The Reckoning (Zodiac Academy, #3)

by Caroline Peckham

“And I can feel your jealousy from here, dude, so you're not fooling anyone.” “She's my Source, it's natural for me to be possessive. That doesn't mean I care about her,”

“Sorry bro, I can’t do shit right now. Darcy’s my Omega.” “What?” Max snapped and a low growl sounded from Darius.

“Do you think you might really end up married to one of them?” Caleb asked with a worried look. “No... that’s the thing.” Darius shook his head, his brow heavily furrowed. “If he believes they’re about to emerge as Dragons, I don't think he'll take that lying down. In fact, I think he'd rather kill them before that ever happens.”

“You just have wet dreams about your own fire power then do you, Darius?” I asked casually. His gaze slid to me, and he didn’t miss a beat in replying. “Well, it is a lot more potent so it would be more likely,” he agreed.

“There are no Dragon Professors at the Academy,” Darius said. “So I run these sessions as I’m the biggest and most powerful Dragon here.” “Could you try to take your head out of your ass the next time you say that?” I asked and Angelica bit down on her lip to stop herself from laughing.

“Can’t do much about the truth, Roxy,” Darius said, sounding every bit the cocky asshole he was. “And I think you know full well how big I am after straddling me during the Nymph fight.”

“Orion said that he thinks we’ll be even bigger Dragons than you if his theory about us is correct,”

“Well Orion likes to think a lot of things are bigger than they really are,” Darius joked but I didn’t miss the flicker of irritation that had passed through his eyes at Darcy’s comment. “And there’s a lot more to being a Dragon than just size.”

“We’re the most powerful Order there is. There might be less of us than there are of other Orders, but it would take a whole pack of Werewolves to take on a single Dragon in shifted form. And even then, the Dragon would likely win.

“But I’m sure I saw Orion jump from your back in the fight,” Darcy countered. “I grabbed him and helped him cross the pitch so that the Nymphs didn’t kill either of you. If they got their hands on a power like yours it would be disastrous. He did not ride me.”

Darius planted his feet firmly before taking his turn and the strength of his fire almost forced me back a step as it shot into the sky, further than I could measure by eye. I felt the heat of it warming me right down to the pool of magic in my core which seemed to swell in response to the flames. I wondered if that could be a Dragon thing or if his power was just so intense that I couldn’t help but have a physical reaction to it.

“Now, you two might as well go back to your Houses,” Darius suggested as he pulled his shirt off, exposing those muscles to the sun and forcing me to check him out. Which he totally noticed. He smirked at me as he started to unbuckle his belt and the other Dragons began to undress too. “We’re going for a fly.” “Urgh, then I’m leaving before you flash me your junk again,” I said, turning away from him before he could drop his pants. “Your loss, Roxy.”

I moved to release his hand, but he held on for a second, a wicked glint in his eye. “Do you wanna fuck Darius?” he asked quickly, catching me off guard.

“There was a lot of hate there, little Vega,” Max said. “But there was lust, too. Maybe you should just do it to work through your frustration with him.”

“He’d be a solid eight without those frosted tips. He looks like a nineties boyband member.” “I hope you’re not talking about me,” Seth’s voice made my heart nearly stop. I looked up, finding him standing at the end of the tunnel. Caleb stepped up beside him and they both started smiling. Like actually smiling.

“Oh my god, puke,” Tory said, and I blew out a laugh. “If you keep singing at us, I’ll throat punch you like I did to Max.” Caleb shot to her side in a blur of motion, slinging his arm around her shoulders. “Ohh what beautiful poetry you weave for me, sweetheart. Gets me so hard.”

Instead of finding a message from him, my heart pumped out of rhythm as I found one from Orion instead. I hadn’t replied to his message last night, I just…couldn’t. I didn’t know what he wanted from me. It was too confusing. He said he couldn’t think straight around me, and I seriously reciprocated that feeling, but I also knew that I wasn’t going to make some rash decision just because my libido went from zero to a thousand every time I was around him. If we went down that route, gave into that urge, it could end in absolute disaster. But hell, it was the strongest temptation I’d ever resisted.

Lance: You do like keeping a guy in suspense, don't you? Darcy: For someone who was very clear about what does and doesn't happen above swimming pools, I'm surprised you're still looking for the answer to your last question. Lance: What about the question before that then? Green or blue?

Darcy: What difference does it make to you aside from being able to tell me and my sister apart? Lance: Blue means you like me.

Lance: I know what it meant. Darius told me after the fall party. But I have my own (better) meaning and Solaria has one too. P.S I fully intend to break that guy’s legs once you give me his name by the way.

Lance: I guess you’re about to go back to radio silence so for what it’s worth… In Solaria blue means royal. And to me, blue means you.

“This better not be a freeze frame of your dick,” I muttered, and he snorted as I took it from him. “You’d need a wide-angle lens to fit it all in if it was.” “Yeah, keep telling yourself that.”

And poor Xavier...he’s like the cutest fucking Pegasus I ever saw.” I ran a hand over my face and groaned. “If it wasn’t so damn serious it’d be hilarious.”

“Anyone would think you were embarrassed about luring students out to sneak around after dark with you in your secret cave,” I teased. “I’m mostly embarrassed it’s you,” he replied scathingly. “You’re not even hot.” “Bite me,” I joked. “Don’t tempt me.”

