Zodiac Academy 7: Heartless Sky

Adrenaline, fear and relief tumbled through me in a potent mixture as I tried to calm the frantic racing of my heart and cling onto the fact that we were okay. Here, now, against all odds almost all the people I cared most about in this world were surrounding me and we were once again out of reach of Lionel Acrux and the Shadow Princess. Though I had to wonder how many more times we would be forced to run from them before we managed to tear them down from their stolen throne and return Solaria to the peace which could only be brought about by their end.

Dante circled down through the fluffy white clouds and I marvelled at the incredible feeling of riding a Dragon while my thoughts spiralled over everything that had happened. His midnight blue scales buzzed with a faint but constant tingle of electricity and the sheer size of him was unbelievable. The only other time I’d ridden on a Dragon’s back had been when I’d escaped the graveyard after retrieving the Imperial Star but the rush of the escape and sudden end to that flight had meant I’d barely gotten a moment to appreciate it. Now that we were soaring across an endless sky with the stars bright overhead and the moon silently watching our passage, I couldn’t help but feel the pure magic of this moment.

I was a girl who had grown up in the foster system in the mortal world. Fighting tyrants and riding Dragons had been the kinds of dreams I never would have even dared to try and wish into reality. Yet here we were. Caught in the thick of a world we’d been born to rule among all forms of magical creatures and cruel twists of fate, and I couldn’t help but feel like we’d truly found where we belonged.

Tory squeezed my hand as I clung to her, and I gave her a smile threaded with tears of relief as I let myself bathe in the fact that she was finally free of her bond to that monster. Free of the shadows, free of the curse which had been keeping her and Darius apart. Shit, so much had changed that I didn’t even know where to begin with it all, but I was just so glad to have her in my arms. And to know she’d never be forced to return to Lionel’s side ever again.

So many of us could have been lost today, but somehow here we were, sailing away from our enemies on the back of a beast of legend, with breath in our lungs and hope in our hearts. At least for now.

The air was icily cold, but my Phoenix had awoken to burn away the chill, and I leant Orion warmth as he held onto me, feeding it from my skin into his. I wanted to just linger there, in that moment with his arms surrounding me and my hand in my sister’s, the night opening up all around us and nothing but peace in this unforgiving sky.

“You took Lionel’s hand, Tor,” I said, in awe of my badass sister.

She glanced back at me over her shoulder, her dark hair whipping around her and I found tears brimming in her eyes, some of relief, some of fear, but the wind stole them away from her as it drove against us.

“He took a lot from me in return,” she replied darkly, a flicker of some untold horror in her eyes which she blinked away hard as she glanced at the others who still surrounded us.

I wanted to ask her more about what had happened since the last time I’d seen her. I knew Lionel must have done something terrible once he’d figured out that she’d broken free of his hold on her, but I also knew my sister and even with the aid of a silencing bubble, she wouldn’t want to discuss any of that here with so many people surrounding us.

Though I couldn’t help but notice the way she was holding Max’s hand where he sat on her other side and the furrows in his brow gave me clues to the emotions he was helping her contain which set my gut churning with an ache that wouldn’t quit. We’d all suffered at the hands of that tyrant. But I guessed the best thing we could do now was focus on the freedom we’d just managed to claim from him.

“Your Star Crossed rings are gone,” I told her in disbelief and she nodded like she knew, like she could feel it. “Maybe he did something so you could be together?”

“Maybe, but…he married Mildred,” she murmured, her gaze dropping to her lap as she gritted her jaw against the pain of that truth and I squeezed her fingers even harder, shaking my head despite the fact I knew it was the truth.

Xavier had filled us in on that when he’d landed on Dante’s back and shifted into his Fae form to rest for a while. Tory had looked out towards the horizon and said nothing while the Heirs, Orion and I grilled him for every detail. The only comfort any of us had managed to find in his story was the fact that Gabriel had contacted the Heirs to tell them they needed to strike at Lionel to rescue Orion and I from the Nymphs, and he had assured them that he was getting Darius to safety.

But none of us knew any more than that aside from the fact the bonds had broken.

We still hadn’t heard a single word from either of them and only my faith in our brother and his gifts gave me any kind of reassurance about them being okay wherever they were.

“What has Darius done?” Tory breathed, the concern in her tone making my chest ache and I hugged her tighter.

“I don’t know, but we’ll find out,” I promised, and she nodded, leaning against me as we just held each other in the wake of so much destruction.

I didn’t let my mind wander to the curse that had been cast on me, the feel of it somehow absent now as I half expected some terrible fate to befall me at any moment. But nothing came. We simply kept riding away to freedom with the wind at our backs and the sense of our small victory surrounding us.

“I can’t feel anything of him anymore,” Orion said in fear and Tory looked at him over my shoulder.

“I’d feel it if he was dead,” she said firmly and Orion’s grip on me relaxed slightly, the tension in his body speaking of how much he feared for his friend’s life.

“Are you sure?” he rasped and she nodded, her eyes blazing with the fire of her Order and I believed her. She was his mate, Star Crossed or otherwise. If anyone knew the truth of Darius’s fate, it was her.

“All of our enemies were at the battle,” I agreed, stroking my fingers over Orion’s arm where it was latched around me, my fingers finding the bare skin where the Leo brand had once marked it. “He must be alright.”

“Yeah,” he said heavily. “Must be.” Though there was a weight behind those words that said he wasn’t going to relax until he could see Darius for himself, but I had faith in my sister. If she was sure he was okay, then he was. Perhaps he was waiting for us wherever we were headed.

I couldn’t bear the thought of him dying. Tory needed him, his friends needed him. And Orion had already lost Clara today, how much more would the stars really take from him? From us?

Xavier whinnied as he flew beside us, his wings cutting through the clouds and his mane trailing purple glitter out behind him. Dante answered him with a soft roar and my gut lurched as he descended through the mass of clouds, dropping down at speed while Xavier chased after us, his hooves cantering through the air.

As we made it beneath the canopy of white, my gaze fell on a snowy expanse stretching out in every direction over rolling hills. An endless forest bordered the horizon, the pines capped with a frosting of snow and the darkness thick between the boughs.

Magic rolled over us as we dropped lower, the hairs rising on my arms and I shivered as an old farmhouse was unveiled below with a large barn standing to one side of it.

There was a crowd of Fae filing inside the house, half of them naked from recently shifting and others in blood splattered, battle marked clothes.

