Zodiac Academy: The Awakening As Told By The Boys

I tore down the Pitball pitch with Orion’s voice ringing in my ears as he roared his encouragement from behind me while I kept the heavy earthball tucked tight beneath my arm.

‘Take them down!’ he bellowed, all signs of the miserable Cardinal Magic Professor banished while he gave in to his love of the game. I only wished he could have been living his dream of playing in the League rather than having to throw his passion for it into training us. It wasn’t even like he’d be coaching any of us into the League ourselves – at least not any of the Heirs, because our fates were written for us even more firmly than his had been.

The rest of the team ran at me from the other end of the pitch, all of them set against me as I charged and tried to get a pit against the odds. I relished the challenge of it. The swell of my muscles, the rampant thumping of my heart, the pounding of my feet across the mud and thrum of my magic at the surface of my skin. 

Seth howled as he raced to intercept me, the ground trembling beneath the might of his earth magic as he willed it to take my feet out from under me.

I threw my free hand out, casting a bridge of ice above the ground too and making my boots stick to it just enough to stop me from slipping as I raced across it at full speed. 

Seth tried to leap up onto the bridge to stop me, but I melted it everywhere he tried to land, laughing as he cursed me and circling away from the main force of the team ahead before trying to cut back towards the looming pit in the centre of the pitch.

Caleb came for me next, throwing out flames to melt my bridge but instead of fighting them, I encouraged them, letting my bridge fall apart as the flames engulfed me and hid me within them.

I changed direction sharply, quickly casting an illusion which looked like me and sending it sprinting out of the flames in the opposite direction to the one I was planning on taking.

‘Come at me you rascal of a reptile!’ Geraldine boomed from beyond the fire and the ground trembled as she sent earth magic chasing after the fake me.

I sent the flames up in an explosion as I dove out of them, closing my eyes just before a blinding flash erupted from them and the rest of the team cried out in shock, cursing me.

‘I’m blind!’ Seth wailed. ‘I’ll never see a hot rack or a rocking cock again!’

I laughed as I opened my eyes again and I sprinted on, racing back the way I’d come and finding my tricks had worked on almost every member of the team. But as I turned my head to look for Max, my stomach plummeted. Of course the Siren had been able to sense the lack of emotions in my decoy, but where in the stars was he-

A body crashed into me from above and I swore as I was crushed beneath Max as he plummeted from the sky with a booming laugh, using his fucking air magic to get the drop on me.

The pitball fell from my hands and rolled aside as I was forced to fight him off, coating my fists in ice and fire as I began to pummel him. 

Max laughed as I punched and swore at him, trying his hardest to keep me locked beneath him while the others raced closer.

But with a surge of effort, I managed to get my knees up between us and threw him off of me.

With a Dragon’s roar, I threw my hands up in the direction of the rest of the team as they raced towards me and fire bloomed from my palms in a wave of power that sucked me dry as I expelled it to hold them back.

I grabbed the ball and started sprinting practically before my feet were even back under me again.

A clamour of noise sounded from behind me as the rest of the team all fought to get through the wall of fire and I grinned in triumph as the pit loomed ahead of me.

I felt the moment my magic shattered, my power burning through and leaving me tapped out and the roar of a challenge which sounded at my back only urged me on as the team took chase.

The earth bucked beneath me, air blasted into me, fires bloomed around me and a torrent of water crashed into my spine but just as I felt someone’s hands on my back, I launched the pitball with all of my strength.

I slammed into the ground, my shirt tearing down the back as someone tried to yank me backwards by it a second before a heap of bodies landed on top of me and I was crushed beneath them.

But despite my face being pressed into the mud and the weight of all of them crushing me down, Orion’s bellow of celebration still found me as my ball landed in the pit.

‘That’s how you fucking play Pitball!’ he roared and a mixture of curses and cheers sounded from my teammate as they all scrambled off of me.

I shoved myself upright, a laugh on my lips as I scraped the dirt from my face and the other heirs all leapt on me, thumping my back and congratulating me on a brilliant play while promising to do even better themselves the next time we practiced.

The flash of a camera caught my eye and I glanced up at the empty stands in time to see the camera go off again, a middle-aged looking Fae snapping away furiously.

