Shadow Princess (Zodiac Academy, #4)

by Caroline Peckham

“Very nice, Tory, I can see your inner pep shining through already,” he called. I scowled and flipped him off. He barked a laugh. “Five points from Ignis. And you’d better start cheering if you don’t want to lose more.” “You’re a fucking sadist,” I muttered as I turned my attention back to the cheer squad and his laughter followed me.

“You should probably be on the bottom tier, Tory,” she said sweetly. “So we can make use of your brawny arms.”

Is that meant to be an insult bitch?

“No thanks, hun,” I said sweetly. “There’s only one thing I ever get on my knees for.” I pushed my tongue into my cheek tauntingly and she practically spat a fireball at me.

“So, are you gonna give it a try or are you too chicken shit?” she challenged. I barked a laugh, smirking at Bernice as I stepped back, calling air magic into my palms. Perhaps this whole cheerleading thing wouldn’t be entirely horrific with her on the squad. “I’m not afraid,” I said confidently. “I’m just not sure how to do it. I feel like imitating Kylie would be a mistake.”

Kylie glared at me like I’d just used her bleached blonde hair for toilet paper.

“She doesn’t seem to be doing too badly to me,” Orion’s voice came from behind me, and I turned to find him approaching with Marguerite at his side. “Cheering isn’t just about using flashy magic,” Marguerite snapped. “It’s about school spirit, teamwork and being cheerful. She doesn’t fit.”

All the other cheerleaders had painted cute little slogans or names onto their arms and cheeks. Most of them had opted for the Heirs’ surnames or initials but I was about as likely to start doing that as I was to change my name to Dorothy and fly on home to Kansas.

I’d scrawled bite me across my ass cheeks where they hung out beneath the tiny pair of shorts which somehow counted as a uniform for this ridiculous sport.

“Hey,” he replied with that smug as fuck grin that I kinda loved. Not that I’d ever tell him, but his overconfident bullshit was a pretty big turn on.

“Max! Max! His hair’s so shiny. It’s just a shame his dick’s so tiny!” Caleb barked a laugh and Max pursed his lips, cupping his junk. “I can easily prove that bullshit false.” “No need,” I replied. “Geraldine told me all about it.” I held my thumb and forefinger close together and offered him a smile. Max narrowed his eyes on me then turned sharply. “Grus!” he yelled, drawing a look from Geraldine just as she bent over in a stretch. She eyed Max while folded in half, looking through her legs with her ass in the air. “I’m currently engaged in a cool down routine and don’t have time for chats with floppy flounders,” she called back.

I love her so much omg. Shes quicky becoming my fav

I turned to Caleb like the fart hadn’t spoken.

“Good try-out?” I teased as we headed into the girls’ locker room. “Surprisingly yeah. I made the team as a Pit Keeper!” Darcy announced, her eyes glowing with excitement. “No way!” I gasped. “Way. But I’m wondering how long that’ll last because I’m aching in places I didn’t know I had and I think my legs will fall off if I have to do those sprints every session,” Darcy groaned before offering me a sidelong smile. “You look…peppy.” “Yeah,” I agreed as I grabbed my bag and headed for a shower. “I owe Orion for this little slice of hell.”

“Caleb’s taking me out. Hopefully for food because I’m starved,” I supplied. “I thought you were just hooking up?” she asked. “Because this kinda seems like a date. Which after the carnival makes two…”

“Not a date. Just a…pre-hook-up adventure.” “Riiight.”

“Well, I’ve got a date with my pillow. Pitball is insane and I’m knackered.”

And of course I was joking. Mostly. I wasn’t going to steal Darius Acrux’s bike. Probably. At least not while one of his besties was here.

“Buckle up,” he encouraged as the doors fell closed and he started the engine which purred like a hungry beast beneath us. “No,” I replied simply, ignoring the seatbelt as I made myself comfortable by sliding the window open. Caleb eyed me curiously but didn’t ask. And I was hardly going to offer up details of the night I almost drowned as a fun topic of conversation so we both just left it alone.

