Cursed Fates (Zodiac Academy, #5)

by Caroline Peckham

This isn’t it. I won’t let him go. I’ll follow him beyond The Veil. I’ll climb into the stars and drag his soul back out of them if I have to. This. Is. Not. It.

“Please,” I begged, turning my head toward the cave roof, and imploring the stars to listen. “Don’t take him from me. I’ll give you anything you want. Anything.”

I won’t let you go. I promised I’d do anything in my power to keep us together and I’ll do it, goddammit. I will do it.

“Don’t give up,” I pleaded. “Not for the world,” he swore.

“You care about him,” he stated, his voice horribly empty. “Yes,” I said powerfully, defiantly. Because he was Orion’s friend, and I didn’t care if he knew right now. He had to accept it one day anyway, because I was never going to stop loving him.

And I wasn’t going anywhere, even if every star in the sky decided to fall down and burn the world tonight.

Who the hell would say no to their destiny like that? Who would be insane enough to turn their back on their one true love.

She was you fucking idiot

I ran a hand over the back of my head, feeling about ten times worse than I would have if he’d punched me.

Good - you should feel like shit because you’re a shitty friend

But she made it clear enough that that was all it was to her.”

She wound her legs around me, burying her face in my neck and clutching onto me like the world would stop turning if she didn’t.

But that choice made some sort of sense, Tory’s didn’t. Darius might have hurt her, but didn’t she understand the weight of this kind of Star Bond? It would overcome anything, everything. Darius would have spent the rest of his life making up for all he’d done to her, he would have watched over her more fiercely than the moon did the Earth. He’d have given her the world.

Had she even realised the immensity of what she’d given up? Had she really been so stubborn that she would choose a life without love in it? Doomed to pine for Darius for the rest of her days and never have him. The stars would make it their mission to keep them apart now. Nothing would go their way even if she regretted the decision. It was impossible. It was downright cruel. To herself. To him.

My heart squeezed as I waited for him to shout and lose his mind as he sat up and stared down at me. “Don’t ever let go of her, Lance. You fucking fight for her until your last breath, you hear me?”

And I may not have had anything to live for myself anymore. But that was okay. There were other things I could dedicate myself to now. Like making sure Clara Orion went back to the hell she’d just crawled out of and never returned.

This creature had tried to kill Lance, she was dark and twisted and bound to my father. The only thing she could cause by being here was further pain. And I refused to let that happen.

Mother didn’t respond to that, her concerned gaze fixed on me like the only thing she cared about in all of this was making sure I was alright.

Roxy might not have wanted to be mine, but that didn’t change how I felt about her. It didn’t mean I’d be letting anything happen to her.

I knew she’d been tempted by the shadows, and I’d been checking up on her as often as I could to try and help her, but that hadn’t been easy before she’d chosen to be Star Crossed with me. What hope would I have of helping her with them now? If anything, this curse on us would only drive her closer to them.

I’d offered her the world, but I’d waited too long to do it. So now I had to face the consequences of that and live with the fact that this was all my fault. And there wasn’t a thing I could do to change it.

Saying yes meant letting him own me.

That is entirely false - stop trying to justify your decision and face the consequences of your actions you fucking idiot. You deserve so much pain.

“But Tory you’ve still got forever with him,” Darcy said desperately, her eyes swimming with tears for me. “Instead of forever with him loving you, you’ve got forever pining for him. Don’t you remember what Professor Zenith told us about Elysian Mates? You only get one. And if you don’t choose them, you’ll never love or be loved by any other…”

I hadn’t wanted to hurt him.

LIES YOU BITCH!!!!!!!!!!!! ALL YOU EVER DO IS HURT HIM!!!

“Maybe I’m the one who doesn’t deserve happiness,” I said. “Maybe Darius deserves better than me.”

Yes.

You broke yourself you idiot. Stop blaming other people.

I’d always lived with the consequences of my actions before, and I didn’t intend to stop now.

Such a blatant lie you idiot

“Yeah, if I travel the road of least resistance which I’d guess means avoiding him altogether. And that sounds great, aside from the fact that I live in the same building as him, attend classes with him, eat my meals in the same place as him and have a political future surrounding that fucking throne which will clearly tangle me up with him for the rest of my life. Not to mention our cosy little shadow lessons.”

If only you were smart enough to have realized this before you broke his heart and your own heart

Nothing from Darius.

It’s not like you broke his heart and cursed the both of you forever until the day you die?

It was starting to seem like I was a fucking idiot to think that though.

Ah you finally realize that you're an idiot? Good

This was my choice. Mine. It shouldn’t have hurt this much to follow my heart. And that was what I’d thought I was doing. But if that was the case then why did it feel like I was being torn to bits from the inside out?

Because you're stupid - we've established this

I clenched my jaw, glaring at Seth as magic trickled into my blood. I wasn’t scared, I was mad. The kind of mad that made my veins scorch. Part of me wanted to burn him into a pile of ash and never have to deal with his bullshit again. But I didn’t think murdering an Heir was going to solve my problems. Even if it would feel freaking amazing.

