Zodiac Academy 5: Cursed Fates

I filed into the Tarot classroom for our first Arcane Arts lesson since we’d upgraded to learning about all kinds of fortune telling. The layout had changed since Astrum and Washer had run Tarot. The tables had been rearranged over the Christmas break into a crescent to face the front desk and the shelves had been lined with delicate silver and bronze instruments, plus crystal balls, scrying bowls and beautiful pendulums.

Gabriel was leaning against his desk as he casually spoke on the phone to someone. “-be home a little late tonight, I’ve got something to do. I know….” He laughed. “How hard is the baby kicking?…It matters because if it kicks like a pissed off-” He cast a silencing bubble as he noticed everyone in the class was raptly paying attention to him and he turned his back to us as he continued the conversation. Gabriel had told me and Tory about his wife being pregnant and I was pretty excited to meet her after everything he’d said. They were going to have us over for dinner one night soon and I couldn’t wait.

I sat beside Tory who looked like she hadn’t gotten much sleep again last night as she yawned heavily, taking out her Atlas and Tarot deck.

“I really hope I’m going to predict that I’m about to be sent back to bed for rest of the morning.” She flipped over the top card of her deck and The Fool stared up at her. “Dick,” she muttered and I laughed as she tossed the cards back into her bag.

“At least the cards give you actual predictions,” Diego said with a frown. “I suck at this class.”

“Maybe fortune telling isn’t your gift, but you’re good at other things,” Sofia said from beside Tory.

“What’s my gift then?” Diego asked and the three of us sat in thoughtful silence for a moment.

“Um…” Sofia tapped her lips and my brow creased as I tried to think of something, feeling like a terrible friend. He was still attending a few different kinds of Order Enhancement classes to try and figure out which one he belonged to. He now reckoned the sun was responsible for recharging his magic so he’d narrowed it down a little, but somehow he didn’t strike me as a Nemean Lion or a Harpy. 

“Your hat!” Tory announced proudly and I trapped a laugh in my throat, swallowing it down as Diego hung his head.

Gabriel dispersed his silencing bubble, turning to us with a stupid smile on his face from his conversation.

“Are you having a baby, sir?” Kylie asked from across the room, giving him the big eyes. I noticed a shiny gold badge on her chest with the word H.O.R.E.S. printed on it in bold, black letters. And I thought being an Ass was bad.

“Yes, in the summer,” Gabriel said proudly.

“Aww!” Jillian squealed, holding her heart where she also had a Hores badge pinned. “Is it a boy or a girl?”

“We thought we’d keep it a surprise, my wife has banned me from predicting it,” he said with the sort of smile that said he knew exactly what sex the baby was. “Right, today we’re going to let the stars decide our pairs.” He swiped up a gold pot from his desk and shook it about a bit before moving to the end of the row and holding it out to Tyler. “Pick a name.”

Tyler reached into it, taking out a folded piece of paper and unfurling it. “Tory Vega,” he said brightly.

“Good, you can all move once you’ve been partnered.” Gabriel walked along the line and when he reached me, I dipped my fingers into the pot.

I plucked out a folded piece of paper, opening it and my heart sank. “Kylie Major,” I said with zero enthusiasm.

“Ergh, sir, make her pick again,” Kylie demanded.

“The stars have spoken,” Gabriel said harshly and I sighed as he threw me an apologetic look before moving on.

When everyone was partnered, I gathered up my stuff and headed over to take Jillian’s seat as she vacated it. She threw her shoulder into me as she passed and I growled, whipping my head back to look at her and casting a vine from the ground to snare her ankle. She stumbled with a shriek, catching herself at the last second and throwing me a scowl. I batted my lashes innocently before dropping down beside Kylie.

She kept her eyes pinned on Gabriel, her lips pushed out in a pout as I laid my Atlas on the desk.

“Today, we’ll be interpreting each other’s dreams using the guide written by the famous Dreamologist, Adelaide Som, over two hundred years ago,” Gabriel explained. “No better guide has been produced since her pioneering work on dreams where she used her gift of The Sight and her Siren Order to study over twenty thousand Fae, following their dreams from inception through to materialisation. The guide is on your Atlases in the Arcane Arts list of references.”

I located it on my Atlas and found a huge alphabetical list of all kinds of symbols found in dreams.