I gave up on trying to find something good to listen to, realising our tastes in music were a bit too far from each other’s for me to find a middle ground easily.

his bald head reddening.

Does that actually happen

“Karaoke?” I asked in horror, looking at Caleb like I was begging him to make it not true. He laughed and leaned forward. “You really hate it that much?” he asked. “Fuck, Caleb, this is like…I don’t even have words for it. It’s like my worst nightmare come to life. Sorry to be a total fucking downer but can we just go somewhere else?” “Seriously?” he asked with a frown, glancing down at the stage with a smile. “It’s just a bit of fun, Tory.” I pulled a face. “Not my kind of fun.” “You just need to give it a chance. Once you’ve had a few drinks you’ll be belting out Mariah Carey like no one’s business.”

Shes annoying me so bad. I want darcys pov back

“What the hell is this?” I asked in disgust. “Sushi,” Caleb said with a frown. “I got you the chef’s special. It’s all freshly caught today and-” “You know I don’t eat animals, right?” I asked, picking up a chopstick and poking at something bright pink. It wobbled. I almost puked in my mouth. “Not even fish?” “No,” I replied. “And especially not raw fucking fish.” I shuddered again, dropping the chopstick in disgust.

Girl youre being a pain. Also i hate him too so leave if you must

Why the hell had he ordered for me instead of asking what I might actually like?

The hostess hurried to replace my wet fish with wet vegetables, and I tried not to sneer at the fresh meal.

Hell. I was in hell.

“Look, dude. You don’t really know me, and I don’t really know you. I’m not into fancy, slimy food and listening to people sing live. I’m guessing you’re not into a lot of the things I like. It doesn’t really matter though, does it?” He was the one who’d told me he didn’t want any kind of future with me anyway. I wasn’t sure why he looked so disappointed. “I guess not,” he replied, twirling his chopsticks between his fingers. “Do you wanna ditch this place then?” “Please,” I replied with the first genuine smile I’d given him since we’d walked through the doors to this disaster zone.

“What now then?” Caleb asked. “Do you have any speedway tracks around here? Or motocross arenas?” I suggested. Caleb arched an eyebrow at me and shrugged. “Maybe…I mean I could find out. Darius would probably know…” “Maybe just scrap that idea,” I interrupted. He was clearly about as into bikes as I was karaoke, and the stars only knew where the hell we’d end up if he got advice from Darius about it.

“There’s a stand-up club not too far away,” Caleb suggested. “That kinda causes me the same issues I get with live music,” I replied. “Paintball?” “At night? In these jeans?” His brow creased and I could tell he hated that idea. “Never mind. Shall we just go drinking instead? And maybe I can find a burrito truck on the way?” “You’ll eat food prepared in a van but not delicacies made in a five-star restaurant?” Caleb asked with a smirk. “Well, we aren’t all pretentious assholes,” I teased. “And most of the best foods are prepared in vans.”

“Whatever. Let’s just agree to disagree,” I said with a shrug. “About everything, apparently,” he replied with a frown. I smirked at him. “Why are you pouting, Caleb?” “I’m not. I just wanted to have a fun evening with you and it’s not really going to plan…” “Well then why don’t we just call time on this fiasco? You find me a burrito, I’ll give you a blowjob and we’re all good,” I suggested. “Seriously?” he asked, perking up at that. “About the burrito? Hell yes. The blowjob? You just took me on what was arguably the worst date of my life. And I once went out with a guy who took me to a bridge over a ravine filled with junk so that we could ‘look at the view’ and he could do a drug deal. So, I’m thinking no.”

“Like I said, you don’t really know anything about me. Do you?” “Apparently not.”

I tapped on Orion’s bedroom window with adrenaline spiking through my body. I couldn’t stop grinning when he pulled the curtain back then smothered a laugh as his eyes widened frantically. He pushed the window up, reaching out and snatching me inside with his Vampire speed.

Meeting with him was always reckless.

