Zodiac Academy Fated Throne - Caroline Peckham Page 0,111

his hands on me. All Darius Acrux ever caused me was pain and even just looking at him now made my chest ache with the memory of lightning slamming into my body and burning me alive from the inside out.

Caleb shot into the room before Darius could say anything else and he sighed irritably as he looked up at the destroyed roof before lifting his hands and using his earth magic to fix the damage Darius had done to fit my cage inside.

"I take it she won't let you heal her?" Caleb asked Darius, acting as if I wasn't even here and I narrowed my eyes on him, trying to figure out how I could get myself out of this.

"Caleb," I breathed, looking up at him through the bars as he turned to look at me in surprise. "I don't want him near me," I said, glancing at Darius whose posture stiffened at my words.

"That's just the shadows talking," Caleb growled firmly, giving Darius a look I couldn't read, but the Dragon clearly could because he clenched his jaw then stalked towards me.

I instantly shifted back, using my hands and feet to propel myself along until I knocked against the rear of the cage and I hissed at the pain of the shadows burning where the bars came into contact with me. The only part of the cage that didn't burn me was the solid base, but as I pressed my palms flat to it, it felt like it was trying to suck the energy from my freaking soul, so I had no desire to push any power into it just to have it stolen.

"Roxy," Darius growled, dropping down into a crouch and looking in at me with his brow creasing. "Please stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?" I hissed, not moving another inch but hating how vulnerable I was right now.

My whole body was coiled with tension in anticipation of what I knew he was going to do to me now that he had me at his mercy. It was all that I could do not to cower and to keep holding his gaze.

"Like you think I'm about to attack you. I fucking love you, Roxy," he growled. "Why the hell would you think I'm going to try and do something to cause you pain?"

I tried to take in what he was saying to me, but the moment I considered his words, the sharp echoes of the pain I knew he'd caused me echoed through my flesh in a keen pulse that made me wince as it bit into me.

Darius tried to reach for me and I scrambled back again, hissing between my teeth as I was pressed against the bars of the cage once more. He cursed loudly as he lurched to his feet and stormed away from me, throwing the couch over as the temper I'd known he had snapped and a roar escaped his lips.

"Darius!" Caleb barked as my skin howled in pain from the contact with the bars but I refused to move even an inch closer to him, knowing it would only be worse with him. "Calm down! What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Darius threw me a pained look and shook his head before storming towards the door. "I'm just making it worse by being here. I'll go and see what's taking the others so long."

Caleb looked torn between going after him and staying with me and I slowly eased away from the bars as I watched him come to the decision to stay. The look he gave me was pitying and the shadows rose up in me again, murmuring sweet promises into my ears, reminding me that this was my chance to escape.

A door slammed downstairs and some more tension slid from my body as I realised that Darius really had gone.

"Caleb?" I murmured, my voice low but more than enough for him to hear with his gifts. "Why are you doing this to me?"

He turned his dark blue eyes on me and moved to lift the couch back up again before rounding it to stand before me.

"I know this is confusing right now, Tory, but I swear to you this is for the best. When you reclaim your Phoenix you'll be able to fight the shadows back. Then you'll be able to think more clearly. Remember-"

"Lionel told me that the things I've forgotten cause me pain," I breathed, crawling towards him and peering between the bars. "That's true isn't it?"

"It's