Zodiac Academy 3: The Reckoning

I SAT WITH AN untouched veggie burger on my plate while Diego made his way through his own hamburger. 

“You okay?” he asked around a mouthful of meat.

We were under a gazebo which looked over an ice rink and I’d been staring at the couples circling it for a solid ten minutes. Maybe longer.

“Yeah,” I said, turning to him. “Sorry I just…” I wasn’t sure how to finish that sentence. I just saw the teacher I screwed kissing another woman and now my heart hurts.

“We can just go home, if you want?” he asked.

My eyes trailed to the ice rink again and I spotted Tyler twirling Sofia around by the hand. Diego followed my gaze and I checked to see his reaction but his expression didn’t give anything away.

“Diego, I did something bad,” I said, guilt eating me up.

“What?” he asked, looking to me with a frown.

“I…” I glanced down at my burger. “I helped set Tyler up with Sofia.”

I couldn’t bring myself to look at him as silence spanned between us.

Diego rested a hand on mine and I glanced up in surprise, his intensely blue eyes making my heart squeeze. “Because you feel this connection between us?”

“What?” I gasped. “No…I’m sorry. I mean, you’re a great friend, Diego.”

“Oh.”

“I’m sorry about Sofia,” I reiterated.

“Well she looks happy,” he sighed. “And you’re right, we weren’t exclusive. I’m not sure she wanted to be anyway. Maybe we’re better as friends.”

“Like us?” I asked hopefully and he broke a smile.

“Yes, chica.” He stood. “How about we take a turn on the Faerris Wheel with some hot fudge?”

“That sounds like heaven.” I stood and followed him out of the gazebo.

We were soon queuing for the Faerris Wheel and I gazed up at the large white carriages which slowly revolved above us, finishing the hot fudge we’d bought on the way to it. As we reached the front of the queue, we walked onto the metal platform and I climbed into the carriage as a couple vacated it.

Diego moved to follow but a shadow bashed into him and I gasped in horror as Orion knocked him onto his ass and climbed into his place beside me.

“I need my Source,” he barked at Diego as he scrambled upright.

“Hey – no!” I shouted, fury tearing through me. I jumped up to get out but Orion caught the back of my dress, tugging me down into my seat. He locked me in place with one arm and sank his fangs into my throat.

A short scream ripped from my chest, the sound piercing and travelling right across the fair. It wasn’t any harder than he normally did it, but it felt like an utter betrayal to do this to me now.

The guy attending the wheel whistled to himself as he casually locked the gate and we moved upwards at an ever-climbing pace.

“Get off of me!” I shoved Orion, trying to force my magic to work, but he had it firmly in his grasp.

He grunted, tugging his fangs free, but not removing his arm where it was locked around my waist. He moved his face into mine, his teeth bared, making real fear push into my veins. In that moment, he was a wild animal and running from him was impossible. We were stuck together for the next twenty minutes and I knew for a fact he’d done this on purpose. He waved his hand to cast a bubble of silence around us and anger pierced my chest.

“This has gone far enough,” he snarled, the ferocity in his tone making my heart beat out of rhythm. “You brought him here to piss me off.”

My mouth opened as disbelief coursed through me. “You asked me to talk to him. And you’re not exactly here on your own, Professor,” I snapped.

“Lance,” he demanded forcefully.

“No,” I hissed, trying to unknot his fingers from my dress. “I’m not calling you that because we’re not a thing anymore. I do not screw taken guys. If Fran doesn’t give you what you need in the bedroom, then I’m certainly not going to.”

His eyes glittered and a dark smile pulled at his mouth. “She isn’t my girlfriend.”

“Right. Is that why you rammed your tongue down her throat earlier? Because she’s not your girlfriend?”

“You’re a hypocrite,” he pointed out and his smile fell away dramatically. He dragged his thumb across my mouth, wiping it hard and I wriggled to try and stop him, but I was completely cornered.

“What the hell are you doing?” I shoved his arms, but he ignored me, keeping me in place as he pushed his knee into my thigh.

“I’m trying to get Diego Polaris’s saliva off of my girl,” he growled.

