The Awakening as Told by the Boys (Zodiac Academy, #1.5)

by Caroline Peckham

Darcy’s nose wrinkled at me and I realised she was disgusted with me. I tried to ignore the flash of heat that burned in my chest over that and ploughed on.

I just knew she’d taste like a dream. I had to know for sure though. I fucking had to.

Noxy: Just follow your heart. Lance: Eat a dick. Noxy: Is that an offer?

"Orion is so hot,” Kylie whispered. "Yeah and he knows it." The girl beside her smothered a laugh. "He does know it, because he has Vampire hearing." I looked up from my desk, pinning them in my gaze. "So if you don't want detention for the next week, I suggest you keep your petty thoughts to yourselves about me and any other member of faculty for that matter."

The only thing it’s ensured is that I can’t stop thinking about what it would look like spilled across my pillow while my hand is braced against the wall above her. Stop.

Wait a minute, maybe she’s a Siren. Maybe her gifts are starting to Emerge and she’s so strong than she’s capturing me in the trap of her allure. That would make a lot of sense.

“Coercion is one of the Cardinal magics gifted to all Fae without exception. It's the ability to control those of weak mind and is particularly effective on mortals.”

You’re in my trap now, Siren girl. And you’re not going to fuck with my head anymore.

“Terrible,” Darcy muttered and my eyes flashed her way. My gut tugged slightly at her miserable expression, but I immediately smothered that reaction. She’s a Siren, don’t fall for it.

Don’t hate the player, hate the game, princess.

“Blue, you’re with me.” I pointed at Darcy and she scowled at the nickname. Well it looks like you just bought yourself an eternity of being called that then, didn’t you Blue?

"Who are you trying to impress?" Darius asked dryly from behind me where he sat on one of the benches, lacing his white sneakers for the class. My gaze shifted to him in the mirror and I gave him a taunting grin. "Who do you think?" Darius huffed out a breath which was laced with smoke from his Dragon

"Under your heel, yeah?" I teased. "Because I'm getting the feeling you want her under you in a much more interesting way than that."

I cut a glance at Darius and the heat in his eyes had practically turned volcanic as he watched her, that dark anger in him stirring with a primal kind of desire which had my hackles raising. I'd heard him when he'd tried to claim her the moment she'd arrived here and one glance at the rigid muscles and fierce hunger in his eyes made it more than clear that he still wanted that.

“I’m not your personal anything,” she said.

But I could see the demon in his eyes as his gaze moved from her to me and I knew he was pissed.

Tory turned to watch us go and my hackles raised as I saw her eyes sweeping over Darius's body in a clear eye fuck. Nah, that wasn't going to work for me. I elbowed my Dragon friend as he eye fucked her right back

Darius's Order influencing his build he was now over six and a half foot tall and his muscles had muscles on them so even my six foot two couldn't compare. Asshole.

I only wished he could have been living his dream of playing in the League rather than having to throw his passion for it into training us. It wasn't even like he'd be coaching any of us into the League ourselves - at least not any of the Heirs, because our fates were written for us even more firmly than his had been.

"It's shit hot, man, ignore her," Cal replied and Seth instantly perked up, sidling closer to him. "You think? Because I think you look totally fuckable right now all covered in mud. In fact, I'd definitely suck your dick if you wanna go get drunk in the shimmering springs again like the last time when we-"

"Girl looks fuckable every time I lay my eyes on her,"

"What do you think the chances are of us convincing the two of them to join us in an Heir/Princess orgy before we have to kick them the hell out of here?"

one Vega was more than enough for me and I had my focus firmly fixed on her.

Roxy Vega had captured my attention and she wasn't letting it go any time soon.

I wanted to capture that look and bottle it to keep with me at all times. That look had made me feel more alive than anything had in a long damn time and the thought of having to run her out of here before I'd even gotten the chance to taste it again made my jaw clench with irritation. But this wasn't about me or my insignificant desires. When had anything I'd desired ever mattered anyway? I was just a pawn in my father's plans and he'd given his instructions clearly enough.

