Shadow Princess (Zodiac Academy, #4)

by Caroline Peckham

gone too? Do you think Ellis will challenge you for your place in time?” “I’m not sure what my sister will do,” I admitted. “I don’t think she knows…but my stepmother has always forced competitiveness between us. There’s no love lost between me and her and I expect that if my stepmother can’t kill me off, she will want Ellis to challenge me eventually. I’m pretty sure the only reason I still draw breath is because Dad placed protections on me. He’s made it clear that he wants me to sit in his place. He doesn’t care about my legitimacy but the scandal it could cause…” “I know,” Darius growled. “But we would stand by you even if the whole world found out you were the son of a mortal, let alone being a bastard. What difference does it make anyway? Your power comes from your father. So fuck anyone who would give a shit about your blood not being pure enough. There’s no better man or woman to sit in your father’s place after you, and if your stepmother thinks she can replace you with Ellis, she’s fucking deluded.” “Too fucking right,” Caleb agreed, looking straight into my eyes. “I always thought your mom was an asshole,” Seth added thoughtfully.

omg😭🫶🏻

A warm smile spilled across my face and my grip on Darius’s hand tightened. Why had I always been so afraid of the others finding out about this? I shouldn’t have doubted them. I shouldn’t have doubted him. But the Acruxes were well known for their pure blood beliefs. Darius was already engaged to his second cousin just to make sure they kept their line pure. Powerful. Dragons. I’d thought that might mean he held prejudiced beliefs too, but maybe it really meant he could understand my position better than anyone. “Thank you,” I said, looking around at my brothers, my heart swelling with emotion at the unfaltering loyalty and love in their eyes. I looked between them, wondering which of them was going to reveal their secret next as the flood of our magic continued to sweep between us. Darius seemed to want to speak, but he hesitated, and Caleb stepped in to stop him from having to voice whatever was haunting him before he was ready. “I almost killed a girl a few months after I was Awakened,” he said, chewing on his bottom lip. “I let myself get too low on magic and we were drinking…she was all over me, begging me to bite her and I did. But I guess I was too drunk because I tore her skin too much and she just started bleeding everywhere. I didn’t know how to heal someone magically then, so I had to run for my Mom…” He cleared his throat before going on. “She got there just in time. Saved the girl and then paid off her family. She gave them this massive estate on the other si...

“No. Fuck no, I don’t need to hear anything else about you and that weird suckling thing. This secret session is officially over,” I said. Seth grinned and we all drew back, releasing our grip on each other and drawing our own magic back under our flesh. My skin felt raw as I settled back into my own body, the power within me familiar and deep but no longer all consuming. I looked between my brothers as a moment of silence passed between us following our revelations, feeling closer to them in that moment than I ever thought I had before. “We need to focus on building our strength,” I said slowly, turning over the various issues we were contending with. “Lionel is by far the biggest problem we’ve got.” “I don’t think he’d do anything against the other Councillors,” Darius said with a shake of his head. “Or you guys either. At least not unless he was utterly sure he could challe...

“We stand together in this like we do in everything else,” Seth said, nodding firmly. “So what are we going to do?” Darius asked, a faint glimmer of hope shining in his eyes. “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.” “I agree,” Seth said firmly. Caleb frowned but didn’t voice his protests on Tory’s behalf again. All eyes fell on Darius. “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.” We turned to Caleb. He was outvoted; this was the part where he would fall in line. Ca...

He took the top from the bottle and drained the beer in one long drink, tossing the empty bottle in the trash. “Fine,” he said darkly. “But this had better be the end of it. If it doesn’t work, then we need to think about other options.” “It’ll work. There’s no way they’ll be able to bounce back from this like they have everything else. No one will ever forget it,” Seth said excitedly. I was grinning too, and I got up to claim a second beer for myself. “Let’s get drunk,” I suggested. “We need a night off.” “Fuck yes,” Darius agreed, catching another beer as I tossed it to him. “Let’s drink until we forget who we are.” I snorted a laugh, wondering if he really was aiming for that. It would be pretty damn hard to achieve, but I guessed sometimes it was nice not to have to think about the pressure on us. Or the responsibilities put on us that went han...