That sentence did so many things to me it was unreal. Anger, rage, delight at the last bit. Then confusion at the last bit too because in what world was I his girl? We’d gone from flirting, to screwing like we loved each other, to tearing each other’s throats out in the space of a few days. The relationship had expired before it had even started and I was left in the aftermath of a tornado, unsure how to put my life back together.

I pressed a hand to his chest, needing room to breathe but he wouldn’t give it to me. The scent of him was blended with Fran’s rose perfume and fury reared in me even sharper.

 “Diego kissed me. I was caught off guard. But you kissed her because you wanted to.”

Do not cry, Darcy Vega. Do not fucking cry.

His lips pressed into a tight line and a dangerous energy hummed between us. “You know why I did it.”

“Don’t do that. You always turn it back on me, expecting me to read your damn mind,” I snarled, trying to push him back but if anything he shifted closer. His hand landed on my thigh and I snatched it away. “And don’t do that.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re done,” I said breathlessly. “It was a one night thing, let’s move on with our lives.”

“Do we feel done to you?” he asked in a baritone voice that made my insides curl like burning paper. He lifted a hand to heal the bite mark which was throbbing on my neck and his gentle touch sent a delicious shiver along my spine. I despised myself for how good that felt and quickly swallowed the emotion away.

The honest answer? No way in hell did this feel done. I was still so angry, but there was a part of me which couldn’t cut free from Orion. He was in my blood like poison. Or maybe more like sugar. It was hard to know which. Either way it was probably bad for my health.

He waited for my answer and my heart thumped erratically, practically suffocating me.

“I can’t believe you kissed her,” I hissed, those treacherous tears threatening to break free.

We were nearly at the top of the Faerris Wheel now and I could see right across the fair. It was beautiful, a sea of lights which constantly flickered and danced. The laughter that carried from below spoke of how much fun everyone was having here and I so wanted to be one of them, instead of feeling like this.

“You brought Diego here on a date to hurt me,” Orion said and the tone of his voice said he really was hurt. I mulled over whether that was true. Maybe it was.

“You asked me to talk to him.”

“You know I didn’t mean take him on a fucking date,” he snarled, two chasms of magma opening up in his eyes.

I looked away and he caught my chin, drawing me back to look him in the eye. “When I saw you leaving campus with him, I called Francesca.”

My heart thumped painfully hard, full of an ache, a desperate need to believe this was just some stupid game we’d both ravelled ourselves up in. “To get even?” I confirmed.

He nodded. “Biggest fucking mistake of my life. I’d rather bleed than feel what I did when I saw his mouth on yours.”

“So you kissed her to get back at me?” I bit at him, trying to mentally erase the image of his hands all over her like that.

“Yes,” he said, drawing away a little, his brow furrowed.

Silence passed between us.

“I’ll ask you again. Are we done, Blue?” He clutched my arm so tight it almost hurt. We were walking the line of pain and I didn’t know if being with him or not being with him would hurt more.

Slowly, I shook my head and his posture relaxed as if I’d told him the world wasn’t gonna end. “But maybe we should be. Part of me doesn’t want this to be done, but you hurt me.”

“You hurt me first.” His jaw locked tight and I shook my head at him.

“What I did was not on the same level.” I glanced away. Since when were we some exclusive couple anyway? Did I really have the right to tell him not to see other women when we’d spent one night together? Maybe I didn’t. But hell, maybe I wanted to.

He sighed, reaching out to cup my cheek but I pushed his hand away. Desperation flashed through his eyes. “I’m sorry, okay? I shouldn’t have kissed her.”

The earnestness of his words made me almost give in. Maybe I could get over the Fran stuff but not what had happened to Tory. This whole argument had gotten out of hand. And at the root of it was what he’d done in that cave on the beach.

I nodded stiffly.

“If you want to hurt me in future, use your hands,” he said with a dark look. “I think physical pain would be preferable.”

“Well I won’t stop wanting to hurt you until you apologise for what happened with Darius and Tory,” I said. “You never said sorry and that’s what breaks me the most. You don’t care about what you did.” Tears burned my eyes but I blinked them back, cursing myself when I was sure he’d seen them.

“You need an apology, Blue? Fine. I’ll give you the best one I can think up.” He kissed the corner of my mouth and it burned with promises before he stood, climbed over the gate and jumped.

