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“Are you blushing?” I gasped excitedly and he chewed the inside of his cheek. “No,” he grunted. “I’m just starting to think the present was a stupid idea.” “Maybe I should be the judge of that.” I slipped my hands beneath his jacket, hunting for the box and he raised his arms like I was a cop, smirking as I searched him. I tugged it out when I found it and he dropped his hands, sucking on his lower lip as he waited for me to open it.
I untied the ribbon, flipping off the lid and my breath snagged in my lungs as I found a pale pink crystal inside which glimmered like starlight. “Wow,” I breathed, taking it from the nest of silk. Orion cleared his throat, running a hand down the back of his neck. “It’s rose quartz.” “It’s beautiful.”
“In Solaria we have a tradition of giving rose quartz to someone we want to be exclusive with.” “You do?” I whispered, my heart pounding madly. “Yeah.” He squeezed my hand. “Look, I don’t know what this thing is between us or where it’s going, Blue, but after everything that’s happened, the one thing that’s clear to me is that I don’t want anyone else. So, this crystal is a promise from me that I’m yours. For now. Forever. Or till it all goes to shit, I don’t know which yet.” He smiled hopefully and my heart could have burst with how much this meant to me. I reached up to touch my lips to his.
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Ahh omg i love them so much
“You’re making it really hard to stay mad at you,” I said, pulling away from him. “Why are you mad at me?” He frowned. “Pitball, Lance? Are you screwing with me?”
“Do you like my tiny library?” he asked in a playful voice, and I smiled. “You’re a total geek,” I said, loving that about him
I brushed my fingers over the picture, wondering what had gone so wrong for him that he’d lost that hopeful glimmer in his eyes which said he had the whole world at his feet.
“I was an Airsentry,” Orion spoke at last. “Best damn one in Solaria for a while.” “You look happy,” I said, my voice unexpectedly sad, because deep down, I knew Orion wasn’t truly happy anymore. Something had broken in him since this picture had been taken and it hurt me to know it, knotting up my chest like tangled wire.
The wall in his eyes said he didn’t want to talk about it right now, and I would respect that. But I hoped one day he’d tell me. Because then maybe I could try to find a way to reignite the fire that no longer burned in his heart.
“Don’t be an idiot, Roxy. You need to learn how to keep control of the shadows, or they’ll end up destroying you,” Darius snarled. “Well at least then I’d make you happy for once,” I threw back. His gaze darkened as he looked at me. “You can’t seriously think that?” I shrugged and looked away from him because I didn’t even know anymore. All I did know was that every time I let him get close to me, I got hurt, so it wouldn’t be happening again.
The overriding emotions I felt whenever Darius got close to me was betrayal. And I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why.
“So, I’m…sorry. For being a bitch,” I clarified because I wasn’t sorry for any of the things I felt. “And I’m not going to keep causing arguments.”
“It’s cute that you think you can just switch off your attitude problem,” Darius taunted. “But if you really can play nice then I can too.”
He was an arrogant, entitled, selfish prick and expecting him to take ownership of any of his bullshit was like expecting the moon not to rise because it had offended the sun.
It would be as if there was a Dragon shaped fart in the room and I just had to avoid getting too close to sniff
He glanced between me, and the fart then indicated the floor before moving to take a seat on it.
“Obviously neither of us feel strongly about either of you so we should just do this together.” Orion looked mildly irritated by our decision as he looked between us, but he shrugged finally. “Obviously not,” he said,
Aww no
“You’re the only thing I’ve got that matters to me in this world. If I lost you, I might as well be dead anyway so I’m not arguing.” “Tory…” Darcy replied with a frown. “Don’t say things like that.” “It’s true.” I shrugged. “And it’s not up for debate.”
“I can’t promise you that this isn’t dangerous,” he said, his eyes on Darcy. “But the two of you are the strongest Fae I’ve ever met. Hell, you’re the strongest Fae there is. I believe you can do this. And I swear that if you get into any difficulty with it, I’ll do everything in my power to help you.” “So will I,” Darius added, and my skin tingled at the intensity of that vow.
I looked at him for a long moment, my mind fixing on the various ways he’d humiliated me in his classes, the things he’d said and done which proved his unwavering loyalty to the Heirs and his disapproval of us just because of what we were born to be.
“Roxy,” Darius growled in warning and as my gaze slid to him, the anger in me sharpened. “You need to control yourself.”
“Come to me…” A part of me was starting to think that wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.
My gaze was trained on Darius, and I was falling into the swimming pool again, the ice forming above me as I started to drown. I was on the beach again with his hand locked around my throat and a look in his eyes that said he hated me, and he might just kill me. Maybe I should kill him before he gets the chance. “Stop!” Orion shouted but I barely even heard him.
