Zodiac Academy: The Awakening(97)
The thump of a heavy bass reached me through the door to Darius’s room and I ground my teeth as I recognised one of my favourite songs. Thanks for ruining it for me, asshole.
With a steadying breath, I lifted my hand and knocked on the door.
“It’s open,” Darius called, his tone casual, clearly expecting one of his friends. “Come in.”
I hesitated, taken aback by the friendly tone and wondering what the hell I was letting myself in for by coming to invade his personal space. But I was here now. I’d knocked on the goddamn door so I couldn’t back out. Besides, what was the worst he could do?
I steeled myself and pushed the door open. A huge space greeted me, at least four times the size of my own room which was in no way small. In fact I’d probably have gone so far as to call it more of a penthouse than a dorm.
He had goddamn king sized bed which sat beneath sprawling yellow and orange windows with a view out over the Fire Territory beyond. There was even a couch to the right big enough to seat four people, sitting beneath a huge TV hanging on the wall.
Aside from the extravagant size of it, the most eye catching thing about the room was the choice of gaudy decorations. Everything that possibly could be was made of gold and it didn’t look fake either; the bed posts, coffee table, bedside cabinets and wardrobe doors were all heavily gilt. There was an alarm clock, picture frames, coasters, even a small trash can, all of which seemed to be solid gold. At the foot of his bed a chest stood with the top open to reveal the fact that it was half full of gold coins and gemstones as big as goddamn eggs. More of the same treasure was spread across his bed where he was currently laying, surrounded by the stuff and glaring at me like I’d just grown a second head. He was only wearing a pair of jeans and for a second I couldn’t help but stare at the thick muscles which lined his chest but my attention was quickly snagged by the treasure again.
“What the hell do you want?” Darius snarled, pushing himself up to a sitting position so that he could throw the full weight of his scowl at me.
“Do you have a pirate fetish or something?” I blurted, eyeing the coins and gold with confusion.
“What?” he asked, his scowl somehow defying the laws of physics and finding a way to deepen.
“Well you’re half naked in a bed full of coins so either you’re doing something with them or putting them somewhere... inaccessible while fully dressed or I missed the memo about your enrolment in Captain Silver’s new fleet.”
A beat of silence passed as his gaze dragged over me.
“You really don’t know anything do you?” he asked. “This is how my kind regenerate our power; from gold.”
“Oh.” I frowned at the coins again as I processed that. “So are you Order of pirate then? Do you transform into a one legged man with an eyepatch, a hankering for rum and a pet parrot?”
Darius stared at me for several long seconds and I began to wonder if he might just be about to crack a smile when he spoke again.
“What the hell are you doing in my room?” he demanded.
“Why do you think I’m here?” I bit back instantly. He knew full well that he’d been scheduled to meet me for our tutoring session and there was no way that I was going to allow some bullshit excuse about a kitten to spring from his lips this time.
“The only possible reason I can imagine for you to be stupid enough to come bursting in here would be that you’ve finally come to realise who really deserves to rule Solaria. And that being the case, I imagine you’re about to bow down low and praise me and the other Heirs as your kings,” he said, the casual tone of his voice possibly suggesting he truly thought I might be here for that reason.
“Keep dreaming,” I muttered. “I’m here because you missed yet another one of our tutoring sessions, as I’m sure you’re aware.”
“And what if I am?” he asked, rising to his feet suddenly and sending a little cascade of coins to the floor. “What will you do about it? Make me bow to your will?”
I lifted my chin with every last shred of my anger. “Come and do the session like you promised,” I demanded firmly.
Darius stalked closer and the difference in our heights was made painfully clear as he towered over me and I was forced to look up at him.
“No,” he breathed, his body coiled with tension that I could practically feel. “If you want me to train you, you’ll have to make me. If you really are one of our kind then you’re going to need to learn quickly that Fae take what they want and the only thing that matters to us is power. So if you want me to do something for you then you’re going to have to force me.”
I bit my tongue against the urge to start calling him names and remind him that he’d already agreed to this and replied in an icy tone. “How many Elements do you wield again, Darius?” I asked. “Two isn’t it?”
I let the insinuation hang between us and I almost felt his hatred of me and what I was as it simmered inside him.
“Two are more than enough,” he replied bluntly.
“Yeah... but having all four has got to be better.” God, why the hell was I rising to the bait like this? I’d only wanted him to help me, I’d never had any intention of prodding him about my potential. Hell, I’d never even given my potential much thought but now it sounded like I was challenging him for the throne I’d claimed to have no interest in.