Zodiac Academy 8: Sorrow and Starlight

My shouts of fear were muffled by the gag, the shadows never relenting as they tethered me in place.

Darcy was unmoving on the floor, her limbs twisted awkwardly and burns covering her body.

She was leaving me, and the moment she vanished, I’d vanish too. There was no life without her. She was the centre of my existence, my saviour, my warrior, my sunshine.

The heated burn of the Death bond I’d made with Lavinia began to drive into my palm, my heart thumping to a frantic beat.

Lavinia let out a gasp as she felt it too, her hand going to her own heart and I realised that Darcy’s passing would make our vows void, the Death bond would claim us. And there was so much goddamn relief in knowing that, because if Blue was leaving me now, then I was so fucking glad I was going with her. And the shadow bitch would at least fall too.

Lavinia ran toward me with wild eyes, throwing out a hand and releasing me from my shadow binds and gag. She wrenched the door to the cage open, producing a key and unlocking the cuff on my right wrist, a clatter sounding as it hit the floor.

“Heal her!” Lavinia screeched.

I was already running with the speed of my Order, moving faster than the wind before I fell to my knees beside my sweet, broken girl. Pulling her into my arms, I placed my hands to her skin and desperately sought out the hum of magic deep within her. I needed to find that source of power for this to work. I couldn’t heal a mortal, so she had to still be Fae.

“Please, Blue. Please stay with me. I’ve got you.” I closed my eyes, pushing my magic into her flesh and casting it as far as it could reach as I hunted for the fiery blaze of power that lived in this perfect creature. I didn’t have much to work with, but what I did have, I gave to her.

“Hurry up!” Lavinia cried, and I squeezed my eyes harder to block her out.

There, at the very edges of her being was the last of Darcy’s power, swirling like embers in smoke. I drove my magic into hers, offering her everything I had to give, healing her as fast as I possibly could.

“Take everything,” I commanded. “Take it all, Darcy Vega.”

Slowly, she began to heal, the burns on her legs fading first before the soft snap of bones fusing together reached me. I winced every time I found another broken part of her, offering her more and more of my magic in a torrent of power.

I was shaking, my mind beginning to splinter as I teetered on the edge of chaos. I couldn’t bear what I’d witnessed, couldn’t unsee the way Lionel had beaten her and taken her to the edge of death in the most unFae of fights. It was insufferable to me, and my fangs were aching with the need to tear Lionel’s throat out for what he’d done to her. If I ever got my way, I would spend day after day torturing him for this. I’d make him scream as she had screamed and pay him back tenfold for each mark he’d left on her.

At last, she woke, stirring in my arms and curling into me. She was so small; it was hard to believe sometimes that she was one of the most powerful beings in existence. I lowered my head, kissing her cheek, her temple, her hair.

Her eyes fluttered open, her fingers brushing my stubble as confusion crossed her features, and for a moment I could have sworn there was a glint of silver in them, but my imagination must have been playing tricks on me, because they were pitch black now.

“Did we die?” she whispered.

“No, beautiful,” I said heavily, emotion burning a hole in my chest. “We’re still here.”

I feared she might be sad about that, like she’d given up on the world, but then a small smile lifted the corner of her lips and I twitched one back in return.

“Thank fuck,” I breathed, my heart rate levelling out and the Death bond releasing its grip on me. There was fight in us yet.

Lavinia sighed dramatically as the Death bond relieved her of its threat, but I didn’t look her way, my eyes trailing over Darcy as I made sure I’d healed every last cut and break.

“Well, well, what drama that was for the little lovers. And such a romantic ending; someone should really write it into a storybook,” Lavinia said icily, and my head whipped around, my fangs baring instinctively in a warning for her to stay the fuck away. She slinked over to the throne and threw herself onto it with a huff.

“It’s ugly, this throne. I wanted Queen Avalon’s throne. It was so pretty, all red and made of rubies. This one doesn’t like me, it prods and pokes my back like it wants me to get off.”

She shifted further onto it, then whipped a finger in our direction, a coil of shadow snatching my magic-blocking cuff and sending it flying onto my wrist, the metal snapping shut with a harsh finality and cutting off access to my Elements. Not that I had any power left.

Darcy rose from my lap, leaving me on my knees, her gaze settling on Lavinia, a dark strength about her that set my pulse pounding. She’d just been beaten to the brink of death, and resilience still lived in her. Trying to snuff out her light had only made it blaze brighter than ever.

She looked down at me, offering me her hand and I wrapped mine around hers, our bond alight. I rose to stand at her side, the two of us glaring at our captor, all the injustice of the universe making the air thicken in my lungs.

“Come here, pets,” Lavinia summoned us, stroking the dagger at her hip which held the garnet gemstone in its hilt. “The time for storybook moments is over.”

My fingers wound through Blue’s and my muscles tensed in anticipation of a fight, but Lavinia just sighed, looking between us with narrowed eyes, beckoning us closer again.

I glanced at Darcy, and she gave me a nod before we walked forward together, cautiously approaching the throne to stand before Lavinia.

