Zodiac Academy: The Awakening As Told By The Boys

The stardust spat me out like a bad tasting snack and my feet hit the ground hard as I came to a stop before the gates to my family’s manor.

Lance appeared at my side a breath later and we exchanged a loaded look before starting towards the gate.

I didn’t bother to say anything to the men guarding the entrance as we strode inside and started up the sweeping gravel drive. My mind was too consumed with the weight of this place for me to spare a moment on pleasantries.

We kept our silence as we closed in on the hulking property and my gaze swept over it without me really seeing it at all. It wasn’t a house. More like a museum where the attractions contained snapshots of fear and misery which adorned the walls like the blood which had been spilled inside it had never been scrubbed clean.

Sometimes I tried to remember a time when the scent of fear hadn’t hung in the corridors and I could almost remember laughing here with my mother and Xavier, playing hide and seek in the huge house and feeling the touch of love I’d always craved from my parents. But I was almost certain that was just a pretty lie I’d painted for myself long ago and convinced myself to remember.

Catalina Acrux was as cold and uncaring as her husband. Though my mother’s form of parenting failures could mostly be accounted for as neglect or a general lack of interest in her sons. The only thing she seemed to give any real care to was her own appearance which was the epitome of polished perfection. Father liked to boast that she was the most beautiful woman in all the kingdom like he was trying to take the reputation of the Savage King’s wife and paste it onto his own in her absence.

I wasn’t saying it was untrue, but I hated the way father claimed my mother’s beauty as some kind of accolade of his own. Not least because he was intent on marrying me off to a girl with a moustache and a Faeroid addiction which meant her muscular bulk rivalled my own.

We reached the enormous door which sat proudly front and centre of the extravagant property and the smaller door set into it swung wide before we could so much as pause our stride.

Jenkins peered out at us like we were an inconvenience to his life despite the fact that welcoming guests into the Acrux Manor was practically his entire job description. The old butler was a sycophant for my father’s cruelty though and certainly no friend of mine, so I didn’t pay him any attention as I stepped over the threshold of the house I’d grown up in.

Gold adorned a lot of the interior, the bannister for the sweeping staircase ahead of us glimmering in the light as I felt the presence of so much treasure feeding my magic reserves merely from standing within this gilded cage.

‘Lord Acrux is finishing up his meal with Lord Rigel,’ Jenkins announced. ‘He requests that you await him in the smoking parlour.’

I exchanged a glance with Orion who gave me a flat look which spoke of our shared hatred of these power plays and I sighed.

‘Is Mother home?’ I asked, flicking a glance at the old bastard of a butler which made it beyond clear how much I loathed him.

‘She is also dining.’

That meant Max’s mom was here too, but I didn’t hold out much hope of their presence doing me any favours. Father would just make me wait until they were gone before dealing with me. And I knew that I wasn’t here for anything good. He’d tasked me with removing the Vegas and they still remained at large within the academy. But I wasn’t really sure what he expected me to do. I couldn’t exactly demand they fight me Fae on Fae – no one would accept me beating them and outcasting them as a true win when they hadn’t mastered their magic yet.

The pranks and ostracising might have made weaker Fae crack and quit the school, but not those two girls. Their backbones were strong, and their wills were fierce. They wouldn’t be pushed out by a little bullying and it was hard to do more than we were without compromising our own reputations. Some testing of them was to be expected, but all out war with untrained Fae would just make us look bad in the press and Father didn’t want that either. It was an impossible task but that wouldn’t make the blindest bit of difference to my father of course.

‘And Xavier?’ I asked which was what I’d wanted to know from the beginning anyway.

‘In his rooms. But as I said, you are to wait in the-‘

‘Yeah, yeah, I’ll be there shortly.’ I headed straight up the stairs without caring how pissed Jenkins was over my dismissal. I didn’t answer to him and he could go tell tales to my father all he liked. I was already in for it with him anyway, so it wasn’t like it made much difference to me.

We headed down familiar corridors past oil paintings and tapestries all depicting the greatness of Dragons and we were soon climbing the spiralling stairs which led up into the tower which held Xavier’s rooms.

I pushed the door open without bothering to knock and my little brother raised his head from the Xbox game he’d been playing at the sound of my arrival.

‘Hey!’ he said enthusiastically, jumping up and tossing the controller on the couch before hurrying over to greet me. ‘I didn’t know you were coming back tonight.’

I pulled him into a hug, ruffling his unruly dark hair as I did so and making him curse me as he shoved me off again. My relief at finding him uninjured and in a good mood was palpable and even though I knew I could only spare a moment here, I’d needed to be sure that he hadn’t been punished for my failure with the Vegas.