“Write down the last dream you can remember in as much detail as possible then swap with your partner and interpret each other’s,” Gabriel instructed. “It is often difficult to study your own dreams as we’re so swayed by things like desired outcome. If you’re hoping for something to happen, you’ll often ignore the bad signs subconsciously and hunt for the answer you want. This can be dangerous, especially when looking for signs on a life or death situation. Of course, your partner may need more details about your life circumstances to draw accurate conclusions, so try to be honest with one another. In your junior year you’ll learn how to detach from your emotions to be able to do your own readings, but only the very accomplished can master it.”

We remained silent as we both took out notepads and I wrote down a dream I’d had last night.

Me and my sister had been out walking in a beautiful forest when a dark shadow had suddenly blotted out the sun, then a pack of five wolves had started circling us, moving closer and closer. But when they got near, they didn’t bite like I’d expected, they turned to cubs, rolling onto their backs so we’d tickled their tummies and played with them in the wood.

I hadn’t really thought much of it apart from the fact that it was kinda weird and kinda cute at the same time.

When I was done, I ripped out the page and passed it to Kylie while she wordlessly passed me hers.

I dreamed that I was on a beach, running out towards the water, but it kept getting further and further away. Then the ground became boggy and I was sinking and couldn’t turn back. The water finally stopped moving away and the tide came crashing over me in a wave.

“That sounds like a nightmare,” I commented, searching my guide for the word beach.

“It was,” she muttered.

I found the term and read the description. “Was the beach deserted or were there people there?”

“There wasn’t anyone there,” she said quietly.

“Okay, well that means you need to take some time to yourself apparently.”

“What about the rest of it?” she demanded, clearly not paying any attention to my dream as she stared at me impatiently.

I fought an eyeroll and looked up meanings for a wave. “How big was the wave that washed over you?”

“Really big, like a tsunami.” She shuddered.

“That means you’re about to release some pent up emotional energy,” I read out, looking to her and to be fair, she did look like she was about to blow a blood vessel just from sitting next to me.

“And what about the bog in the sand?” she pressed.

“It means…” I found the word bog and one of the meanings mentioned being stuck in it. “That you’re struggling with an unpleasant situation that you can’t see a way out of.”

Kylie huffed then turned to read my dream.

“Does that make sense to you?” I asked, wondering if I’d done it right.

“Yeah,” she murmured. “Total sense.”

I doubted I was going to get more out of her than that and I guessed I didn’t really care anyway, but the look on her face did have me wondering what was bothering her so much.

“Walking through a forest in your dream means your soul is entering a new phase of enlightenment,” she read out, then barrelled on as she found the next interpretation. “A shadow over the sun represents a dark change in your world…and the wolves…” She pursed her lips. “Probably means you’re a grade A bitch with a Werewolf fetish.”

“Excuse me?” I growled, but she just shrugged, her eyes pinned on the guide.

“A wolf symbolises a guardian in your life, so however many there were – like five did you say?”

“Yeah,” I said, still pissed about the bitch comment.

“So you’ve got five guardians and I guess your sister does too, but then the cubs mean you’re unsure of the wolves’ true intentions. But I guess I can clear up one of their intentions for you because my Seth is only screwing you because he thinks it’s funny that he can have a Vega princess who’s supposed to be his enemy. It’s obvious.”

My brow pinched and I was about to lash back when I suddenly realised that she’d never been set straight about the rumour Seth had spread about us. And now that Darius had told him to back off, there was no reason for me to keep up the pretence.

“I never screwed Seth,” I said firmly. “He blackmailed me into saying that.”

“Ha!” She whipped around to face me with her eyes flashing green and snake-like with her Medusa form. “Why would Sethy bother? You obviously spread your legs as often as your sister does. It’s not like he’d need to lie.”

My hand whipped out before I could second guess myself and I slapped her across the face. She never saw it coming and her jaw dropped as she glared at me. “Don’t talk about my sister like that.”

“Sir!” she screeched. “Darcy just hit me!”

Everyone in the classroom was looking at us and I clenched my jaw, turning to Gabriel as I awaited my punishment. Whatever it was, it was definitely worth it.

“Did she now?” Gabriel mused. “And do you expect me to step in and fight your battles for you, Miss Major?”