“Oh shit,” I gasped, lurching forward and spotting him landing on the ground below with the aid of his air magic. He headed off into the crowd like he hadn’t just action-manned his way off a fifty foot metal wheel and I gazed after him, feeling like I was standing in the wake of a natural disaster.

When the wheel finally descended, I found Diego waiting for me with a scowl on his face. “That vampiro is a rude piece of shit,” he muttered. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. And he’s not a piece of shit,” I said on instinct.

He arched a brow at me. “Oh please tell me you don’t have some pathetic crush on him, Darcy. That would be tragic.”

Heat raced under my skin. My pulse was spiking and a blaze of fire was building in my chest. I bit down on my tongue nearly hard enough to draw blood.

Just say no. Tell him you don’t.

Why was it so hard to force the words out? It was just a simple lie. But the way Diego spoke about him made a tigress sit up inside me and lick her lips. I wanted to destroy him for talking about Orion that way. I might have been mad at him, but Diego didn’t have the right to talk about him like that. It was as if I had no control over myself for a second. Like a beast really did live in me.

I managed to rein in my anger enough to speak rationally. “I know you don’t like him, Diego, but-”

“No buts,” he cut me off, his eyes flashing. “I don’t just dislike him. I despise him. I wish a plague of fucking death on him. In fact, I wish he hadn’t survived the battle at the Pitball stadium.”

I slapped him so hard I was as stunned as he was as I withdrew my hand. My palm print remained flaring on his cheek and he stared at me with a murderous glint in his eyes. He stepped forward and I stumbled back a step before remembering I was ten times as strong as him. But for half a second, it didn’t feel like that, power seeming to radiate from him.

“I thought you were different,” he said slowly. “But you’re just like your whore of a sister, pining after bastardos who treat you like dirt and who only give you a second look because you’d drop onto your knees for them any time they liked. Es patético.” He turned his back on me and walked away into the crowd, seeming to trample on my heart as he left. 

My lower lip quivered with rage and it took a long moment for me to pull myself back together. How dare he say that to me?

I took out my Atlas, desperate to message Tory so I could find her, but I hesitated. She was probably having a good time with Caleb and I didn’t want to ruin that for her. At least one of us should enjoy the fair.

My throat was tight as I walked mindlessly through the crowd, figuring I should probably just catch the shuttle back to Zodiac.

“Pretty laddddy,” a woman sang and I spotted her outside a House of Mirrors, the orange walls tall with oddly shaped windows. “Come inside and find out who you truly are,” she said enticingly. She wore nothing but a sparkly pink crop top and tiny shorts, a veil covering her mouth and her eyes painted with elaborate make-up. An ethereal tune called from inside the house and she shook her hips in time with it, beckoning me in.

“How much?” I asked, figuring, why not? Might as well try and get my mind off of the shitstorm that was this night.

“For you? Two auras,” she said, holding out her hand.

I fished a couple of coins out of my purse, handing them over and she waved a finger at the silver curtain covering the door, drawing it back with a gust of air.

I stepped inside and as the curtain fell behind me, the sound of the fair was completely blocked out. That strange music hung around me as I moved down a dark corridor lit by red lights. At the far end of it was a large mirror with a glowing blue frame. Above it, a word sparkled in silver. Past.

As I drew closer, my heart beat harder. I was me before I’d come to Zodiac, standing in my foster father’s kitchen. Pete was sitting at the table doing a scratchcard, ferociously rubbing off the silver coating. I stood before the coffee machine, anxiously waiting for it to finish pouring so I could leave. I remembered this day and I almost wanted to walk away before Pete’s next words. I couldn’t remember them exactly, only the lasting sting they’d caused.

“Fucking lost. Again. Guess I’m stuck with you and your sister a while longer.”

Stuck with us. I frowned bitterly. We’d never been wanted anywhere, but this was the hurt of my past. I didn’t live there anymore. And that seemed clearer than ever now as I stared at the girl in that memory, clutching the counter with a hopeless expression. I wasn’t her anymore. I had hope. I had people who wanted me and I wanted them back.

I turned into the next corridor and the image faded away. I travelled up a ramp, the walls seeming to turn around me in a tunnel, blue lights flashing as I headed toward the next doorway.

I stepped into another corridor, passing a long line of mirrors on the wall. Above them were the words, who do you want to be?

