Zodiac Academy Fated Throne - Caroline Peckham Page 0,118

cruelly and slammed a fist down into my chest.

The moment the punch landed, the force of a thunderstorm crashed into my body and I shrieked with pain as it burned me from the inside out, thrashing against the vision of Darius in my mind and the straps which held me to the chair in reality. My brain tried to keep hold of what was happening, what was real and what was a lie, but everything was blurring together as Vard used his powers until all of it merged into one and the cruelty in Darius's eyes was the only thing I was truly certain of alongside the agony in my flesh.

I fell back panting on the bed as I shrugged the memory off, tugging Tory closer to me as she trembled in my arms, helping her to see the way her memories had been manipulated to turn her against Darius while trying to contain my own emotions so that I didn't accidentally push them into her.

My body ached with the echoes of the torture she'd endured and I could feel her exhaustion as she curled against my chest and I wrapped my arms around her tighter. She needed a break. And if I was being honest then I did too because this shit was seriously fucked up. I felt like it might break me if I wasn't careful and I had to keep reminding myself of all the reasons I had to love Darius as the conditioning she'd been put through wormed its way into my head too.

I stroked my fingers through her hair, using my gifts to make her feel even more tired and pushing her into a deep, dreamless sleep before feeding her as much happy, calming energy as I could muster.

When I was certain she wasn't going to wake any time soon, I gently rolled her off of me and tucked her beneath the covers, frowning at how fragile she looked in the big bed all alone. Lionel Acrux was going to pay for what he'd done to her and Darius. Not to mention all the other reasons I had to hate him.

I left the room, but before I could even call Darius and Darcy, they appeared with Gabriel between them, the Harpy giving me a knowing look which I was clearly going to have to get used to.

"How is she?" Darcy asked urgently and I summoned the shadow of a smile for her even though the weight of everything I'd just experienced through Tory's memories was hanging so heavily on me that I felt like I might break beneath the pressure of it all.

"Better," I muttered, swiping a hand down my face. "I think she's seeing Lionel more clearly now, though the Guardian bond makes it hard for her to fully hate him. I've helped her to process a lot of her trauma, but..." My gaze slid to Darius and he nodded like he already knew what I was going to say.

"You just have to prove to her that you're not the monster she was made to believe you are," Gabriel said firmly, clapping a hand on Darius's shoulder before looking to me. "You need to rest, Max. Get some sleep tonight. I'll inform the staff that there's a bout of Fae flu going around as an excuse for you and Tory missing classes tomorrow. After that, I believe she will be able to function well enough to return."

"You really think she's gonna be able to fake it good enough for that to be safe?" I growled, feeling strangely protective over the girl I'd once sworn to ruin no matter what. But fuck putting her back in the firing line of that monster.

"It's the only way forward at the moment," Gabriel said firmly. "Any attempt we make to hide her or help her escape Lionel will fail if we try now. I've spent the entire day trying to see a way out of this for her, but with the bond in place..." He sighed heavily. "All isn't lost. She'll be as safe as she can be if she just keeps up the pretence of maintaining her position in alignment with him for now. But if she tries to run, the bond will force her back to him eventually and the punishment for her trying to escape will be unthinkable. This is the way it has to be."

I pinched the bridge of my nose, hating that idea but knowing that Gabriel wouldn't be pushing for it if