‘Last minute visit,’ I explained and his gaze darkened as he realised I’d been summoned but he didn’t comment on it, turning to greet Lance next.

‘Hey, man, how are you?’

‘Stagnant,’ Lance replied in a droll tone. ‘How about you? Any sign of your Dragon Emerging yet?’

‘Not yet,’ Xavier sighed. ‘I wish it would hurry up. I just wanna go flying in the clouds and learn to do a bunch of tricks and flips.’

‘And the breathing fire,’ I teased and he nodded.

‘Yeah, sure that too. But mostly I just want to be out there, spreading my wings and feeling free.’

I nodded my agreement to that sentiment though I resisted the urge to point out that it wasn’t true freedom, only an illusion of it. Because here I was, back under this roof, awaiting the axe to fall once again.

‘How’s high school? Are you enjoying your last year?’ I asked before he could pick up on my train of thought.

‘Same old, same old. I wish Father would just arrange to have my powers Awakened early like he did for you. I can’t wait to get my fire magic and find out if I have anything else.’ The excitement in his eyes brought a smile to my lips.

‘Well it’s not all perks being the Heir,’ I reminded him and he grimaced.

‘I know, but Father is making me take all kinds of political courses and all of that boring stuff you had to do just in case I’m ever required to step into the role. But I don’t get the added advantage of having my magic Awakened early.’ Xavier pouted, dropping back down before his Xbox and I chuckled.

‘Sorry to be the one cutting this short, but…’ Lance looked at me and I sighed, knowing he was right. If I made Father wait for me, it would only be worse.

‘I’ll try and come see you after,’ I promised and Xavier’s eyes clouded for a moment.

‘Do you want me to come with you-‘

‘No,’ I barked firmly. ‘Stay away from him tonight. Promise me.’

His gaze sharpened and I noted the tremor in his hand before he fisted it. ‘I hate just sitting up here hiding while he-‘

‘It’s a thousand times worse for me if you’re involved,’ I gritted out. ‘Honestly, I don’t care what he does to me. But if he lays a finger on you then I just…’ I took a moment to draw in a breath then moved forward and placed a hand on my brother’s shoulder. ‘Please promise to stay away tonight,’ I implored him and after another moment of that defiant look in his eyes, he finally dropped his head and nodded.

I gave his shoulder a quick squeeze then turned and left him there, following Lance from the room. But as I closed the door I heard his murmured parting words and they gave me the strength I needed to walk away with my head high and my resolve firmly in place.

‘Thank you, Darius.’

Lance’s jaw was set so tightly as we headed back down the stairs that I was surprised he hadn’t cracked a tooth. I knew the Guardian Bond must have been plaguing him, the need he felt to protect me at all times making it close to impossible for him to walk me towards the danger of my father the way he was. But we both knew the real danger would come in me defying him, so he didn’t speak a word against it.

I wished I could have left him out of this, but that was just another one of my father’s commands – Lance was always supposed to be close to me. It was the whole point of the bond that he had forced upon the two of us, making certain that he be near me in case I needed him to protect me, which meant he was also forced to endure my father’s company almost as often as I was.

We made it into the smoking parlour only a few minutes before the Lord of the manor strode in.

Father didn’t so much as greet me, the door banging closed behind him as he stalked across the room to a cabinet and took his time selecting a cigar from his collection before pouring himself a measure of whiskey from a gold rimmed decanter.

I eyed the muscular expanse of his back as he kept it to us, giving us a clear insult as he refused to even look our way. His suit was tailored and expensive, the scent of cologne and smoke hanging around him and his blonde hair quaffed back carefully.

‘I do not take kindly to failure, boy,’ he said in a low tone while I just stood there, waiting. ‘And I made myself perfectly clear when it came to the matter of the potential usurpers.’

I exchanged a look with Lance but kept my mouth shut, knowing he wasn’t done.

‘I had been starting to think you held the potential I required,’ he went on, carefully clipping his cigar before raising it to his lips and lighting it with a spark on the tip of his finger. ‘Yet you have managed to disappoint me severely in this.’

Father inhaled deeply and a few moments later, yellow cigar smoke billowed from his lungs to cloud across the ceiling.

‘They’re tougher than we expected,’ I began and he turned to face me abruptly, his eyes flashing with green reptilian slits which betrayed his anger.

‘The time for your excuses is past,’ he said, slowly plucking the cigar from his lips and setting it down on a crystal ash tray beside him. ‘Failure demands consequence.’

‘I understand,’ I said, my voice unwavering though my muscles bunched.

Father watched me for several dragging seconds and I could practically feel the rage vibrating off of Lance as he remained rooted to the spot on my right.