The Shadow Princess cocked her head to one side as she examined us, her lips pursing before she pushed to her feet and closed in on us like a wraith of darkness.

I held Darcy’s hand tighter, my back straightening as I stepped forward to keep Lavinia’s eyes on me.

“Look at that, how he tries to draw the attention onto him.” She clucked her tongue, moving past me to Darcy and stroking her fingers through my girl’s hair, the strands so thick with shadows that there wasn’t a lick of blue in sight. “Lucky, lucky little Princess. What makes you so special, hm? Even Daddy has a fascination with you Vegas. Vega this and Vega that.” She tutted, her soulless eyes landing on me again. “And look at this man you’ve caught in your thrall. So loyal, so adoring. The perfect mate. Well maybe I shall have some fun with this mate of yours; why should you have all the good things?”

Darcy’s features twisted with hatred as she stared at the psycho who had cursed her. “It’s me you want punished, so why not have your fun with me like your lizard king did?” she offered.

I growled, stepping forward threateningly as I snared Lavinia’s gaze.

“You know the deal. If you want blood, then it’s mine that gets spilled,” I insisted. There was no way in hell I was going to let Darcy be tortured again. Once had been enough to fracture my sanity, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever recover from it. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. She was never meant to come here. The price of the curse was my pain, not hers.

“Lance,” Darcy hissed, shooting me a furious look as she pulled her hand from mine. “Don’t say that.”

Lavinia grinned that mad grin of hers as she looked between us, sweeping closer to me and running a hand up my arm before laying her head on my shoulder.

“Perhaps enough blood has been spilled today. There are other ways we can have some fun…” She trailed her hand up under my shirt, her ice-cold fingers caressing my skin, and if I’d thought this day was already a living nightmare that couldn’t get any worse, then the stars were apparently taking that as a challenge.

I fought off the demanding urge to attack Lavinia, force her to the ground and never let her lay her disgusting hands on me again. But the Death bond ensured I remained in place, her willing little pet.

“Get away from him!” Darcy leapt forward with a savage look on her face, her hands outstretched, but no magic sparked in them, though for a second, I swear I could have seen hellfire blazing in her eyes.

Lavinia whipped out an arm and bands of shadow wrapped around Darcy, throwing her to the floor and holding her there. She fought furiously to get free, crying out as Lavinia slithered her hand down to my waistband and a shudder of disgust ran over me.

“Tell her to stop – make her stop!” Darcy screamed and I looked to her in agony.

Her pain made me act and I raised a hand to grip Lavinia’s wrist, but the immediate burn of the Death bond made my heart hammer with an urgency that spoke of an imminent death.

“He will die if he is not willing,” Lavinia explained, licking her lips as she goaded Darcy. “So what will it be, little Princess? Will you see your mate die for you all because you cannot bear to watch him offer me his body?” Her taunting made me so full of violence, it took everything in me not to attack her and try to break her neck. But even if I could manage it, the curse wouldn’t release Blue, and I would die for breaking my vow to Lavinia.

“Please,” Darcy said in a voice brimming with emotion. “Take anything from me, but not from him. Release him from this promise. It’s my pain you want, so have it.”

“But his pain causes you a far deeper torture than I could ever slice into your skin,” Lavinia purred and my grip on her wrist firmed, even as my heart thundered more furiously in my chest, and I struggled to catch my breath. Death was coming for me if I resisted much longer.

My free hand went to my chest as pain splintered through my heart, my breaths heaving and darkness brushing the edges of my vision.

“The Death bond will take him then,” Lavinia sighed in exaggerated disappointment.

“Let her go, Lance,” Darcy gasped in panic and my fingers came loose of Lavinia’s arm, the threat of the Death bond ceasing in an instant.

Lavinia smiled in victory, gripping my waistband and pushing her hand beneath it. I cringed, but the feel of her horrid skin against mine never came, a glow of silver brightening my eyes and a spark of power flourishing down my body. Lavinia yelped, snatching her hand back as if she’d been burned, looking at me in fearful confusion as she backed up a step. And I was wholly fucking confused myself.

“What have you got down there?” she demanded, stepping back further as that silver glow glittered over my skin. “Why are you glowing? What is happening?” The shadows gathered around her defensively, but whatever power this was, I couldn’t wield it. It was a part of me, and yet not, at the same time.

“You can’t have him like that,” Darcy said in realisation, relief coating her words. “It’s the Elysian Mate bond. Lance, your eyes… they’re burning silver.”

Whispers rushed through my head and the voice of the stars themselves trickled through my mind, their power rattling through the centre of me. “A gift, Libra, son of the hunter, for there must be a balance. A light to counter the dark. Your bond will be safeguarded with starlight from this day forward.”

I turned my hands over, admiring the silver light, relief diving through me in a blaze. Were the stars actually protecting me for once? Go fucking figure. But what did they mean about a balance?

Lavinia’s lips peeled back, and she rushed towards me with a shriek of anger. She grabbed my arm, assuring herself she could do so, and the silver light faded away beneath her touch.

