Sorrow and Starlight (Zodiac Academy, #8)

by Caroline Peckham

And as his Nebula Ally, I was here for his Elysian Mate too.

Good

I moved closer to him still, refusing to leave and releasing a wave of healing magic into his body to steal away those awful wounds on his chest. Was she worth all this pain? Even a mate offered from the stars wasn’t worth suffering like this for, was it?

It is

“I love you as a friend,” he said hurriedly, like he sensed the agony he’d caused me with that one word. “You’ve always meant so much to me. But I just never…it was never more than that. I’m sorry.”

Girl....

“You dare betray your king?!” he bellowed, air magic blasting at me, and I cast my own air back with a cry of alarm.

Fuck

My breath was torn from my lungs as I found myself falling through the black pit of selfish cruelty which tainted the inside of Lionel Acrux’s head, his thoughts a pit of thorny vines tearing into me as I was tangled within them, flashes of memory spilling into every part of my being.

Blinding pain cut through my side and I screamed as my connection to Lionel’s mind was severed by the unexpected attack, stumbling back, and clutching the dagger of ice which the fucking butler had plunged into my side.

I fear our girl might die

I reached for Lance, his eyes locking with mine, and I used the last of my energy to offer him the best memories of us I had.

This is so fucing sad

And I realised we’d possessed something far more valuable than what I’d been trying to gain from him all along. He was my friend, and I was his. And there was no truer love in my life than that.

That was the way of life, the past was sand turned to glass, never to be undone. And all I could do now was make peace with my end.

Fuck him!

“No!” I shouted so loud it burned my lungs, panic exploding through my body as Francesca’s life was lost to Lionel’s fire.

Wow just tear my heart from my chest

“Your death is coming, I swear that to you. It will be so bloody and terrible that it will be imprinted on the minds of all who are there to witness it forevermore. And I pray, I fucking pray, I am one of them.” My voice echoed with a hint of power which I hoped to the stars meant they were laced in prophecy.

“Daaaaddy,” Lavinia’s ethereal voice floated from the doorway, and Lionel stilled before turning reluctantly towards her.

Oh good...

“She’s still warm,” she whispered. “No need to waste the flesh.” She dove on Francesca’s body, biting and tearing into her skin with savagery, making me roar in anguish.

Fucking bitch

She threw him to the floor and his own shadow hand lifted, punching himself in the face.

Lmao!!

“No – wait – please!” Lionel cried, trying to get a hold of his power to stop her, but his shadow hand twisted the fingers of his Fae hand, breaking them all. He wailed again, his shadow hand slamming into his face with a bone-crunching blow, and my breathing stalled as I watched, basking in his pain.

Thats crazy

“Ahhh!” he screamed. “Kill him,” Darcy growled under her breath, hope lacing those words. “Yes, fucking kill him, you psycho,” I urged.

I doubt she will

“Look away,” he commanded in a ferocious growl. I didn’t and Darcy didn’t either, staring at his shame and drinking it all in. “We see you, Lionel Acrux,” Blue said icily. “We see your weakness.”

In answer, I slipped it onto my pinky finger, the slim silver band only reaching the first knuckle before it lodged there.

Ooo big hands sorry not the point

She had even gone so far as to log memories of herself reading secret documents which detailed the upcoming plans of the king and where he was aiming his wrath next.

What a badass

He lay on a nest containing the Memoriae crystal, the opal Guild Stone and the feather- bound book, protecting them all.

A tiny little Tiberian Rat for a guard didn’t seem like much, but Eugene was powerful, and we’d find a way to get him out of here yet.

Dude it crazy how important hes became

I bit my lip as I thought back on the lust-filled shriek that had escaped him as I took control, the desire and wariness which had melded in his gaze when he was forced to look upon my power and remember who the true might in our relationship was.

When you broke his dick

And with the sticky evidence of our joining glistening between my thighs, I knew I had it. The Dragon seed. My shadows were already drawing it deeper inside of me, pulling it up into the void where my womb had once been and fusing that seed to a seed of my own, creating a tendril of shadow and power beyond anything that had been seen in this realm in all the years I had haunted the earth.

Pleh!!!!

Wasn’t distracted by the idea of sinking his little cock into her pathetically willing body.

Im glad we get reminded so often

“Will this one be Dragon-born like you promised?” he hissed, some of his grit coming back to him as he caught his breath. “This one will be so much stronger than the last,” I swore to him. “A Dragon child with a heart of shadow. An heir both of us will be proud to call our son.”

Second antichrist

often think of what he could have been and regret not doing more to shape him into such. But no, I do not mourn him, nor regret what I did. He was tainted in the end. A failure.

Say it to my face

My belly swelled larger with every passing moment, the life inside of me growing fast, a claw scraping against my insides in ecstasy-laced agony.