‘No paparazzi are allowed on academy grounds!’ Orion shouted, shooting past us in his own mud stained pitball uniform as the trespassing Fae squeaked in alarm and took off as fast as he could.

He raced out of sight a moment before Lance caught up to him but the scream that followed said he hadn’t gotten away.

‘The stars only know why they’d be snapping pictures of you four lugamuffins anyway,’ Geraldine said, drawing my attention to her as she bent in half at the waist and started stretching, touching her toes and pointed her ass at us. ‘No doubt they were hoping to catch a glimpse of the beauty of the true queens and the camera went off by accident.’

‘Nah, Grus,’ Max replied, his gaze moving over her ass unashamedly as he pushed his fingers through his mohawk. ‘They wanted to get a snapshot of the four of us looking like a housewives’ wet dream. And clearly they got it.’

‘Pish posh,’ Geraldine replied, straightening. ‘I can admit that the Dragon boy is one devilish specimen if you discount his entire personality, but the mutt needs a haircut more than I need my lawn watered twice a day, and the biter can only pull off the pretty boy polished ensemble – mud and muck does not become you.’

‘Hey,’ Caleb snapped. ‘I look plenty good all rough and ready.’

‘I’ve never known a rough and ready man to sport a manicure, you puffed up pompom,’ she laughed. ‘And don’t get me started on the solemn salamander.’ She waved a hand in Max’s vague direction dismissively then strode away with her little royalist buddy, ending the conversation without so much as a warning.

‘And what about me?’ Max called after her, striding along to catch up. ‘You didn’t mention me!’

‘You are the fish, you bothersome barracuda, the salty seabass, the dangling dogfish, the puffed up pufferfish, need I go on?’

‘Is that because I’m a Siren?’ Max asked, stalking after her while the rest of us trailed behind. He always let her drag him in to her nonsense, but it seemed like way too much work for me.

‘People say my hair is nice,’ Seth muttered, running his fingers through his long, dark locks while he scowled at Geraldine’s back.

‘It’s shit hot, man, ignore her,’ Cal replied and Seth instantly perked up, sidling closer to him.

‘You think? Because I think you look totally fuckable right now all covered in mud. In fact, I’d definitely suck your dick if you wanna go get drunk in the shimmering springs again like the last time when we-‘

‘Speaking of fuckable, you should have seen how hot Tory Vega looked pinned beneath me while I bit her in Fire Elemental earlier,’ Caleb interrupted him, shooting a smirk at me. ‘Don’t you think so, Darius?’

‘Girl looks fuckable every time I lay my eyes on her,’ I replied sardonically, refusing to rise to his bait.

‘Hell yeah she does,’ Seth agreed. ‘I mean who would have expected the Vega twins to be so fucking banging?’ He bit down on his fist with a groan. ‘What do you think the chances are of us convincing the two of them to join us in an Heir/Princess orgy before we have to kick them the hell out of here?’

‘Well seeing as there would be four dicks and a pair of siblings in that fantasy, I’m going to be saying no thanks,’ I interrupted him. Besides, one Vega was more than enough for me and I had my focus firmly fixed on her. I didn’t know why because the two of them looked identical and yet…they just weren’t. Not to me. Roxy Vega had captured my attention and she wasn’t letting it go any time soon.

‘Boo,’ Seth complained. ‘You’re so fucking vanilla, Darius. I swear if I wasn’t convinced you fuck like a hellion with all the anger of the Devil at your back, I’d be convinced you were a boring lay. I bet you’ve never even sucked a cock, have you?’

‘Dude, you’re the only one of us who likes a side of dick with your pussy, that doesn’t make him vanilla,’ Caleb said with a shake of his head and I snorted my amusement.

‘Don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it,’ Seth replied instantly, giving Caleb a nudge. ‘I’d be gentle with you…or rough? When you fantasise about it, how would I be? Do you wanna top me or would you be down for me topping you because I promise that when you-‘

Caleb cast a gag of leaves to cover Seth’s mouth and I laughed as he glowered at him over it.

Just as we made it to the door of the locker rooms, Orion called out to stop me and I turned back to look at him as he shot across the pitch to meet us.

