Zodiac Academy Fated Throne - Caroline Peckham Page 0,182

posturing bullshit," Orion agreed, sounding less than enthused by my idea but he was less than enthused by most things since he'd fucked up his relationship with my sister, so I was willing to ignore that.

"Okay, sooo... that big guy over there is saying; 'I just got that new butt plug you recommended, Brenda, and you're right, it does help keep the stick even further up my ass'."

Orion snorted a laugh then nodded. "First off, every guy here is a 'big guy' so I'm gonna need more to go on than that. But also, I definitely heard more than a few of them talking about those new Dragon scale butt plugs that are all the rage right now, so I'm sure you're right."

"And I heard the sticks have extra splinters which explains why they're all grumpy fuckers. Aside from Dante - he clearly had his removed."

"What about Darius?"

"Darius may have forgone the butt plug, but the stick is most likely still pretty firmly up there. But the stars won't let me get him naked to check."

"I'll be sure to tell him you want to get him naked when he crawls into my bed tonight," Orion said.

"If you must. Getting naked has never been my issue. Sex is a whole lot simpler than...all that other relationship shit. Now focus on the game and tell me what that Christopher dude is saying to Lionel. Is it something like; 'I only wish to lick your ass, oh King of the Dragons!'?"

Orion inclined his head as he trained his senses on the big bald Dragon in question while he spoke to Lionel on his throne. I watched the conversation too, noting the way Christopher nodded excitedly at something Lionel said as he placed a possessive hand on Catalina's thigh.

Darius's mom nodded robotically and Christopher grinned as she got to her feet.

"What the fuck..." Orion murmured, drawing my attention back to him as he pushed himself upright, frowning over at Catalina as she walked out of the pavilion with Christopher beside her.

"What?" I asked. "Where are they going?"

Orion looked more than a little sickened as he glanced between them and Darius who was still caught in Mildred's grasp on the dance floor.

"We have to go after them," he hissed.

"We can't," I replied and my pulse picked up as I checked around to see if anyone was paying us any attention.

“Lionel just told that big motherfucker that he could have Catalina for the night,” he growled urgently. “And then he Dark Coerced her to go with him and do whatever he wanted.”

My lips fell open and I shook my head, though I didn't know why I was trying to deny it. I knew exactly how much of a monster Lionel Acrux was. I knew that he'd been controlling and abusing everyone around him for years and years, so this shouldn't have surprised me but it did. She was his wife. The mother of his sons. And he was just handing her out as a favour to some gross old sleezebag to use however he wanted for the night like she was nothing?

Catalina had been on my mind a lot over the last few weeks since I'd been brought back to myself, and I'd been worried about her stuck here in this house. But I'd never once imagined she was being subjected to something like this.

"Wait," I growled as Orion made a move to leave. "Can you hear them? Catalina and that fucking pig she’s gone off with?"

He paused a moment, looking around and focusing. "Yes. They're still walking back towards the palace. He's...telling her rather graphically what he plans to spend the night doing with her."

"But he's not touching her yet?" I confirmed, trying to keep my vacant mask in place as I looked out over the sea of Dragons.

"Lionel told him to be subtle about it. He said to wait to enjoy his prize behind closed doors."

"Then we have a few minutes. I'm going to make an excuse to leave. Can you slip out and meet me at the end of the path?"

"What about Darius?" Orion asked, his gaze moving to his friend who was still stuck with Mildred.

"We have to do this without him," I said. "No one cares if we're here or not, but the son of the King will be missed."

Orion cursed then agreed, shooting away from me as I took off across the pavilion, heading for the throne where Lionel still sat.

"There you are, Roxanya," he said with a smile that