Eventually, the man who had given me life seemed to find what he’d been hunting for in my gaze and he nodded once before clicking his fingers and pointing at a spot on the floor in front of him.

‘Kneel,’ he commanded in a bored tone which claimed he took no pleasure in this, but I could see the truth in the depths of his dark eyes and I knew that wasn’t the case at all.

I swallowed a lump in my throat and stepped forward, but before I could do as he’d asked, Lance’s hand locked around my arm and he jerked me to a halt.

‘Uncle Lionel,’ he began in an attempt at a placating tone. ‘The Vega girls are ignorant, untrained and-‘

‘Enough,’ Father snapped, flicking his fingers and sending a tremendous force of air magic crashing into Lance’s chest so that he was thrown back across the room and pinned against the door by it, unable to move a muscle.

I looked to my friend in apology, knowing he’d feel every moment of this through our bond and hating that he was forced into punishment with me every time I fucked up or failed at some impossible task.

Wordlessly, I dropped to my knees where I’d been directed to and I fixed my gaze on a clock on the far side of the room. It was nine o’clock exactly and my eyes locked on the movement of the second hand as it continued to tick.

Lance started cursing as he tried to fight against the air magic pinning him to the door, but my father just threw a silencing bubble over him so that he didn’t have to listen to it.

I remained where I was, not reacting as my father slowly moved around the room and shrugged out of his jacket.

‘You will work harder to achieve this goal in future,’ he said. Not a question, so I stayed silent. ‘You will make a concerted effort not to disappoint me again.’

He picked up his drink and took a sip, letting the tension coil in the room, toying with me while I waited for the inevitable.

I used to be so afraid of him when he got like this, used to work tirelessly to do all I could to please him. But that was before I realised it was impossible to please him. I could achieve all he wanted and he would punish me for being cocky about my accomplishments.

This wasn’t about me failing at anything. It was about power just like everything in my life was. I was his Heir, set to take his place as one of the most powerful Fae in the kingdom one day and as much as he wanted me to be strong, he was never going to tire of proving he was stronger. This was him asserting his dominance over me. So now that I knew my fear was pointless, I’d let it go. I didn’t fear being at his mercy like this. I was just numb to it. Not to the pain of the blows I was waiting on, but to the hurt or feelings of betrayal my younger self used to feel. To the sense of injustice or the jealousy I felt when I saw the love other families held for each other.

That wasn’t my life. So it didn’t matter. This right here was my reality and fearing it didn’t change it. But I hadn’t accepted it either. For every second that ticked by on that clock I wouldn’t cringe or cower, I’d rage and plot and wait. Because his day was coming. He may have been enforcing his position above me for now but one day I would rise up out of his shadow and show him the monster he’d made in me.

One day he’d be the one kneeling before me.

Father set the glass down and removed his belt. The buckle was a gaudy golden Dragon with spiked wings and a pointed tail. I’d felt the bite of it before and I clenched my jaw as he moved to stand behind me.

‘It has been nine days since I told you my expectations in this matter,’ he said but I didn’t react. ‘So we will say one for every day you’ve failed me.’

Still I remained silent. I’d learned a long time ago that it didn’t pay to try and delay the inevitable.

My father was a big man, the Dragon in him clear for all to see and his muscles bulged across his huge frame. He made no attempt to rein in the full force of his strength with me so as the first strike of the belt crashed across my spine, I almost crumpled at the agony which ripped across my flesh.

A growl of pain lodged in my throat and I forced myself upright again, my fists bunching at my sides as I locked my muscles and tried to remain upright.

The buckle tore into my back as the second struck blew and the wet splatter of my blood hit the wall as he raised his arm again.

On the fifth strike the agony was so intense that a curse fell from my lips, inciting a furious snarl from my father.

The sixth stroke knocked me to my hands and knees and my arms trembled with the effort to hold myself up as the blinding pain consuming my body sent tremors racking through every inch of me.

I wasn’t sure how I managed to hold myself in that position while the final lashes struck across my flesh and my blood ran thick and wet down my spine, dripping down my sides and splashing onto the carpet beneath me. Bile rose in my throat and sweat coated my skin in a sheen as the Dragon within me paced back and forth furiously, wanting to rip and bite and destroy.

But I held it at bay through pure force of will, raising my head to the damn clock on the wall as its golden minute hand slid past the number one and the punishment finally ceased.

Six minutes. That was all it had taken for him to rip the flesh from my spine and leave me shaking at his feet.

I tried to push myself up again but found my body locked in its position on my hands and knees, the tattered remnants of my bloodstained shirt hanging down around me as I remained stuck there, prostrated at the feet of the man I hated above all others in this world.

‘Get up,’ Father sneered as I fought against the shaking in my arms which threatened to give out and pitch me face first onto the floor. ‘On your feet, boy, or I’ll bring your brother down here to join in the lesson.’

