Heartless Sky (Zodiac Academy, #7)

by Caroline Peckham

“Um, no,” Angelica said. “He said he wants me to shift into my Order form, so he can climb up my tail and ride me like a cowboy.” My jaw went slack as everyone stared at her in shocked silence. “So…one of you guys must have had Order form sex, right?” she asked hopefully, looking from Sofia to Geraldine. “Hang on, he wants to fuck you while you’re a massive Dragon?” Tory blurted.

“Like, in his Minotaur form or Fae form?” I asked in horror, unsure why it mattered or which answer would be worse. “Um, the second one,” she whispered, her cheeks getting pink. “So none of you have ever…” “Let someone service my petunia while I am a giant three headed dog?” Geraldine cried. “Certainly not, Angelica.”

“Well, I’ve had my wings out during, but I don’t have a dog vagina…so it’s not really the same,” I added. “Oh,” Angelica breathed. “I let Tyler stick a few sugar lumps up my butt once, but I wasn’t in my Pega...

Destiny was calling to me and I knew I stood right where it wanted me to be. I could feel fate wrapping around me, binding me to this moment. And for once, I was sure this wasn’t some curse or cruel twist of fortune. This was a gift from the stars, and they were about to ask something of me which I had to answer. And as I watched the sky, it started to shift, the heavens rearranging until the Gemini constellation sat right next to the Libra constellation, glittering so brightly it was hard to keep staring.

My breathing became shallow as it pooled out before me in a fog, because I suddenly knew what was happening. I’d been taught about it in class, Tory had described it to me, I’d even dared to wonder if Orion and I might be Elysian Mates too on occasion, but to actually find myself offered this bond with the man who owned my heart still left me speechless. “Hello, Blue.”

“You must be freezing.” “I can’t feel anything but this moment,” I whispered, staring up at my soulmate. The Fae chosen for me, perfectly designed to match me in every way.

“They made us for each other.” He nodded, a smile spreading across his face as he drew me closer and I could hardly breathe with how much I needed him in that moment.

“Will you kiss me and be mine in every way imaginable? Will you accept a grumpy asshole of a Vampire as your one true mate?” I smiled up at him, my toes scrunching in the dead leaves beneath my feet as my wings fluttered a little. “I will. But only if you’ll accept a clumsy nerd of a princess as yours.”

whispers filling my head and urging us on, begging us to be together. But they didn’t have to beg, I’d chosen this man long before this moment, this was just the icing on the cake.

“I’ll love you ‘til the world is dust,” Orion breathed and those words sent a delicious tremor down to the centre of my being. “I’ll ...

I was spun around, finding myself in the hands of Orion’s ex Francesca Sky, her jaw falling slack as she looked at my eyes. “You’re his Elysian Mate,” she rasped in disbelief, then towed me along and I looked back for Orion in fear, relieved to find him being marched along right behind me. For a moment I was captivated by the silver rings circling his dark eyes, glinting at me like starlight.

My mind was in a daze as I blinked away the darkness, looking up and finding Orion punching the guy who’d tasered me, beating the shit out of him as he went completely feral and I smiled at my savage mate as someone pulled me upright again. I found Francesca looking me over in concern. “The stars have cursed us all by bringing you here,” she whispered. “Then let us go,” I snarled and she almost looked like she wished she could.

“GET OUT!” he roared. “Anyone who stays is going to see me fuck my mate. And if you stay, I will mark you as dead for laying your eyes on her skin. I will hunt you to the ends of the earth to ensure I get my cut of meat from you.” “Lance,” Francesca hissed. “You need to calm down, you need to focus.” “OUT!” I yelled at her and she backed up like I’d slapped her.

“Let me see those eyes, beautiful,” he commanded and my gaze flicked up to meet his as I panted and bucked my hips, needing him to stop taunting me. He took in my Elysian rings with a groan of desire, cupping my chin in his hand as he turned my head left and right to examine them,

We were less than a mile from the FIB holding cell now and Gabriel’s warning rang in my ears. “Fly hard and fast and don’t waste time being subtle.” Easily done.

She grinned in that Savage Princess way of hers which got my blood pumping like nothing else on this earth, and threw her hands out with a furious cry, a bird of red and blue flames bursting from her palms as she directed her power at the wards surrounding the building.

Roxy flew at my back, her hands raised as she used her earth magic to grab the falling wall, directing every last brick to the outside of the building and making sure we didn’t accidentally crush the people we’d come here to rescue. “Holy shit,” Lance gasped and I spotted him and Darcy scrambling to get up from the floor inside. Darcy pulled down a nearly transparent blue nightgown while Lance yanked up his pants, his chest bare and his shirt discarded somewhere beyond them. Were they fucking kidding me right now? Had they been going at it while my father was on his way here to execute them?

“You really think you can end the war with this?” she asked, her eyes shifting apart once more as she looked at her Nebula Ally with hope in her gaze that made my heart twist with emotion. “Yes,” Lance said firmly. “This will let us destroy Lavinia and once she’s cut off from the shadows, we will be on an even playing field once more. The false king will die and the true queens will rise.”

