Zodiac Academy Fated Throne - Caroline Peckham Page 0,139

hesitated. His hair was overgrown and his beard seriously needed a trim. No doubt Darius had already told him that I was mostly myself again now, but he was being cautious all the same.

I stepped closer, looking around to check that the place was empty and the blinds were drawn over the windows to hide us away in here.

The moment I was certain there was no one else around, I dropped my resting bitch mask, grinning at Orion in greeting and he shot towards me, a breath of laughter passing his lips as he swept me up into a fierce embrace.

I smiled like an idiot as I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed him tight as he spun me in a circle.

“I’m so glad their plan to bring you back worked,” he muttered.

"Shit, dude, don't start crying on me. I thought you were meant to be an asshole?" I teased and he laughed against my hair as he gave me an extra squeeze.

"Give me a few minutes to just be glad to have you in your right mind again then I promise to go back to being a dick as soon as I can," Orion joked.

I relented, hugging him tight for a moment as we just took a second to appreciate the fact that we were both half free of our shackles, then I huffed out a frustrated breath and kneed him in the balls as hard as I could.

Orion wheezed out a cough laced with a surprised curse and I gave him a shove so he fell back onto the couch beside us as he cupped his junk.

"That's for breaking my sister's heart, asshole," I snarled, pointing a finger at him and glaring.

On the one hand, I was seriously pleased to have him back, but on the other, Darcy was my one and only priority in the world and as her big sister - by a few minutes, but whatever - it was my duty to give him a hard time. And that knee to the balls had been a long time coming.

"Fuck, Tory, why do you always go for the balls?" he groaned, cupping his crotch with his eyes half closed against the pain.

"You're lucky I left them attached to your body," I warned. "You're on my shit list, douchebag, and don't you forget it. I might be seriously happy to see your hairy face, but I'm also going to slap it every time I do until you fix this shit."

"Fix it?" he grunted. "There is no fixing it, Tory. It's too late for-"

I cuffed him around the ear hard enough to knock his head to one side and he snarled at me, baring his fangs.

"Stop," he warned.

"Bite me, asshole," I taunted and he glared at me for another moment, his gaze darting to my throat for a second like he was half considering trying that before releasing a hopeless kind of laugh.

"You know, your sister is a lot nicer than you are," he grumbled.

"No shit, Sherlock. That's why I'm kicking your ass on her behalf. She's too good to go for the balls but I swear to you now, if you hurt her again then I'm coming for yours with a fist full of Phoenix fire. Got it?"

"You're a fucking animal," he said, shielding his junk protectively and giving me a look that told me he knew I meant it.

“Yeah. And don't you forget it. Now, why don't you get me a drink and we can sit here feeling sorry for ourselves together while I wait for Lionel to get back before I have to pretend I'm a soulless vessel for the shadows again?" I dropped down on the couch beside him and he rolled his eyes at me before shooting away and grabbing a bottle of bourbon with a pair of matching glasses.

I took the one he offered me and he poured a healthy dose into it before filling his to the brim.

"I see you're back on the booze," I commented even though it had been my suggestion. But I wasn't the one who had already drunk three quarters of that bottle so my point was still valid.

"Well I have very little reason to abstain these days," he muttered.

"Cheers to that," I agreed, clinking my glass against his before sinking the lot and relishing the burn of it running down my throat. "You wanna get drunk with me and talk shit about Lionel?"

"No. That sounds fucking terrible."

"I know. But I have to sleep in a