. “And Gabriel will not offer the location, not when they are on such an important quest. We must await them here and think of them often, sending out positive vibes into the ether towards them, so that they may-”

“No,” Darius snapped, pointing at her. “Where’s Gabriel?”

“I do not know. He disappeared like a wraith into the night after he told us the news, claiming he had another important quest from the heavens to attend.”

“He’s hiding from us,” I gritted out. “But I’ll find him. Get on my back, Darius.”

Darius leapt up without a word, latching his arms and legs around me and I shot out of the kitchens at speed. At least if we could find out where they were maybe we could visit them. How could Blue have left without coming to see me first? It wasn’t like I begrudged her learning about her kind, and frankly I was fascinated to hear about the secrets of that palace, but couldn’t she have given me a heads up?

“GABRIEL!” Darius bellowed, amplifying his voice with magic so it echoed all around The Burrows and the bastard would know we were coming.

We came to a halt outside Gabriel’s room and Darius blasted it with fire, a Dragon’s roar leaving his lips, but it billowed across a firm air shield and sparked out of existence just as fast.

I let him down, frowning at him. I mean shit, I was pissed they’d gone without saying goodbye and I would miss Blue like hell, but he was acting like Geraldine had said Tory would never return.

“Chill, man, what’s going on?” I asked him as he started pacing back and forth in front of the door.

“She’s not going to be back for months,” he spat. “I don’t have months.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked in confusion and he shook his head, smoke spewing from his lips.

“I’ll miss her, that’s all,” he muttered.

“Yeah and I’ll miss, Blue, but…maybe this is a good thing. They’ll learn more about their Order. Maybe they’ll uncover new gifts that can help us with-”

“I don’t care,” he snapped, his eyes shifting to the golden eyes of a Dragon. “She needs to be here. With me.” He strode up to the door, hammering his fist on it. “Gabriel! Come out and face me.”

“He’s busy,” a male voice carried to us and we both snapped around, finding a golden haired Lion Shifter standing in the shadows, leaning against the wall with one leg kicked up.

“Leon,” I said in realisation, striding towards him. “Where’s Gabriel?”

“He could be in his room. He could be miles away. Who can say?” he said casually, pushing his fingers into his long mane.

“You can say,” I insisted.

Darius slammed his fist against the barrier to Gabriel’s room again and a feminine moan carried from beyond it.

“Gabe’s busy,” Leon said with a smirk.

“And what are you, his bodyguard?” Darius spat at Leon.

“I’m just a mysterious Lion, lurking in the shadows with many secrets to his name,” he said in what I guessed he thought was a spooky voice. He folded his muscular arms, pouting at us when we didn’t immediately respond to that. “Don’t you want to know my secrets?”

“Is one of them where Gabriel is?” I asked.

“Yes…and no,” he said, tossing a grin at Darius as he narrowed his eyes at him.

“If you know, then tell me right now,” Darius commanded, his shoulders pressing back and a look of his father entering his eyes. A loud groan sounded that definitely belonged to Gabriel and I muttered a curse under my breath.

“Wow, I’m quaking in my little puss-n-boots,” Leon chuckled. “Gabe’s gone, dude. He’s either in that room fucking his wife into another realm, or he went swimming with the dolphins in Sunshine Bay. Who can really say?”

“You,” Darius snapped. “You can say. And I can hear them in there, so I know the answer anyway.”

“Do you?” Leon asked, waving his hands and wiggling his fingers. “Or is it all just an illusion?”

I ran a palm down my face and sighed, knowing in my heart that we weren’t going to get to Gabriel. He’d have seen every route we took to try and reach him, and my shoulders dropped as I accepted that.

“Come on, man. Let’s go,” I said to Darius, but Leon’s hand swung out and slapped me.

“Hey,” I barked.

“Do you feel that, Lance? That’s the strike of fate.” He gripped my shirt, yanking me close to his face as he smiled like the Cheshire Cat. “And I’m it’s messenger. Ride me towards your destiny. Ride me!”

“For the love of the moon, Leon.” I shoved him back. “Personal boundaries, remember? I don’t know how many times I have to say it.”

I turned and started walking away, drawing Darius after me as he gave up on trying to get to Gabriel with a huff.

“But what about my secrets?” Leon called after us in desperation, but we simply kept walking. “I have a secret quest set for us by Gabriel,” he said excitedly, blurting it out as he accepted we gave no shits.

