Zodiac Academy 5: Cursed Fates

After my night with Orion, my head was left spinning and my body weakened by so much pleasure that I could barely walk straight. He’d carried me back to my room just before sunrise. Exhausted, shattered, whole.

I slept for a few hours and when I woke, I was still smiling. I didn’t think I’d ever get rid of this smile. And I didn’t want to.

I shimmied to the edge of the bed and pushed a hand into my bag on the floor, hunting for my Atlas and wondering how the hell I’d woken up before my alarm considering how little sleep I’d had. But somehow I didn’t feel tired, I felt energised. High on freaking life. Orion was like a shot of adrenaline that made my heart sing and my mind swim with endless happiness. I hadn’t wanted to part from him last night, but I knew he couldn’t sleep that well in my small bed and it had been too risky to head back to the staff quarters that close to dawn. We’d gotten some sleep in the archives, but we’d also had an insatiable appetite for each other that just hadn’t quit.

I huffed as I poked my head over the edge of the bed, trying to see into my bag as I searched for my Atlas. I couldn’t actually remember seeing it since dinner yesterday and I sighed as I realised it wasn’t there. I must have left it down in The Orb.

Getting out of bed, I headed to the shower and was soon ready for the day in my uniform. I used a handy little vanity spell Sofia had taught me to conceal the bags under my eyes before heading out the door with my bag over my shoulder.

By the time I got to The Orb, the tiredness was starting to set in and I yawned broadly as I headed over to join the A.S.S. at our usual table. Tory was there already and I dropped down beside her with another yawn as she raised an eyebrow at me. I offered her a twin look which gave her the answer and she snorted a laugh as I swiped a bagel off of the mountain Geraldine had laid out for us, hiding a grin.

“What dastardly deeds did you get up to last night, Darcy Vega?” Geraldine demanded, leaning in conspiratorially. “It’s unlike you to be late to our morning feast.”

A blush hit my cheeks and I shrugged, unable to give any kind of honest answer.

“Cod in a cornfield! Do you have a young gentlefae who has stolen your affections?” she asked excitedly and Sofia and Diego looked to me too with a keen interest.

“I er…” I tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. “Well, there might be someone I guess.”

“Do tell!” Geraldine demanded, slamming her hand down on the table and making a bunch of bagels tumble down the mountain.

“I can’t,” I said, chewing my lip. “It’s a secret.” At that moment, my gaze snagged on Orion at the far end of the room sitting at a table with Nova and Washer. He rarely came to breakfast and it made my heart thunder as he caught my eye and a smirk danced around his lips before he looked away again. Lips that had been all over my body last night. A mouth that had made me scream a hundred times.

I cleared my throat, taking a bite of my bagel to try and distract myself from how good he looked today in a crisp white shirt and navy tie.

“I would take your secret to the grave and beyond, my lady,” Geraldine swore, marking a cross over her heart.

I smiled guiltily, wishing I could be honest with her. I knew she’d keep the secret, she was just so damn loyal, she wouldn’t dare breathe a word to anyone. But this wasn’t something I could implicate my friends in. It was bad enough that Tory knew, despite the fact that I was so glad she did. It was so nice to be able to talk about it at last.

“I know,” I said, about to come up with some explanation when Geraldine gasped like a wasp had flown into her mouth as she pointed frantically at the door behind me.

I turned in confusion and my heart dipped as I spotted the group of four FIB agents striding into The Orb in their black jumpsuits with high-powered magical weapons strapped to their hips, including a gun and what looked like some sort of taser.

“What are they doing here?” Tory murmured as excited chatter filled the room.

“Nymph attack?” I guessed, sharing a concerned look with her as they strode towards Principal Nova.

She jumped from her seat, seeming just as alarmed by their appearance as everyone else. But they didn’t acknowledge her, two of them grabbed hold of Orion’s arms and yanked him out of his seat. What the fuck??

“Professor Lance Orion, you are hereby detained by the Court of Solaria for fraternising with a student who is none other than a Princess of Solaria.”

Noise exploded around the room and eyes turned towards me and Tory, but I couldn’t see anything but a blur as my world spun and everything became terrifying unsteady. My heart squeezed like it was in a razor sharp vice as I struggled for breath. This can’t be right, there must have been some mistake.

“Oh my stars, does Tory Vega’s sex addiction know no bounds?” Mildred piped up and Tory gripped my hand under the table as eyes swung toward her. Shit, no, no, no.

Every single nerve ending in my body screamed. Panic warred through my body like a flashfire.

I had to stop this.

I had to explain.

But how?

What could I do?

Think Darcy, fucking think!

Nova looked to Orion in alarm and one of the agents slammed some sort of notice down in front of her.

