Zodiac Academy: The Awakening As Told By The Boys
The Awakening As Told By The Boys: Chapter 25

I stood to the side of the room while everyone else enjoyed the dance. But tonight wasn’t going to be fun for us. We all knew what was expected of us and despite my agreement to it, I was still feeling all kinds of reluctant.

Seth had peeled away to dance with Darcy already, drawing her into his trap like a spider luring an innocent little fly into his web.

I looked over at them, the happiness in her eyes as he spun her beneath his arm making my stomach knot. I didn’t like this. Seth was always too easily tempted to the dark, taking pranks too far and asserting his dominance over other Fae with a flare of anger which lashed out too harshly at times.

Only I knew in my soul that the cruelty he gave into wasn’t really him. And when he got like this, I couldn’t help but want to shake him and remind him of the things which he really enjoyed. If he didn’t watch out then sometimes I worried he’d let the hierarchy and politics we’d been born into burn out that free and innocent light he’d always exuded, and the thought of that made my heart ache with a desperate kind of pain.

I knew he wasn’t the only one of us being moulded into something far harsher than we may have chosen to be. But wasn’t that the point? We didn’t get a choice because we were born for power. And with power came a whole lot of responsibility, the least of which being that we had to maintain our positions at the top of the pecking order at all times.

Darius hadn’t shown his face yet and I knew he wasn’t really happy about what we were going to do tonight either. Not that I’d been able to get him to admit that. He’d damn near bitten my head off when I’d tried one last ditch attempt to convince him to back down.

I got it. His dad wasn’t like my mom. Lionel Acrux ruled with an iron fist and his word was law. Max had convinced me to play along, promising me that it was the best thing for our brother and I wanted that, so I’d agreed.

But as my gaze landed on Tory Vega where she stood alone at the bar, looking utterly devastating in a black gown which clung to her figure like a spill of oil, those doubts rose in me again.

She ordered herself a drink and I shot through the crowd before I could stop myself, coming to a halt at her side and leaning against the bar like I’d been there for hours instead of moments.

“It’s not too late,” I said, unable to help myself as I cast a quick glance around the room for the other Heirs. I wasn’t entirely sure what they had planned for her aside from it taking place at the pool, but I knew it wouldn’t be anything good.

Tory turned to look at me, offering me half a smile as she gave me a solid once over with those deep green eyes of hers which made my chest puff up and my dick start paying a whole lot more attention.

“Not too late for what?” she asked, taking a sip of her drink and drawing my focus to the blood red lipstick she wore.

“To sneak out of here and have some real fun,” I offered, reaching out to brush my fingertips along her arm. If she’d just agree then I could get her out of here in less than a heartbeat, I could save her from this attempt to get rid of her and spend the night dedicating myself to her pleasure.

I told myself I was offering that because she was my Source and it was my duty to protect her, but it was more than that, like this feeling in my gut that what me and the other Heirs were planning was the wrong thing. The wrong move. I still believed it would make us look weak rather than strong and though I’d been forced to back down against the three of them, I got the feeling this wouldn’t even work anyway. These girls might not have been raised in this kingdom, but they were Fae and I was sure they’d come back fighting no matter how hard we went at them tonight, so why do it?

Tory looked like she was actually considering my offer but then she just shook her head lightly in refusal, dashing my hopes.

“You’ll have to work harder than that if you want me,” she taunted and any other night I’d have been more than willing to take her up on that offer, but tonight I needed her to let me get her back to my room first.

I leaned a little closer, my mouth against her ear as I spoke seductively, trying to coax an agreement from her lips. “I promise you, I’ll work really hard.”

She looked at me with heat in her eyes and for a moment I thought I had her, but then she shrugged a little and shook her head like she’d never considered it at all.

“Tempting…but no.”

I pursed my lips in disappointment, opening my mouth to say something else to convince her, but before I could figure out what that might have been, Max and Darius appeared at the other end of the bar.

The two of them shot me and Tory death glares like they knew exactly what I’d been up to and my stomach dropped as I gave in to the inevitable.

Darius beckoned me over and I straightened, suppressing a sigh. I might not have liked this but I knew where my loyalties lay and that would always be right alongside the other Heirs.

“Off you run,” Tory muttered and I hesitated a moment, not liking the implication that I was being summoned like a good dog, but I also couldn’t deny that my place was with them. And if I had to choose then it would be my brothers every time against every alternative.

I smiled ruefully as I took a step away. “I’m not switching allegiances, Tory,” I said, resigning myself to how the night had to play out now. “No matter how good you look in that dress. We still can’t let you take our throne.”

I walked away but I heard the words she muttered bitterly at my back. “I don’t want your damn throne.”

I just wished her saying that was enough for the Councillors to accept it.

‘What were you saying to her?’ Darius asked in a low growl as I joined him and Max.

‘Asking her to come back to my room tonight so that I could spend the evening fucking her instead of watching the shit show which will come now,’ I admitted because I’d made it clear enough that I wasn’t really on board with this plan anyway and I wasn’t going to lie to my brothers even if they wouldn’t like the truth.

Darius scoffed. ‘So I assume she shot you down,’ he said cockily and I just couldn’t help myself as I replied.

‘She didn’t the last time though.’

A growl tore from Darius’s throat and he slammed his drink down on the bar hard enough to shatter it.

Max stepped forward and placed a hand on both of our arms. ‘There’s no time for this macho bullshit tonight,’ he said firmly, trying to calm us with his gifts and I let him do it because I was feeling too star damned jittery tonight anyway. If we had to do this shit, then I just wanted it over and done with.

I looked around for any sign of Seth but found him and Darcy missing which meant that part of their plan was probably already reaching completion and I gave up any more dumb ideas about putting this off.