“Fuck Gabriel,” Darius grumbled and I clapped a hand to his shoulder.

“They’ll be back soon, brother,” I said, hoping my words were true.

“Not soon enough,” he said, hanging his head and I went to ask him what was really troubling him, but Leon collided with us, breaking us apart and slinging his arms over our shoulders.

“Gabe said I needed a couple of recruits for our quest, so I thought this would be a great opportunity for me to get to know some new friends.”

“Yeah, sure. See ya,” Darius growled then strode off down the corridor, smoke billowing out behind him before he disappeared into a fog of it.

“Wow, that was dramatic,” Leon breathed, leaning close to my ear. “Guess it’s just me and you then, shamesy.”

“Shamesy?” I growled.

“Yeah, like Power Shamesy. I thought I’d make a cute nickname out of it, so it didn’t seem so, you know…devastating.”

I shrugged him off, folding my arms. “Is there really a quest?”

“Of course there’s a quest,” he said, rolling his golden eyes. “What do you take me for, shamesy?”

“I’d really prefer if you didn’t call me that,” I said flatly.

“Who else shall we bring with us?” he barrelled on as if I hadn’t spoken.

“What even is this quest?” I asked in frustration.

“Oh my stars, I didn’t even tell you about the quest yet.” He leapt in front of me, pressing his hands to my shoulders. “Gabe says you’re looking for some gemstones, right? Right?”

“Right,” I agreed, frowning at the swerve this conversation was taking.

I still hadn’t made any solid progress in my research with tracking down the Zodiac Guild stones, though I had quite a few leads to follow up after Eugene and his friends had sent across some information from the Library of the Lost on gems that could possibly be the ones we sought. But with the lack of stardust and the fact that I was chasing trails which had gone cold hundreds of years ago, it was pretty hard to get anywhere with our search.  

“And they’re extra special gemstones, right? Right?” Leon pushed.

“Right.” Would he ever get to the point?

“Well.” He stepped closer, glancing left and right before cupping a hand around his mouth. “I know where one of them is. And usually I wouldn’t give up any of my family’s stolen treasures – we are the best thieves in Solaria after all – but my dad had this one all locked up in a special place and I’m owed a little revenge against my dad.”

“Because of your brother?” I asked sadly. Roary Night had turned out to be a decent ally in Darkmore Penitentiary, and I had to admit the reason that he was in there turned my goddamn stomach.

“Yeah, Dad won’t even speak to him, because of the shame. I guess you know a lot about shame so you probably understand that, shamesy. I wanna get revenge on him for being such a dick…” Leon said, sadness crossing his features, but then a smile split across his face again just as fast. “So I wanna thieve from my thief father and give you his treasure for your rock collection.”

“It’s not a rock coll-”

“It’ll be the most prized rock in your rock collection,” he announced proudly, turning and strutting off down the tunnel ahead of me and I figured fuck it, and didn’t bother to correct him.

Leon was wearing snug jeans which clung to his thick thighs, his muscular frame filling out his white t-shirt. His golden hair practically shone in the light of the sconces around him and I shook my head at the guy, a smile lifting my lips for a second. He had grown on me a little since he’d befriended Gabriel, especially since he’d stopped being such an uber fan of mine because of my Pitball status. Of course, now he was living the dreams I’d once had for myself so I guessed I should have been the one fangirling over him these days. And now I was Power Shamed too, I was hardly the celebrity he’d first met all those years ago when his academy had done an exchange programme with Zodiac Academy.

I shot after him, not wanting to pass up the opportunity to get hold of another gemstone and he tossed me a roguish smile.

“So who are we recruiting?” Leon asked.

“Let’s bring Caleb,” I decided.

“Yes – I love Caleb! And he’s your sanguis frater now too, right?” he cooed, turning to me and reaching out to brush his thumb over the pinprick silver marks on my neck.

“Yeah.” I batted his hand away. “Gabriel told you?”

“Yup. But he says I’m not to keep going on about how cool it is because Vampire covens are bad and if I make it sound too cool then other Vampires might get ideas about joining up which apparently isn’t a good thing – but I have to wonder if he’s right about that, because it seems kinda like a good thing to me and I want my favourite Vampire to have all the good things.”

