Zodiac Academy Fated Throne - Caroline Peckham Page 0,184

after the roof caves in and I would have been a lot more pushed for time if it was after," he said like him just casually appearing right now was no big deal and there wasn't a half dead Dragon on the floor while fires burned all around the room.

"Gabriel, what the-" I began but he waved me off, tossing Catalina a hoody and a pair of sweatpants.

“Have you seen what to do, Noxy?” Orion asked hopefully.

"Yes, we need to add some of Catalina's blood to the fire on the bed then get the fuck out of here," Gabriel said. "Lionel will think Christopher accidentally killed her in the throes of passion and he'll be sent to Darkmore for her murder. I'm gonna fly her out of here and he'll be none the wiser."

"Where are you taking me?" Catalina asked anxiously as she pulled the clothes on automatically before handing Orion his jacket back. "I can't leave my boys. They need me, I-"

"Hamish Grus will take you in," Gabriel promised, moving towards her with a small knife in his hand. "Darius and Xavier will be able to come see you in time. But we have five minutes to get out of here or this path changes again and you need to add some blood to the bed for evidence before we can go."

Catalina looked completely overwhelmed but she took the knife and cut into her arm, her blood spilling onto the charred remains of the bed. Gabriel caught her arm when he was satisfied it was enough and healed her.

She still didn’t seem entirely convinced about leaving though, so I gave her a light push towards the door, urging her to just go.

The fires were growing all around us, licking up the walls and setting the curtains alight as they spread and smoke filled the air.

"Christopher will know the truth when he wakes," I pointed out, but Gabriel just smirked like an all-knowing bastard and tossed Orion a little bottle of potion.

"Memory wipe," he explained. "And I had to give up a night alone with my wife to get my hands on that so fast, so you'd better know how much you fucking owe me for it, Orio.”

"And no one's gonna question why he just conveniently lost his memory over what happened here?" I asked suspiciously as Orion shot over to pour the potion down Christopher's throat.

"Nope. Now step outside," Gabriel commanded, catching Catalina's arm and tugging her into the hall.

I followed right behind her and a splintering crack sounded from the roof of the room behind me just as Orion shot out too. A huge beam fell from the roof with an enormous crash, lumps of masonry tumbling down over Christopher where he lay on the floor and my eyes widened in surprise.

"See - no reason to question why Christopher can't remember," Gabriel said casually, tossing the door closed on the destruction and tugging Catalina into a jog as he crossed the corridor before lifting an old tapestry that hung there and pointing out a Hydra symbol on the bricks behind it.

I quickly placed my palm against it and the bricks rearranged themselves to reveal a doorway as Gabriel directed us into the hidden passage.

The rest of us followed quickly and Gabriel pulled a hidden lever which activated the earth magic embedded in the wall and closed the entrance behind us. We all fell still as the footsteps of someone coming to investigate the sounds of destruction reached us and Orion tossed a silencing bubble over us to make sure we weren’t detected.

Gabriel lit a Faelight ahead of us and beckoned us into the cold passageway hidden within the walls, leading us down a long slope and on and on until we finally came to a fork in the path.

Another Faelight lit the passageway to our right and I gasped in alarm as I spotted the large figure there before Dante's features came into focus.

"Come on, Gabby, I want to get home in time to actually get some sleep tonight," he called, making me grin as Gabriel frowned at that nickname.

“What did you just call me?” he asked.

“I thought you might like your sister to have a cute little nickname for you,” Dante said grinning broadly and Gabriel shook his head.

“No. No fucking way.”

“I think it might catch on,” Dante teased and Gabriel shook his head as he dismissed him.

"It won’t. You two need to take this passage," Gabriel said, pointing to the one on our left. "Follow it