Zodiac Academy 7: Heartless Sky

I raised my hands, Phoenix fire licking my fingertips as I listened for the creatures lurking out in the thick bushes running down the side of the mountain.

Orion braced for an attack, his head cocking to one side as he listened for their movements too.

I cast a silencing bubble around us, drawing it in tight so we wouldn’t be heard as we moved back into the cover of the trees.

“How many?” I asked as adrenaline sped through my veins.

“Three,” he said, his eyes darkening to nightshade.

“We’ve handled more,” I said, a part of me excited for the fight. A part which was starting to feel as innate as breathing, and I knew it had everything to do with me embracing my inner Fae. We were born for challenges and the thrill of a battle, and I’d face our enemies now as surely as we’d faced them in that arena. Nothing would ever be as terrifying as that, kneeling on the ground certain I was going to watch the man I loved die. So I could take on any opponent now, I knew it in my bones. Maybe even Lionel fucking Acrux if he decided to show up at my door.

“You should use your speed to circle behind them,” I suggested and Orion looked to me with a frown as another rattle shuddered through the air and I felt it cutting me off from my magic bit by bit.

“I’m not leaving you,” he said simply, raising his sword and setting his gaze on the bushes ahead.

I gritted my teeth at his stubbornness, seeing that primal protectiveness in his eyes which made him act like a caveman.

“How many times do I have to tell you I don’t need protecting?” I hissed.

“And how many times do I have to tell you, that I will protect you regardless?” he tossed back in his stern professor tone which just angered me even more.

“You’re infuriating,” I huffed.

“And you’re cute when you’re angry. Shall we air more facts about each other, Blue, or go and kill some Nymphs?” He gave me a devilish grin and I ran my tongue over my teeth.

Cute? I’ll show him cute.

I raised my hands and blasted away the bushes before us with a blaze of red and blue Phoenix fire, revealing the three Nymphs as they ran up the hill toward us in their shifted forms, their hungry red eyes locked on us and their probes reaching for us as they came. They were like trees come to life, their skin made of a thick barky armour that was hard to penetrate, but certainly not impossible.

I started running to meet them, a storm of hellfire in my veins ready to be unleashed.

“It’s a Vega!” one of the Nymphs cried in a voice that sounded like wood grinding against metal. “Don’t kill her, take her to the king.”

“Not before I get a taste of that magic,” another one grunted and I released a blast of fire that took the form of wings, gliding towards them and knocking two of them onto their backs. The other one was faster, darting toward us and Orion shot past me in a blur of speed, swinging his sword as flames ignited along the length of it before he slammed it directly into the Nymph’s chest. It died with a shriek, bursting into ash as I ran full pelt down the hill towards the other Nymphs who were scrambling to their feet.

Their rattles filled my ears and suddenly a clawing sense of darkness seemed to creep up in the back of my mind. Anger unlike anything I’d ever felt before rose in me and I coated my hands in flames as I dove at the closest Nymph, punching and punching in a wild, feral fury. Its probes tore down my back and a cry of pain left me a moment before I sent a fireball right into its chest, making it grow bigger beneath its ribs and watching as the beast turned to ash before me. A sick satisfaction rolled through me as the fire sizzled out against my palms and power thrummed headily through my veins.

Beyond it was the final Nymph, running straight for me and I raised my hands, my teeth bared as I prepared to take it on. I wanted to kill it for all the suffering my friends had faced, for the people who’d died at The Palace of Souls, for my father whose name had been ruined, whose magic had been stolen by these monsters. And I wanted to do it first hand, and feel it die because of me.

I let my wings burst from my back, raising up so I was on eye level with the enormous Nymph and lifted my hands, waiting for it to collide with me. But before it did, Orion shot into view, swinging his sword and beheading it with a furious blow that made his biceps bulge and the creature’s black blood spray across his chest.

He hit the ground at the same time as the Nymph’s head did, then it burst into ash and Orion looked up at me with a dark smile on his face.

Blood was running hot and thick down my back and my sweatshirt had been almost burned off of me by my wings, the scraps on my chest barely clinging there as the scent of death and embers hung around us.

I flew forward, landing in front of Orion as anger pulsed through me like a living thing.

“That was my kill,” I snarled.

“You’re bleeding and you weren’t casting fire. I wasn’t going to take the risk of it getting close to you like that other one did,” he said, his tone hard.

“I’m not some damsel in distress who needs saving,” I growled, pushing him in the chest which made his fangs snap out as he immediately moved closer. But then his eyes softened as he noticed the blood dripping onto the ground from my back.

“You’re hurt.” He reached out to heal me, but I slapped his hand away. “Why are you so angry with me?” he demanded and a dam of emotion shattered in my chest.

“I’m angry because I’m scared,” I admitted in a rush of words. “Because if you keep trying to save me, maybe one day you’ll put yourself between me and death and it will claim you from me.” Terror coated the admission of my worst fear. “Or maybe you’ll end up in Darkmore again because you make choices for us without consulting me and I’ll lose you all over again.”

