Sorrow and Starlight (Zodiac Academy, #8)

by Caroline Peckham

he didn’t pull me closer, he wasn’t there. He wasn’t him. “Lance,” I begged, my voice shattering on the sharp rocks of terror. I couldn’t lose him here in this cold room before a throne that was still claimed by a heartless king. “I can help,” a female voice made me whip around with a growl on my lips, and I found Stella Orion quietly closing the throne room door. She was in jeans and a black t-shirt, looking out of place in this grand room built for royalty. “Stay away from us,” I warned, rising to my feet, and hastily swiping the tears from my cheeks. Stella ignored me, drifting closer, trying to look past me to Orion.

I HOPE SHE TAKES HIS PLACE

“I love your son more than you can even comprehend.” “I see that now. I’ve seen his silver rings.” “The rings don’t change what we felt for each other before the stars offered them to us,” I hissed. “The world decided to validate our love the second we were mated, but we loved each other long before that. The people who really care for us accepted that well before the stars had their say,” I said passionately. “You are not one of those people.”

She was taller than me, but I didn’t feel any less powerful than her, even if she was looking down at me within a cage. Under normal circumstances, I was far stronger than her, and whether I had magic in my veins now or not, I would stand between her and her son always.

Such bravery

“I know why he loves you,” she said, her lower lip quivering. “You don’t know anything about us,” I refuted, but she went on as if I hadn’t spoken. “It’s this…rebellion in you. He has it too. I can see why you make a perfect match.”

STAWWPP OMG

I’d fight her like a damn mortal with fists and teeth alone if I had to.

“Your son is the most incredible Fae I have ever had the privilege to know, and he deserves happiness and peace. I vow on all I am that I will give him those things, and I will destroy anyone who takes them away from him. That includes you, Stella. I have a long list of enemies now, and your name sits close to the top of it.” “Forgive me,” she sobbed, breaking apart and leaving me confounded as she lurched forward and wrapped her hands around mine on the bars.

Oh im obsessed with how they love each other

And I should have been a mother he could bring you home to.”

Oh my heart

“There’s nothing you can do that will ever earn my forgiveness,” I said, yanking my hands away from her and stepping back. “To hurt him is to incite my wrath. You turned your back on him and left him alone in the world when he needed you the most. There is nothing that can undo that.”

I fucking love the loyalty they have to each other

“Swear you won’t hurt him,” I hissed, looking straight at her as I made my choice. “I swear.” She offered me her hand to make a deal, but I knocked it aside. I had no access to my magic anyway, and I didn’t trust the stars anymore.

When I’d first come to Solaria, I'd been so open to all the magic in the world, and I’d somehow had an unwavering belief that everything would work out for us.

Dont let that light fade darc

Slowly, Orion opened his eyes and I saw the man I loved in the depths of them once again, his silver rings almost seeming to glow for a moment. I lunged at him with a squeak of delight, knocking him sideways so his back hit the floor as I wrapped him in my arms and kissed the corner of his mouth. Then the dimple hiding in his cheek and the stubble on his jaw.

OH THANK GOD

“You’re back,” I whispered, relief flooding me, and he carved his fingers through my hair as he held me close. “I’ll always come back to you, Blue,” he promised, taking away the fear in my heart.

OH MY HEART

“Thank you for bringing this man into the world. He is the best thing you have ever done.”

“This is the passage I saw in Gabriel’s vision,” Orion said in realisation and a thrill darted through me. We’d looked for the thing since he’d told me my brother had seen it, but we’d had no luck finding it. “He showed me that I’d have three hours before anyone came back to the throne room.”

COME ON ESCAPE

“Easy there, beastie,” he said, a smirk in his voice. “Did no one ever tell you the tale of Beansprout Jacabee?” “Erm, no. No one ever told me bedtime stories,” I said, and he frowned at that.

Oh darcy

“Please, sir,” I said, my voice laced with lust, and he hmmed in approval of that.

GUYS FUCK LATER GET FUCKING MOVING

“If you’d rather, you can jump on my back like a little koala bear, and I’ll run us there with my speed.”

Awww

“But then there’ll be no time for stories,” I said,

YEAH BUT AT LEAST YOU COULD ESCAPE YOU IDIOT

If we ever have kids, I will never let them out of my sight.” A smile lifted my lips at the image of that. “You’d be a seriously protective daddy.” “I’d be the asshole parent, but I’m good with it,” he said, only making my smile grow. “They can hate me so long as they keep breathing.” “You really think about that stuff?” I asked, trying to picture a future where any of that was possible now. It was all so out of reach, just pretty dreams stitched from our imagination. “Only since you,” he said quietly.

My heart hurts

“Remember who you are, Blue,” Orion said, his biceps straining as he held me still. “Think of Tory, how she’s waiting for you out there beyond these walls. Think of how much she loves you.”

