Zodiac Academy 8: Sorrow and Starlight
Sorrow and Starlight: Chapter 54

The war council droned on hour after hour. I’d given my opinion fifty times, but no one was listening because everyone was arguing, so now I sat with my face in my hands at the table, healing away a headache that was gnawing deep into my brain.

“The Court of Solaria could still be accessed by our magical signatures,” Melinda was saying. “There’s a chance Lionel won’t have thought to remove our access.”

“Prairie dogs on a gormless morn,” Geraldine lamented, slapping a hand against her forehead. “Of course he will have thought of such a thing. He is a devious Dragoon, and we must not underestimate him. Nay, I say we attack with the full force of our army, strike like a thunderbolt and destroy his court in one, mighty buttock of a hit.”

“That’s suicide,” my mom scoffed. “Do you have any idea how many protective spells and wards we’ll have to break through before we can even reach anyone inside?”

“We have a legendary Vega Phoenix on our side. She can break through any wards,” Geraldine laughed riotously, smashing her fist down on the table.

“You mean the same Vega Phoenix who returned on the brink of death from a fight that you decided to keep us out of?” Tiberius growled.

Geraldine opened her mouth to respond, but I shoved to my feet. “Shut up!” I barked, making everyone in the room flinch around to look at me, but I didn’t have anything more to say than that. I just wanted them to shut the hell up. All this fighting was getting us nowhere. But when they realised I had nothing to add, they went back to squabbling, and I growled in frustration. Geraldine announced another brazen plan to attack the Court of Solaria, that involved a hell of a lot of flammable Faesine and a dangerous amount of fire, and my mom started lecturing her on her recklessness.

My gaze fell on the little white Tiberian Rat sitting on the table, quivering as he lay his body protectively over the items Tory had been given by Darcy and Orion. I moved over to them, reaching for the Rat, but he squeaked, raising a tiny front paw to try and fend me off.

“It’s okay, little guy,” I said, and he relented, letting me lift him gently into my hand. “I need you to shift and tell everyone what this stuff is, can you do that?”

He nodded and I set him down on a seat where he shifted into a pale-skinned man with a shock of white hair. I flicked a finger and wove some pants for him out of leaves, and he gave me a grateful smile.

He cleared his throat lightly, trying to get everyone’s attention, but no one in the room had even noticed he was there.

“Hey! The Rat man has something to say,” I snapped, and they all looked to me again, but I pointed at the guy on the chair.

“Um, hello, hi,” he stammered, giving them an awkward wave, and Tiberius placed his hands on his hips impatiently. “I’m Eugene Dipper. And I’ve been sent by Queen Darcy to, um, give you these items.” He reached for the crystal first. “This is a Memoriae crystal. I think it has something to do with Phoenixes, um, maybe? And this feathery book, well that’s also to do with Phoenixes, I think. Then there’s – oh that’s just a scrap of underpants – but this, yes, this is a ring. A special ring. Also with some memories, I think. Um, memories that can help maybe. And stuff that should be printed in the press.”

Geraldine came bounding over, snatching up the book, the crystal, and finally the opal with a screech like a dolphin. “This is a Guild Stone!” she cried, holding the opal up to the light. “Our great and magnanimous Darcy has seized another! I shall put it with the rest of the stones at once and protect them with my worthless life.”

“It’s not worthless,” Max snapped, but she ignored him, pushing the items down into her cleavage, even the damn book.

“What’s a Guild Stone?” Melinda asked.

“Hang on a moment, let me see those things,” Tiberius hurried toward Geraldine, reaching for her tits, and she arched a brow at him before he jerked his hand back again.

“I command you to show me them,” he boomed.

“Who are you to command a lady of the royal court? I do not answer to a silk-smothered moth and never shall,” Geraldine said, then pointed to the ring left on the table. “Seth Capella, I command you with the task of presenting our noble Tyler Corbin with that ring, can you manage such an important mission?”

“You mean, just take this ring to Tyler?” I asked dryly.

“You’re right,” she sighed. “It is far too much for your simple mind to handle.” She reached for the ring, and I slapped her palm away with a growl, picking it up and pocketing it.

“I can handle it. And my mind is very complex by the way.”

She tittered at that, and I glowered at her.

“We should look at those items first. Let me see that ring, pup,” my mom said, moving closer to me, but Geraldine blocked her path, stretching her arms wide on either side of her.

“Nay! We have it in hand,” she insisted.

“It’s not in hand. None of this is in hand,” Tiberius huffed.

The arguing instantly broke out again, drawing their attention away from me and the ring and I sighed, giving Eugene an apologetic look.

“We’ll make sure all of these items are protected,” I said. “Why don’t you go get yourself some food. Find Washer, he’ll assign you a room and fetch you some clothes too.”

“O-okay,” he said, getting up, but pausing before he left. “These things are very precious, Seth Capella. I know I didn’t explain it that well, but…Darcy risked her life to save me, and I promised I would protect these items and get them into the hands of the rebels. You will make sure they’re properly looked at, won’t you?”

“Yeah, I promise, man.” I said, patting his shoulder and he relaxed, his duties done as I dismissed him, and he headed out of the room.

I was drained as fuck, exhausted to my bones, no matter how many energy boosting spells I’d cast on myself. I’d had hardly any rest last night, watching over Tory and fearing she wouldn’t pull through. But I didn’t even want to sleep now, I just needed to think about something that wasn’t the miserable realities we were constantly handed.

I leaned forward, resting my forehead to the cool wood of the table, trying to shut out the world and replace a place in my mind that wasn’t full of turmoil.

I heard someone take a seat at my side, extracting themselves from the heated debate going on between Geraldine and the ex-Councillors.

“You good, man?” Max asked, resting a hand on my shoulder in an offering to siphon away some of my stress.

“Sorta.” I let my walls down and sighed as his Siren gifts washed into me.

