Zodiac Academy: The Awakening(66)

“Then we're so screwed,” she whispered.

My Atlas pinged as another message came through.



Falling Star:

I can’t share all of the findings through FaeBook. It’s not secure.

But read this and I’ll be in touch soon.



A link came up beneath their message and I clicked on the site, finding myself looking at what appeared to be a news report printed the day after the deaths of our real parents. Heat rolled down my spine as I started reading it.



King Hail Vega, his wife Merissa and their two children, Roxanya and Gwendalina, were found dead in their palace beds at 7:08 yesterday morning. King Hail, termed The Savage King during his reign, and his two children were the last living heirs to the throne of Solaria. Their deaths have now been declared as murder and the evidence points to a calculated Nymph attack involving two or more of the creatures.



With the kingdom already in turmoil, the four Houses of the Celestial Council (Acrux, Rigel, Altair and Capella) have stepped up to rule in King Vega’s place.



Lord Lionel Acrux was the first on the scene in an effort to help his life-long friend King Vega when a distress call was reportedly sent to him. Unfortunately, his arrival came too late and the Nymphs in question still remain at large. The offending Nymphs now possess the magic of the royal line and are the most powerful and dangerous of their kind ever to have existed. A mass hunt has begun in an effort to destroy the creatures before they have time to harness their newly absorbed powers.



The news has been taken with a mixture of grief and celebration since the reign of King Vega was one of hardship and turmoil. Professor Astrum of Zodiac Academy was quoted as predicting what he termed as 'the bloody decades' through Tarot and star charting before the King's ascension. Though dismissed previously, his words have since been adopted to describe the reign of The Savage King and are now printed on banners across the City of Lunar in protest to the millions of aurums being spent on a funeral organised by the royal supporters.



One lead advocate of King Vega and his family, Hamish Grus, demanded that the throne be handed to the nearest royal bloodline. But with only distant cousins remaining in the Vega family, the four houses of the Celestial Council are in opposition to this proposal. They are currently petitioning for the throne to remain empty until an appropriate ruler can be found. Royal blood or not. In the meantime, the four houses will rule together - a motion which has been greeted with open arms by many in Solaria.



I dragged my eyes from the article with a heavy breath and Tory flopped back onto the bed beside me.

“Falling Star could be right,” she said and I nodded.

“The Heirs' families had motive to kill them,” I agreed with a sickly taste in my mouth. “But this report says Nymphs did it. And Diego was telling me they do something weird like... stab you in the heart and suck out the magic with their claws.”

“Ew,” Tory breathed. “There would have been evidence of that.”

“Yeah...” I desperately wanted to rule out the possibility that the Heirs' families could have been involved. That one of them was coming after us. And Professor Orion was helping them. Because if it was true, I didn't know how we'd ever escape.





I sat in Cardinal Magic with a tightness in my chest. Orion was late. And I kept glancing at the door, half-expecting him to march in with a machine gun to take out Tory and I.

Stop getting carried away.

Besides, he wouldn’t need a machine gun, he could cut you to ribbons with his cheekbones alone - not to mention his fangs...

After everything we'd learned last night, I'd barely gotten any sleep. And I'd been dreading this lesson all morning.

Diego looked between us, his pale blue eyes twinkling with concern. “Everything bien? You guys look like the undead today.”

I forced out a laugh but it didn't sound very convincing.

“I missed you last night,” Sofia whispered to Tory. “It's not the same in Ignis without you.”

Tory gave her an apologetic smile. “The Heirs were out for my blood. I had to lay low.”

Sofia sighed, painting a circle on the table with her finger. “I wish they’d back off.”

Kylie was parading through the room, handing out bright pink leaflets as she danced between the aisles. “Fresher's party in The Orb next Friday!” she said brightly, arriving at our row.

She clutched the leaflets in her hand as she glanced between Tory and I, her rich amber eyes moving between us like a viper about to strike. “Oh I suppose you guys won't be coming.” She waved a leaflet in front of our faces with a mock frown.

“Why?” Sofia took the bait.

“Because no one wants you there,” she said with a poison ivy glare and I bristled with unease.

The door swung open and Orion strode in, causing my heart to clench into a hard ball. He took one, sweeping glance at the classroom then at the leaflets in Kylie's grip.

“No,” he snarled, waving a hand so every single leaflet in the room swept toward him on a violent breeze then slammed into the trash can beside his desk.

Kylie froze, looking to him in alarm, turning as pale as a sheet. “Sir, I-”

“Miss Major if you ever hand out garbage in my classroom again you'll be banned from attending a single one of this year’s formals.”