The Reckoning (Zodiac Academy, #3)

by Caroline Peckham

The pressure of Darius’s power increased against mine and he tugged me a step closer to him. “Let me in, Roxy,” he breathed and for a moment it seemed like he was talking about more than our magic.

Darius please 😭

I bit my lip as his grip on my hands tightened and he tugged me closer again, our chests almost brushing as I looked up at him. “Stop power fucking her and start working on what Pyro wants,” Caleb called, and I flinched, yanking my magic back again as I looked around at him and Darcy. “Are you afraid I’m going to steal her attention from you, Cal?” Darius asked Caleb with the hint of a smile playing around his lips. “Not likely,” Caleb replied dismissively but his eyes narrowed.

My Atlas pinged and I took it out of my bag, my soul fraying as I found a private message waiting for me from Orion. Lance: What if I don't want it to stop?

Okay but why couldn’t you say this shit in person?

I tried not to stare at her, I really tried but I couldn’t stop looking at her bronze skin, her narrow waist, the swell of her breasts as they rose and fell in time with her deep breaths... Fuck it’s like someone picked apart my deepest desires and brought every fantasy I’ve ever had to life. Why did it have to be her? Why did I have to lust after one of the only people in the whole of Solaria who I could never have? I knew I was going to have to marry a Dragon Shifter one day but that didn’t stop me from having other women. But this one would never be mine in any way. She hated me more viscerally than I thought anyone else ever had. And I couldn’t even blame her. I’d hate me too if I was her. What we’d done to her, what I’d done... It was necessary but I still didn’t like it. I was supposed to be working with the other Heirs to get rid of them and instead here I was protecting her like I'd lost my fucking mind.

At his words, I noticed the feeling of his magic coiling around mine where it had obviously been all night. He hadn’t actually pushed it to merge with mine, but it was dancing along the edges of my power as if it was asking to join it. On instinct I let the barrier around my power drop, welcoming his in. Darius sucked in a sharp breath as his magic tumbled into mine and a breathy moan escaped my lips before I could stop it as the thrill of his magic caused every muscle in my body to tighten for a moment. The ecstasy of our magic combining was kind of addictive, like I could feel the heat of his power filling every dark space in my body and I had to fight to make sure it didn’t burn me. I pushed his magic back out before I could get lost in the feeling of it and we lay in silence for a few long seconds, neither of us commenting on what I’d just done. I was glad he didn’t ask me about it because I really didn’t know why

God this is hot.

Darcy: You can have a picture if you tell me the real reason you attacked Diego. I hit send, smiling as I hugged a pillow to my chest. Why is this so exciting? Lance: Fine. Seeing another guy's hands on you makes me want to rip out their eyes so they never get to look at you again.

Lance, the man you are

Oh no! I wonder why? I forced myself not to laugh and responded with my eyes on my boots. “I’ll look forward to watching you win the next match then.” “Maybe I should make you wear a shirt with my name printed on it instead of Geraldine’s at the next match as my prize for beating you tonight,” he suggested. “That’s what you want for a prize?” I scoffed. “While I’m racing for a shiny bike of my own?” “What I’d like for a prize probably isn’t on the table,” he replied with a shrug.

Darius stayed close to me as he urged me towards the stairs and his magic brushed up against mine like a question hanging between us. I pushed it away as heat ran up the back of my neck and shifted out of his grip, so he no longer held me in the cage of his arm. “Why are you doing that?” I asked, shooting him a suspicious look. “You let me in this morning,” he reminded me in a low voice. “Why did you trust me so easily then and not now?”

The little moments of vulnerability Darius shows makes me scream. Ugh

The engine roared with the promise of the rush I’d been missing, and I sighed with pleasure, letting my eyes fall closed for a moment as I just appreciated this metal creature beneath me. “Fuck yes. I’ve missed this feeling so much.” “What bike did you leave behind in the mortal world?” Darius asked and I opened my eyes to find him watching me like I was the most interesting goddamn thing he’d ever seen.

“I have a perfectly good bed downstairs,” I replied, shaking my head just a little. “Why would you want me to stay?” Darius frowned like he wasn’t sure what to say to that, but he inched a little closer all the same. “Because it feels right,” he breathed.

Just shoot me

“Is your Atlas broken, sweetheart?” he asked, a slight frown pulling at his handsome features. “Nope,” she replied casually, though I could tell she was putting it on. “Why?” “I sent you a few messages and you don’t seem to have replied. And then I find out you’re off chasing around after one of my friends all night. So what am I supposed to make of that?”

Lmaooooooo

“I haven’t forgotten,” I replied. “I’m just not going to let you push me around because you’re scarier than me. Trying to avoid your wrath didn’t do me any favours anyway, so why shouldn’t I just do as I please?” “Your smart mouth is going to get you into trouble with me one of these days,” he warned. “Is that a promise?”

DARIUS PLEASEEEEEEE

panic as he brushed my hair away from my face. He was saying something, and it took me a moment to push aside the echoing in my ears so that I could listen to him. “-would fucking break me. So don’t you dare give in to them. I’ll follow you into the shadows if I have to and drag you away from them kicking and screaming. Because they can’t have you. They fucking can’t.” “Darius?” I asked in confusion, frowning up at him as he seemed to realise I was awake and his tirade came to an end. “You’re back?” he asked, his voice breaking as he ran his fingers over the lines of my face.

“You always surprise me, Tory,” he breathed, turning me suddenly so that my back was to him, and his arms wrapped around my waist, drawing me close. “I never know what to expect from you and it drives me fucking insane.”

But apparently I was about to let the moon call me out on my bullshit. Because deep down I knew that every time I pushed her, every time I hurt her, each time she snapped at me and got back up, she’d been chipping away at my resolve a little more, breaking down my walls a little more. And even though I knew that all the things I’d done to her had only pushed her away from me, they’d each drawn me in a little closer every time.

“I’ve been watching you,” he said slowly. My heart beat a little faster at that confession and I tilted my head at him, my hair spilling over my shoulder and drawing goosebumps along my skin in the process. Darius observed the movement like he was starving for it, like anything and everything I did now was fascinating to him. “Why?” I asked slowly, needing his answer like I needed to draw breath. “Because that’s what I do,” he said slowly. “I watch you and hunger for you and ache for you. It torments me like I torment you.” The fire in my veins burned hotter at that confession and I shifted in the sand, biting down on my lip as I looked up at him. His gaze lingered on my mouth and the ache in my shoulders heightened to the point of pain for a moment before fading beneath my flesh again. “Then why do it?” I asked. “Why not just look away?” “I’d find it easier to carve my eyes out than I would to stop them landing on you.”

“There are countless people who would say I’m not allowed to want you,” Darius breathed. “But you make me want to burn the whole world down so that I can claim you for my own.” “Then we should burn it down,” I agreed.

Fuck