I just hoped that when we sat on the Celestial Council, we’d still be able to do this. That we’d still be as close as we were now, still love each other as brothers. Because there was nothing more important to me than the three men in th...

It will also corrupt those on the verge of darkness. Here are some pointers to get you

oh no tory!

For half a second, I almost snapped at her. Like some small, insane, teeny tiny psycho deep down inside of me wanted to tell her to back the fuck off of Darius even though I knew she was only joking. But in that half a second I thought of him as mine and I didn’t want her or anyone else near him. Which must have meant I really was crazy.

This was what we’d decided. So long as the Vegas had support, from their friends, from each other, from Solaria, they could dream all they liked about sitting on our throne. So we needed to take the air from under their

how have they not figured it out. they didn’t want to be on the throne until they were told they wouldn’t by you guys. such idiots i swear.

This was just how Fae had to behave. I didn’t hate the Vegas on any real level. It was just politics. But both of them despised me to my core. And something about that didn’t sit right with me.

yeah. cause they haven’t grown up fae and you guys have tortured them. of course they hate you.

Are we going too far with this shit?

YAS

“How can you be so awful?” she breathed like she really wanted to know the answer to that. The truth came to my lips, though she’d never get it. I was raised to be ruthless, to step on heads and force other Fae down beneath me. It was the way of the Wolf and the way of Fae. With those needs combined, I was the fiercest Alpha in the entire world. One chink in my armour could mean me falling from grace. And without my throne, what did I have?

“They’re still here,” she muttered through the haze of her mind. “The shadows are all around me.” She blinked and for a moment I swore darkness swirled in her gaze. This potion was some crazy shit.

My heart jolted as I held her, her words washing over me and making me feel like the biggest asshole in the history of the world. I tried to force that feeling down too, but it wouldn’t go anywhere. “They will,” I said gently. “Just bow, Darcy.” “I can’t…bow,” she said, the call of sleep making her voice soft. I laid her down on the pillow and a couple more words slipped from her lips. “I won’t.” Her eyes fluttered closed, and I realised I was still holding her hand. I stared at her for far too long. The Vegas, to the very core of their beings, had iron wills. It was why we were trying this different tactic. But the frightening thing was, I saw my own will mirrored in hers at that moment. Even on the verge of oblivion, she fought. She refused to give in. That wasn’t going to change. Just like the other Heirs and I were never going to give in. I pulled my hand from hers and drew a blanket over her before slipping out of the door and shutting it firmly. I lingered there for ten whole seconds, at war with my emotions. I finally managed to bury them deep in the pit of my soul and walked away, plastering a smile on my face as I headed back to the party. I’m Seth Capella. I’m not weak. I don’t break for anyone. And I certainly won’t break for a Vega.

good

Even if I did feel like a sack of shit right about now.

“Maybe I’m always pretending to hate you,” she said eventually, and I stilled as she reached out and took my hand. She looked up at me from beneath lashes which sparkled with the colours of the rainbow and my heart pounded at the impossibility of that suggestion. Because whether I wanted to admit it or not, the idea that she might not hate me appealed to me in a desperate kind of way. “Or maybe I’m not,” she added, snuffing out that little ray of hope just as quickly as she’d offered it.

before heading on towards the pool. As far as I knew, Roxy hadn’t come here since the night Max and I had trapped her beneath the water and my gut twisted uncomfortably as the scent of chlorine awoke memories of that night in me. I stepped out onto the dark tiles which lined the pool and stilled as I spotted Roxy floating in the centre of the water with her eyes closed. Her dress was abandoned alongside her shoes at the edge of the pool, but she’d kept her silver underwear on for her swim. A huge cloud of glitter was spreading away from her body as she lazily swept her arms back and forth and I guessed she’d used magic to undo whatever had been holding the glitter in place on her skin. “Are you just going to stand there staring or are you coming in?” Roxy asked without opening her eyes. I cleared my throat, moving closer to the edge and trying not to think about what I’d done to her the last time we were here. “Or maybe you’ve come to finish what you started last time?” Roxy asked, her mind clearly following the same trail as mine. “If you’re worried about that then why did you come here?” I asked. She sighed before dropping beneath the water and swimming towards me. I watched her as a long trail of glitter was left in her wake and she slowly surfaced right in front of me, placing her arms on the edge of the pool as she looked up at me with her big, green eyes. There was something about the way that she looked at me sometimes that made me feel like she could see through ev...