“It’s against the Vampire Code for a reason,” I said, knowing that was the truth even though I couldn’t say I hated it so far. “There are issues with pack hunting and bloodlust and-”

“Those sound like good things to me, shamesy. Maybe Caleb will agree and we can get you a new recruit. Let’s go find him!” he ran off down the passage and I shot forward, picking him up and throwing him over my shoulder as I raced towards the royal quarters while Leon whooped.

I placed him down outside Caleb’s room and rapped my knuckles on the door. It opened and Caleb beamed as he spotted me.

“Sanguis frater!” he cried excitedly and we hugged. “Did you watch that documentary on that blood river in eastern Voldrakia I told you about?”

“Yeah,” I said as we released each other. “It got me so thirsty, I had to wake Darcy up to feed from her.”

“Yeah, that shit got me so thirsty too. I knew I was gonna feed on the next person I saw until I bumped into Washer,” Caleb said, wrinkling his nose.

“Ergh, Nova made me feed from him once for a class demonstration,” I said in disgust. “He ground himself all over me and my fangs wouldn’t extend again for a week.”

“Shit, he gave you fang fear?” Caleb gasped.

“Massively,” I said and Caleb turned to Leon, hugging him too.

“Oh, I bet fang fear is the worst,” Leon said sadly. “Lions get mane fear if someone touches our hair without permission. It happened to me once…I’ve never really gotten over it.” He shuddered and Caleb pressed a hand to his arm.

“That must have been awful,” he said as Leon nodded sadly then Seth suddenly popped his head out from under Caleb’s arm through the door.

“I got pube fear once when someone got their pubes tangled with mine while we were going at it. It. Was. Awful,” he said, smiling as he looked around at us all to join in.

“That’s not the same at all,” I said irritably and Seth whimpered, looking to Caleb.

“Yeah, you can’t compare those things, man. It’s actually kind of insulting,” Caleb said with a frown.

“Actually you can,” Leon jumped in. “I once got my pubes tangled in a lot of cutlery, and now I can’t even have a spoon down there without getting pube fear.”

“How the hell did you get cutlery tangled down there?” I asked I confusion.

“Were you playing chip-chop pube?” Seth asked knowingly.

“Exactly, dude!” Leon cried. “Do you know how many people act like they don’t even know what chip-chop pube is? It’s a classic game.”

“A classic game involving pubes and cutlery?” I scoffed, folding my arms.

“What are the rules?” Caleb asked in amusement.

“You have to see how much cutlery you can hang from your pubes,” Leon explained.

“It only counts if it stays hanging for more than ten seconds,” Seth added.

“What, so…your dicks are just out while you play in front of other people?” I asked, unsure why I was curious about this game because I definitely didn’t plan on giving it a whirl.

“Yup,” they said at the same time and I looked between them as they grinned at each other, sensing the two of them together would be like mixing two very explosive potions in the same cauldron. They were both just so…peppy.

“So shall we go?” I asked and Leon looked to me.

“Yes! Let’s go on an adventure,” Leon said brightly.

“Ooh, what adventure?” Seth asked, padding closer to us eagerly.

Leon explained as we followed him down the passage towards the exit and we were soon outside, the summer sun shining down on the bright green grass, daisies and dandelions popping up everywhere.

The guards shot me glowers, turning to mutter with one another and I ignored them, so used to being treated like that now that it didn’t even massively register to me anymore.

We made it beyond the boundary and the Lion Shifter took out a pouch of stardust as he turned to us.

“You’ve got a whole pouch?” Caleb asked him in shock.

“I kept it for a rainy day, and my Lion senses tell me it’s gonna rain really hard today,” Leon said and I glanced up at the clear blue sky, the songbirds dancing across it and the sun which burned so brightly a raincloud had zero hope of forming under its gaze.

“Yeah, looks like it,” Seth agreed conspiratorially. “So where are we going?”

“To my hometown,” Leon said. “Alestria.” He tossed the stardust over us and we were dragged away, transported through the stars and deposited in a dark alley where the scent of piss hung thickly in the air.

“Ergh, are we in hell?” Caleb muttered, stepping closer to me like I might be able to ward off the stench. “Oh my stars, is that a shit? Like a Fae fucking turd, right there by that dumpster?” He pulled his shirt up over his nose and I couldn’t really blame him.

“It’s the magic of Alestria,” Leon cooed. “Between the grime, the piss and the shits that hobos do in alleys, there’s something really special about this place.”

