Zodiac Academy: The Awakening (Supernatural Beasts and Bullies #1)(83)

I was too afraid to care about the surprised looks they were shooting us and we darted straight across the street to join the safety of the crowd without slowing at all.

As soon as we were surrounded by warm bodies I spun back to face the alley, my eyes wide as I attempted to spot whoever had been chasing us.

Darcy leaned in close beside me, her arm brushing against mine as my galloping heartbeat thundered in my ears.

The alleyway was empty. Just a dark space between two innocent looking buildings. But the fear knotting my insides was real.

A hand landed on my shoulder and I flinched as I looked up to find Max Rigel smiling at us. He was dressed in the kind of flashy shirt which probably cost more than a week’s rent in our old apartment and his mohawk was slicked back stylishly.

“What’s got our two little Vegas so worked up?” he asked kindly and I could feel the call of his power urging us to divulge our fears to him.

I glanced at Darcy, unsure whether or not to tell him. On the one hand, letting him take some of this fear from me didn’t sound like the worst idea in that moment. On the other, I was probably only terrified at all because one of his dumbass friends had been chasing us.

But as that thought crossed my mind, I spotted the other Heirs lounging at a table to our left. They all had drinks underway and showed every sign that they’d been sitting there for a while. Besides, I still hadn’t taken my eyes off of that alley and no one else had emerged from it.

“There was someone chasing us,” Darcy murmured, giving in to the call of the Siren’s power.

“Really?” Max asked with interest, sliding his arms around us so that we were pulled closer to him. I knew what he was after but I definitely felt safer here than I had in that alleyway. And considering the fact that we were currently surrounded by a bunch of douchebags who I knew wished us harm, that was saying a lot.

“They were trying to hurt us,” I muttered, feeling the pull of Max’s magic as he drew some of mine into himself alongside a sliver of my fear. Sirens would probably make a killing as psychiatrists; who wouldn’t like someone to suck the misery out of them every now and then?

“That sounds like a good story to be told over a drink.” Max steered us between the crowd of students towards the other Heirs. I threw a concerned glance at Darcy and her eyes widened in response but before we could voice any objections, we found ourselves at their table.

The other Heirs looked up at us in surprise and I frowned, wondering why the hell I’d let Max drag us over here.

“Look who I just found running from shadows,” Max announced with a wide smile, his hand dropping down my back until it was in danger of skimming my ass.

I shrugged him off before he could manage it.

“We weren’t running from shadows, someone was chasing us,” Darcy said defensively as Seth leaned forward with a wolfish smile.

“You really must be scared if you thought we were a better option,” he said.

“They are. I can taste their fear,” Max said enthusiastically. “And they were just about to tell me all about it.”

Caleb released a breath of laughter as he ran a hand through his tightly curling blonde hair, his eyes darting between my sister and I.

Max dropped into the only free chair at the table and yanked Darcy down into his lap, pulling her against his chest as he leaned close to her ear.

“What was the worst part?” he asked and I could feel his power tugging at me even though he wasn’t touching me anymore. Darcy was snared in his magic and her lips parted to answer his question automatically.

“They kept making this horrible noise,” she replied. “Like a growl or a rattle...”

Darius leaned forward, his brows lifting with interest as he surveyed my sister and me.

“We aren’t staying,” I said sharply, leaning forward to pull Darcy out of Max’s grip so that we could make our second escape of the evening.

“Hold on a moment.” A large hand encircled my wrist before I could pull her to her feet and my blood raised in warning as Darius kept hold of me. I turned to meet his dark eyes and couldn’t help but skim my gaze over his white shirt which was almost too tight over his muscular frame. “What if we call a truce on our issues? For one night only,” he offered.

“Why would we believe that?” I asked dismissively.

Darcy was frowning, trying to push her way out of Max’s grip half heartedly like she was vaguely aware that she didn’t want to be there. He unleashed a wave of reassuring power which brushed against me as Darcy relaxed again.

“We just want a fun night,” Caleb piped up. “We can leave our political situation out of it.”

“Our political situation?” Darcy echoed with a frown.

“Yeah, you know. The little issue we have with you rocking up out of nowhere to steal our birthright and upset the balance of power in the entire kingdom,” Caleb teased.

“We don’t want your stupid birthright,” I muttered.

Darius still hadn’t released me and I tried to reclaim my hand by jerking it back. He smirked at my effort then tugged me forward so hard that I fell into his lap.

He wrapped an arm around my waist and shifted me into a more comfortable position with a deep laugh that sent heat flooding my limbs.

“Drink with us,” he insisted, waving at the bartender through the glass window beside us despite the fact that the bar was packed and they were clearly run off of their feet. “I swear we won’t lay a finger on you unless you want us to.”