“Curse the stars,” she spat, a leash of shadow whipping from her palm and latching onto the collar around my throat. She yanked it tight, dragging me toward the torture chamber beyond the throne room, forcing Darcy to follow with the might of her dark power. “No matter. If I cannot fuck you, then I will make you bleed instead.”

“No!” Darcy screamed, fighting as hard as she could to get free of Lavinia’s control, but all I felt was relief at knowing the shadow bitch couldn’t lay any claim on my body beyond the strike of a weapon.

A wild laugh left me as she forced me into the manacles on the platform in her chamber, down on my knees for her like making me submit meant anything at all. There was only one woman I had ever bowed to, and Lavinia was not her.

She tied Darcy down in front of me with chains of shadow, and she fought desperately to get to me, crying out for Lavinia not to hurt me.

“It’s okay, beautiful,” I promised her through a crazed smile that made her pause, her eyes searching mine as she took in this renewed strength in me. “She can’t have anything more from me than pain. I’m all yours. She can’t touch my soul; it’ll be whole and waiting for you when this is over. So let me bleed for you, my Queen. It would be a fucking honour.”

The first strike of the whip hit my back, the dark magic imbued in it diving deep into the cut she tore into my flesh. A roar left me, and Darcy’s gaze locked on Lavinia, a promise of vengeance within her eyes that made her look like a fierce, transcendent creature of destruction. And I knew that somehow, someday, she would deliver our captor her end. I’d make damn sure of it.

Lavinia had left me in the cage in the throne room, still bleeding from her torture, although she’d had Lionel’s butler, Horace, heal me just enough so I wouldn’t die. That was one of the few times he actually acknowledged I existed outside of escorting me to the bathroom and shouting at me to hurry up with my shower. The clothes he gave me whenever I washed were from the new King Acrux merchandise line, and I swear he took pleasure in seeing me wear them. The shirts were emblazoned with jade Dragons and K.U.N.T. slogans, and I often discarded them instead of degrading myself by wearing them.

Horace hadn’t healed me well this time. There were still lacerations down my back and across my chest that were burning with the aftershock of the shadows, the pain making me drift in and out of consciousness. The dark power of Lavinia’s torture devices had laid a heavy blanket over my thoughts and emotions, stealing me away into their embrace, but I fought it as hard as I could for the sake of my girl.

I preferred it when I was awake, finding Blue there waiting for me, whispering words of encouragement, her kisses pressing to my torn flesh and making me feel new again even though I remained in ruins. But I always lost my grip on her, returning to nightmares where the darkness of the shadows bled into my bones, and I fell so deep into the black that I wasn’t sure I would ever come out of it. That was where the real danger lay, because sometimes I tumbled so far into the shadows that I started to lose my grip on who I was and why I was there. But so far, I always found my way back.

When I returned to reality again, I found Darcy beside me, still awake as she watched over me, though exhaustion was written into her features. She opened her mouth to speak, but instead she gasped, her entire body turning to black smoke.

I reached for her in fright, her voice carrying to me from that dark cloud. “She summoned me.”

She disappeared between the bars, Lavinia stealing her away for who knew what purpose. I could only be certain it was nothing good.

“Blue!” I shouted.

The word echoed back to me from the vaulted ceiling of the throne room, and no answer came in reply.

She was gone.

I waited for her to return with anxiety cutting me to ribbons, the hard floor serving me no comfort and every small movement I made sending fresh waves of pain skittering over my skin. It was tolerable enough when I reminded myself what was at stake, but with my mate back in Lavinia’s clutches, it was difficult to find any of that strength I’d felt earlier in the torture chamber.

The pain was descending again, the shadows writhing under my skin and dragging me back into them. I didn’t want to return to the dark, but I didn’t have any control over it, the lingering effect of Lavinia’s weapons still present in my soul. I was tossed between the shadows hour after hour, tortured within my own mind, their pain my pain, their anguish my anguish.

Where am I?

What am I searching for in this dark and immortal sea of blackness?

I finally felt Darcy’s hand wrapping around mine once more, bringing me back from oblivion and anchoring me in my own body. She was who I searched for, and I could never, ever lose sight of that when the shadows tried to make me forget.

I squeezed her fingers, needing her closer. I knew this was torture for her too, and that she was never going to forgive me for the vow I’d made with the Shadow Princess, but there was no other choice to make in the face of her destruction. I’d told her straight that I would always place myself between her and danger whenever I could, so here we were. And it wasn’t forever.

“What has she done to you?” a female voice spoke that didn’t belong to my mate, then healing magic washed into my skin, followed by a kiss of power that peeled away the worst of the shadows inside me.

My eyes cracked open as the pain subsided and I rasped down a breath at the relief I was being offered, though it was soured by who I found there giving it to me.

“Come to gloat?” I asked icily, dragging my hand from my mother’s through the bars of my prison and pushing myself up to sit against the back wall. It had been her hand after all, not Darcy’s.

