Heartless Sky (Zodiac Academy, #7)

by Caroline Peckham

My eyes drifted over the words as I sought them out. There is only her. Fuck, I loved this man.

“Taking hold of every moment and making it count,” I replied. “A life well lived should be full of adventure and danger and passion.” “Sounds like every moment we spend together then,” he replied,

You remember when me and the other Heirs went to the mortal realm to beat the shit out of your ex?” “How can I forget? The sight of you beating him bloody was basically my favourite porno for about six months.” “Seriously?” “Well I couldn’t have you at the time so I got pretty good at satisfying myself. The inspiration was appreciated,” I teased. “Savage girl,” he said,

“I still don’t deserve you,” he said. “But I love you with all my wretched heart has to offer and I’m going to keep proving that to you with every moment gifted to me on this earth until my dying breath. So no, Roxy, I don’t want to sleep. Because I refuse to waste a single second that I’ve been gifted with you. I want to claim each and every one and work to make them good enough for you.”

Because when Darius Acrux looked at me like I was his entire world, it felt like a whole lot of pressure for a jaded, guarded girl to live up to and yet his faith in my worth was so fierce that it was impossible to deny.

Darius Acrux had taken full ownership of my heart. And I was claiming his right back in return.

“Have you thought any more about allowing me to be your date for the wedding?” Justin asked as he hurried to fall into step at my side and I huffed in frustration. “I have told you; this is an exclusive event. We don’t want every Tom, Dick and Justin in attendance. Only the personally invited guests of both my papa and his sweet love, Lady Catalina are going to be in attendance and as neither of them have requested your presence, it will not be required.” “Wait.” Justin grasped my arm and jerked me to a halt just as we reached the dining cavern and I whipped around to look at him with a sigh of frustration.

“I have work to do, as you well know,” I chastised him, reaching out to slap his chest, my hand meeting with the firm muscle of his pec and lingering against his deliciously dark skin. “But tell me, did he scream like a salamander in a cesspit?” Max chuckled cruelly, leaning in and dominating me with that big aura of his as his mouth dropped to my ear. “I made him beg for his momma and piss his pants for good measure,” he growled,

“I don’t like that fucker trying to steal you from me,” he said, owning his devotion even though we both knew that it could lead us nowhere. “He cannot steal that which is not claimed,” I replied with a sigh, drawing my hand away and looking to all the work I had yet to do, but of course he wouldn’t be so easily perturbed. “I have claimed you, Gerry. You’re just too blind to see it.”

“Oh come on, Gerry. It isn’t like it’s the first thing I’ve ever put inside you.” I barked a laugh at his jest and nodded in agreement. “Alright then, let us tangle our tentacles once again, Maxy boy. I want to see what you’ve got.”

wanted to come back from. “Oh wet begonias on a Sunday morn,” I moaned, soaking in the feeling of him filling me. “Yeah,” Max panted, his eyes alight with the thrill of me being inside him too. “What you said.” I chuckled loudly,

Oh, what a shame it was that he was such a slanderous sardine.

I swear a couple of the sparkly shits gave me and Lance an evil look when we went for a walk outside last night.”

“By the bat shit crazy stars,” Seth gasped in delight, his eyes widening as he drank in the visage which was my ladies and me. “Do you know you all look like-” Caleb slapped a hand over his mouth before he could finish that no doubt crass compliment and I giggled coyly as I drank in the sight of so much well packaged man meat. “Looking…stunning, girls,” Caleb said and by golly he did look stunned.

“You got me a gold coin?” Darius asked and I turned my attention to him, nodding through my tears as I pointed to it. “I had it engraved with this date upon it,” I gushed - the day we became a family. Darius smirked at me, shaking his head like he was just lost for words. “Can I see?” Darcy asked, reaching out towards it but he growled, his fist snapping closed over it before he pushed it into his pocket, muttering ‘mine’

“Hm…so you’re saying I should Guardian bond Cal to me, then I’d be irresistible to him?” “No, that’s not what I said.” “Uhuh, but let’s say I could figure out how to do that-” “Seth,” he hissed and I sighed. “Yeah, yeah, I wouldn’t actually do it. You know what I could do though…” “Tell him the truth?” he suggested and I waved a hand dismissively at that. “Don’t be ridiculous, now you’re sounding like Darcy.”

“So telling him the truth is ridiculous but Guardian bonding your best friend to you so that he might be more tempted to fuck you isn’t?” “Exactly.” I nodded.

“Wow, how bad would it be if we had to kiss, right?” I said to Caleb, chuckling nervously. “So bad, right?” “Done!” Xavier announced and my heart took off and flew to the moon, doing fifty cartwheels around it before crashing into a crater to make a home there. It’s happening. It’s on. It’s going down to Tucana town.

Xavier shoved out of his seat with a sigh, striding towards me and suddenly I was faced with kissing Darius’s star damned little brother and Caleb was walking away to sit down beside Max. No. Fucking no. It wasn’t fair. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.

“I can’t believe you bit me, man. Is that how you always kiss people?” Xavier dabbed at his swollen bottom lip. “Ah shit, did I just steal your rough kiss V-card?” I asked. “Or was it your first kiss V-card?” I gasped in horror. “Dude,” Darius growled at me and I shrugged innocently.

was his first time.” “Seth,” Darius hissed. “I’ve already had to watch you kiss my fucking brother like he was one of your little Wolf pack Betas, can we stop talking about it now?” “Alright, alright,” I said,

“Says the girl who kisses Darius like she’s trying to eat his whole face,” I tossed at her. “I do not,” she protested as Darius boomed a laugh.