“Wait, just wait a fucking second.” Orion yanked his arms free, swivelling to face the agents with his shoulders rigid. “What proof do you have?” he demanded and I stood up, knowing I needed to do something.

I felt eyes on me from everywhere as whispers snaked their way into my ears.

“What’s she doing? Surely Darcy Vega wouldn’t have fucked a teacher?”

“Why would Professor Orion screw a Vega?”

“Maybe she gave blowjobs for good grades.”

Tory tugged on my arm, trying to make me sit down, but I couldn’t. I was numb. My mind was taking a moment to catch up to what was happening as dread took hold of me in an unyielding grip.

“Lance, what’s going on?” Nova demanded, looking rattled. Washer gazed from Orion to me and Tory with wide eyes, looking like he was desperate to confirm which one of us the agents meant.

“A video file was sent to the bureau just one hour ago showing you being overtly intimate with a student,” one of the male agents explained before grabbing Orion’s arm again.

Fuuuuuck.

My head screamed. My lungs screamed. All of me was screaming except my actual voice. I stood there silent, struck dumb by this news. That someone, some asshole had recorded us together. But who? And how? I thought of my missing Atlas and everything started to slot together. The message from Orion…the library…the archives. Someone had known. Someone had set us up.

“Blathering bandicoots!” Geraldine exclaimed, but I couldn’t look at her or any of the other faces aimed my way.

Darius was out of his seat in a heartbeat, marching towards the FIB agents with the air of a soldier marching into battle. “What exactly are the charges?”

“With respect, this is none of your concern,” a male agent said, bowing his head for a moment before turning back to Orion.

“It’s my concern if I make it my concern. Do you know who I am?!” he bellowed.

“Of course, Mr Acrux.” The man dipped his head again. “But this is the law. And I have a job to do.”

Darius snarled, snatching his Atlas from his pocket and violently tapping out something on it as he muttered under his breath.

My gaze pinned on Orion and Orion alone. Fear sliced into me, tearing apart the fragile sense of security we’d built together. The lie we’d told ourselves that this would never happen. But now it had and I couldn’t think. I couldn’t breathe.

Orion turned ghostly pale and I could see the resignation on his face as the agents spoke to him in a low tone I couldn’t hear. He wouldn’t meet my gaze and I couldn’t handle it a second longer.

I marched away from my table and strode towards the agents as people stood up around The Orb, their Atlases angled at me from everywhere as they filmed the whole thing. A few people were even climbing onto tables to get a better look.

“Let go of him,” I demanded and the nearest agent glanced over her shoulder at me with a serious expression.

“Step back, madam, you will be issued with a court date within twenty four hours. You will have your say then and only then.”

“This is ridiculous,” Darius hissed, his eyes still pinned on his Atlas as he typed out message after message to his contacts.

“A court date?” I gasped, terror winding its way around my organs as Nova’s horrified gaze slid between me and Orion, the reality dawning on her that this was actually happening.

“There must be some mistake,” Washer tried, stepping forward, but the female agent gripped the taser on her belt.

“Step back, sir,” she growled and fear fuelled my movements as two of the men started hauling Orion toward the exit.

“No – wait!” I cried, panic burrowing into me and making a home. I couldn’t let him go. I couldn’t let them take him. “Stop – just listen to me!”

Orion glanced over his shoulder, his face drained of colour and his eyes full of a desperate kind of fear. “Stop, Blue,” he whispered firmly, just for me. But I couldn’t. I wasn’t just going to stand here and let them take him away from me. The moment he stepped out of that door, I didn’t know what would happen. But I was so petrified of whatever it was, that I simply had to try and face down fate.

“Wait please!” I caught the sleeve of the guard holding Orion’s right arm, tugging hard. He tried to shake me off and rage spewed through me. Fire blazed beneath my skin and blasted out of me before I could stop it. The agent yelled in pain, stumbling back as he poured water down his blazing arm to douse the flames.

Shit. No. Fuck.

He took the taser from his belt, aiming it at me and Orion roared a command to stop before what felt like a thousand bolts of electricity slammed into my veins. I hit the ground, tasting blood as I bit my lip and pain exploded through every inch of my body. It stopped as quickly as it had started and my vision cleared, but my body felt drained and I couldn’t access my power for a long second.

I blinked up through the fog of my mind as my ears rang and my heart hammered. Orion yanked himself free of the guard holding him and headbutted the asshole who’d tasered me.

Blood pissed down from the guy’s broken nose and all four agents dove on top of Orion in a heartbeat. He was thrown face down against the nearest table and students screamed and gasped as they scattered to give them room. They wrestled his arms behind his back, locking him in cuffs which glowed blue as they secured them, then they dragged him upright.