That knot in my gut tightened as she screamed in fright but I ignored it, finding that place in my soul where I retreated whenever my father raised his fist and blocking out anything I may have felt aside from the need to get this done.

I wasn't good. I wasn't her rescuer. I was just my father reborn, exactly how he wanted me to be. No matter what thoughts I may have had on the subject.

just wanted to know that no matter how monstrous I became while being forced to walk in my father's shadow, I still held a little light of my own which he couldn't smother. I could still be my own man when I wanted to be.

I knew that there wasn't ever going to be any kind of choice that I would make which would sacrifice my brother's safety for the sake of some frightened girl I didn’t even know.

Gwen looked to me for help and my gut twisted sharply. Why the fuck did she have to keep looking at me like I might have been something I wasn't? Why was she trying to have faith in me when I had none in myself? I wasn't her saviour. I wasn't even my own saviour yet. And the sooner she realised that the better, so I just gave her a cold stare in reply.

Gwen dropped to her knees, glaring at me with a look of betrayal in her eyes which only pissed me off. Because why the fuck was she laying any kind of faith in me in the first place? I didn't need her looking at me like that.

Yeah, that was it. The Mortal Realm had fucked with me and once I’d fed tonight, everything would go back to normal.

Alright…darkness…path…sunlight. I’m too tired for this shit. I need a drink.

my heart did something strange as I rounded the corner into the corridor that led to my office. Then my eyes fell on a girl standing there coated in dried mud from head to toe with a glint of blue hair peeking from her smothered form which told me exactly who it was. What in the actual fuck had happened to her?

The air seemed to charge with an energy so fierce that I felt it right down to my soul and I fought the urge to look back at her to try and figure out if she felt it too.

Because I knew about the blood that ran in her veins, I knew the cruelty that the King had delivered on our kingdom. And I knew that once this creature found her footing in this world, that evil could awaken once more.

I pressed forward, crushing her to the wood with my chest and pinning her there as my bite deepened. I couldn’t help but notice how good her body felt against mine, how her hot breath fanned against my neck and how her wriggling made her breasts grind over me. This was a thousand times better than any fantasy I’d conjured. This was like taking a throne among the stars themselves.

I’d still be coming back for more of her. I was hooked.

I realised my cock was throbbing and I was growing one hundred percent hard over her – not her, her blood. My jaw locked as heat ran up the back of my neck. Fuck.

And it made my stomach knot because if she and Tory learned how to harness this power residing in their veins, they’d be unstoppable.

I found she was also gifted with a line called the Ring of Solomon which curved beneath her index finger. I frowned as I examined the rare line, the marking indicating a Fae who was self-sacrificing and good at heart.

My thumb glided onto the line that indicated her love life and a shiver darted down my spine that I swear she felt too as she shifted in her seat. I kept my gaze on her palm, the air in the room becoming thinner and a faint whisper seemed to carry to me that held no words I understood.

The markings spoke of a significant love in her life that would be wrought with hardship and emotional turmoil. It was split in places which indicated the worst of those hardships and the end of it was muddled with so many intersecting lines that it was hard to tell whether the love continued beyond them or if the relationship ended abruptly within those trials.

She was mine.

This girl was not to be taken from me.

Though I’d hazard a guess her daughters have her beat. This one to me is like a fucking magnet.

and so long as she kept looking at me like I was the key to everything she’d searched for her whole life, I wanted to keep talking.

The intention was to humiliate her, though it seemed to be having the added side effect of gaining way more male appreciation for how fucking hot she was than I would have liked. But I wasn't saying a word about it.

It was the fire I could see burning between us as she'd glared up at me and I'd loomed over her. She was challenging me to make her bow and I was aching to do it in more ways than one.

I wanted my hand fisted in her black hair, her mouth on mine and her naked flesh pressed up against me as she gasped my name like a prayer to a god and I ruined her like a demon born to sin.