“Like, when did you last do something pointless, with no ulterior motives?” “I’m hanging out with you now,” I pointed out. She scoffed lightly. “Oh, so you’ve got zero agenda with me, have you? That’d be a first.” I held my tongue because she was right. I did always have an agenda when it came to her, though sometimes, like right now, it seemed like I wasn’t even sure what that was. I was supposed to be getting rid of her, but the idea of that tore me in two at the same time as me knowing it was necessary. “Come on.” She grabbed the ladder for the high board and started climbing with a hint of laughter in her voice.

She walked forward carefully then dropped down to sit on the very end of the board, her legs swinging beneath her over the water. I moved to sit beside her, leaving an inch of space between us despite the fact that I wanted to pull her close. I sighed, running a hand over my face. This whole thing was so fucked. I’d set her up tonight, gone out of my way to hurt her yet again but here I was, sitting in the dark with her, aching to touch her, stealing glances at her like some kid with a crush. Why was everything so difficult with her? It should have been simple, no matter what she looked like or how hot I thought she was, I shouldn’t have been agonising over the idea of getting rid of her. Maybe once it was done, I’d be able to move on from this, forget about her. But as she leaned back to lay on the diving board and the white dress she was wearing rode up, revealing the bronze skin of her thighs and another glimpse of her underwear, I knew that was an empty hope. 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. “Is Xavier texting Sofia?” she asked all of a sudden and my lips parted at that strange question. “Yes,” I said eventually because it seemed pointless to lie to her about it. “He can’t tell her who he really is, obviously. But I wanted him to have someone of his kind to talk to, some contact with a herd…” I trailed off because giving him the phone number of one girl to message seemed like a pretty pathetic way to help him, but I didn’t know what else to do. “I take it Lionel still won’t let him reveal his Order to anyone?” she asked. I laughed but it was a hollow, empty thing. “Never.”

“I left my window open,” I said slowly. “I can give you a ride up there.” Her eyes widened as she realised what I was offering. And sure, she could just use her own wings to fly up there but riding on a Dragon was practically against the law. Especially if you asked my father. He could banish me from the Dragon’s guild if he found out. I could hear him now; Dragons are not pack horses. But I didn’t give a shit. I’d break that rule for her. Hell, I was beginning to wonder if I wouldn’t break a few more for her too. A slow smile crept across Roxy’s

Like I hadn’t just fucked everything up again. Like I always fucking did.

I approached her slowly, dropping down to sit on the edge of the mattress with my thoughts warring among themselves. She reached out sleepily, taking my hand in hers and pulling me down to join her. And I let her. Because I was weak and selfish. And because I knew this had been my last chance to prove to her that I could be more than just the asshole who made her miserable and I’d fucked it up. It felt like this had been a test and I’d failed before I’d even begun.

I lay down and she curled against me, laying her head on my chest, and fitting so perfectly into the curve of my body that it was like she’d been made to fit there.

For the second time in my life, I woke feeling warm, safe, and content in someone’s arms. Though unlike the last time, I remembered enough of last night to know precisely whose bed I’d just woken up in.

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. For a moment, I wondered if it was the drinks I’d had but in all honesty, I’d been putting away that much alcohol most nights in an attempt to banish the shadows when I slept. No. That wasn’t what had kept them away from me. And I was willing to bet the comfy ass mattress wasn’t the culprit either.

