Zodiac Academy 8: Sorrow and Starlight

Healing magic tumbled from me into Tory’s bleeding body as I cradled her close to my chest, her head lolling against my shoulder while I shot down the corridors of The Palace of Souls so fast that we were little more than a blur to anyone who might have looked our way.

I considered how terribly wrong everything had gone and failure and panic threatened to overwhelm me. Darcy and Orion were still trapped in this hell, we hadn’t been able to find Gabriel anywhere and if the screams echoing across the palace grounds were anything to go by, then something incredibly fucked up was taking place in the amphitheatre too.

I shot towards a painting which I knew concealed one of the entrances to the secret passages, and I didn’t even have to use the ring Tory had given me to open it, her blood working before I could make it to the door thanks to so much of it staining her body and clothes.

The wounds the Shadow Beast had given her wouldn’t heal properly, the venom in them fighting my magic no matter how much of it I pressed into her, and the pallor of her skin was turning a sickly shade.

I wasn’t letting myself think about how slow her heartbeat had gotten, the too-quiet thump of it registering in my ears far too infrequently.

Fuck. How had this gone so epically wrong? What had changed to make the fate Gabriel had seen for this night change?

None of that mattered right now though, none of it made the slightest bit of difference aside from the fate of this girl in my arms.

Once, me and the other Heirs might have seen her death as a blessing in disguise, but now, it was hard to think of many worse fates for ourselves, or Solaria as a whole, than to see one of the Vegas die while Lionel Acrux reigned.

I tore along the dark passageways, my enhanced eyesight all I needed to guide me down steps and through narrow turns until I was skidding to a halt between the others.

“Oh, holy raisin bran on a Wednesday morn!” Geraldine cried as she took in the wounds on Tory’s shoulder and chest, the taint of the shadows clinging to them even as her blood pulsed from her.

“What the fuck happened?” Seth asked in alarm, grabbing her wrist and pushing healing magic into her body.

The wounds tried to close for a moment, but they just peeled open again the moment he released his hold on her.

“It’s the Shadow Beast venom,” I said, looking between my bloodstained, battered friends. “Darcy was lost to it entirely and Orion has made a Death bond with Lavinia so he can’t leave here. We can’t do anything for them right now and Tory won’t stop bleeding-”

“Pull back her tunic and let me at thine snarvy coils of doom,” Geraldine demanded and when the two of us gave her a blank look she simply knocked Seth aside and ripped Tory’s shirt open to fully reveal the wound. “These tunnels are too darn narrow for my regal form,” she cursed then half shifted her face so that her jaw turned canine, lines of drool hanging from those poisonous, lethal teeth of her Cerberus.

Geraldine conjured a gingko leaf into her palm, catching the drool on it and crushing it in her fist. She shifted back as she finished making the poultice, then stuffed the slimy green mixture into the bite wounds on Tory’s shoulder.

Tory arched in my arms, a noise of pain escaping her, and I hurriedly cast a sleeping spell on her, cursing myself for doing it while knowing it was our only choice. She wouldn’t willingly leave here without Darcy, but right now, saving her sister wasn’t an option.

“That’ll stem the dastardly venom,” Geraldine said firmly. “But we must hurry. We need to acquire the healing antivenom of a Basilisk post haste!”

I grunted as she leapt onto my back, slapping my ass like I was a reluctant mare awaiting a gallop.

“Start running,” I said to Seth, my heart twisting at the thought of leaving him down here even if it would only be for a moment. “I’ll be right back for you.”

Seth nodded, turning away and breaking into a sprint as he headed on down the tunnel. I shot past him in a blur of motion before he’d taken more than a few steps.

Geraldine damn near strangled me as she hooked an arm around my neck to support herself, but within a matter of seconds, we made it to the farthest reach of the passages, and she jumped back down again.

I turned to her, passing an unconscious Tory into her care and Geraldine began some kind of keening song as she held Tory close.

I shot away again without another word, finding Seth quickly and hoisting him onto my back before speeding back to re-join the others.

“Where are Max and Xavier?” I demanded, looking around fearfully as I failed to spot them anywhere.

“Leave them a message,” Geraldine demanded, her grip on Tory unwavering, though pain flashed through her eyes which told me her heart was wrenching at the thought of us abandoning them here. “We have no time to spare on lollygagging. The queen needs care immediately.”

One look at Tory’s pale face and bloodstained skin made that clear enough without me being able to hear the ever-weakening beat of her pulse. I still balked at the idea of leaving without the others though, and Seth’s lips peeled back in a snarl at the idea of us abandoning them here too.

“You go,” I told Geraldine as I glanced back down the passageway, using my gifted hearing to listen for any sign of my brothers. “Save her and we’ll save them.”

“Or die trying,” Seth added grimly, though there was no hesitation in him as he accepted that possibility.

Geraldine looked ready to argue but she raised her chin instead. “You are a pair of stalwart and brave souls. Return my slippery salmon to my arms and I shall be forever in your debt.”

I nodded to her and pressed my hand to the wall, the ring Tory had forged for me opening the secret door hidden there.

Geraldine exited the passageways into the crisp night air with Tory clamped tight in her arms and they were gone in a flash of stardust the moment they stepped beyond the wards.

I exchanged a look with Seth as the rumbling of stone sounded the door closing once again and jerked my chin at him in a demand for him to hop on.

“What’s one more fight?” I teased, the distant boom of thunder making the walls around us rattle with a promise of death.

“I always did like you bloodstained and violent,” he replied, climbing onto my back while his words made my heart leap.

“Ditto,” I replied, and we shot away towards death together for what felt like the hundredth time.