Zodiac Academy 5: Cursed Fates

I charged across the pitch, my fists coated in ice as I locked my gaze on the Aurora Fireshield who was thundering after Cal as he raced for the Pit with an airball in his hands.

I threw a blast of ice at the ground beneath the Fireshield’s feet, a dark smile gracing my lips as he stumbled and I shot forward for the kill. But before I could reach him, my foot caught as vines snaked around my ankles and I crashed to the ground heavily, rolling through the mud with a curse of frustration.

I threw my hand out, a blast of air tossing the Aurora Earthraider flying away from me and she laughed as she tumbled, mud splattering up the back of her jersey and staining the name Oscura which was printed on it.

I cast a blade of ice into my palm and slashed through the vines before leaping to my feet and turned my eyes back to the ball.

The Fireshield took Cal down in a savage tackle just as I spotted them, but he managed to hook the ball away from him before it could be stolen.

With a cry of determination, Geraldine sprinted for it, throwing a tidal wave of dirt into the faces of the opposing team members as she leapt up and snatched the ball from the air.

I charged around the pit to flank her, throwing a solid air shield up around her as the Aurora players battered it with fireballs, water blasts and air strikes of their own. But they couldn’t match me.

Geraldine raced for the pit, throwing a tremendous blast of water at the Aurora Pit Keepers. One of them managed to protect themselves with an air shield and the other fell back into the Pit with a scream half a second before Geraldine slammed the ball down on top of her.

The whistle blew to signal the end of the round and us winning the point and I bellowed our triumph to the stands as Geraldine took off on a victory lap of the pitch. She was screaming in celebration, arms raised in the air as she fist pumped excitedly over the point she’d won and I just watched her with a dumb as fuck grin on my face. Or at least I did until she grabbed the hem of her jersey, ripped it off alongside her sports bra and continued her victory lap completely topless.

“NO!” I bellowed as I charged across the pitch to intercept her, my blood pumping hot as fury charged my limbs.

I cast air at my back so that I shot towards her even faster and within moments, I’d wrapped my arms around her and tackled her to the ground.

“Great warthog balls! What are you doing you cumbersome sea cucumber?!” she gasped as she looked up at me and I kept my chest flattened to hers to shield her from view.

“Stopping you from flashing the entire school,” I ground out in frustration. “And my dad by the way, in case you hadn’t noticed that he was here too.”

“Of course I am aware that your mother and father are here you ten ton terrapin! But why on earth should that matter to me?” She wriggled beneath me, but I refused to move.

I wanted to snap that that woman wasn’t my mother, but of course I couldn’t. “Isn’t your dad here too?” I ground out, not answering her question because she might have had a point. There was no reason why I should care what my dad thought of her…I just kinda did. “And I’m trying to protect you here, by the way.”

“Are you saying I should be ashamed of my buoyant Brendas? Because I’ll have you know that the Fae body is a glorious thing and I won’t have you try and shame me, Maxy boy-”

“You can’t seriously think I have anything other than appreciation for your bouncy Bettys or whatever you wanna call them. I just don’t want them on show for any and every asshole in sight,” I growled.

Geraldine laughed beneath me. “Don’t tell me you want me all to yourself, you oily octopus,” she scoffed and for a moment I could only frown down at her as she mocked me for that idea. Because obviously I didn’t want that. She was the leader of our opposition and seriously annoying with her constant insults and jibes directed towards me and the other Heirs. Not to mention the fact that she drove me to insanity most of the time.

“I think you dropped this, carina,” a deep voice came from above us and I looked up to find Lionel’s pet Storm Dragon, Dante Oscura, standing over us holding Geraldine’s jersey out for her.

“Well, aren’t you the gentle Fae,” she purred, bucking me off of her with a sharp thrust of her hips which took me by surprise and knocked me into the mud.

“I wouldn’t say that,” Dante purred in that fucking Faetalian accent of his that always made girls act stupid.

Geraldine stood to pull her sports bra and jersey back on as Dante looked out over the pitch, whistling at his cousin as she moved back into her starting position. She waved enthusiastically at him as he yelled out to her. “Beat ‘em to a pulp, Rosa!”

“I hear you were quite the beast on the Pitball pitch in your day?” Geraldine asked him as she finally covered herself up again and his mouth twitched into a smile.

“You make me sound like an old man, carina. But yeah, I would have wiped the floor with your team when I played. If I hadn’t had to take charge of the family business, I might have gone pro.”

“Daddy took me to a Blueshine game and I saw your wife playing with-”

“We need to get back to our starting points, Gerry,” I snapped and Dante offered me a grin which made me want to punch his pretty boy face.

“Chop chop,” he said, clapping his hands to herd me along as he backed up to take his Pitside seat again beside Professor Nox. “I want to watch Rosa kick your ass for a second time.”

“Pfft,” I grunted dismissively as I jogged back onto the pitch with Geraldine and headed for my spot in the water quarter.

“Well isn’t he quite the specimen,” she cooed as we ran. “I bet he could give Darius a run for his money in a most smouldering Dragon competition.”

I frowned at her but she was already running away from me, moving into the earth quarter to take up her starting position and I gritted my teeth.

Why is she looking at other guys at all?

“Let them have it Max!” my dad bellowed from the stands as I waited for the starting whistle and I looked up at him with a grin, ignoring the sour trout face on my step-mom.

The whistle blew and a ball shot out of the Water Hole in front of me covered in pale blue ice. I threw a gust of wind at the two Aurora water players, sending them both tumbling away as Gary Jones leapt up and snatched the ball.

I gave chase with a snarl so that I could defend Jones as they raced for the pit, forcing all thoughts of Geraldine from my head.

I held onto my anger though, aiming it solidly at the Aurora Academy team as I took them down one by one with savage tackles and brutal magic attacks.

We were three points up, but that was by no means a big enough lead to start getting cocky. So I got my head in the game and prepared to fight to the death.