‘Uncle Lionel has been trying to get hold of you,’ Lance said with a bitter tone to his voice which spoke of our shared hatred for my father. ‘He kept calling while I was trying to shove that photographer’s camera up his ass, so I had to just smash it and tell him to fuck off instead.’

I gave him a tight smile at the joke which was probably pretty close to the truth and nodded my head.

‘Alright I’ll call him now,’ I agreed, looking forward to the idea of that about as much as I would have been to an enema.

‘I’m gonna run a few laps of the pitch before I call it a night, then I’ve got my liaison with the blue twin.’

‘Make sure you find out all you can for us,’ I urged and he nodded.

‘I’m on it, you know you can count on me.’

I headed away from him as he started to run his laps and made it into the locker rooms as the rest of the team were heading out to get back to their evenings.

‘You coming, man?’ Seth asked, bouncing on his toes excitedly. ‘The moon is high tonight and I’m feeling frisky.’

‘I gotta check in with Father,’ I said and the three of them groaned sympathetically for me. ‘Just go on ahead and I’ll catch up when I’m done.’

I waved them out of the room and they left me to it, none of them bothering to change out of their Pitball uniforms as they headed off covered in mud. It was our tradition to get dinner while still wearing our trashed, muddy Pitball training gear after practice so none of them bothered hitting the showers.

I sighed as the door swung closed behind them and tugged my Atlas from my bag before dialling my father’s number and sitting down on one of the benches. I slipped a hand into the side pocket of my bag and tugged out a handful of golden rings and a couple of thick gold chains which I tossed over my neck and dropped beneath my shirt. I pushed the rings onto my fingers and released a slow breath as the heat of the gold against my skin soothed a little of the tension in my chest and I slowly began to draw some power back out of the precious metal to replenish myself. I’d have to sleep surrounded in the stuff to fully top up, but this at least would take the edge off and give me something to work with for now.

I cast a silencing bubble around me as I waited through the rings and leaned my head back against the wall, closing my eyes while I waited for him to answer. The asshole was expecting my call, so this was all just some power play bullshit while he no doubt sat in his fucking office and just watched the phone ring.

‘Darius,’ he answered finally just as the call was about to cut out.

‘Father,’ I replied in the same dry, flat tone he used with me.

‘I take it your training went well.’

‘Very,’ I agreed. ‘We should destroy the opposition in our first game of the season.’

‘Well if you didn’t that would be highly embarrassing,’ Father agreed in a curt tone. ‘Let’s cut the pleasantries though, boy, you know why I’m calling.’

Pleasantries? The only pleasant interaction I could recall having with him was when I’d bid him farewell when I’d moved into the academy. Fuck him.

‘The girls are tougher than we expected,’ I said, knowing he was pissed about the fact that they were still here despite us only having had a few days to work on getting them out.

‘Or perhaps you and the other Heirs aren’t cut out for the task?’ he suggested. ‘Because it seems to me that the attentions of the four boys destined to rule over this kingdom should be more than enough to intimidate a few practically mortal girls.’

I swallowed the lump in my throat at the coldness of his tone, my entire body locking up at the underlying threat in his voice.

‘You wouldn’t want to fail me on such a simple task, would you, boy?’

‘No, Father,’ I replied, my voice just as cool and unwavering as before. I knew well enough not to ever let him see he had me rattled. 

‘Good. I’ll expect you home for dinner this weekend with your brother and I. Hopefully you will be able to show him a good example of how well you managed to deal with this threat to your rule. Because if you don’t get rid of them then their continued attendance to your academy is going to end up with undesirable consequences. And neither you nor Xavier should really need any more lessons in undesirable consequences, should you?’

‘No Father,’ I ground out, my hatred for this beast of a man eating me alive from the inside out almost as much as I hated myself for the knot of tension which filled my gut at his words.

