Zodiac Academy Fated Throne - Caroline Peckham Page 0,35

and if he was the most powerful Fae of all then there was one clear position for him to assume.

But instead of doing that, of following the guidelines laid out in place for a formal challenge, Father just raised his hands higher, the shadows thickening around him as more people screamed and some of the weakest Fae in the audience bolted like they feared for their lives. And they should have. Nothing good came from the darkness of the shadows. Nothing lived in them but pain and misery and a hunger that could never be sated.

I made a move to step forward, to make my own challenge, to try to force him to face me without putting Roxy between us or do anything at all to stop this horror show from playing out.

But as I tried to move, I found my body locked in position, the shadows within me rooting me to the spot and binding my tongue just as firmly as my limbs. My gaze caught on Clara across the courtyard where she stood in her trailing black gown, shadows twisting between her legs and beneath her skirts in an unnatural wind as she smirked at me with black painted lips. She looked like a witch from an old fairy tale, not the sibling of the man I loved like a brother.

"I am a willing pawn of the stars and I will gladly let fate guide my hand in protecting our kingdom and ruling over all of my subjects!" Father cried, either totally oblivious of the countless horrified, terrified faces before him or fucking relishing every second of their fear. "And I am here to claim my crown."

With a swift strike of his hands towards the ground, shadows burst from him like a blanket of pure darkness, snaking out in every direction and seeking each and every member of the crowd surrounding us.

As they coiled around each person, they tangled them in their grip and forced them to their knees one after another and I watched in horror as the Councillors were all made to bow too.

My knees hit the cobblestones with a heavy thump that echoed right through every bone in my body as I stared at the only man left standing in the entire courtyard while a victorious grin slid across his face.

Roxy was on her knees before him, her eyes glazed as she looked up at him in devotion, one of the rightful queens of our kingdom forced to bow before a monster and quelling any doubts that might have been left about whether or not the Vegas might try and stand against him. It didn't matter that Darcy wasn't here. That wasn't even going to make the news. All that anyone would see was one of the princesses and all of the Councillors kneeling at his feet like adoring subjects.

"This is dark magic!" Tiberius boomed and my gaze slid to Max's father as he struggled against the shadows which had engulfed his entire body aside from his face.

"Let us fight," Melinda demanded, her fangs snapping out as she snarled in a fierce refusal of what was happening.

"You are fighting," Father said casually. "And yet you can't break free. So I think that proves I've already won."

Tiberius started cursing and Father flicked his fingers, tossing a silencing bubble over him and the other Councillors as he turned his attention back to the crowd and the cameras broadcasting this fucking farce to the entire kingdom.

"I know that this is new and that you may be feeling concerned. But I can prove to you that the stars know what they're doing in this matter," he called, raising his arms again as he beckoned, looking towards the trees that surrounded the palace grounds like he expected something to emerge from them.

Clara allowed me to turn my head and I caught Caleb's gaze as his eyes widened in horror.

"Nymphs," he breathed, hearing more than I could with his gifts and making my skin crawl as I tried to turn further towards the approaching monsters.

When they burst from the trees led by Drusilla, Miguel and Alejandro in their Fae-like forms, more than one Fae in the crowd screamed in horror but none of them fled and I could only imagine it was the hold of the shadows which kept them in place.

"Don't be afraid!" Father shouted, commanding quiet as the Nymphs moved into the courtyard at an unhurried pace and formed lines behind him. Their grotesque bodies were twisted and rough