Shadow Princess (Zodiac Academy, #4)

by Caroline Peckham

“And she doesn’t really strike me as the type to enjoy applauding idiots for making fools of themselves. Or as the kind of girl who would like getting up on stage and enjoy being gawked at while she did her best rendition of some power ballad.” Darius looked mildly disgusted by the fact that Caleb had even taken her there at all and I had to admit it didn’t exactly seem like the best choice of venue. “Well, she likes having fun,” Caleb replied defensively. “You know, pushing limits and stuff, so I thought I’d try pushing her out of her comfort zone.” “That’s so far out of her comfort zone that I’d imagine she didn’t even stay for an hour,” Darius mocked.

YUPPPPP

“I’d take her over to Clearmont Park on the west side of town,” he replied. “You think she’d want to go for a walk in the park?” Caleb scoffed. “No. I’d take her there because they’ve got the best burrito truck in town parked up by the main gates every Saturday night and she practically has an orgasm every time she eats Mexican food.”

This is too good

Darius seemed in two minds over replying but eventually he did. “After we ate, I’d take her to the Everland Street parking lot just as it was getting dark.” “You think she’d want to hook up with you in a parking lot because you bought her a burrito from a restaurant on wheels?” Caleb laughed. “No. Every Saturday there’s a bike meet in that lot. And street races to win bikes. So I’d take her to that and after she’d beat every fucker there and won their bikes from them, I’d take her to Blue Lake,” Darius added. “Why? That bar isn’t even on the west side,” Caleb pointed out. “I know. But they stock fifty different types of tequila and have over a hundred tequila cocktails on the menu. Plus, they play good music, and she loves dancing.”

He is clocking him so hard rn

and I only felt honesty coming from him, making me actually believe that. Which was worrying in its own way because that meant he’d been paying enough attention to Tory Vega to figure out all that stuff about her and know it so well he didn’t even have to think about the answer before it sprang from his lips.

Mhmm

Darius stilled, his eyes dropping to his hands as he considered his answer. “I think she’s hot, but she annoys the fuck out of me too,” he said dismissively but I didn’t miss the tension in his posture. “Besides, even if she didn’t and even if I hadn’t done all of the shit I’ve done to her and she didn’t hate me about as much as it was physically possible to hate a man, what can I offer her?”

Aw :/

I raised an eyebrow at that because it sounded suspiciously like Darius was trying to protect the Vegas by tormenting them instead of his motivations being about maintaining his own power.

Ugh omg dari baby

time. In the grand scheme of things, my misery isn’t relevant.”

Aww man this is sad

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me, Max, I’ve never…I can’t stop thinking about her and wanting her and hating her all at once.”

“We’re the strongest pack Solaria has ever seen. The most powerful alphas of our generation all bound together through love and brotherhood.”

I just laughed so hard at this

“First,” I said. “We need the Vegas out of the way. They’re distracting us from bigger issues. I say we go ahead with our plans to destroy them once and for all at Halloween. Once their reputations are destroyed and their confidence is battered, we won’t have to worry about them anymore. They’ll know their place and stick to it rather than cross us again.”

Halloween??? I thought it's been a whole semester already

“Fine,” he said eventually, though I didn’t miss the flicker of heartache the word cost him. “Let’s just get it over with. The Vegas have had enough chances to bow willingly.”

Bro I'm genuinly so fucking sick of this storyline can we please do something else bc this shit is getting old let's do something progressive

“Watch her. If it goes too far, give her the antidote.” “Darius has it.” “Well go get it from him,” I insisted, my heart pounding overly hard. Are we going too far with this shit?

oh im nervous

“What? No, I can’t talk to you…you’re not real.” She scrunched up her eyes and shook her head. “No. Go away, go away.”

Ohh and tory is gonna be a sex addict i see

“Shoo, birdy.” Darcy wafted thin air with her hands, knocking her water bottle over. “All these birds just need to go somewhere they can fly free, it’s not safe in a place like this.” She shook her head again, lost to the potion.

Oh this is a hard read

I glanced over at Tory, finding her grinding against Milton Hubert before reaching for his friend too and guiding his hands around her with a moan. The two guys moved closer to her in excitement as she rubbed herself against them. The potion would make skin to skin contact feel fucking orgasmic and she was probably too drunk already to question it. My throat thickened. She was meant to make a scene, not actually fuck anyone. If things went too far, someone was gonna have to swoop in with the antidote.