Max flicked a silencing bubble around the argument and quiet fell over me at long last. A horrid image of Lavinia’s nest slipped into my mind, and I jerked away from my hands, my chair flying backwards and my arms wheeling either side of me. Before I could cast air to catch myself, Max grabbed the back of the chair and slammed it back down onto all four legs, observing me with a frown.

“What the fuck was that?” he asked in a low tone. “I felt terror, revulsion, horror. What’s happened?”

I swallowed thickly then leaned into him with a whimper, nuzzling his collar bone, and he drew me in for a hug.

“Seth?” he pressed.

“There was a demon vagina,” I whispered into his shirt, the clean, familiar scent of him settling my rampant heartbeat.

“What did you just say?” he asked, trying to push me back so he could hear me better, but I burrowed in deeper, clinging to him like a new-born pup.

He continued to soothe me with his Siren gifts, and I shut my eyes again, holding tight to one of my favourite people in the world and letting him comfort me.

“Did you say the word vagina?” Max pressed in confusion.

Fuck, I had to tell them about the monster baby. It was important news. Big, scary shadow news. But every time I tried to let the words out, I saw that gaping black hole between Lavinia’s thighs and watched her devour a Fae head right into it while something inside her…munched down.

“Max,” I croaked. “I don’t think I’ll ever be the same again.”

“Tell me what’s got you like this,” he asked gently, trying to prise me off of him so he could talk to me better.

I crawled fully into his arms, my bulk making him grunt as I slammed down onto his lap and hugged him tight enough to choke him. Just a friendly little choking.

“Seth,” he rasped, his Siren gifts running into me deeper and making me relax.

I sagged against him, closing my eyes, and wondering if it would be the worst thing in the world to take a nap here. Leon Night was doing just that across the table, his head resting on his arm and a deep purr coming from his body with every breath he took. He looked so cosy. And I wanted to be cosy. Cosy and safe and free of demon vaginas forever.

Max shoved me back and my ass hit the seat of my own chair, making me yip like a scolded puppy.

“Talk,” Max encouraged, and I sighed, giving in. I had to tell everyone about the monster baby if nothing else.

Max cast away the silencing bubble and Geraldine’s voice filled the air mid-sentence.

“-cannot demand any such thing of the true queens’ rebel army. It is their birth right to rule! And you cannot tramp into our marshes and assert yourselves as leaders when you have not even fought alongside us. You were not there when The Burrows were breached, you did not face what we have faced as a united front.”

“But we would have, had we been present,” Tiberius said in exasperation. “It’s neither here nor there whether we fought in that battle. We’re here now, and we’re asserting ourselves as leaders. We are the rightful rulers of Solaria, and have been for years.”

“The Vegas have no experience in war,” my mom added.

“Oh, and you do, madam?” Geraldine scoffed, flapping her hands dismissively. “The Vega Queens have fought arm to arm with their people, which is far more than can be said about any one of you!”

“I have been well versed in the ways of war,” Mom said in a growl. “You forget I served through the reign of the Savage King. I have seen far more bloodshed than you will ever know, and I have fought against insurgents countless times. And let’s not forget our years of training. The Vegas have had hardly any formal education, how can you expect them to lead this army to victory when they haven’t been taught advanced spells?”

“Oh-ho, but they have, Councillor Crumberry,” Geraldine said with a smug look and Caleb glanced my way, a smile twitching his lips and mine twitched back. I couldn’t exactly go against Geraldine’s side of this argument. I once would have stood firmly on the side of my mom and the other ex-Councillors in this, but now I was a cat up on a fence, looking down at the bickering neighbours on either side, unsure which way I wanted to jump. Sure, I still wanted my seat on the Council, but I couldn’t deny how much I admired the Vegas for all they’d done in this war.

From the sounds of how things had gone in that battle before Darcy had beasted out and Lionel had gained the upper hand, they had been a destructive force of nature tearing through their enemies. I didn’t wanna proclaim that if me and the other Heirs had been there, we might have won. But like, yeah, I would have smashed some people up for sure. I hated that I hadn’t been able to fight alongside the rebels when it counted most, that I hadn’t been there for Darius when…when…

A whimper left me and Max stole some of my pain away, a heavy sigh leaving him that spoke of our shared grief.

“They had a sneakstick up their sleeves,” Geraldine said haughtily.

“What was that then?” Melinda asked, folding her arms.

“Professor Lance Azriel Orion,” Geraldine thrust her chin into the air. “He taught them as much as he could during our Burrow time. They have learned far more than you can comprehend in your cabooses.”

“He’s just one teacher,” Tiberius said dismissively.

“Nay, they had the valiant Gabriel Nox and the lechsome yet loyal Brian Washer!” Geraldine crowed, kicking a chair aside and sending it smacking into Leon’s leg, but he didn’t stir from sleep at all. “Besides, Lance Orion is not just anything, you cantankerous crout! Unless you count that he is just and true. But let me tell you a-something of my Libra fangdangler. His moods may be as dark as a stormy day when he blesses us with his wise and boundless knowledge, but he is the greatest professor I have ever had the privilege of knowing, so I will be damned if I will stand by and let you besmirch his name, and blacken it like it is drenched in tar. Nary a day goes by that I, nor any one of your burly Heirs, do not cast spells taught to us by the man who’s named after the prominent constellation which rests upon the celestial equator in the sky. The Hunter, Orion. Yes, he may be ravishing and virile-”

“What’s that got to do with anything?” Max called to her, but she barrelled on without paying him any attention.

“And yes, his buttocks are firm enough to draw a wandering eye or two from every direction-”

“Gerry,” Max barked.

“But I learned to sequester Lady Petunia’s throbbings in class in favour of listening to his teachings, as all of us would agree was a challenge.” She looked to Caleb, Max, and me for us to confirm that, and I nodded several times in agreement before Max kicked my ankle and I started shaking my head instead.

Tiberius pinched the bridge of his nose. “We’ve gotten side-tracked. We must focus on our next moves, and frankly, Geraldine, I am not going to waste another breath debating the merits and faults of the Vegas. They are not currently present. And as such, we must continue without them.”