“Your will is stronger than iron,” he said firmly. “You can fight this. Do it for your sister, for your brother, for you, for us.”

“That’s my girl,” he exhaled, pressing a kiss to my hair. “You’ve got this.”

“You are the only thing in this world that I’m wholeheartedly optimistic about, Darcy Vega, because I know I’ll fight to death and beyond to keep you. And I’m starting to think you might do the same for me.” “Starting to think?” I said, a smile making my lips weightless. “There isn’t an enemy in the kingdom I wouldn’t face down for you.”

Oh to have their love

“You’re a curious little mouse today,” he said. “Or maybe a shrew,” I said with a frown. “Darius used to call me that.” “A shrew?” he chuckled. “I weirdly liked it,”

I released Orion’s hand, quickening my pace towards it, feeling him following close at my back. Ever the guard dog.

“Amantium Caelum – The Lovers’ Sky.

One day, a young woman from Alestria came to the palace with a simple wooden box in her arms, and when she opened it for the queen, this is what came out. And that very night, they were mated by the stars.”

LESBIAN QUEENS OMG

I turned to Orion to ask him a question, finding him holding a glittering star in his hand, trying to place it among the Orion constellation.

“I’m moving the Vega star over here,” he said. “It looks good here, don’t you think?” I laughed, jogging over to join him as he reached above his head again and tried to make the Vega star sit with Orion.

Awwww

“Well, it wasn’t very professorly of me when I took a student to my bed either, was it?” he said. “Or when I had you over my desk, at the Fairy Fair, in the archives-”

DAMNNN

Orion looked down at me, his eyes locking with mine as he smirked like a predator. “Oh well, I’ve got myself a Vega anyway.”

“Darius would have loved this place,” he said, my heart panging at his name. “We never would have gotten him out of here,” I agreed,

My fingers tingled from the memory of casting red and blue flames just like those, knowing them instinctively, as if they were a part of me. I guessed in a way, they were.

“Blue,” he growled. “Were you just about to touch The Untouchable Egg?”

“You don’t have your Phoenix anymore,” he said, and I tried to ignore how much those words hurt.

His frowny features lifted a little. “You know I get hard over you ordering me about.”

“You are the most precious thing in this world to me.

“Not a possession, no. But you are mine. You were mine before we met, and mine the minute we locked eyes. You are mine in this life, and every life we may experience from this point forward. You are mine in every reality you exist, and mine in every reality you don’t. And I am yours in kind, in every way you can imagine. I will gladly be your possession, but I will also be your guardian, your keeper, your protector. And I will do whatever I can to turn you away from danger, because it is impossible for me not to.”

“Keep the broken promise,”

The promise is to win the war?

All Phoenixes shall be my adversaries from this day forth, and I shall twist their fates so they fail in all endeavours, their lives will be full of sorrow, and there will be no way out until the promise is kept. Either that, or their Order shall fall, and no more will ever walk this earth.”

Fucking fantastic! So are the going to keep the promise or lose their powers?

“This explains…everything,” he said in shock, and I broke away from him, beginning to pace without thought as my mind worked over all we’d seen.

“Do you have any idea how rare of an event that is, Blue? There are only a handful of Fae in the world who have seen it. Most of our kind would give anything to witness a Donum Magicae. I, myself, have studied it in countless books, but never have I had a true imagining of what it would be like to stand in the power of one of the celestial creators. What was it like?” “It was…shiny,” I murmured, my mind still distracted by the memories.

instead, we stared at one another with a thousand unspoken words passing between us. I love you. I’m sorry. I hope you’re alright.

FOE.

Hahah they hate him too

Gabriel glanced at me, his mouth lifting at the corner, and I smiled back. If the Voldrakians had decided not to remain allied with Solaria, was there a chance they’d go to war against Lionel?

Thank god

“You saw this.” “Yes,” Gabriel said, raising his chin, and Mildred looked back at him, her under-bite jaw dropping as she realised he’d used her as a shield.

LMFAOO GABRIEL ILY

Then there was the eternal question of the man with the painted smile. I

I always thought it was orion. I bet it is

As if turning a blind eye to us and all the horrors of this place somehow made him less responsible for it. But cruelty still happened whether you acknowledged it or not.

“Gabriel is one of the strongest Fae I know. He’s resilient. Like you.”

“Look at this…” His hand moved back to the book as he studied it, turning it over and running his fingers along the spine. I broke a smile at the fascination on his face and watched him as he continued his intricate examination of the book’s binding. “You’re staring,” he murmured, his mouth hooking up at the corner and revealing his dimple. “It’s hard not to stare when you look this cute,” I said, and he glanced over at me with a dry look.