Each mirror showed me as something different. I was still me, but my clothes, hair and makeup changed as I passed each one. A laugh fell from my throat as I paused in front of one showing me as a clown. In the next, I twisted through the air and morphed into a beautiful white Griffin. In others I had red hair, black, silver. I was a stripper swinging on a pole, then a warrior with a sword. Finally, I stepped in front of the last mirror and the word present glowed above it. I was just me. And I was good with that.

I headed through another curtain and found myself in a room made from mirrored glass. The walls, the floor, the ceiling, all of it was perfectly polished and reflected me endlessly in every direction. I hurried across it, slipping into the next room and finding one final mirror waiting for me. The corridor was lit by low blue lighting and the mirror at the end seemed to be entirely blank.

I walked toward it, eyeing the word future above it.

I frowned as flames erupted at the bottom of it, a tangle of blue and red fire. Above, I realised the mirror wasn’t blank at all. It pictured the night sky and at the heart of it was a shadowy moon which seemed to burn like embers. The words from the Devil card Astrum had sent to us came to mind.

The answer to your question will be revealed on the Lunar Eclipse.

I had a thousand questions, but I hoped one of the most important ones would come to light tomorrow. 

The mirror suddenly shifted into a door and the light brightened. I turned the handle and found myself back outside, the fresh air blowing against my cheeks.

I smiled at the woman attending the attraction and she waved a little creepily as I walked away. Weird.

I shivered as I headed along, feeling better after the distraction and deciding to stay a while longer. Who says I can’t have fun on my own?

I grabbed a hot cocoa from a bar and soaked in the atmosphere, perusing the stands full of trinkets and crystals. That sonuvabitch Diego. How could he say that about me and my sister? 

My Atlas pinged and I took it out, half hoping Tory fancied meeting up but the message was from Orion.

Lance:

I’m ready to make my apology.

Come to the circus tent in five minutes.

I stuffed my Atlas away with a frown and located a sign pointing toward the tent. I wondered if I should go, but I was too curious not to. 

I followed the signs, twisting through the labyrinth of paths toward the circus tent. It loomed on the edge of the fair, a huge dome of purple and red with flashing lights ringing the roof. Fire breathers were gathered outside, shooting colourful displays of flames up toward the sky.

I followed a queue inside and found a ring of stages circling the interior. On each of them was a strange act, from contortionists who wrapped themselves into actual knots, to illusion acts and beautiful dancers who leapt through rings of fire of their own creation.

At the back of the tent, a crowd was gathering and I frowned as I headed that way, searching for Orion. I moved through the throng of bodies, finding a stage with two huge metal chairs beside one another with manacles on the arms and legs.

Above the stage hung a sign reading The Numb Man and beneath it was a sparkling crown suspended in a glass box.

A man in a long black coat and nothing but shiny blue shorts underneath it leapt onto the stage, twirling a cane. “Welcome to the Cirque de Sol-Fae! I am your host, Rusty Star. Gather around, we have a daring contestant backstage who wishes to take on The Numb Man!” he cried and a cheer went up from the crowd. At his words, a huge man the size of a small elephant stepped onto the stage, bare chested with his enormous belly hanging over his waistband. His eyes were hollow and his face blank as he took a seat in the metal chair on the left.

A beautiful woman in a gemstone encrusted bikini with a huge pink feather pluming up from the back of her bottoms leapt onto the stage. She tethered the man into the chair with the manacles, locking his wrists and ankles in place with flourishing movements.

“Please give a warm welcome to our fearless contestant, Lance Orion!” Rusty gestured with his cane to the other side of the stage and my mouth fell open as Orion walked onto the platform shirtless with a smirk on his face.

He took a seat in the remaining chair and the girl locked him in place with a wicked smile. He searched the crowd, his gaze latching onto mine and he seemed to relax despite his current situation. I gave him a questioning look but he just smiled wider as the girl stepped away and moved between them to where a huge red lever jutted out of the stage.

“If our contestant can outlast The Numb Man in this dangerous game, he will win our incredible prize. The crown of glory!” Rusty pointed to the glass box above and it lit up in a shower of golden sparks. “The Numb Man has a pain threshold higher than anyone who has ever stepped on this stage. No one has ever won the crown, so will our latest contestant be any different?”