Hamish stood in the doorway, beckoning people past him. His large form, bushy black moustache, mutton chops and bald head were unmissable among the masses. “That’s it! Bring your Nelly Nancys inside. Hot showers and buttery bagels for everyone!”

“How can so many people fit in one small house?” I questioned in dismay as more and more of the battle survivors headed inside.

“There must be some enchantment at play,” Orion said in my ear.

“Hello, fellow warriors – good day – look upon the sky to see the true queens descending among you!” Geraldine called out and my cheeks warmed as the whole crowd looked up to watch us land and a bunch of them started cheering.

She suddenly stood up on Dante’s back, yanking her silver breast plate off and hurling it in Max’s direction, forcing him to catch it, followed by the chainmail, the rest of her armour and her flail until she was butt naked and he was cursing her, demanding she cover herself up again.

But Geraldine ignored him, leaping from Dante’s back as he closed in on the ground and shifting into her enormous Cerberus form, the three heads of her gigantic dog Order lifting to the sky as her paws skidded in the snow and she began to howl.

I had no idea how she was managing it, but between the howls of her three heads, she somehow managed to sing a tune which sounded a whole lot like a royal fanfare and my blush intensified as the rebels all cheered even louder as they spotted us.

I braced just before Dante hit the ground, a tremor rocking through the earth and dislodging some snow from the roof of the barn beside us as he tucked his wings in tight against his powerful body and crouched low to let us all climb off of him.

We made our way down from Dante’s back, most of us using air magic to lower ourselves to the ground while Caleb just leapt down with the agility of his Order.

Xavier landed lightly beside us in his lilac Pegasus form, the shift rippling along him as he fell still and a second later he stood in front of us naked in his Fae form.

“The Acrux spare!” a man cried in alarm nearby, pointing at him. “Quick – someone capture him before he reveals our location to the false King! Somebody – quickly!”

Orion flicked a finger that sent a snowball slamming into the guy’s mouth to shut him up, making him stumble over his own feet and land on his ass and Tory barked a laugh without even bothering to try and hide it. Honestly, the two of them were bad influences on each other, but I couldn’t help but like their little friendship all the same.

“He’s an ally,” Orion barked, glaring at anyone giving Xavier a fearful look.

The people closest to us exchanged glances then looked anywhere but at Orion, the words ‘Power Shamed’ passing between them in horrified mutters. A growl built in my throat and fire magic twisted through me as my rage grew hotter at their dismissal of him.

“Looks like you’re invisible, bro.” Seth’s hand clapped down on Orion’s shoulder, as he stood with his dick out right beside him – his leaf pants apparently having blown away on the wind – and Orion shoved him away so fast, he stumbled into Caleb.

“Xavier is our ally,” Tory confirmed to the crowd and they quickly paid her attention, bowing their heads and nodding their agreement.

“That’s right.” Geraldine piped up, moving to step in front of us and thrusting out her chest as she placed her hands on her hips. She’d shifted back into her Fae form now that she was done howling our arrival to the sky and the hoody someone had draped around her shoulders fell off into the snow, leaving her completely naked in front of them, her ass cheeks clenched tightly. “He is our pure hearted Pegasus friend, a Fae who is as kind as a kimmenfrog on a kipper, and who has fought valiantly beside us this very day.”

“For the love of the moon, Gerry,” Max growled, hurrying forward to grab the hoody and trying to drape it over her again, but she kept elbowing him away as she continued her speech.

“And yes, he may be an Acrux, raised by the vagrant vagabond who has stolen the throne from the true queens, and yes, we may look at him and accuse him of being a cowardly creature with a spine as slippery as a sallion slug. But hear me this day, and hear me ever more, for Xavier Acrux has proved he will fight in the name of my lady Tory and my lady Darcy. He has shown that every glittering speck of his essence is devoted to the true cause, the rightful cause-”

“Can we hurry it along? I’m freezing my cock off here,” Seth called and I glanced over at him as he fashioned himself some more pants out of leaves.

Caleb reached out to touch his arm, the heat of his fire Element blazing under his fingers, making Seth shiver as it flooded into him and he grinned at his crush with so much adoration in his eyes that I had to wonder how Caleb hadn’t noticed it yet.

Xavier’s cheeks had pinked from all the attention that was on him, standing awkwardly to one side as he held his junk beneath his hands.

“Come forth – come forth! Make way for the true queens!” Hamish cried, barrelling his way through the crowd and Geraldine abandoned her speech, running forward to embrace her huge father.

His moustache was flecked with snowflakes and he was dressed in a shaggy fur coat that gave him the appearance of a giant beaver. He had a pile of sweatpants and sweaters in his arms, throwing them out to whoever needed them so our friends could get dressed. The Heirs all moved forward to pile up their Phoenix weapons in the arms of one of the rebels, like they expected to be waited on by these people. The man’s knees nearly buckled under the weight of them all, but he didn’t drop them, even when Caleb grabbed Orion’s sword and tossed that on top of the pile too and a little squeak of exertion left the guy.

Assholes.

Dante shifted into his Fae form, pulling on some sweatpants but leaving his muscular chest bare as he nodded to us and strode off into the crowd like he was searching for someone and I wondered if his family were here.

“Oh daddypops, you fought like a clandestine clatterpuss out there,” Geraldine gushed.

“My dear Gerrykins, you fought like a true warrior of the Naggaluff,” Hamish exclaimed.

“Xavier?” a woman’s voice reached us as she pushed through the crowd and I looked up at the stranger as she darted towards him. “It’s me,” she said, flicking a hand across her face so that her true features were revealed for the briefest of moments and he gasped as he recognised his mother Catalina, running to meet her, the two of them embracing hard and making my heart squeeze. “Where’s your brother?” she begged, a note of terror in her voice.

“I don’t know,” he said uncertainly as she placed kiss after kiss on his forehead and hair, making him turn even brighter red as people watched them, clearly wondering who the hell she was. Though I guessed in that moment she didn’t care about hiding her connection to him or her own identity despite the concealment that hid her true face.

Tory moved forward to hug her too and they exchanged some words quietly as Catalina took in the lack of rings in her eyes, surprise and hope crossing her features. For a moment, I envied the way Catalina looked at my sister, caressing her cheek and checking she was alright. It was almost motherly, something I had never experienced in all my life. But then I remembered everything both of them had been through and buried the feeling deep. Tory deserved that more than I ever would.