Tears ran down Stella’s cheeks in two little rivers and she had the gall to choke on a sob too. She didn’t look like her usual self, wearing navy sweatpants and a white t-shirt, the type of casual outfit I was pretty sure I had never seen on her in all my life.

“Of course not.” Her eyes widened and I realised she was taking in the silver rings that adorned my eyes. “I heard about your Mating, but seeing it now is just…” She trailed off, shaking her head in awe. “Is she good to you?”

“She’s every good thing I forgot existed in this world.”

Stella nodded, more tears spilling from her eyes as if this was all so fucking hard for her to bear witness to. Poor little Stella and her lost dreams. Boo fucking hoo.

“You’re so like him…” She searched my features with an ache in her expression. “It’s so difficult to look at you these days. All I see is Azriel looking back at me, judging me like he always did.”

“He knew what you were,” I muttered, unsure why I was even bothering to entertain a conversation with her.

“And what am I?” she asked in a shaky voice.

“You’re Lionel’s little lap dog.”

“No, baby boy, it’s not like that.”

“Then what is it like?” I drawled, wondering what lies she planned on weaving for me now. Wasn’t she tired of all these games? I certainly was.

“Lionel and I…we had history. We were together once, you know? When we were studying at Zodiac Academy. I was a foolish girl in love with him, with his power. The stronger he became, the more I fell into his shadow, but that didn’t even break my heart. It broke when he arranged for me to marry another man.”

My jaw tightened. “Dad deserved better than you.”

“Yes,” she agreed instantly. “He did. And I gave him better than me. I gave him you and Clara.”

“And now two out of three of us are dead.”

She winced, a sob leaving her throat as she clung to the bars. “I never wanted this.”

“What did you want when you crawled into Lionel’s bed again then, Stella? And what was it you expected when you tried to make me fall in line, when you allowed Clara to Guardian bond herself to that monster?”

“I didn’t know she did that,” she begged. “I thought he loved me. After your father died, Lionel comforted me. He was there for me, and over time my high school love for him returned. Or maybe it never really went away. He had his pure-blooded heirs by then, so I thought…maybe he would want me again as I wanted him. I thought we could all be a family.”

“You mean you thought you’d just replace my father after he was done serving both of your purposes,” I snapped, fury making my blood heat.

“It wasn’t like that. After a while, I came to love Azriel. We weren’t perfect but it was there for a time. It was born of you and your sister. There wasn’t anything we wouldn’t have done for you both.”

“Well congratulations, Stella. I hope you’re happy with your life choices. You can save the tears for someone who actually gives a fuck though. I’m not buying them.”

“You’re still my child,” she rasped, reaching for me, but I shifted away so she couldn’t touch me again and grief marred her features. “I meant to protect you. Truly I did. What is it Lavinia wants from you? Why is she keeping you alive?”

“I’m paying the price to break the curse on my mate. She asked for the debt to be paid in blood, flesh, or bone. My blood is bound to the curse, so those were my options. I can bear any pain or torment, but I vowed to my mate that I would not die, so I will suffer instead and one day we will both be free.”

“You can’t do this,” Stella gasped.

“It’s already done. I can endure anything for her.”

She shook her head, some dawning comprehension in her eyes. “Please, Lance. As your mother, I’m begging you. I’ll speak to Lionel. I’ll have him order Lavinia to release you.”

“Where is this even coming from? I’m your disappointment. You disowned me a long time ago, don’t act like you’re some loving mother now. I’m not going to swallow your lies.”

“Why would I lie? What would it gain me? I may have been angry with you, baby, and I was hurt when you turned your back on me, but we are still Orions, you and me. Do you know why I kept his surname after he died?”

“To keep up the pretence that you loved him?” I shrugged, not really caring.

“No, it’s because that name binds me to my children. After everything that’s happened, I have never stopped loving you or her.” She paused as the loss of Clara hung between us and I felt that long-lived grief pulling at my heart again, reminding me of the fresher loss I’d faced. Darius. Was he with my sister now? Looking down from above, cursed to watch us all suffer until we one day joined him in the stars? I couldn’t stand the grief it caused me, knowing he was gone, that my best friend was lost and had taken so much light with him in his passing.

“My surname isn’t Columba anymore. I’m not a dove, I’m a hunter. An Orion. I am your family whether you want me or not.”

“You are no Orion,” I snarled. “Family loves without condition. I’ve forged my own family through determination, sacrifice, and dedication. They aren’t my blood, but they are bound to me deeper than you will ever be. You don’t just get to love me and expect that to be enough. True love is built on everything that exists outside of the word. It’s showing up when you’re needed, no matter the inconvenience. It’s knowing someone, truly knowing them, and accepting everything they are even where you differ or clash. It’s making effort despite the differences, it’s apologies when they’re owed and forgiveness even when it feels impossible. And it took me so fucking long to become a man capable of those things, in part because of you. But mostly because of him. This false king you claim to love. A man who stole everything away from me and is still keen to take more. If you can love a monster unconditionally then that makes you a monster too. So don’t you dare, don’t you fucking dare come to me on your knees, begging for forgiveness, because you won’t find it. You’re not a part of my family, and there’s nothing here for you in my heart but hate.”