It wasn’t even the threat to me which had that fear building inside me, though I could gladly admit I was no fan of his fists laying claim to my body, but it was the implication that he would include Xavier in this. That he would punish my brother if I failed to get rid of the Vegas as if he could be held in any way accountable for it. But that wasn’t what this was about. Father knew I was able to take my own punishments now no matter if I hated them. I’d learned how to take my beatings and hold my tongue. I’d grown accustomed to seeing the colour of my own blood. I could break a bone without screaming. I knew the rhythms of that well by now. But Xavier wasn’t like me. He couldn’t help but flinch when my father raised his fist, and I couldn’t bear to allow him to meet the end of it because of my failures. 

Father liked to tell me often enough that love was weakness, and I knew he was aiming to prove that to me every time he hurt me by hurting my brother. But I’d do all I could and all I had to to stand between him and the monster who had raised us.

‘They’ll be long gone by then,’ I swore, pushing my hand into my hair and gripping it by the roots.

‘They’d better be.’ Father cut the call and I had to fight against the urge to hurl my fucking Atlas away from me and allow it to smash into a million pieces against the far wall.

I breathed in and out deeply through my nose as I fought to contain my rage and then I let myself channel it in the direction it needed to be aimed. At the Vegas. The two lost girls who had had the misfortune to be found again. It didn’t really matter what I thought of my father’s orders – it never did. All that mattered was getting them out of this academy and out of the running for the throne as soon as possible. So I guessed I was just going to have to up the ante.

I pushed to my feet, tugging a spare Pitball shirt out of my bag and pulling it on to replace the one that had been torn off of me before looking back out to the pitch. Orion was still running laps and I called out in goodbye before leaving him to it and heading back out of the Pitball stadium and started to walk towards The Orb.

I chose a path that led through The Wailing Wood and tried not to let my feet drag as I thought about my father’s threats and my brother’s predicament stuck in that fucking house with him. I couldn’t wait until this time next year when he’d be at the academy too, at least offered safety with distance from the man who had sired us for a lot of the time if not all of it.

I strode down the familiar paths with my head full of my father’s words and my mind on meeting up with the other Heirs again so that we could come up with some new strategies to rid ourselves of this Vega infestation.

But even as I tried to consider how best to make their lives unbearable, I couldn’t help but think about the defiant glint in Roxy’s eyes as she’d stared me down after her initiation. I wanted to capture that look and bottle it to keep with me at all times. That look had made me feel more alive than anything had in a long damn time and the thought of having to run her out of here before I’d even gotten the chance to taste it again made my jaw clench with irritation. But this wasn’t about me or my insignificant desires. When had anything I’d desired ever mattered anyway? I was just a pawn in my father’s plans and he’d given his instructions clearly enough.

A flash of blue light out in the woods caught my attention as some student cast it out there and the animalistic growl of someone in their Order form carried to me on the wind. I ignored it, not interested in anything any of the other students were up to tonight and knowing they wouldn’t dare disturb me anyway. I may not have been at full strength by any stretch of the imagination, but the gold I was wearing had given me enough magic to toy with if I needed it and I continued to draw energy from it with every passing moment that it remained in contact with my skin.

But as I strode down the path, I spotted someone up ahead of me who had frozen at the sight of the light and my brows arched as I managed to pick out the outline of her profile in the moonlight which crept through the trees. The stars must have been favouring me tonight.

I wet my lips as I took in the sight of Roxy Vega standing there, the predator in me sensing her fear like I could scent it on the wind and my father’s threats ringing in my ears.

I hated the person he forced me to be sometimes. But nothing mattered more than protecting Xavier from him. So with that in mind, I pushed aside the rioting thump of my pulse as I took in the sight of the girl who had claimed all of my attention since the moment she’d arrived here and flicked my fingers, sending a wave of heated energy slamming into her and knocking her off of her feet.

That knot in my gut tightened as she screamed in fright but I ignored it, finding that place in my soul where I retreated whenever my father raised his fist and blocking out anything I may have felt aside from the need to get this done.

I strode forward as she rolled over, throwing a hand up defensively as she yelled, “Get away!” while squinting up at me in the dark as I came to stand over her.

Fire flared in my palm as I surveyed her and disappointment filled me as I realised this wasn’t my Vega at all. It was the sister. Gwendalina. The one with the blue tips in her hair. I hadn’t really had much to do with this one yet, so I wasn’t entirely sure how to expect her to react. 

