Zodiac Academy: The Awakening As Told By The Boys

I strode out into The Wailing Wood with my mind on the Nymph attack and my attention on my Atlas.

Lance was ignoring my texts and I was getting pretty damn pissed at him over this whole thing. We’d been so close to discovering something important with the Nymphs and yet now he was actively blocking me from pushing into this investigation. 

There was a damn good chance that there was more than just that one Nymph hiding out in plain sight, pretending to be Fae right on the edges of the closest town and it was pretty clear to me why. At this academy there were plenty of young Fae with newly Awakened magic who would be prime targets for the Nymphs to strike and steal power from. Especially the two ultra attractive prospects of Roxy and Gwendalina Vega. 

If I was a Nymph, I’d have been sorely tempted to try my luck at stealing their power while they were untrained, easy targets and now we knew for a fact that those creatures had been close to the academy. 

But with my father’s interest in our after class excursions officially piqued, alongside the fact that the FIB were now at the very least connecting my name to a man who had been killed by the creatures we’d been hunting, Lance was insisting we lay low.

I got it on one level. He was my Guardian, blood bound to protect me and keep me safe as well as my best friend who was concerned for my safety. And between the threat my father posed us and the threat the FIB could pose if they decided to look into us any more closely, he had reason enough to be concerned. We were wielding dark magic as well as conducting illegal Nymph hunts in our free time, but I just couldn’t bear to back down on our goals now. We were so close.

Not to mention the fact that hunting the Nymphs was one of the few things I got to do that helped me relieve some of the tension which was always compounding inside my skull. I needed the release of heading out into the fight. Call it bloodlust or adrenaline highs or just plain running away from the shitty reality I lived in a lot of the time but there it was. I needed it and I wasn’t willing to back down. Especially not while we had some of them within reach and the threat they were posing was so close.

‘Darius!’ Max’s voice drew my attention and I looked around to find him jogging towards me, a wide grin on his face as he caught up. ‘I thought that was you brooding your way along the path.’

‘I’m not brooding,’ I muttered, tightening up my mental shields so that he couldn’t call me out on my bullshit, but he’d obviously already gotten a sense for my mood anyway.

‘Sure. Just like you’re not pissed as all hell at Orion over something. Because sitting with you in Cardinal Magic today was kinda like sitting there listening to teeth grinding while I was saturated in all your rage.’

I rolled my eyes but didn’t deny it. I didn’t elaborate either and that made me feel kind of shitty. The other Heirs were always so open and honest about everything they had going on and I…wasn’t.

The worst thing about that was that they got it. They didn’t know the details about what went on in my father’s household, but they got the gist even if I couldn’t tell them. Sometimes I wished I could, but other times I figured they were better off not knowing. It would only burden them with worry over something they were powerless to change. The only way out of the cage my father had created for me was by defeating him. And I was the only one who could do that. Once I was strong enough to beat him, I’d take him down, claim his place on the Celestial Council and banish him from my life for good.

Or at least that was the pretty fantasy Lance and I lived for because without that, I basically had no hope at all of ever getting out of this hole and actually waking up looking forward to my life.

Max gave me a concerned look and pushed some happy vibes my way, causing me to swipe a hand over my face before slapping on a smile for him.

‘Shit man, I think I’m just feeling sorry for myself today, ignore me,’ I said, giving myself a mental shake and forcing my thoughts away from my father and his hold over my life.

Things tended to get dark for me pretty fast when I let myself dwell on that crap – which was kinda easy to do as he had almost full control over everything important in my life and monitored my every move constantly. Still, I had a lot more freedom here at the academy than I had at the manor, and I had friends I would die for, so it wasn’t all doom and gloom. I just needed to buck the hell up and stop moping like a little bitch.

I lowered my mental barriers a bit, letting Max perk my mood up with his Siren gifts and he smiled in relief as some of the tension fell from me.

A low howl drew my attention to the path and I looked up just as Seth leapt from the trees in his Wolf form and pounced on Caleb as he rounded a corner up ahead. The two of them fell to the ground wrestling as Seth shifted back into Fae form so that he could use his fists.