“I have something to say,” I said, and everyone’s attention turned to me.

Dante kicked off of the back wall where he’d been lurking like a menacing creature of darkness, his fingers flexing and drawing my gaze to the chunky gold rings on each of them. Our Faetalian Dragon friend was looking particularly gangsterish today, and that air of danger about him spoke of what he was capable of.

“What is it, amico?” he asked, his tone commanding the air.

“I saw…something,” I said, pushing to my feet.

“Well, bravo, young whippersnapper. Your vivacious description doth bring a tear to my eye,” Geraldine said dryly.

“Give him a second,” Max urged, and Geraldine nodded patiently, turning her focus back to me.

“Go on then, my chum,” she encouraged.

I cleared my throat, eyes closing for a second, and I winced as I found myself staring down the barrel of a loaded vagina. My eyes flew open again and I quickly slapped on a fake look of carelessness, sensing Caleb watching me closely.

“Lavinia has given Lionel an Heir. It’s a monster. It’s not Fae.” I fought a shudder, my hand tightening into a fist at my side. “I think it’s powerful, but I have no idea what it’s really capable of. I only saw it for a second.”

“In the north tower?” Caleb asked in a low voice, and I nodded briefly.

“By the stars,” Melinda breathed, tugging on a silver necklace around her throat.

“Thank you, Seth.” Tiberius inclined his head to me. “Is there anything else?”

“It…um…no,” I decided, pushing away the sense of standing before that terrible muff.

It wasn’t even like a vagina really. Vaginas were great. It was like…the anti-vagina.

I fell back into my seat and the discussion pressed on, soon escalating into an argument once again.

By the time it was done, I’d cast three wakefulness spells and eaten my way through four doughnuts that Geraldine had produced from the stars’ knew where. There were a few extra nice-looking ones which she was keeping aside for Tory that kept winking at me too, and I fully planned on playing my little snack hunt game with those later when she tried to snaffle them away.

Caleb looked tense as the Councillors trailed out of the room and Dante zapped Leon in the ass with a bolt of electricity to wake him up.

“Noooo. You had doughnuts?” Leon lamented, his eyes locking on the piece left in Dante’s hand.

“You could have had them too if you’d been awake, Leone.” Dante grinned, and Leon lunged for the piece he held.

“Give me that,” he growled, and Dante relinquished it to him, laughing at the Lion Shifter as he scoffed it down like it was the only piece of doughnut left on earth.

Geraldine snuffled the extra fancy Vega doughnuts onto a shiny platter with its own motherfucking cloche before he could spot them, but I saw. I knew. And I’d soon be hunting that down in Tory’s room when she hid it for me to replace.

They waved goodbye and headed out of the room, and I pushed to my feet as Max drifted over to Geraldine. I was left alone in front of Caleb, opening my mouth to speak, but he got there before me.

“I’ll see you in a bit,” he said, then shot out of the room with a blur of Vampire speed, leaving my long hair fluttering in the breeze he left behind.

Geraldine kissed Max, clawing at his arms and mumbling something about him being a felon of a fish who she needed to raid her sea cave while she was all riled up.

“See you later then,” I called to Max, but he didn’t answer, all caught up in Geraldine’s canoodling. “See you later!” I called louder.

Nothing.

I huffed, walking out the door, unsure where to go. I thought of heading off to replace Tyler to give him the ring, but I knew he was with Xavier right now, and Twinkle Stud needed him while he was going through attempts to have his wings reattached. I seriously hoped they figured it out, and I decided the ring could wait until morning.

Right now, I wanted company. Needed it really. And there was only one person I desired the company of right now. Despite knowing I should give him space and respect the solitary needs of Caleb’s Order, I found my feet tracking the path to our secret hideaway on our very own corner of the island, wondering if he’d headed there too. Hoping he had. And that he wouldn’t turn me away.

As I closed in on the treehouse Caleb had cast up in the oak tree at the edge of the isle, I slowed my pace, spotting him sitting on the porch I’d added to the side of the structure.

His hair was wet from a shower and a mug of black coffee sat in his hand. The steam swirled up and was lost to the wind, and Caleb just stared unblinkingly at the horizon like his mind was elsewhere. He resembled a painting, the sharp slant of his cheekbones like an artist’s brush strokes and the harsh grip of his fingers around his mug making the muscles in his arms swell. There was a paradox to his expression, a frown on his brow yet his lips tilted up ever-so-slightly, like whatever he was thinking about caused him both immeasurable pain and infinite pleasure.

I didn’t move a muscle, knowing his hearing would pick up my approach soon enough and I’d break this enchanted moment forever, losing it like sand between my fingers.

I committed it to memory, truly committed it with the power of magic, painting it into the fabric of my mind and keeping it always. I wanted to remember him like this, distracted, not trying to be anything aside from exactly what he was. This beautiful creature with a heart made of iron and soul tarred with sin.

I’d have paid any price to glimpse inside his mind in that moment, but my best friend remained a mystery. Something that was seeming far more common lately than I liked. There was a time when I could have read his thoughts before he spoke them, the two of us always so strangely in sync, but those days were growing fewer, and I feared what that meant for us long-term. Were we ever going to be on the same page again, or were we destined to live in different chapters of the same book? Maybe one day we’d be torn apart into stories of our own, written in different languages.

“Are you going to join me or just stand there until the grass grows high enough to swallow you?’ he called, lifting his head, and turning to me with a wry look that said I’d been busted from the moment I arrived.

I took an immediate interest in the grass he’d mentioned, dropping down to a crouch and patting at it to try and cover for why I’d been standing there like a lost lemon. Fuck, what now?

“I lost something out here,” I said, not bothering to raise my voice, sure his Vampire ears would pick it up.

“Oh yeah?” he called. “What’s that?”

My heart. To you.

“My…” Think, dammit! “Moon nuts.”

Yep, that was what I went with. A solid cover.

“Your what?” he called.