Tory shot me a grin from across the room and I couldn’t help but return it.

“Argh, I hate you,” Kylie muttered and I scowled.

“Now, I want you to replay your dream in your mind and hunt for the more subtle symbols hidden within it that you may have missed,” Gabriel called out. “Were there clouds in the sky or none? Was the ground beneath your feet soft or hard? Was it summer or winter? Think carefully, because this is where you’ll find real depth to your fortune telling. Everyone close your eyes and do it now.”

I shut my eyes and tried to walk through the dream again and remembered there had been little white flowers under the trees around me.

My Atlas buzzed and I cracked an eye, sliding it subtly off the desk and into my lap. I tapped on the screen and brought up Orion’s message, leaning back in my chair so no one else could see.

Lance:

Come to mine for dinner tonight. There’s a staff meeting at six so I can leave the door open for you while the place is empty.

I grinned, about to reply when Gabriel swooped over towards me. “You have detention with me tonight remember. Seven ‘til eight.”

I frowned, remembering no such thing, but he gave me a pointed look and I realised what this was about. My gift for Orion. “Of course,” I said as my heart lifted. “I’ll be there.”

He nodded as he moved away, hiding a smirk as he scratched the corner of his mouth.

I glanced back down at my Atlas to find another message.

Lance:

I forgot to buy dessert but luckily I have a can of whipped cream and a voracious appetite for you. So I won’t go hungry at least. Selfish fucker, aren’t I?

A laugh escaped me and Kylie shot me a glare. I quickly deleted the messages and brought the dream guide up again, schooling my features.

“By the moon, you’re so obvious. You could at least just admit you ruined my relationship and are still screwing my ex like the heartless bitch you are. What did he text you exactly?”

I rolled my eyes. “He didn’t text me and I would rather screw a cactus than Seth Capella,” I shot at her.

“Liar,” she hissed with poison in her tone and for a second I thought her hair was going to explode into streams of furious snakes.

“I’m not a liar,” I snapped. “I don’t want anything to do with him.”

“You know what’s worse than a whore with no class? A whore who can’t even admit she’s a whore,” she snarled,

“Says the girl who’s wearing a Hores badge, Kylie,” Tyler called across the room. “I heard you have Seth’s name tattooed on your vag with the words insert here to make me howl and an arrow pointing to your butthole. Is that true?”

I burst out laughing with the rest of the class and I swear even Gabriel snorted.

“Shut up!” Kylie snapped then glared at me as if I’d been the one to say it, and I sensed more than rage in her. There was genuine hurt too. It was enough to make me bite my tongue and turn away. She clearly wasn’t going to listen to anything I said anyway. So why bother?

The lesson went by painfully slowly and Kylie interpreted every other symbol I remembered from my dream as meaning that I was a whore. So it wasn’t exactly productive.

Relief filled me as the class finally ended and I headed out of the room with Tory, saying goodbye to Diego and Sofia as we made our way to Earth Elemental Class with Tyler. I changed Lance’s name on my Atlas to Starboy so if anyone ever did catch sight of one of my messages, they wouldn’t know who it was from. Not that I kept any of them for long. I also sang Starboy by The Weekend and Daft Punk in my head while I did it. Not that I knew ninety percent of the words. But I had the chorus down. Sort of.

Kylie marched past us with her head lifted proudly in the air and Tory flipped her the finger.

“That girl needs to get a life. As if you’d fuck that asshole. He made your life hell. You’ve got higher standards than I do.”

Tyler snorted.

“I think she’s just so in love with him she can’t even see the bad in him,” I said with a frown. Not that I was giving her a free pass, but I’d seen that look in her eyes. Her heart had been crushed when he’d broken up with her.

“Well holding a grudge is like drinking Faesine and expecting your enemy to combust in a fiery blaze,” Tyler said. “And that bitch drank a gallon.”

Tory and I laughed, but I was distracted as I spotted Seth and Caleb up ahead as we arrived in Earth Territory at the entrance to the caves.

Seth was doing a handstand on Caleb’s freaking shoulders while the Vampire Heir ran around to see how long he could hold on for. The class was forming an audience outside, cheering and laughing as Caleb leapt into the air and Seth came tumbling down. He caught himself with a gust of wind, landing upright in front of his friend and bowing low while everyone applauded.