Ohh this is a hard read can i skip forward

A growl spilled from my lips as I stalked through the crowd of writhing bodies with my gaze firmly set on Roxy Vega. Heat coiled from my skin, hot enough to make everyone flinch away from me as my fire magic begged me to release some of this anger from my flesh. But I didn’t have anywhere to aim it. Because the reason for my rage sat firmly on my shoulders. I’d chosen to go along with this. I’d made yet another strike against her, even though I was beginning to feel like these attacks wounded me more than her.

Okay sadist

“This party’s getting old. You wanna head back to your dorm? I can walk you,” I offered, wondering if she was about to tell me to fuck off. Or if I’d have to toss her over my shoulder and drag her back there against her will. Either way, I was more than done with letting the assholes at this party gawp at her and I needed to be sure she was safe.

Safe from what you did to her???

In the next heartbeat I realised why she was though as her wings burst from her back, punching holes into her dress as red and blue flames licked along the feathers and she flexed them to their full width. She stopped the transformation into her Order form there and

So what does a full transformation look like

“I came because all I want is to be free. And fear shackles you just as easily as chains if you let it. So do your worst…or don’t. I can’t control what you choose to do, but I can choose what I do.”

Okay wait she's cooking

I’d never hungered for someone like I did for her. And it wasn’t just the way she looked. Every time she bit at me or fought back against me, the beast inside me raised its head. She was more than just some girl who posed us a threat. She was a real challenge, unafraid of me no matter what I threw at her and capable of matching or even besting me in every way. I’d never met a girl like her before. She was my equal. She had no interest in my power or my name so every piece of attention she threw my way was earned by me. She actually cared about who I was over what I was. And even though she hated what she found most of the time, she still saw me. And the idea of that was as exhilarating as it was terrifying.

I turned away from her, taking a few steps to make sure I had enough room before drawing the Dragon free of my flesh.

My prediction is that the councillors slash lionel summoned the nymphs on purpose at thd pitball pitch so people and the heirs would have more reason to keep them in power. That was a random thought in this moment but still

I wasn’t even sure if I’d be able to sleep. Because I knew that in the morning this peace would be shattered. And once again, I only had myself to blame.

Yeah bitch

I spotted his Atlas laying on his nightstand and touched the screen to illuminate it. My lips parted in shock as I saw it was almost eleven am. I hadn’t woken in a cold sweat, I hadn’t started screaming so loud the guy in the next room had to come pounding on my door to shut me up. Hell, I couldn’t actually remember hearing the call of the shadows at all during the night. And I’d slept for at least ten hours. I hadn’t managed more than four in a row since the night of the Eclipse.

Maybe you should sleep with him every night awww like peeta and katniss

I read the names of the charities he’d given money to with interest. True You Centre for Fae with Order Disassociation One Stop Women’s and Children’s Shelter The Pegasus Herd Relocation Association Re-life Fund for New Identities for Fae Escaping Power Abusive Homes

Aww

“You probably should have put out if you wanted to wear me out enough to get away with this shit,” he said coldly, his grip on my arm tightening painfully as that statement sent a dagger of ice into my chest. For a moment I could only stare at him, wondering how fucked up his life must be if he seriously thought the only reason someone might have wanted to spend time with him would be to get something out of it.

Great one step forward two steps back

I sent her back a quick message to say I was having a shower and she replied to say she’d have lunch waiting for me.

Who tf says im having a shower

“C’mon,” I demanded. “Let’s go kick the shit out of them!” “I don’t see what starting a fight will achieve,” Darcy said vaguely, her gaze darting to the Heirs and back. “The story is already out so…”

Yes PLEASE take the high road nothing will piss them off more than seeing how this doesn't effect you

They were mad as all hell, but I was as fast as lightning with the wind I was casting behind me and if they wanted to punish me for what I’d just done, they were going to have to catch me.

FUCK YEAH FUCK THEM

“Go and hunt in Water Territory and check back at her room in Ignis house if you don’t find her there,” Darius growled. “And if you do find her, hold her until I get there. This is personal.”

Okay seriously she destroyed ONE of your bikes but you destroyed HER. ONLY her. How is this the same?????

Though in that moment, the fire in my veins said that maybe I did like it. I was sick of him pushing me around and treating me like shit. It was time for me to stand and face him like Fae. And if he knocked me on my ass then that was fine. Because I’d just get right back up and come at him again. And again. Until he was the one staring up at me from the dirt.

HELL YEAH

“Are you looking for me?” I asked innocently as he whirled around to face me.