I glanced at Orion, finding him watching them with something of the same yearning in his eyes and I recognised the ache in him that lived in me. He was as good as an orphan with his mother aligned with Lionel Acrux, and I wished his father hadn’t been taken from him so young. Catalina’s eyes fell on him and brightened as she rushed toward him, hugging him tight while he fell still in her arms.

“I’m so glad you’re alright,” she whispered and Orion’s eyebrows arched in surprise as she checked him over for injuries like he was one of her own sons. I stepped back to give them some room, knotting my fingers together as I watched them.

“I owe you the deepest apology I can offer,” he said to her, pressing Catalina back and squeezing her hand.

Catalina shook her head in refusal. “You didn’t know he was controlling me.”

“I should have,” Orion growled, his brow pinching with regret. “You weren’t the same woman you were when I knew you as a child. I just thought…I don’t know what I thought. But I should have realised you needed help.” He dropped his head in shame and Catalina cupped his cheek, drawing his eyes back up to meet hers.

“Don’t you ever blame yourself, Lance,” she insisted. “Lionel is the one who did this.”

Orion nodded, though the guilt didn’t leave his expression as she released him and returned to Tory and Xavier, tears of happiness swimming in her eyes.

Orion moved toward me with intent and a gasp rippled through the crowd as he reached out and his fingers brushed mine. He paused, his gaze moving to the onlooking rebels who had a mixture of horror and disgust written into their features as they glared at him and he immediately retracted his hand.

I was about to snap at them for daring to look at him like that, but Tory called my name.

“Darcy?” She beckoned me over with anxiety in her eyes and I moved hesitantly toward her, finding Catalina smiling warmly at me beside her.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

“Xavier still has the shadows, but I think I can remove them now. And I think together it might be even easier.”

She held out her hand to me and I took it, my Phoenix rising to meet hers like they were two halves of the same soul, and maybe they were. That was the way it had always felt between us, like we were made of the very same thing, detached but never quite whole without the other. Calm washed over me and Xavier glanced nervously between us as Tory reached out to place a hand against his chest. My heart beat with trepidation, knowing we needed to remove the shadows from him to protect him from Lavinia so that she couldn’t use them to control him or even worse – to find us here in this place.

“Just don’t freak out,” I warned, and he nodded stiffly.

“Got it,” he said, though a little whinny of worry left him. But I knew we could do this now. After burning the shadows out of Orion, I could feel how to do it, it was like connecting to the best and brightest emotions within me and guiding them forward. It was love and hope and all the things we’d never let Lionel take from us.

I felt Tory’s Phoenix fire twisting around mine and it burned beneath her palm as Catalina stepped closer anxiously, clearly concerned for her son. But Xavier’s eyes told her to trust in us, and a minute later the fire rippled over his flesh and burned within his eyes as it sought out every shadow in his veins and banished them from his body.

He sighed as the fifth Element left him, the relief on his face clear as we freed him from Lavinia’s control and he sagged forward a little as Tory dropped her hand.

“Thank you,” he breathed, hugging us both tight, and suddenly Catalina wrapped her arms around us too and I looked up to find tears rolling down her face.

“You’re a gift sent from the stars,” she whispered and a blush filled my cheeks as I shook my head in denial of those words.

When they released us, I tucked a lock of blue hair behind my ear, heat burning up the back of my neck.

Max tugged on my arm and I turned to him. “Come on little Vegas, they’re not gonna let us in unless you two lead the way.”

I realised the crowd were watching Tory and I closely, and wondered if Max was right about that.

Hamish beckoned us forward again and I moved to walk beside Tory as we followed him through the rebels. Orion walked at my back, so close to me that I could feel him everywhere, and I took comfort in knowing he was there, especially after all we’d been through, but every time I tried to turn back and draw him closer, he fell further away, the distance between us making my heart hurt. And I had the awful feeling it was intentional.

People bowed their heads to Tory and I, muttering thanks to the stars and my breaths grew uneven as the eyes of the rebels followed us. It looked like a lot of these people were royalists, die hard supporters of the Vega line, and it was strange to be the subject of so much attention at once. Even the A.S.S. club hadn’t made me feel this scrutinised.

My heart pounded harder as we made it to the farmhouse and Hamish bowed so low his nose nearly touched the ground, his right arm held out in a gesture for us to head through the door.

“Welcome to The Burrows, your royal highnesses,” Hamish said proudly.

Another cheer went up and Tory glanced at me, our hands finding each other’s instinctively as our souls drew us together. This moment felt endlessly important somehow. Like we were stepping into a future that had been laid out and waiting for us to accept it. Like we were finally treading the path we would need to follow if we ever intended to truly claim the throne for ourselves. And now that Lionel had sat his scaly ass on it, I wanted it more than ever.

Tory leaned in close to whisper to me, “If we ever become queens, my first law will be that no one is allowed to stare at us. And that’ll probably deal with your little stalker problem too.”

“Huh?” I laughed and she jerked her chin to point over my shoulder.

I glanced back, finding Orion hot on my heels again and looking right at me.

“What are you gonna do, throw me in prison?” Orion asked her tauntingly.

“Nah, the punishment for that crime is hourly dick kicks,” Tory said with a smirk, but then her eyes slid to the sky and her amusement died just like that, her thoughts clearly on Darius again. “Does he know how to get here?” she asked in concern.

“We can message him,” I said firmly, looking to Hamish. “Do you have an Atlas we can borrow?”

“Abso-tively,” he said, nodding profusely. “But you’ll need to come inside and make your star vows first. We have Atlases which have been enchanted to keep our location utterly butterly secret. The only ones who can share its location are the official Circle of Covert Keepers.”

“Who are they?” I asked.

“They’re very loyal royalists who may show others how to find The Burrows. Only a select few know of our location to ensure it can never be found by those who wish to harm us. Of course, you ladies will be welcomed into the Circle as will the Heirs if you so wish it,” Hamish explained as we filed inside, following at our backs.

“Are we seriously going to join the C.O.C.Ks?” Tory hissed to me and a laugh erupted from my throat.

We arrived in a small entranceway with wooden floors and a mahogany grandfather clock dominating the space. Hamish moved around us as we all lined up and the front door swung shut at our backs, leaving us all enclosed in the small space.

“Make me one of the Circle too,” Orion insisted and Hamish’s eyes darted toward him before bouncing away again in dismissal and Seth snorted a laugh.