Pain threshold?? I looked to Orion, shaking my head, asking, what the hell are you doing? with my eyes.

“Are you ready, Diamond?” Rusty asked his assistant and she nodded, taking hold of the lever. He turned back to us with a manic gleam in his gaze. “Each chair is hooked up to an increasing flow of electricity. Whoever taps out first will lose the game.”

Wait – what???

“All you need to do is raise your hand and the electrocution will stop,” Rusty said and laughter filled the air as Orion flexed his muscles against the restraints holding him down.

Rusty tittered. “Alright, you can just say the words, Mr Orion.”

“You’re assuming I’ll tap out first,” Orion said with a dark grin.

An oooh went up from the crowd.

“Don’t,” I mouthed to him, shaking my head but he ignored me, settling back in his chair like he was about to get a spa treatment.

“We have a very confident competitor, ladies and gentlemen. Let’s see how long his confidence lasts,” Rusty said with a vicious smile, gesturing to Diamond. “Pull the lever!”

She yanked it back and my heart lurched. Orion winced, his hands curling into fists as the sound of zapping and crackling energy filled the air alongside thundering music.

The Numb Man smiled broadly, having no reaction to the electricity at all.

“Higher!” Rusty commanded and Diamond drew the lever back further.

Orion’s jaw tightened and his eyes spoke of pain, but he didn’t shout out.

This is crazy!

“Higher!” Rusty called again and Orion finally released a gasp of pain, but still he didn’t break. He looked straight at me as his muscles hardened and his shoulders began to shudder.

“You’ve proved your point!” I yelled, but he didn’t call it off.

The Numb Man remained sitting there without even a flicker of pain on his face. Orion was going to damn well die out of sheer stubbornness.

“They don’t even hook up the numb guy. It’s all a scam,” someone said behind me and my heart tumbled in my chest.

“Higher!” Rusty commanded.

Orion roared in pain and panic seized me as I wheeled around to look at the person who’d spoken behind me. A couple of the bikini-clad girls had gathered there to watch. Which meant they worked here, which also meant they goddamn knew that numb guy wasn’t hooked up.

“Higher!”

“No!” I shouted, turning back to the stage. Veins were shining in Orion’s arms and his chest gleamed with sweat. The Numb Man glanced over at him with a frown like he’d never seen anyone take the game this far. I knew in my heart Orion wasn’t going to stop. So I had to do something.

I pushed my way through the crowd, slipping around the back of the stage into the shadows and heading through a curtain. There was no one there so I quickly hunted for a plug to pull so I could stop this madness.

I found what I was looking for and sucked in air as I spotted the plug for the chair which wasn’t hooked up.

Numb Man, my ass.

In a moment of madness, I plugged it in. A bellow of pain sounded from the stage and I sprinted back out from behind the curtain, hurrying into the crowd.

“STOP STOP!” The ‘Numb’ Man cried and Rusty looked around at him in alarm.

“Diamond!” he snapped and she pushed the lever to turn off the electricity. Orion took in a lungful of air, slumping forward, his hands balled up into tight fists.

Diamond hurried to untether The Numb Man and he barged past her off the stage, trembling as he went. She moved to help Orion and I looked around, desperate to go to him, but knowing I couldn’t with a whole crowd of people watching.

“Our first ever winner, ladies and gentlemen!” Rusty recovered from his obvious shock and applause rippled through the air.

Orion staggered to his feet, lifting a hand to heal himself and I relaxed as the pain in his posture ebbed away.

Rusty cast magic at the glass box to bring it down, opening it with a reluctant expression and holding it out to Orion. “Congratulations,” he said through a smile that was so obviously false it made me hiccough a laugh.

Orion grinned, taking it. “And here I was thinking this thing was rigged.”

“Never,” Rusty said, clearing his throat.

Orion headed off the stage and I moved through the crowd to try and find him. A line of teachers walked into the tent and I paused, turning the opposite way, my heart fluttering anxiously.

My Atlas pinged and I took it out.

Lance:

Do you want a ride home?

My heart beat frantically as Washer stepped past me, making a beeline for a bunch of the performers in bikinis.

I tapped out a quick reply, frowning as Washer’s hand landed on one of their bare backs.