Those words cut through me like no other. He’d found my one weakness in my love for Xavier and he knew it. Ever since he’d come to realise I was willing to put myself between his wrath and my younger brother, he’d been using it against me, mocking me with it, adding another string to his bow.

My vision darkened and a snarl of agony escaped my lips as I managed to grip the table beside me and haul myself to my feet.

Every movement sent more pain lancing down my spine and as turned my head, I managed to see some of the shredded flesh and muscle which had been my back in the mirror which lined the wall to my left.

I swallowed down my pain and raised my chin until I was looking my father in the eyes.

I didn’t make any attempt to hide my hatred for him as I glared, my eyes shifting to reptilian slits and letting him know in no uncertain terms how hungrily I ached for his death.

‘I see you still haven’t gotten the message,’ Father tutted, drinking more of his whiskey as he surveyed me. His pale shirt was speckled with my blood and the veins in his right arm bulged from the exertion of wielding his belt against me. ‘So I will leave you to think about it tonight.’

I frowned, not knowing what he meant by that as he stepped closer to me and took my hand in his.

‘You will swear not to heal yourself or allow yourself to be healed until dawn,’ he growled, showing me the Dragon in his eyes too and making it clear he would happily teach me this lesson as a beast if I challenged him to.

The words stuck in my throat as the agony of my injuries consumed me, but I heard the veiled threat there. If I didn’t do this then he would find another way to punish me and with Xavier’s safety on the line I had no choice but to agree.

‘I won’t heal myself or allow myself to be healed until dawn,’ I gritted out and magic flashed between our palms as the star bond was struck between us.

In the corner of my eye, I could see Lance thrashing and straining against the magic which still immobilised him while his roared protests were silenced by Father’s power too.

If I broke my word and healed myself then he would feel it happen and I’d also be cursed by the stars with seven years bad luck.

‘I will speak with you in the morning once you’ve had time to think on your failures,’ Father said, looking me over once more with a feral satisfaction in his gaze which said he was getting off on this. On the power, on the pain he’d inflicted, all of it. ‘Take him back to the academy, Lance, and be sure this remains private.’

Father turned and walked from the room, using a door on the other side of it and making us wait several more seconds before the magic he was using to contain Lance was dispelled.

My strength failed as he shot towards me and I grunted as he caught me, slinging my arm around his shoulders and holding me up.

‘Darius…’ Lance’s wild gaze met mine and I locked my jaw at the agony I found swimming in them. The bond between us meant that he had felt every strike of that belt against my flesh and even now I knew his instincts would be tearing him apart with the need to heal me.

‘I’m sorry,’ I muttered, dropping my gaze and hating that he was always dragged into this, that he’d been forced to be a part of it and his entire life had been stolen for it.

‘I hate it when you say that,’ he snarled and I nodded but I always said it anyway because it was true. I was sorry, more so than I could ever express for the life that he was never going to be allowed to live because of his bond to me. ‘I’m getting you out of here. I’ll be as fast as I can.’

I couldn’t find the energy to say anything but he didn’t wait for me to, his grip on me tightening until he was lifting me against him then he broke into a sprint and shot out of the room.

The world blurred around us and I was fairly sure I blacked out because the next thing I knew we were caught in the grip of the stars, travelling across Solaria and landing with a thump in my bedroom at the academy.

Lance moved me to my bed, his eyes dark and jaw gritted as he helped me to lay down on my front on the golden sheets.

He shot away again and the burning pain in my flesh consumed me for several long minutes while I just lay there in the dark, my gaze locked on the glow of the dying fire in the grate beside my bed as I prepared myself for a long night.

When he returned, he pressed a bottle to my lips and I almost choked on the bourbon as it spilled into my mouth.

‘Drink,’ Lance commanded. ‘If I can’t heal you, the least I can do is get you shit faced enough to pass out.’

I couldn’t deny his logic so I swallowed the burning mouthful of liquor followed by another and another until the bottle was drained and my head was spinning.

I could still feel the pain of my wounds but as the booze settled into my limbs, it started to feel separate from me somehow, almost like something that had happened to someone else and not me.

Lance climbed into the bed beside me, a shuddering breath passing his lips before he spoke into the dark.

‘We will end him, Darius,’ he swore. ‘No matter what it costs us, we will see him fall.’

I grunted some kind of agreement, but my words were as slurred as my mind was beginning to feel and I let my eyes fall closed instead, urging oblivion to take me as I waited for dawn and the end of my fucking punishment.

***

I woke to the feeling of Lance pushing healing magic into my flesh and cracked my eyes open to see the sun rising over the hills in the distant view through my window.

