Zodiac Academy Fated Throne - Caroline Peckham Page 0,193

sun, what kind of illusion is that?”

“Oh right,” I muttered, waving a hand to dissolve it.

“How did you get here? Are you running? Do we need to go?” He jumped out of bed, starting to grab his stuff and a smile pulled at my mouth.

“No, brother.” I shot toward him, knocking him back onto the bed and winding my arms around him. He pulled me closer with a sigh of relief as our foreheads pressed together.

“Tory found a way for me to get out.” I showed him the King’s ring, explaining the situation.

“You’re drunk,” he accused when I was done and I shrugged one shoulder.

“I’m not not drunk,” I admitted and he pressed his fingers to my temple, starting to heal away the effects of the bourbon. With every inch my mind that cleared, the more regrets I started to have. Ah fuck, I shouldn’t have come here.

I groaned, rubbing my eyes and rolling onto my back, my heart feeling pulverised by a blender by what I’d just seen. Darius propped himself up on his elbow, frowning down at me.

“What’s going on?” he asked and I sighed.

“Seth is with Darcy. The two of them-” I pressed my lips tightly together, unable to finish that sentence as rage and possessiveness clogged up my throat. Jealousy didn’t come close to describing how I was feeling. I was being eaten alive by the need to lay my claim on her and snap the neck of the motherfucker who dared lay his filthy hands on her.

“What? They’re not together,” he said and I frowned at him.

“I just saw them in the same bed,” I growled.

“Yeah well, Seth does that with any of his friends when they’re sad,” he said with a shrug like it meant nothing. But it meant everything.

“It’s more than that,” I muttered, taking my Atlas out and showing him the photos Seth had sent me.

“What…” Darius breathed as he scrolled through them. “This isn’t right.”

“Well maybe they’re keeping it a secret,” I said, my breathing getting laboured as I thought of that. I was her deepest secret, not him. Not fucking him. At least…I had been.

“I’ll find out, okay?” he promised and I nodded, though I knew it wasn’t enough just knowing. I was never going to feel right again whether she was with fucking Seth, or some other guy. I didn’t care how irrational it was, I wanted to maim and torture and destroy anyone who dared to try and claim her heart. A heart she’d given to me.

“I told her to move on, but I can’t let go, Darius,” I gritted out, my eyes fixed on the wooden canopy over his four poster bed. “I made this happen. I pushed her away. I thought I could handle it, but I can’t. I didn’t think anything could be more painful than losing her, but now seeing her with him…” My heart was slashed open, oozing blood. I’m not going to survive losing her. It’s a long and agonising death, but the end is fucking nigh.

“Look, I really don’t think they’re together, but Lance…one day she is going to move on,” Darius reasoned.

“I know,” I hissed, venom lacing my words, my veins. “I fucking know. And I’m gonna end up with a life sentence in Darkmore for it instead of twenty five years because whoever it is is going to fucking die.”

Darius grabbed my face, yanking my head around so I was looking at him. “Then don’t let her go.”

I shoved him off with a growl. “She’s already gone. And even if in some hypothetical reality she could forgive me and take me back, what life could I offer her now anyway? I’m fucked whichever way you look at it. I’m Lionel’s prisoner for as long as he wants me, then I’ll be shipped back off to Darkmore for the remainder of my sentence. Even if I can run away before that happens, I’ll have to live in hiding unless we can defeat Lionel. I can’t re-join society as it is, I’m a Power Shamed loser. I have no future. No way to offer her anything.”

“I will kill my father,” Darius vowed. “And the Heirs and I will take his place as rulers of this kingdom and-”

“Wait, what? As a Councillor to the Vega queens, you mean?” I looked up at him in confusion and his expression twisted in disgust.

“No,” he scoffed. “Of course not. I don’t intend to let them take the throne just because we’re friends now. Where the