“My moon nuts,” I barked, rising to my feet and walking over to the tree trunk, brushing my fingers over it, the new magic I’d added not allowing anyone access in here but me, Cal, and Max. Although neither of us had actually told Max about this place, even though he was definitely sleeping in a muddy crag of a room in the new palace. For some reason, we just vigilantly kept this treehouse secret and returned here late each night like we were hiding it from everyone.

Caleb was always here when I arrived, and I’d wordlessly curl into his arms and fall asleep. That was it. I knew he was doing it because of my Order needs, but the reason I kept coming back was because my sad, pathetic little heart begged me to do it. And I always gave in to that lump of muscle, letting it guide me to my doom and beyond.

The relief I felt every time I slid into bed with him was euphoric, like all day long, tension was building in my muscles to the point of pain, and it only released the moment I lay down with him. It was like drinking sweet tasting poison night after night, knowing it would one day melt my insides, but in the meantime, I was addicted to its flavour.

Vines crept down from above, coiling around the tree trunk and binding tight together to form a ladder, and I climbed up to the porch, dropping down on the mossy swing seat and pushing my fingers into Caleb’s hair to dry it with my air magic. It was something I did on instinct, an act I’d committed countless times for him before, but as he looked to me now, it felt like I shouldn’t have done it.

I was crossing that barrier again, my intentions not pure anymore. I wanted him. Fuck, I had to play it off, keep my cool and harden the fortress I’d built around my emotions before he saw the truth. I’d always been touchy feely with the other Heirs, it was my nature, but now every touch I offered Caleb felt like a secret we weren’t allowed to put a voice to.

He never told me to stop, but at the same time, he never told me to keep going. Not unless he needed an outlet, a moment of weakness and the press of a heated body against him. But he had Tory for that now. He hadn’t initiated anything like that with me for long enough that I was pretty sure we were never going back there. Was he falling for her again? Had he ever really gotten over her?

“Thanks,” he murmured as I dropped my hand, giving him a casual smile that said it was nothing. Only touching him like that was always something these days.

“That coffee smells good,” I commented just to say anything, and in a flash of speed that had my head spinning, he vanished inside and returned a beat later, placing my own coffee into my hands while not having spilled a drop from either mug.

I took a sip of the milky, sugary concoction that was made perfectly to my liking and swallowed down the caffeine greedily. The war council had gone on long enough to leave my head pounding and tiredness wracking my bones, and the zing the coffee gifted me helped perk me up again.

“I didn’t get a chance to tell you before, and I didn’t want to bring it up in the war council, because I’m pretty sure our parents would have lost their shit – especially my mom – but something happened back at the palace between Orion and I,” Caleb said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Our minds sort of connected,” he said with a frown. “I heard his voice in my head, and I could see through his eyes.”

“Fuck,” I breathed. “Like he could hear your thoughts?”

“Yeah, I guess,” he said, and I scowled, envious of that, though that probably wasn’t my top priority of things to take away from this news.

“Can you do it again?” I asked.

“I’ve been trying,” he sighed. “I can’t figure out how to make it happen.”

“Can you try on me? Or is it a coven thing?” I asked, disguising the envy in my voice.

How comes everyone around here kept get fancy bonds and shiny marks? I never got any, and I’d been to the moon. Not even she had given me a little ring in the eye or a moon mate crescent behind my ear. Oh, to be a moon mate. A Wolf could dream.

“It’s a coven thing, I think,” he said, and I nodded, glancing out to the sea where the sun was beginning to sink. Another day gone. Another battle lost. Was this floating rock containing the last remnants of a dying faction of rebels? If we were all wiped out, would Lionel’s reign stretch on and on, or would others rise against him one day?

I didn’t like the idea that we were the only ones fighting, not when failure kept knocking at our door.

“We should get some rest,” Caleb said, and my gaze flicked back to him, replaceing him looking at me intently, his navy eyes seeming to peer right through into the cavity of my chest where my heart was chanting his name. I mentally clapped a hand over its traitorous little mouth, but it was giving me away anyway, pounding frantically and surely noticeable to him. His knee knocked against mine, his fingers brushing my leg as he dropped his hand between us, and the want I felt for him intensified.

He seemed closer than before, the distance between our mouths withering, and I wasn’t sure if it was me leaning in or him. Probably me.

My hopeless longing for him always made me weak, and if there was any chance of feeling the roughness of his mouth against mine again, I’d seize it here and now, leaving my agonising questions at the door and walking willingly into my ruin.

“Coooweeeee! Who resides in this barky abode?” Washer’s voice made me straighten like he’d shoved a hot poker up my ass, and I slammed up my mental walls before his Siren powers could even get close to touching me.

Caleb was suddenly sitting on the far end of the swing seat, pushing a hand into his hair and looking like he’d never even been within an inch of me, but I could still feel the lingering heat of his breath on my lips. My imagination was fucking wild, but that had been real…hadn’t it?

“Sorry to ding on your dangler,” Washer cried, starting to do some lunges on the grass below the treehouse. He was in some skin-tight yoga pants that he’d gotten from the stars only knew where, and his chest was bare, the light blue scales of his Order form hugging his sun-baked flesh. “Some of the rebels are gathering down on the north beach for a little celestial wangle. It’s going to be a full moon tonight, and as it’s December, it’ll be a cold moon! And better than all that, Venus is going into retrograde. That sexy, sultry mistress of a planet will be thrusting some of her sauce deep into our crevices, and while everyone is feeling a little blue, it should go some way to getting our spirits nice and limber again, all supple and warm inside us. How’s that sound, boys?”

“I dunno…you made something kinda awesome sound gross.” I grimaced.

I hadn’t even realised it was going to be a full moon tonight. With everything going on, I’d lost track of her cycle, it was no wonder I was feeling extra drawn to Caleb today, my instincts were heightened as fuck.