‘Thanks,’ I mumbled, swiping a hand down my face while I tried to ignore the feeling of his fingers moving down my spine as he pushed the ragged strips of skin back together before healing the damage done to me.

Lance grunted, continuing his work while I just watched the golden rays spilling over the ground outside and lighting the academy up inch by inch.

I could feel the press of gold against my skin and the bed jingled softly as I repositioned myself, signalling the treasure which Lance had clearly placed around me while I slept to help me replenish my magic.

He sighed as he finished, sitting back and giving me room to sit up beside him.

I glanced down at the bloody scraps of fabric which had once been my shirt before tugging it over my head and off of the arm it had still been hooked around before tossing it into the fire.

I swept a hand up the back of my neck and over my head, casting water magic in my palm and using it to clean all of the blood from my body before sending it flying towards the bathroom where it sloshed away down the sink.

‘Good as new,’ Lance said gruffly, his brow pinched as he looked at me and I noticed his gaze lingering on my neck for a moment.

‘Same shit, different day,’ I agreed and silence hung heavily as neither of us mentioned the latest fucked up thing we’d endured at the hands of my father.

Lance’s gaze dropped to my neck again and I tilted my head to the side.

‘You know you want to,’ I said as he held himself back, his gaze darting out of the window.

‘I should top up from my Source,’ he hedged.

‘I’m the reason your power is running low,’ I pointed out. ‘Besides, it’s not even six in the morning so unless you plan on breaking into Gwen’s bedroom and pouncing on her in her bed-‘

‘Of course I don’t want to do that,’ he snapped, his gaze meeting mine as he snarled at me and I caught a glimpse of his fangs.

‘Well if you aren’t going to be creeping into any other students’ beds tonight then you should probably just-‘

Lance pounced on me with a growl tearing from his lips, his weight knocking me back against the headboard and his hands slamming against my shoulders as he straddled me before sinking his teeth deep into my neck.

I cursed him, muttering a warning about him remembering who the fuck he was chomping on but he just growled again, drawing my blood out of me and making my back arch as the bond drew me closer to him.

There was a damn good reason why we tried not to do this too often and as my hand moved to the back of his hair to tug him closer to me and a sigh escaped my lips, I was forcibly reminded why.

It felt too good to please him like this. Much better than it did when I let Cal bite me. The bond wanted us to be close, as close as possible and as much as it drove him to protect me, it made me want to keep him strong and his magic replenished too. It made him biting me feel way better than it should have and forced thoughts and feelings into my mind which I had to work hard at remembering weren’t my own.

Lance drew back with a groan, his dilated pupils meeting my gaze as he shoved on my shoulders and sat back on his heels, looking down at me with my blood still staining his lips.

‘I think I should go before I start trying to dry hump you,’ he joked and I laughed pitifully, hating this fucking curse my father had put on us. It twisted the essence of our friendship and muddied our own feelings to the point that we had to force distance between ourselves while knowing we’d be pining for each other at the same time.

‘Why couldn’t you just be a girl?’ I replied, shoving him out of my lap and raising my own fingers to heal the bite wound left on my neck.

‘Oh please, even if I was a girl I still wouldn’t let you fuck me.’ Lance hopped up and grabbed his shirt which he’d tossed on a chair beside my bed, yanking it on before heading towards my window. ‘Are you alright?’ he added, glancing back at me and my muscles tensed at the implication that I might not be.

I pushed myself up and out of bed, stopping by the floor length mirror which stood by my dresser and looking at the perfect flesh of my back in it. Even my tattoo looked flawless and I flashed Lance a tight smile as I pointed it out to him.

‘Looks fine to me.’

He hesitated a moment longer and I knew he wanted to point out that he hadn’t meant the question in the physical sense, but I gave him a hard look until he dropped it.

‘Good. You have no excuse to be late to my class then so be prepared for me to dock House points if you are.’

I breathed a laugh and he gave me a sad kind of smile before pulling my window wide and leaping out of it.

I moved closer to watch as he used his air magic to guide himself down to the ground before shooting away with his Vampire speed and disappearing in the direction of Asteroid Place.

I stood there for a while longer, watching the sun rise and wondering if it was worth me going back to sleep before giving up on that idea and moving to change into my running gear instead.

I wasn’t going to be able to sleep with the echoes of the sound that belt had made slashing against my skin ringing in my ears, so I’d just drown it out with exercise before grabbing some breakfast and heading to class.

By the time tonight rolled around again, I would have successfully buried any lingering memories of last night deep enough in my subconscious to sleep like a baby once more and everything would just go on as usual.