Max and I wordlessly broke into a sprint and dove into the fray, my heart thumping as we all scrapped in the mud like a pack of mutts.

One of them punched me in the kidney a moment before I caught an elbow to the chin and Max cried out in horror that Seth’s dick had slapped him in the face. Before long we were all cursing and bleeding and laughing as we fell in a heap beside each other, looking up at the moon through the trees.

‘I love you guys,’ Seth said and the rest of us all punched him a few more times before he started licking any of us.

‘Put your dick away, dude, you’re making this weird,’ I told him, flicking his nipple and making him yip in pain.

‘You know, every once in a while, you guys could all just get your dicks out instead of making me put mine away,’ he joked as he rolled over and got to his feet, heading off into the trees to find his clothes.

Caleb shot to his feet then offered me a hand and I let him pull me upright before healing the bruises and scrapes I’d gotten in our brawl, the smile on my face sticking this time as I let myself live in the moment and just have some fun with my friends.

Once Seth returned wearing his clothes with his long hair tied up, the four of us headed on down the path, moving to one of our favoured spots in the trees where we could hang out away from all the other students. We were used to being followed around by adoring fan types all the time, but it got tiring pretty fast and we liked to escape into the company of each other as often as we could so that we didn’t have to feel like we were out on show all the damn time.

‘I need a piss,’ Cal muttered, moving into the trees as we closed in on our destination and the three of us carried on without him. 

“I heard something pretty interesting today, Darius,” Seth baited me as he led the way into the clearing, dropping down on a stump which formed part of a circle.

“Hang on a second,” Max said as we followed Seth into the clearing and I got the feeling he already knew what was going to be said. “If you’re going to get emotional over this then I want in on your pain.”

“If you must,” I said, trying to sound pissy over it, but I didn’t really mind letting him regenerate his power from me.

We took a seat on two stumps which were sat close to each other as Seth practically bounced up and down in anticipation of sharing whatever he wanted to say to me. Max threw an arm around my shoulders so that he could syphon my power more easily.

“Well,” Seth said, pausing dramatically. “I heard that you’ve promised Marguerite a meeting with your parents the next time they come for a visit.”

I choked out a laugh at that suggestion, leaning forward and resting my elbows on my knees. Max was forced to shift with me to maintain the contact between us. “Well she can certainly come up with some creative stories even if she’s less imaginative than a potato in the bedroom.”

The thought of me introducing her to my father as if she were my girlfriend or something was more than a little ridiculous. For a start, the conniving bastard wouldn’t give a shit, not least because he’d already decided on how my romantic life would play out for me. And secondly, if I really was going to attempt to introduce anyone to him, it would only ever be if I was blessed by the stars and somehow found a single, pure blooded hot Dragon girl who I could offer as a real option. So basically, it wasn’t ever going to happen.

Seth barked a laugh at Marguerite’s expense and Max grinned as he got to feed on my amusement even if it was tinged with bitterness.

“Still all set to marry your cousin then?” Caleb joked as he emerged from the trees, zipping up his fly.

I growled at that joke because ha fucking ha, my life was just so amusing. I knew they didn’t really mean anything by the teasing at my expense but for the love of the stars, sometimes I had to think I’d been cursed at birth. 

“I’m not marrying my fucking cousin. Besides, she’s my second cousin,” I muttered. Not that that would stop them from just calling her my cousin all the star damned time. 

“Okay then, are you all set to marry your second cousin? And did she ever manage to get rid of that growth on her face?” Caleb jibed.

“What growth on her face?” I asked, a flicker of amusement finding me because if there was one thing I didn’t mind doing then it was mocking my bride to be. At least until I actually ended up marrying the beast…and having to consummate the damn union. Fuck my life.

“No, Caleb. That growth is her face. Remember?” Max joked and the three of them fell about laughing while I tried not to join in because we were literally laughing about my fucked up reality. But if I was being honest, the whole thing was so shitty that if I didn’t laugh about it I’d probably just lose my sanity altogether so I couldn’t help but break a laugh too.

