Things That Should Stay Buried - Casey L. Bond Page 0,116

floor, as if unsure how to proceed.

Leo’s thick tail flicked agitatedly. He shook out his golden mane but never took his amber eyes off me. A rumble poured from his chest. I imagined lounging on his pelt on one of Aries’s plush couches, or maybe in front of the fire. Either would be nice.

He snarled as if he could hear my thoughts.

Pisces’s mouth gaped as she turned toward Sagittarius, her jagged fin swishing back and forth in a slow cadence. Beside her, Sagittarius cantered in a circle, raising his humanlike torso. I could see the tip of his bow and the fletching of his arrows sticking out of his dark, leather quiver.

True to his word, Aquarius approached and stood beside me on the right, folding his golden hands in front of him serenely. Taurus shot him a sinister smile, along with a look of challenge.

Capricorn’s hooves clacked over the stone floor as she joined us, positioning herself on my left. Virgo made no move. Even as Aquarius glared at her, imploring her to join us. I couldn’t help but laugh. It echoed across the ceiling and slid down the walls.

“I thought Gemini was the only two-faced bitch in here, Virgo,” I taunted.

Aquarius fought back a laugh, pinching his gilded lips together.

Just then, something shadowy and dark emerged from behind the line of beasts, squeezing through the ring of monsters.

Scorpio was beautiful. His skin was so slick and black, he looked like he’d been carved from obsidian. His face was delicately sculpted and beautiful, and his cheekbones looked like they could cut glass. Surprisingly, his eyes were the brightest shade of blue. The color of the sky in the middle of a clear day.

He walked around the room, his hooked tail’s barb pointed at his target. Us.

Aquarius chuckled beside me. I glanced toward him. “What is so funny?”

“Just watch their faces,” he whispered.

It was hard to watch anything but Kes as he tried to pick himself up off the floor. I started toward him, but Aquarius caught my arm. “No. If you go any closer, they’ll strike.”

Scorpio slowed and inclined his head, positioning himself beside Aquarius. Oh, thank goodness. He doesn’t want to stab us with his tail sword, after all. He’s on our side.

I watched Taurus’s face turn a mottled shade of crimson. “Scorpio? Is this your final choice?”

“It is,” the behemoth beside Aquarius answered in a booming voice. “Aries is no longer pledged to the girl. He is no longer more powerful than any of us, and she has never threatened you. You have no right to kill her simply because you made the mistake of siring her. Her lifespan is nothing compared to yours. Let the girl and her father live out their days in peace, and let your lineage end with her.”

“And if she conceives?” he said.

Scorpio shook his head. “I will not deign to repeat my answer. I stand with the girl. I stand with Aquarius and Capricorn. With Aries. And with his Guardian.” He nodded to Kes, who was healing, but not nearly as quickly as he should be.

With that proclamation, the battle lines were clearly drawn.

A moment later, Aries appeared in front of me. He took hold of my face and drew me in for a brief, intense kiss before striding across the floor to Kes and helping him stand.

How long did they torture and beat him before I heard him scream? Rage coursed white-hot through my body.

Taurus chuckled menacingly a split second before charging at Aries, and I sprinted to Aries to help with Kes. Aries quickly handed my brother off to me and I draped his arm over my shoulder, helping him hobble behind the Zodia standing with us and then propping him against a wall. “You’ll heal,” I told him, trying to encourage him to speed it along if possible.

He was so weak, so broken. I tried not to let the worry I felt show on my face.

Taurus still could not best Aries. Though he tried again and again, lowering his head and plowing the swords on his head toward Aries’s heart. I gritted my teeth and winced every time he reared back and rushed him again. Then cheered Aries on as he deftly avoided every puncture.

The castle shook from the clashing of the two titans. The stones ground together with each blow, grit falling to the floor all around the room. “This has to stop,” I murmured.

No sooner did I get the words out did the world explode as the