Zodiac Academy 2: Ruthless Fae

I STOOD IN the shower with my head bowed as a river of water cascaded over me. Tepid, barely warm at all. I hardly felt it on my skin as if I’d grown a thicker layer over night. A shield to the outside world. And I willed it to grow thicker still.

My heart was a fish on land, jerking desperately in my chest as it searched for a haven of safety to sink into. Somewhere the pain would stop.

I pushed a hand into my hair, assessing the damage. I still hadn’t looked in the mirror. I’d walked straight past it through the en-suite. But I’d have to look soon enough. Uneven lengths were the least of my concern; where Seth’s knife had sliced too close to the scalp was a hairless patch I wasn’t sure the remaining length would cover.

I turned the water off and the pipes released a shuddering groan. I’d woken early, long before dawn, the memories of the formal playing on repeat in my mind. Over and over.

Tory and I had headed straight back to my room and locked ourselves in here. Diego and Sofia had come to check on us but we’d turned them away. I needed to be alone with my sister. And for once, I guessed she needed me as much as I needed her. What the Heirs had done to Tory… 

My heart jerked again and tears jabbed at my eyes. I was long past letting them fall; my cheeks were red raw from them.

I could still smell the chlorine on Tory’s skin when Orion had pulled her from the water. I could taste the heated air that had rushed up from Astrum’s charred body. I could hear the Heirs laughing, taunting, jeering. And I hated them more than I’d ever realised it was possible to hate someone.

There was one thing that kept playing on my mind. Whoever The Shadow was, they’d won. Murdered one of the few people in Solaria who had tried to help us. And poor Astrum hadn’t just been killed, he’d been obliterated, his body burned beyond recognition. If it hadn’t been for the Tarot card he’d left us and the strange magical aura that had accompanied it, we would still be none the wiser as to who the body had belonged to.

I’m so sorry. I wish I could go back and change last night. I’d do so many things differently.

I stepped out of the shower, drying off before tugging on the jeans and black sweater I’d left slung over the basin. The mirror was fogged up and part of me wanted to leave it that way. But another, more stubborn part of me needed to see the damage.

Maybe it’s not so bad.

Yeah and maybe the Titanic didn’t sink.

I took a hand towel from the rail and quickly wiped it across the glass before I could change my mind. The mist cleared away to reveal a broken girl beyond it with hollow eyes.

My face was clean of make-up, but seemed somehow shadowed like the darkness of last night had seeped into my skin. Never to be washed away.

I lifted my gaze to my hair and drew in a sharp breath. It was longer at the front than the back, the dampness sticking it to either side of my face. I pushed my fingers into it, lifting up the choppy ends to feel the bald patch at the back. I pursed my lips and anger rose like the devil in my blood. A hiccough forced its way out of my lungs, promising more tears but I wouldn’t let them out. Not again.

I hunched forward, bracing myself on the rim of the basin as rage and hatred built up in my throat like bile. My fingers locked tightly on the porcelain edges and my arms trembled with tension. I swallowed hard, forcing back the rush of emotions threatening to overwhelm me. I stared at my reflection, locked in my own gaze and refusing to let this unravel me.

I don’t want to let them win. But I think they already have.

When I’d smothered the storm brewing inside me, I headed back to my bedroom, finding Tory standing by the tall, vertical window. The shutters were open and a fierce wind battered the pane beyond it. The turbine on top of Aer Tower roared and groaned under the onslaught, making it sound like the world was screaming.

Tory was framed by the dreary morning light, my room still cast in darkness. I flipped the light switch and she turned to me, blinking heavily as if I’d jolted her out of some cruel vision.

Her eyes skimmed over my hair and heat blazed along the back of my neck.

“It’ll grow back,” she said, her voice weaker than usual.

I nodded, dropping down onto the edge of the bed and drawing my knees up to my chest. But my pride won’t.

Silence stretched on between us and Tory returned to gazing down at the campus grounds far below.

“What do we do now?” she asked eventually.

“I don’t know,” I answered, feeling more hopeless than I ever had in my life. “Nearly everyone in the Academy wants us gone. Maybe we should listen to them.” It broke my heart to say it; this school had felt more like a home to me than any other place I’d ever rested my head. It was innate. I was Fae. I felt that in the deepest regions of my body. But I’d also never been as unwelcome as I was here. 

Even our last foster dad, Pete, had put up with us being around without much complaint. Here, we were outcasts. Even the few who did accept us, like Geraldine and her followers, they didn’t want us. They wanted their royal princesses. And we never intended on rising to that role. So what good did it do us by staying?

