Zodiac Academy: The Awakening (Supernatural Beasts and Bullies #1)(116)

I swallowed thickly. It was clear I wasn’t going to be getting any help from him and I hadn’t seen even one person here who seemed inclined to stop whatever Darius had planned.

Darius spun me to face the crowd of onlookers over the water and he slung an arm around me like we were friends.

“A lot of people have been talking about the return of the Vega Heirs like they’re something special,” he called, his voice bringing silence to the excitable onlookers. “But I am yet to see anything impressive about them. This one can’t even fight off basic Coercion.”

Darius tugged me against his chest but I stayed silent, unsure what my best move was here. My gaze kept travelling to the deep pool before me and the memories of rushing water were filling my ears. I’d been trapped in that car, waiting to die as it sank towards the riverbed and I fought against my jammed seatbelt.

My heart was pounding, my tongue heavy in my mouth but I couldn’t let them see my fear. I was powerless here but the one thing I could control was my own reaction to whatever they had planned.

“To rise to the top, we fight against our fears and come out triumphant!” Max cried and the ever watchful crowd cheered in agreement. “So shouldn’t one of the girls who claim to be our queens have to prove that she can do the same?”

I frowned at him. I’d never made any such claim and I knew Darcy hadn’t either. Max stalked closer, holding my eye as he leaned in to speak just to me.

“Thanks for sharing your fears with me,” he purred. “It made planning this so much easier.”

Darius looked between me and his friend and I fought to keep my expression blank. My heart was thrumming in panic and a bead of sweat was running down my spine but I wouldn’t give them my terror. I could see that they were set on this path and I wouldn’t beg them to stop. I knew it wouldn’t make any difference anyway.

Max leaned closer, brushing a finger down my arm and smirking knowingly as he absorbed some of my power laced with my fear.

“Come on then,” Darius said, taking his arm from my shoulder and giving me a push so that I started walking again.

Caleb caught my eye as I passed him and he threw me a smile which was as mocking as it was cruel. A sliver of ice stabbed straight through my chest at that smile. It wasn’t like I’d thought we were embarking on some epic romance but I had begun to believe that he wasn’t all bad. That just maybe he wasn’t determined to get rid of me and Darcy. And if I was being really honest I’d begun to think of him almost like a friend. The coldness in his gaze told me how wrong I’d been about that. He may not have been an active participant in this latest torture but he sure as shit wasn’t going to be stopping it.

Darius walked me past the two lower diving boards and stopped me by the ladder that led up to the high board. A little sign informed me that it was a ten meter jump from the tip of that board to the water and my hands started to shake just a little.

“Come on then, Roxy,” Darius growled, his breath warm against my neck as he leaned close. “Up you go.”

“I can barely swim,” I breathed, making sure he knew exactly what he was about to do to me. “I’ll drown if I jump in there.”

“Are you ready to bow to us then?” he asked. “And leave this school behind?”

I looked into his dark eyes, wondering if there was even a hint of humanity lurking in there. I didn’t glare at him or scowl or throw my hatred into my gaze. I just looked and let him see the girl I was. Let him see who he was doing this to, while wondering if he was even capable of pity or remorse. I wasn’t some long lost Heir come to steal his throne. I was just a girl trying to reclaim something that had been stolen from me and figure out my place in this screwed up world.

Darius’s lips parted and something shifted in his eyes. For half a second I actually thought he was going to back off, let me walk away with my tail between my legs and be satisfied by knowing he’d won without forcing me to go through with this.

“Start climbing! All the way to the top!” Max demanded behind us, his Coercion wrapping me in its grasp with firm talons and forcing my limbs into action.

I turned from Darius, kicked my stilettos off and began my ascent up the ladder.

Up and up and up. My palms were slick on the metal rungs and my bare feet felt the chill of them sharply as I climbed ever higher.

The crowd of assholes below me started chanting and it took me a few moments to make out what they were shouting.

“Jump! Jump! Jump!” It wasn’t an encouraging kind of chant though; it was eager, mocking, bloodthirsty.

My long black dress tangled around my legs as I climbed but I didn’t slow as Max’s Coercion urged me on.

When I finally reached the top, I pushed myself to my feet and stood on the long diving board which bounced slightly beneath my weight.

My legs were trembling and in my head I could hear the squeal of brakes, the screams which had torn from my throat as the car careered through the barrier and the swooping sensation in my stomach as the vehicle had dropped towards the river.

I was there again. Sinking, down, down, down and this time no helpful passerby was going to save me.

My ears were full of the terror of my memories but over the top of it I managed to hear another sound. Seth raised his voice in an excited howl as he raced into the room. His wolves howled in response to greet him and I balled my hands into fists to try and hold myself together.