“Again, again!” a couple of junior girls cried, clapping as they bobbed up and down on their heels.

“Hey Vegas!” Caleb called as he spotted us. “Bet you can’t do this!” He leapt up to stand on Seth’s shoulders from a standing freaking jump then double flipped over his head and landed in front of him with a smirk as another round of applause broke out.

“The true queens could out flip your acrobatic asses any day!” Geraldine cried, placing her hands on her hips as she muscled her way through the students toward us.

I shared a look with Tory and she grinned the same time I did as a decision passed between us.

We dumped our bags and blazers on the ground, pushing through the crowd to the circle of space between them.

“I’ll throw you in the air,” I muttered to Tory and she nodded keenly, the challenge igniting in her eyes. Her cheer routine had proved exactly how prepared she was for this. And my Pitball sessions had gotten me good at propelling myself up in the air to block the Pit, so we were the perfect team.

I knelt down, cupping my hands together like I was going to give her a boost up a tree the way I had when we were kids and she crossed her arms over her chest with a smirk. She stepped into my grip and I boosted her skyward, throwing my air power into it and she shot up high above our heads, spinning around wildly in the air and making her skirt fan out around her to raucous applause from the crowd.

I guided her down to land softly and she immediately dropped to her knees, holding her hands out and linking them together for me. Caleb and Seth were watching us keenly, their eyebrows raised.

“Er, I’m not so graceful, Tor,” I muttered.

“You can do it,” she pushed and the fire in her eyes made me nod, not wanting to doubt myself in the moment of excitement.

I stepped into her hands, hoping I wasn’t about to look like a handful of spaghetti tossed into the air. She propelled me upwards and I used the momentum to flip over backwards, my heart hammering as I zoomed back towards the ground.

I landed on the springy earth as Tory softened it and gasped as I only stumbled one step. Hell yes!

Cheers rang out and Geraldine was leading the Terra members of the A.S.S. club in a chant of Vegas for the throne!

I glanced over at Seth and Caleb who were sharing a conspiratorial look which made my heart dip.

“Child’s play. Now let us throw you,” Seth said with a dare in his eyes. “Bet you can’t get three flips in before you hit the ground.”

“Psh. That would rely on us trusting you,” I said. “Which we don’t.”

“Yeah, thanks but no thanks,” Tory said, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

“Come on, you could just save your own asses if we decided to drop you,” Caleb said. “I’ll throw you with my Vampire strength, Tory. It’ll be fun. You can control the entire landing.”

“I’ll sweeten the deal for you Darcy,” Seth said, stepping closer to me. “If you get three flips in and land without stumbling, I’ll let you have a free shot at me. No shielding.”

My lips popped open and I found myself walking straight towards him without question. Did I want to punch his damn face in? I sure as hell did. So was I going to pass up that opportunity for anything? No chance.

“But only if Tory does it too,” Caleb agreed and Tory laughed, moving toward Caleb as he placed his hands on her waist. That was sister love right there.

Seth stepped forward and gripped my waist and the fresh, wolfish scent of him ran over me. His hair was pulled up into a topknot today and his mouth was tipped into a devilish smile. I hoped I wasn’t walking right into a hunter’s trap here, but I could use my own magic to slow my fall anyway.

In the corner of my eye, I felt Kylie’s glare burning a hole in my head and I was pretty sure she would have actually melted my brain if she could have. She was getting the wrong end of the stick though. The wrong end of the entire tree actually. I was doing this for the punch that I was going to land on Seth’s face. Nothing else.

“Ready, babe?” he asked.

“Always,” I replied easily, like my heart wasn’t pounding like a jack-hammer.

“Three full flips, no cheating,” he breathed.

“I don’t cheat and I don’t lie either. Unlike you who’s let his ex continue to believe we hooked up. That’s just cold, Seth.”

His brows arched and he tossed a look in Kylie’s direction. “I didn’t think she cared. We broke up ages ago.”

I tutted. “You don’t even know the damage you cause, do you? Sweeping through life smashing people’s hearts while you’re looking in the other direction. Do you even have a soul in that hollow chest of yours?”

He curled his hand around my back, yanking me closer with a feral growl. “You know I do or a certain someone wouldn’t still be breathing right now.”

