Zodiac Academy Fated Throne - Caroline Peckham Page 0,223

you get it? Dog tired - because I'm a-"

"You're ruining the moment, jackass," Max growled and I quickly ducked out of my space crushed between Darius and the counter as I grabbed the coffee he'd already made and took it over to Geraldine.

"Oh my gracious," she gasped. "My lady you should not be reduced to a serving maid for a wretch such as I - leave the running around to one of these lowly Heirs. They are much more suited to the task of servitude-"

"Like fuck we are," Max growled and I just waved her off with a laugh as I moved back to grab the next cup from Darius.

Every time he passed me a mug, his fingers brushed mine and I couldn't help but bite my lip against the stupid ass smirk I was fighting. It was like we were playing a game against the stars, trying to figure out exactly where we crossed the line between them not noticing our interactions and them doing something to intervene. And I wanted to play it all the damn time.

When everyone finally had coffee and Max had pushed an energetic feeling over everyone to help us perk up after being out all night, Darius and I moved over to sit down with the others and found there was only one spot left on the end of the sofa.

Seth and Caleb were sitting on the other two couch seats, Seth leaning low in his chair so that his head was pressed to Caleb's side while his feet were propped up on the coffee table.

Darcy had taken the armchair to the left of the fire and Max was on the right with Geraldine perched on the arm of it with her feet in his lap.

I took a step towards Darcy, but Darius caught my arm and tugged me down on the couch instead, placing me carefully in between his legs as he hung one over the arm and spread them as wide as possible in that my-dick-is-too-big-to-function way of his. It meant we weren’t actually touching but I was practically in his lap at the same time.

He slung an arm over the back of the couch and took a sip of his coffee, maintaining eye contact with me as I looked over my shoulder at him and he raised an eyebrow as if daring me to make a fuss.

I decided against that and turned to look at the others instead, pretending not to notice the way they were all watching us as I drank a bit of my own coffee.

"Let's see it then," I said as Darcy raised her eyebrows at me, twinunicating the fact that she wanted to discuss the Darius situation with me asap while I arched an eyebrow, letting her know I expected all the details about her and Orion in that tomb.

She cut a glance at the others, gave me the hint of a nod then pulled the Imperial Star from her pocket before holding it out for all of us to look at.

Seth released a low whistle, leaning forward to pluck it from her hand and holding it up so it caught the light of the rising sun as it came through the window.

"This would look damn good in a sceptre," he said, tossing it up and down a couple of times so that a rainbow of light spilled across the room. "Why doesn't anyone carry a sceptre anymore? Maybe I could bring it back."

"Nah," Caleb said, leaning forward to pluck it from his grasp. "This belongs in a big ass crown."

"You mean to suit your big ass head?" Darius teased, leaning around me to place his mug down on the table beside mine before reaching for the Imperial Star and Caleb tossed it over to him.

Seth flopped back, dropping his head into Caleb's lap and whimpering as he gave him the puppy dog eyes and Caleb began stroking his fingers through his long hair while shaking his head like he didn't really want to. But he could have just said no, so I was gonna call bullshit on that.

Darius sat forward, his arm winding around my waist as he handed over the star and I sucked in a deep breath as the power of the thing hit me like a solid weight landing on my chest.

"Holy shit," I breathed as it tingled against my fingers and my magic rose up to caress it like it was aching for the chance to use it. "That feels incredible."

"I know,