“Please, you don’t understand. I’ve lost everything too.”

“The difference is, you’re the reason you lost it all. You’re the one who pushed away the light and embraced the dark, Stella. I may be tainted, and I won’t ever claim to have a pure soul, but I’ve owned every single one of my sins and never tried to make out that I was anything but what I am. You’ve spent so long convincing yourself that your actions are justified, that maybe you really believe it. But I know the truth of you. You’re corrupted by power and greed, and of course you love Lionel Acrux, because he is the epitome of those things. My father was worth far more than your superficial love ever could have offered him. He was brave and honourable, and he sacrificed himself so that the entire kingdom might have a chance at fighting this malevolent fate we’ve all been handed. You could never have loved him how he deserved to be loved, because he embodies all the things you are not. But I love him. I love him from the depths of my heart, so profoundly that I know he can feel it beyond the boundaries of our world.”

“What do you mean he sacrificed himself?” Stella scoffed in confusion. “Azriel died in a dark magic accident.”

I didn’t correct her, wanting to, but knowing that might just lead to her ordering a Cyclops Interrogation on me. “I found a note he left for me, and in those words, he said he knew what you were. He knew what you’d become. He wasn’t just your pawn, he was a piece on the chessboard himself, and he was well aware that you were playing for the other side.”

“Stop,” she begged, trying to deny the reality I was brutally painting for her.

“He probably even knew you’d stand before me one day and would still expect me to find a scrap of love in my heart for you. But there’s nothing here, Stella. And now you know you’ve lost Lionel too, and you’re all alone with nothing but your insufferable self for company. You think you can come crawling to me now and fake that you care? You think that I’ll seek comfort from you after everything you’ve done?”

“You can forgive me, just give me a chance,” she croaked, and I saw the fear in her eyes of being all alone in the big, wide world, where everything she had put her faith in had abandoned her.

“No. And I hope you live a long, arduous life all alone, with no one but yourself for company, because there’s no greater curse that I could wish on you but that.”

“Baby, please. You’re my boy. My little hunter. I love you. I know things have been difficult, but I’ll make it right. I’ll get you out of here.”

“And then what? Sign me up to your Acrux fan club?” I sneered.

“No,” she whispered, inching closer and tightening the silencing bubble around us. “I’ll free you and find a way to return you to your friends. You and your mate. You and Dar-”

“Don’t you dare speak her name,” I snarled viciously. “I’m in this cage for her. I’m here to break the fucking curse your shadow queen put on her. I’m not going anywhere.”

“What is the curse?” she asked through a whimper, and I didn’t know why I indulged her, perhaps because I wanted her to know the lengths I’d go to for someone I really loved. For someone who would do the same for me, unlike she ever had. And maybe in part, I did it just to see if she really did care what became of me. Or if the lie of her love ran as deep as I believed it to.

“She’s bound to a Shadow Beast. A fucking monster that’s draining her power and will leave her wasted and mortal when it’s done with her. So Lavinia will torture me in any way she sees fit for three moon cycles before she frees Darcy from it. I would rather there was a chance for us than give up and accept the fate the stars seem so fucking insistent upon offering us. I owe her that. And I can bear any pain to the ends of the earth and back for Darcy, but regardless, I entered a Death bond with Lavinia to ensure I don’t fight it.”

“No.” Stella stilled in horror at those final words, her hand going to her mouth as it trembled, and fat tears spilled down her cheeks.

She was shaking her head and for once, her expression didn’t look stitched into place. She looked worn and broken and all too fucking real. She looked horribly familiar too, and memories stirred within me from my childhood. This woman who had loved me and Clara behind closed doors when her theatrics weren’t needed. Because it was just us. And for an uncomfortable moment, that expression made me falter.

She cried in a way that wasn’t loud or for attention. It was quiet and full of pain as she hid her face in her hands and broke to pieces in front of me.

I remained silent, not knowing what to say, doubting myself for being sucked into what could easily just be another charade. But something told me this was the real deal, and I had no clue how to respond to it.

Stella reached through the bars, hunting for my hand and I was so stunned when she took it, clinging to me as she continued to sob and shudder, that I simply let her do it.

“You and Clara were the best thing I ever had,” she croaked as she managed to compose herself a little and look me in the eye. “I wasted so much time being elsewhere as you got older, plotting and scheming, working out how you could both fit into this world Lionel and I were creating. I got lost in dreams of the future we were building. And for every inch of power I claimed, the deeper I fell into that fantasy land. I thought that once I seized the world with Lionel, everything would slide into place, but instead it’s shattered into a million pieces. Lionel holds no love for me, and now I look back at the trail behind me after all these years and I’m finally seeing the destruction I left in my wake. The worst thing of all is that I see that same destruction staring back at me from your eyes. My son hates me, and though you’re still here on this earth, I have lost you as permanently as I have lost my daughter.”