Tory was suddenly at my side, helping me to my feet. “Darcy, you have to stop,” she said, her voice breaking, but I refused to listen. I couldn’t let them take him.

Darius was beside her with reptilian slits for eyes and rage spewing from his expression. “I’ll fix this,” he swore before striding after the agents.

I shrugged Tory off and ran after them as they made it out the doors. Students were spilling after us to watch the show and I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I had to do something.

“Lance!” I cried, my voice sounding like glass shattering into a thousand pieces. He didn’t look back. Why won’t he look back?!

“You cannot come with us, Mr Acrux,” an agent said apologetically as Darius marched beside them.

He growled dangerously then shoved his way through them toward Orion, whispering something in his ear before turning away and marching back towards the crowd.

I ran forward, desperate to try and stop this, but a shadow fell out of the sky and Gabriel landed in front of me with anxiety in his eyes. He pressed a hand to my shoulder with an intense look. “You have to stay here, it will only make things worse otherwise.”

“Why didn’t you see this?!” I demanded as I tried to step around him, but his wing stretched out to block me.

I was about to fight him with magic when he caught my hand and tugged me close, a look of fervent emotion in his gaze. “I came as soon as I could. I was at home, I wasn’t focusing on him to receive this vision. But as soon as I got near the academy…” He shook his head. “I’m sorry.”

I shoved my way past him, ducking under his wing and starting to run after Orion with my heart in my throat. Fear tangled with every thought I possessed and turned me into a wild animal. They can’t take him. I won’t let them.

But Gabriel raced after me, his arm locking around my shoulders. “Darcy, this will make things so much worse for him if you go. Please trust me.”

I fell still, my rampant heart slowing as I accepted his words and tears tracked down my cheeks.

The agents marched Orion away from me and I screamed after him, begging him to look back. But he didn’t.

The Heirs appeared beside us as Tory rested a hand on my back. Darius was on the phone within a silencing bubble, pacing frantically back and forth as he spoke with whoever was on the other end of the line. My eyes locked with Seth’s and the second it happened, I knew. I fucking knew he’d done this. Because who else would? He’d even warned me of this very thing happening on his birthday, told me how much it would fuck up my chances for the throne. So he’d bided his time. Waited for his moment to strike, taken my Atlas when I’d been distracted and found that message Orion had sent so he knew exactly where to find us. How to trap us. Now he’d gotten what he’d always wanted and ripped my heart out still beating.

Gabriel’s grip eased enough for me to wriggle free and I ran towards Seth and pointed an accusing finger at that bastard of a Wolf who sought to destroy everything good in my life.

“You did this!” I shouted, feeling Atlases aimed at me from every angle.

Before he could answer, Principal Nova muscled through the crowd, her face pinched in distress. “Miss Vega, go to my office. Now!” she bellowed, making the whole school fall silent with her powerful tone.

My lower lip quivered and terror coursed through my limbs. This was it. It was all fucked. Every day we’d spent together had been foolishly, blindly spent in ignorant bliss. But Seth had been plotting all along to destroy us. Of course he’d never let us win. He’d never just let us be happy. And I hated him more than I’d ever hated anything. It spilled into my veins like an insidious poison that ate into my bones.

I’d kill him. I’d fucking kill him.

Seth stared at me in shock and Gabriel caught my arm again as my gaze fixed on the Wolf I vowed to destroy and Tory took hold of my other hand. The two of them gave me serious, pleading looks that burned into my core.

“We’ll bring her,” Tory announced to Nova who nodded stiffly then she turned back to me with tears in her eyes. “Come on. You have to go.”

My throat thickened and I knew I wouldn’t get near Seth now. But I silently swore on every star in the sky, I would obliterate him for this.

I let them guide me away from the staring crowd, away from the whispers of whore and slut and even worse accusations than that. I was numb as I moved, tears tracking silently down my cheeks as I tried to figure out an answer to this. There had to be a way out. There had to be a chance for us yet. This couldn’t be it. We were meant for each other. I felt it down to my soul. I knew it to be true.

Gabriel slid his arm around my shoulders and Tory clutched my hand harder, neither of them saying anything until we arrived outside Nova’s office and my legs started to shake.

“There’s still the court date,” Gabriel said softly. “They’ll hear both of your stories.” He winced suddenly and I lurched toward him, clutching his shirt in my fists.

“What do you see? Is there a way out of this?” I begged, searching his eyes as I hunted for a glimmer of hope.

His Adam’s apple rose and fell and he cupped my cheek with his hand. “There are many possibilities. It depends…”

“On what?” I demanded, my heart cracking, ready to fall apart. I needed something to hold onto to keep it together. I had to have a shred of hope.

“On both of you, on the stars, on the mercy of the Court,” he said heavily.