I slapped a wide smirk on my face as I looked down at her and decided to test her grit for myself.

“Whoops didn’t see you there, Vega.” I held out a hand with a deep chuckle, knowing she’d see through that bullshit and expecting her to rip into me for it like her sister would, but this one didn’t take the bait like I’d expected.

Gwendalina reached up and took my hand, her gaze wary and untrusting as she let me heave her to her feet while I felt her trembling a little from the fright I’d given her. 

“Was that you out there trying to scare me?” she demanded, raising her chin and jerking it towards the darkness of the trees to our right.

“Out where?” I asked in a bored tone, dampening my disappointment over not finding her sister here and wondering why I even gave a fuck which one of them it was. I released her hand and pushed my fingers through my dark hair, feeling mud in it from the practice and scruffing it up to cover it a little.

“Over there.” She pointed into the trees, shifting closer to me and making me wonder if it had been me who had frightened her at all. Was she seriously looking to me like I might be safer to be around than whatever she thought was out there? 

“Dunno what you’re talking about,” I said, glancing into the trees and seeing nothing there. It would have just been a student in their Order form or something anyway, she was only afraid because she was practically a human, not used to things going bump in the night.

I suppressed a sigh, my disappointment over finding the wrong twin mixing with the dark feeling in my chest as she looked to me for comfort when I knew I was the thing she should have been fearing. I needed her gone, but scaring her in the woods didn’t seem like much of a way to achieve that and suddenly I just wanted to get away from here. To find the other Heirs and form a solid plan to drive the Vegas out without having to look into her eyes as she sought out something in me which wasn’t there. I wasn’t good. I wasn’t her rescuer. I was just my father reborn, exactly how he wanted me to be. No matter what thoughts I may have had on the subject. At least not while he still ruled over me. I made a snap decision and made a move to leave, not wanting to have anything more to do with that fearful look in her eyes.

“See ya.” I went to walk away from her but she caught my arm, her fingers digging into my bicep as she halted me and I looked down at her in surprise, unsure if I should have been bracing for an attack or not. 

“Would you mind maybe…just walking me out of the woods?” Gwen gave me an imploring look and for a moment I wasn’t the monster in her eyes. I stilled as I took that in, wondering why the hell she’d look to me of all people for help.

I quickly covered my surprise by snorting in amusement. “You scared, Vega?”

“No,” she insisted but that was absolute bullshit and we both knew it. She cleared her throat as she went on. “I just don’t want to get lost in here. I’ve got a meeting with Professor Orion in five minutes.”

Last I’d seen, Orion was still running laps of the Pitball pitch and I was willing to bet he’d be stopping for a shower before heading to their little Liaison so there was no chance of him being on time for that. “Pfft, he’ll be late anyways, you’re not in any hurry.” I tried to shake her off but to my confusion, she held on tight.

I opened my mouth to tell her to get off of me, but she beat me to it with a single word which somehow pierced through the asshole in me and made me pause. “Please.”

Fuck how many times had I said that word to my father in hopes of making his punishments stop? How many times had I heard it spill from Xavier’s lips with the same wish? 

I didn’t give a damn about some terrified little Vega Princess all scared and alone out in the woods, but that fucking word. That one plea which rang in my ears with the taste of my own blood coating my tongue. 

Fuck it.

I sighed heavily then turned around and yanked her along with me, walking fast and forcing her to keep up whether she liked it or not. I wasn’t going to give too much thought to what I was doing or why I was helping the girl I’d just promised to get rid of. It had nothing to do with her anyway. This was just me trying to prove a point to myself. I just wanted to know that no matter how monstrous I became while being forced to walk in my father’s shadow, I still held a little light of my own which he couldn’t smother. I could still be my own man when I wanted to be. And I wouldn’t be a callous creature who ignored a plea for help when I heard it.

Gwen stumbled along at my side, and we both stayed quiet as I led her through the woods, heading straight for the closest exit and wanting this strange interaction to end as quickly as it had begun. 

But of course the stars had decided to spurn me for not taking the opportunity I’d been gifted and a voice called out to me before I could complete this simple task.