“Don’t ignore him,” I snarled, my hackles rising in an instant and Hamish looked to me in alarm, cupping his mouth with his hand.

“But my lady, he is Power Shamed,” he whispered those two words in horror, barely able to speak them.

“Not to me he isn’t,” I growled.

“I-I-I-” Hamish stammered, trying to grapple with that.

“This’ll make him look at me,” Orion muttered then split his thumb open on his fang, turning his arm over and smearing blood across the inside of his forearm. The mark of the Zodiac Guild appeared like it was a living tattoo beneath his flesh, the silver sword etched with constellations and looking so ethereal it almost glowed.

Hamish let out a noise that sounded like the honk of a strangled goose then fell to his knees, his eyes rolling back into his head as he fainted and hit the floor in an awkward pile.

“Well that backfired,” Orion deadpanned as I hurried forward with Tory and Geraldine to help him to his feet.

“By the stars’ nipples,” he murmured as he regained consciousness. “Pantaloons on the moon – oh gracious, forgive my language, my ladies. I have not seen the mark of the Zodiac Guild in many a year, and to see it worn by none other than a Power Shamed F-” He reared over and retched at those words. “Forgive me, a Power Shamed F-” He retched loudly again and Orion cursed under his breath while the Heirs all laughed.

“You there.” Geraldine whipped around, pointing an accusing finger at Max who looked to her in surprise, his laughter choking out in an instant as he pointed a finger at himself in confusion. “Yes, you, you uncouth codpiece, get my father a chair this instant!”

He nodded several times, looking around for a chair, bumping into Caleb then running from the room and returning with three wooden stools in his arms a minute later.

He placed them down while Geraldine swatted him away and Hamish dropped onto one of them, dabbing at his brow as he regained his strength.

“We mustn’t dilly dally any longer. We must get on with the star vows,” Hamish insisted, beckoning me and Tory forward. He took one of our hands each then drew in a long breath and smiled at us. “Do you Tory and Darcy Vega swear upon the stars to never reveal the location of this place to Lionel Acrux or any of his loyal followers, and never speak of anyone you see here in its depths? And do you also swear to never grievously harm or kill a single person here in The Burrows?”

We both agreed and a clap of magic rang between us before the Heirs moved forward to make the promise next. When everyone had made the vows and Hamish had finally gotten through making the promises with Orion while he retched between his words and had to look out a window instead of directly at him, Hamish stood up again and guided us all towards the ornate grandfather clock.

It was twice my size in height and breadth, the thing looking like something out of a fairy tale with delicate carvings all over the wood and gilded details glimmering in the low light. As I looked closer at the golden dial, I realised it didn’t just tell the time, it told the moon phases, the positions of the constellations in the sky and the phases of the four equinoxes too. A beautiful pendulum swung behind a glass window in the shape of the sun, the continual tick, tick, tick filling the room and seeming even louder up close.

“To enter, you must only speak your intentions towards the Vegas. The clock will detect the truth upon your soul,” Hamish said dramatically. “No one of ill intent can ever breach our beloved safe haven.”

Geraldine stepped up first, tilting her head back and speaking directly to the clockface. “I mean our true queens no harm.” She stepped forward with encouragement from her father, opening the door in the clock and behind it was a dark passage lit by burning sconces on the walls. She stepped into it and the door snapped shut behind her instantly.

Tory went next, looking up at the clock with a cynical frown that said she wasn’t convinced she needed to speak to a clock, but she did anyway. “I mean the Vegas no harm.”

She opened the door then stepped through and I moved forward, repeating the words and heading after her.

A wide tunnel led away from us, carving a path beneath the earth which disappeared into the distance, lit with flaming torches, the walls carved from the earth itself. As I followed my sister into the cool tunnel, I instantly moved towards the nearest sconce, the fire feeding my magic reserves as we waited for the others to catch up to us.

When the Heirs arrived, they stood before us and I felt the weight of the words they’d just spoken sitting there in the dark, waiting for one of us to acknowledge them.

“I guess that proves it once and for all then,” Caleb said with a lopsided grin, breaking the tension.

“That we’re best friends?” Seth asked, bobbing on his toes as he looked between us excitedly.

“I never thought this would happen,” Max said, scoring a hand over his short hair and smirking at us.

“Well, that’s because you were a dastardly dogfish when you met the Vegas,” Geraldine pointed out. “And I am not entirely convinced your dogfish ways are behind you yet, Maxy boy.”

“Oh come on, Gerry, what more do I have to do to prove myself?” Max lamented.

“You could try being less of a troublesome trout, I suppose.” She turned her back on him, heading off down the tunnel with a swing in her hips. But as everyone followed, I remained there, seeking out Orion who was barely visible where he stood in the darkest corner of the passage.

Hamish bustled past him, bowing low to me and calling out for me to follow him, but I found my feet rooted in place as the two of us were left behind.

“Waiting for me, Blue?” Orion asked with a hint of amusement in his voice.

“You look a little lonely over there in the shadows,” I pointed out.

“I’ve always enjoyed the company of the shadows,” he countered. “Besides, I’m a Vampire. I don’t get lonely. Alone is what I do best.”

“Well I guess I’ll just walk by myself then,” I said lightly and he shot to my side so fast it made my head spin, a smirk twisting up the corners of his mouth as he took hold of my arm.

“Turns out, I enjoy the company of your shadow more than any other,” he said in a low voice that set my pulse racing. “So go ahead and walk away from me, Blue, but I’ll be right behind you.”

Neither of us moved, his fingers tightening on my skin and the heat of that single, innocent point of contact setting a volcano erupting in my body. This man was the most intoxicating thing I had ever known, the cinnamon scent of him like a drug lacing the air, making me so goddamn high I couldn’t think straight.

“Thank you,” I breathed. “For everything you did today. I’d be dead if it wasn’t for you.”

His eyes blazed with some dark emotion and I felt the very fabric of my soul crying out for me to move nearer to him.

“Are you okay?” I whispered, thinking of Clara. “Your sister…” Emotion burned the back of my throat at the idea of saying goodbye to Tory. How was Orion even still standing?

He hung his head, a crease settling on his brow as a heavy silence passed between us.

“Honestly, Blue, I thought I would shatter from losing her again. But I…feel relieved.” Guilt crossed his features and I held my breath as I waited for him to go on as he kept his eyes on the ground. “I mourned my sister a long time ago, and I saw the truth today. Her soul was trapped inside that shadow monster and now, well…now she’s free. She’s beyond the Veil where she belongs. She’s with my father.”