Darius glared down the bar at Tory who raised her chin defiantly before flipping him off like she wasn’t the least bit afraid of him. Shit. She was fucking crazy. Hot as hell, but batshit with a death wish too. She turned her back on him to make it even worse then slipped away into the crowd.

Darius looked inclined to stalk after her, but as he shoved away from the bar, his Atlas began to ring in his pocket and I caught sight of his father’s name on the caller ID before he answered it.

‘I take it you won’t disappoint me again tonight?’ Lionel said in a cold voice which made the hairs along the back of my neck stand up. I probably shouldn’t have been using my gifts to listen in on the conversation, but Darius probably should have used a silencing bubble if he didn’t want me to anyway.

‘I’ll get it done,’ Darius bit out.

‘Good. Because your brother is here in my office with me, waiting to hear from you about your success, aren’t you Xavier?’

‘Darius?’ Xavier’s voice was pitched with fear but as I gave Darius a concerned look, he clearly realised I could hear his conversation and threw a silencing bubble around himself to hide the rest of it from me.

It didn’t matter though. I could tell from the way his heart was racing and his knuckles were whitening where he gripped his Atlas that he was afraid of something.

‘You see now why we have to do this?’ Max growled in a low voice, his gifts clearly tuning him in to Darius’s fear too and I nodded in acceptance.

‘Yeah,’ I breathed. ‘I get it.’

An excited squeal cut the air to shreds and I glanced around to replace Geraldine Grus rushing through the room in a huge pink dress which looked like one of those old fashioned toilet roll doilies.

She threw herself at Tory in excitement and the two of them hugged each other tightly in greeting.

‘Thank fuck she’s okay,’ Max breathed beside me and I turned to him with a faint frown.

‘You been worrying about Grus, big boy?’ I teased and he instantly tore his gaze from her and shrugged off the concerned look in his eyes.

‘Well it would have sucked if a Nymph got all of her power,’ he said. ‘Besides, she’s one of the only Fae in our class who is even semi capable of using her magic against us so…’

‘So?’ I pushed but at that moment Darius finished his call and dropped his silencing bubble.

‘Let’s get on with this,’ he said darkly. ‘Where did Roxy go?’

I picked her out among the crowd as she broke away from Geraldine and started heading for the exit, training my heightened senses on her and hearing her ask that hat kid if he knew where Darcy had gone.

‘The hat kid just told her to go look for her sister outside,’ I said, pointing at Tory just as she slipped out the door.

Darius straightened his spine like he was marching into battle and he strode away through the crowd without waiting for us.

Max and I followed him at a bit of a distance, letting him take the lead in this as he led the way outside and turned left of the exit, trailing Tory’s steps while he hid the sound of his within another silencing bubble.

She didn’t even know a monster was stalking her in the dark and as I began to worry about what we were doing again, Max caught my arm.

‘It has to be this way,’ he insisted in a low voice, forcing me to nod in acceptance.

‘Doesn’t mean I gotta like it,’ I muttered.

Shimmering orbs of light marked either side of the pathways and Tory headed down the one that led towards the Lunar Leisure building like even the stars were guiding her fate to this now. Darius stalked closer to her, closing in on her while she never once looked back.

At the very last second she whirled on him, her eyes widening in surprise as he painted on a cruel grin which I’d seen him wear plenty of times before. I trained my gifts on them to listen in while Max and I remained out of sight in the shadows, wondering if she might try and fight back Fae on Fae. With a strong enough blast of her power, she might even be able to run from him, but I seriously doubted fate would be that kind to her.

“Out for a walk?” Darius asked as Tory took a step back.

“Something like that,” she replied, looking beyond him like she was hoping someone else might be out here but she didn’t spot us within Max’s concealment spells. “Did you want something?” she asked when Darius remained quiet and I could hear his heart racing like a war drum in his chest as he psyched himself up for this. He didn’t like it any more than I did, I was certain of that. But whatever was going on with his father was enough to make him do it anyway.

“Last chance, Roxy. Take your sister and leave this academy. Go back to your little mortal lives and leave Solaria in the hands of people who are worthy of the throne,” he said darkly but I could hear the hint of a plea in that request too, like he was really hoping she’d just agree and we wouldn’t have to go through with this.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she replied defiantly. “So you need to get over it.”

“Is that your final decision?” he asked, taking a step towards her which made her heart rate spike but she still held her ground like a true Fae.

“Yes,” she spat.

“Then I guess I’m going to have to change your mind,” Darius sighed.

She scowled at him and made a move to turn away, but his hand snapped out and he caught her arm, tugging her close and ending this before it had even begun.

“Let go of me,” Tory demanded, trying to shake him off.

“No, I don’t think I will,” he growled. “You’re going to learn a little lesson about respect. I won’t have you turning your back on me again.” There was real anger in his tone as he spoke to her and I got the feeling he was mad at her for not just giving in, bowing to our will like we needed them to. Because now he was going to have to become the monster he tried so hard not to be and I guessed in his eyes that was all her fault.

Tory struggled but he caught her other arm too, dragging her so close that their breath mingled as she stared up into his eyes.

“Don’t fight me. And don’t scream,” he said, his voice laced with Coercion.

I could practically feel her trying to fight off his command but the ring of power he’d used to Coerce her was still heavy in the air and I knew he’d made sure that she had no chance of that.

Darius smiled like he was giving way to the devil in him then turned and started marching her towards the Lunar building up ahead.

I exchanged a look with Max as he dropped the magic which had been hiding us and he looked to me.

‘Let’s get there first and make sure everyone else is in place to watch the show,’ he said firmly and I nodded because there was no other choice left now anyway.

I grabbed hold of him and tossed him over my shoulder before shooting around the side of the building and carrying him inside. There was no going back now. And I just wanted this night over.