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“But Tory Vega’s eating!” he complained. “I don’t care if Tory Vega is starting her own bakery back there and using Polaris as a rolling pin, I’m talking to you, Corbin,” Orion snapped and I suppressed a laugh, sharing a look with Tory as she smirked. “That’s so unfair,” Tyler complained. “Fair is a concept,” Orion said with a shrug. “But you’re a Libra!” Tyler said in exasperation. “You’re all about fairness.”
I glanced at Tory with a smirk, but she didn’t even have it in her to smile. And that just broke my heart to pieces.
and Caleb…fucking Caleb with his fucking face and his fucking blonde hair and his fucking fangs which he got way too close to my girl way too often, not to mention what he did with the rest of his fucking body and- Not my girl. Never my girl.
“You’d pick a fucking Vega over your own brother?” he hissed, not even bothering to struggle against me anymore as he shot me a poisonous look. “Who the fuck are you right now, Darius?”
The closest I came was heading down to stand outside her door when everyone else was sleeping and checking that she wasn’t falling into the temptation of the shadows. Unfortunately, she clearly had been using them and I’d already had to press my magic out towards her more than once to pull her back. But she never seemed to realise it was me.
“I dealt with Seth,” I called after her before she stepped outside. “He won’t bother either of you anymore.” Tension seemed to fall from her body in a wave and she offered me a wide smile which was so full of relief that I could practically taste it on the air. “Thank you, Darius,” she breathed before turning and hurrying out after Roxy.
“Fuck you.” I shoved past him and walked towards the exit but before I could leave, I slammed into a solid wall of air. “No, Darius. Fuck you! Fuck all the bullshit you spouted to me over the years about fighting back against your father, about working to change his legacy and being a better man than him. Fuck the lies you told about using your time to rule with the other Heirs to make Solaria a greater kingdom, and fuck you for being too much of a coward to just tell Tory Vega how you felt about her before it was too goddamn late!”
It was also long enough for Geraldine to be able to talk to me without spontaneously bursting into tears every five minutes. We had it down to about fifteen now.
“But you’re still going ahead with it?” I asked in a low voice that only he could hear. “You’ll turn up and walk down the aisle and-” “Are you seeing Caleb again?” he growled and that froze me in my tracks.
Darcy’s eyes glimmered in that way they did whenever she saw him and I bit down on a smirk as I looked at her. She really was hopelessly lovestruck.
Maybe her Lady Petunia was a magic vag, designed to lure Siren dick in and then never release it from her spell.
He was looking at me. Of course he was looking at me. His gaze burned me whenever we were in the same place. I didn’t know if he was a glutton for punishment or if he just couldn’t help it but whatever the reason, if we were within view of each other, I could guarantee his eyes would be on me. And I’d be battling to keep mine off of him.
I took a step back to avoid it and flinched as I bumped into someone. I turned, finding Darius behind me and quickly stepped away again as my skin burned from the contact. He didn’t say anything but now that I knew he was behind me, my skin prickled with goosebumps and my breaths became shallow.
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Fuck me, are you really going to make me beg?” I pouted as I looked up at him and the barest hint of a smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “You can certainly give it a try.” Not likely. But my lips pulled up as I came up with another plan.
“Are you still going easy on me, Darius?” I growled as I looked down at him from my position straddling him. “I told you, I’m not going to hurt you again, Roxy,” he replied as he continued to burn my earth magic away as fast as I could conjure it. “Don’t pretend you don’t want to,” I pushed. “You must hate me for saying no.” Darius growled, but he still didn’t attack me. “I don’t hate you.” “More fool you then.” I tried to push off of him but he caught my thighs, holding me in place with a dangerous snarl as the clouds continued to darken overhead.
“After all, I clearly deserve it.” “I didn’t think you were capable of admitting when you were in the wrong,” I breathed. “Neither did I. But if you want to keep punishing me by straddling me in the dirt, I’m not going to complain about it.”
In this one instance, I may have been full of shit. We both know you won. I hope you enjoy your prize Lot J, top floor, in the parking lot.
gonna cry
Had there ever been a reality where I was a daughter loved by her mother? Did she cradle me against her chest and pray I’d never come to harm? Had she truly cared what kind of girl I’d grow up to be? And would she be proud of the one I was?
He pulled on a pair of jeans, buckling them up as he moved toward me, leaning down and pressing a kiss to my forehead. My freaking forehead.
“What else don’t I know about you?” He laughed, moving forward and cupping my cheek. “I’m nothing but an open book now, I promise. This is my last secret.” “Why don’t I believe you?” I whispered and he stamped his mouth firmly to mine. “You will,” he promised and I tasted that promise on my lips. “I’ll give you the play by play of my entire life when we get back if that’s what you want, but we’ve gotta go.” He snatched my hand, tugging me toward his closet and a smile pulled at my mouth for the fact that he didn’t even have to ask if I wanted to come. Of course I damn well did.
Dammit Fran, why do you have to be cool?