The conflict in his words made me raise a hand and take hold of his chin, gaining his attention so his gaze flicked up to meet mine.

“Does that make me heartless?” he asked, searching my eyes for the answer to a question that seemed far bigger than the one he’d voiced.

“No,” I swore, seeing the age old grief in his eyes over the loss of his family, but there was acceptance there too, like a burden had finally been lifted from him. And I got it. As much as it terrified me to even consider having to live a life without my sister by my side, having to accept that she was suffering and aching to pass on would be so much worse. There had been hope for Clara while she was trapped in the claws of the Shadow Princess, but at least now she was free of that torment. She could be herself once more beyond the Veil and maybe she would find peace and happiness there too. “I understand.”

“That’s because you are far too forgiving of my sins,” he murmured and his fingers travelled up my arm, spreading goosebumps tumbling out along my skin as he pushed my sleeve aside to unveil the black handprint mark left there by Lavinia’s curse. But as he drew in a sharp breath, I looked down to find it was no longer there, my skin as smooth and untouched as if she had never laid a finger on me. Shock jarred within me as I stared at the impossibility staring back at me. How could it be gone? What did this mean?

Orion swore then picked me up by the waist, shooting us closer to a sconce and placing me down in the light to inspect the bare flesh with a franticness to his movements.

“It’s gone,” he growled, a note of hope humming in those two words, resounding right down to my bones.

I tried to reach within me for any feel of it, any trace of that dark power which Lavinia had forced beneath my skin, but there was nothing. No whisper of shadows, no clawing darkness trying to drag me down into its depths.

“Do you think…my Phoenix fought it off?” I asked, desperate for that to be true. I could feel the fiery creature within me burning right now. It was wide awake and so immensely powerful, that I was certain this really was possible. I’d seen what it was capable of. It had burned away the shadows from my body, so why not a shadow curse too?

Orion stared at me like I was a star fallen from the heavens, a creature so powerful that it was made of magic itself.

“Yeah…I think it did,” he said, his faith in my abilities clear in his expression. “We don’t know everything Phoenixes can do, and you have surprised me so many times that I’m certain you’ll keep doing so. So yes, Blue, if you cannot feel it and there is no mark, then surely you’re no longer cursed.”

I released a sigh, an impossible heaviness lifting from my shoulders as happiness spilled into my chest like a river pouring into the sea.

“I’ll talk to Tory about it tomorrow then,” I decided as a grin drew my lips wide, not wanting her to worry while Darius was still missing.

Orion’s dark eyes shifted from my arm to my face, relief washing over his features and a youthful smile breaking out on his lips, making the dimple in his right cheek pop. He shot forward, crushing me to the wall, his breaths mingling with mine as both our chests heaved from the proximity of one another.

“You’re fucking extraordinary,” he growled, the hardness of his muscles pinning me there and I wound my fingers into his shirt, drawing him closer, needing to just-

“Sorry, I, er-” Xavier cleared his throat and Orion stepped back as he turned to look at him as he came through the clock. “I was just doing my shoelaces, then everyone was gone, and I forgot the words everyone said. But I, um, figured it out so…”

“It’s fine,” I said, a little flushed as Orion glanced at me with a furious longing in his eyes, making liquid heat spill through my core. But I’d get him alone as soon as we had the chance. I had a lot I wanted to say to him, but I had a hell of a lot I wanted to do to him first.

We headed after the others, the tunnel dropping down steeply beneath my feet until it opened up into a wide cavern with more tunnels leading off of it in every direction. A soft green moss carpeted the floor and all around the walls were golden carved images of Lionel in his Dragon form being blasted by Pegasuses, Griffins, Manticores and Harpies. In one image, Tiberian Rats were climbing up his tail and biting him, and in another Sirens were drowning him in a lake alongside a myriad of water Shifters.

A laugh escaped me at it all as we hurried to catch the group who were being led down one of the tunnels with the words ‘The Royal Chambers’ carved above the arching entranceway and two crowns either side of it.

“You’ll have to divide up into twos, I’m afraid,” Hamish called back. “Each room has either a double-dilly bed or two silly-singles, and we are a little pushed for space until some of our earth Elementals finish digging out the fan-frilly-tastic new tunnels. But we set aside this tunnel just for you fine fellows so that you can have a little privacy.”

I looked to my sister up ahead, then glanced at Orion. After everything that had happened at the battle, I knew I couldn’t hold a grudge against him any longer. He still loved me and I loved him so fiercely it hurt. So all that was left was to voice those words and hope that we could mend the rift between us and build something more unbreakable than before.

“Now I’m sure you want to freshen up your long stockings and your under pits, so make your way into the royal bathhouses here. Left for the girls and right for the boys.” Hamish pointed and we headed down the short stone passage which forked at the end. Dried blood stuck my clothes to my skin and I was desperate to wash away the scent of smoke and sand and death that clung to me too.

My gaze met Orion’s as we were about to part ways, an urgent demand in his eyes stating that he didn’t want to separate, but unless we wanted to remain filthy from battle, we had to. Our eyes remained locked until I turned into the girls’ bathhouse and my lips parted at the enormous cavern filled with bubbling hot springs with palms growing between them, waterfalls tumbling down across the rocks and Faelights bobbing around in the air to light it all in an amber glow.

I pulled off my clothes and stepped under the flow of the nearest falls, the hot rush of water like a godsend as I shut my eyes and just stood there in the heated stream. Tory climbed into one of the bubbling pools and swam beneath the surface, popping up on the other side as she rinsed her hair and groaned her relief.

“The plants are Washalilies,” Geraldine exclaimed. “Just lather up a leaf like so. It even doubles as shampoo.” She yanked a leaf off of what I’d thought had been a palm and started scrubbing it under her armpit. The leaf released a white lather and my eyebrows arched before I grabbed a leaf of my own from the nearest plant. The moment I rubbed it against my skin, a soft, honey-sweet lather built against it, and I worked it all over me before washing my hair and finally feeling Fae again.

When we were clean, I used air magic to dry off and found fresh clothes at the door to the showers, dressing in grey sweatpants and a white tank top. Tory grabbed clothes without even really looking at them, not even bothering to dry her hair and ending up in a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt which were clearly meant for a guy about three times the size of her. I frowned at my sister and as Geraldine headed out of the room, I caught Tory’s hand to stop her from following, seeing the worry in her expression.