There was a bitter kind of hate that lived in me, digging deeper and deeper. But now there was a warmth toward him too which was just as resilient. Because I could never, ever repay him for giving Orion the magic he needed to survive.

I didn’t know why I was so on edge. Maybe because every time I’d seen him since New Year’s Eve, I’d been reminded that he was still breathing. And all the while I couldn’t see him, my heart started to get tricked into thinking something terrible had happened again. Or that I’d imagined him being saved at all and was living in some false, pretty illusion.

Libras are about justice. And I decide what that means to me. And if I say that Tory Vega can have a bake sale and employ her sister as a cupcake stand, then I will be the first in line for the grand opening. But you, Corbin. Do not have that right. So clean up your mess and see me in detention on Thursday.”

Asshole that he was, I couldn’t help but love him for being a teensy bit psycho. His idea of fun came with a sadistic little twist. And I was hot for it.

Orion ran his tongue over his teeth, moving closer to Diego in an intimidating stance. “If you try to fuck me over, kid, I’ll break every bone in your body. And if you try to fuck over the Vegas, I’ll rip out said broken bones one by one, put them in a blender and feed them to you through a straw. I know some nasty fucking spells that will make sure you stay alive through the entire thing. Mark. My. Words.” My lips popped open and hell, I was shamefully turned on by him in that moment.

I glanced up at him under my lashes, seeing the worry in his expression and wishing I could soothe it away. I knew how he felt. He was afraid. Afraid of the world falling away from beneath our feet at any moment. And I was scared of the same thing.

“Lance is off limits,” I snarled. “Which means the girl he loves is off limits too.”

Power was the root of all my problems. Every fucking one of them. And I wasn’t going to watch the people around me abusing theirs anymore.

“It’s fine,” I growled, looking out over the dark sea. It wasn’t, but nothing was, so there was no point in bitching about it.

“I’m always going to be alone now, aren’t I? Forever.”

Thats your fault Tory - Darius doesn't need to apologize fof that

“Do you think you’re really ready to try and play with the big boys?” “Big boys?” Geraldine asked in surprise. “I didn’t know any big boys were joining our group! Do point them out, Master Wolf, and I’ll be sure to give them a jolly good welcome.”

“You may find it hard to believe, but a true lady won’t just roll over and accept a merciless cad for a suitor just because he manages to water her lawn satisfactorily. I am more than attuned to your personal moral standards and I have no desire to lower myself to them. So, call it what you will, foolhardiness, stubbornness or just a pure and true desire to tangle my web with a real gentleman but when it comes down to it, Maxy boy, you have been measured and you have been found wanting. Now please refrain from touching me with your slippery flippers and let us return to our lesson.”

THE GOAT

I was making Orion into my very own mattress. But instead of springs it had abs.

“I’m okay with you being my weakness, Blue. Because that means my weakness is a badass, hot as fuck Phoenix with enough fire in her veins to rival the sun. So come at me stars, I’m invincible!”

“I’m not telling you to stay because firstly, you’re a fucking force to be reckoned with, beautiful. And secondly…” He stepped closer, taking my hand and firmly kissing the back of it. “We make a fucking excellent team; I’d be doing us a disservice to leave you behind.”

“We’ll deal with it. Darius can destroy the bones,” Orion said firmly. “It’ll save you the bother.” “Are you sure?” Fran asked hopefully, looking at him like he was her knight in shining armour. And with the blade in his hand, I guessed he could pass. But he wasn’t her knight. He was mine.

“Should I expect a lesson in bone magic soon then?” “I reckon Lance has been giving you plenty of bone lessons already, hasn’t he?” Darius quipped and a laugh tumbled from my throat. It was pretty weird to be standing here in this creepy ass house laughing, with him of all people.

We’d done it so many times by now, it was as normal as breathing. Orion kissed me gently in thanks and a smile lit my face that seemed to burn right through the dark surrounding us. “You two are…well, fuck the law for saying you can’t be together,” Darius said, folding his arms. My heart squeezed at his words, and I saw so much pain in his eyes that I strode forward and wrapped my arms around him. It wasn’t that I’d forgiven him, or even that I was remotely convinced he was good enough for my sister. But maybe he could have been. Maybe if they’d made better choices, followed their hearts instead of their pride. “Fuck the stars too, Darius,” I breathed, and his muscles tightened around me as he held me close. “Fuck every shining, gleaming one of them.”

But every extra minute I spent after my shower, staring at the shining silver horn that adorned my head, my chin lifted a little higher. And my soul burned a little brighter. I was a Pegasus. A big ass stallion of a Pegasus. And I was proud to be one.

There was only one truth on my mind at that moment. I’m so into you and the thing I hate most about my life right now is that I’ll never get to meet you.