“Don’t be a silly sausage, Capella. We must keep pumping on and use the advantages the heavens offer us. Tonight, we can delve into the crannies of our minds and replace the answers that will help us win this war,” Washer said. “Venus in retrograde is also the perfect time to reflect on the loves of the past, the mistakes we’ve made in relationships, and it is a chance for rebirth. A time to start anew in matters of the heart. As an added bonus, we’ll all feel a little bit horny.” He laughed loudly, lunging deeper and making his pants tighten even more around his crotch so that we could see the clear outline of his cock and balls.

“By the stars.” Caleb shoved to his feet and looked down at me. “Get drunk with me.”

I was already nodding, excitement bubbling in my chest because fuck, after everything, all I wanted to do was dive into oblivion and forget all of our problems.

“Yes, yes, yes.” I leapt forward, licking his cheek and barking.

He scruffed my hair, smirking at me. “Good boy,” he teased and either Venus was already toying with me, or I was just way too hot for my best friend, because my cock did a happy dance in my pants.

“Carry me.” I jumped onto his back, and he hitched my legs around his waist before jumping straight over the balcony railing.

We whooshed towards the ground, and I threw out my palm, casting air beneath Caleb’s feet so he sailed over Washer’s head, and he whooped in exhilaration as we left our pruney professor behind.

We travelled fast across the island, tearing over the heads of a group of rebels battling in the training arena, then wheeling past the huge falcon-shaped nest Leon and his family were building which helped distract Gabriel from seeing anything except that fancy pile of twigs. I mean, twigs was severely underselling it. It was a nest to rule all other nests, and I guessed that kind of shit was basically porn for a Harpy, so good for him.

My gut yanked and my mind snapped back to the moment when I’d seen Lavinia in her horrible shadow nest, birthing that hideous shadow spawn into the world while munching down on some poor fucker’s head.

I clung to Caleb a little tighter, trying to fight off the memories, but they just kept coming for me like that demon vagina had. It had wanted to suck me into it and never let me go. It was like it had marked me for its next meal, that gaping muff thinking of me now, wanting to swallow me up into nothingness.

No, no, no, I can’t die like that in the clutches of a monster vag.

“Seth, you’re choking me,” Caleb gritted out, and I realised my arm was locked tight around his neck.

I loosened it, fixing my mind on the alcohol we were heading towards, wondering how much I was going to have to drink to forget about Lavinia’s horror hole.

We arrived on the beach where the party was already underway, and I jumped down, jogging across the sand and grabbing a bottle of rum out of an apple crate someone had left there. Probably the same someone who shouted ‘hey!’ as I walked away with his rum, but such is life.

I spotted Geraldine out in the water, naked and facing the horizon, doing some sort of strange dance that a bunch of rebels, including Justin Masters, were doing with her.

“Max won’t like that,” I pointed to her with the bottle of rum as I returned to Caleb.

“Doesn’t look like he’s here yet.” Caleb looked around and I flicked the cap off the rum, wondering where Max had gotten to – the last I’d seen of him it had looked like he and Geraldine were getting hot and heavy, but here she was, naked as the dawn while he was nowhere to be seen.

I took a long, long swig from my stolen booze, silently begging it to calm the whirlwind of pining/demon vag/grief which was clogging up my mind. It burned like a motherfucker, and I was halfway through the bottle when Caleb turned back and snatched it from me.

“Slow down, asshole,” he said, taking a sip himself and my head swum already.

“Hey, Hadley!” Caleb called, spotting his brother sitting by a fire, playing with the flames, and creating different shapes out of them with his magic. My little brother Grayson and sister Athena sat opposite him.

Caleb’s brother shoved to his feet, stalking away from the fire towards us, swiping a dark lock of hair out of his eyes, looking as pissy as if he had a pitchfork shoved up his ass as he joined us.

“What’s up with you?” Caleb asked.

“Athena’s being a bitch. Again. Nothing new,” he said.

“Watch your tongue or I’ll rip it out,” I growled, squaring up to him.

Hadley huffed a breath, looking like he was really considering taking me on, and as much as I didn’t want to beat the living shit out of Cal’s little brother, I was more than willing to if he didn’t stop being an asshole to my sister.

“Fine,” Hadley said dryly. “Athena is being a female dog.”

“That’s better.” I walked forward to pet his head, but he knocked my hand away with a growl. Angry little Vampire, he was. He didn’t hold Caleb’s relaxed demeanour; he was always tense like he was about to bite. “Play nice, or you won’t be allowed to play with her at all.”

Hadley rolled his eyes at me, but said nothing more, and I swept past him, leaving him with Caleb and breaking into a bound as I headed towards my brother and sister. I collided with them, knocking them both off the log they’d been sitting on and locking them against my chest.

“Argh, Seth,” Athena growled, trying to wriggle free, but Grayson barked a laugh and nuzzled into me. I swear Athena had the least Wolfy nature in my family, you had to force cuddles on her half the time, but she always got squishy in the end. She fought her need for snuggles, but everyone needed snuggles.

I nuzzled both of their heads, holding them down and reminding them that I was their big brother and Alpha, so if I wanted a hug, I was getting one.

When I finally let go, Athena pouted, looking around as if she was worried I’d damaged her precious reputation.

“What’s up, pup?” I knocked my knuckles against her cheek, and she batted my hand away.

“She’s pissed at Hadley,” Grayson filled me in. “Because she luuuurves him.”

“Shut up.” Athena threw a fist, slamming it into her twin’s arm with a growl. “I don’t love him, I despise him. He’s like a flea that won’t die.”

“Athena,” I snapped. “Don’t talk like that. You don’t want Hadley to die.”

She pursed her lips. “Maybe I do.”

“What’s happened?” I asked in concern, shifting towards her.

Grayson whimpered, trying to nuzzle Athena, but she pushed him away, eyes firmly on the fire instead of either of us.

“Hadley found the postcard Athena got from her friend Levi,” Grayson whispered to me as if Athena couldn’t hear him. My heart clenched as I remembered the guy Athena had gone to high school with. They had been best friends for years, but then Levi had been killed in a hit and run on a family visit to Alestria, and Athena had never gotten over it. He’d sent Athena a postcard the day before he’d died, telling her about his visit but worse than that, he’d revealed his feelings for her in that message. And she had never gotten closure on the whole situation because he’d been fucking killed before she could even see him again.