Worth it

I’d been going mad in my room thinking about him. Seeing him around school made my fingers itch for him, my soul burn for him. It was torture being so close while being unable to bridge the gap between us.

All of this pretending not to be together drove me insane. But I wondered if it was the thrill of this game we were playing that had me so hooked on him, or if it was something more than that. All I knew for sure was when I was with him, it felt like the stars were singing our names.

“Yoohoo!” Washer’s voice carried from somewhere, and I leapt up so fast I nearly headbutted Orion in the face. He lurched backwards then hurried to the bedroom door, tugging it open a crack. “I can sense you in there, Lance. Mmm, a lot of lustiness on the breeze. Have you got company?” “He’s talking through the fucking mail slot,” Orion snapped, and my heart beat unsteadily for a moment before I remembered we had a silencing bubble in place. “My power reserves are low, and I can always bring a sweetener. A bottle of your finest bourbon, hm Lancey? Let me in, don’t be a prude.”

It was pretty obvious Orion and Fran had slept together but the idea of them being in this actual bed suddenly made me stand up.

“There must be room for a little one,” Washer implored. “Just a teeny weeny.” “Ew, ew, ew,” I breathed and Orion threw me an apologetic look.

He’d gotten one thing right. My lust was gone. Gone, gone, gone. And I couldn’t see it coming back any time soon. From the look on Orion’s face, he felt the exact same way.

“Yeah, ten shots of tequila to burn that moment from my memory please,” I said, and he broke a grin. “You got off lightly. One time, he stuck his teeny weeny through that mail slot.” “No,” I gasped. “Yeah, it only took a new door and ten counselling sessions to stop the nightmares though.”

I ran my fingers across the back of the couch, recalling the last time I’d come here. It seemed like a dream. It was one of the happiest moments in my life and I often used it to push away the shadows when I felt them drawing in.

As we definitely weren’t going to jump on each other any time soon, I figured now was a good time to actually talk for once. I mean, we had so little time together that when we were alone my first instinct was to rip his clothes off. Sure, we talked afterwards but could we manage it now? Like a normal couple.

Yeah, a Solarian Princess fucking her Vampire teacher who is firmly team H...

“She wants me to go to her.” I shrugged. “I don’t know why that voice in particular is so clear.”

If i was writing this book i would have orion not know who the voice is for ages and then darcy does like the illusion of the voice for him like the guys did and he realises its his sisters voice

“How many laws do you break in a day?” I teased and he smirked, taking hold of my ankle and tugging so I laid my leg over his knees. “Maybe I’m attracted to trouble.” His fingers brushed against my calf and even the memory of Washer couldn’t stop the electric energy that sparked along my skin in response.

as worry spun a web inside me.

I like that

“We used to collect bones together. He only ever wanted them from fire Elementals. And one day he decided to try and draw all of their magic into his body at once.” He paused for a second. “I was there when it happened. The fire consumed him, devouring his body so fast I didn’t even have a chance to say goodbye. All that remained of him was ash and bone.”

my heart slicing to ribbons.

I like this as well

“I know he has his flaws, but I swear he’s not like Lionel. He regrets what he did to Tory even if he’ll never admit it.”

“Why are you telling me all of this? I mean…we don’t exactly talk about it, Lance, but aren’t I Darius’s enemy? Doesn’t that make me yours too?” He reached out to take my hand. “I trust you instinctively, Blue. Since the first day we met, the stars have reeled you towards me and me towards you. Don’t you feel it?” I nodded, unable to drag my eyes from his as I was pulled into their glittering depths. “But why?” His mouth twitched at the corner, and he broke my gaze again. “There’s only one reason that makes sense to me, but I could be wrong. Maybe I fear I’m wrong too.” “What?” I pressed.

Mates? Please please please

“I think the stars picked you for me, Blue. I think you’re my Elysian Mate.”

AHHHHH OMG YES YES YES

He released a breath, opening his eyes which were curtained by shadows. “Clara,” he croaked. “My sister.” The grief in his expression tore me apart