Zodiac Academy Fated Throne - Caroline Peckham Page 0,77

succeed against Lionel. And I had to make sure I didn’t let him down.

But how could I do that when I couldn’t even read the diary in my cell? I’d have to sneak it up to the Order Yard once a month, chart the moon cycles… It wasn’t going to be easy and I’d have to risk carrying it around with me. And the chances of me being offered time in the yard when the moon was full were low. Fuck, this is not good.

“One-Fifty!” Cain shouted beyond my cell and I stood up, folding the diary and stuffing it into my pocket just before he tugged down the sheet covering the bars. He eyed me suspiciously then stepped up to the door and made a radio call to get my cell unlocked.

“Follow me,” he growled and I frowned as I stepped out of the cell. It was early as shit; they weren’t even taking the count yet.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Your Dragon friend is here,” he said coldly, leading me out of the cell block.

“How is he allowed here outside of visitation?” I balked.

“Special circumstances,” he scoffed, glowering at me. Fucking asshole had a serious attitude problem.

“Right, well thanks for making that clear,” I said dryly.

He led me up into the visitation corridor but instead of sending me into one of the rooms, he dragged me down to the security door at the end, swiping his keycard against it then scanning his magical signature and taking a retinal scan. My brows lowered as he tugged me through it into a small room where a buzzing, humming magic filled the air. When it stopped, Cain tapped in a code for a thick metal door opposite us and it buzzed loudly as it opened. He guided me outside, nodding to an officer on duty as we passed through the waiting room and over to the elevator where two cameras stared down at us.

“You’re taking me up?” I gasped. “What for?”

“Quit talking,” he snarled. “Or you can have words with my fucking taser.”

He had to make two radio calls and type in another code to get the elevator open. We stepped inside as the doors slid wide and we shot up toward the surface, my heart thumping wildly as I waited to find out what the fuck was going on.

The doors opened again and we stepped out into a large white room, a set of security doors standing just beyond a guard behind a booth.

“Here.” Cain shoved me toward the booth and I gazed in at Officer Lyle as he signed a form then pushed it out through a slot for me to sign too.

“It’s your lucky day, buddy,” he said brightly. “You’re getting out of here.”

“What?” I gasped, nearly choking on my own damn tongue. “How’s that possible?”

How the fuck had Darius pulled it off?

He chuckled, picking up a tray with a ziplock bag of my clothes in it and another with the personal items I’d had on me the day I’d arrived. He pushed them through the slot and jerked his thumb at a door beside his booth. “Head in there to change.”

I followed his orders in a daze, stepping through the door and pulling off my prison jumpsuit. There must have been some mistake. How could they just let me go? What had Darius done to buy my freedom?

I started to worry about the consequences of me leaving this place and everything I’d sacrificed to be here. If I left, what would that mean for Darcy? But this surely couldn’t be right anyway. People didn’t just get released from Darkmore. Not without an appeal at least. Something is seriously fucking wrong.

I pulled on the suit I’d worn the day I’d been dragged away from Zodiac and tied on the friendship bracelet Tory had given me. I tucked my wallet into my pocket with my Atlas then hid my dad’s diary in the other, my heart drumming out a frantic beat in my chest.

I pushed through the door and lifted my hands up to Cain, showing him the magical cuffs shining on my wrists. “Am I getting these off?”

Cain released a dark laugh, shaking his head at me and dread twisted in my stomach as he tugged me through the security door. He led me outside and fresh air gusted around me, the sun shining down on my face. I tilted my head toward it with a groan of happiness before Cain yanked me around to face a large armoured