Zodiac Academy Fated Throne - Caroline Peckham Page 0,3

fought their way inside and the horrifying sight of their gnarled bodies and soulless red eyes made my pulse race.

Max tossed the stardust and I flicked my fingers, flames leaping from my palm and hitting the Faesine. The tremendous whoosh of the fire met with a blaze of heat that washed over us and the screams of the Nymphs filled the air as they burned half a second before the world spun around us and the stars whipped us up into their embrace.

Our feet hit solid ground and Seth howled excitedly as we found ourselves in the dark woodland beyond my family’s estate.

I could just make out the colourful lights which had been strung up in honour of my birthday in the grounds. I fought back a snarl as I realised I was going to have to sit through an evening of bullshit as Father put on a show of family love and respect for the press and his fake ass friends. I couldn’t even attempt to pull out of it. He’d made it clear that any public show of dissent would cause him to hurt Roxy and I couldn’t risk that. He had me by the balls and he knew it.

He’d effectively leashed and muzzled me and there wasn’t a fucking thing I could do about it. And the way he looked at me since the start of the summer made my insides boil with hatred. His eyes glinted like he knew something I didn’t. Like he held this great secret he was just bursting to spill and every time I thought of him doing it, I was filled with a mixture of dread and a desperation to know what it was.

There was one small sliver of hope which I clung to all the time he continued to taunt me and hold Roxy captive at his mercy. Ever since the night I’d almost killed him, he hadn’t once come near me without Clara at his side. In fact, she never seemed to leave his side at all anymore. And I was filled with this deep hope that the reason for that was fear. He knew just how close I’d come to besting him that night. To ending him. And only Clara and her control over me via the shadows kept him safe from my wrath.

So if I could just get him alone, figure out a way to take her out of the picture, then I was sure I could finish him for good. But he was proving to be an un-Fae asshole as well as a treacherous bastard, putting his Guardian between us rather than face me like he should.

“Will you be alright alone in the palace tonight?” Seth asked Darcy, a soft whimper escaping him as I handed her the stardust so she could head home. Obviously a Vega wasn’t welcome at a party filled with people who backed our claim for the throne so she couldn’t come in. If the press caught wind of how much time we all spent together these days they’d have a fucking field day. It certainly didn’t seem like we were on opposing sides of a war to me.

“I’m always alone now,” she said in flat tone which made my heart twist with guilt. I was starting to seriously worry about how she was coping. First Lance had been taken from her and now Roxy; I knew Geraldine had been staying with her a lot, but it wasn’t the same.

Before any of us could offer up anything in response, she tossed the stardust over her head and disappeared.

We’d snuck out here an hour ago to meet her, the moment she’d figured out our latest search destination but now that guests were starting to arrive for my birthday party, it would be a lot harder to sneak back in. Especially with Father’s extra guards patrolling the grounds. He’d supposedly hired them to guard against Nymphs, but they were either just a front to keep up appearances, or they were to make sure no one got close to the house without him knowing in case anyone figured out what he was doing here.

I slipped the axe and holster from my back, pulled my ripped shirt off and glanced at my brothers. There was a simple way to get them back into the building, but doing it meant breaking the code my father had always insisted I stick to.

Why do I even give a shit about his codes?

“You’re going to need to construct a decent