“Then take it,” Francesca said in a growl. “And make it hurt when you end him.”

“Come with us,” Lance begged but Francesca shook her head. “They won’t remember that I was the one to attack them, I’ll forge new memories in their heads to cover for what I did,” she said. “And I can do more good here. I’ve already thwarted countless wrongful arrests. I need to stay.” “Thank you,” Darcy breathed, wrapping her arms around Francesca too and making the Cyclops gasp in surprise. “This will be the thing that turns the tide of this war.”

not only had we saved Lance and Darcy from a fate worse than death, we’d just secured the very thing we needed to bring about the end of this war and the downfall of the man who had worked his hardest to ruin my life.

I couldn’t get enough of this girl, my fucking Elysian Mate.

I looked down at Darcy, her nightgown now fully transparent, slick to her skin from the rain, her dark blue hair drenched and dripping. She looked hot as fuck, reminding me of the time she’d come to me in a storm back at Zodiac Academy, the night we’d crossed the most forbidden of boundaries between each other. It was so clear to me why we had never been able to stay apart from each other. We were inevitable, a fate waiting to happen.

I washed us both with water magic and dried us with air, the scent of the storm leaving us at last. Then I spent the next five minutes healing every mark and bruise I’d left on her body, replacing each one with a kiss.

“Why are you dressed up like that?” Tory demanded then she gasped, yanking her sister forward and gripping her whole head as she looked into her eyes. “Wait – what? Seriously!?” “Yep,” Darcy laughed. “It happened before the FIB caught us. The fucking stars gave us our moment right outside a freaking precinct.” “What moment is this you speak of?” Geraldine barrelled through the Heirs as they tried to get a look at Darcy and Darius muscled his way forward too, grabbing my arm and yanking me close to look into my eyes. “Holy fuck,” he gasped then he punched me in the shoulder, making me curse before he dragged me in to a tight hug. “Flog my seaweed sprouts!” Geraldine bellowed as she made it in front of Darcy, shaking her and starting to sob as she drooped all the way down to the floor. “By the gleam upon the moon’s rump, it cannot be! My lady Darcy has had her moment of the divine. She has been called under the stars to be bound to her Orry man!”

Seth howled his excitement, leaping forward and snaring Darcy in a hug before coming for me like a bounding puppy, nearly falling over his own feet as he collided with me, forcing Darius aside. I was so fucking happy that I didn’t even push him off, I just clapped him on the back and suddenly Cal slammed into me, hugging me too before him and Seth exchanged an awkward look and released me at the same time. Max stepped forward next, congratulating me before hugging Darcy tight and I realised Geraldine had fainted, her arms strewn above her

“Oh, your curse is lifted, I no longer feel the need to look over your shoulder and imagine you are anyone else but the Power Shamed Fae you are – were!” “What do you mean?” Darcy gasped, dropping down beside her too as she helped prise her off of me. Geraldine wiped the tears from her eyes, clutching Darcy’s face as she stared at her Elysian rings in wonder. “My sweet, dear, queen, he has proven his worth. He has risen up the food chain like a whelk to a whale.” “What are you saying, Geraldine?” Orion demanded. “Don’t you see, my beautiful fanged forager?” she rasped, clasping my face with her other hand as everyone else leaned closer. “This will exonerate you. For how can you be shamed for foul-playing fornication when you have been chosen by the stars as my lady Darcy’s one true mate? No one in Solaria will question their decision. You are a fine and true steed, and you will serve my lady well, you will set the ultimate of fires in her loins, you will birth heirs born of valour and loyalty. Your story shall be made into a ditty that will be sung from every hill in Solaria.”

“Papa, the stars have chosen our lady Darcy an Elysian Mate,” Geraldine cooed. “Well bless my salty crackers on a bed of kale. Twist my dough balls and call me Uncle Dunberry. Tickle my turnip and bury me in a pile of battered beetroots.” Hamish reached towards my eyes like he was close to the sun and couldn’t resist a feel of it, but before he could touch me, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed to the floor in a heap. I snorted a laugh, serving me a glare from Geraldine as she ushered Max forward to help her pull her father to his feet.

When he woke again, he lunged at me, picking me up in his huge arms and spinning me around and around. “Oh-ho! My boy! You’re saved! Rejoice we shall! Let us sound the bells, let us ring the cherryhocker and bang the drumble to celebrate this finest of days! Oh-ho! Oh-ho!”

“Rejoice - rejoice! You must awaken! It is time to celebrate this most momentous of occasions, for our Princess Darcy Vega has found her Elysian Mate!”

I watched her as she laughed, unable to believe the stars had really offered me her like this. I’d always known we were meant for each other, even wondered if we could be Elysian Mates, but until they’d proven me right, I had never felt worthy of her.

“Drink, amici. Che le stelle benedicano ogni giorno che condividi insieme,” Dante said

Gabriel appeared next, clasping the back of my neck and resting his forehead to mine for a moment with a big ass smile on his face before leaning down to kiss Darcy’s cheek. “The stars hid this from me,” he laughed. “I thought your relationship was doomed.” “Thanks for telling us.” Darcy punched his arm and Gabriel chuckled. “I always hoped a new path would arise for you both. I am so damn pleased.”