“That’s love, Blue,” he said in earnest, capturing my wrists as I went to push him again, just wanting to let out some of this burning rage that was coiling through my body. “You’ve saved my ass countless times, you do it for me, but you can’t bear that I do it in return. And you know why?”

I didn’t answer, my teeth locking together as I fought to get my wrists out of his grip, but he just held them hard and placed my right palm against his thrashing heart.

“Because you’ve never let anyone love you but your sister. You don’t trust the world and you have damn good reason for that, but I’m not your enemy. I know I’ve hurt you, but I did it because I love you in a way that’s bigger than every galaxy in this universe. I was miserable before you showed up in my life, and now you’ve awoken a man in me who I actually fucking like, and I don’t wanna lose him almost as much as I don’t wanna lose you. So yeah, I’m going to put myself between you and death at every chance I get, and maybe that scares you, but it doesn’t scare me, Blue. It gives me a purpose I’ve never had before, and I never want to let go of it.”

“I can’t watch you die,” I said, my voice cracking and giving away my terror over that possibility. “I won’t survive it, Lance. Swear to me you won’t die.”

We’d come so close to death in that arena, I’d almost seen his end and it was the most painful thing I’d ever faced. So now I wanted to be strong enough to take on the whole world and cast a wall of fire around him that no enemy could ever get through.

“I can’t promise that, beautiful.” He stepped closer, releasing my wrists and carving his thumb along the line of my cheekbone instead. “But I can promise that I’ll try my hardest not to die just so long as you promise the same.”

I nodded, leaning into his touch as a burning tear slid from my eye and he wiped it away before dropping his hand. And suddenly the barriers were falling between us and the animal in me was rearing up once more, wanting to draw him closer and equally wanting to punish him for all the pain he’d put me through. But how could I be angry when he’d done it all for me, and now he was Power Shamed and no one would even look him in the eye anymore? It was unbearable.

I let my Phoenix fire flare, rushing down my body and turning my clothes to cinders at my feet, my wings beating softly at my back as I looked up at Lance Orion and offered him everything I was with that single look. His throat bobbed as his gaze fell down me, taking in my hardening nipples and my burning, aching flesh which belonged solely to him. But before his eyes could travel any further south, I extinguished the flames clinging to my body and lunged up at him, my mouth colliding with his as I flapped my wings and rose several inches off the ground.

His hands went to my back, instantly healing the wounds there left by the Nymph and I moaned as he kissed me with deep and demanding strokes of his tongue. A flicker of anger seemed to rise inside me once again, bringing a wave of chaos with it. It consumed me so fully that I tore at Orion’s back and a deep growl left me as it urged me to bite him, my teeth sinking into his lower lip.

Orion cursed in a way that said he liked it but I drew back, finding his lip bloody and my mouth wet with it. Oh shit.

His eyes danced with darkness and he suddenly grabbed me, hooking my thighs up around his hips and squeezing my ass hard as he ground me against the solid ridge of his cock through his pants. He sucked away the last of his blood on my lips and I figured going without him for so long had just made me a little feral. Totally normal to savage your super hot Vampire ex-boyfriend, right? Right.

My nails cut into his shoulders and I sent my flames gliding down all over his body, burning away his clothes without hurting him, not caring about anything but getting closer to him right then.

I raised my hips and the slickened head of his hard cock rutted against my pussy, making me gasp as he tugged me flush against him once more and guided my hips so I ground my arousal all over his shaft.

A whimper of need escaped me and he chuckled darkly as he stole another filthy kiss from my lips, leaving me shuddering in the anticipation of him laying his claim to me.

“Have me,” I begged. “I was yours the first time you called me Blue.”

He sighed like those words were a gift bestowed on him by the stars themselves and he drove himself inside me hard, my wings beating to steady myself as I cried out, my head tipping back and my hair bursting into flames of purest blue.

Orion groaned, his hands squeezing my ass harder as he guided my hips, using nothing but the strength in his arms to move my whole body up and down as he thrust into me again and again.

“Look at me,” he commanded and I raised my head, my eyes hooded with desire as I watched his breaths fall heavily from his chest and the intensity of his gaze sent a flood of pleasure through my core. I gasped and moaned, gripping his shoulders for support while my wings continued to beat and keep us balanced.

It was so intense that I was already building to an impossible high, my clit grinding against his pubic bone with every thrust of his hips and arch of my back, the two of us becoming one perfect being of utter pleasure as his cock pounded against some deliciously sweet spot inside me.

I came in a slow, shuddering wave of pleasure that left me weak, my body moulding to his as our mouths met and he fucked me through every second of my orgasm, his tongue drinking in the taste of pleasure on my tongue.