“Ah, your joy tastes so much better than your rage,” Max said with a satisfied sigh as he tugged me closer and yanked me into a headlock.

“I swear on all the stars I’ve never seen an uglier girl,” I chuckled as I shoved Max off of me. He released me from the headlock but kept his arm around me so he could still replenish his magic from mine. “And I’m not marrying her. I’d sooner give up my claim.”

The threat may well have been an empty one but I sure as hell hoped it wasn’t. Because looking down the barrel of my life and seeing myself tied to that ogre of a girl throughout it and having to make fucking babies with her made death seem a whole lot more preferable. Of course, Father probably wouldn’t let me have any kind of choice in it and I knew well enough that he could force the matter if he wanted to and I’d be helpless to prevent it. Though the heavens only knew how I was ever supposed to get my cock hard for her.

“I’d argue with you on that, but I’ve seen her and I think I’d give up my claim to save you from that marriage too,” Seth joked. “So maybe you will be presenting Marguerite as an alternative after all?”

I rolled my eyes. “No chance of that. Can you really see my father going for a Sphinx as an alternative? They’re ten a penny and half useless in combat, plus she’s only a level six in fire. No secondary power at all. Besides, I prefer my women to present more of a challenge and she’s far too…ordinary to make the cut long term.”

My situation with Marguerite wasn’t one that had been going on for all that long and I was already growing bored of her. Especially since Roxanya Vega had come bursting into my life full of fire and temptation in all the best and worst ways. I was pretty sure I’d be ending things with Marguerite officially soon, especially if she was spreading bullshit rumours about me introducing her to my family.

“I can’t feel my left butt cheek,” Max announced, ending their mockery of my life. “Can one of you make these stumps more comfortable if we’re going to be sitting here?”

“Don’t look at me,” Seth said. “I’m tapped out until the moon rises.” He glanced up hopefully but there was no sign of it in the sky. 

Max turned his gaze on Caleb hopefully, but he shook his head in refusal too. “No can do, I rinsed my power in training tonight. Unless one of you wants to donate to the cause?”

“Not me,” Max said, his grip on me tightening defensively and I growled to warn him back. I wasn’t a chew toy for him to guard like an overprotective dog. “I’m still getting my own fix.”

Seth shrugged, like he wished he could offer Cal a top up and Caleb shifted his gaze to me with a hungry look in his eyes.

“I’m already feeding one parasite tonight, you’re not seriously going to ask me to feed two are you?” I asked reluctantly.

I wasn’t exactly at full charge myself, but if he really needed the fix I’d let him have it. I’d be sleeping in a pile of gold tonight to replenish my magic either way. 

Cal sighed dramatically as he dropped down onto a stump of his own. “I had planned on topping up from my Source at dinner but the Vegas never showed.”

“You could bite any idiot in the school,” I said, rolling my eyes and trying to ignore the sting of irritation in my gut at the thought of him putting his mouth all over my fucking girl. I wasn’t even sure why him doing it was pissing me off so fucking much, but every time I saw him bite her or heard him go on about how great she tasted, I was struck with the urgent desire to punch his pretty face for it. “Why didn’t you just get your top-up elsewhere?”

Max arched an eyebrow at me like he’d just caught a taste of that anger and possessiveness from me and I fought to get my feelings under control again before he read into it too much. I didn’t even understand it myself so I wouldn’t be able to explain it to him anyway.

“You know I like my power how I like my spirits,” Caleb replied dismissively. “Top shelf or nothing. I enjoy the way Tory tastes, she’s got more power in her blood than even you assholes.”

We all shifted uncomfortably at that comment because although we all knew it was the truth we didn’t fucking like it and Caleb shrugged, running a hand through his blonde curls.

“There’s no point in denying it,” he said. “We all know what their potential is.”

“Which is why we need to make sure they fail The Reckoning,” Max growled.

