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“Do you have any Christmas traditions, Angelica?” Hamish asked her and she nodded. “My mom always gets us to lay out on the roof and stargaze. We cuddle up in blankets at midnight on Christmas Eve each year with a glass of mulled wine. It’s my favourite thing in the world,” she cooed and my heart tugged even sharper as I shared a glance with Tory, seeing the same ache in her eyes.
“We didn’t have anyone,” Tory said bluntly and I felt those words ringing around the empty space inside my chest. “It was us. Just us,” I said, sharing a look with Tory and she smiled half-heartedly back at me. Catalina suddenly touched my arm and I looked to her, finding her face taut with emotion. “You deserved better.”
traditions?” Catalina suggested, her eyes brightening as she looked between me and Tory hopefully. “There were so many I wanted to have with my boys over the years, but Lionel never allowed it…” She blew out a harsh breath. “The point is, that both of you as well as my boys, Lance and me missed out on a lot of things, but that’s no reason to keep missing them. Can you think of anything you might like to do?”
“I’ve always wondered how you make mince pies,” I said with a shrug, kinda liking the idea of learning. “And I’ve always liked eating mince pies,” Tory added, making me laugh. “We could go for a flight on New Year’s Day?” I suggested. “Lance could ride Darius and we could invite Gabriel’s family too?” “Gerry and I could run beneath you, howling you on,” Hamish added enthusiastically but Catalina shook her head.
“No. You should ride on me,” she said, her cheeks colouring as she voiced the idea. “Upon the back of a Dragon?” Hamish gasped. “My lady, what a scandal we shall cause.” “Lionel will roll in his grave,” Catalina replied wickedly, and we all laughed hopefully at the idea of him being dead.
“Bake flamberbam cookies, hang naffly mistletoe, build gingerbread igloos, lay traps for elves, pickle a gherkin, wash some homeless fellows, dance upon a gooseberry, do the naked jive, place a prickly pinecone between our fanny cheeks in a Christmas Pine Cleansing, befriend a bad-tempered owl, tie bows in the shoelaces of Fae who have forgotten how and-” “Take it down a notch, poppet, you’re losing your noggin again,” Hamish interrupted as Geraldine kept going without drawing breath, her face reddening more and more as she went on.
“I would be honoured if you considered me a part of your family,” Catalina said, tears shining in her eyes and my heart swelled at the thought of that. Of how much we might all be able to claim with one another once we were done fighting this war. “I would love that,” I murmured and Tory took my hand beneath the water, letting me know that she agreed with that too. “You deserved to know your sweet mother and your gallant father,” Hamish said brusquely, rage colouring his cheeks.
Your father and I studied together at Zodiac Academy, you know? He was a pioneer of a man, always shooting for the moon. I was a senior when he started, but good golly, he wowed me like a candy to a crow. We bonded when we were on the Pitball team together, see?”
“Oh he was a cad of course, every Lilith and June swooned at his feet. But he had the mark of a true king even then. His power was unlike anything I had ever seen, his casts so beautiful, it often brought a tear to my eye. And though his popularity was faultless, he was always humble. He liked his private time, he liked to draw too. His art was more wonderful than a lambent moon on a hillside.”
“What else?” Tory pushed and Hamish started regaling us with stories of our dad on the Pitball team, the Waterguard, which made Geraldine squeal as that was her position. I got lost in the sea of stories that painted a picture of the man I’d never know in my mind, my longing to meet him so fierce, it opened an old wound in my chest.
And hoped one day when I walked beyond The Veil, he’d be waiting there for me with the same passion and love in his heart that Hamish described him to have. I just wished death didn’t have to be the first time we’d meet.
“Yes, you crusty old crabbit, this is the royal quarters!” Geraldine snapped. “How did you even get into the true queens’ bathhouse?” “I have my ways,” Washer purred,
Ewwwww
And keep your crack of dawn for a faraway sunrise!”
From Minotaurs to fierce looking Medusas and Harpies, the masonry was so skilled and beautiful, the pillars almost looked alive.
My mom had contacted me a few times through the journal to say they were alright, and she’d been letting us know Lionel’s schedule so we always knew his movements. Not that it helped us a whole lot considering the entourage of Dragons he often travelled with, the FIB who attended his events in force, and the Shadow Princess hounding his every move.