Thanks i hate it

Four Fae heads stood on spikes, each looking inward to witness this birth,

Eww

The babe roared, and the heads witnessing its creation screamed at the sound of nightmares erupting from the opening between my thighs. I met the horror-filled gaze of the closest head, the Fae who had wielded fire in his living form and now remained trapped inside a decaying skull. He would be the first.

This is so fucked up

But with the dawn, I would birth the strongest creature this world had ever known, and all would bow at his feet when he turned his hunger upon them.

Insane.......

So only I, my queen, the three mostly irrelevant Heirs to nothing, sweet, heartbroken, wingless Xavier, and the devilish Storm Dragon and his family of heathens were present.

Shes so funny

“We discussed it briefly,” Leon said with a shrug. “And we decided to bet on the savage horses. You guys just seem kinda flappy since the other one died. Didn’t seem like the right choice. No offence.”

Oh.. Dont say that

“I received a message this morning,” Dante interrupted. “From the woman who Lionel tried to force me to procreate Storm Dragons with.”

Oh??? Juniper a rebel?

“That the three boys she gave birth to just Emerged in their Order forms,” Dante replied, his eyes dark. “And let’s just say... they weren’t little Dragon babies,” Leon snorted, before schooling his expression at a look from Dante. “No. They aren’t,” he continued.

Imagine that

“Oh sure, let’s just go with Tory’s plan. She’s so pretty and has such perfect hair and has magical tits that can-” “Dude, are you in love with your dead best friend’s widow?” Leon hissed in a whisper so loud even the clams in the distant sea could surely hear him. “’Cause that’s fucked up.” “No,” Seth blurted, looking horrified while Tory wrinkled her queenly nose at the suggestion.

And I, as the most pure-blooded female of my generation, would be the one to take a central role in all of this.

So much inbred...

The stars had laid it out for me, the bounty of the Dragon King himself spread before me as I readied myself to open for him and welcome him deep inside me. I was and always had been his creature, the closest thing to a Dragon queen this land knew.

Oh???

I had a will of iron and mental shields more impenetrable than my closely guarded vagina – destined only for the use of a Dragon of purest blood and honour.

Hate it

Humiliation tore through me as I was forced to watch my own failure at the hands of that plumped up, half plucked pigeon, and I bristled, trying to pull away from the memory.

Dont talk about gabe like that

“Are you all quite done posturing like a bunch of peacocks at a tea party?” Geraldine snapped, looking between us Heirs with narrowed eyes. Xavier and Tory shared a smirk at our expense, and I scoffed. “It’s not our fault we’re naturally radiant,” I said. “Naturally arrogant, you mean,” Tory corrected,

Oh shit, Xavier needed a team name too. I looked him over, from his athletic frame to the doom clouding his once-bright eyes, to the dark, floppy hair which glimmered with purple glitter and I instantly had my answer. Twinkle Stud.

Oh my stars…I’m a switch.

Im dying

“That’s the spirit, Twinkle Stud.” “What did you just call me?” I just smiled, knowing he’d heard and that he definitely loved it. You’re welcome, Twinkle Stud.

Moron

His little finger curled around mine for the briefest of eternities, and I forgot how to draw air into my lungs, but then our hands parted again and I wasn’t sure it had even happened.

Awwww

Geraldine leaned close, pressing her ear to Caleb’s other ear which wasn’t against the door. “Perhaps I can use you as an ear trumpet,” she whispered to herself, and I sniggered.

“Listen to me,” Stella growled. “You can take the others, but my son cannot leave here. He has-”

Let her speak!

“You’re looking to get put in your place, pup,” he warned. “And where’s my place? Because last I checked, it was at your side, not beneath you.” “That’s not how I remember it,” he said, a smirk tilting his lips, mocking me right fucking there in the open with what we’d done in secret.

Oop

I moved to open the door, but Geraldine karate chopped my hand away from the handle with a ‘yah!’. “Ow,” I cursed, narrowing my eyes at her. “Was that really necessary?” “Your unworthy paws cannot handle the intricacies of opening such a door.” Geraldine moved forward, raising a hand in a theatrical movement then slamming it down on the handle and opening the door like a normal fucking door. “How was that intricate?” I asked in frustration, but Geraldine was already gone, marching into the room with her flail raised high.

My heart sank like a stone in a well. The room was empty, nothing but chains around the chair to even suggest Gabriel had been here.

FUCK

“Hey, how come I have to ride in your arms like a baby? I’ll go on your back. Get down Geraldine.” I moved forward, grabbing her leg, but she kicked out like a new-born foal, her boot slamming into my dick. “Motherfucker.” I crumpled with a howl of pain, and Caleb took the opportunity to scoop me up in his arms and shoot off into the palace. I wasn’t being held like a baby at all – I was a motherfucking purse hanging limp beneath a grandma’s arm.

Im dying