“It’s all in hand.” Seth shrugged, not taking this seriously because he never took anything seriously. He just assumed everything would all work out and we had to hope he was right about that. “We can come up with some more ideas back at King’s Hollow. I think tomorrow should be a big day for those twins. And if you wanna come for a run with me at midnight then I’ll let you feed on me,” he added to Caleb.

Relief filled me for a moment at that suggestion and Max shot me another confused look as he registered it. I cursed myself internally and forced a sentence past my lips which my tongue hated the taste of.

“Or you can meet me at Ignis House in the morning and wait outside Tory’s room to surprise her,” I suggested with a smirk I painted on. Even calling her that sounded wrong in my mouth. Tory was a girl who I could want in all the ways my body was begging me to want her. Roxanya was a princess poised to destroy everything we were. Which was why I called her by that name because no matter how much my dick might have wanted me to, I couldn’t let myself forget that for so much as a moment. “If we get really lucky, we might find out that she sleeps naked.” There went my damn mouth, running off with the train of thoughts my dick had started and I cursed myself again for voicing that errant thought. I needed to stop giving Max access to my emotions, it was making me looser with my mouth than I should have been. 

“I’m surprised you haven’t found that out already,” Max said suggestively and my lips hooked up into half a smile before I could stop myself. He’d already felt my lust anyway and it wasn’t like any of us were trying to deny how fucking hot the Vegas were, so I might as well just own it. Because yeah, I’d more than enjoy getting her acquainted with my cock if I got the chance, but no, I didn’t really think that was ever going to be happening. Not with what we all had planned for the two of them. 

“Yeah… I might just take you up on that,” Caleb said, his own smile widening as he gave some thought to the idea of Roxy sleeping naked too and the urge to punch him rose up in me again like an unfettered beast. Damn his pretty fucking face, if he got in her panties I really was going to break it for him. 

“Why don’t we all show up?” Seth added excitedly. “We can give her a wakeup call she’ll never forget.”

“Sounds good to me,” I said, getting to my feet and knocking Max’s arm from my shoulders because I had the sudden urge to tell them I’d changed my mind and wanted to deal with her myself. I was done with letting him get a glimpse into my inner turmoil for one night. And to make it worse, the first urge was followed by the second urge to head over to her bedroom right now and see if I could convince her to spend the night coming all over my cock before we had to go back to hating each other again. Bad idea. “I’m going to head to bed.”

I bit down on my tongue as I tried to block out that oh so tempting mental image and remind myself of the way she’d very publicly shot me down the last time we’d come face to face. 

“You’re not coming to the Hollow?” Max asked with a pout.

“Nah, I’m beat. I’ll see all of you in the morning then? Wanna say six? She never gets up early.” I was getting her routines pinned down pretty well now and I was telling myself that was because my father had commanded me to watch her. But I didn’t know Gwen’s routines. And I had to admit to myself at least that I just liked watching her. Figuring her out. She was a puzzle that may have been bordering on an obsession or at the very least a dangerous kind of fantasy, but I found I didn’t have it in me to stop. Besides, I was only watching. So far.

“Alright, we’ll work on something special for our Vega fun,” Seth said and he had that look in his eyes which always meant someone was going to end up hating him.

He got to his feet and yanked me into a hug, pushing his fingers through my damn hair and messing it up until I growled a little to make him back off. He grinned at me then headed out of the clearing with Max and Caleb following him, both of them clapping me on the arm in goodbye.

I didn’t immediately follow, pulling my Atlas from my pocket as I waited for them to leave and turning my attention back to the issue that had been bothering me all day.

I gave it a few minutes to make sure the others were gone, not wanting Max to sense any of my emotions over this call as I felt my anger growing by the second now that my focus was on the issue again.

Fucking Lance. I was done with his shit, and we were going to have this conversation now whether he wanted to or not.

I clipped an earpiece in before dialling his number and shoving my Atlas back into my jeans pocket. 

I ran my fingers over my jaw as I waited for the call to connect and my brow dropped into a frown as he let it ring. Asshole was a damn Vampire, he could get to his fucking Atlas fast enough if he wanted to. He was making me wait, no doubt muttering curses at me and sinking bourbon while he let my call ring on.