“Shit dude, you look like you’ve been cheating on my sister with that hardback,” I teased and he looked up at us with a grin as he laid the book down in front of him. “Do I need to break her spine?” Darcy teased as he shoved his messed up hair out of his eyes with a deep laugh.
“This is an account of prophecies which were foretold in the last few hundred years which may or may not have come to pass – basically any prophecy that a Seer of note was gifted from the stars which wasn’t about events in their lifetime.
‘Reuniting the stones of the Zodiac Guild will mark the dawn of a new reign.’”
“THE TIME IS NIGH!” “Jesus!” I clapped my hands over my ears and Darcy winced violently as Geraldine burst into tears, thankfully ending the spell before dropping to her knees before us. “We must reunite the stones and mark the dawn of your reign, my queens,” she gasped between sobs and my frantic heartbeat finally began to calm as I realised she was just having an A.S.S. episode. “You scared the crap out of us, Geraldine,” Darcy scolded
The most well-known being The Gems of Lariom which were rumoured to be the prized possession of a Dragon called Hermiod hundreds of years ago. He loved them more than life itself and the stars cursed him to lose them for prizing them above all else.
“Don’t worry, babe,” Seth said casually. “Darius just decapitated a Nymph then Max started a fight with him after we got back because he didn’t appreciate the way he handled it. No biggie.” “Oh.” I dropped back into my seat again and Darius scowled at me for how quickly my concern fell away, but he was clearly fine so I wasn’t going to fuss over him like some mother hen. “You killed it?” Darcy breathed. “It was evil, little Vega,” Max promised. “We saw what it had done to our kind.”
“Aren’t you gonna come running over to heal me, baby?” Darius taunted me. “Fat chance of that. Don’t get into fights with your friends if you can’t handle the fallout,” I scoffed.
Darcy and I glanced at each other, nearly cracking up further before Orion’s gaze slid onto us, and his demon professor eyes had the eerie effect of making our laughs die in our throats. Dude was gifted at the bossy teaching shit even if he never had liked his old job.
“There’s a rift between the Fae and Shadow Realms which is feeding Lavinia power and the Nymphs have been helping her bolster it with those dark artifacts,”
“Question is, how do we close a rift between the realms?” Seth asked as he dropped into a seat opposite me. “With dark magic,” Orion replied in a serious tone. “But it won’t be simple to achieve.” “Who cares about simple?” I asked. “I wanna know if it’s doable or not.” “I think it will weaken Lavinia if we can manage it,” Darius added.
“We can handle it,” Caleb said with a cocky shrug. “We can take out a few Nymphs.” “Hell yeah we can,” Seth agreed. “We’re the Phoen Dream, Bitchy Flame Eyes, Wolfman, Bitey C, Fish Fury, Dragzilla, Professor Shame and Batty Betty.” “Don’t start with that shit again,” Darius groaned as Geraldine chuckled loudly at the name he’d gifted her and my smile widened at mine.
“Yeah, what Gerry said, let’s pound them until they can’t take no more,” Max agreed with a grin as Geraldine gasped. “Do not be so vulgar you stupendous sea urchin!” Geraldine cried,
“But that is the problem. Your dear Dragoon is blinded by his unfortunate upbringing, a need to prove himself worthy of his position and your love, his Leo pride, the stubbornness of Mars itself and not to mention the most desperate desire of his heart to keep you safe. There will be no reasoning with him, and I thought it prudent to save you the wasted breath. Big men like to talk the talk and bluster on about how powerful and right they are - but you gals and I know the truth.” “What truth?” Darcy asked as we were pulled into Geraldine’s room. “That a woman holds so much more power than any
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“This armour was crafted for the queens of old. Your ancestors from times gone past who shared your heritage and held your Order forms,” Geraldine breathed reverently. “It has the fire of the Phoenix living within it, utterly unbreakable and untarnishable.”
Fly fast and true, sweet girl. Secrets wait beneath the ground, search fearlessly and they shall be found. I arched a brow at what I had to assume was some kind of prophecy, holding my note out for Darcy to read as she showed me hers. When darkness steps closer, lean into the light. The strongest of weapons is forged in the flame, hold your breath and fight through the pain.
“Get dressed, my queens, it is no time to dilly dally,” Geraldine barked
This is the armour of your kind, forged in the fire of the Phoenixes themselves - they are the garments worn by the warrior queens who sired your line many a moon ago.
“We do look kinda regal,” I admitted, a smirk on my lips as Darcy grinned. “And our mom wanted us to wear it,” she said with an ache in her eyes, her fingers trailing over the beautiful armour.