“Shut up, Gray,” she growled, but he kept going, lowering his voice more and shifting closer to me like that would make any difference.

“Hadley took a picture and put it all over FaeBook, calling out Athena’s ‘mystery lover’ to come forward because Levi never even signed his name. But Hadley doesn’t know he died, and Athena won’t tell him,” he whispered.

“Who died?” Hadley shot back to us in a blur, looking down at Athena whose jaw was grinding like she was turning her teeth to dust.

“No one. Get fucked,” she snapped at him, rising to her feet. He was taller than her, but she looked just as fierce as she rolled her shoulders back and prepared for a fight.

“What is your problem?” he hissed. “Can’t stand that I outed your secret little relationship? Who cares anyway? What’s he got to hide? Is he a false king supporter?” Hadley sneered.

Athena threw out a hand, a blast of air magic tearing from her and hurling Hadley down into the fire.

He cursed, wrangling the Element with his gifts and shoving to his feet, gathering all of the flames into a ball and launching them at her. She leapt sideways to avoid it, but it singed off the tips of her hair and she gasped, patting the strands before they caught light.

“Why can’t you just stay out of my life, parasite?” she barked.

“It’s a small island, love, where am I meant to go?” Hadley tossed at her.

She bared her teeth, the Wolf in her rising and I wondered if this was going to descend into an all-out fight.

“How about into the sea? Take a long fucking swim to the bottom of the ocean and see if you can hold your breath for an hour,” Athena said coldly.

Hadley released a harsh breath through his nose, though I caught sight of a wound in his eyes before he shut the world out again, his face an icy mask of hatred. He walked right up to her, hitting an air shield a couple of inches from her body as she glared out at him in defiance.

“Why don’t you run along and replace your lover boy?” he sneered. “Are you going to tell him about how you spread your legs for me the other night and moaned my name like it was your favourite star in the sky?”

Athena’s face paled and I shot to my feet with a snarl.

“You promised you wouldn’t tell,” Athena whispered in horror, looking at him in betrayal and Hadley’s jaw ticked.

“Who are you more ashamed more of? Me or your secret boyfriend?” he asked nastily. “Because maybe it should be us who are ashamed of our weakness for you.”

“That’s enough,” I snapped, walking towards them but Athena shook her head at me, then turned and ran away into the crowd on the beach.

I caught the hood of Hadley’s sweater in my fist before he could shoot off into the distance too, and he growled as he looked to me. “What?”

“Firstly, you talk to her like that again and I’ll rip your balls off and make you swallow them one by one. Secondly, she doesn’t have a secret boyfriend. That postcard is from a boy who died years ago. He was her best friend in high school, and that’s all I’m gonna say on the matter because it’s not my place to enlighten you. But if Athena ever forgives you for this mess, then maybe she’ll tell you. I’m guessing not though. And if you don’t apologise to her by dawn, I’ll do the ball thing. Then I might break your legs too. And I might rip your ears off and feed them to a hungry dolphin. There’s a lot of pieces of you, Hadley, and a lot of dolphins out there.” I angled his head to the sea then clapped him hard on his back, sending him stumbling on his way after my sister.

He looked over his shoulder at me though, shock rooted in his features.

“He’s dead?” he rasped.

“Yeah,” I confirmed. “And she never got to say goodbye. So, who’s the bitch now?”

“Fuck.” He clawed his fingers through his hair then shot away from us in a blur, calling my sister’s name. I wondered if he’d actually replace her, considering she was seriously good at hiding when she wanted to. But then again, Hadley was a Vampire with an obvious taste for her blood, so he probably had a half decent chance.

I turned to Grayson who was swigging a beer, looking up at me from the log. He wasn’t one for drama, more of a go-with-the-flow kinda guy. “Those two really just need to talk to each other.”

“I dunno, man, Athena doesn’t let go of shit easily,” I said. “Sorry isn’t gonna cut it.”

“Yeah…” Grayson got up and looked over my shoulder, drawing my attention to Max as he came running down the beach. I turned to watch him go, powering along in a fitted black shirt and jeans, his brow furrowed, and his eyes set on the naked Geraldine out in the water.

“Gerry!” he shouted but if she heard him, she didn’t show any signs, continuing to bob and jump in the water, her arms raised above her head as the A.S.S. members around her all mimicked her movements. “Put a bikini on at least!”

She glanced over her shoulder, her crimson hair plastered to her back and her eyes sharpening on him as he started wading out towards her fully clothed. “Then how shall my sweet flowers absorb the erotic power of Venus while she moves into her glorious retrograde, you silly seabass?”

Geraldine leapt into the air, doing a one-eighty spin and landing in front of him, huge tits bouncing and almost hitting him in the face as he made it to her.

Justin stood close by, his lips parted as his gaze watched the bobbing of Geraldine’s breasts on the water and Max lunged at him with a ferocious snarl and a wave of water riding at his back, taking him down under the waves and disappearing into what was likely a watery end to Justin.

I chuckled as Geraldine shook her head and returned to her dance.

Justin’s head shot above the water only to be yanked down again, his scream cutting off as Max stole him away into the depths of the sea.

Man, I loved that guy.

Caleb’s hand landed on my back, and I jolted at his touch, knowing it was him before I even looked sideways, replaceing him tipping more rum down his throat. I snatched the bottle from his grip, splashing rum over his face and making him curse before my lips closed around the neck and I finished off the drink.

My thoughts were on the seriously fuzzy spectrum, and I smiled stupidly at him, letting the bottle slip from my fingers, my eyes catching on the moon rising just beyond his head, haloing him in its silver light.

“Stay right there,” I whispered, taking my new Atlas from my pocket. I reached out, mussing up his hair a bit and arranging a golden curl just so, letting it fall into his eyes.

