Zodiac Academy: The Awakening(119)

“Bullshit,” Orion snapped as I stared at one of the monsters who’d tried to kill my sister.

Orion moved to Darius, resting a hand on his shoulder. Darius shrugged it off but Orion wrapped his arm tightly around him, pulling him close. “Are you going to lie to my face too, Darius?”

Darius shook free of him. “Can't lie to your face when I'm facing a wall, can I sir?” His tone was mocking and cold, his posture as rigid as if his spine was made of pure iron.

Orion whipped him around, releasing him in the same moment. He wasn't as rough with him as the others and I half wondered why. Darius was as bad as the rest of them and it made my blood chill to look at his expressionless face.

“One last chance,” Orion said in a low voice just for him. “Explain.”

Darius's eyes slid from his face to Tory, his jaw ticking before he looked back at the Professor. “We want them out. We're just trying to get them out - you know the pressure we’re under. Max found out their fears and well...we brought them to life.” He shrugged and my chest collapsed in on itself. Could they be any more cruel? We didn’t even want their throne and they were still willing to try and break us so we’d leave.

Orion shook his head, his face painted with disappointment. “I thought you of all the Heirs were better than your parents.”

Darius's face contorted as Orion turned his back on him, which I’d gathered was one of the biggest insults he could offer as a Fae.

“Everyone present in this room bar the Vega girls is now in detention with me for a full week. Capella, Altair, Rigel and Acrux, you will take two weeks and you're on a warning. One more stunt like this and I don't care if you're the sons of the stars themselves, you will be expelled from Zodiac.”

“You know what, Orion? Go fuck yourself,” Darius snarled, barging past him and marching straight out of the door.

Orion glared after him but didn't make a move to stop him.

“Detention?” Tory wheezed. “Is that it?”

Orion didn't answer and fury filled me. “How can you let them get away with this?” I demanded.

I noticed Marguerite and some of her vile friends pointing at my hair and giggling under their breath. My skin flushed hot and I turned back to Tory, wishing we could just disappear.

Orion crouched down before us and reached for Tory's hand. “You need more healing.”

“Not here,” she hissed, her eyes whipping to the onlooking crowd. “I just want to go.”

He ignored her, pressing his hand to her shoulder and that strange red glow built beneath his palm once more.

I'd never felt so low, like the wind had ripped holes in the sails of my life and left them in tatters.

But I would fix them.

And I'd rise again.

Just not today.





THE BURNING IN my lungs eased away as Orion’s warm hands pressed against my skin. As I came back to myself, I started shivering, my teeth chattering as I curled my legs up to my chest.

Darcy was holding my hand, her olive eyes wide with concern as she looked at me and a lock of hair not even long enough to reach her chin fell towards me. I frowned at it, reaching out for the jagged ends of her hair and noticing the tear tracks which ran through her makeup.

“Draw on your fire magic,” Orion muttered. “It’ll help warm you up.”

My gaze slid to him for a moment and I shifted away from him a little but he didn’t release me.

“I’m just making sure all of the water is out of your lungs and healing any damage it did,” he explained, his tone oddly flat.

“What happened to you?” I asked Darcy, my voice rasping through my raw throat. Drowning and screaming obviously went hand in hand.

Darcy’s lips parted then closed again and her gaze flicked beyond me. I turned that way and found Seth, Caleb and Max still standing against the wall though they’d turned to look at us now that Orion’s attention was off of them. Their faces were written with displeasure at the turn of events. The only one looking back at me was Caleb. His jaw was tight and his eyes full of secrets that I couldn’t begin to fathom.

My heart leapt with another jolt of fear and I quickly looked away again as Orion released his hold on me. I took a deep breath and found it pain free at last. I knew I should have been thanking him but I couldn’t quite bring myself to say the words. I dragged my knees closer to my body, aiming to cover myself as much as I could and hide my lacy underwear from view to the best of my ability.

I felt small, pathetic, laid bare for all of these assholes and stripped of every cocky, fiery part of me until all that was left was the girl who had never had any parents and always wondered what that kind of love would have felt like.

I was still shivering. Each time I reached for my fire, it slipped away from me again. I couldn’t focus on it. It hadn’t saved me when I’d needed it to. Being powerful hadn’t helped me one bit. But it was the reason for this situation. It was why the Heirs had done this to me. If I didn’t have my magic then they wouldn’t have been interested in me at all.

“Caleb, take off your shirt and give it to Miss Vega,” Orion snapped.

Caleb hesitated a moment before he started to unhook his buttons and I finally found my voice.

“I don’t want anything from him,” I said, my voice low, empty, but certain.