“Bro!” Seth howled a moment before he burst out of the darkness still wearing his mud stained Pitball uniform despite the fact that the material was half torn off of him. “Who’s your date?” he asked excitedly as he reached us then scowled as he recognised her. “Don’t tell me you’re hanging out with a Vega?” he mocked and I released an internal sigh. So much for me attempting to not be an asshole for once.

Seth tossed a Faelight up over his head to help us all see each other better and the predatory glint in his eyes told me exactly how this was going to go from here as he looked at the girl clinging to my arm. 

“She’s scared,” I explained in a dry tone without bothering to explain what that meant from my point of view.

“I’m not scared,” Gwen insisted but she definitely sounded scared, so she wasn’t convincing anyone.

Seth’s eyes lit up with excitement and I almost said something, almost told him to just leave it and let her get to her Liaison…but I didn’t. Because the moment my lips parted, I remembered my father’s threat and I knew that there wasn’t ever going to be any kind of choice that I would make which would sacrifice my brother’s safety for the sake of some frightened girl I didn’t even know. So I bit my tongue and hardened my resolve and ignored the piece of me which spat words in my mind accusing me of being just like him. The man I hated above all others. But maybe I had to be like him to defeat him. And if that was the case then so be it.

Seth moved closer, running his hand over my arm then moving to nuzzle Gwen’s hair like he was greeting a member of his pack. Except the move was all Alpha and domineering, meant to show her her place, though she lurched back and scowled at him rather than accepting it. 

“I’ll walk you out, babe.” He took her free arm, trying to tug her away from me and I was almost relieved at that. To just let him do what he was planning and have nothing more to do with it. Then again, that probably made me worse than I already was because I knew that look in his eye and he was out for blood tonight. 

Gwen looked to me for help and my gut twisted sharply. Why the fuck did she have to keep looking at me like I might have been something I wasn’t? Why was she trying to have faith in me when I had none in myself? I wasn’t her saviour. I wasn’t even my own saviour yet. And the sooner she realised that the better, so I just gave her a cold stare in reply. But as Seth went to drag her away to do fuck knew what, a word spilled from my lips which made him pause. 

“Wait,” I said, my lips tilting into a cruel smile as I offered her the only thing I could – two monsters instead of one. Though she would be better off for it whether she knew that or not. “She needs to give me a proper goodbye first.”

Seth shoved her back towards me with an excited laugh, because I hardly ever joined him in this kind of game. But I knew him, knew how he got and he would be satisfied by me playing along which would curb his darker intentions. 

“Kneel,” I commanded, lacing my voice with Coercion and Gwen dropped to her knees, glaring at me with a look of betrayal in her eyes which only pissed me off. Because why the fuck was she laying any kind of faith in me in the first place? I didn’t need her looking at me like that. I needed her to see what I was and if this was what it took to do it and to make sure she never made the mistake of expecting something better from me again then so be it.

“Kiss my foot.” 

I barked a laugh as she instantly did what I’d commanded, letting the feeling of the power I held over her stamp out any other feelings as I gave myself to this game and refused to back down. 

Seth laughed raucously. “Let’s make her dance for us,” he suggested. “Max and Caleb should be here any second, they’ll lose it when they see her doing the cha-cha-cha.”

“Don’t you dare,’ Gwen snapped, her hateful gaze on me as she finally banished any silly thoughts of me being a shining knight in favour of seeing me for what I really was. And that was good. Because it was all I was ever going to be to her.

I took her arm, dragging her to her feet with a vicious smile as I gave in to that dark in me and let it swallow me up.

“I have a better idea,’ I purred, watching the panic flare in her eyes and knowing I should relish that. This was what I had to do, what it would take to shield my brother. 

“Get off of me,” she snapped, trying to pull away as I gave in to the beast in me and allowed the challenge in her eyes to stoke the flames inside me.

I released her and she backed up a few steps, glancing between me and Seth as he moved closer to me, his arm brushing against mine and his smile darkening as he urged me to give in to his pack instincts and I indulged him.

Yeah, this was going to be fun.

“Run,” I barked and she turned and fled without a second thought, falling to the command of my Coercion as I slapped a hand against Seth’s chest to hold him back.

