Zodiac Academy Fated Throne - Caroline Peckham Page 0,207

must be laid out by star signs,” he said, grabbing me and I cursed as he whipped me into his arms again, racing around the mausoleum at high speed. He planted me down beside a large statue of a set of weighing scales and I shoved out of his arms.

“Quit doing that with no warning,” I hissed, but my point was lost a little as my foot skidded down a muddy bank.

I was about to cast air to push at my back when he threw out a hand at lightning speed to catch me. He yanked me back against his chest and I tilted my chin up with a scowl.

“Stop it,” I snapped.

“I’m never not going to catch you,” he growled and I pulled away from him, rounding into the group of graves beyond the statue and hunting for Orion’s name.

“I would have caught myself,” I said firmly.

“Sure you would.”

His eyes slid over my head and I opened my mouth to rebuke him but he blurted, “That’s it,” and rushed past me.

I twisted around, spotting him running toward a huge stone tomb standing under an arching willow tree. The name Lancelot was etched beside a Libra symbol above a round stone door.

“How do you know?” I asked as we stopped in front of it.

“Because my dad used to call me that,” he said then brushed his fingers over two small holes in the centre of the door, overlapping like an infinity symbol.

I took the rings from my hand with a buzz of excitement in my veins and stepped forward, pushing the first into the deeper hole then the other into the one that overlapped it.

There was no sound of the door unlocking and I glanced at Orion in concern as he pushed against it, but it didn’t budge. He ran his fingers over the stone, his eyes shutting in concentration and I glanced over my shoulder anxiously, hoping the others were okay.

“What’s wrong? How do we get in?” I asked and he sighed, opening his eyes.

“It’s bound with blood magic. But it doesn’t just want my blood…” His fingers moved across the stone, brushing the rings. “It wants a Vega’s too.”

“Do you think my mother saw this? Us standing here together?” I asked in shock.

He swallowed, glancing at me. “Looks like it.” He held the draining dagger up to his palm, slicing it open and pressing his hand against the stone.

I took the dagger from him, feeling the call of the shadows within it. But I knew what I was doing, and my Phoenix wouldn’t allow any of that darkness into me again anyway. I cut my palm open and Orion’s fangs snapped out as he watched, a low groan leaving him.

I arched a brow at him then placed my hand on the door beside his, my breaths coming quicker in anticipation. It threw me for a loop knowing my mother had seen us together and had told Orion’s father. Did they think we were allies, or did they know we’d been more than that?

A heavy grinding of stone sounded from within the tomb and the circular door swung inward. Magic washed over me from inside and I felt something calling to me, begging me to come closer. I gasped, rushing into the tomb, needing to reach whatever it was and Orion was right at my side as he hunted for it too. It pulsed like a second heart beating close by, one that ached to be in my hands.

The door twisted shut with a loud thunk that made my bones rattle and my magic inside me fell still, blanketed by some power and not allowing me to access it.

“Oh shit,” I breathed, casting a red and blue flame with my Phoenix fire in the corner of the tomb and my gaze fell on a huge sarcophagus ahead of us.

The effigy of a man was carved into the stone lid, holding a sword against his chest which had all the constellations etched into its surface. His eyes were closed like he was in an eternal sleep and I was struck with recognition at how much he resembled his son.

Orion shot forward and lifted the lid, carrying it with the strength of his Order and placing it against the wall. A corpse lay inside which was nothing but bones and Orion moved to look down at his father with an ache in his eyes that hurt me.

“Hey, Dad,” he murmured.

“I’m sorry,” I said gently, moving closer to look down into the