“I think I like it,” Seth whispered and Caleb and I shared a look.

Leon walked over to a drain, dropping down to his knees and casting some spell, his hand weaving back and forth above the metal before it began to shimmer. He took hold of it, pulling it up to reveal a ladder leading away into the dark.

“You know, I think I’d rather go back to The Burrows and have a scalding shower that’ll burn a layer of my skin off,” Caleb said, backing up but I pressed a hand to a shoulder and pushed him forward.

“Come on, princess, you can handle a little dirt,” I taunted and Seth looked back at us, nodding eagerly.

“We can tick it off our bucket list, Cal,” he called.

“I don’t have ‘crawl into a shit pit on my bucket list,” Caleb said, shaking his head but he let me guide him over there all the same.

“It’ll be one of those tales we tell for years to come,” Seth encouraged. “Like that time I was on the moon and I stuck my dick in a crater.”

“You did?” Leon asked, looking at him in awe as Seth nodded proudly. “Holy shit, tell me everything. What did it feel like? Did you get magical dick powers after?”

I groaned as Seth jumped on the opportunity to tell someone new his moon stories and I worked to zone him out as Leon led the way down into the sewer and Caleb reluctantly followed.

I cast a Faelight as I stepped off of the rungs at the bottom and looked around at the dank tunnel we were in, a river of water rushing along beside us. We followed Leon down the narrow path beside it, his and Seth’s voices echoing around us as they laughed and shared stories, and I walked with Caleb as he worked hard not to touch anything and muttered promises to burn all the clothes he was wearing the moment we got back to The Burrows.

As Leon and Seth turned down a tunnel to the right up ahead, I lost sight of them and realised Caleb wasn’t beside me anymore. I glanced back, finding his head and one arm tangled in a thick cobweb that hung down from the ceiling.

“Fucking, argh,” he grunted, trying to burn it off of him, but only getting himself caught in more of it as he nearly burnt off his own eyebrows.

I jogged back to him as I went to help, casting an ice blade in my hand.

“Hold still, Cal,” I encouraged and he did, grimacing as I carved through the sticky web and shuddering full bodily as he jerked away from it, peeling the last of it from his hair and flicking it off of his hand.

I examined the web for a second, not liking the size of it or the way it disappeared into a wide hole in the wall above us. It could have belonged to a harmless weaving spider, but my gut clenched at the other possibility. Gnarla spiders were rare as hell, but their webs were notoriously sticky and a place like this was perfect for something that size. I just prayed to the fucking stars I was wrong about that assessment though.

“Let’s keep moving,” I urged, the sound of Leon and Seth’s voices lost to us now and I didn’t think we should be apart, not when every cop in the kingdom was hunting for us.

We used a burst of Vampire speed to chase after the others, turning into the tunnel they’d taken but finding it empty.

I slowed to a halt and Caleb spat a curse as he stopped beside me and his foot sank into a murky puddle, shaking his leg out and using fire magic to dry it off.

“Fuck my life,” he grumbled, looking utterly disgusted with this entire situation.

“Seth!” I called into the dark tunnel ahead, growling when he didn’t answer. There were forks in the tunnel here, leading off in several directions. Where the fuck had they gone?

“Fuck this. If they’ve left us, they can meet us back at The Burrows later,” Caleb said, but before he could turn around and go through with that plan, a roar sounded and the shadowy figure of a monster with ten arms came at us from the dark.

“Shit,” I snarled, raising my hands and blasting it with air magic. It toppled immediately, laughter rising from it and I realised it was Seth and fucking Leon as I sent my Faelight flying over them.

Seth had cast vines in his hands and had apparently been sitting on Leon’s shoulders because now he was stuck beneath him with his thighs clamped around Leon’s ears. The two of them laughed like crazy and Seth’s vines whipped out around him, one of them hitting the water and sending a splash up which slapped Caleb in the face.

“Argh!” he cried. “That got me in the fucking mouth, you motherfucker.”

Seth howled a laugh, untangling himself from Leon and clutching his side as he got to his feet, but Caleb shot forward, slamming his hands into his chest and sending him flying backwards into the river of sewage with a huge splash. A bark of laughter left me as Seth’s head came up and he bobbed away on the tide with a yell of horror.

“You asshole!” he shouted as Cal and I cracked up.

