Cursed Fates (Zodiac Academy, #5)

by Caroline Peckham

“It’s the stars that deserve it.” “They might have pushed me at her, but I’m my own man. I’m responsible for my actions.”

Everything in me had driven me at her for love, but I’d let his poison twist it into hate. For what? Power. What was the point in power if I was alone with it?

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.

“My favourite students are the ones who don’t piss me the fuck off,” Orion snapped.

“How romantic!” Geraldine gushed. “It doesn’t change anything,” I muttered as I ran my thumb over the key. But if I was really being honest with myself, maybe it did. Just a little.

“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.”

I’d ever dreamed of was running from this life. And one day soon, I hoped to get that chance. But chances weren’t made by the stars alone. I needed to make my own opportunities, so I had to start finding cracks in my prison’s walls.

The word help had sounded an awful lot like harm.

“He was falling in love with you, and you ripped his heart out,” Gabriel said quietly. “There is no greater pain in this world than that. Believe me. I know. I’ve lived it.” “So am I supposed to feel guilty now?” I demanded. “Responsible? After everything? All of it? He never said that to me. Never told me-” “He told you. You just didn’t want to hear it,” Gabriel interrupted.

Darius Acrux: @Margurite Helebor, I wouldn’t fuck you again if you were the last Fae in Solaria and my dick would fall off if I didn’t. Don’t talk shit about my Mate. One more word and I’ll destroy you #trymebitch

Apparently, I had a fetish for all of the insane shit this girl said and there wasn’t one part of me that wasn’t into it.

My gut churned guiltily, and I released a breath. Maybe Gabriel had a point about me needing to own more of my shit. I probably owed him an apology too.

BITCH PROBABLY ?!?!

“He’ll kill you for exposing this,” she breathed, her eyes wide with fear. “I’m pretty sure he plans on killing me anyway,” I said with a shrug. “At least if he kills me for this, it was for something that matters.”

And for the first time that I would admit to myself, I had to wonder if I’d made a terrible mistake when I said no.

I still wasn’t looking at her and didn’t plan to. Maybe it wasn’t because I thought she’d run away though. Maybe it was because I was scared of what I’d see in her eyes. Hate. Contempt. Disgust.

“The stars might have decided that you can never be mine,” Darius said roughly, refusing to move away from me. “But I am yours. No matter what. I don’t care where we end up or who we’re with, I’ll always be yours. And I’m going to fix the damage I did to us even if the stars don’t care. I’m going to prove to you that I could have been worthy of you if I’d just listened to my heart sooner.”

I may have held darkness within my flesh, but I refused to be ruled by it ever again. I was my own man, and I was going to make my own choices. Which meant I’d never hurt her again.

So Fae up, Tory. And go face your problems.”

In a world where the zodiac ruled our lives, our paths were just a roll of the dice. And once the dice had landed, our fate was set in stone. I just hoped our dice were still rolling. And there was a chance for us all yet.

These kinds of assholes liked to believe they owned the world just because they cast a big shadow in a small corner of it. But it was a huge fucking world, and this was a small shithole of a corner.

I could see a resentful boy becoming a remorseful man right in front of me.

I’d been a thief for a long time and if I had to take my destiny from the clutches of the stars while they slept, then I’d figure out a way to do it. I’d never set my mind on something and failed before. And this wouldn’t be the first time.

I’d embarked upon a feeling which might just come back to bite me in the ass, rip my heart out and leave me choking on my own heartbreak in the end - hope.