I know tory annoys me a lot but the feminist in me needs her to fuck em up

I glared at him, raising my chin defiantly, daring him to do his worst as he reached out and snatched a handful of my hair into his grasp, tugging on it hard enough to tilt my head back. A gasp of pain parted my lips and his mouth collided with mine a moment later as my heart leapt at the unexpected turn of this argument.

Oh i did not expect that

The second I was free of him, I swung my right hand at him, slapping him square across his jaw as rage ate me alive.

Clock it

He was still all the things I hated about him, but he was also my own personal brand of hell. And I’d been sinning for a long time, waiting for him to punish me.

Ew what

Darius Acrux was probably the most pig headed, arrogant, infuriating man I’d ever met. But he was fucking mind blowing in the sack.

That's what you have to say after that??

“She looked me dead in the eye and said it,” he growled, anger rising in him so fast that I wasn’t sure what to say. “I hate her more now than I did before I fucked her.”

Oh my fucking god how many times are we gonna do this

“Do you have any idea how much I want her? How much it feels like I need her sometimes? It’s like she’s burrowed her way beneath my flesh and taken root in the depths of my soul. I hunger for her and ache for her and for the briefest moment, it felt like maybe she felt the same. Like all the anger and hatred between us had just been covering up everything else we desired. Like just maybe I could have something good like that, something pure and honest and just…mine.”

Dude why are you telling this fucker??? Go tell her that man

“Wake up, Darius!” I barked. “If you get over this bullshit hatred you think you feel for her, you’ll realise she’s not only perfect for you, but her and her sister are the best fucking solution to your father we’ve ever had.”

Literally omg

“Things change, Darius,” I growled. “We never could have guessed that they’d hold the power they do, the strength of character, they’re Phoenixes for the stars’ sake! They will rise to power whether you agree to it or not! I’m only suggesting that you consider allowing it to happen united rather than waiting to find out which of you will end up crushing the others!”

Finally someone is thinking clearly

Loving her felt like a promise of a future. And I couldn’t give her that promise.

“El puente de las estrellas,”

The bridge of the stars

Orion’s eyes glimmered with that thought. “Well whether the stars want me to have her or not, Blue, I will bend them to my will and build a bridge out of them to bring her back. On New Year’s Eve, Clara will come home.”

Okay but building a bridge between realms would always anything to crossover, no? This sounds like a bad idea....

The shadows inside me recoiled as my Phoenix blossomed and every inch of my flesh burned with it. But it didn’t hurt, it woke me up and through the flames dancing before my eyes, the girl’s face shifted, peeling back to reveal razor sharp teeth and eyes as black as pitch. I gasped in fright and tried to snatch my hand back away from her. “Save me!” she demanded forcefully. I shook my head in fierce denial, gasping as my flames roared with life beneath my flesh. Her grip tightened, her fingernails lengthening and cutting into my wrist as she tried to pull me over the edge.

that is NOT Clara

In fact, I had gotten the distinct impression he’d lost interest in me now that he’d gotten what he wanted, and that was fine.

Lord knows how much i hate a miscommunication/lost in translation trope

“Is that really all you think you are to him?” Orion asked sadly and I bristled at the implication that I was somehow missing something here.

God you have the thickest skull literally ever

“We’ll help her then,” I said firmly, banishing my own doubts. Because I couldn’t even imagine the pain of losing a sibling and if there was even the slightest chance that I could help him get her back then I’d do it. No matter what.

Well good to know your personality is salvageable

The darkness called to me with the promise of oblivion and for the first time, I found myself truly tempted to give in to its call.

No bby ur too sexy to be depressed and overtaken by shadows

Brian Washer: Now, now, Corbin, I don’t see what all the fuss is about. We’re just two adults who had a little mishap. Nothing to be embarrassed about. How’s that glute of yours feeling now? Nice and supple?

This isn't funny it's just disgusting

“You sure you don’t want this to end in sex?” Seth teased as I continued to watch him. For a moment I was reminded of the time he’d kissed me in the Shimmering Springs last year. We’d both been drunk as fuck and had been starting up on a three way with a girl from his pack, but for some reason she’d left and the next thing I knew, his mouth was on mine, and I was pulling him closer and… I cleared my throat as I banished that memory and drew my eyes past his muscular chest and up to meet his gaze as I laughed.

I support this #mlm

“Fuck, Cal, I can see why you get off on that,” Seth breathed, his bare chest rising and falling beneath me as I stayed on top of him for a long moment.

Omg kiss already