My gaze slid over Darius again and I chewed on my lip as I considered that. The comforter was pooled in his lap and his bare chest revealed the myriad of tattoos which covered his skin. There were dark flames dancing up the left side of his chest and figures rose from them in a way that was either filled with hope or pain depending on the way I looked at them. I shifted away again, pulling my eyes from the art on his skin and feeling like a bit of a stalker for staring so much. My head spun dizzily again, and I reached out for the top drawer of his nightstand, hoping to find some painkillers lurking there to save me from my hangover. Instead of painkillers, the drawer held a sheaf of paperwork but before I could close it again, my gaze snagged on the title. It was a copy of a letter from his financial adviser and the top page detailed a summary of the last year’s charitable contributions he’d made. 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

“Good. Because I’m not a better man,” he said in a low growl, his eyes full of shadows. “I’m the devil and I want you. I want you like I’ve never wanted anything or anyone. And I will fight to make you mine, no matter what it takes. No force in Solaria will rip us apart.”

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. For several long seconds I was thrown, tossed into the flames as my lips parted for his without question and his tongue invaded my mouth. He kissed me hungrily. Possessively. Claiming every piece of me for his own and a moan was dragged from me as my knees buckled and I was filled with the overwhelming urge to give in to exactly what he wanted from me. Let him take me, use me, own me,

have every piece, and break them all apart just because he could. I was submerged in the cage of his arms and the temptation of his flesh. But he hadn’t managed to drown me before and I didn’t plan on allowing it now. With a wrench of determination, I jerked backwards, parting our lips through pure force of will. 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. Darius stared down at me in surprise for a long moment and pure, unbridled hatred lit the air between us. We glared at each other, each waiting for the other to make the next move.

Steam from the hot pools swept between us, shrouding my view of him, and making my heart pound with panic as I wondered what I’d find in his gaze once it cleared. The mist blew away again and the tingling of my lips drew my gaze to his mouth. We stayed utterly still; my chest was heaving with deep breaths and about a thousand insults sat waiting on the tip of my tongue. But I held them there, reaching into the space between us instead and fisting my hand in the material of his black T-shirt as I yanked him towards me again. His kiss almost burned me as the heat of this moment brought our magic to the surface of our skin and energy raced through every small point of contact between us. His body pressed to mine, driving me back against the wall as I gasped into his mouth and his tongue took me captive. His hand came to my jaw as he pinned me in place, his hips grinding against mine so that I could feel how hard he was already through the layers of material that separated us. It sent a wave of delicious temptation through me as I was forced to clench my thighs together and fight the urges raised in my flesh by his touch. I dragged the material I was still fisting lower, yank...

wrong. Really fucking wrong. “What is it?” I dashed forward in a blur, resting my hand on his arm. My skin had prickled and hurt a while ago, though not seriously enough for me to be concerned, but now the Leo tattoo on my inner arm was pulsing uncomfortably. He locked me in an embrace and my heart pounded harder as I clutched him against me, the bond between us drawing us together and making me ache. “Roxy,” Darius growled in the deadliest of tones. I slowly released him, stepping back. “I should have guessed.” He shook his head marginally, the tension in his body making me worry. “What happened? Did you hurt her?”

I asked carefully, wondering if I needed to go and find her. “No. I mean yes… but not like that.” “Like what then?” I pushed. “We fucked,” he spat like he was saying he’d killed her. “By the stars, Darius.” The stress rolled out my body in a flood. “Well, that’s great, now you can drop all of this pretence.” “Pretence? What fucking pretence, Lance?” He shoved his way past me, throwing himself down on the bed and tucking a hand beneath his head as he blew out a long breath. “I mean, you and her, this whole ridiculous feud you’ve been so focused on. Now that you’ve both finally given in to what you really want, maybe-” “Maybe nothing. When we were together, I felt so connected to her, like our souls were trying to tear their way free of our flesh to press against each other. It wasn’t just good, it was completely overwhelming, I swear I can still feel the imprint of her skin against mine and taste her kisses on my lips…” He trailed off like he didn’t even have words for it, and I began to wonder if he might really be able to understand about me and Darcy. Because he practically could have been describing the connection I felt with her, and I was beginning to hope that he wouldn’t be angry with me after all, that he might even be able to see where I was coming from. “Then after we’d been together, she kissed me like… I dunno, like she meant it. Like it wasn’t just sex, and she felt the same way that I did and I thought that things had changed between us…for all of about ten s...