Leon got to his feet, racing after Seth and hauling him out of the water, drying him off with the heat of his fire Element, cracking up too.

“I’m gonna be diseased. I’ll get Faeitis. Faeiphylis. Fucking pink eye,” Seth cried in a panic.

“You’re fine, dude,” Leon said easily. “This water’s clean. The river of shit is in the next tunnel over.”

“Thank the stars for that,” Caleb muttered as he dried his hair with fire magic.

Leon led us on into the tunnels and we finally made it to a huge door with a wheel in the middle of it. He turned to us dramatically, his golden eyes glinting. “Beyond this door lies years and years of family heirlooms, things my ancestors stole, many of our prized possessions.”

“How can they be heirlooms if you stole them?” I asked and Leon shushed me.

“Touch nothing in here, for you will set off a curse that will make your eyes fall from your head and your nose cave into your face.”

“Seriously?” Cal balked. “I’m not going in then.”

“Nah, just kidding.” Leon laughed. “But if you try to steal anything I’ll know, and I’ll fucking murder you and everyone you love.” He smiled lightly then turned and pressed his hand to the door, magic sparking out from beneath his palm then the wheel began turning of its own accord at a rapid pace. The door clunked as it unlocked and he pulled it wide, revealing a trove lit by everflames.

We followed him inside and my jaw slackened at the endless wonders in this room. There were chests overflowing with jewels, a shining crown sitting on top of a stack of shelves which held all kinds of potions and rare artifacts, even a whole suit of armour which was blood red and held the Leo constellation on its chest.

“Lucky we didn’t bring Darius, he would have tried to claim all of this from you,” I said and Leon growled at the idea of that.

The Lion headed over to an old wooden cabinet, unlocking it with a small key he took from his pocket and pulling out a silver box from inside. He flipped it open, revealing all kinds of gemstones there and he rifled through them, taking out the most perfectly cut of all. It was an oval topaz stone which was golden brown in colour and glittered with the magic that lived within its depths.

I reached for it, the hidden Guild mark on my arm itching like it knew what this was, and the whispers of the stars seemed to hang in the air for a second, urging me to seize it. But Leon closed his fingers around it tightly before I could.

“You owe me something for this,” Leon announced and I looked to him with a frown.

“What?” I demanded.

“The truth about what happened between you and Gabriel the night he visited you at Zodiac Academy five years ago and he developed a mysterious aversion to proballs. I know something happened, Lance Orion. So help me, I want that secret.”

I jerked my hand away in horror. “No,” I hissed. “I’m taking that to the grave. I swore it to him.”

Seth and Caleb looked to me curiously, but I folded my arms and shook my head.

“No secret, no stone,” Leon said airily, shrugging his shoulders and I growled.

“We need that stone. I’ll just tell Gabriel to take it from you,” I said and Leon gasped, holding his hand to his chest in offence.

“You wouldn’t,” he hissed.

“I would. It’s either that or you hand it over.” I held out my palm and Leon looked conflicted, still holding onto it tight.

“I want your Ryan Luxian Pitball League card,” he changed tact.

“That’s a collectible,” I said in frustration, not to mention the guy had been my favourite player growing up.

“It’s that or I’m gonna swallow it and you can dig it out of my poop.” Leon held the stone to his open mouth in a threat and I cursed.

“Fine,” I huffed. “You can have the card, just give me the stone.”

“Sure.” Leon slipped it into his pocket. “We can make the trade later.”

I growled and he grinned at me.

“Can I have this hat?” Seth asked and we turned, finding him wearing a ridiculous red cowboy hat with leather tassels hanging from it. “I’ve always fancied myself as a hat person.”

“You look ridiculous,” Caleb said with a snort.

“Sure, man,” Leon said easily.

“How come he doesn’t have to dig it out of your poop because he’s not giving you anything for it?” I tossed at him.

“Don’t be such a sourpuss, shamesy,” Leon said, slinging an arm around me. “You’re still my favourite.” He licked my face. “Oh wow, you can really taste the shame on you.” He licked me again. “It’s like cinnamon and failed dreams.”

“Alright, back it up, Lion,” I warned, bitter over the shamesy comment and not thrilled about the saliva either.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to shame you, shamesy,” he murmured like he really was sorry, though calling me shamesy wasn’t exactly helping his case. “I think you could bottle it as a scent actually, it’s kind of alluring. You could call it eau de toi-regret.”

