Zodiac Academy 4: Shadow Princess
Shadow Princess: Chapter 24

For the second time in my life, I woke feeling warm, safe and content in someone’s arms. Though unlike the last time, I remembered enough of last night to know precisely whose bed I’d just woken up in.

Darius’s arm held me close but his grip was loose, his breathing steady as he slept.

I opened my eyes slowly, looking at my hand where it lay on his chest. The edges of his tattoos called to me and my fingers twitched with the desire to trace the lines of them across his skin

Instead of acting like some kind of lovestruck lunatic, I pushed myself upright and ran a hand through my hair as I looked down at him.

He looked so peaceful in sleep, all of the hard lines of his usual scowls and glares replaced with a softness that was hard to marry with the man I knew him to be.

I scooted away from him, my head throbbing from the alcohol I’d consumed last night as I looked around for some way to tell the time.

I spotted his Atlas laying on his nightstand and touched the screen to illuminate it. My lips parted in shock as I saw it was almost eleven am. I hadn’t woken in a cold sweat, I hadn’t started screaming so loud the guy in the next room had to come pounding on my door to shut me up. Hell, I couldn’t actually remember hearing the call of the shadows at all during the night. And I’d slept for at least ten hours. I hadn’t managed more than four in a row since the night of the Eclipse.

For a moment, I wondered if it was the drinks I’d had but in all honesty, I’d been putting away that much alcohol most nights in an attempt to banish the shadows when I slept.

No. That wasn’t what had kept them away from me. And I was willing to bet the comfy ass mattress wasn’t the culprit either.

My gaze slid over Darius again and I chewed on my lip as I considered that. The duvet was pooled in his lap and his bare chest revealed the myriad of tattoos which covered his skin. There were dark flames dancing up the left side of his chest and figures rose from them in a way that was either filled with hope or pain depending on the way I looked at them.

I shifted away again, pulling my eyes from the art on his skin and feeling like a bit of a stalker for staring so much.

My head spun dizzily again and I reached out for the top drawer of his nightstand, hoping to replace some painkillers lurking there to save me from my hangover.

Instead of painkillers, the drawer held a sheaf of paperwork but before I could close it again, my gaze snagged on the title. It was a copy of a letter from his financial adviser and the top page detailed a summary of the last year’s charitable contributions he’d made.

I read the names of the charities he’d given money to with interest.

True You Centre for Fae with Order Disassociation

One Stop Women’s and Children’s Shelter

The Pegasus Herd Relocation Association

Re-life Fund for New Identities for Fae Escaping Power Abusive Homes

He’d donated tens of thousands of auras to each of the charities and done it all under a false name so none of the credit came back to him. I re-read the names again, noticing the fact that two of them were to do with Xavier and wondering if the two women’s shelters were relevant to him too.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Darius’s hand locked around my wrist so tightly that it hurt and I gasped, dropping the page I’d been reading as well as the ones beneath it as I tried to tug my arm out of his grip.

“Ow,” I protested, twisting around to face him and replaceing his eyes full of rage. “Let go, you’re hurting me.”

“Is this why you stayed here last night?” he accused. “So that you could snoop through my things while I was sleeping?”

“What? No! I was looking for painkillers for my hangover and-”

“What the fuck is a painkiller?” he demanded and for a moment I could only blink at him stupidly before realising that of course they didn’t have drugs like that in Solaria. Everyone here used magic to heal things like headaches but in my hungover state I’d just fallen back on default methods, not to mention the fact that I was yet to learn how to use healing magic anyway.

“It’s a mortal thing,” I muttered, yanking on my arm again.

“Bullshit,” he snarled, his gaze falling on the papers which were now scattered all over his carpet. “I should have known you wouldn’t have been spending time with me without a motive.”

“I didn’t have a motive,” I snapped. “You’re the one who asked me to come back here. I didn’t want to look at any of your fucking stuff. I just-”

“You probably should have put out if you wanted to wear me out enough to get away with this shit,” he said coldly, his grip on my arm tightening painfully as that statement sent a dagger of ice into my chest.

For a moment I could only stare at him, wondering how fucked up his life must be if he seriously thought the only reason someone might have wanted to spend time with him would be to get something out of it.

