Zodiac Academy Fated Throne - Caroline Peckham Page 0,117

clearly old. He called it his shadow eye, claiming he had the ability to see visions of the Shadow Realm as well as our own, and it was clear that Lionel believed him. His pupils were so dark they looked black and as he turned his gaze on me, I shuddered with fear, knowing all too well what he was capable of.

"I hate him," I said. "I hate him more than anyone I've ever met. All he does is cause me pain." But I didn't feel those words. I felt Darius’s arms around me as we lay in his bed and he held me like he never wanted to let go. I felt the way my heart pounded when he looked at me and I remembered the way he'd promised to fight for me.

"Liar, liar," the Cyclops purred, reaching out and running a finger down my neck and between the valley of my breasts before hooking it around the centre of my bra and tugging lightly.

"Hands off, Vard," Lionel growled and I shivered in relief as he saved me from the Cyclops's wandering hands and he released me with a flicker of irritation on his features. "Just do your job."

The Seer huffed softly as he gave in to Lionel’s command, rolling his neck in that way he always did before he shifted and making my pulse spike with fear.

“I like the pretty jewel she’s wearing, Daddy,” Clara breathed in Lionel’s ear, pushing her hand into Lionel’s pants and he growled softly.

“Now that you mention it, Clara dear, that necklace looks familiar to me.” My heart thumped as they looked at the ruby necklace Darius had given me and I recoiled into my chair even though I knew there was no escape. “If you like it then you can have it.”

Clara grinned excitedly but Vard moved to stand before me, capturing my attention once more as I tried to figure out who I should be fearing the most in this room.

Vard smiled toothily as his dark eyes slowly slid together, forming one huge, bulbus eye in the centre of his forehead and I snapped my eyes shut, scrunching them up as I tried to protect myself from the invasion of his mind into mine.

Clara cackled with glee as she leapt up onto the back of the wooden chair I was strapped to and grabbed a fistful of my hair, pulling hard enough to make me scream before peeling my eyelid open with her dirty fingernails digging in hard enough to make me bleed. Her other hand yanked on my necklace as she scrambled for the clasp and I felt her tug it free just as I lost the battle to keep my eye closed.

Vard caught me in his gaze and within a moment, the slimy, intrusive feeling of him slithering into my mind overwhelmed me and I swear I could feel his hot breath on my neck as he spoke inside my thoughts.

"I've seen a future where I get to touch you as much as I like, little dove," he purred. "Where my king will gift you to me and send you to my bed as often as I wish in reward for all of the visions I've gifted him. Did you know your daddy gave me my scar? I'm going to enjoy paying his daughter back for it, over and over and over again."

Vard drove that point home with mental images which made me gag with actual bile rising in my throat and if I'd had anything to eat today, I was certain I'd have been vomiting all down myself. Just as I felt myself start screaming at the imagined scenario playing out in my head, Vard's gifts shifted beneath my skin and he spoke a single name inside my head.

"Darius Acrux."

Before I could do a single thing to stop it, my mind whirled to the moment I'd thought of earlier, of me wrapped in Darius's arms in his bed, of how warm his skin had felt against mine and how safe it had seemed there.

But as I rolled over, I found Darius glaring at me instead of the sleepy, half smile I almost remembered. His hand snapped out and he locked it around my throat as he pinned me down against the bed, ripping open the shirt I was wearing while I fought and bucked beneath him. I couldn't scream, his grip on my throat suffocating and refusing even the slightest noise to pass my lips as he smiled