‘Yeah?’ Lance answered at last and the pissy tone to his voice got my back up right away.

“Took you long enough,” I growled irritably. “I need to talk to you in person.’

‘Darius, we’ve been over this. I’m tired from teaching snot nosed little brats all damn day and I don’t really want to get into it with you now. Can’t we just do this dance tomorrow when I’m a bit more sober?’ he asked, but my patience with this was wearing out and I was already feeling pissed about having to spend my morning watching Caleb suck on Roxy Vega’s fucking neck, so I wanted this dealt with.

‘No, not tomorrow; now. This situation is going on too long, we should have dealt with them by now. I think we need to escalate the plan,’ I said firmly.

I knew he was just trying to look out for me, but the Nymph problem was the one thing I had in my life which I felt like I could take control over. They were a threat, they were close by and I was just certain they were fucking up to something. The Nymph we’d tracked down at the start of the summer had been in possession of a dark artifact and Lance himself had told me he could sense disturbances in the shadows which suggested they were gathering more of them. And nothing the Nymphs could be planning with objects laced with shadows could be good. But we could stop them, and it was my duty to Solaria to do so whether the people knew about me doing it or not.

‘Darius,’ Lance growled. ‘We’ve been over this. The people we were tracking might not even be Nymphs at all. Our evidence is thin at best and more of a guess than a definite fact. If we just charge in there-‘

‘Just stop,’ I interrupted him because I could see this wasn’t getting me anywhere, so I was going to see him face to face and make him see sense. ‘I’m coming to yours now.”

I killed the call as he tried to protest and got to my feet, scowling up at the rising moon. It was damn tempting to just shift and fly over to his place but I could admit that that would be about as subtle as a ton of bricks turning up and landing on his roof, so I decided on a pissed off walk instead.

I moved out of the clearing and turned right, setting a fast pace as I headed for my destination. I needed to get my way with this. Lance was just going to have to accept that I’d made my decision on it. And if he wouldn’t then maybe I’d just have to proceed without him.

I kept up a brisk walk as I cut through earth territory, following the path towards Asteroid Place where the teachers lived. Lance had made it more than clear on several occasions that I was only ever to come here if he could check there was a clear route in and out for me without many of the other teachers around, seeing as students were strictly forbidden from entering the teacher’s living quarters. We tried to keep our bond a secret as much as possible, not wanting too many questions into why we would have agreed to such a permanent, outdated tradition which tied our lives to one another so irrevocably because the answer was, we hadn’t. And the less people who knew about it the better so far as we were concerned. But that didn’t matter to me tonight because right now I was more interested in getting back out there and dealing with the fucking Nymphs. 

I made it to the edge of The Wailing Wood, hesitating before a wide clearing as I sharpened my eyesight with my Order gifts to look out for any teachers who might be close by.

A prickle up the back of my spine niggled at my senses and I had the sudden feeling that someone was watching me. I straightened sharply, turning to look back into the trees where I felt almost certain that I could feel eyes on my flesh.

I peered into the woods, looking for a sign of anything out of place. The moon cast enough light for me to see by well enough and though I scoured the trees all around me, I failed to spot anything untoward and eventually I banished the notion.

I was just on edge over this whole disagreement. I needed to see Lance and make him change his mind, then all would be well again. Aside from the shitty reality of my life beneath my father’s control that was, but I was used to that by now.

I gave the trees one last look before shrugging off the feeling and turning away from them. No one would dare follow me anyway. My wrath would be enough to terrify any and all Fae who even got the notion to pry into my business. 

I headed out into the clearing beyond The Wailing Wood and approached the gated complex of chalets where the professors all resided. It was one of the most strictly held rules that students were never allowed to come here, but I wasn’t a creature born to follow the rules of others and tonight I didn’t even give a damn if Principal Nova herself spotted me.

I wasn’t a fool though, so instead of striding through the gates and letting everyone who might happen to be hanging around get a good look at me entering the complex, I swung right and began to follow the wrought iron fencing which surrounded it. 