“Thanks,” I said dryly. “I’ll do that once I’ve finished setting up my own failed dreams clothing line.”

“I think you’re really onto something here, Lance,” Leon said seriously. “You could sell it to all the other losers. There’s not many as shameful as you, but you could expand into washouts, has-beens and even junkie deadbeats.”

“I can’t wait,” I said hollowly.

We headed out of the trove and Leon locked up the door tight as Seth toyed with the tassels hanging from his new hat and Caleb shook his head at him with a smile dancing around his lips.

A scuttling sounded somewhere above us and I glanced up at the pipes winding overhead, glancing at Caleb to confirm he’d heard it too. I flexed my hand, bringing magic to my fingertips as we pressed on, the scuttling carrying off somewhere ahead of us.

We rounded the next corner and Seth howled in fright. “Holy mother of an eight legged cunt!”

My eyes fell on the enormous gnarla spider blocking our exit, its white eyes flashing our way and its huge hairy legs scuttling forward, its pincers snapping and a horrible grunting noise coming from it.

Caleb charged forward and punched it in the face with a flaming fist, sending it flying backwards with the force of his Order. The spider righted itself and I gasped as I noticed more climbing the walls and the click of spiny legs hitting the floor behind us made me twist around.

“Don’t let them bite you,” I called. “Their venom will make your lungs burst.”

“Ahhh!” Seth charged into battle, blasting one spider into the water with his air magic and I took on the one in front of me, casting a spear of ice in my hand and launching it towards its head with precision. It slammed into its ugly face and it screeched as it died, but another took its place in an instant.

Leon hurried forward at my side, sending a blaze of fireballs flaring down the tunnel, the heat of his power warming my cheeks as the spiders scurried away from his flames while others were consumed in the blaze.

I knocked another one of the beasts down into the water with a gust of air while Caleb burned a path right through them.

“Go!” Cal roared and I grabbed Leon, throwing him over my shoulder as Caleb grabbed hold of Seth and we shot away as Seth shouted, “Yee-ha!”

We made it back to the ladder as the sound of the scuttling monsters chased us and I sped up the rungs, shoving the drain cover open at the top as I climbed out.

Caleb appeared right after me with Seth clinging to his back, his hat tassels fluttering around in the breeze as Leon jumped down from my back and slammed the drain closed, sealing it up again with a spell.

“Dere’s spiders down dere in dat hole,” a gravelly male voice made me whip around and I found a naked hairy dude standing there with a whole array of cutlery hanging from his pubes.

“Oh my stars, he’s a chip-chop pube champion,” Seth gasped, starting to applaud the man who was clearly high on something as he started spinning in circles and pointing at the sky.

Leon threw stardust over us and we were carried away back to The Burrows, my retinas forever burned with the image of the forks and knives wrapped in that man’s pubes, but relief pouring over me too. Because we now had another gemstone, and despite the need to scrub myself clean and the fact that I had to give up my prized Pitball card to claim it, I had to call it a win.

***

I sat in bed, missing Darcy, thankful Seth had gone to spend some time with the Heirs this evening. I turned the beautiful topaz gemstone over in my palm, zoning out as I wondered what Blue was doing.

A soft knock came at the door and I called out for whoever it was to come in, finding Darius there as he stepped into the room with a forlorn expression on his face.

“Do you want company?” he asked and I nodded, shoving the covers back beside me in an offering.

Darius pushed the door shut, kicking his shoes off and getting into bed beside me. The familiarity of his company made me instantly relax and I leaned against him as he shifted closer to me.

He sighed heavily, sadness spilling from him and tainting the air.

“I know, brother,” I said. “Hopefully they’ll be back soon.”

Silence fell between us, but it was the kind that was so familiar to me, it wasn’t at all awkward. Darius and I had always been able to share the same space in quiet contentment, and I was so fucking glad that was still the case now the Guardian bond was broken.

“You know I love you, don’t you, asshole?” Darius broke the silence after a while and I looked at him in surprise.

“Are you about to ask me to elope with you now Tory’s out of the picture?” I teased and he thumped my arm.

“I’m serious,” he growled and my brows raised as I sensed something was up.

“What’s going on?” I asked and he shook his head marginally before huffing out a line of smoke.

