Zodiac Academy 7: Heartless Sky

Hamish’s hand was locked tight around mine as the combination of our dwindling magic surged between us and we fought to hold back the Nymphs who chased our people in their retreat.

Hundreds had passed us as they ran deeper beneath the ground, following the tunnels which the Storm Dragon and his pack had carved to take them to safety away from this hell we fought in.

The rush had turned to a trickle now as the injured were either carried back or managed to drag themselves to safety. Some brave souls had lingered, healing as many as they could before their power waned, but now it was down to the two of us and our magic was fading fast too.

“We can’t hold them off much longer, Kitty,” Hamish ground out, his teeth clenched as he fought to use every drop of his power to keep the Nymphs from reaching us. The vines we’d cast wrapped tightly around more and more of them, hurling them away from the entrance to the tunnels and the last few rebels who raced towards us in need of an escape from the carnage Lionel had wreaked here tonight.

“I know,” I gasped, a tear burning a trail down my cheek as I hunted for any sign of my boys among the survivors who still fought to get back here. “But I can’t run. Not while they’re still out there, Hammy.”

“Me either,” he agreed, his eyes shining with love for his daughter and my boys combined.

We’d created something pure, him and I. This little bubble of happiness built on nothing more than the foundation of love. 

He had found me as a broken soul, my years of abuse at Lionel’s hands leaving me a husk of the woman I’d once been. And yet he’d coaxed me back out of myself. He’d helped me find out who I really was without a command or bind to hold on me and he’d loved me as that woman. He’d shown me what true love really was and how endlessly beautiful it could be while I healed him of the hurt he’d been left with after losing his wife.

A fearful whinny drew my attention and my heart stilled as I spotted a silver Pegasus galloping towards us, a girl on its back blasting fire at the Nymphs who closed in on them as she cried out in alarm. The Nymphs released their rattle and the fire in the girl’s hands died out just as I recognised her.

“Sofia!” I cried, throwing a hand out towards them and ripping a chasm through the ground with earth magic which sent the Nymphs to the right of them tumbling down into it with screams of fury while Hamish cast a battering ram into existence which crashed into the Nymphs on their left.

“He’s coming!” Sofia yelled, but I didn’t pay her words much attention as I spotted the two figures who were laying before her on Tyler’s back, and I sucked in a sharp breath of recognition as I spotted Xavier’s blood-soaked flesh.

“Hammy, they have Xavier and Geraldine,” I gasped, my grip tightening on his hand as I urged the Pegasus to run faster while continuing to destroy the ground behind him to hold the Nymphs at bay.

Tyler whinnied in alarm as he galloped faster, kicking up mud and clods of grass all around him as he charged towards us with terror in his eyes and as I looked beyond him, I saw why.

Lionel rose up behind them, using his air magic to hold himself above the ranks of Nymphs who still fought to get to us and raising his hands as his gaze locked on the charging stallion and the Fae he carried.

“Cling tight, Kitty, we can hold off that rapscallion,” Hamish said firmly, and though my heart trembled with fear at the sight of the man who had once owned me so cruelly, I raised my chin and tightened my hold on my husband’s hand, lending him all of my power as he threw an air shield up behind our children to keep Lionel from hurting them.

Lionel cast fire at the shield with a force so powerful that it almost fell, but through pure determination and love for our children, we made it hold.

I sucked in a sharp breath as my magic reserves diminished, knowing I was running out and willing the stars to lend me the strength I needed to hold on just a little longer.

Tyler neighed loudly as he raced to meet us, the open tunnel standing wide at our backs, welcoming him in.

“Get on!” Sofia cried as they skidded to halt beside us and a sob burst from me as I took in the wounds on Xavier’s spine, knowing exactly what must have caused them and who the culprit was.

Geraldine was deathly pale, the taint of poison hanging about her which made my heart knot with fear, and I reached out to brush my fingers through her hair before taking Xavier’s hand and squeezing.

