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

by Caroline Peckham

Because now he was going to have to become the monster he tried so hard not to be and I guessed in his eyes that was all her fault.

She wasn’t going to tell because she felt this too, it was written into her flesh, the way her eyes dipped to my mouth and her throat bobbed. I wasn’t sure she was even aware of how much those eyes were pulling me in, begging me to commit a crime with her.

A Vampire’s bite could be hot as fuck, and I definitely enjoyed it when Cal pinned me down and drove his fangs into me,

I slid the blade from my pocket and gripped the back of her neck, locking her in place against me as I prepared to sacrifice a piece of my soul for the throne. “Seth,” she yelped, breaking our kiss as I held on tighter, not willing to lose this chance.

There. It was done. I’d done my duty. But why was that satisfaction already starting to turn sour?

icy coldness dripping down my spine as I found her shattered, knowing exactly who had done this to her without needing a single word to leave her lips. A splinter of rage seemed to lodge in my chest, never to be pulled free.

Her eyes flared with the fury of hell and I saw the Fae in her for a second before she turned away and tried to hide her face from me, leaving my chest in knots. No…Blue.

This wasn't about me or her or the throne. It was about my little brother who needed my protection. And maybe she would have understood that if I explained it, because she loved her sister as fiercely as the sun, so I was sure she would make any sacrifice for her too.

So in the eyes of the world who watched me, I would simply be the villain.

I felt a tremor of fear shiver through her flesh where I held her, but still, I didn't let go. I only had to think of my brother, terrified and waiting for me to finish this and I knew I wouldn't falter.

He knew full well that I had no fucking choice and even if he was willing to go against his mother's wishes on this, I didn't get the luxury of being able to challenge my father on anything.

She looked into my eyes but instead of all the fire and fury she normally offered me, I just saw a girl looking back at me. A girl who had had her life here stolen from her when she was a baby. Who had been thrown away and cast aside and had never belonged anywhere until she found her way back to Solaria.

She was lost and searching for something which might be the key to filling up all of the empty places in her soul. And I could understand that urge better than most.

I could focus on him instead of letting myself be distracted by a girl who could never be mine anyway.

scream tore from her lungs which sliced right through me.

Because I already knew that this line I had crossed wasn't one I could ever turn back from. I was just like him now. Just like the man I’d always sworn I would never become.