Tory sighed wearily. “I think you’re right.” She moved to join me on the bed, folding her legs up beneath her. The spark of resilience which always lived in her eyes had dimmed to a low-burning flame that desperately needed stoking. But I didn’t think I had enough left in me to do it. “We’re screwed back in Chicago though. Without money, we’ll end up on the streets.” Tory’s brows tugged together as she thought over our predicament.

“We’ll get by. We did before,” I said, but even as I said it I knew it wasn’t a great idea. No doubt our landlord had reclaimed the apartment we’d been renting by now and even if we had been able to go back there, how could we pay for the place?

My Atlas pinged and I reached for it on instinct, glancing at the message on the screen.

You’ve been mentioned in a FaeBook post, Darcy!

Sucker punch.

Maybe some dark part of me was a glutton for punishment because I went right ahead and clicked on the notification.

I won’t shy away. How much worse can it get anyway?

Tory leaned forward to look as the post appeared on the page and my gut knotted and frayed as I read it.

Seth Capella: Here’s a play-by-play of Darcy Vega’s life being destroyed. You’re welcome.

Let’s hope she and her sister are booking a bus home this morning. But on the off chance that they decide to weather out another few weeks in hell, DO NOT assist Darcy with regrowing her hair. Anyone found to be helping her, student, faculty or otherwise will be moved into our firing line alongside the Vega Twins.

And if you hadn’t realised it yet, we’re untouchable. So don’t be our enemy.

#kingsofsolaria #getoutofzodiac #gohomevegalosers

I cringed as the video Kylie had taken of me in Seth’s lap began to play. Tory turned it off before I could relive my hair being cut off and my dignity being stripped away with it.

Tory rested her hand on mine for a moment and I gave her a sad smile. She dropped back onto the bed with a heavy breath and I went to toss the Atlas onto the mattress when another notification sounded.

“What now?” I muttered, glancing at the screen just to check I hadn’t been tagged yet again. I frowned as I read the message from Principal Nova, evidently sent out to the entire Academy.

All students are required to attend an assembly from 8 to 9am in The Orb following the incident last night. Anyone who isn’t present will lose their House one hundred and fifty points and be banned from all social clubs and societies for the coming week.

“The incident?” I hissed. “A man was murdered.” I tossed the Atlas to Tory so she could read it and her brow furrowed.

“Screw House Points. They can dock as many as they want,” she said. “I’m not going.”

I nodded in agreement, not wanting to face a whole school of students pointing and laughing because of my current appearance. I wasn’t quite ready for that. I wasn’t sure I ever would be.

It wasn’t long before students exited their rooms and moved along the corridors; doors banged and people laughed and hollered as they headed out of the tower toward the assembly. It was as if last night hadn’t happened at all. Half of them probably thought we were gone already. And if we’d had any sort of life to go back to, I had no doubt that we would have by now.

The tower slowly grew quiet and the chatter of students carried far away across campus.

I picked at the knees of my jeans, mulling over what to do. “I just wish we had some money. If Darius hadn’t destroyed the cash we had when we came here at least we’d have something back in the mortal world.”

Tory nodded sullenly. “Shame we can’t magic up a big pile of-” she halted mid-sentence, launching herself upright. “Gold,” she gasped, her eyes alight with some idea. She turned to me with a glimmer of her usual self shining out at me. “Darius has an entire room full of gold. And there’s no way he’ll miss that assembly and lose himself precious House Points for Ignis.”

My mouth parted as I realised what she was suggesting. “But even if we could get into his room, how the hell are we going to get back to Chicago? We came here by stardust before and I haven’t exactly seen any of the stuff lying around campus.”

“No… but I bet Orion has some in his office,” Tory said keenly and the fire in her gaze lit a flame in me too. Hope danced and skipped through my chest and gave me something to hold onto with all my might.

“We’ve only got an hour,” I breathed, getting to my feet and hurrying to my closet. I wrenched open the door and grabbed a black baseball cap with ZA written in bright blue letters on the front of it. I put it on to cover my hair and rounded on Tory with an intense look.

“You get the gold, I’ll get the stardust. We meet back here before that assembly ends.”

Tory’s hopeful expression fell away as I moved toward her. “So we’re leaving,” she whispered and the words wrenched at my insides. But it didn’t look like the Heirs were ever going to stop trying to force us out of Zodiac Academy. And they’d almost killed Tory. How could we stay here after that? What if they succeeded next time?

“Yeah, Tor,” I sighed, an anchor dragging my heart deep down into the depths of my body. “I don’t want to go but what choice do we really have?”

For a moment she looked like she was about to cry, then she drew her shoulders back and stepped toward the door with a fierce expression. “Then let’s hurry. No goodbyes.”

I thought of Sofia, Diego, even Geraldine and my throat tightened at the thought of never seeing them again. But Tory was right. We needed to be gone before the assembly was over. And then we’d return to Chicago as if none of this had ever happened.