“Hey, let me innnn,” Tory poked her sister as she scooted her chair past Darius to join us and Darcy looked to me with a hopeful plea in her eyes. “She won’t tell anyone,” she said and I whimpered. “You swear?” I asked and Darcy nodded. “I pinkie promise. Plus she knows Caleb pretty well, so maybe she can help?”

I was on a collision course with Caleb Altair, and I feared what was going to happen if I ever let a word of this slip out. Because I was sure it would equal our absolute ruin.

Too long had these rebels thwarted me. Too long had I been playing cat and mouse in a game where the mice found hiding all too easy. Too long had I suffered the intolerable taste of failure upon my tongue. But at last, that was over.

“The Rise of the False King,” I read, anger bubbling beneath the surface of my skin as my fire magic licked a path around my body. "By Felicity Corbin.”

“The self-proclaimed ‘most powerful man in Solaria’ has done little to claim his crown upon his own merits, instead, his use of the shadows and dark magic have been the true claimants to his power. Without the aid of these dark and twisted additions to his magic, he is in fact no more powerful than the rest of the Celestial Council and never will be.

the power he is wielding has been outlawed since long before he ever sat his unworthy ass upon the throne, and this alone should nullify his claim and see him sent to Darkmore Penitentiary to rot.”

“The true queens will rise,” she hissed, her split lip spilling blood down her chin. “When they ascend fully into their power, they will come for you. They will tear their father’s crown from your brow and rip you from the throne, showing the whole of Solaria what a small man you truly are.”

“You are nothing but a parasite living in the house of the true queens. And when they kill you, long may they reign.”

“How dare they use a Dragon-made creation to defy their king,” I spat, striding past him out the door with a decree firmly in mind as he scurried along at my heels. “Inform the press that a new law will be announced this afternoon. I am prohibiting all Orders from carrying stardust except Dragons or those with a permit from the king. Anyone found in possession of it will be charged with treason.”

Ughhh

How dare she wield her power against me? She was nothing without me. Nothing! “Poor angry little Daddy,” she purred,

My instincts wouldn’t quit though, they demanded I seize position as Dom of the herd and claimed Sofia as my own. And that was exactly what I planned on doing.

“What about the piercings?” I asked. “Don’t I need to pick something?” “Pick whatever you want,” he said. “I’m an earth Elemental. I can make metal and gemstones however you like. Just give me an idea of what you’re going for here. A Prince Faebert?”

Why oh fucking why had he done it without numbing my star damned dick first?

feeling like I was about to witness a horror show, my dick carved to pieces, served up like sushi on my lap.

“What a time to unveil your Long Sherman!” “Xavier,” Darius hissed. “Cover the fuck up.”

There was rivalry between us still, but as he let out a soft snort, I could tell he was happy to put it aside right now, as I was. And he leaned against me as I nuzzled the side of his head, the sweet scent of Sofia melding with his richer aroma.

He was a part of the family I’d found for myself, my herd, and I embraced that connection to him like I had embraced my own Order. And that was something my father could never take from us.

“Sometimes I wish the Savage King had never died,” he murmured, almost to himself as he kept me close. “I think about how different everything would have been if he’d managed to stop my father before this all happened. How much longer I would have had with you…”

Gerry tells us tales about the gardeners who have watered her fucking lawn, and I swear to the moon I will go on a killing spree if she brings up a single fucker other than me.”

“No. Not like you. It was you. Even before I ever laid eyes on you, it was you, Roxy. Only ever you.”

“Because if your little knitwear loving friend wasn’t an evil, mindless creature when his hat was helping him stay grounded, then it makes sense that the shadows are at least in part to blame for the Nymphs all acting so psycho all the damn time.”

Orion fell back into his professor role without even seeming to notice and pointed at her, giving her permission to speak.

“Nah. I’ve got a better idea,” I said. “You should make Seth and Cal hook up instead.” Seth’s lips popped open and he gave me half a death glare mixed with half an I love you glare while I just smirked at my master plan. Subtle? Not so much, but genius all the same.

“Is it information or Nymphormation?” I asked, barking a laugh at my own joke and Darcy fell apart with me while the others just looked at us like we’d cracked. “That was fucking funny,” I grumbled when none of them joined in. “It wasn’t, babe,” Seth said, shaking his head at me like I was some poor pathetic soul. “You’re not the funny one. Just try and stick in your snarky, bitchy lane, yeah? It suits you better.”

“I’m in,” Darcy agreed as Lance opened the book and stuck his nose into it, seeming to have forgotten we were here already. “Well ruffle my feathers, I can’t say no to some girl time with my queens,” Geraldine gasped and I grinned as we walked to the door.

daydreaming about going for a fly later on today with Tory and Gabriel. We sometimes cast rings of fire in the air and raced through them, the three of us tossing spells at each other to try and throw each other off. It was a game of dirty tactics and all of us ended up in fits of laughter by the end of it,

“Are you still hot for Xavier or is it just a Pegasus Dom thing?” Tory asked. Pink glittery tears spilled down her cheeks into the water. “I’m in love with them both,” she admitted on a breath like she’d been holding those words inside for who knew how long.

good for pickling your baguette, but when it comes to matters of the heart, a platoon of Long Shermans would never be satisfactory. So do Tyler and Xavier rock your underboats as well as showering your cockles in fresh whelks? Do they make your Lady Petunia do the ding-dang-tango and button your damsen?” “I’m not sure what you’re saying Geraldine,” Sofia said apologetically.