Zodiac Academy Fated Throne - Caroline Peckham Page 0,27

felt familiar and strange all at once. There was an ache in my chest and the memory of a dream haunting me as the shadows curled and writhed beneath my skin.

I fought to push them aside as I tried to remember the dream. I'd been standing in the rain on a cliffside and someone else had been with me. Someone who had made my heart beat a lot faster than the slow and steady rhythm it was maintaining now. My lips tingled with the memory of a touch I couldn't place, the taste of something so much sweeter than I deserved...

The shadows writhed impatiently beneath my skin and I rubbed a thumb over the Aries brand on my left forearm as it itched.

I sat up and turned to take my Atlas from the nightstand beside me, my fingers seeking out Lionel's number as the urge to see him grew in me until it was almost unbearable. I’d only been away from him for two nights, but I could hardly think of anything aside from returning to him. How was I supposed to make it through the rest of the week before seeing him again?

I pressed dial and held the Atlas to my ear as it began to ring, my muscles tensing with each moment that passed and the need to be closer to him growing in me as I held my breath and waited for him to answer.

"What is it, Roxanya?" Lionel growled, his voice rough with sleep like I'd woken him and as my gaze strayed to the dim light of the rising sun beyond the window, I realised I must have.

"I missed you," I breathed, the words seeming to form of their own accord on my tongue and my gut twisting uncomfortably for a moment before the power of the shadows within me swept through my limbs, causing pleasure to tumble down my spine instead.

"Who is that, Daddy?" Clara's voice came in the background as Lionel grunted irritably.

"My other love," he explained in a flat tone with a sigh of frustration that made me bite into my lip nervously. "You'll have to learn to cope with the cravings, Roxanya. I don't have time to mollycoddle you every time you ache for me."

"I ache for you, Daddy," Clara moaned. "I ache to please you."

"So do I," I said a little petulantly as the sound of Clara moving around on the bed filled the speaker for a moment.

"Good. Then come and see me tonight," he said, making my hopes lift a fraction as Clara started murmuring praises in a husky tone that made my skin prickle. "I have a meeting I want you to attend by my side. And then we are going to need to talk to the press."

"Okay," I agreed instantly.

“Oh, Daddy, let me lick you like an ice cream,” Clara begged and I gritted my teeth as I tried to ignore her.

"Come straight from classes. I’ll send you the details,” Lionel said to me, making some of the tension in my limbs relax.

"I will,” I promised.

Clara started moaning loudly in the background and my thumb landed on the screen to end the call as my lip peeled back in anger. I threw my Atlas across the room where it slammed into the wall before thumping down onto the carpet and shadows poured from my skin to embrace me.

My furious outburst turned into a groan of pleasure as the darkness writhed within me. Its caress eased my mind and soothed away whatever had been getting me so worked up. But it was hungry too. The shadows liked to gift me pleasure, but only so long as I fed them in pain. And as a shiver of darkness raced down my spine, my fingers flexed with the desire to do just that.

I let the shadows rise up in me until they were coating every inch of my flesh and I could hardly even see through them while I mechanically pulled on the uniform that was hung in my closet. My hands followed patterns that were ingrained in my memory without me really paying much attention as I brushed my long, dark hair and painted makeup onto my face. Before long, I was ready to go hunting for what the shadows craved.

I paused beside the door, moaning beneath my breath as the shadows stroked my body before forcing my will over them and taking them into my control the way Clara had taught me.

They withdrew reluctantly and I watched in