Then before I could figure out which way was up again, he moved with a bolt of Vampire speed, dropping me to the ground and shooting around behind me. He shoved me to my hands and knees on the dry ground, placing one hand on my back as he knelt behind me and spanked me hard enough to make me cry out.

“Lance,” I begged breathlessly, wanting more, needing it. I desired everything he had to offer. Pain, pleasure, it didn’t matter so long as it was from him.

I let my wings fizzle away and embers sparked around us in the air as he slid his hand up my spine and caressed that incredible place between my shoulder blades, making me shiver for him.

“I’ve gone easy on you, Blue,” he said, his hand moving down to stroke the stinging mark he’d left on my ass, but he made no move to heal it. “But I’ve seen you blossom into the strongest Fae I know right before my eyes. And I know you like this.” He spanked me again, even harder than before, but this time clapping the back of my thigh and making something between a cry and moan leave me.

“So do you wanna find out why my Order is the best at fucking?” he asked cockily and I glanced back at him over my shoulder, his hair dishevelled and his eyes so full of lust it made my pussy throb with need.

“Yes,” I panted, my skin tingling with the need for more of his touch while curiosity burned in my chest.

He smirked as he rose up on his knees, lining his beautiful cock up with my entrance once more and pushing every thick inch inside me in one head spinning thrust. I moaned his name, my eyes falling closed and he spanked me firmly on my ass as I got used to the huge size of him inside me.

“Look at me. I wanna see those stars bursting in your eyes when I make you come,” he insisted and I did as he asked, watching him as he lowered his hand beneath me, finding my clit and the kiss of his water magic met sensitive skin, sending pleasure tearing through my body as his fingers started to move. Fast.

Omagod.

He used the gifts of his Order so his fingers were practically vibrating on my slickened clit and I could barely contain my next orgasm. My hips started rocking with the need for him to move inside me.

“Please,” I panted.

“Brace yourself,” he said with a hint of amusement in his voice and I did so a second before he started thrusting, his cock matching the pace of his fingers and leaving me unable to draw breath. It almost felt like he was vibrating inside me too as he pounded into me with impossible speed and my pussy gripped him tighter, making him growl in delight.

He fucked me harder and faster until I was coming all over his length with garbled noises leaving my lips and another orgasm already chasing the last, pleasure making me weak as my whole body trembled.

He gripped my hips to take complete control, holding me right where he wanted me as he drove himself in and out of my body, his cock rubbing my g-spot while his fingers worked some unholy magic on my over-sensitized clit.

“Again,” he commanded.

“I can’t,” I gasped, sure I couldn’t take anymore, but his hand smacked my ass in a way that sent another wave of pleasure skittering through my flesh.

“You can,” he laughed and I moaned, proving his goddamn point as he showed me no mercy.

My knees chafed on the ground and my fingers clawed into the earth to stop myself from falling forward, taking everything he gave me with a plea for even more on my lips as I realised I wanted to reach the limit he was pushing me to.

As he somehow drew me into another earthshattering release and my pussy squeezed tightly around his shaft, he breathed a string of swear words then stilled deep inside me, filling me up and groaning through his own pleasure, his fingers digging bruisingly into my hips as he gave me every drop of himself. He slowly pumped himself in and out of me a few more times and I let my head fall to the dirt as the strength went out of my body.

He slid himself out of me, falling back onto the ground and I sat up, turning to look down at him in all his post fucked glory, his hair a mess of sweaty strands across his forehead and his muscles so tight as he panted that every one of his abs was perfectly defined. His eyes were on mine, a whole dark haven awaiting me there as a smile hooked up his lips.

“You burned all our clothes off,” he said, then he started laughing and the sound was so infectious I immediately joined in.

“How are we going to get back into The Burrows without being seen?” I crawled to his side, laying down next to him and rolling onto my back to gaze up at the azure sky.

“You clearly didn’t pay enough attention in that lesson, Miss Vega,” he joked.

“What do you mean?” I looked up at him with a frown.

“Vampire speed,” he said. “I can move us as fast as the fucking wind. No one will see us.”

I sucked on my lower lip, still tasting him on it and loving the way his touch had banished all the anger that had been burning in my chest.

“We still need to find the rothium grass,” I said but he lifted a hand, pointing behind me and I turned, spotting some bright pink grass growing there beneath a bush.

“I think we already did.”

I sighed, lending him the warmth of my Order as I lay against him, not wanting to leave this moment between us just yet.

“Are we…back together, Blue?” Orion asked after a while, making my heart squeeze with a thousand good feelings.

“I don’t think we were ever really apart, Lance,” I whispered and I turned my head to look at him, finding some hesitation in his eyes. But he blinked, banishing it, his gaze shining with happiness instead as he leaned forward to steal a kiss that laid a permanent claim on me. One that swore we’d never be parted again, that we’d fight for each other with the power of the moon on the tide, and no matter where each of us went in this world, the other would always follow.