“We’re just gonna go there, barbecue a bunch of Nymphs while Orion and Caleb fix the rift and be right back here in time for buttery bagels at dawn.” “And they shall be the butteriest of bagels indeed,” Geraldine crowed.
“You’re taking over The Daily Solaria?” I asked, realisation dawning as he nodded. “My mom died determined to get the truth into the hands of the people of Solaria. She didn’t back down no matter how much Lionel threatened her and she remained brave and true to her beliefs until her dying breath. That paper was more than just her job. It’s her legacy. And no matter how hard Lionel may try and block me from continuing, he won’t be able to stop me.
Geraldine let out her pterodactyl screech, damn near giving me a heart attack
I might have liked the idea of making Darius Acrux bow for me, but I was quite happy pitting my shadow against his too. He might have been bigger than me, but that didn’t mean shit when it came down to our strength. And I was just as strong as him plus some.
“Promise me you’ll make sure your sister behaves, Blue,” Orion muttered to Darcy as I closed in on them. “Just do what Darius says and stay safe while we’re out there.” “Don’t worry,” Darcy agreed easily, glancing at me and twinunicating the fact that neither of us would be blindly taking orders from my boyfriend tonight. “I won’t let Tory out of my sight,” she promised and Orion nodded in relief,
“Don’t die,” she commanded and the corner of his lips twitched in amusement. “Yes, My Queen,” he replied
Damn Vega twins were going to be the death of all of us if they didn’t just accept their place soon, this power struggle between us was going to keep building in intensity until then though. I just hoped that when it came down to it and we had to face off with them for real, that we could all maintain this semblance of peace we’d managed to form once it was done.
“You really love her, don’t you?” I asked, tasting the intensity of that feeling on his skin and soaking it in with a shiver of pleasure. “She’s everything,” he replied simply and I damn near grinned at the shift in his emotions. Darius had had so much dark, so much pain and angst thrown at him in his lifetime. And though those emotions weren’t totally banished now, I could feel the love, hope and joy which surrounded him these days so clearly that it made my fucking soul lighter just to know about it.
They might have been able to fight back against our Elemental magic easily enough, but they had no idea what they were going up against when they came face to face with the monsters which lay within us. We were the most powerful of our Orders in the entire kingdom, and we were ready to play.
We didn’t slow, we couldn’t. If we missed a single step, we’d be spotted so we sped towards the open doors at the end dark room with all we had.
“Fuck, did I nearly slit my star damned wrists?” he cursed, pushing a hand into his blonde curls as he stared at the dagger on the floor in disgust. “I’m too pretty to die in some ugly shadow cave.” “You must not cut yourself in this place,” I said urgently, eyeing the rift with concern as I felt the certainty of those words passing my lips. “That fucking thing will rip the soul clean out of your body to be devoured within it if you do. Focus your mind and resist it - you need to think of something good.”
“Hi Lavinia.” I smirked at the dark portal, raising my hands as I prepared to start the spell which would cut her off from this pool of power. “I just came here to say fuck you.”
I swung my axe with such brutality that my arms ached and each strike of my weapon against bone or woody flesh reverberated through my body like the toll of a death march.
The sound of a Tarzan yodel drew my attention to my left and I glanced that way just in time to spot Geraldine swinging between the trees on a thick vine, her flaming flail aimed with brutal precision as she bore down on a Nymph with a yell of, “Not today you nilly nodger!”
It was like the brush of a hand down my spine, the whisper of a lover in my ear and the call of a Siren even more powerful than Max who was aching to lure me to paradise.
Orion shouted something and I heard a single name amongst the words he spat my way, a name which had me shaking my head in an attempt to clear it, remembering the feeling of warm hands against my flesh and blood on my lips. I clung on to that feeling with all I had, closing my eyes for a brief moment and severing the tie the shadows had tried to leash me with before I snapped them open again, looking down at the dagger in my hand and snarling as I realised the fucking shadows had almost snared me.
Orion nodded, licking his lips and giving me a hungry look which told me I clearly tasted as good as he did. But I couldn’t let myself get caught up in the fact that I’d just crossed that most taboo of lines with him. “Then let’s open this place up so the twins can destroy what’s left here,” Orion said firmly, lifting his gaze to the roof above our heads and bringing a smirk to my lips as I realised what he was planning.
