Zodiac Academy Fated Throne - Caroline Peckham Page 0,161

out what all the fuss is about for yourself?" Caleb teased which drew a growl from Seth.

"As if his lizard blood could taste as good as mine," Seth scoffed, shooting me a glare which quite clearly told me to back the fuck off as if I'd been the one suggesting it.

"There's no fucking chance of you getting me to run about like prey for you, Cal, so feel free to stick to the dog food diet," I taunted, raising a brow at Seth as he smirked like he'd just won something.

Caleb flopped down on the couch, grabbing a beer and lifting it to his lips and Seth lunged into the spot beside him and nuzzled into him. He hadn't healed the bite on his wrist for some reason, but I had too much going on in my own life to be wondering about whatever the fuck they were up to.

Roxy traced the Libra brand on my arm one more time and I gave her my full attention again as she drew my attention to the Guardian bond.

"Do you ache for Orion all the time?" Roxy murmured, taking her hand from my arm and touching her own where the Aries mark was branded to her skin.

I sighed heavily, shaking my head as I forced myself to step back and put a bit more space between us before the storm outside blew the damn treehouse to the ground.

"It's worse for the Guardian than the Ward in that regard," I said. "I do ache to be close to Lance, but it doesn't seem to eat at me the way it does to him most of the time. It was pretty bad while he was in Darkmore, but mainly because it went on for so long and he was so far away. Day to day it doesn’t niggle at me as much as it seems to for him. I can distract myself from the urge more easily and I don't feel his pain like he does mine. It also gets worse for the Guardian the further you are from your Ward, so with Father away in Kerendia this week hunting down those Sphinxes, it's probably getting to you more than usual. The whole point of the bond is to ensure the Guardian stays close to the Fae they're supposed to be protecting in case they’re needed. In years past, when this magic was created, the idea was for you to stay together always so that the Guardian would be prepared to defend their Ward at all times. But the Ward is supposed to be the more powerful Fae, the more important one." I cringed at the word, but it was how the magic had been created, not how I felt about Lance. "That means the Ward – my father - has more freedom so that he can make his own decisions on the things he does while the Guardian is supposed to just follow after them, dedicating their life to protecting them and nothing else."

Roxy frowned, chewing on her thumb as she thought about that and I waited while she turned the information over. "I know that I hate him," she said quietly, keeping her words for me as Seth and Caleb started discussing the Pitball match they wanted to watch this evening. "And I know that he did this to me without my consent. I know he tortured me and hurt you and has done countless horrible things, but..."

"You still want to see him all the time?" I guessed, sighing heavily. I knew this curse too well to even be surprised by the knowledge that she still pined for him even though it set my blood alight with the need to destroy him for it.

"I just wish that I could have five minutes to hate him in peace," she muttered.

"I'm not sure there is a way for you to cut off the way you feel drawn to him," I said heavily, knowing it wasn't what she wanted to hear. "The only time Lance has ever been able to resist the pull of it was when he went to hunt you and your sister down in the mortal realm."

"Really?" she asked in surprise and I straightened as that thought swept through my mind.

When Lance had agreed to be the one to go and retrieve the Vegas from the mortal realm, the two of us had been concerned about how he was supposed to stay away from me for that long. But the space between