“Oh Lance,” Catalina sighed as she approached us next and I was distracted from what Leon had said. Darius’s mother took hold of mine and Darcy’s hands as she gazed between us with watery eyes. “I’m so happy for you.”

“Thank you,” I said as Darcy moved to hug her tight and my heart squeezed with affection for Catalina. She’d become very precious to me in the time we’d spent together down here, and I couldn’t help but think of her like a parent. She drew me into her arms next, placing a kiss in my hair and I held her against me, breathing in her scent as the comfort of her aura surrounded me.

It was sort of a backhanded compliment, but I took it because fuck, I’d never imagined this reality existed for me. Since I’d been convicted, I’d assumed I’d cursed myself for good one way or the other. I’d sacrificed a lot that day in the name of my queen, and I had to wonder if the stars had always been planning to hand it back to me.

Because as I mapped out our relationship together, I could see the tests we’d faced. From fighting to stay together even when it was against the law, to facing Seth’s wrath when he discovered us, to the day Kylie had exposed us and I’d made my choice to protect Darcy instead of dragging her down with me.

I had trinkets, pins and badges all over me, offerings from the rebels like I was some sort of god they wanted to worship, and Darcy was gathering a large pile of gifts that seemed to be a mix of anything the rebels could come up with either with their magic or from their own possessions.

At some point Geraldine appeared with a buffet made up entirely of ring-shaped food, all of it sprayed silver, from doughnuts to bagels, party rings, to onion rings.

Okay, okay, I can do better. I’m gonna name you The BFV – The Big Friendly Vampire. It encompasses your bigness, your friendliness, and your Vampiness.” “Since when am I friendly?” I scoffed, though I guessed this nickname wasn’t so bad. “Since you cuddled me when I needed someone more than you can even imagine,” he said quietly and I stared at him in surprise as he cleared his throat. “You’re the rootinest tootinest guy I know.”

“Pegasus,” Darius said easily. “Just to double piss off my father.” Xavier snorted a laugh. “You’d be a shit Pegasus.” “You’d be a shit Dragon,” Darius tossed back and they shoved each other lightly. “I’d be a Lion shifter,” Caleb said.

“Oh what fun.” Geraldine clapped. “But by my mulberry bush, there is no true Order better suited for the queens than their rightful, honourable Order, the gallant Phoenix.” “It’s just a game, Gerry,” Max insisted. “And I am just a krill riding a lump of driftwood into the great beyond, Maxy boy, but a sealess plankton I can never be,” she said. “What the hell does that mean?” Max balked

“Tell you what I wouldn’t wanna be,” Darius said, wrinkling his nose. “A Cyclops.” “Now, now, don’t go Order Shaming, you big Dragoon. There is merit to all Orders,” Geraldine insisted.

“Hey, Professor, check this out.” Tyler tossed me his Atlas and I caught it out of the air before it hit me in the face, arching a brow at him. “I’m not your professor,” I corrected. “But you still teach us shit.” Tyler frowned like he couldn’t get his head around that. “That’s different,” I said dismissively. “How?” he demanded, ever the fucking earwig in my ear. “Because it is, Corbin,” I barked, on the verge of stealing house points when I got hold of my tongue to stop myself and Tyler laughed at me. “Such a professor,” he muttered and I sighed, looking down at the Atlas he’d passed me as Darcy leaned closer to read the article on the screen.

A miraculous night has turned into a miraculous dawn for a former professor at Zodiac Academy and once popular rising Pitball star, Lance Orion, after he was called beneath the stars with none other than Darcy Vega in a Divine Moment set to rock the nation.

But now in a wild twist of fate, the stars have placed a bond upon him and his one true love, lifting the shame from his soul and shining a light on him for all he sacrificed for his Elysian Mate. Darcy Vega was available for comment, stating that ‘Lance is the most devoted, noble and selfless man I have ever met, and I am privileged to be his Elysian Mate’. She also said ‘he holds a value to me that’s worth more than the sun itself, and I will spend my entire life loving him as he deserves to be loved’.

“You said that?” I asked and she nodded, leaning in to kiss my cheek softly. “I meant every word,” she swore and I stared at her, speechless before looking to Tyler. “I was hoping to get a comment from you,” Tyler asked. “So I can get it published by the morning.” “I don’t know what to say,” I said,

“Yes you do.” Gabriel murmured to me, a knowing look in his eyes and I breathed a laugh as the words came to me. Tyler tapped on his Atlas as I spoke, jotting them down as I said the only thing I could really say, “I’m the luckiest man in the whole fucking world.”

My sanguis frater had found his redemption in the Elysian Mate bond and I was bathing in the joy and love being thrown their way by all of the rebels as they seemed to have instantly forgotten that he’d ever been a Power Shamed loser at all.

I got the feeling Gabriel had seen it that way too as he’d kept running around the hall with Orion earlier, pointing them out to everyone, the two of them cracking up time and again like little kids.