“Coooey!” Washer called and my insides coiled into a tight knot. “I’ve brought nibbles! I made some of my famous chocolate covered balls this morning. They melt in the mouth like an orgasm.”

he’s soooo grooosss

in his favourite grey chair by the fire across the room, his

“A name is just a name. Here, they call me the Shadow Princess.” “Who’s they?”

“El puente de las estrellas,” Diego breathed in awe.

“Yes, the bridge of stars,” the girl translated, a note of desperation to her tone. “At midnight on the last night of the year, the veil between realms will be at its thinnest. That’s when the bridge can be built. Please, you must find a way to do it.”

There was something wrong with me. Like deep seeded, right down in the marrow of my bones, wrong. I’d always known it. Given two options, I always made the choice that would hurt me, always picked the thing that was bad for me. I tried to justify it by claiming I just hated to be bored. That I’d rather have something hurt or terrify me than feel nothing at all. But maybe, when you looked really closely at all of the choices I made, it turned out that there was a simpler explanation than that. I just didn’t know how to be happy. And perhaps sometimes I believed I didn’t deserve to be either.

My fingertips brushed hers and I was on the verge of jumping just as flames rose beneath my skin. 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. A growl tore from my throat as I dug my heels in, and I shook my head fiercely. “No!” I snarled. Phoenix fire flared bright and strong as I willed it to come to my aid and the shadow princess screamed as it burned her where she still gripped my arm. She tore her hand away and pain flared as her fingernails raked down my wrist and my blood spilled along my skin.

My left wrist was torn open in gouges that had undeniably been made by fingernails and blood slid from the wounds in a steady stream

which painted red lines over my hand and fingers before dripping to the pale carpet beneath me.

“Do you know how serious this is, Tory?” he asked me, stepping forward with an intense look. “If you were that deep in, it’s a wonder the shadows didn’t consume you. Especially once you started bleeding. It’s a miracle you made it out without help.”

“My Phoenix kinda burned me free,” I said quietly, feeling like a little girl who’d been caught out doing something wrong. “Well thank fuck for that,” he growled. “What the hell had you feeling so hopeless that they managed to call you to them while you slept?” I stilled beneath

“You’re both as stubborn as each other,” Orion muttered, swiping a hand over his face. There were bags beneath his eyes and as I looked at him a little more closely, I realised he was wearing the same shirt he’d been in for class yesterday. I’d thought he looked a mess because he’d hurried here while getting ready, but on closer inspection it seemed more like he hadn’t slept at all.

i know.

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.

just felt like a shitty person. I sighed, raising my hand to turn

good you guys are assholes.

and a Horometer can even be used to discover some types of Star Bond.” My ears pricked up at that and she suddenly had my undivided attention. “This control panel is designed to read the energy of souls and is fairly effective in deciphering whether two Fae share a divine bond. Of course, in the case of Astral Adversaries, it would be quite the challenge to have them stand side by side in a room together to test them. And Elysian Mates can never be predicted. But a Nebula Ally is easier to detect. So, let’s have a demonstration. Where are my two wonderful Vega girls?” My heart pinched as her eyes fell on me then she beckoned Tory from further down the walkway. I sighed, moving away from Diego as I walked around the platform to where Zenith was standing before a large screen on a podium. Tory stood on her other side, looking disinterested and refusing to meet my eye. For a second, shadows swirled in her gaze and my throat constricted as they remained there. Luckily the room was dark, but if anyone looked too closely at her, she’d give away the darkness sleeping beneath her flesh. Or perhaps it wasn’t asleep at all… The shadows finally receded, and the tension ran out of my shoulders. “Now,” Zenith said brightly, directing us forward. “Please place one hand onto the screen side by side. You’ll feel a little zing then the Horometer will begin its assessment. Do not take your hand off the screen or the results will be void.”

I moved away, my chest aching as I was parted from her once more. It didn’t even surprise me that we were Nebula Allies. How could we not be? No matter how different we were, our souls were the same. But right now, we were anything other than aligned. Pairs of friends and random

“It’s the shadows,” he murmured even though he didn’t have to be quiet. “I can see them. They surround her. With you, they simmer, with her they blaze. She is embracing them, not fighting them.” Horror filled me and I looked over to Tory, almost able to sense the cloud of darkness hanging around her.