I headed out for a long run, my feet pounding around the footpaths which crisscrossed the entire academy until I was panting and sweating and had no more room inside me for feeling anything at all, let alone fixating on my father and his constant attempts to control my entire life.

I ducked into The Orb and grabbed myself a couple of slices of toast and some coffee, heading back out again before anyone could spot me or try to draw me into conversation.

I ate as I walked back to Ignis, my gaze trailing over the students who were heading in the opposite direction, searching each of their faces for several seconds before I realised who I was looking for.

Roxy Vega had been curiously absent since Tuesday and though I’d had plans with the other Heirs to take her by surprise early in the morning on the days since then, we hadn’t managed to catch her. I’d been looking out for her ever since and had started to get the feeling she was avoiding me. The idea of that pissed me off because if I couldn’t find her then I couldn’t exactly work on my plans to get rid of her. But more than that, I just wanted to see her, maybe even hear her call me an asshole. It was fucking strange, but I had the feeling it would help shake up this mood I was falling into and give me something a little more interesting to concentrate on.

By the time I made it back to Ignis House, scoured the common room and made it back up to my bedroom, my mind was on the Vega twin who was eluding me and firmly diverted from the arguably more pressing issues in my life.

I stripped off and showered quickly, my mind slipping to her more than once as I tried to figure out where she might be hiding.

By the time I’d dressed in my academy uniform and was heading back out of the House, I decided to shoot Seth a message to check up on the other twin.

Darius:

Any sign of my Vega crashing in your House?

Seth:

I’ve been balls deep in my beta for the last few hours so can’t be sure? Do you want me to go check or can I come first?

I took a selfie of my seriously unimpressed face and shot it to him. He responded with a selfie taken from above his head while grinning big as he fucked a girl from behind as another naked girl sucked on his neck.

Darius:

Thanks for making me wanna puke up my coffee

Seth:

Thanks for helping me finish – knowing I was performing for an audience helped tip me over the edge. Breakfast in ten? I can check my House for Vegas on the way

Darius:

I already ate mine. Keep me posted on the Vegas. See you in class, asshole

I still had almost half an hour before my first class of the day, so I decided to head to the Pluto Offices to collect the post I’d been putting off retrieving. It wouldn’t be anything interesting, probably just some fan mail and requests for interviews, but I made an effort to check through it whenever I could in case there was anything that needed my attention.

A couple of people called out to me as I crossed campus but I wasn’t in any mood to entertain them so I just kept walking, the scowl on my face enough to give them the message about leaving me be.

Just as I reached the door to Pluto Offices, my Atlas rang and I pulled it out to answer it, my gut sinking as I saw my Father’s name on the caller ID.

For a moment, my back blazed with the pain of his belt ripping the flesh from my spine and I closed my eyes as I got a hold of myself before answering the call and continuing my walk into Pluto.

‘Father.’

‘I trust you spent the night thinking on your actions,’ his curt voice greeted me and I ground my teeth at the effort it took me to remain civil with him.

‘I did,’ I agreed, though I didn’t point out that the actions I had been focusing on while I writhed in drunken agony all night were the ones I intended to carry out against him in the future when I beat him down beneath me and stole my fate back from his hands.

‘Good. Then you can focus your efforts on ridding us of the Vega infestation at your academy. If you fail to do it soon then I may have to get more involved. Perhaps I should be arranging a meeting with them of my own?’

My skin crawled at the idea of him throwing his weight around with the twins and I bristled at the implication that I couldn’t handle this myself. If I had anything to do with it, he would never get within a mile of the Vegas and if they had any sense, they’d be thanking me for shielding them from him and running the fuck away before I stopped managing to do so.

“I’m confident that you shouldn’t have to bother yourself with this, but if you really feel it’s necessary then fine. But I assure you I have it all in hand,’ I said, trying to keep the bite from my tone and failing somewhat, but I didn’t care. What the hell did he expect after what he’d done last night?

I pushed the door to the mail room open and stepped into the tall space which was filled with racks and racks of shelves which towered up to the ceiling several floors above.

My step faltered as my gaze fell on the girl I’d been hunting for all morning and I barely covered my surprise at finding her in this unexpected place as she raised her chin to look me in the eye.

I drank in the sight of her, my gaze clinging to every inch of her body and I swear that she’d somehow gotten even more enticing in the time since I’d last laid eyes on her. Her expression blazed with a determined kind of rebellion and her full lips pressed into a faint pout which somehow seemed like a challenge of their own, making my attention linger on them for far longer than it should have.

My father was speaking again and it took a wrench of determination for me to pay attention to what he had to say.

‘I’ll be the one to decide whether or not I get involved with them personally,’ he said with a lash of authority to his tone. ‘You just concentrate on doing your part in this and don’t presume to question mine.’

