Zodiac Academy: The Awakening As Told By The Boys

I stood to one side of the doorway in The Orb, remaining in the shadows as the party grew more wild and my skin itched with the urge to leave. But not to go home, to go back to where I’d left Darcy with Seth, because I had the awful feeling I’d made a mistake in following Gabriel’s advice.

Tyler Corbin ran past me with Sofia Cygnus over his shoulder like he’d just kidnapped her and I watched flatly as he tripped over his own feet and they slammed down onto a table, sending a bowl of punch flying as they burst out laughing and I dragged a hand down my face, my tolerance for this night finally running out.

I slipped out the door, figuring I’d check up on Darcy one last time. It couldn’t do any harm. I’d followed Gabriel’s instructions, it was ten past nine, so what could really go wrong now?

I picked up my pace as I rounded The Orb, my heart beating uncomfortably, a sense of dread in the air that set me on edge.

I put on a burst of speed and made it to where I’d left them, finding Darcy on the ground in front of a bench, her hands clasped over her butchered hair and choked sobs leaving her. I froze, an icy coldness dripping down my spine as I found her shattered, knowing exactly who had done this to her without needing a single word to leave her lips. A splinter of rage seemed to lodge in my chest, never to be pulled free.

I should have wanted this. To see her on her knees with her strength dashed to pieces, but instead I felt her pain as sharply as if it were my own.

I shot forward, pressing my hand to her shoulder and she jolted at the contact, twisting around and throwing out a palm with a snarl on her lips. A huge crack tore across the path as earth magic left her and I darted aside before it knocked me over. Holy fuck.

Her eyes flared with the fury of hell and I saw the Fae in her for a second before she turned away and tried to hide her face from me, leaving my chest in knots.

No…Blue.

I sank down to my knees in front of her, hatred seething in me towards Seth Capella. He was callous, I’d seen it before. But this was taking things to a new level, and I could see it meant something far deeper to her than I would ever know.

“Have you come to say I told you so?” she bit at me as tears continued to stream down her cheeks and all I wanted to do was pull her close and wipe them away. This girl didn’t deserve to be crying down in the dirt. This was wrong. I may have wanted the Vegas dealt with, but never like this.

“Get up,” I urged, taking her arm and pulling her to her feet. She needed to use this anger, twist it into armour and wear it on her flesh when she sought revenge on Seth. It was the way of our kind and she needed to know that, but the words wouldn’t pass my lips because they were the words of a traitor. I should have been glad Seth had done this, but no part of me allowed for that. This was dirty fucking tactics.

“Why’d you come back?” she choked out, tugging her hand free of my grip and wrapping her hands around her head again.

He’d made a right mess of her hair, taken away all of the blue ends and leaving a patch of scalp on show, but it could grow back. All she needed was the right potion. She searched my eyes, looking so mistrustful of me that some long lost part of my personality awoke, trying to offer her something to lighten her mood.

“My spidey senses were tingling,” I said with a low laugh and she frowned at me. Great, that went down well. Idiot.

“Was that a joke?” she asked, her voice raw and laced with confusion.

My mouth hooked up at the corner as I attempted to coax a smile from her. I needed her light to return for selfish reasons and apparently I wasn’t beyond making a fool of myself in an effort to make her smile again.

“It was,” he said. “A pretty good one I think.” I tugged her closer, breathing her in and continuing along this track of insanity I was on, determined to brighten her mood. “Now the blue is gone, how will I tell which twin is which?”

A laugh escaped her in the form of a hiccup and my inner beast purred. “You’re right, however would you tell?” She sniffed, wiping at her damp eyes with her lace sleeve, smearing mascara across her cheeks.

She still looked beautiful with her heart shattered, her hair ruined and tear lines streaked down her face. Her destruction was a cruel work of art, but not one she couldn’t recover from. She was more Fae than that. But as I opened my mouth to speak those damning words, a scream cut through the air that tore through my head.

Panic splintered through me as I recognised Tory Vega’s voice and knew in my soul who was responsible for that scream. I let go of Darcy, running away towards the source of that sound but not so fast that I left her alone. I needed to hurry all the same, because Darius and the other Heirs were apparently hellbent on terrorising the Vegas tonight, and it was clear they weren’t close to done.