“What are you doing?” he asked through a smirk.

“Shh, let me work my process,” I breathed. “Hold that smirk.”

I touched the corner of his lips, his eyes lighting as I pulled it down a little, giving him just enough intensity about him, but also a look of pure sex appeal. I’d posed him for photos before for magazines, so it wasn’t like this was any different. Except this photo might just be for me.

I lifted the Atlas, swiping onto the camera and reaching out again, holding his chin and shoving his head just an inch to the left, angled down ever so slightly, his eyes shadowing and the light behind him deepening.

“Perfect,” I said, snapping the shot and grinning at the result as I showed it to him.

“You have an eye for that,” he said, plucking the Atlas from my hand and tapping on FaeBook.

“No wait,” I complained, wanting to keep that picture for myself, but he was already uploading it.

He slid his arm over my shoulders, pulling me close and snapping a photo of us and I flashed a Wolfy smile at the last second, so I wasn’t pouting in the picture. He added it to the post and started typing something out, moving away from me so I couldn’t see.

“What are you doing, Cal? Declaring your undying love for me?” I asked jokingly, a small part of me whimpering inside as I cut myself on my own words.

He snorted. “In your dreams,” he said.

“My dreams are saved for more interesting scenarios,” I said lightly, acting as if I gave no shits. When I really gave so many shits.

He finished posting and tossed me my Atlas, and I caught it out of the air. Caleb shot behind me in the next second, flicking a silencing bubble around us and speaking in a low voice close to my ear. “Like fucking one of your best friends?”

My throat tightened, threading itself into a knot, and I turned to him with a growl. He stalked around me, coming eye to eye with me with some dark emotion flaring in his gaze.

“If we fucked, you’d fall in love with me,” I laughed, playing the best faking game I knew. “I know how to keep it meaningless.”

Why was I saying that? In some pathetic attempt to reassure him he could have me and I wouldn’t make it weird for him? By the stars, I was pitiful. But the rum was saying yes, and Venus was saying double yes, and my cock was in the infinity yes region, so here I was, promising I wouldn’t fall in love with a man I had already fallen for some time around the moment he’d bought me a ticket to the moon, and I was hopeless to stop it.

“I’m well aware of that,” he said icily, and I wasn’t sure exactly why I was pissing him off, but it always seemed to go this way whenever we hooked up. Then again, maybe it was just because Tory wasn’t here, and he wanted something fast and easy while she was out of sight. Seemed like a dick move, but then again Venus was at work tonight and it wasn’t that simple to resist celestial urges.

“You don’t get attached, do you Seth?” he pushed. “I’m just one in a long line of conquests, but the difference is, I’m not a simpering Beta or Omega, I’m an Alpha.”

I reached out, taking his throat in my hold, and I was sure to anyone around us it would have looked like we were in the middle of a fight. But it was deeper than that, a struggle of wills, and all the raging sexual dominance between us clashing in the air.

“You don’t know the first thing about how to please a man. You may have had plenty of girls in your bed and even made them come on command, but you’re a virgin at this, and that makes me top dog in the situation. So if you wanna learn, then I’ll teach you, Cal, but you’ll have to give yourself over to me, and I just don’t think you have the balls to do it.”

I shoved him away from me, prowling past him and popping our silencing bubble, leaving him behind and not looking back but I made sure to toss a peace sign at the first guy I spotted just in case he was watching me go. The guy in question turned out to be a Nemean Lion Shifter who was in the middle of demonstrating the way he was able to lick his own ass, so that was just great.

My blood was running hot, and Venus’s influence was intensifying as the night grew thicker.

I looked at my Atlas, checking out the post he’d dropped on FaeBook, the photo of us together taking dominance over the post as he called upon each of our fangirl followings.

Seth Capella: Calling all my Moonbitches and Caleb’s Calgals. Who’s looking hotter tonight? #jointhehotsideofthewar #lameLioneldoesnthavethesecheekbones

There’d been all kinds of magazine polls done on this very thing in the past for all four of us, but the answer always changed depending on where it was printed. Elemental Weekly had subscribers made up of all our fandoms, and Max’s Maximinions had come out in force for the last poll I could remember. But the month before that Darius’s Darihussies had smashed the rest of us off the chart. Caleb and I had been neck and neck one month, only to have him steal it from me last minute. I’d won two months in a row last year though, and did I ever let them forget that? Not ever.

My ego drew my eyes to the comments on the FaeBook post, and I mentally counted up who was winning so far.

Kathleen Goodwin: Well bend me over and call me a bridge between two towers – there’s no way I’m picking! #ridemyhighway #Idontmindifyouhighfive #twowaystreet #bridgebros #twoHeirsinmythoroughfare #theresnotollonthisbridge

Sophie Ruddock: I WOULD CEASE TO EXIST IF I STOOD THAT CLOSE TO CALEB ALTAIR #hottestHeir #fang-girling #hecanAl-tearmeintwoanytime

Melanie Sivulovic: Sethhhhhhh ahhhhhhhh please please please reply to my comment!!!!! And OH MY STARS of course it’s you. You’re so hot. I’m crying. Ahhhhh! #Heirwiththebesthair #AlphaofAlphas #ifIhadtokillsomeonetokissyouIwoulddoitnoquestionsasked

Robyn Johnson: No one will ever compare to Darius. I bet even his corpse is hot #Iwouldbonehisbones #stiffforthestiff

Mandi Atkinson: THAT’S NOT FUNNY! DON’T YOU DAAAARE SPEAK ABOUT HIM LIKE THAT!! I WILL MEDUSA HAIR THE FUCK OUTTA YOU! COME FIND ME AT 112 SOLIUM DRIVE, I DARE YOU!!