His gaze was dark and full of anger and I could see he’d convinced himself of this bullshit story no matter what I said. And why should I even have been justifying myself to him anyway? I’d told him the truth of it and if he didn’t want to hear it then that wasn’t my problem.

“You’re hurting me,” I repeated when he still didn’t let me go.

He released me suddenly, shoving my arm away from him so that I almost fell off of the bed. I stumbled to keep my balance and backed away from him as the shadows rose beneath my skin hungrily.

His accusing gaze followed me as I made it to the door and I gripped the handle behind my back.

“Don’t come looking for me the next time you get too drunk to take care of yourself,” he said coldly and the knife he’d driven into my gut twisted sharply.

I hadn’t come looking for him and he knew it. He’d sought me out like he always did and like a fucking idiot I’d fallen for his charm. But this was going to be the last time.

“Fuck you,” I hissed, pulling the door open and stepping back into the corridor. I swung the door shut between us and jogged away from his room as fast as I could without full on running.

I hurried down the stairs and headed straight for Sofia’s room where I started hammering on the door as soon as I arrived.

“We’re busy!” Tyler’s voice came from beyond the door and I growled in frustration.

“I need my door key so press pause on the banging for thirty seconds please!”

Sofia’s laughter came in response to that and a moment later the door opened a crack. I caught a glimpse of Tyler’s bare chest and a cushion pressed over his junk as he shoved the key into my hand.

“I’ll meet you in The Orb in half an hour!” Sofia’s voice came from the depths of the room as Tyler pushed the door closed again.

“More like an hour,” he replied cockily.

“Pfft, you wish,” Sofia laughed and I smirked to myself as I headed away to my own room.

As soon as I got inside, I headed for a shower. The rainbow hair dye I’d used for my Pegasus costume had come with an anti-dye potion and I was ready to return to my brunette glory. Besides, rainbow hair was a little too cheery for my personality, especially as I’d woken up on the wrong side of the wrong goddamn bed today.

My Atlas pinged as I made it to the bathroom door and I paused, glancing at it to discover a bunch of messages from Darcy.

I frowned as I clicked on them, replaceing demands for my whereabouts and a plea for me to meet her in The Orb as soon as I could. I sent her back a quick message to say I was having a shower and she replied to say she’d have lunch waiting for me.

We were seriously in need of some twin on twin time anyway. I still couldn’t believe she’d pulled a Tory and hooked up with that asshat Seth and I needed to make sure she was okay with what had happened now that it was the cold light of day.

I wasn’t entirely sure if something more was up with her or not so I made my shower as quick as possible and dressed in a black sweater and red skirt before slipping my Atlas into my pocket and jogging down to The Orb.

I arrived at the same moment as Max showed up and he gave me a wide smile, standing back to let me walk through the door ahead of him.

“Have you woken up with a personality transplant today?” I joked as I stepped in ahead of him.

“No, little Vega. It’s just a beautiful day. Have you by any chance read The Celestial Times today?” he asked innocently, though the twinkle in his eyes made me think that question was anything but innocent.

“Erm, no,” I replied. “I don’t really read it all that often. It’s full of fluff pieces about you and your buddies or bullshit about me and my sister more often than not, so I don’t bother.”

“Well, I suggest you make an exception. Just for today.” He grinned widely and strolled away from me before I could reply, making a beeline for the Heirs’ red couch where Seth and Caleb already sat.

My gaze snagged on Caleb for a moment, but he just frowned as he spotted me before looking away again. Last night he’d alternated between avoiding me and dancing with me before he bailed on the party altogether. I got that he hadn’t found the whole Pegasus thing funny, but the issue I had with that was that he was wrong. That shit was funny. Stupid funny. And he needed to stop pouting like a little bitch about it and learn to laugh at himself from time to time.

I turned away from the Heirs, hunting down Darcy and the Ass Club and replaceing them sitting together on the far side of the room.

Before I could get close to them, Caleb shot through the room and snatched me off of my feet and carried me straight back out of the room.

“What the hell?” I demanded as he set me back on my feet at the back of The Orb, caging me in against the wall with his arms, his hands pressed flat to the curving structure either side of my head.

“I’ve had my family’s PR guy on the phone to me this morning,” he said in place of a greeting.

“So?” I demanded.

“So, he had to intercept a photograph of you and me dancing together last night while you were wearing that fucking Pegasus costume before it got to the press.”