More tears rolled down her cheeks as grief tore her expression apart, and I felt that same grief slicing into me over my sister, a wound never to be healed. The only real thing that Stella and I had in common now.

“I can see that there is no apology deep enough to fix us,” she breathed, a dark acceptance veiling her eyes. “It’s like you say – words mean nothing. I’ve failed in loving you. And now it’s too late to be the mother I should have been. You’re all grown up and full of sharp pieces because of me. The stars have offered you an Elysian Mate only to demand a terrible sacrifice from you. An unimaginable sacrifice.” She squeezed my hand, looking at me in despair.

“You may not be mine any longer, but you are Azriel’s son through and through. I know he is watching you from beyond the Veil, and he’s been there even when I have not. He’s the man I should have loved as devotedly as I have loved Lionel, but I never would have deserved his love in return.”

I took my hand from hers, letting my walls slide firmly back into place between us, seeing the agony it caused her and not caring at all. She rose to her feet, trembling before turning and hurrying away, but I spoke my last words loud enough for her to hear.

“No,” I agreed. “You wouldn’t have.”

The night wore on and I didn’t let sleep take me again, worry carving chasms in my chest as I waited for Darcy to return.

Where the fuck had Lavinia taken her? What was she making her do? What new sins would haunt her after tonight?

Now I was healed, I had the energy to pace, walking up and down in front of the bars, testing their strength here and there. Perhaps I should have stolen a drink from Stella, but the idea of having that vile woman’s blood in my mouth made my stomach churn.

The conversation we’d had kept circling in my mind, riling me up. If she was truly feeling guilty after everything, then that was her burden to bear, and I wasn’t going to show kindness or empathy. She’d shown me none when I needed her most, when Clara had been killed and Lionel had stolen my future away by binding me to Darius.

I paused in my pacing, my hands curling around the bars and my eyes lifting to the vast, arching ceiling of the throne room above while picturing the sky far beyond it.

“Darius, if you’re watching all of this, then I really hope the stars have told you their plans, that this is all just a storm that’s about to clear up so I can see blue sky again. And if that’s true, is there any chance you could send me a sign?”

Silence.

Grief welled in me, my fists tightening on the bars, my fear for Blue pressing down on me too. I felt so fucking helpless in this cage, but I had no other option. Darcy had to be saved, and I had to find a way to get her back to Tory, because together those two were the only answer Solaria had now.

Three moon cycles. That’s all. The grains of sand are already counting down within the hourglass of our fate.

A dark swirl of smoke rushed through the throne room and relief pounded through me as it slipped into the cage and Darcy materialised before me, the shadows wrapping around her body and shielding her nakedness.

I grabbed hold of her, checking her over and she squeezed my arms in reassurance.

“I’m fine,” she promised, though the way her throat bobbed told me something had happened.

“What did she make you do?”

“She gave me to Vard. He sifted through my memories,” she said, a flash of power in her eyes. “I shielded a lot of them, like you taught me, and gave him enough to believe he’d seen everything.”

“Good girl.”

Her eyes drifted down me and her lips parted. “You’re healed.” She brushed her fingers over the place where one of the worst wounds had been on my side. “How?”

“Stella,” I answered in a low voice. “She came looking for forgiveness. I’m not sure if she’s had a jolt of conscience or if she’s up to some game, but I sent her away regardless.”

Darcy eyes sparked with protectiveness for me at the mention of my heartless mother. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For how she treats you. For the fact that you should have had a mother who stood by you your whole life.”

I brushed a lock of hair away from her shoulder and the shadows receded from it, letting me see the blue hiding beneath. I didn’t mention it this time though, afraid it would disappear again the moment I pointed it out.

“She was an okay mother once. And I had my dad too. You’re the one who grew up alone when you should have had the whole world placed at your feet.”

“I saw a vision of my parents on the mountain,” she revealed, a crease forming between her brows. “They could speak to me like they saw me. It was a vision for them in the past, but it was real for me.” She touched her heart as if it hurt her and I took hold of her hand, kissing her knuckles softly.

She leaned into me with a sigh, her hands brushing up my chest and the warmth of her fell against me. I wrapped her in my arms, and she tiptoed up until our mouths met in a slow, aching kiss that drove out some of the darkness in my chest.

“What will happen if I turn mortal?” she whispered as our lips broke apart and I pressed forward, claiming her mouth again, murmuring my answer between kisses.

“You won’t.”

She drew back again. “Will your mate rings fade too? Or will you be stuck pining for a mortal you can rarely visit?”

“Blue,” I growled, furious that she would even voice such a future. “I will save you.”

“What if it’s already too late?” she said in fear.

“Then I will find a way to tear my own magic from my flesh and join you in the mortal world,” I said, the words falling easily from my tongue. “Where you go, I will follow. Have I not made that clear enough to you yet?” I bit her lower lip and my fangs extended, the bloodlust rising and making me pull back so I could think clearer.

She gripped my arms, tilting her head to one side in an offering and my throat ached with need.

