Beyond the Veil (Zodiac Academy, #8.5)

by Caroline Peckham

“Please, there’s been a mistake. I never did anything,” Jenkins spluttered, the lies spilling from him making smoke pour through my teeth. But as my fist raised to silence him, Hail’s got there first, knocking him flat on his back between us with a scream.

Daddy Vega said shut the fuck up

And as I turned from him with my wife’s father at my side, the two of us grinned like savages.

Bonding!!!!

Merissa, I think Lionel plans to Guardian Bond every Dragon in the Guild, creating an army between him and any who try to end his reign.”

Sure does

“But I’ve been working within the palace, joining with the magic I left there in my lifetime, finding the hidden ways, seeking out the Nymphs and Dragons posted throughout its hallways.

Is she the silver footsteps?

The power of that pang of longing gave me the extra strength I needed and I ran to the door, willing my power into the floor beneath my feet, shimmering silver footsteps appearing on the flagstones, guiding her after me.

It is her!

“Those are my daughters in there, son,” Hail growled, gripping his shoulder as he met Darius’s tempestuous gaze. “Don’t fail them.” “I won’t,” Darius swore, gripping Hail’s shoulder in return, a powerful energy rippling between them which set the hairs standing along the back of my neck.

SON

I’d taken every strike of it without flinching then broken the cages of all the poor beasts in the place and set them free the moment it was done, ignoring my own wounds in favour of their freedom.

Fuck yeah

Shame coloured my memory of that day now. I’d been starting to fight back, to hold my own and show my grit and yet he’d claimed that as his achievement too. Even in defiance I’d been his pet, his prize, his protégé. The Heir with the crooked crown.

I hate lionel so fucking much

Tony maybe? Roxy charged for him, sword raised, lips parted in a feral challenge. Tim. Tim the Dragon…no, that didn’t seem right, it was more like Tilbert, or-

Who cares Darius? Lol

The river appeared before me, Turnip standing between it and me, blinking in alarm,

We will never know his name lol

“My name is Toooooodd!”

Oh Thats his name

I hated the Guardian Bond magic with a passion, and I could only hope that there was some cost involved in using it on such a scale.

Her words were fierce, defiant, but I knew her well enough to see the pain in them, the utter agony of what this rejection was doing to her.

Bcause tory is a child sometimes

She had come all this way to reclaim the other half of her soul, the one person who might be able to help her find her way back to herself from the pit of grief that had consumed her since my death.

Ok well NOW i feel bad

Mordra cocked her head at me, eyes with yellow shot through the whites blinking slowly.

Was she a nymph? Is diego there?

“A raft,” Mordra replied simply. “He feels a death oncoming. One worthy of his attention for the passage.” “Roxy,” I gasped, realising whose wings I could hear beating, whose soul was moving too close to this place, whose power would rouse the interest of the ferryman.

Jenkins screamed as he watched the memories Roxy sacrificed for the magic. Two little girls shivering in a bed together, wondering if their foster parents would come home tonight. I watched with a festering hatred, feeling the fear of those small children. They were hungry because there were locks on the kitchen cupboards and their foster parents had left them alone all day, not specifying when they’d be back. The house was cold, and darkness had fallen beyond the curtains. Roxy’s jaw was locked tight with a fury I knew all too well, that stubborn determination to survive so bright in her even then.

The way Darius gets it now

“Woohoo!” Radcliff cried, leaping forward and clapping Xavier on the arm. “Did you see that, Cat?” He elbowed Catalina. “Your boy’s a man now.” “He was a man long before this moment,” Catalina said, raising her chin.

You tell em Catalina

Cyril came tearing through The Veil and Catalina pounced like an alley cat, kicking out the backs of his legs so he hit the ground beneath her. She gripped his hair in her fist, her foot slamming down on his spine to hold him there as she spoke in his ear, “Hello, Cyril.” He turned his head, taking her in with wide eyes, lips quivering. “Wh-where am I?” Hamish stepped forward, crouching low and glaring like a heathen. “This is the deep, dark yonder, you sandy flan of a fellow.” “Crucia is calling you,” Catalina growled, rising to her feet and dragging Cyril along by the hair. “I’ll take you to the Harrowed Gate myself.”

God i love her

“Never liked him. Big ego, tiny Dragon.”

Tiny dick

“Quiet now, aren’t you?” Vard chuckled. “By the end of this war, you will likely have no one left. No wife, no kid. All your disgusting rebel family good and dead where they belong.”

I hate this son of a bitch

“Wh-who’s there?” he stammered. “Show yourself!” “I think you would piss yourself if you could see me now, worm,” I hissed, my boots striking the tiles with such power that he could hear the pound of them in the living realm. “Wh-who is that?” Vard raised his hands, fire flashing in them. “I think my mother and father are close,” Gabriel whispered, his eyes roaming, still seeking us out. “I’m here, my love,” Merissa called to him, but he didn’t hear her.

I couldn’t do any more than that, but the terror in his good eye was enough. He knew what would find him in death, and so help him when he walked through The Veil. For Merissa and I would be waiting.

Make him suffer

Before we reached them, a piercing song blasted through the air, making me wince from the power of it. I clapped my hands over my ears and the others did the same, the song so terrible it cut through into The Veil, forcing us back. I dug my heels in while Serenity pulled us nearer, and the tune of death and destruction roared ever louder. “What is that?” I yelled. “My son’s Dread Song,” Serenity said, looking to me with a fierce smile.