My heart jammed into my throat. I had no answer to that.

“Are we doing this or what?” Caleb called.

Seth nodded, lifting me off the ground and preparing to throw me. “Have a nice trip. Don’t hit your face on the dirt too hard.”

I ground my teeth in determination and someone in the crowd shouted, “Go!”

Seth threw me with the full force of his air power and I shot up so fast, it took everything I had not to scream. A blur in my periphery told me Tory was close, but I couldn’t focus on her as I started falling, gazing down at the ground over a hundred feet below us with a swoop in my belly.

I threw my head back and forced myself to flip, falling faster and faster. I spun over once, twice, three times, four then threw out my hands to catch myself before I hit the floor.

I have to land this right dammit.

I pulled up a foot from the ground and lowered myself gracefully, landing firmly on both feet just as Tory dropped down beside me.

Cheers rang in the air and I whooped, jumping on Tory and hugging her tight.

“Give him hell, Darcy,” she said in my ear and I whipped away from her towards Seth with a fierce desire for vengeance in my veins.

“Fight, fight, fight, fight!” everyone in the class started chanting, thrilled by the bloodlust in the air.

Seth tapped his chin with a jibing grin like this wasn’t gonna hurt him one bit. But you didn’t grow up in foster care for half your life amongst the dodgier half of society without learning how to throw a good punch. And now that I’d been strength training in Physical Enhancement, I had the power to maim too.

I thought of every vile thing he’d done to me and threw my fist as hard as I could with a yell of defiance. My hand crashed into a solid air shield and a scream of pain escaped me as my knuckles busted and crunched.

An oooh rang out from the crowd and Seth started laughing his ass off.

“You asshole,” I snapped.

“Woah, woah, it was just a joke,” he said, reining in his amusement fast.

Tory hurried forward, wrapping an arm around me but I shrugged her off, fixing Seth in my gaze as a growl ripped from my throat.

“Screw you, your word means nothing,” I spat.

“Not true, it was just a laugh. You have to admit that was funny,” Seth said, looking to Caleb hopefully.

“Dude, I don’t think the joke landed,” Caleb said, running a hand down the back of his neck before turning to me. “We play pranks like that on each other sometimes.”

“Hilarious,” I deadpanned, raising my good hand and causing a storm to swirl around me. I was going to rip Seth apart.

“That’s enough now, students!” Professor Rockford called. “Everyone inside.”

“Here, let me heal it,” Seth offered and I jerked away from him.

“Don’t touch me,” I hissed and a whine escaped his throat.

“Calm down, babe. I’ll heal it and you can throw your punch.”

“Seth plays rough that’s all,” Caleb said apologetically. “Break his nose, it’ll make you feel better.”

“No,” I spoke to Seth, a dark energy rising in my blood as the shadows swirled inside me. He’d humiliated me one too many times. And if he thought he could just start treating me like one of his little pals with his oh so funny pranks, then he was going to think again. “In fact, I don’t want any free hits from you anyway. When I defeat you, it’s going to be because I’m stronger, more capable. And you’re going to look up at me from the dirt and wish you’d never become my enemy.”

Seth’s gaze lit with a hungry kind of gleam and he moved into my personal space with a wicked smile. “You got one thing wrong, babe. There’s nothing I like more than a worthy opponent. So come at me with everything you’ve got, because I’m starving for that fire in your eyes. I know you’ve got what it takes.”

He headed past me and Caleb offered us a taut frown before striding after him. Geraldine rushed forward, capturing my hand in hers and releasing a channel of healing magic under my skin. I sighed as my knuckles mended, turning my head to glare after Seth.

“Thanks Geraldine,” I muttered.

“No problem my dearest dandelion. That rapscallion needs a good bish and a bosh. What I wouldn’t give to butter the wrong side of his bagel.” She shook her fist in his general direction and Professor Rockford clapped her hands to encourage us along.

“He’s got it coming,” Tory whispered to me and I nodded, feeding on that seed of hate in me that was growing deeper roots and blooming into something truly deadly. I knew what he’d done for Orion was something I could never forget, but that didn’t cancel out every bad thing he’d ever done to us. And I was determined to make him pay.

“I’m going to earn it,” I said firmly. “Then my revenge will taste all the sweeter.”