“You just never know what’s going to happen. And the second I get a chance to go after my father, I’m going to take it. I don’t know if I’ll survive that, Lance, so I’m saying what has to be said in case I don’t.”

My chest constricted at the thought of losing him, and though I knew he was right and that any of us could be in peril any time we stepped outside The Burrows, it was also easier to pretend that wasn’t the case than to say goodbye every time someone I cared about walked out the door.

Of course, at that thought panic welled in me over Blue having left without me seeing her, but Gabriel had taken them somewhere far away and he’d have seen that they were safe there. At least, I fucking well hoped so.

I considered saying something stupid to lighten the mood, or taunting him more for saying he loved me, but as I met his pained gaze, I found I couldn’t do that. And instead, I leaned my head against his and sighed, “I love you too, brother.”

“In this life and the next,” he swore, my chest tightening at the words because it sounded like he really thought he needed to say them. But the man I knew wouldn’t just give up on hope like that. Where was the arrogance? The self assurance? The utter confidence that he could win this? I needed to remind him of who the fuck he was and how certain I was that he would win that fight just as soon as we could destroy Lavinia and allow him to have it.

“You’re bigger than him,” I said firmly because it was more than true now. He’d let me measure him in his shifted form last week and by my calculations he was over a ton heavier than his father in Dragon form and nearly six feet longer too.

“And still growing,” he replied, a faint smile on his lips though it didn’t touch his eyes like even that fact didn’t make him feel any more confident.

“Stronger too,” I added. “Plus now that the twins are off learning from another teacher, I’ll have more time available to dedicate to you. And we have plenty of bones so we can get back to honing your skill with borrowing Elements from the dead.”

His smile grew more genuine at that and he nodded. “I would enjoy seeing the look on his face when I wield dark magic against him,” he admitted, his eyes brightening at the idea.

“That’s my Dragon,” I said, slapping his arm bracingly and he snorted in amusement.

We broke apart and I reached into the nightstand drawer.

“Are you getting the lube?” Darius asked and I barked a laugh.

“No, I’m getting the vibrating Mammoth Shifter tusk you enjoyed so much last time.”

Darius chuckled as I grabbed hold of Diego’s hat, turning back to face him and my eyes fell on a dark figure standing in the doorway, the door wide open as he stood staring at us.

“Fucking hell,” I cursed. “What the fuck are you doing, dickwad?”

Seth stepped into the light with a whimper, eyeing the bed. “Can I join? I haven’t had pack snuggles in ages. My skin’s getting touch starved and Cal and Max went to bed.”

“No,” I said instantly but Darius flipped the cover down beside him.

“Come on then,” Darius patted the space, and I clenched my jaw as Seth shoved the door shut then whipped off his shirt, sent his shoes flying in two different directions and dove onto the bed beside Darius. But instead of staying there where I could ignore him, he climbed over Darius and started nestling his way between the two of us.

“Oh my stars, this is so comfy. Isn’t this the best?” He tugged the covers up around us and nuzzled into Darius’s head before trying to do the same to me. Which I certainly did not allow.

He tucked his hands under the blankets and started wriggling, bringing up his hand again a second later with his sweatpants and boxers in his grip, tossing them across the room on a gust of air magic.

“By the stars, are you naked?” I seethed, trying to move away from him as he rubbed himself against me. I swear I could feel the side of his fucking ass cheek on my leg. “Stop it this instant.” I shoved him hard against Darius and he tipped his head back with a mournful howl.

“I have to have full bodily contact,” Seth complained. “It’s a need of my Order. You guys can get naked too, I don’t mind.”

“Fuck no. Go find some Wolves to rub yourself on, for the love of the moon. Or I bet Washer would be up for a cuddle with you,” I suggested.

“Or just shift if you have to be fucking naked,” Darius commanded and the shift rippled down Seth’s flesh, nearly shoving me out of the bed entirely as a massive white Wolf appeared in his place and the bed creaked from the weight of us all. His tongue lolled out of his mouth and he swiped a paw at Darius who rolled his eyes before tickling his chest.

Seth promptly fell asleep, but his tail kept wagging under the covers, making the bedsheets ruffle.

“I don’t know what I’m more uncomfortable with, being in this bed with that animal or putting on a hat that hasn’t been washed for months, maybe years,” I said, eyeing the thing in my hand.

“Can’t you use your water magic on it?” Darius wrinkled his nose.

