Shadow Princess (Zodiac Academy, #4)

by Caroline Peckham

Seth headed to the kitchen, grabbing four bottles of beer, and handing them out before perching on the arm of the couch beside Darius. He reached out to pet Darius’s hair and for once he didn’t try to bat him off. I even felt a tendril of comfort coming from him in response to Seth’s actions. “Why are you so worried about Xavier?” I asked gently, begging him to answer and at least let us help with that much. Darius opened his mouth to respond, but the fear he was feeling sharpened, and he shook his head instead. “Is that something you’ve been Coerced not to say?” Caleb asked. “No…it’s just, if I tell you, you’ll be duty bound to tell your parents. I don’t want to put any of you in that position.” Seth whimpered, looking to me like I might have some magic solution to that problem. I chewed on my bottom lip, wondering what the hell it could be if he thought he couldn’t share it with us for that reason. It made me think of my own secret. The one I’d kept from all of them. The one Tory Vega was holding for me. My pulse hammered as I considered telling them about my lineage. Would they care? Would they support a claim pressed by my younger sister when she came of age just because she was legitimate, and I wasn’t? I didn’t think so. And maybe I had held onto this lie for too long. Maybe it was time we all exercised a higher level of trust. “What if we exchange a secrecy oath?” I suggested. “And I’ll tell you all my secret too?” Darius frowned, leaning forward in his chair as he ...