Fated Throne (Zodiac Academy, #6)

by Caroline Peckham

“Right yeah, well anyways, it’s not about my moon crush. It’s another crush.” “Okay…” I waited as I pulled on my shirt, but he didn’t go on. “Seth?” “It’s kind of a big deal.” “Every crush you have is a big deal, you had a crush on a cookie the other day and didn’t eat it for like eight hours.” “The chocolate chips were arranged into the shape of a dick!” he defended himself and I snorted. “Anyway, this isn’t like that.”

“We won’t die,” he said with a shrug. “We’re the Heirs and the Savage Princess. Darcy and the dudebros. Wolfman, Bitey C, Fish Fury, Dragzilla, and the Phoen Dream.”

Geraldine muttered under her breath about barbequing Lionel Acrux and serving him up to a pack of hungry dogs.

Blue - fuck no, don’t call her that - had broken free of the shadows and she was no longer plagued by them. She was so fucking strong. So fucking everything. By the stars, I couldn’t believe I’d ever tried to claim her for myself. She was so far out of my league it was unreal.

She was becoming the queen she was always meant to be. It was just hard to accept that I was never going to be her king.

I searched for mine, finding it wedged under Darius’s leg. He jerked awake as I grabbed it, breathing in sharply and looking at me through squinting eyes. “Pinching my ass, Gwen?” I snorted. “Gross. And don’t call me Gwen.”

“Because he’s in love with my sister which makes him about as appealing to me as a three day old tuna sandwich – no offence,” I tossed at Darius and he smirked. “You’re an old tuna sandwich to me too, Gwen,” he agreed and I punched him over the name, but couldn’t fight a smirk.

God I love the brother sister relationship of Darcy and darius

“The future is just a roulette wheel, Darcy. Only every outcome is grey.” “That doesn’t sound so good,” I murmured. “It is good, and bad. That’s life. I guess that’s one thing The Sight makes me see clearer than anything else. It’s all about the choices you make, the actions you take. Cause and effect. If you do nothing, nothing will happen. If you do everything, everything will happen.”

“The stars will test us. And sometimes they may punish us or gift us for the choices we make, but they don’t make our fate. Only we can do that. So go make it, Darcy. You’ve got to get going if you want to be ready in time.” I slid off the desk with a sigh and he stood up, grabbing a lock of my hair and tugging on it teasingly. “He’s going to eat his heart out,” he murmured and I rolled my eyes. “I hope he does by the way. I’m still pissed he hurt my little sister. Kick him in the dick for me, okay?” I chuckled as I headed to the window, pushing it open and feeling him drop the silencing bubble. “Can you see a dick kick in his future?” I asked with a grin. “Definitely,” he said with a smirk. “Love you, Gabriel,” I told him,

“No, your normal face suggests you’re deciding whether or not to eat the Fae in front of you,” I pointed out. “You only smirk when you’ve decided you’re actually going to do it.” He released a low laugh. “Maybe I’m hungry.” “Well maybe you should have brought a snack.” “Maybe I did.” He gnashed his teeth at me and I snorted. “I’d cook your ass if you tried it.” “Hmm, that’s a point. How will I fry you up if you don’t burn?” he mused and I laughed.

I hated being tactile with anyone. Anyone except Darcy. Alright, and Darius. Apparently I only liked the D.

“Um no, that’s a bit full on,” I said. “You need to speak to him.” “Yeah, I mean I kind of tried to.” He hung his head, whining softly. “I mentioned how good it had been seeing his dick driving in and out of Rosalie and I was about to say how much I’d wanted to put his dick in my mouth too, but-” “You could just try saying, ‘hey Caleb, I think you’re hot, maybe we could go on a date sometime,’” I said with a laugh. “You don’t need to go from nought to blowjob.”

“No, fuck no,” he growled. “It’s like…when I was on the moon and I could see the earth, I thought about how sad it was that they’d never be together. The moon just watches the earth in all its gorgeous green and blue glory, but it can never, ever touch it. And it made me think of him.” He dropped his eyes. “Everything makes me think of him.” My heart tugged and I reached out to catch his hand, making him look at me. “You need to tell him.” He sighed. “It’s not that easy.” He hung his head. “As Heirs, we’re not even really supposed to get with anyone outside of our Orders long term. Plus, like, what would we do about producing Heirs ourselves? I guess we could use a surrogate and then our kids could be brothers and Heirs to both of our seats and that would actually work out just fine, so maybe that’s all cool... But regardless of that, if he doesn’t feel the same way it could break us. He’s my best friend, Darcy. I can’t lose him over this.”

my eyes kept skipping over to Orion and the taut muscles of his stomach. I mean seriously, could someone just put a shirt on that man? You’re not distracted by Darius going around all shirtless and shit. Well he’s a tuna sandwich dammit.