A dark smile tugged at his mouth. “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.” “You sure know how to talk your way out of trouble, Professor.” I cocked a brow and he smirked at my expression.
“Gwen’s got fire in her belly tonight.” “Stop with the third person crap. And don’t call me Gwen,” I demanded and Orion shoved Darius in the arm, making him knock into me. “Call her Darcy, dipshit, or I’ll start calling you Demelza,” he growled and Darius shrugged. “Come on let’s move.”
“Well aren’t you an observant little shrew.” “Less of the shrew,” I said, pursing my lips. “Can’t call you Gwen, can’t call you shrew…” he muttered under his breath as he pushed the door to see if it would open.
“Just so you know, Plan B was me turning into a Dragon and taking the brunt of that,” Darius pointed out and I turned to him with a relieved smile. “And yet here you are, Fae sized and safe.” He cracked a grin, but it didn’t meet his eyes and that made my heart twist.
“Yes and this night has interrupted those lessons spectacularly so let’s get the fuck home,” Orion said, moving forward to take my hand. Home. That sounded like a real place at last. Not one that just lived in my dreams and fantasies. I really had a place I belonged. And he belonged right there with me.
When he stepped back, gently running his thumb across my neck to heal the wound, Darius looked between us with his jaw tight. 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.
“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’m so into you and the thing I hate most about my life right now is that I’ll never get to meet you.
Father’s gaze shifted to her and something akin to softness entered his gaze. Something I was sure I’d never seen angled at me or my brother.
The bang came again then over and over and Clara’s voice carried to us, making my heart shrivel into a prune. “Yes, Daddy– yes yes yes!”
what the fuck LMFAOOO
“Thank you, Aunt Catalina,” Clara said in a sugary voice and that was it. The nail in the coffin. I’d had enough. I slammed my fist down on the table and Father’s ice cold stare rammed into me. But I wasn’t going to just sit here and allow this to happen. “How dare you insult my mother like that,” I snapped. “She’s your wife.”
I wanted to tear him apart for everything he’d done. To Darius, to Mother, to me. He was a plague on this world and I despised every drop of his blood that ran in my veins.
There were so few moments in my life that had been truly sweet, but there were a few I’d revisited a thousand times. Playing with my brother in the lake on the grounds, laughing with him and Lance as we caught Faeflies out in the woods, the snowball fight with my friends. Real, actual people who knew me, liked me.
Healing magic swept from her body into mine as she rested her face in the crook of my neck, her tears washing over my skin. “No no no no,” she murmured, hugging me tight and I couldn’t manage to move to push her away. “I’m so sorry, so so sorry, Xavier.”
“You know why you’re here, I trust?” “No,” I said, sitting back in my chair and fixing him in my sights. “Who are you?” “I’m an Order Conversion Therapist.” “And what’s that supposed to mean?” I gritted out through my teeth, though I could have taken a wild guess. “Your father has entrusted your secret to me. And I understand the shame you must feel at Emerging as such a low level Order amongst the most powerful family of Dragons in Solaria. I’m here to help.”
I’d always dreamed of flying with my brother. I’d gotten the gift of wings, they just weren’t scaly and golden like his. They were soft, feathery and lilac. And I was okay with that. I just wished everyone else in the world could be.
“Choose your true family,” Gravebone’s voice reached me in the dark. “You’re not a Pegasus.” “I’m not a Pegasus,” I panted as the pain subsided and my thoughts muddled together, making me unsure of myself for a moment. “I’m not one of them.”
He didn’t say anything and neither did I. But as I took off up the path for my run, he started running too.
I headed over to a table in the corner to drop my food off before turning back to get my coffee, but Darius appeared again before I could take a step. My heart leapt as he placed a steaming mug of coffee down on my table, standing close enough for me to catch the mixture of smoke, cedar and sweat on his skin.
I liked Caleb and he was one hell of a lay but after we’d been together that night, all I could think about was Darius.
“Yeah? Well maybe the stars can get fucked then,” he said fiercely, his navy eyes burning. “They might be able to put rings in your eyes, but they don’t get to force you to be miserable.”
“So, what do you expect me to do? Look up at the stars and yell fuck you while flipping them off and burning their bullshit to the ground?”
“Yeah. That’s exactly what I expect.” Caleb offered me a real smile and I couldn’t help but return it. I had to admit, that sounded pretty fucking good to me.
“Bad choice, Tor, Harpies are much faster than Phoenixes,” Gabriel taunted and I didn’t miss the way he’d just decided to start calling me by Darcy’s nickname for me, but I also kinda liked it.
He was the kind of friend who would stand up to my bullshit, bristle in response to my resting bitch face, call me out on my own crap, push me off a roof when I cheated him and have my back to the brutal, bitter end. Ride or die. In short, the best kind of friend there was.
There was something so familiar about his eyes, something that drew me in and made me want to trust him. Made me feel safe.
“You both could have made different choices there. If he’d apologised, if you’d been honest…you would have been together that night. It would have changed so many things.”
“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.”