“Maybe you should go get your Vega out of bed,” I suggested. “What do you mean my Vega?” he asked, shooting me a sharp look as we paused where we were due to part ways.

“If I bite you before I sleep, I’ll end up fucking dreaming of you again.” “Oh, come on, Professor, we both know you dream of me anyway.” I flexed my muscles at him as I began to back away and he rolled his eyes. “You wanna lose two hundred and fifty House Points for disrespecting a teacher while breaking curfew?” he asked. “You wanna tell me if that’s a dagger in your pocket or if you’re just excited to see me?” I taunted.

The guy leapt up and caught her waist to steady her and my gut lurched irritably as his hand skimmed her ass. I bit my tongue, turning away from them as I crossed the room in search of my drinks.

Roxy Vega might have been the most irritatingly rude and stubborn girl I’d ever met but she was fucking hot. And with the stupid games we played together while I was tutoring her in her fire magic, I had to admit that I’d imagined her stripping for me more than once.

Of course my damn dick wasn’t going to let me leave without looking over at Roxy again, it didn’t care that I had to get rid of her or that she irritated me more than any woman ever born.

I was about to force my eyes away from her when she cursed and yanked on her shirt hard enough to rip every button off of it. Beneath it she was wearing a gold push up bra which accentuated her perfect tits and made her look like something out of a Dragon’s wet dream.

I took a few running steps towards her before I could stop myself, but the guy had leapt up to catch her before she could hit the ground.

I shook my head to clear it of the image of her in that gold bra and spun on my heel, striding towards the exit and quite possibly a cold shower.

I pressed my magic into her body, expecting the fight she’d put up when we trained together but to my surprise, her power welcomed mine like greeting an old friend. The surge of excited energy I felt when power sharing with her zipped through me, but this was even more intense than usual because she wanted it. On some base level, at this moment in time, she fully trusted me. I tried not to focus on how good that felt and shifted my attention to helping her reshape her magic instead.

She pressed her face to my chest and my heart leapt a little as she leaned into me like I was someone who could protect her. Once she relaxed completely, the flood of magic stopped pouring from her and I pulled my own power back, releasing her hand. Her hand shot out and caught my arm, her fingers gripping my bicep as I tried to pull away. “Don’t leave me,” she begged, and I cleared my throat as I looked down at her.

If she did, she would likely be telling me to get the hell off of her. But she asked me not to leave and I found that I didn’t want to. Besides, she’d only had that nightmare because of what me and Max had done to her in that swimming pool. So maybe I owed her my help with this if that was what she wanted. “I won’t,” I replied as I shifted her against my chest and scooped her into my arms.

I hadn’t spent the last few weeks trailing her around campus to protect her from them just to quit now and leave her vulnerable. If the Nymphs managed to get hold of a power like hers it could be disastrous. And that was the only reason I’d admit to for getting her out of here. The way my heart was beating as I held her close had nothing to do with it.

I made it to my bedroom door before Sofia caught up to me again and she was even brave enough to grab my arm to halt me. “What?” I asked, lacing my voice with a bit of threat.

“Why are you taking her to your room?” she demanded. “I’ve got her bag right here with her key and-” “And while she’s in this state she could lose control again and burn the whole House down,” I replied. “I’ll have to stay with her tonight until she sleeps off the alcohol you watched her consume.”

“You’re not going to play some trick on her or hurt her or...” She didn’t finish that accusation, but her gaze flickered to the point where my hand was gripping Roxy’s bare thigh as I held her.

My throat felt tight, I didn’t know if this was a terrible idea, but Xavier had sounded so broken on the phone earlier, so desperate, I just wanted to try and help him. And maybe having another Pegasus to talk to would help him see some good in what he was.

“You know,” Sofia said softly behind me. “Everyone says Darius Acrux is heartless and cold blooded just like the Dragon he turns into. But you’re not, are you?”

“You actually give a shit about other people, don’t you? You want to protect them, look after them…” Her gaze fell on the unconscious girl in my arms like that was proof and I growled at her.

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.

She sat up a little and tugged on my arm, trying to pull me down into the bed with her. And I couldn’t really deny the fact that I’d thought about getting her in my bed more than once before. Not that I’d lay a finger on her in her current state but even seeing her here, surrounded by gold and half undressed was sending zips of turbulent energy right through me.

She smiled at me, and it wasn’t sarcastic or taunting, the difference that made taking my breath away for a moment.

I could feel myself getting hard just from that small amount of contact. I tried to prise her away from me, but she wriggled closer, pressing her full breasts against me and giving me a clear view of them trying to break free of the confines of her bra.

My mouth dried up and a growl escaped me as the Dragon writhed beneath my skin. “You need to be putting more on, not taking things off,” I said tersely.

“Give me your shirt then,” she demanded, reaching out to pull at my black t-shirt. “I don’t think it will help if I start taking off my clothes too,” I said, catching her wrist to stop her. “You’re so fucking bossy,” she muttered, a bit of her usual fire rising to the surface. “Just do as you’re told for once.” Before I could respond to that, she shoved my hand aside and moved to straddle me in one quick movement.

My hands found her waist, my thumbs brushing against her hip bones as she looked down at me with her dark hair tumbling around her shoulders and that sexy as sin underwear begging me to touch it. She laughed as she waved the shirt at me triumphantly, doing a little victory dance which meant she was grinding right against my hard-on and sending my body haywire.