Eve McGaughey: Darius’s ghost actually visited me. I haven’t told anyone about it yet because he told me not to tell. It was a wild experience. He came into my bed in the middle of the night and plunged his giant Dragon meat into my Fae flan #Igotghosted #deadmendoitbest #hecamebackandhecamehard

Ashley Mathews: I run a kink store called Kinky Farm and business is BOOMING after we introduced a new range of Pegasex dolls which include a blow-up Caleb Altair! We’re always selling out of Calegasus glitter lube too! It’s wonderful what he’s done for the kink community #Orderformsexisnothingtobeashamedof #Pegasexdollsnowonsale #allCalegasusproductscomewithaCalebAltairspicyartprint

Nat Lenny: OMS!! Seth you look SO good. Can’t believe you’re taking time to speak to us lowly ants when you’re all busy fighting in a whole ass war! #youresobrave #Iwillbeyourally #wecanjoinforcesanytime

Lucy Burfoot: I’m a #mareforAltair and I don’t care! #whipmeandwatchmeneighneigh #getyourspangledangleinmywangle #hotforthetrot

Hannah Maye: I’d let you gobble me up if you found me wandering in the woods Seth #bigbadwolf #littleredridingwhore

The comments went on and on, and I tucked my Atlas away as I made it down to the water’s edge, feeling marginally better for the attention. I pulled off my shirt to go and join Geraldine in her wild dance, wanting to hear more about this erotic nipple juice she’d mentioned. But before I stepped into the foamy tide, Justin flopped out of the water, dragging himself up the beach while fifty starfishes clung to his body, leaving bloody welts across his skin.

“They’re eating me!” he wailed as Max walked out of the water behind him like a hot, mystical merman with an evil vendetta, his Siren powers spilling from him, and my stomach growled with hunger as the magic he was pushing into the starfishes hit me.

“Get him, Max,” I encouraged, and he shot me a feral look before grabbing Justin by the ankles and hurling him back out into the waves. Max dove after him like some sort of killer whale hunting a squishy little seal, and I didn’t like Justin Sealington’s chances.

I waded out to join Geraldine, stripping off my clothes and tossing them back on the beach with my air magic as I went. I was soon in the row of Asses where I could just let my inner crazy come out, dancing in time with them as we gazed up at the sky where Venus winked at us.

“Wait for me, Venuslings!” Washer cried, running out to join the parade and he slapped my ass the moment he got close.

I sent him flying away from me with a snarl and a blast of air magic, but continued my dance, letting the rum take the reins and feeling my cock tingle from Venus’s power. My nipples started tingling too, and holy shit, Geraldine was right. There really was something to this naked ocean rumba.

“Grant us your amorous gifts, milady Venus, and let them lead us to clarity by dawn that shall help us see the way forward in this war!” Geraldine crowed, her arms flying back and forth above her. “We shall romp beneath the moonlit sky and let you guide us to the crystal clear waters of the mind that only a good rollicking can provide!”

“Come onto me Venus!” Washer yelled, rubbing his bare chest, and tweaking his own nipples.

My nose wrinkled and I started to get the ick as he began thrusting to a beat entirely within his own head, the wet slap of his dick hitting the waves carving its way into my brain until it was all I could hear.

Nah, I’m out.

My dick was powerful enough without being charged by the power of Venus.

I turned back to the beach, my eyes automatically seeking out Caleb, but I couldn’t replace him among the masses. My gaze fell on Leon’s friend Carson where he was sitting with a tattoo kit laid out beside him on a log, a Faelight hovering over the arm of a guy he was inking up. My mind snapped onto exactly what I wanted to do, and I strode towards the long-haired dude with his Disney tattoos and growly looking face, shoving the Fae he was working on onto the floor.

“My turn,” I demanded, my words a tiny bit slurry but Carson definitely hadn’t noticed as he looked up at me coolly.

“Hey!” the guy on the floor shouted and I looked down at him, snarling deep in the back of my threat.

“Problem?” I hissed and he realised who I was, his face paling as he shook his head and scampered away with the half-finished tattoo of Venus on his arm.

“I want a tattoo,” I told Carson.

“No shit,” he said. “But the shop’s closed. You just lost me a good customer, asshole.”

“His tattoo idea was as boring as a banana on a bridge. Anyone can get Venus marked on them, it doesn’t make them any hotter,” I said.

“It’s not about what he wanted, it’s about where he was getting it. Do you know how much pain a wrist tattoo causes?” he growled, and I frowned at that odd comment.

“So you like to tattoo in places that hurt?” I asked.

“Yeah, but judging by a prissy guy like you, I’m betting you want a tattoo of the stars on your chest, just like every other preppy asshole and his grandma like to get. Or maybe your mommy’s star sign?”

“I’m not a preppy asshole.” I grabbed the collar of his shirt in my fist and his eyebrows raised in surprise. “I want a tattoo between my shoulder blades, right over my spine. That painful enough for you?”

A slow, psychotic sort of smile spread across his lips, and I sensed this guy was hiding some serious danger beneath those Disney tats.

“Tell you what, Heir,” he purred, eyes dark and deadly as he took hold of my hand where it gripped his shirt. “I’ll do your tattoo, but I get to break a bone in your hand any time I feel like it. And you can only heal it when I’m finished inking you.”

My lips parted in surprise, and he released a breath of amusement, knocking my fist off his shirt.

“That’s what I thought.” He stepped past me, but I slammed a palm to his chest to halt him, my decision made.

“Deal,” I said firmly. Who needed fingers anyway? I wasn’t about to start playing the flute. Unless… No. If I took up the flute tonight my power of seduction would be too great, I’d end up fluting every fucker on this beach straight into my bedroom like the Pied Pooper. I mean the Party Pipper. No, that wasn’t it either… Well, anyway, I couldn’t take the risk. No fluting for me tonight, not with the cold moon and Venus at work and not while my hair was looking so fucking good, the risks were too high.

“Well, you’re either a stupid fucker, or you’re less prissy than your ex-Councillor mommy. Come on then. We’ll need proper light for this.” He scooped up his tattoo kit and led me up the beach.

I followed him, wondering if I might regret this, but knowing the pain was worth it if it turned out how I imagined. So a few broken fingers seemed like a fair price to pay to the violent tattoo man.