Cursed Fates (Zodiac Academy, #5)

by Caroline Peckham

I dropped the blade I’d created suddenly as something brushed up against my skin, calling me back out of the dark with a promise of safety unlike anything I’d ever really known.

My pyjamas consisted of a pair of black panties and the mortifying reality that was Darius Acrux’s old T-shirt.

“Darius?” I breathed and the magic flared as if in surprise, but no answer came to me. My heart pounded with an ache so pure that it burned me right down to the depths of my soul. I leaned forward until my forehead pressed against the wood, exhaling deeply as I dropped the walls surrounding my own power.

Another tear tracked along my skin as I backed into my room again. The space inside felt colder than before. And I doubted I’d find sleep again. But I had found the strength to resist the shadows once more.

At the time, I’d thought she meant my sister. And I’d vowed to always be her guardian from that day, because out of everyone in the world, I never wanted to cause trouble with her.

She said I’d make a fine husband one day too, but I didn’t want to be a husband, I wanted to be a Vampire. I wanted to run as fast as Mom and Dad and carry Clara on my back like a monkey.

“Would you come for us if we were captured by a hundred Nymphs?” I asked. “Absolutely, Lancelot,” he promised, ruffling my hair. He always called me that. He said it was a knight from a mortal story and it suited me because I was brave like him.

“Because I love you and your sister. And that’s what you do for the people you love,” he explained and I nodded, my heart swelling. Because I understood that. I’d take on a million Nymphs for her and my parents too. But I was definitely going to need a real sword.

Property of Azriel Orion.

“Let’s just run off together into the sunset,” Darius joked. “We can forget all about the Vegas and buy a house in Starshine Bay.” “We can have two kids. Boys obviously. Girls are trouble,” I played along and he released a chuckle as we stepped apart.

“I hate the days I don’t get to wake up with you,” he said, his voice rough from sleep. “For a second I thought it was one of those days.”

“One day soon, I’m going to shrink you down into a pixie-sized Fae and put you in a jar that I can keep in my pocket.” I smacked his shoulder and he growled in amusement. “Maybe I’ll shrink you into a tiny little Vampire who can suck on my thumb while I go about my life kicking ass.”

“You know what’s a shame? Tory loves those little chocolate wafers in the dessert section at lunchtime. She especially likes them with her coffee, but they don’t provide them at breakfast.” His eyes brightened and his lips hooked up into a grin. “That is a shame.” “Imagine if you were a big ass Dragon who everyone listened to all the time? Even the kitchen staff...” “Imagine,” he agreed with a snort of laughter.

Was that the right thing to do? The stars did say I couldn’t make a wrong move today. So I guessed it had to be.

“Can I have a word?” I asked, pleased to find my voice steady even if the rest of me was shaking a little. “Leave,” Darius barked and every single one of the group surrounding us leapt to their feet and disappeared.

“Anyway… I didn’t actually seek you out for this. I was wondering if I could borrow some stardust?” “No,” Darius replied instantly and I bristled. “Okay then, I’ll just drive. Thanks a lot.” I got to my feet, but he was suddenly in my face. “It’s not safe for you to leave campus, Roxy,” he growled. “You know that.” “There’s something I need to do tonight,” I replied just as firmly. “And I’ll be doing it with or without your help.” “Then I’ll come with you,” he demanded.

It broke my heart to watch them. Xavier seemed so uncomfortable in his mother’s arms and yet so relieved to be there all at once. Like he didn’t know what to do with that kind of affection. But he craved it all the same.

“Tell him I came here and spoke with you about Darius. Tell him I made some excuse to get you to leave the room and by the time you came back I’d done this. Put all the blame on me. I mean that.”

Darius was staring at me like he didn’t know whether to kill me or kiss me and as my gaze fell on his mouth, I found myself aching for the latter. Fuck the stars.

Darius hesitated right beside us and reached out to run his fingers along the side of my face. “You were right you know,” he breathed as if the others weren’t surrounding us and as I looked into his eyes, it almost felt like they weren’t. “I’m not good enough for you.”

I snagged my Atlas from the nightstand and forwarded the photograph I’d taken of Xavier and Catalina flying together in their Order forms to Darius. He deserved to see evidence of his mother’s love after all of these years and the knowledge that they’d all been denied that bond for so long made my heart ache for them.

Darius: Thank you, Roxy. This means more to me than words can convey.

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 needed a herd, a group, a family. And I loved that they were offering me that, even if just for one day.

“I was looking at that sparkly neck salivating, Xavier. You’d better get ready to defend yourself at Zodiac.” “I’ll eat anyone who touches him,” Darius commented, leaning back on a boulder with a smirk.

“I really hope I’m going to predict that I’m about to be sent back to bed for rest of the morning.” She flipped over the top card of her deck and The Fool stared up at her. “Dick,” she muttered and I laughed as she tossed the cards back into her bag.

I dreamed that I was on a beach, running out towards the water, but it kept getting further and further away. Then the ground became boggy and I was sinking and couldn’t turn back. The water finally stopped moving away and the tide came crashing over me in a wave. “That sounds like a nightmare,” I commented, searching my guide for the word beach. “It was,” she muttered.