“But there is a chance?” Tory asked for me and I was glad because I couldn’t draw enough breath to ask it myself right then.

“I…” Gabriel sighed, giving me a look that said he was about to be brutally honest with me. “He will be punished, there is no doubt about that. But the degree to which he is punished will depend on too many factors that I can’t clearly see. The only hope for the two of you is a lenient judge and even then…” He shook his head. “He will be power shamed, Darcy. He’ll lose his job, they’ll strip him of his place in Solaria.”

I sank down to the floor, losing all the strength in my body as this terrifying reality crushed me on all sides. He was going to take the fall for this. It didn’t matter what they did to me, I didn’t care. But he was a good man, he didn’t deserve to lose everything because of me.

“Up,” Nova’s voice clipped as she arrived. “Inside. Now, Miss Vega.”

Gabriel helped me to my feet as Nova unlocked the door to her office, gesturing for me to enter and telling the other two to wait outside.

As the door closed behind me, silence pressed in on my ears, deafening after the loudness of the crowd. All I could see was Orion’s face the moment he accepted it. That dark truth settling over him, like he was realising what a fool he’d been for ever thinking this wouldn’t happen. What fools we’d both been. But this wasn’t his fault, or mine. It was Seth Capella’s. And I was going to ensure justice was damn well served.

“Sit,” Nova snapped and I dropped into the seat before her desk as she stood on the other side of it, turning her back to me as she faced the window.

The tension in her posture told me how furious she was. But I didn’t care about her rage, all I could think about was Orion being hauled to some prison cell somewhere. Alone. And it made every part of me hurt.

“I’m going to ask you some questions, Miss Vega,” she said coldly. “And you are going to answer them concisely, do you understand me? I don’t want to hear your explanations, those are for the Court now. But what I do need is to get a clear picture of exactly how much damage this is going to cause our school.”

My throat tightened and I forced out the words, “Yes, Principal.”

“How long have you been having an affair with Professor Orion?” she asked, a sharp note of rage in her voice.

I bit my tongue, refusing to confirm anything until I knew what was on that video. A tear rolled down my cheek and I quickly wiped it away.

Her spine straightened in annoyance, but she didn’t turn around.

“Did he force you to have sexual relations with him?” she asked, her voice suddenly filled with sympathy as if she’d just realised the possibility of that.

“No,” I snarled immediately.

No matter what came of this situation, I was never going to let anyone think he forced me into this. I’d scream it from every mountaintop in Solaria if I had to. I loved him. And he loved me too. But it started to seem impossible in that moment. It sounded like a pretty dream I’d painted. The two of us, teacher and student, making it work. When did that ever work?

“Are you aware of the law in Solaria prohibiting teachers from having intimate relationships with their students?” She twisted around and her eyes spewed hellfire at me. “And are you aware that, dependent on what comes to light in court, you may have brought your position at this school under question?”

I took in a ragged breath, but she barrelled on before I could answer, slamming her hands down on her desk and glaring at me.

“Do you understand the seriousness of this situation, Miss Vega?!” she boomed and I nodded, wiping the wet trails from my cheeks as I tried not to fall apart.

She fell silent, surveying me through her soft blue eyes that currently looked as sharp as razors. “I will make a decision on your place at Zodiac after the trial has been held.”

I nodded, a sliver of fear driving deep into my chest. Because losing Orion was the worst thing in the world, but to lose my place here too. My home. It was unthinkable.

“What will happen to Lance?” I whispered, my hands curling into fists as the shadows snaked up from a dark pit inside me and offered to bury my pain. But I wouldn’t let them have it. Not even now, when the hurt inside me made me want to drown in their soothing embrace. I needed the sharpness of it to fight this war. I was going to cling to every venomous drip of it and aim it at the boy who’d caused this. The Werewolf who’d decided to destroy me the moment I’d arrived at this academy. And he’d finally found a way to do it.

Nova gave me a cool look which chilled me to my core. “He’s no longer welcome in my school. And he will be lucky if he doesn’t end up in prison.”

“Prison?” I echoed, horror knotting up my veins. “I know he broke the law, but he’s not a bad person-”

“The Court of Solaria will decide exactly what kind of person he is, Miss Vega,” Nova said with her upper lip peeling back. “Lance Orion has been a good colleague, a spectacular teacher, but he has chosen to scorn his prestigious job in favour of fucking a student. I do not have any pity for that.”

Those harsh words out of her mouth shocked me into silence. Then she pointed to the door, looking bitterly disappointed in me as she turned her gaze to the wall.

I rose from my seat, trembling all over as I opened the door and stepped into the corridor. Tory’s arms surrounded me and I fell apart. Every piece of strength inside me dissolved into nothing and I tumbled into the deepest pit of despair I’d ever known.