“No,” I gritted out.

“Do it,” she demanded. “I hate seeing you like this. You need to feed. Besides, if you latch onto the well of power in me, you’ll know if there’s anything still there or if the Shadow Beast has taken it all. Since Lavinia made it feed again, I can’t feel any power at all.”

Her desperation to know the answer to that broke my resolve, or maybe I was just fucking weak because I was dying to taste her on my tongue, and I was at the brink of insanity.

I lunged forward, clutching her hard against me and driving my fangs into her exposed neck with a groan. Her blood coated my mouth, the sweetness of sunshine dampened by the darkness of the shadows. I tried to connect with the well of her magic, a growl of frustration leaving me when it didn’t automatically flow to me. There were shadows deep within her, concealing my way to that power, but as I pressed my will against them, demanding they part for me, I finally found it. Her magic hit my tongue and I lost my fucking mind, driving her against the cage bars as I stole it for myself, the intense, fiery power of her pouring through me.

She gasped, feeling it too, and her body grew hotter against me, like living fire was sparking in her skin.

She didn’t have a whole lot to spare, so despite how difficult it was to pull away, I finally managed it, easing my fangs from her skin, and raising a hand to run my thumb over the pinprick marks, wishing I could heal her, but the magic-blocking cuffs I wore kept the power I’d stolen subdued. Still, without the hunger burning at the base of my throat, I could think clearer at last.

“It’s still there,” I confirmed, and she nodded, hope dancing in her eyes. It was such a fucking relief to have some good news that the two of us smiled.

“You’re Fae, Blue, and you’re going to damn well stay that way.” I kissed her, picking her up and she latched her legs around my waist. She gripped the back of my neck, kissing me again, her smiles feeding me the strength of an army.

We were going to get through this. We just had to hold on.

“Today was fucking devastating, beautiful,” I said. “But you know what keeps playing on repeat in my mind?”

“What?” she asked, drawing me closer and fisting her hands in my hair.

“The way you looked when you drove that blade into Lionel’s throat,” I said, pressing her harder against the bars and gripping the smooth backs of her bare thighs, the shadows retreating wherever I touched her.

She bit her lip, her head falling back to rest against the bars and a wild laugh leaving her. “If only I’d struck his eye like I’d planned, maybe he’d be dead and gone at last.”

“If you had full access to your magic and Order, you would have destroyed him, Blue. He’s a fucking coward who can’t face you like Fae, and if he ever did, he knows he’d lose,” I said fiercely, and she dropped her head to look at me.

“You always have so much faith in me.”

“You’re a queen destined to rule. I knew that the first moment I saw you.”

“You spent a long time denying it,” she jibed, and I smirked.

“I like to think that me being your asshole professor drove you to greatness.”

“Oh, do you now?” she prodded my cheek and my grin only widened, this small moment of peace expanding around us, reminding me of the time I’d taken her to the bottom of the Acrux swimming pool. This was our little bubble of light, and no darkness could get in. It was purely ours, even if it was woefully temporary.

“Yeah, that and all the fun we had sneaking around campus together,” I said, letting those memories fill me up to the brim.

“I miss those days,” she said quietly, her smile falling, and my heart fell with it.

“We’ll have them again,” I insisted.

“I really, really want to believe that,” she said, her fingers tightening in my hair.

I brushed my hand up her side and she shivered, leaning into me. “I feel so fragile in your arms. I never felt like that before. I’m so close to mortal, I can’t stand it.”

I kissed her gently and she tugged my hair, forcing our mouths to part as fury blazed in her eyes.

“Don’t treat me like I’m breakable. I want you to remind me I’m Fae, that I’m shatterproof.”

“Is that an order?” I asked in low tone, growing hard between her thighs at the power in her words.

“Yes, it’s an order,” she said passionately, and I didn’t need any more encouragement than that. “Don’t you dare hold back on me.”

I gripped her hips then spun her around with the speed of my Order, crushing my chest to her back to pin her in place against the bars and taking her hair in my fist. I tugged her head sideways so I had access to her ear, grazing my teeth along the shell of it and a sigh of desire left her.

“This is a bad idea. I’m angry, Blue, so fucking angry at the world. I’ve got a whole lot of pent-up energy in my veins that I want to let out.”

“I can handle it,” she growled. “Show me the devil in you.”

The mayhem in me flooded out and I let it take over, needing an outlet and wanting it to be her. If she craved the dark in me, she could have it, along with every sin I had to offer. She may have been a creature of sweetness and light, but she held her own vices too, and they complimented my own perfectly.

I twisted us around, lowering her to the floor with my speed, catching her head before it hit the tiles and pushing her legs apart with my knees.

“Yes,” she sighed, reaching for me and I watched as the shadows evaporated from her skin, baring her to me entirely.

I took a moment to admire all that bronze flesh and the way she writhed for me, aching for my touch. I cocked my head to one side, loving that I was the sole Fae on this earth allowed to have her like this.