Run for your life girls.

Darcy:

Are you freaking crazy???

Lance:

Yes. For you 😉

Come with me.

I tapped my foot anxiously, angry but desperate to see him too.

Darcy:

Okay, where should I go?

Lance:

Behind the tent is a fence that borders the road.

Wait on the other side of it.

I headed out of the tent, chewing on my lower lip as I circled around to the back of it, finding a high wooden fence at the edge of the field. No lights shone this way and I was pretty sure I was safe from being seen.

I gazed up at the top and pushed air out of my palms, propelling myself over it. I landed on the street on the other side, stumbling only a little and smiling at how well I’d managed it.

The street was quiet, the opposite side of the road leading into a thick woodland. No streetlights were in sight and my breath clouded before me like a ghost in the moonlight.

It was a few minutes before headlights flared and a fancy red Faerarri pulled up beside me. The windows were blacked out but it was pretty obvious who owned this car. The passenger window slid down and Orion leaned across to look at me.

I slapped the side of the door, my anger pouring out. “How could you do that? You nearly gave me a heart attack.”

“To be fair, I nearly gave myself a heart attack, Blue, so can we call it even?”

I shook my head, blinking back those damned tears which kept coming for me tonight. I kicked the front wheel and his brows pulled together. “Can you stop attacking my car? She doesn’t like it.”

I sniffed, turning my back on him and staring up at the moon. Tears blurred it into a fuzzy white ball of cotton wool and I tugged down my sleeve to dab them away. A shadow filled my vision as Orion sped in front of me, his expression taut.

“I didn’t mean to upset you,” he said, sounding lost. “I don’t apologise very often. It’s not a very Fae thing to do. Did I not do it right?”

I smacked his chest as another tear spilled over. He caught it at the edge of my chin, wiping it away with his thumb.

“You could have just said the words,” I whispered with another sniff and he gave me a hopeful grin, inching closer into my personal space.

“I’m sorry.” He pressed his hands either side of me on the car and my breathing hitched.

“You smell like her,” I murmured.

“Then make me smell like you,” he commanded and I caught his lapels, dragging him down to meet my mouth. Our kiss tasted of tears and desperation. The hurt between us blurred in the middle then faded to nothing like the rain had come to wash it away. Forgiveness was never easy, but the knot inside me finally came loose and I could breathe again.

“Come on,” he said, stepping back. “This evening is still salvageable.”

“I wish we could stay at the funfair together.” I frowned.

“Well…I hear another funfair has popped up in my bedroom for the night,” he teased.

A laugh broke free of my throat and Orion grinned, pushing a lock of hair behind my ear.

“If you want to go back and find your friends, I get it.” He squeezed my hand and I interlaced my fingers with his.

“Hm, well I quite like the sound of this other funfair. Is there a rollercoaster?”

“No but there’s a slip and slide?” he offered.

I laughed as Orion tugged the door open and I dropped into the seat. I put the window up as he shut the door and he shot into the driver’s seat at speed.

Quiet fell between us.

The heavy thump of my heart was almost loud enough for me to hear let alone him with his super-sonic ears. I wet my mouth as he drove off down the road, wrangling my emotions.

“Where’s Fran?” I asked lightly.

He chuckled. “You know, she’d really kill you if she heard you calling her that.”

I shrugged. She can try.

“She got called into work. Apparently there was a Nymph sighting in east Tucana. The anonymous caller was very insistent,” he said, tilting his head innocently and my mouth fell open.

“You didn’t?”

“I did.” He barked a laugh. “Where’s Polaris?” he asked, his voice dropping as he barely concealed the bitterness in his tone.

“We had an argument,” I said tersely, a knife twisting in my gut at the memory.

“About?” he inquired, reaching over and placing his hand on my knee. Even through my pantyhose I felt the blazing heat of his skin and my body responded with a surge of adrenaline.

“You,” I admitted.

He shot me a concerned look. “He doesn’t know anything, does he?”

“Of course not, he just thinks I have a crush on you and that I’m pathetic for doing so. And a whore apparently.”

His grip tightened on my knee and sparks skittered beneath my skin.

“Fuck that kid, I’ll tear him a new one the next time I see him,” he snarled. 

