Zodiac Academy Fated Throne - Caroline Peckham Page 0,105

mine as he growled in response to the challenge I was offering him.

"Back off, man," Max demanded, moving to grab my arm as he tried to force me back and the Dragon in me stirred with rage.

Caleb caught Seth by the shoulder and drew him back too and Seth muttered something about reptiles being fucking crazy as he tore his gaze from mine. I blew out a mouthful of smoke as I strode away to the kitchenette, shaking Max off as he tried to push his gifts over me to help calm me down.

"Stop that," I snapped, grabbing a bottle of whiskey from the cupboard and pouring myself a way too healthy measure before sinking it in one and enjoying the burn of the liquor on the way down.

"She should be leaving The Orb soon," Darcy pointed out, getting to her feet. "Maybe we should get into position."

"Yeah," I agreed, tugging my shirt over my head and rolling my shoulders back as the urge to shift rippled across my skin. We were about to herd the girl I loved into a fucking cage like a sheep being herded by a wolf pack and the thought had me more than a little on edge.

"Oh magical muscles, look at the size of that six pack!" Geraldine gasped as she looked at me. "You truly are one beastly specimen of a man, Darius Acrux. No wonder my lady Tory is so enamoured with your swollen banana. I did sometimes wonder if she'd been drinking at the moose juice when she kept falling under your spell, but getting a close up look at your man-parcel really has me all of a dither-"

"Stop looking at his fucking man-parcel," Max snarled, moving up behind her and slapping a hand over her eyes as I snorted a surprised laugh. That girl was seriously off her fucking bagels but there was something about her that was growing on me. The beastly specimen comment probably helped.

"Do not tell a goose where to gander, you overgrown seahorse!" Geraldine cried, scrambling to get out of Max's arms as he glared at me like this was somehow my fault.

"Put your fucking shirt back on, man," he snapped at me.

"I'm about to shift," I replied, shaking my head as Caleb laughed his ass off and Seth looked like he was a popcorn bucket shy of settling in for a show.

"Unhand me you slippery sea urchin!" Geraldine shouted, throwing a hand into Max's stomach and knocking him off of her with a slap of water magic.

"Well stop staring at Darius's dick then," he growled.

"Excuse you, sir, but I am doing no such thing! For one, the delicious Dragon has not revealed his man ham for the room to peruse at leisure, so I was only appreciating the powerful physique which he uses to please my lady! And for two, I would never lay so much as a chin whisker upon the flesh of the man my lady is destined to love by all the stars in the sky! I am merely expressing my approval for his ability to pleasure her physically, even if his personality has left a lot to be desired-"

"Hey," I growled as Darcy muttered, "She's got a point." But neither Max nor Geraldine were paying any attention to either of us anymore.

"Well if you don't want him, then don't fucking look," Max demanded. "I don't like it."

"And why should I care what a villainous cad such as yourself thinks? You don't even believe I am capable of making decisions about my own life correctly."

"That's because you're prone to making terrible fucking decisions!" he yelled and my brows went up as I realised this fight was clearly about something way bigger than her checking me out, but I had no fucking idea what.

"Guys, let's just take it down a notch, yeah?" Seth suggested with a little whimper to show how much he didn't like this arguing, but Max and Geraldine didn't seem to give a shit about that.

"I am not the one who got my tail in a knot over a little arranged marriage!" Geraldine cried. "You seem to be under the misguided impression that I belong to you just because I tangled with your tentacles once or twice, but you are very much mistaken in that belief! I made myself clear to you when I said that I had made my choice and you are the one who refuses to listen. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a princess to