"Shit, dude, don't start crying on me. I thought you were meant to be an asshole?" I teased and he laughed against my hair as he gave me an extra squeeze. "Give me a few minutes to just be glad to have you in your right mind again then I promise to go back to being a dick as soon as I can," Orion joked. I relented, hugging him tight for a moment as we just took a second to appreciate the fact that we were both half free of our shackles, then I huffed out a frustrated breath and kneed him in the balls as hard as I could.

“I gotta laugh if I don’t wanna cry, right? Now if you don’t mind, I need to go cuddle up to the man who imprisoned and tortured me.” I started backing up towards the door but he caught my hand in his, squeezing tight as he met my gaze. “We’re all at least a little fucked up, Tory,” he said roughly. “But the people who love us don’t give a shit about that. Better still – they love us even more for it.”

He might have destroyed me when he ruined us, but he’d made me stronger as well. I guessed sometimes you had to watch your walls crack and crumble so you could figure out how to build a better kingdom.

I watched her as she looked at the tattoo, tracing the words with her fingertips and breathing them into the silence. "There is only her." She continued to paint the marks that made up the Gemini and Leo constellations followed by the lines of the geometric design that charted the pattern of the moon and stars the night she’d said no to me. It was pretty complex, an interlinking design of triangles and interlocking lines that mapped out the alignment of the heavens on the night that had changed everything.

Thank fuck for possessive shadow bitch nutcases.

"You'd love being dominated by me, Roxy," he promised. "I'd pin you down and make you scream so good you'd forget all about trying to stop me as I marked you as mine so thoroughly that you'd never doubt that it was true ever again."

Love doesn’t conquer all this time, because we’re on two different paths. You’re heading to the stars, beautiful, and I’m staying down here in the dirt. That’s just the way it is.”

She was mine. Destined to be mine by the stars. The girl who should have been my Elysian Mate and was so much more besides. I needed this. I needed her. I'd been like the moon without the light of the sun without her all this time. Cold and pale and void of life. But she lit me up and made me burn. And I never wanted to stop burning with her.

I'd do it. I'd pay any price they asked of me just to make this feeling last. Just to truly have her.

Dragons were hardwired to find the most priceless treasure they could and make it theirs and she was the most prized possession I could ever hope to own. She was beauty and strength and bravery and hope and if I spent every day for the rest of forever making her mine then I'd gladly do it.

“Cal! Zoom me out of here!” I called and he didn’t even question it, shooting towards me and throwing me over his shoulder, laughing as Highspell came racing toward us on her high heels.

“Two phoenixes, born of fire, rising from the ashes of the past. The wheel of fate is turning and the Dragon is poised to strike. But blood of the deceiver may change the course of destiny. Beware the man with the painted smile who lingers close to your side. Turn the scorned. Free the enslaved. Fear the bonded men. Many will fall for one to ascend. Suffer the curse. The hunter will pay the price. Do not repeat the mistakes of the past. Keep the broken promise. Mend the rift. All that hides in the shadows is not dark. Blood will out. Seal your fate. Choose your destiny.”

"Maybe I just like the way it feels when you bite me and I'm really just a selfish motherfucker, using the excuse to get your mouth on my skin." He delivered it like a joke, but it fell flat somehow and my gaze shifted down his bare chest slowly before I met his eyes again. "Maybe you don't need an excuse," I said carefully. "Maybe if that's what you want you should just say it."

HOW DID THEY GET THIS FAR BUT WE STILL DONT HAVE A RELATIONSHIP TWO BOOKS LATERRRRRR

“I’ve known since I crowned you in my car. Just don’t ever forget you were my queen first.”

“I love you, Blue. I loved you then, I love you now, I’ll love you tomorrow even if I’m no longer on this earth. No time exists where I won’t love you.”

"Nope. And as fantastic as I'm sure you are in bed, I've got some pretty strict rules about not getting fucked by a Dragon, so I had to stop you," he joked.