‘Wait for it,’ I said in a low tone as he practically hopped up and down with excitement and a dark laugh escaped me too. This was just a game. The kind all Fae learned to play one way or another and we were just giving her an education in what it took to be one of us.

Seth cupped his hands around his mouth and howled in anticipation of the hunt and the moment she rounded the corner ahead of us, we took chase. 

Our feet pounded against the dirt track beneath us, laughter spilling between us as we pushed ourselves as fast as we could go and I relished the feeling of uniting with my brother and running at his side.

We were gaining on her, rounding the corner and closing in with each step as she ran for her star damned life and the lights of The Orb and the other campus buildings up ahead appeared through the trees.

With every step we got closer and Seth reached out, ready to pounce a moment before she threw her hands out and cast a gust of wind at her back which sent her hurtling forward and out of reach.

I released a surprised laugh and Seth howled again, the call of an Alpha Wolf to his pack as she tore away from us, so close to escaping that I almost felt bad for her when Max and Caleb stepped into her path a moment before she could escape the trees.

She crashed straight into them, almost knocking Max on his ass as Caleb wrapped his arms around her, using his strength to keep the two of them on their feet.

“Woah there, horsey,” he said pushing her hair back as he gave her a hungry look.

She tried to back up but bumped into Max as he closed in on her from behind and he chuckled in amusement as she looked up at him fearfully.

“Out for a moonlit stroll?” he asked, his power humming in the air as he worked to get a read on her emotions.

Seth and I reached them, falling still as we panted through the rush of our run and closed the net around her.

“Let me past,” Gwen demanded, not sounding so scared anymore as she raised her chin and stepped toward Cal purposefully. 

He pushed her back with a grin and Seth caught her, his arms curling around her shoulders as he nuzzled against her again, trying to dominate that fiery temper we’d awoken.

“I need to go,” she growled. “I have a meeting with Professor Orion.”

“Orion?” Caleb asked angrily, tugging her out of Seth’s arms and into his again. “Is he getting blood from you already? Private meetings just for you and his teeth, huh?” He bared his fangs at her and she gasped, shoving him back and fuelling the push with a punch of air magic that forced him to let her go. 

“Lucky for you I filled up on your sister earlier,’ Cal taunted but she wasn’t listening, instead focusing on darting for the gap that had opened up between Caleb and Max.

We all closed in on her, moving as a unit as easily as we drew breath and stopping her attempt at escape. 

“Power of four?” Max suggested with a grin, leaning closer to our prey as he named the game we’d come up with when our magic had first been Awakened and we’d played pranks with it on any unsuspecting Fae we could sneak up on.

“Brilliant idea. That’ll stop Orion feeding from her tonight,” Caleb said with a laugh.

“What the hell are you-” Gwen began, but before she could finish her sentence Max raised his hands and water crashed over her, soaking her from head to toe.

Gwen wrapped her arms around her chest to try and cover the transparency of her white shirt which was now revealing her black bra beneath it but none of us were interested in that. We were playing one of our favourite games and she was about to be the punchline. 

Caleb wielded his earth magic next and mud circled up around her, caking her in the brown sludge and making a laugh tumble from my lips as she wiped the back of her hand over her eyes and blinked out at us.

Seth and I moved to stand before her, his arm butting against mine as we both wielded our power together to finish the look.

I used what little power I still held in my limbs to cast a fire burning in my palms and Seth blasted air magic over the top of it, drying the mud to her body and making her look like some kind of troll that had been living beneath a bridge for the last ten years.

“Argh!” she shouted furiously. “Get this off of me!”

Seth snapped a photo and we all fell about laughing, her utter indignation only making the whole thing funnier as she glared at us beneath the caked-on mud. Some lightness found its way back into my soul as my brothers all clustered around me, laughing and slinging their arms around my neck as the joke broke through the darkness which always lived in me these days.

I jerked my chin towards the trees and we ran off, leaving her there while we continued to howl with laughter. We’d go eat dinner, bask in the success of our prank and leave the discussions over what we could seriously do to get the Vegas out of the academy later. But for now, I was just happy to be enjoying the company of my friends. 

Besides, she’d asked me to get her out of the woods and I’d done it. She’d never requested I didn’t have a little fun with her along the way.