“As you wish,” I said, paying lip service to his bullshit while keeping my gaze riveted on the intoxicating creature who was looking at me with utter dislike in her green eyes. “I’ll get it done. Is Xavier there?’ I added, wanting to check in with my little brother to make sure Father’s anger hadn’t moved onto him after I’d left last night. I hated that I hadn’t even said goodbye to him, but I knew it was best that he hadn’t seen the results of my discussion with our father. But instead of replying to me, Lionel cut the call, the dead tone ringing in my ear and sending a spike of anger through my limbs. ‘Hello?” I shot a look at my Atlas before releasing a breath of irritation and shoving my earpiece into my back pocket.

My scowl darkened as my anger over everything I’d endured last night and the constant shit I had to deal with because of my father built up yet again before I remembered that I had company.

I raised my eyes to look at Roxy Vega, finding her wary attention still very much fixed on me and liking that a little too much. What was going on beyond those big green eyes? What thoughts filled that pretty head of hers when she set her gaze on me? 

“Just get it over with then,” she said with a sigh, the pout to her lips increasing just enough to make me stare at her mouth again. Why was she here now? And where had she been since the last time I’d seen her? I got the feeling she was running rings around me and I was equally pissed off over that idea and amused by it.

“Is this where you’ve been hiding then?” I asked, ignoring her little outburst as I forced my attention from her mouth and the filthy things I’d like to do with it as I quickly tapped on my Atlas and used it to order the room to retrieve my mail.

“What do you mean, hiding?” Roxy asked innocently, but that tone just didn’t sit right on that mocking little tongue of hers. No, Roxanya Vega may have been a lot of things, but innocent was most definitely not one of them. She’d been avoiding me alright, she just didn’t want to admit to it.

“I haven’t seen you at the House or The Orb since Tuesday,” I replied, playing along with her innocent act as I tried to figure her out but as she narrowed her gaze on me, I looked back to my Atlas like I couldn’t care less what she was up to. Like I hadn’t been thinking about her far more often than I should have. Like my thoughts hadn’t been about doing plenty of things I shouldn’t have wanted to do with a girl who was supposed to be my enemy. And most definitely like I hadn’t been picturing her pinned beneath me every time I stroked my cock since the moment I’d laid eyes on her, thinking how slick and tight her pussy would feel wrapped around my length or how much I’d enjoy silencing that smart mouth of hers by fucking it roughly with my fist in that ebony hair.

“I didn’t realise you were so obsessed with me,” she quipped, and I almost showed my hand then, almost reacted and let her see that that guess wasn’t as far from the truth as it should have been. “Am I expected to run all of my movements past you? Or are you just disappointed that your cunning plans to surprise me when I woke up yesterday with your little friends didn’t work out?”

My gaze snapped up to hers in surprise and she tossed me an insolent smile. Oh you really shouldn’t taunt the beast in me, baby. 

‘How did you find out about that?” I asked, making no attempt to lie about it because it was no secret that we were after her and her sister.

“I’m used to looking out for myself,’ she replied smugly. ‘Not all of us grew up with Daddy’s money keeping us safe and warm at night-”

“You don’t know shit about my father or the way I grew up,” I snapped, taking a step towards her automatically as she struck a chord I didn’t want her to pull at. 

A flicker of fear danced through her eyes for a moment and I stilled, not wanting her to look at me that way for some reason. Like I really was the monster my father had made me.

But just as fast as that fear had appeared, she banished it, her gaze hardening as she held my eye, raising her chin and daring me to do my worst. And I could have met that challenge head on but as I looked at her, I found I didn’t want to. Not today. Not on his command. No, I didn’t want to hurt her or scare her, but I wasn’t entirely sure what I did want from her either.

“Just like you don’t know the first thing about me,” she replied and I had to agree that she was right about that. But it didn’t mean I didn’t want to know more. In fact, I was starting to think I wanted to know a whole lot more about her and where she’d been for the last eighteen years. She was a mystery and I wanted to unravel her. “I’ve met much meaner bastards than the four of you before and come out swinging. And I’ve learned a thing or two about the way basic bastards like you operate; you’re not very original. And you don’t frighten me,” she said firmly, but I was pretty sure she didn’t believe that anymore than I did. 

She said it with such conviction though and such raw challenge that I couldn’t help but find it amusing. I didn’t know any other woman who would dare speak to me the way she did and yet she didn’t seem the least bit inclined to back down even though she could clearly tell what a dangerous game she was playing by baiting me. A breath of laughter escaped me before I could help it and I felt my mood lifting in a way that shouldn’t have been possible after the night I’d just had.

“You’ve got balls, I’ll give you that,” I muttered, dropping my eyes to my Atlas before I started doing something truly insane like grinning at her and hitting the button to get my mail.

