Zodiac Academy: The Awakening(118)

My limbs were trembling from the cold and the panic and I could feel the urge to take a breath swelling up inside of me.

I pounded my fists against the layer of ice as I kept kicking, sinking deeper and then bobbing up again. It was no use. Any moment now I was going to take a breath.

My heartbeat whooshed in my ears and each thump of my fist against the ice was weaker than the last. I was out of tears. I was out of time.

My lungs were burning and I fought as hard as I could against the inevitable but I’d already lost that fight.

Darkness prickled on the edges of my vision.

And I took a breath.





ORION SPED PAST me in a blur, using his Vampire speed to outrun me. My heart fractured as he darted into the Lunar Leisure building ahead and I poured every last ounce of energy I had into chasing him.

Mocking cheers and cruel laughter rang out from inside and I knew in the depths of my soul, my sister was in serious trouble. I burst through the door and turned down dark corridors before practically falling over my feet as I arrived at the swimming pool.

A crowd of students stood at the far end of the swimming pool which had been turned to ice. Orion dove from the edge of it, casting a torrent of water from his hands which melted the ice before he hit it. He disappeared under the surface and my throat constricted with confusion and terror.

A huge fissure ripped up the middle of the ice and Orion burst from under it, his arm locked around Tory. She looked unconscious – or was it more than that?

My world slowed and dread built in my chest.

No, she's not dead. She can't be dead.

My mind finally kicked into gear again and I ran to the edge of the pool, reaching for Tory as Orion brought her near. I caught her arm as he placed her down on the tiles at the edge and silence fell. The kind of silence that preceded a time of death announcement.

“Tory,” I sobbed, gripping her freezing cold hand, every part of me trembling as I shook her.

Orion knelt beside her, dripping wet as he pressed a hand to her forehead. He shut his eyes and a deep red light glowed from beneath his palm.

I took a shuddering breath.

The room faded around me.

All that mattered was my sister and the magic flowing from Orion's body into hers.

Tory's eyes flew open and she coughed violently, throwing up water as Orion lurched aside just in time to miss it.

I fell onto her, hugging her close and Orion rose to his feet before I could thank him.

I spotted the Heirs walking along the edge of the pool, making a beeline for the exit.

Hatred tore at my insides as I glared at them, shaking from head to toe as I held onto my twin.

“IF A SINGLE PERSON IN THIS ROOM MOVES ANOTHER INCH, YOU WILL BE FACING IMMEDIATE EXPULSION!” Orion bellowed, the whole of the glass roof vibrating from his ferocious tone.

The Heirs stopped walking, falling silent. Darius scraped a hand down the back of his neck, looking riled for the first time ever. Seth was rubbing against all of them as if trying to soothe them and the sight of my hair poking out of his pocket made me want to scream.

“Face the fucking wall,” Orion commanded in a tone that made my shoulders tense.

I watched through blurry eyes as the Heirs filed into line opposite Orion. I’d never seen him so angry and I wanted him to unleash every drop of his rage on them for what they’d done.

The rest of the crowd grouped closer together on the other side of the pool, seeming uneasy.

I brushed the damp strands of hair from Tory's face and she blinked up at me in a haze.

“Are you alright?” I choked out.

She nodded weakly and I fell forward to embrace her again, relief singing a song in my heart.

She shifted up to sit beside me and her deep green eyes dragged over my hair. Her upper lip peeled back as she hugged her knees to her chest and rested her head against my shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Darcy,” she said in a raspy tone and I locked my arm around her, shaking my head in refusal of her apology.

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” I whispered, my eyes falling on the four Heirs who I hated more viscerally than I'd ever hated anything in my life.

Orion stared at the back of their heads. They looked like they were lined up for a firing squad and I half wished they were.

The crowd of the Heirs' followers started muttering between themselves and some made a bold bid for the exit.

“No one is leaving this room until I hear what happened,” Orion snarled at them and the straying students backed up into their ranks.

Orion prowled toward the Heirs, grasped Seth's hair in his fist and slammed his head against the wall with a loud crack. “Do you have anything to say about what happened to the Vega Twins tonight?” he snarled as Seth let out a hiss of pain between his teeth.

“No, sir,” Seth said in a low voice and I ground my teeth as I shot daggers at him with my eyes.

Orion stepped toward Max beside him, pressing his face into the wall. “How about you. Rigel?”

“No, sir,” Max muttered.

Orion moved to Caleb, leaning in to speak in his ear. “Have you been fucking with your Source, Caleb? You know that goes against the Vampire code and I might just be in the mood to get your fangs ripped out for it.”

Caleb's broad shoulders tensed in anger. “I'm aware of the code, sir. I didn’t do anything to her.”