“I might join you in that.” I rested my hand on his and he wrapped his palm around mine. 

“You’re freezing.” He released a wave of warm air that rushed over me and reminded me of the other night when I’d shown up soaking wet at his house.

Orion turned down a dark road where the trees leaned overhead, creating a long tunnel for what seemed like miles.

“So have you forgiven me now?” he asked with amusement in his voice.

“Technically you owed the apology to my sister,” I pointed out and he gave me an incredulous look.

“By the stars, am I going to have to electrocute myself again for Tory Vega?”

I laughed. “You know that numb guy wasn’t hooked up to the mains right? Well, he wasn’t until I hooked him up myself.”

“What?” he gasped.

“Yep.” I squeezed his fingers.

Orion pulled over to the side of the road and my brows shot up as he dragged me forward and slammed his lips against mine. I was half choked by the seatbelt and he quickly released it, my heart rate climbing as his tongue pushed into my mouth. I clambered into his lap with a surge of excitement, straddling him and clawing my hands into his hair as I devoured his kiss. His hands slid under my dress and I urged him on by lifting my hips, lost to how much I wanted him.

A deep growl emanated from his throat as he found his way barred by my pantyhose. He ripped a hole in them between my thighs and I sucked in a breath of surprise.

“Orion!” I laughed but my laughter turned into a moan as he found his way into my panties and pushed his fingers inside me. “You owe me a new pair,” I said breathlessly.

“I’ll get you a whole new wardrobe if you make that noise again.”

“What noise?” I panted and he pumped his fingers harder, drawing a needy moan from my lips.

“That one,” he grunted, shifting his free hand between us to undo his jeans.

I arched upwards to give him room and my head banged against the roof. We both laughed and he removed his hand from my pantyhose, tugging my dress over my head.

“Let’s get rid of these.” He tore my pantyhose in half and I gasped as he peeled them off my legs.

“Hey, how about we tear some of your clothes?” I tugged at his shirt and he caught my wrists with a mischievous grin.

His eyes travelled down my near naked body and the lacy red underwear I wore while sucking on his lower lip. “I’ve missed this.” He kissed my collar bone and tingles rushed beneath his lips. “And this.” He curled a lock of my hair around his finger and brought that to his lips too. “And these.” He squeezed my breasts and I giggled. “Hm…you’re missing something though.”

“What?” I frowned.

He reached behind his seat and produced the crown he’d won at the fair, placing it on my head. I smiled so wide my cheeks hurt.

“Better,” he said, his eyes becoming hooded as he rested his hands on my thighs and drew me closer.

“If you go around placing crowns on my head, you’re going to be in trouble,” I teased and his mouth skewed.

“Well let’s not tell anyone then,” he said, leaning in to kiss my neck.

I started unbuttoning his shirt, aching for the feel of his flesh against mine. Our movements grew more frantic, his kisses turning to bites, his fingers pinching, while I clawed at his chest to get the buttons open and finally pushed his shirt over his athletic shoulders.

He tugged my bra down to free my right breast, his mouth encasing my hardened nipple and sending pleasure shuddering through me. A tight ball of need grew in the pit of my stomach and I rolled my hips over his crotch, his arousal bulging against my panties. He groaned appreciatively, sucking harder against my sensitised flesh.

I lifted up on my knees to free him from his pants and my ass bashed into the steering wheel, setting the horn off.

I snorted a laugh and Orion tugged me forward by the hips again to stop the noise.

“This is way more difficult than I expected,” I joked and he grinned devilishly at me.

“Definitely worth it though.” He freed himself from his boxers, pushing my panties aside and all amusement fell away as he guided my hips forward.

I rested my forehead to his, inhaling as he pushed into me. He hissed between his teeth as I lowered onto him, moaning as he filled me up inch by inch.

I started riding him and he chased my mouth for kisses as I writhed on his lap, delighting in the incredible feelings his body delivered me. His fingers dug into my hips, pushing me down on him in a glorious rhythm. I rolled my neck, bracing my hands on his shoulders as I took what I so desperately needed from his flesh.

“Don’t fight with me again,” he demanded, his teeth raking against my ear.

“Don’t give me a reason to.” I sank my nails into his shoulders, making him groan and thrust harder between my legs. One of my knees banged against the parking brake and the other slammed into the door, but I didn’t care about the bruises. I’d take all of them in payment for this bliss.