“He’ll be alright,” I swore. “He’s Darius Acrux.”

She nodded, but her eyes burned with emotion and I wrapped her in my arms. “We can stay up until he gets here,” I promised.

“You should stay with Orion.” She pulled back, scrubbing at her eyes quickly before any tears dared to fall. “He just lost Clara, he needs you more than I do right now.”

“I’m not leaving you alone,” I said immediately.

“I want to be alone,” she whispered, biting her lip. “I need to be, okay? I think if I’m alone I might be able to just…sense that he’s alive. And then I’ll be able to wait instead of leaving this place in search of him.”

“Tor…” I breathed, hating the idea of not being with her tonight when she felt like this. And I could tell that there was more going on with her than just the worry over Darius. Lionel had had her at his mercy ever since he’d captured me and Orion, and I knew that she wasn’t telling me the worst of what she’d been through in the last few days. But I also knew my sister and she would only open up if we were alone. “I need to be with you.”

“You need to be with him,” she insisted, squeezing my arm. “You’ve been apart too long, and you could have lost each other tonight. You love him, don’t you?”

“I-” I started but Geraldine’s voice cut me off as she shouted out beyond the shower room.

“You bat-eared blaggard!” she yelled, her voice followed by a loud thwack.

“Back off, Grus,” Orion growled in response.

“You’re standing out here dropping eaves on the true queens and I shall defend their privacy until my dying breath!”

We stepped out of the bathhouse, finding Geraldine hitting Orion with an eggplant she’d conjured, but it kept bouncing off of an air shield which surrounded him.

“I wasn’t eavesdropping,” Orion said as his eyes snapped to us. “I was just waiting for you.”

His gaze bored into me and suddenly I felt too hot, the urge to move closer to him driving me wild.

The sound of splashing and laughter carried from the men’s bathhouse and Tory and I stepped forward to look.

Caleb was speeding around in one of the pools with the gifts of his Order, turning the water into a whirlpool while Seth tried to escape from the middle. Max tried to blast Caleb with shots of water from up on a rock and Xavier cast glittering bubbles into his eyes.

“Boys!” Geraldine exclaimed, though a smile was dancing around her lips. “Their ding-dongles make them into such buffoons sometimes. This way, my ladies. You must be as tired as a sandgoose in the snow.”

She led the way forward and Orion moved to my side, our fingers brushing and sending electric energy buzzing through my veins. I didn’t look at him, but my breathing was becoming heavy and I knew there were a lot of words that needed to be spoken between us, but right now all I wanted to do was fall into his arms and find peace in them again.

Geraldine led us deeper into the sleeping quarters where oval wooden doors lined the walls and sconces lit the dark tunnel.

“The riffraff may pick any room to share with one other, I will be bunking in with Angelica tonight once she has appeared among the other rebels. But for you my queens, we shall of course be providing quarters worthy of royalty.”

The sound of the other people were carrying to us now, heading this way led by Hamish’s loud voice as he guided them to the showers.

“Here we are.” Geraldine threw a door open to her right which had the royal crest engraved on it, inspecting the space. There were two beds inside, each hung with flowers above the beds, a table set to one side with food and drinks waiting on it. “Is this suitable for you? Or shall I cast some more flowers across the walls? Shall I gild the beds? Or perhaps you would like me to ruffle your pillows and sing you a lullaby of old?”

“Where’s Lance’s room?” I asked, wanting him close after everything that had happened.

“Oh, erm…” Geraldine looked down the corridor just as Hamish strolled up to us with a wide smile on his face.

“How are the royal chambers?” he asked us loudly, not seeming to notice Orion at all as he swept his gaze right over him. “Is everything to your satisfaction?”

“We were just asking where Orion is staying,” Tory asked, tilting her head to one side as Hamish instantly gagged.

“His…his…forgive me, my ladies but he is shamed. He should just sleep in the barn. Or perhaps the scullery-”

“The scullery?” I blanched, looking to Geraldine who was wringing her hands together. “What the hell are you talking about? I want him close to me here.”

“Oh, erm, well, I…” Hamish looked at Orion then started to retch violently.

“Oh for the love of the stars, forget it, Hamish. Can you just tell us which room is for Darius?” Tory asked and Geraldine swung around with her eyes popping.

“Why of course, my lady Tory, you only need ask for anything in this place and it shall be yours.”

Geraldine hurried along to the next room and threw the door open, narrowing her gaze at the space inside. “Is this one suitable?” She looked over our heads at Hamish who was biting down on his fist in an attempt to stop himself from throwing up and I could feel my temper fraying as Orion just looked down at his feet like he was just willing to accept this bullshit.

“That’s perfect, Geraldine, thanks,” Tory said, not even bothering to look into the room. “Do you need us to do anything else before we get some rest, or…”

“No, no. Fare morrow, my sweet queens. I shall see you in the morn,” Hamish said hurriedly, glancing at Geraldine before turning away, though as he looked at Orion once more he heaved against his fist again before breaking into a run.

“Problem solved,” Tory said as she waved Orion towards the room which she’d claimed on behalf of Darius before turning and making a move to leave. “I’ll catch you in a bit, Darcy, I just need some time in my own mind.” She stepped past us, glancing back at me and giving me a small smile in goodbye as I frowned, trying to decide if I should be forcing my company on her or just accepting her decision to walk away from me so that she could get her head straight.

“Hang on,” Orion said, moving forward and taking something from his pocket. He held out the beautiful ruby necklace Darius had gifted to my sister and her eyes widened in surprise.

“I reclaimed it for you during the battle,” he said and Tory took it from him possessively, squeezing it tight between her fingers.

“Thank you,” she whispered, the fact that he’d saved it clearly meaning a lot to her.

My lips parted in surprise as she moved forward, giving him a one armed hug and a back pat before releasing him.

“He’s alive, Tory,” Orion swore, pulling his sleeve up to reveal the bare patch of skin on his arm which had once held the Leo symbol for Darius.

I gasped, reaching out to touch that familiar spot which had linked him so irrevocably to his friend.

“If the bond was gone because my Ward had died, I’d still be marked. Even in death, the bond doesn’t die,” he swore and hope filled Tory’s eyes as she nodded.

“Then I guess we just have to wait until he shows up with an explanation,” she said, with a hopeful smile, but I saw it fall again as she backed up and slipped into the royal room.