“Well I didn’t send it,” I replied, rolling my eyes. “And who gives a shit anyway?”

“After those fucking rumours you started, quite a lot of people give a shit. I can’t have those kinds of whispers going around about me.”

“Whatever, dude. That shit was funny. Still is. It’s not my problem if you can’t take a joke. Besides, you were the one who came and danced with me after saying you couldn’t hang out with me all night. So take it up with yourself.” I shrugged and tried to step away from him but he growled, not letting me go.

“You might not get it yet, but for people like us reputation is everything,” he said darkly. “Although I think you’re about to realise that too.”

“Are you threatening me?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

“It’s too late for that,” he replied dismissively. “But I mean what I’m saying Tory. You need to cut that shit with my reputation. I don’t think you’re getting the message-”

“It’s coming through pretty clear,” I countered, narrowing my eyes. “You already told me once before that I wasn’t good enough for you. And now you’re calling me an embarrassment too.”

Caleb’s gaze darkened but he didn’t deny what I’d said. “I just don’t think you get me at all sometimes,” he growled.

“Oh I get you. Your reputation means more to you than having a laugh or happiness or basically anything fun. And if I’m damaging your public persona so hard then why don’t you just stay away from me?”

“Maybe I will,” he bit back.

“Maybe you should,” I agreed.

We glared at each other for a long moment and he swiped a hand over his face as he backed away from me.

“Look. Tory…this whole thing we’ve had going…I just don’t see how we can keep it up. I don’t think we should keep hooking up like we were.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “Good. Because I don’t need this kind of drama from some guy who isn’t even my boyfriend.”

“So we’re breaking up?” he confirmed, his brow furrowing like that didn’t appeal to him but he seriously needed to check his facts because we’d never even been together.

“Shit dude, you can’t break up with someone who was never yours in the first place,” I said, shaking my head as I walked away from him.

He didn’t follow me and I kept going until I was back inside where I headed straight for Darcy and the others for a second time.

I could tell something was wrong even before I’d made it to the table and Darcy looked up at me with tears brimming in her eyes.

“What’s happened?” I asked, hurrying forward and sitting down beside her.

“They’ve…Tor, the fucking Heirs set us up last night,” she breathed. “And they sent videos and photos to that goddamn rag, The Celestial Times. Here, look.”

She passed me her Atlas and my brows raised as I spotted two photos side by side, one of me in my underwear sandwiched between Milton Hubert and Diego in a dance that looked about thirty seconds from becoming a threeway. And the second was of Darcy looking like a crazy person as she tugged on her hair and seemed to be screaming something at a rock.

My lips parted as I read the headline.

Rumours of the Vega Twins’ Instability and Sex Addiction Confirmed.

By Gus Vulpecular

Reports have been confirmed tonight that the return of Gwendalina (Darcy) and Roxanya (Tory) Vega has been blighted by the truth of their mental deficiencies.

Though the Fae of Solaria rejoiced at the return of the lost Royals earlier this year, it turns out that their arrival may be nothing more than the appearance of two damaged and unstable girls.

In the attached images and footage, you will see that Gwendalina is indeed convinced that she can converse with inanimate objects. Eyewitnesses said, she was heard offering a non-existent raven a piggyback and at another moment, she tried to buy an invisible crow a bow tie. By the end of the night, she had entered into a full blown argument with a rock who she claimed stole her sombrero and tried to set the imaginary creature alight.

Meanwhile, in more footage from the same party, Roxanya (Tory) Vega can be seen gyrating against two of the six men she took back to her room that night. While polyamory is widely accepted amongst Werewolves and other pack Orders in our society, this constant change of sexual partners and reports of her demanding wildly outrageous acts from the men she seduces under threat of her using her royal name to slander them if they don’t participate, is more than a little abnormal.

The article went on but I gritted my teeth, slamming the Atlas down on the table with a snarl of rage.

“How did they do this?” I asked angrily. I could remember most of last night, but the images included of me in that article went beyond Drunk Tory promiscuity and I sure as shit couldn’t remember doing any of that. In more than one of those photos I was all over Diego. Diego!

Hell no. Even drunk Tory wouldn’t hook up with him. Especially after the things he’d said to me and my sister. Especially, especially while he was wearing that fucking soul hat. There wasn’t enough tequila in the world to make me forget his grandma was up in there whispering fuck knew what to him at any given moment.