My hips quickened to meet his and we fell into a sweaty, breathless tangle of limbs and wanton kisses. He wrapped one hand in my hair and tugged hard enough to hurt. “That’s for Polaris,” he growled as I yelped.

I scraped my nails down his chest so hard I drew blood. “That’s for Fran.”

He looked down in surprise, then released a breathless laugh. “I like you angry.”

“Let’s not make a habit of it though,” I panted.

“Deal,” he groaned as he pushed into me again.

I pressed one hand to the window, my spine straightening as an urgent pressure built between my thighs. Orion’s hand rode the curve of my spine before forcing me onto him, finishing me. Pleasure cascaded through me like an exploding rainbow and I clung to him as he drove harder and faster into me, finding his own release, grunting my name in the back of his throat.

My legs trembled as I came down from my high, slumping against him as I lost all the energy in my body. I rested my head against his shoulder, our breaths burning hot, leaving a fog on the windows around us.

He trailed his fingers up and down my bare thighs, my skin overly sensitive to him. He tilted my chin up, kissing me so sweetly it seemed to coat my lips in sugar. My hand rested against his chest where his heart beat like the wings of a powerful bird and I smiled at the feel of this formidable man struggling for breath because of me.

I climbed off him into my seat, finding the crown in the footwell where it had fallen off at some point. We both dressed in silence but we kept catching each other’s eye and sharing grins.

When I was decent – apart from my lack of pantyhose– Orion restarted the engine and headed on down the road.

“So did you get any information from Polaris during your date?” he asked.

“You’re never going to let that go are you?” I mocked.

“It just fucks me off that you can go out in public with him and not me.”

“Well that’s how it is,” I sighed, turning to gaze out of the steamy window beside me. I painted a grumpy face on it and wrote Orion above it.

He glanced over, breaking a smile. “Is that what I look like to you?”

“Not quite.” I added angry eyebrows and fangs, turning to grin cheekily at him.

He laughed and I smiled satisfactorily.

“Diego didn’t say much about his uncle, just that he’s an asshole. And that his mother and father go off with him sometimes to help him with his ‘work’.” I shrugged. “Is that useful?”

Orion remained quiet for a moment. “Yes it gives me a couple more Fae to look into. Much as it pains me to say it, I’d appreciate if you keep spending time with him. See what else he’ll say about them. But no dates.”

“Well that’s gonna be pretty difficult as I’m majorly pissed at him and I’m guessing he is at me too.”

“What’s he pissed at you for?”

“I slapped him,” I revealed.

“Good,” he growled. “But he deserves more than that for calling you a whore.”

“Actually…I slapped him before he said that.” I twisted my fingers into my skirt as rage burned inside me at the memory.

“Why?” Orion asked.

“He said he wished you’d died when the Nymphs attacked,” I forced out, my throat closing up.

Orion’s grip tightened on the wheel. “I’m going to kill him.”

“You can’t. He’ll know I told you. And I didn’t exactly deny that I have a thing for you, if you go after him he might figure out there’s something between us.”

“What kind of thing do you have for me?” He shot me a mischievous glance.

“It will sound crazy,” I said slowly.

“I like crazy. Did you not get the memo when I tried to cook myself earlier?”

“Promise you won’t laugh?” I asked, heat invading my cheeks.

“On the stars.”

I nodded, looking out of the window so I didn’t have to see his reaction when I told him. “When we were in the battle and you were about to die, I felt compelled to save you. Like…if I didn’t a part of me would die too. And ever since then, that part of me is getting stronger like it’s become this tangible thing that lives in me. I’ve never been a jealous person before but when I see you with Francesca it’s like I turn into an animal with nothing but basic instincts.” My cheeks burned hotter and I didn’t dare look at Orion’s face, unsure why I was baring my soul to him right then. I rarely trusted anyone enough to spill my heart out to them, but I always wanted to with him. “I told you it was crazy.”

He took my hand, winding his fingers between mine and pressing his mouth to the back of my knuckles. I chanced a look his way and my heart pounded as I found nothing but happiness in his eyes. Then he said six words that made my heart shine like the moon. “Good, because I feel it too.”