Geraldine whipped around to look from me to Orion, smoothing down her light brown hair. “Well chestnuts in my nutsack, I am simply over the moon that you two are back together.”

I cleared my throat, not looking at Orion. “We’re not.” Dammit, that didn’t come out right.

“Oh,” Geraldine gasped. “Forgive me for my presumption, my lady. Well perhaps it’s for the best, hey? What will the rebels say of a true queen staying with a Power Shamed Fae – no offence, Orion.”

“None taken,” he gritted out. “Don’t you have somewhere to be, Grus?”

Her eyes flicked from me to him then she nodded several times. “Oh forgive my nippy lips, they’ve run away with me! I shall bid you adieu and see you in the morrow. The butteriest of bagels will await you beyond your slumber, Darcy.” She bowed then jogged off down the corridor and walked into one of the rooms, leaving us alone in the pressing silence.

I drifted towards the room meant for Darius and Orion, feeling my shadow following and as I raised my eyes to meet his gaze, he leaned closer, pressing his hand above my head on the doorframe.

“I’ll see you later, Blue. You can have this room to yourself.” His throat bobbed as his gaze moved to my mouth, his eyes full of the same burning hunger that rippled beneath my own skin.

He went to move away and I fisted my hand in his shirt, knocking the door wider behind me and pulling him inside.

“Are you really planning on staying somewhere else?” I asked, tugging him closer and making him smirk.

“I’ll be wherever you want me to be, beautiful.”

I released him, stepping back as the door swung shut behind him, my heart beating powerfully in my chest like the wings of my Order. I wanted this man with every fibre of my being and I was done wasting time apart. We’d proved how far we’d go for one another in battle, he’d bowed to me, he’d sworn his allegiance in every way a Fae could. But I wanted to show him that we were equals. That when we stood before each other and he saw a queen, I saw a king staring back at me.

I tugged my shirt over my head and tossed it away so my breasts were bared, and a growl escaped him as he stepped closer, capturing my waist and pulling me flush against him like our skin was desperate to touch. And as soon as his hands were on me, I realised there were no more walls, no more rules or laws keeping us apart anymore. It was just us and screw what anyone else in Solaria thought of that.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather I share a room with someone else, Blue?” he asked, amusement glittering in his eyes.

There was only one place I wanted him to be tonight, and he damn well knew it. He just wanted me to spell it out. But this frantic energy between us was going to consume me whole if I didn’t give into it soon.

“Shut up, Lance,” I said breathily.

“So mouthy today.” His fingers wound into my hair and he tugged, making my head drop back and exposing my neck to him.

“If you want blood, you can fight me for it,” I taunted, flicking my fingers and casting a firm air shield against my throat like a second skin.

He smiled like a demon, his eyes sparking with the challenge. “Don’t bait a Vampire unless you want to be hunted, Miss Vega.”

“This isn’t a classroom, Professor. If you want to teach me a lesson, you’d better do it with your hands.”

“Fine by me.” He shoved me down onto the bed, grabbing my hips and flipping me onto my front so fast that I bounced on the mattress. He yanked my pants down and his hand clapped hard against my ass, making me gasp, the sharp bite of pain giving way to pleasure as I moaned.

The door suddenly opened and I cursed as Orion yanked me to my feet and shoved me behind him while I tugged my freaking pants up.

“Woah, sorry. Didn’t realise things were getting Fifty Shades of Blue in here,” Seth laughed obnoxiously. “I mean, I did ‘cause I heard you, but don’t mind me. I’ve seen everything before and I mean eve-ry-thing. I once watched a guy ear-fuck a girl.”

I glanced out from behind Orion who immediately grabbed my top from the floor with his Vampire speed and yanked it over my head to cover me up, leaving my arms pinned to my sides by the material. I pouted at him as I pushed my arms through the holes and narrowed my eyes on Seth.

“So you’re just gonna continue breaking into every room I ever occupy without knocking, are you?” I asked and Seth grinned wolfishly.

“Nah, this is my room too, roomie.” He walked straight past us and dove onto the double bed.

Orion immediately picked him up and threw him at the door like he weighed no more than a pitball, but Seth casually caught himself on a gust of air before he could collide with it.

“Get. Out,” Orion commanded, but Seth ignored him, U-turning to the space beside the door and raising his hands as he wielded the earth to make himself a single bed out of stone and coating it in a thick layer of moss.

“Guess I’ll take this bed then.” He dropped down on it, testing the softness of the mossy mattress he’d created as he bounced lightly on its surface. “When I was on the moon, everything was so soft. Because we didn’t really weigh much, see? It was like being in a bounce house at all times.”

“You’re not sharing a room with us,” Orion snarled, stepping toward him as he squared his shoulders and I had to agree with him. I wanted some alone time with Orion after everything, but I was so exhausted from the battle I was struggling to summon the energy for this fight.

Seth turned his large eyes on me as he cast a fluffy pillow of moss in his arms and hugged it to his chest. “Max went with Xavier, so I got stuck with Caleb,” he breathed, a plea in his eyes.

“So?” Orion snapped and Seth flicked a finger, casting a silencing bubble around me and him, cutting Orion out of the conversation.

“I’ll get an awkward boner,” he begged. “It happened the last time we slept together, but I got away with blaming it on his buttcrack feeling like a moon crater that time. I won’t get away with that repeatedly, Darcy. He’ll figure it out. And then it’ll ruin our friendship. I can’t lose him over this. Maybe I can get over him if I just have some time. I need some time. Please give me some time. I can’t go to anyone else because you’re the only one who knows. So when I heard you in here, I thought ‘hey, my friend Darcy will take me in, she wouldn’t turn me away.’” He looked so pathetic, and my heart was tugging so hard that I was already nodding my agreement.

Orion was working to break the silencing bubble, a look of savage anger on his face that said I was going to have a real challenge on my hands in convincing him to let Seth sleep here.

Seth turned his eyes on him too, a smirk lifting his lips. “Want me to keep making him jealous?”

“What do you mean keep making him jealous?” I asked in confusion then he barked a laugh and dropped the silencing bubble.

Orion bristled, taking a step between us and looking to me. “What were you talking about?” he demanded, a note of concern in his voice that made me frown.

I glanced at Seth behind him, finding him shaking his head fiercely and though I hated keeping this from Orion, it wasn’t my secret to tell.

“Seth needs to stay,” I said and Orion looked like I’d slapped him.