“Alas, I believe they slipped you a-something,” Geraldine said, looking moments from tears. “And Seth made Darcy drink a potion which gave her hallucinations, allowing them to obtain the footage they required of her too.”

“I’ll fucking kill them!” I yelled, jumping to my feet, my rage white hot and blinding. “C’mon Darcy let’s show them exactly how much power the Vega twins have got.”

I looked around, expecting to replace Darcy beside me but she was still in her seat, her eyes wide as she shook her head. She caught my wrist and tried to tug me back down into my chair.

“There’s no point, Tor,” she said and my mouth fell open in surprise. Darcy may not have been as hot headed as me but she never backed down from anything. And she sure as shit wouldn’t just bow her head and take this lying down.

“What?” I asked, because in all honesty I couldn’t process the fact that she was still in her seat.

“I just…” Darcy trailed off, looking over towards the Heirs’ couch where Seth and Max sat looking so fucking smug that I wanted to scream. Caleb had joined them again too but he was scowling off into the distance, not looking our way like he had zero interest in their latest game.

“C’mon,” I demanded. “Let’s go kick the shit out of them!”

“I don’t see what starting a fight will achieve,” Darcy said vaguely, her gaze darting to the Heirs and back. “The story is already out so…”

“So what? They made you look like you were three peanuts short of a bag, Darcy! I’m not going to just sit back and let them spread rumours like that about you!”

“I know,” she said. “But it doesn’t really matter, does it? I mean, how many people even read that paper?”

“What paper?” Tyler asked as he and Sofia appeared hand in hand, looking at me as I stayed on my feet, ready to bust a blood vessel at any moment.

“The Celestial Times has printed some utterly bamboozling lies about our great and noble ladies,” Geraldine said, her own anger making her voice quiver. “I’m just about ready to slap a slippery salmon myself!”

Tyler and Sofia frowned in confusion and Angelica passed over the Atlas which still had the article open on it.

I was practically grinding my teeth to dust in my mouth as I tried to think up some way to get back at that pack of smug assholes. It wasn’t going to be rumours and pranks this time. I’d be going for the damn jugular.

“My mom can spin this,” Tyler said quickly. “Print a story that paints this in a better light. I’m telling you, she does this kind of thing all the time. Within a week everyone will be wishing they could talk to rocks and begging to have a sex addiction like the Vegas. Do you want me to ask her to set up interviews for you? Maybe photo shoots too?”

“Yes,” Darcy said, sounding relieved. “See, Tor? We can fix this without having to go against the Heirs.”

“It’s not enough,” I growled. “I’ll do whatever interview your mom wants Tyler, but it’s not enough! I want them bleeding at my fucking feet!”

Darcy looked like there were a thousand things she wanted to say to me, but she glanced around at everyone else, her gaze falling on the Heirs before she finally shook her head.

“No,” she said in a voice so soft it shouldn’t have made much of an impact, but it felt like a blade that she’d just plunged into my back.

My lips parted and pain splintered through me as I failed to understand what the hell was going on with her.

I looked away from Darcy, unable to look at her while I was feeling like this.

My gaze fell on the Heirs’ couch again just as Darius walked over to join the others. Max leaned over to say something to him and Seth pointed our way. Darius’s gaze found me and a dark smile pulled at his lips.

He thought he’d won. They thought they’d beaten us. But there was no way in hell I was leaving it at this.

“Fine,” I snapped, tearing my gaze away from the Heirs so that I could look at my twin again. I couldn’t remember any time in our lives when we hadn’t stood together, when she’d let me down like this. “I thought it was you and me against the world, Darcy,” I breathed, tears stinging the backs of my eyes.

“It is,” she said helplessly, but if that was the case then why wasn’t she standing with me now?

Darius’s booming laugh carried to me across the room and something broke apart inside me.

“Well if you don’t want to fight back against them for this then that’s up to you,” I snarled as I took a step away from the table. “But I for one am going to tear those assholes apart. And I plan on starting with that motherfucking Dragon.”

I turned and stormed from the room before she could respond, my heart breaking into a thousand pieces. And not because of the lies the Heirs had told about us. But because for the first time in my life, I truly felt alone.