something to do with Orion’s dad and the diary he’d been gifted from him. Not that Orion had made any progress with decoding it as far as I’d heard. I never spoke with him directly, but Darius kept me updated. And I guessed that was the new normal. Living as though he was wholly separate to me, like he’d never owned my heart, like I’d never pledged to love him no matter what.
My chest ached at the thought of term starting today without Tory. The summer had been long and painful and I’d had to find ways to harden my heart against all of that. The loss of Orion, then losing Tory after had nearly broken me. But the one thing I’d found to hold onto amongst it all in the end was a purpose. I would do whatever was in my power to destroy Lionel and ensure he never sat his hateful ass on the throne. And I’d rip my sister out of his control and burn the shadows out of her too. Just as soon as I figured out how.
I’d been practising on Darius for months, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t seem to work out how I’d rid myself of the shadows. Seth had been dying, Clara had been about to kill us all. It was hard to replicate those circumstances, but Darius had been willing to try anything. It just hadn’t worked yet. But it would. And as soon as I could do it to him, I could do it to Tory and Xavier and…Orion.
My heart yanked and pulled in several directions and I pushed out of bed, not willing to stay there and drown in the misery lurking in my soul for a single second longer.
“Geraldine’s arriving this morning,” I told Max and his brows arched, his excitement clear before he shrugged and ran a hand over his hair, playing it cool, like he didn’t bring her up at every given opportunity. He’d grown out the mohawk recently, his hair short all over and giving him a more mature look.
“So?” he asked, getting to his feet and stretching his muscular arms above his head. He’d stripped down to his boxers which had schools of fish swimming across the navy material and I smirked.
“She’ll like those,” I teased then slipped into the bathroom and shut the door.
I stripped out of my pyjamas, showering and washing my dark blue hair, wondering for the millionth time if I should just dye it red or green or strip it all out and go dark again. But whenever I bought new dye, I couldn’t make myself go through with it. It wasn’t about Orion. Screw Orion. But there was still something holding me back. Maybe I didn’t want to let go of the girl I’d been before the two people I loved most in the world had been ripped away from me. But perhaps it was time I accepted that girl was dead and buried, this new version of me fitted with a heart that lived in a fortress and who hungered to take the throne to ensure Lionel never got his hands on it.
The Heirs had been helping to train me up in combat, but nothing could beat the education I was gaining at Zodiac to really become powerful. Some things took time. And I needed to be here so I could continue fighting for my sister. I’ll find a way to free you from the shadows, Tor, just hold on.
“See you at breakfast, little Vega!” Max called through the bathroom door as he left.
“See you,” I called back, tearing my gaze away from the mirror at last. I liked my hair dammit, so why should I change it? The new me could give it a new meaning. It didn’t have to be anything to do with him anymore. Like he said, blue meant royal in Solaria. “And to me, blue means you.”
Get out of my head.
I wrapped a towel around myself, pushing the door open and cursed as I found Seth lying just where he had been before only now he’d shifted, so his naked ass was planted on my bed and his junk was in full view.
“Seth!” I snapped, snatching a pillow from the nest Max had been sleeping in and slapping it down on his dick to hide it.
He bolted upright with a doggish yelp, snatching my wrist before I could draw away.
“Balls,” he wheezed. “How dare you?”
“If you don’t like covering up your