The shelves before us began to move, shifting left and right, up and down, making way for the compartment which held my mail to slide down from its previous position near the roof. It fell still and I stepped forward to grab the contents of the shelf, flicking through the handful of envelopes addressed to me before stuffing them into my blazer pocket when I failed to spot anything interesting.

I probably should have been making good on that promise I’d just given my father to do something new to fuck up Roxy’s life and make her want to run from here but as I considered it, my gut twisted and my lip peeled back. 

Why the fuck should I be working so damn hard to appease a motherfucker who wanted to grind me down beneath his heel anyway? Why should I do anything he wanted after what he’d done to me?

I made a snap decision and turned for the door, not wanting to do a damn thing to Roxy Vega on his orders. Why should I anyway? She was no real threat to me. Not yet. And probably never would be. Even if she was more powerful, I had five years of expert magical training on her and I was never going to stop working to master my power. So how was she ever supposed to catch up to that? Besides wouldn’t the truly Fae way to deal with her be to just let her challenge me if she wanted to? Then I’d prove beyond a doubt that I was the stronger one and we wouldn’t need to waste time trying to drive them out like we were afraid of what they might become if they stayed. 

I passed Roxy who seemed all too pleased to let me leave, but as I reached for the door, I couldn’t help but look back over my shoulder at her.

She wasn’t looking my way anymore, instead frowning up at the shelves lined with mail and glancing between them and her Atlas in confusion.

My fingers locked on the door handle as I prepared to leave her there to struggle, clearly not knowing how to work the system to get her things, but then I changed my mind.

I sighed heavily like this was such a burden to me and moved back towards her, pulling her Atlas out of her hands. 

She looked up at me angrily, reaching out to snatch it back but I ignored her, opening the app she needed and selecting ‘Mail Retrieval’ from a list of options. 

I caught her hand in mine without really thinking about it and my fingers flexed against her soft skin as the feeling of it against my own made all the fantasies I shouldn’t have been having about her move firmly to the forefront of my mind.

“It needs a thumb print,” I explained as she began to tug her hand back out of mine and she relaxed just enough to let me press her thumb to the screen so that the shelves beside us started moving.

I released her despite feeling the urge to tug her closer and tossed her Atlas back to her, making her scramble to catch it as I tried to convince my feet to step back while they remained firmly planted exactly where they were.

A big compartment stopped before us, stuffed full of bags and boxes with labels from all kinds of clothes stores printed on them and I looked to them with interest.

“Thanks,” Roxy muttered, sounding like she wished she didn’t have to say it as she placed her Atlas back in her satchel and moved to gather her deliveries. But I wasn’t done with her yet and I moved to grab one of them before she could, smirking at the slogan of a lingerie company which was stamped to it.

“Looking to burn even more of my clothes?” she asked in a dry tone.

“I could be persuaded not to,” I replied, my mouth hooking up at one corner in amusement as I remembered just how good she’d looked naked. Not that I’d be opposed to seeing what she looked like wearing the contents of this package too. 

“Just do what you’ve gotta do, dude. I can’t stop you.” Roxy folded her arms and gave me a look that said she didn’t even give a fuck if I really did burn all of it.

“You’re really sucking the fun out of this, you know that, right?” I commented, preferring it when she bit at me, this vaguely pissed off acceptance wasn’t giving me a look at the fire I liked so much in her. “How about you give me a fashion show wearing the contents of this box and I’ll let you keep your new wardrobe?”

She rolled her fucking eyes at me and turned away, dismissing me yet again and making the heat of my fire magic flare in my skin. 

I caught her wrist before she could leave me hanging like that, tugging her back to face me again and feeling her pulse jump beneath my fingers. She glared at me and yanked her arm out of my grip but all I could do was smirk at her because she might have been trying to pretend she didn’t give a fuck about me, but I’d just felt the evidence against that for myself. Her pulse had leapt at my touch which meant I was under her skin just like she was under mine.

“Keep your shit, Roxy,” I said in a voice that matched her bored tone just to see how she liked it. “Ruining your clothes was last week’s fun. I can do better than that next time.”

I tossed the box of lingerie back into her hands then strode out of the room with a smug fucking grin on my face. Because not only had I ignored my father’s request to attack her at every given opportunity, but I’d also just found a pretty little fix for my festering mood. Roxy Vega might just have been right about becoming my new obsession, because I had never found anyone who could light me up the way she did with a glare and a hostile comment. And as her parting words caught up to me, my smile only deepened.

“Pleasure seeing you as always, asshole!” she called loudly, making sure I heard every word. 

And for some strange reason, her calling me an asshole was the highlight of my damn week.