“Why?” he hissed, his fangs extending like he couldn’t hold back the monster in him any longer.

“He’s got some…issues with Caleb,” I said carefully.

“You could always swap rooms with me, bro?” Seth suggested lightly. “Why don’t you go stay with Cal? You could have some Vampy, bondy blood time or some shit. Me and Darcy will be fine here together. Alone. Just like we were all those months you were in prison.”

Orion snapped around with a pulse of his Vampire speed and I caught his hand a second before he attacked, sensing it as he wielded the air around him, making my hair gust forward over my shoulders.

Seth grinned tauntingly at Orion, apparently in the mood to grant himself a death wish.

“Shut it, Seth,” I hissed. “If you stay here, you can’t be an asshole.”

“But being an asshole is what I do,” he whimpered as I worked to try and get Orion’s narrowed eyes off of the Wolf goading him.

Orion finally turned his gaze on me and my heart fluttered at the sight of the wild animal I found looking back at me. He leaned down until he was nose to nose with me, my lungs ceasing to work as the scent of cinnamon wrapped around me and I was caged by his presence.

“I want you to myself, Blue,” he said in a deep voice that sent a tremor rolling down my spine. “He can find somewhere else to stay.”

“There aren’t enough rooms to go around,” Seth called. “And honestly, you might end up with a roommate anyway because smelly Wanda the Tiberian Rat is wandering around out there looking for someone to take her in. Hamish says she likes to make nesting material out of your underwear. At least with me, there’s no chance of that. I’ll just keep you guys entertained with tales of the moon. We can have movie nights and cuddle parties and-”

“No,” Orion snapped, turning to him once more. “You think I’m gonna share breathing space with the guy who’s been cosying up to my girl while I was gone?”

“Firstly, I wasn’t your girl while you were gone. Because you were gone, duh.” I prodded Orion in the side. “And secondly, if you suggest one more time that I hooked up with Seth, I’ll unleash Tory’s fist on your dick again.”

Orion grunted, looking to Seth with narrowed eyes then back to me. “I wanna hear it from him.”

I turned to Seth, gesturing for him to go right ahead while he spread himself out on the single bed and cupped his head in his hands.

“Well…that’s not a straightforward answer, Lancey. Am I the sort of guy to fuck ‘your girl’-” He air quoted the words “-given the chance? Of course I am.”

Orion lunged forward a step and I dove in front of him to stop him from killing Seth, though I was half tempted to do it myself after that comment.

“Have I had visions in the past of her pinned beneath me, screaming my name? Definitely.”

“Seth,” I snarled, about to gag him with some conjured dirt as Orion shot around me in a blur of speed, shooting toward him with intent. He collided with an air shield Seth had cast around himself and he immediately started throwing his fists at it with a furious power.

“Would we make a beautiful couple that the whole of Solaria would celebrate instead of shudder at? Abso-fucking-lutely.” Seth examined his nails as Orion fought to break his air shield.

“Seth!” I shouted, my anger rising. What the hell was he playing at?

“But did I fuck her in her bed, in every position I could think up including the Hungry Vampire, proving I could make her scream louder than you did? Well, that’s debatable.”

“There’s no debate. We didn’t have sex and we never would,” I growled.

Orion’s fist suddenly broke through the shield and he dove at Seth like a man possessed, his fangs exposed as he landed on top of him. He started punching him, his fists cracking against a tighter air shield around Seth who simply grinned widely.

“This is a weird way to ask for a threesome, but I’m game if you are,” Seth taunted.

“For the love of god, stop it,” I snapped, throwing out my hands and ripping Orion away from him with a whip of air and throwing him onto the bed behind me. “Seth, I’ll make a freaking coat out of your fancy white Wolf fur if you don’t stop winding him up. Tell him the truth or I’ll kick your ass out of here myself.”

“Alright, alright, we didn’t fuck,” Seth conceded and I looked to Orion, finding him pushing himself off the bed, his shoulders heaving with his ragged breaths. He caught my hand, tugging me against him with a protective growl and I gripped his chin, tilting his head down to make him look at me. His heart was thrashing and there was such a desperation about him at the mere thought of me being with someone else that it melted my anger with him. But screw him for not trusting my word on this.

“Yet,” Seth whispered.

“Shut up,” I barked as Orion stiffened, but I kept hold of his chin to keep him looking at me.

“He’s trying to get a rise out of you,” I said and he nodded, apparently unable to form a sentence beyond that. “He can stay for tonight then maybe we can find another room for him tomorrow.”

“Or I murder him now and the problem resolves itself,” he suggested in a deadly voice.

“I’m afraid you can’t do that, bro,” Seth chipped in. “Darcy and me are besties now. You wouldn’t kill her bestie, would you? Imagine what that would do to her.”

Orion’s shoulders tensed but he remained looking at me, seeing the truth of that in my expression.

“Let it go,” I begged and a decision darkened his eyes before he picked me up and shot into the bed, spooning the hell out of me as he clutched me against him, my face firmly aiming to the opposite side of the room from Seth as he yanked the covers over us.

I shifted the tiniest amount and he growled, his arms tightening around me and drawing me flush back against his body.

“Hey Mr Psycho, I can’t breathe.” I prodded his arm and he slackened his grip a little.

Seth started regaling us with stories of his trip to the moon for the millionth time and Orion cast a silencing bubble around us to block him out.

“You need to calm down, Lance.”

His breath was hot on my ear as he replied in a whisper that sent a shiver rolling down my spine. “I’m hungry and I now have to share my breathing space with the asshole who tried to destroy us after a battle where I almost lost you.”

“Well, I can help with one of those things.” I shifted my hair away from my neck and gripped the back of his head, drawing his mouth to my skin.

His fangs drove into a vein and he groaned the same moment a soft moan left my lips. The keen sting of the bite and the feel of his muscles folding around me sent a rush of heat between my thighs and I automatically ground my ass back against him, desire coursing through me. When he’d drunk enough, he drew his fangs from my neck, his breaths burning my cheek as the hard length of his cock drove into my ass. But I couldn’t do anything about that with Seth in the room with us.

Orion released the silencing bubble and quiet reached us from Seth’s bed, making me wonder if he’d fallen asleep already.

“Goodnight, Lance,” I said breathlessly and he pressed his lips to the soft place behind my ear as his fingers ran over the bite to heal it.

“Goodnight, Blue.”

“Goodnight, roomies,” Seth whispered.