“We have to hold him off,” I gasped as Hamish growled loudly, the tug on my magic intensifying to the point of pain as he fought to keep Lionel back.

“Mom?” Xavier groaned and I leaned in to press a kiss to his cheek.

“I have loved you unconditionally from the moment I first found out I was having you. You are my starlit boy, my light in the dark and I am so endlessly proud of the man you have become, my love,” I said, feeling the cold taste of goodbye on my tongue and knowing it was the only way.

“Why are you saying that?” Xavier growled as he pushed himself to sit up, but I knew he knew.

“We can’t all escape him,” I said, my words falling to a cry as my magic shuddered and I knew we only had moments before it would gutter out entirely.

“Live brave and true, my sweetest girl,” Hamish said gruffly, taking Geraldine’s limp hand in his and squeezing tightly as a pained moan passed from her lips. “I know that you will overcome this evil in the end.”

“Tell Darius that I love him,” I whispered to Xavier, my heart shattering at the knowledge that I would never see my boys again while the force of Lionel’s magic crashed against our shield with an unrelenting strength. “The two of you made my life complete even when I could never show you how much you meant to me. My love for you never faltered.”

“Mom, please,” Xavier’s voice broke on that word and pain ripped through me because I knew I couldn’t give in to what he wanted of me.

“Go,” I said, my gaze snapping to Sofia’s before I met with Tyler’s wild expression. “And make sure you love him the way he deserves to be loved.”

They still resisted, Xavier begging us to come with them and I gritted my jaw, steeling myself with all of the power I owned and lacing my voice with Coercion as thickly as I could manage, shattering Tyler’s mental shield as I directed that power at him.

“Run!” 

The command hit him hard and he took off in a gallop, tearing away into the tunnel at our backs while Xavier’s cries of anguish carried back to me in an endless world of pain.

I turned from the tunnel as Hamish pulled the shield in tighter around us, our magic pulsing and cracking while Lionel continued to try and burn his way through it.

It was only a matter of time. We both knew what this was. A final stand but not one we could survive.

I pulled a small blade from a sheath at my hip and met Hamish’s dark gaze as he looked to it.

“I won’t risk him capturing me alive,” I breathed, the pain of that commitment flickering in his eyes as he acknowledged it and drew his own blade too.

“I won’t allow that either, my dear,” he swore, knowing full well what I would be subjected to if that happened. I had suffered far too long at Lionel’s mercy, and I would never be his plaything again. 

“Together?” I asked, pain assaulting me as I looked at this man who had offered me the world and made my life complete long after I’d given up on any hope of happiness for myself.

“Always, Kitty. We are bound as one, you and I.”

I pushed up onto my tiptoes to kiss him, tasting the sweetness of our love in his kiss as our magic stuttered and cracked for the final time, the shield falling apart under Lionel’s assault and his flames burning out as he stepped through the smoke with a victorious smile.

“I never thought I’d see the day that my bride would betray me for the likes of this rebel piece of shit,” Lionel sneered as we broke our kiss and turned to face him, still hand in hand and filled with defiance towards this false king. “I hope the taste of his cock was worth the suffering you will endure for it, Catalina. Because I plan on making you pay for every traitorous moment you spent away from me.”

“You will never have anything from me again, Lionel,” I sneered, letting him see the disgust and contempt I felt for him as my grip tightened on the blade. 

“And you will never be a true king,” Hamish spat.

Lionel laughed cruelly as he stalked closer to us, fire building in his palm as he set his murderous eyes on Hamish, and I knew he wanted to make me watch as he killed him. But I was done allowing Lionel Acrux to take from me. So he wouldn’t be having a single thing more. Not even our deaths.

I looked away from the monster who had stolen my life from me and looked into the eyes of the man I loved for the final time.

“Into the evermore we go, my love,” he breathed.

“Don’t let go of my hand,” I replied and the last thing I felt before I swiped my blade across my own throat was the tightness of his grip on mine. And as he plunged his own blade into his heart and we both fell to the ground together, we held tight to that promise and slipped into the embrace of the stars as one.