“Just for me,” I said in a gruff voice, urging a confirmation from her.

“Only you,” she swore, playing with her breasts and making my cock so hard, it was almost impossible to hold back any longer. “You’re my saviour, my felon, my sinister knight. And if you don’t touch me this second, I’ll go mad.”

I tasted my lower lip, pressing my knees harder into her inner thighs, rearing over her and spreading her wide for me, my hands laying on the cold tiles either side of her. “Look at me. And don’t stop looking until I’m finished with you. Forget this place. It’s just us, beautiful. You and me.”

She nodded and I reached between us to shove my pants down just enough to free my aching cock and guiding it against her soaked core. I smiled as she gasped, holding her in suspense and savouring the heat of her as the head of my dick throbbed with need. Her eyes remained locked on mine and my heart rampaged for her as I thrust inside her, driving myself into her tight body as far as I could go and clamping my hand down over her mouth as she cried out.

She bit down on my palm, and I started fucking her in deep, firm thrusts, bracing one arm above her head and pinning her to the floor. My hunger for her spilled everywhere and a waterfall of blue suddenly pooled out around her as the shadows fell away from her hair.

I took my hand from her mouth, admiring her beauty as her body gripped mine and the world faded to nothing around us.

“When we get out of here, I’m going to have you like this every damn day,” I said heavily. “Because I spent too much time at the academy being cautious, letting time slip by where I didn’t see you at all. We’re gonna fuck, and laugh, and love each other, and I’m gonna make you smile from the moment you wake up in the morning to your last moments of wakefulness at night.”

I ground my hips, circling them as I pushed deeper inside her and she moaned, arching her back and clinging to my arms.

“I want that more than anything,” she breathed.

“We’re gonna make it to that future, beautiful.”

Her legs knotted around me, and I scooped her up, flipping us over with a burst of speed and clasping her ass as she straddled me. I enjoyed the view as I fucked her from beneath, watching her breasts bounce and bathing in the sounds of the sultry noises leaving her. She met every thrust with a grind of her hips, giving to me as I gave to her, and we found a heady rhythm between us. She started to shatter for me, legs shaking and her breaths coming in ragged waves, but as tempting as it was to feel her explode around me, I was more tempted to taste her climax instead.

I used my strength to drag her up to kneel over my face, and one long stroke of my tongue had her crying out in delight. She braced herself on the floor as I found her clit and started teasing her, sucking and licking while her hips rocked in time with my mouth, and I brought her to the edge of oblivion before drawing her away from it again. I squeezed her ass in a bruising grip, feasting on her and drowning in the sound of her perfect moans until I finally allowed her to come on my tongue, growling my victory against her pussy.

She went limp as her orgasm shuddered through her and I lifted her up by the hips, placing her over my cock and driving deep into her with a flash of my Order speed, before she’d even realised I’d switched positions again.

“Lance,” she gasped, her hands slamming to my chest to catch herself, and I laughed darkly as I gripped her hips and fucked her through the last waves of her climax, making her ride me just how I liked it.

She clenched tight around my shaft, and I groaned in pleasure at the feel of her, so close to finishing too but wanting to prolong this for as long as I could.

She found her strength again and lowered over me, grinding her clit against my pubic bone as we started fucking in a slower, more intense rhythm, her gaze remaining locked with mine. She writhed against me, chasing another release, and I stroked my fingers between her shoulder blades, making her shiver in pleasure.

She fell into her second orgasm, her pussy so wet and pulsing around me that it took every ounce of concentration I had not to follow her to ruin.

I fucked her in lazy thrusts, slow and hard, the tight buds of her nipples grinding into my chest as she continued to pant in ecstasy. I stretched out her climax with every drive of my cock until she collapsed against my chest, her heated breaths rushing over my skin and her blue hair tumbling around my neck.

I didn’t let her rest for long, rolling us back over and holding her down, taking control of her body and lifting her hips as I started fucking her for my own release. My muscles tensed all over as I channelled every drop of rage and injustice into my thrusts, claiming my mate and casting out all darkness in my flesh in the face of her. This princess who owned me down to my bones, and who I would love to the edges of eternity.

I came with a roar, thrusting in to the hilt and finishing inside her as my fingers bit into the flesh of her hips, keeping her still for me. She reared up, kissing me hard, and I melted into that kiss, pleasure, fire, and fucking brimstone washing over me. Her tongue stroked mine and I was lost to her, possessed by the way she loved me and drowning in the beauty of the starlight which bound us.

My weight settled over her and I held her in my arms, wanting to keep the shadows from claiming her for as long as possible.

“I never thanked you for offering yourself up to break the curse,” she whispered, her mouth falling against the space below my ear as she curled herself into the arc of my body. “I hate you for it, but I love you for it too. I love you so much, I don’t know how my heart contains it all.”

Her words wrapped around me, reminding me that the stars had chosen me for this girl, and as unworthy as I felt of her love, I couldn’t deny that I was made for her. So it had to be true that I could be enough for her, even if it took me the rest of my life to prove it. However long that may be.