“I’m afraid I’ll wash the souls right out of it,” I said, imagining hearing Diego’s tiny screams as he raced away down the drain and deciding against that idea. “Anyway, let’s see if Diego has anything more to offer us.” I pulled on the hat and held out my hand to Darius.

Just before I was dragged into the shadowy depths of the enchanted knitwear, Darius gripped my hand tightly and he was pulled along with me.

I expected to hear Diego greeting us, but the voice that spoke took me by surprise.

“At last, I’ve been waiting for you to come here,” the unfamiliar voice said and my heart leapt.

“Who are you?” I demanded, though it was more of a thought than me physically voicing it.

“Miguel Polaris,” he said, sounding nervous. “I’m Diego’s father.”

I immediately pulled back, panic rushing through me. “Let’s get out of here, Darius,” I commanded, withdrawing from this dark place we were floating within.

“No – wait! Listen to me,” Miguel begged. “You were there the night I was freed, Lance Orion. The night Darcy Vega killed my wife Drusilla with her Phoenix fire.”

I paused, sensing Darius pulling on my psyche urgently, but then I recalled this man shouting at us to run that day, like he’d wanted us to escape that place.

“What do you want?” I asked hesitantly.

“I want to repay Darcy for what she did. She returned my mind to me. Drusilla had me bound to her control by the will of the Shadow Princess. Many years ago, I was captured and enslaved by her, for my power is strong and so long as it runs in my veins, my strength aids the Shadow Princess. Drusilla wanted to birth a son equally strong, combining my power with hers, but I was simply a pawn, fed so much of the shadows that I was drowned in them. The darkness infected my mind for so many years as Drusilla prayed to Lavinia to keep me drunk on their endless power, to keep me compliant and practically braindead. But now Drusilla is gone and I have awoken. I see my life clearly for what it has been. My poor son is dead. I hardly got to know him at all and now I have nothing left but an ache for vengeance in my heart.”

“How can we trust you?” Darius hissed. “You could be working for them.”

“I can do no harm to you here. All I can do is show you memories of the past. I was never weaved into the web of souls, but I managed to save a thread from Drusilla’s glove when she died that has since allowed me to connect to this place, to my son.”

“Please listen to him, Orion,” Diego’s voice came out of the dark, a plea so desperate in his tone that I knew I had to give Miguel my attention.

“Alright,” I said. “What is it you want to show us?”

“You must understand that the Nymphs are not all loyal to the Shadow Princess,” Miguel said hurriedly. “Many of us are enslaved as I was, but many more are in hiding.”

“Wait, what if Alejandro is able to hear this discussion?” Darius hissed.

“He cannot see anything but the memories in the web,” Miguel promised. “And he is no longer uploading memories here himself, believing it a pointless endeavour now that his sister is dead and there is no information to be shared.”

“So what is it you want to tell us?” I asked.

“I know what you are doing,” he said excitedly. “You closed one of the rifts and have weakened the Shadow Princess. She is most aggrieved, and it has been hard to hide my jubilation and pretend I am still a slave among her ranks.”

“What do you know about the rifts?” I asked hopefully.

“I don’t know their locations, but I do know how you can find them. You see, I was there the day Vard was gifted a shadow eye. I know of its power. And I believe it can be used to find the rifts.”

“Are you saying we need his eye?” Darius asked in confusion.

“Yes,” Miguel said eagerly. “It is no normal eye, it’s infected with the shadows. If you could make a spyglass strong enough to hold it, I believe it could show you the locations of the rifts.”

“How are we supposed to get close to that asshole?” Darius asked.

“Perhaps you can think of some way,” Miguel said anxiously. “For if you can find those rifts and close them, you will be able to block Lavinia off from her power.”

My heart drummed harder at that. If we could weaken her entirely, cut her off from the shadows, then not only could we end her, but it could also destroy the shadow curse she’d laid on Darcy once and for all.

“Mierda, I must go,” Miguel said anxiously. “I will try to contact you again soon. Viva las verdaderas reinas.”

His presence vanished and I pushed away from the connection to the soul web, my eyes blinking open as I fell back into my body and yanked the hat off my head.

I looked to Darius across Seth’s sleeping form, a fierce purpose resounding between us.

“How the fuck are we going to get that shadow eye?” Darius murmured.

“We have to find a way into the palace,” I said thoughtfully. “So we just need a plan and the balls to pull it off.”