A flash of pain burned through my chest as I realised I’d almost hurt him. Worse than that, a part of me had hungered for his blood in a way I couldn’t quite understand. But the idea of me doing something like that to him scored a line right through my heart.
“They wanted me to kill you,” I breathed. His lips parted but he didn’t speak for a long moment. “But you didn’t,” he said eventually. “No,” I agreed.
The worst thing of all wasn’t the way the shadows had made me feel or what they’d wanted me to do. It was how much a twisted part of me had liked it. And the aching temptation I felt to wield them again.
Ahh omg what im so excited
“Glitterdragon
Aww
I hadn’t done anything wrong so far as I could remember, but if Father wanted me punished, he’d find a reason.
“Is there something I can help you with, Father?” I asked, working hard to keep my voice from shaking. I hated being afraid of him. And I hated myself for not being stronger. For being unable to fight back.
“Your Aunt Stella will be coming for dinner tonight,” he said. “Have you practised what she taught you?” I nodded quickly, lifting a palm and urging the shadows to the surface of my skin.
WHAT. He better not die
“You waste your life on that piece of trash.” He jerked his chin at the Xbox, which was my only companion, my only contact to the rest of the world. Even if I was anonymous and the online friends I’d gathered could never step into my life for real. Father hooked it off of the unit beneath the TV, so it hit the floor with a thud. “Father-” I squirmed, my mouth bone dry, my heart squeezing like it was in a vice. He stomped his foot right through the centre of it and the strength went out of my body. Looks like I’m gonna be AFK for eternity now. Fuck my life.
If I shift, he won’t stop until he’s broken bones.
By the sun, he’s going to kill me.
His fist swung at my jaw so fast I hit the floor before the pain found me, ricocheting through my cheekbone. His boot slammed into my gut next. I was pinned between him and the end of my bed, every kick driving me into the wooden panel behind me. I protected my head with my hands, curling in on myself instinctively while I waited for it to stop and endured every spike of pain he delivered me. “You worthless – pointless - embarrassment to our family,” he snarled a word with every kick until I coughed blood onto his expensive shoes.
Mother would come to heal me within the hour. Like always. She’d float in, humming softly, brushing her fingers through my hair while tending to my wounds. Like it was totally normal.
Guilt clawed through my chest at the thought of that night. I was the leash that bound my brother to Father and kept him in check. Without me, Darius would be free.
“We could run,” I breathed. “Fetch Darius and go.”
If he was home, there was a ninety percent chance of a beating these days. Whereas before it had been more like fifty.
Darius: I’m coming home tonight. I’ve been invited to funsville. See you soon. Relief swept through me in torrents. The only thing that made anything better in this house was Darius coming home. Though even better than that was if he was bringing his ‘friend’ Tory Vega with him. Bullshit was he not obsessed with her. I knew my brother better than anyone. And though I got why him dating one of the Vega Twins was waaay off limits in this family, I still hoped he plucked up the nerve to rebel against Father. Because he deserved a bit of happiness, even if it couldn’t last forever. Xavier: Yes!
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I needed this. My Order was meant to have companions. We were one of the most sociable Orders next to Werewolves and it wasn’t just a desire, it was a damn necessity.
Like the fact that I could only go outside when supervised, that I couldn’t leave the grounds at all, that even leaving my room for a piss felt like taking my life into my own hands sometimes.
She answered all of my burning questions about my Order, and it felt so incredibly good to talk to someone about it who didn’t judge me for it.
Im so happy for him
Not unless I stole some stardust from Father’s office. And as that idea occurred to me, the thought was so tantalising I almost got up to try my luck. But fear still kept me in place. If he beat me for sparkling, he might just kill me for stealing from him. Better plan: Darius has his own supply of stardust. So maybe he’ll give me some. I’d just have to wait until Father was at work in the city then slip away to Zodiac Academy for a few hours. Yeah, and show your face to Sofia and give the game away. Shit. I was all out of possibilities. The stars rarely shone on me these days. Sometimes I
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Father only ever served water or wine at the table, and I hated both.
You hate water???
When he was away at work, I could guzzle lemonade all day long and I was hankering for my fix before I had to endure the dinner from hell.
Fair enough lemonade is probs my 2nd or 3rd fav drink (gatorade would be the other)
“-have any more insight than I do, Alejandro?” Stella whispered. “All I can gauge is that this Shadow Princess is drawing closer.”
“The shadows only provide the information they want to give,” Alejandro said in a calm tone which somehow carried a dangerous edge at the same time. “But she is coming.” “And who is she?” Stella demanded, her voice rising an octave.
Shitballs, I’d have been caught if it wasn’t for his bat ears.
“We missed you,” she said in an empty voice. “I missed you too, Mother,” Darius said in an equally hollow tone.
“How’s Tory Vega?” I whispered in his ear, serving me a thump on the shoulder.