“You could sit with us but use a silencing bubble to keep it private if you wanted, or-” “I can lip read though. Just so you know,” Seth put in and I snorted a laugh.

“Oh you want me to go deep, do you, Cal?” Seth teased, raising his eyebrows at me suggestively and I rolled my eyes at him as a prickle raced along my skin. “Stop flirting with me, asshole,” I joked, shoving him so that he almost fell out of my lap. “Stop smiling so much when I do then,” he replied, giving me a dirty grin as he settled himself back in over my crotch.

“Fuck,” I exclaimed as his teeth sank into a vein, my breathing quickening as he immobilised my magic. He wrapped an arm around me and in a burst of speed, carried me to the oak tree and slammed me back against it, his fangs sinking deeper into my neck.

He had morning stubble and bed hair. It was my favourite look on him. Effortlessly fucking gorgeous. It was a serious shame he was straight. Well, at least when he was sober.

I caught it out of the air, looking down at the greyish rock in my hand. My jaw dropped as I felt the hum of power emanating from it. The call of the celestial being it belonged to. This stuff was rare. Rarer than a diamond growing on a Heptian Toad’s ass. “Moon rock?” I gasped.

Caleb nodded then reached into his pocket again and took out a silver ticket that glittered in the morning light. He held it out to me and I couldn’t even lift my hand to take it as I met his gaze. “No way,” I breathed, eyeing the words printed across it. My heart stopped. Actually ceased to fucking beat. “Way,” he laughed. “No fucking way!” I pointed an accusing finger. “I swear to the stars, Caleb Altair, if you’re screwing with me-” He slapped the ticket into my palm. “I bought over three hundred thousand lottery tickets,” he said with a simple shrug like it meant nothing. “In fact, I’ve been buying that many every year since you lamented on your sixteenth birthday that you’ll never get to stick your dick in a moon crater. Figured it had to pay off eventually.” “You did this for me?” I choked out the words and he shrugged again. “The moon’s your favourite thing in the world, man. And I never know what to buy you.”

If I was going to visit the moon, then I was going to make her proud of me first. So I needed to talk to Darcy Vega.

“Please.” I gave her my big wolfy eyes and she didn’t even melt. Not even a little bit. And that was just unheard of. “It’s my birthday.” Totally pulled the birthday card. And I was not ashamed. She rolled her eyes then folded her arms. “What is it?” Winning.

On occasion, the way the stars chose to part us was hella funny.

If the stars have stolen sex from me then is life even worth living??

“You’re thinking about Darius, aren’t you?” he asked with a weird smile which said he was pleased about that.

“But why do you want to tie me up?” I asked with a faint smile. The vine was tight enough to hold me in place, but I was fairly sure I’d be able to break it if I really wanted to. “That’s just the start.” Caleb smirked at me as he reached up to his neck and slowly loosened his tie.

“If at any point you want us to stop, just say the word,” Caleb murmured in my ear, his lips brushing against the shell.

“Come on, Roxy,” Darius whispered in my ear and a shiver ran down my spine as my guess was proved right. “Show us what you’re made of.”

GAGHHEHEDHDBBD

But maybe I was a glutton for punishment or maybe I was addicted to the darkness because if there was even the slightest chance that I could have him, then I wanted it.

A kiss captured my mouth and I stumbled forward a step, recognising Caleb as his hand caught my jaw and he turned my head to the right so that he could reach me better. Darius growled like he didn’t like that and his mouth landed on my neck, his stubble grazing my skin and I moaned as the two of them caged me in with their muscular bodies.

“You’re so fucking beautiful, Roxy,” Darius growled from somewhere just out of reach in front of me, watching me while I couldn’t see him. Goosebumps speckled my skin as Caleb’s hands slid around my waist, his mouth coming down on my neck.

He bit down and I cried out at the sharp slice of his teeth but Darius’s lips landed on mine a second later, filling me with heat and devouring my pain. I melted against him, my heart hammering a wild tune as the heat of him slid through every inch of my body.

“Impatient little thing, aren’t you?” Caleb teased, breathing against my ear before biting my earlobe playfully.

Darius ran his tongue up the centre of me again just as Caleb pushed two fingers inside me and my back arched as I was overwhelmed by the two of them working together to destroy me.

Darius growled possessively again and the sound of it turned me on so much that heat flooded through my whole body. His fingers were digging into my flesh as he drew me closer to him, demanding more of me, all of me. And I needed more of this. More of him.

He shifted to grip my ass, holding my weight as Darius positioned himself between my thighs. I moaned in anticipation, needing to feel the fullness of him inside me like I was drowning and he was air. Caleb ran his tongue down the length of my neck as the two of them held me in suspense and I arched my back, demanding more.

Caleb’s chest was pressed against my back, his breaths coming quickly as he got off on watching us fucking right in front of him. But it wasn’t enough, I reached behind me, gripping the hard length of his dick in my hand and matching Darius’s thrusts with my movements along the length of his shaft. Caleb groaned in my ear, kissing my neck as he slid his hands around the front of me, one teasing my breast while the other circled that perfect spot at the apex of my thighs as Darius started to move faster. “Holy shit,” I cursed as the two of them started to build a flood of energy in my body which was so intense it had my head spinning.