A text came through on my Atlas as I walked and I pulled it out to read it.

Lance:

Don’t be an idiot. Stay away from here tonight. I don’t need the headache of getting caught with a student and Washer is having a fucking pool party.

The anger in me built at him trying to tell me what to do and boss me around like I was just some fucking student to him. No Lance, I was not going to stay away. And if he wanted a headache, he could have one of those too.

I stopped abruptly and shoved my Atlas back in my pocket before grabbing hold of the bars of the fence beside me. Fire magic flared in my palms and a grin filled my lips as I melted a big ass hole right through the fence so that I could climb inside. 

I took a photo of it then sent it to Lance with a message of my own.

Darius:

How’s that for a headache, asshole? I’ll be at the back of your place in 30 seconds

I kept walking, skirting around the back of the chalets, but before I could make it that far, Lance shot towards me from the shadows and skidded to an abrupt halt in front of me. He threw a hand out behind him as he came to a halt in front of me, casting a silencing bubble in the direction of the rest of the professors’ houses before snarling at me and shoving me hard in the chest.

‘What the fuck, Darius?’ he demanded.

‘You wouldn’t talk to me all day, what did you expect?’ I demanded, shoving him right back and he bared his fangs at me in warning.

‘I’m the one who could get into serious shit for having you here. You’ll just get a little talking to – but I could end up sent to Darkmore Penitentiary if they got the idea that you were here for sordid reasons.’

‘Oh please, I’m out of your league. No one would believe I was here to suck your cock,’ I taunted and he almost laughed for a moment before frowning again.

‘How the hell am I supposed to explain what you did to the fence?’ he demanded.

Yeah, that was a dick move, but I was still pissed at him for shutting me down all day so I just shrugged which clearly only got him angrier.

‘I dunno. You’ll figure it out.’

“I told you not to come here,” Lance snarled, stepping right up into my face and snatching hold of my grey t-shirt, bunching the fabric in his fist. I could smell the bourbon on his breath as he growled at me and I wasn’t surprised to find he’d been drinking again. His life was probably even more fucked up than mine and if I wasn’t so angry I might have backed down, but as it was I was almost hungry for a fight with him. “If someone were to see you-”

“I think you’re forgetting who you’re talking to, sir,” I snapped, shoving his chest hard enough to make him stumble back a step so that he was forced to release me.

We didn’t often disagree over things like this, but when we both lost our tempers it was hard to rein ourselves in. 

We glared at one another for a long moment while we decided whether or not to let this descend, but in the end our bond won out and some of the fire between us died as the tension relaxed just enough for us to have a conversation over it.

“You know how much I care about this,” Lance said, reminding me that I wasn’t the only one who lived for our hunts together and I knew that was the truth. “I just don’t want us to fuck it up when we’re so close.”

“So why are we waiting? We know where they are. We could go there now and find them while they’re sleeping – end this once and for all,” I pressed, trying to subdue my temper so that we could actually discuss this which was damn hard when I had a Dragon pacing violently within my flesh.

“Not yet. If we’re wrong we could end up taking innocent lives,” Orion insisted and I balked against that idea. I was certain we were right about the Nymphs we’d discovered, especially after we’d seen that one with the limp. They may have been hiding in their Fae like form, but I refused to believe the hints we’d found could mean anything else. “It’s too hard to be sure with the information we have. Just give it a few more days. I’ll see her again, I’ll confirm our suspicions.”

I knew he wanted to meet with his FIB informant before we acted, but I was worried that every day we let slip by only gave the Nymphs more opportunity to strike at innocent Fae, to steal more magic from them and become an even bigger threat.

“In a few days they could be even more powerful. You’ve seen what’s happened since the start of term. The longer we give them to adjust to their power, the more chance we have of them figuring out how to harness it and turn it against us. If you’re afraid that you aren’t up to the job then let me call on the others for help. You know they want to destroy them almost as much as we do.”

