Zodiac Academy: The Awakening(26)
I just jumped from the top of a tower and survived. Hair well and truly intact.
I gathered my wavy locks into my hands, having an intense emotional reaction to them. I’d started dying the ends blue a year ago. It wasn’t some indie statement or a cry for help. It was, in my own twisted kind of way, a reminder of one of the darkest and most pivotal moments in my life which I was determined never to forget.
On one side of the atrium, the grey stone floor met with a white marble staircase. I moved to the centre of the space, gazing up at the incredible stairway circling high above me.
I took a slow breath, fear and anticipation washing together in my belly as I made my way up the stairs. My Converses hitting the steps was the only noise around me, but as I made it up several more levels, I found my way barred.
Seth stood alone, his arms folded, his eyes narrowed. The air between us was filled with static and I expected a thunderstorm to erupt from him at any moment. Instead, he thrust a hand out and in it was a silver triangle with a long key dangling from it. “Eleventh floor, room three.”
My lips parted, but no words came out as I closed the distance between us and reached for the key. Victory sailed through me on a summer breeze.
I beat him at his own game.
“Congratulations,” he purred, but there was no kindness to his tone. “You've survived day one in hell. Each day after this will be worse. Are you sure you don't wanna drop out of Zodiac yet?”
I took the key from him, my hand closing into a fist so the sharp metal dug into my palm. “Why do you care if I'm here or not? We're clearly not going to get along. So let's just stay out of each other's way.” I tried to move around him but he side-stepped, planting his shoulder against the wall to block my path.
Irritation rattled through me.
He reached out, brushing his fingers through my hair, coiling a handful around his fingers.
“Why do you keep touching me like that?” I jerked aside, my upper lip peeling back.
He released a gruff noise in his throat. “Because I'm an Alpha, babe. And this is how I show you who's in charge. You need to forget about rising against me, because you won't win.” He tightened his grip on my hair and I ground my teeth, refusing to let out a yelp of pain.
“I don't have plans to rise against you, Seth,” I said as calmly as I could. “I just want to go to bed.”
He grinned, tugging my hair extra hard then stepping back entirely, gesturing for me to go past. I pressed my shoulders back, marching past him, feeling his eyes on me all the way as I fought the urge to rub my sore scalp.
“You owe me your hair,” he called.
Anger flashed through my body hot and fast. I quickened my pace to a jog, wanting to put as much distance between Seth and I as possible.
When I found my floor, I was thankful that there were no students around. I could hear panicked cries from somewhere high above though and wondered if the other freshmen had gotten off so easy after all.
I headed down the stone corridor which held ten doors, five on either side. I pushed the key into the door of room three and headed inside with a sigh of relief.
At my movement, a light came on above me and a smile captured my lips.
The room had a dark wooden floor with a single bed to one side of it made up with white sheets and fluffy pillows. The walls were the same grey stone as the rest of the tower and they swept toward the vertical window at the end of the room. It was taller than me and had two heavy shutters bolted across it. To my left was a long desk and above it were shelves of books and notepads. A line of white pencils lay on the desk and my fingers itched. It had been ages since I'd had the inspiration to sketch anything. But it had always made me feel better, forget the world. If I hadn't been so exhausted, I probably would have jumped on the opportunity after the night I'd had.
Next to the pencils was a slim device, sleek and white. It looked like an iPad only wider with a few rectangular buttons along the bottom of it and a digital pen attached to the side.
I brushed my fingers over the screen and a noise sounded like wind chimes as the symbol of Aer appeared in black on a white background.
A soft male voice emitted from it as the image dissolved and several rows of apps appeared. “Welcome to Zodiac Academy. This is your Atlas. Your profile has been added to our database. You can now call or message your friends throughout the entire school. Click through the apps to discover your timetable, school events, Pitball matches and scores, and find your full syllabus for the term. If you need assistance, just send a message directly to your House Captain and they'll help you with any problems you have.”
“Yeah sure he will,” I muttered, picking up the Atlas and finding my way to a long list of contacts. I typed Tory's name in at the top but it found no results. When I typed 'Vega' I found my name listed as Gwendalina and Tory's as Roxanya. I changed mine to Darcy and my finger hovered over Tory's original name as I thought about the people who'd given it to her. Could they really have been the king and queen of this unknown world?
I'd always thought we'd been orphaned, but now it was almost worse to know our parents had chosen to get rid of us. Orion had thought we'd been in danger, but from what? And if that were true, why swap us for some random human children and put them in danger instead? It was beyond cruel.
Seth had mentioned Solaria was better off without my father as king, but judging from the nastiness I’d witnessed in him tonight, I wondered if I could believe anything he said.