Oh he big powerful

“Surely this ugly thing must have a purpose!” Radcliff cried. “An entrance to a secret tunnel or a panic room perhaps. Why else would someone have such a hideous thing hung on their wall?” “That was my grandmother’s,” I snapped, shoving him away from it and Radcliff wrinkled his nose. “You mean to say someone bought that because they were fond of it?” he balked. “This is not the time!” Serenity shouted over the piercing song that was still puncturing the air.

“Good palace. Daddy Hail is here,” Radcliff said, placing a hand on my shoulder and lending me his strength. “Now open your door nice and wide for him.” “Stop that,” Merissa clipped, and Radcliff laughed, clearly loving the chaos of all this.

Lmao

“I shall give you my deepest seed of power, oh great Vegas,” Hamish called over the wailing song and Max blasted the doors apart, clearly intending to leave. “I will summon it from my banded balls.” “Stop talking,” I gritted out, trying to focus and Radcliff laughed harder.

Morons now isnt the time

Max’s Dread Song finally faltered, and I let out a breath of relief, realising my power had been affected by it too, all of us weakened by the immensity of the magic.

BIG powerful

“Get fucked, Lame Lionel!” Radcliff cried.

Lolol i love him

He picked up pace quickly and disappeared with a whinny that made Radcliff smile. “That’s my boy,” Radcliff said. “He’s my boy,” Catalina growled, and Radcliff raised his hands in innocence, backing off.

“Party?” Lionel spat. “An entire wing of the palace has nearly been obliterated, I have lost around thirty Dragons,

Boohoo little bitch

Where we stood beyond The Veil, four screaming souls could be seen, bound within this creature’s flesh, writhing and thrashing with a desperation to get free.

Holy shit

and I noted some similarities between them too, this impossible union

So a tiny dick?

“Oh my,” Mildred Canopus gasped, the awful woman fanning herself as if she was flustered by the display.

I cant wait for her to die

“He is no Fae. He is death itself,” I said, throat thick.

“Darius,” Azriel sighed. “Part of the process you will experience here beyond The Veil includes this denial you are going through, and I know how incredibly hard the end of your own mortality is to come to terms with.”

First step is admittance

But I met a girl who took one look at fate and said fuck you.

That she did

Roxanya Vega taught me to defy the stars in all things and I have never once regretted it when I followed her advice.

“Tell Lance,” he began hesitantly. “Tell him I am forever with him. That I love him and that I know he is worthy of the position he is yet to rise to. Tell him I will be watching him through every moment of it and that I couldn’t hold more pride in my heart if I tried. And tell Darcy how grateful I am for all she has done for my boy, and that I will be celebrating with all the lost souls who adore her when she seizes her crown.”

He bowed his head to me and released my hand and despite my general aversion to physical displays of affection, I followed my gut and drew him into my arms, holding him tightly for a brief moment. “Lance is the man he is because of you,” I told him. “His love for you has always given him the strength he needed in the darkest of times. Thank you for creating one of the most important people in my life. Lance was one of the few bright points in my existence for a very long time and he has that brightness because of you.” Azriel squeezed me in his arms, a choked sob lodging in his throat as he nodded in acceptance of those words before releasing me.

Darius has a heart

“If you hope to bend the laws of death to your will, then you will need to gain mastery over The Veil itself. You will need to face the truth of what rules us here and break its hold on you,” Mordra purred, her hand slipping down my spine, making a shudder rise in me.

Yes sensei

The moon wasn’t a star. It was a force of its own, governed by its own set of rules. It didn’t bow to their power and its magic belonged to no other, born of the nature of the world itself. Did that mean it was charged with ether then? That the magic of the moon was its own potent cocktail of raw power?

Good questions

“Because that fire hasn’t gone out yet,” Rosalie breathed, taking a lock of Roxy’s hair from between my fingers and winding it around her own until it pulled tight, her gaze shifting to mine for the briefest of moments and I could have sworn she saw me there, or at least felt me. “I feel a chord of it straining to remain in place. And I think it’s time you tugged on it.”

“Segui il fuoco,” Rosalie replied. Follow the fire. Roxy frowned in confusion, clearly not understanding her, but I did. I knew enough Faetalian to understand her perfectly and as her gaze shifted to me once more, I sucked in a sharp breath. Was that message for me?

First off since when does he know faetalian? Secondly Rosa is amazing

The darkness grew as I hovered there, nothing but a ball of flame in the pitch black, shaking off all mortal shackles.

Oh

A shriek broke the darkness as the creature’s jaws finally snapped shut on the fire which made up my being, but instead of devouring me, it found itself burned by the power of my magic.

Strong boy

Love had brought me back from the brink of darkness.

Hes a softie now

In her place I found Caleb and Seth, the two of them seemingly in the middle of some kind of spat.

Oh... No Darius

“Tory, obviously,” Seth growled, and I took a seat on the edge of the bed. “Is she moisturising her perfect tits or lubricating her vag or doing something equally feminine somewhere?” “That’s a weird set of fucking questions,” I growled,

I frowned at the two of them. Seth didn’t often get pissed like this. I was missing something. I doubted even snack theft of the most delicious treats would have him this angry. So what was I missing?

Dear sweet innocent dragon