The one advantage we had over the Nymphs who stole magic from the Fae they killed was that they were untrained in how to use it. It was why academies like Zodiac were guarded closely, so that the knowledge of how to wield our power stayed locked away from the eyes of our enemies. It was bad enough that the Nymphs could steal the power of the Fae they killed, we couldn’t risk them learning how to harness it and use it against us too.

I was pushing him by threatening to involve the other Heirs. We’d had this discussion plenty of times before and had always come to the conclusion that it was best to keep them out of our secret Nymph hunts, but sometimes I questioned that choice.

Lance ran a hand over his face, shaking his head and I knew he was afraid that the Nymphs we were hoping to uncover might just be exactly what they were pretending to be – a family of Fae who liked their privacy. But there were too many signs to say that wasn’t the truth. I was certain they were Nymphs in hiding and I wanted to remove the threat.

“It’s too risky,’ Lance said, addressing the issue of the other Heirs. ‘Seth can’t keep his mouth shut, he’d tell every member of his pack before sunrise and Max’s powers soften him to others no matter how much he might deny it’s true.”

He had a fair point there, but they weren’t the only Heirs and he knew it. He just hated Caleb on principle because he didn’t like there being a Vampire more powerful than him running around campus and challenging him for the best blood sources.

“What about Caleb then? Or is your petty rivalry too keen for you to look past, even with the threat we face here?” I demanded, starting to pace as I fought to contain the anger of my Dragon and keep a clear head over this. 

“It’s not about rivalry,” Lance spat, though we both knew it had a lot to do with that whether he wanted to admit it or not. I’d long since given up any hope of him and Caleb putting their Orders aside and finding a way to be friends. They were just too damn competitive for that. “It’s about strength. You know him better than me but I’d judge him to be too impulsive for this. If he were to strike too soon then all the work we’ve done to get to this point will have been for nothing. The same goes for if we try to kill them now. While we still aren’t sure. What if we fail and they manage to escape us? Or we succeed but we miss something vital and it sets something greater in motion-”

“You’ve been consulting with those damn bones again,” I muttered because the authority in his voice told me he thought he already knew something and that meant some form of divination had warned him about this. 

“I have,” Lance agreed darkly. “And though they aren’t revealing many answers to me, one thing is clear. This is not our moment.”

I fell still, releasing a long breath through my nose which was laced with smoke as I worked to rein in my Dragon and think on this rationally. “Sometimes I wish we didn’t live in a world where everything was mapped out for us as if our lives are nothing more than pieces in some greater fucking puzzle and we get no say at all.”

Lance sighed, moving closer so that he could place a hand on my shoulder and the animosity between us slipped away as the Guardian bond urged us together as always. Besides, I hated feeling angry with him. He was the one person in this world who truly knew me. “Is this about your father? Is he still putting pressure on you to-”

I didn’t want to talk about the damn Vegas or my father’s continued demands for me to deal with them right now, so I cut him off.

“Of course he is. It’s all he ever thinks about. It’s like he hasn’t even noticed that the world we live in could be teetering on the edge of chaos.” I shook my head before shrugging Lance’s hand off of me, not wanting him to worry about me any more than he already did. “Don’t worry about my father, I’ll bear the brunt of his wrath as always. Once the other Heirs and I sort out that situation, he’ll back off anyway. You just focus on confirming everything so that we can act.”

“I’m meeting with her again in a few days. I’ll do a reading. Make sure that we have every piece of the truth,” Orion replied with a firm nod and I knew once he met with Francesca he’d be more amenable to us heading out on the hunt again and that was all I needed to know.

“And then?” I pressed, wanting him to say the words.

“And then…well then we’ll do what we have to before anyone finds out it was us,’ Lance agreed and I could tell he was still concerned that they really were Fae. But I knew in my gut that they were Nymphs, so I was more than ready to act.

“Good,” I replied grinning at him in a feral way which promised more bloodshed soon.

Lance almost broke a smile in reply and I turned away, heading back the way I’d come and feeling a little bit shitty about fucking up the fence. He’d probably just leave it though and pretend to know nothing about it when one of the other professors discovered it. No big deal.

I was going to sleep well tonight and in a few days time, we’d be back on the hunt again.