Zodiac Academy Fated Throne - Caroline Peckham Page 0,327

where a round, stone door sat closed against the wall, the wheel of the zodiac surrounding it and every symbol illuminated in silver.

I stepped closer, afraid to break the silence as I held my breath and approached the door, knowing with a certainty that ran soul deep that my destiny lay beyond it.

"This is as far as I go," Gabriel said darkly, reaching out to grasp my shoulder and causing me to turn and look at him. "I can't see what you're going to find beyond that door, Darius. I only know that once you're inside, whatever happens will twist the wheel of fate in a fundamental way that could change many things. So many that I can't even begin to see them all."

"But if I do something right in there, the Vegas will survive?" I asked, needing to know it without any doubt.

Gabriel hesitated, reaching out to brush his fingers over the stone door, making it quiver and illuminate with his star sign for a moment before he drew back. "Yes. You can save them by going in there. But I can't see any more than that. This is a test for you alone."

"Then I'll be certain not to fail it," I swore, clapping him on the shoulder and stepping forward to look at the door.

I placed my hand against the rough stone and the Leo symbol lit up brighter than all of the others, magic rumbling through my limbs as the zodiac wheel began to rotate until my star sign sat above the entrance and the door swung open.

It was dark beyond the door, but I refused to balk, raising my chin and striding inside.

"Acrux," the ethereal voice spoke in my mind again. "Your destiny awaits."

O rion shot around the stadium, launching himself onto the back of a Nymph just as another cast fire at us in an explosion of uncontrolled power. The fire slammed into the beast we were fighting, hitting it squarely in the chest so it screeched and stumbled backwards, about to fall.

I yanked the knife free from Orion’s waistband as he clung onto its neck and I reached up, stabbing it with all my strength in the back of the head. It exploded into shadows and I let go of Orion before we hit the ground, his weight knocking the wind out of me.

We’d taken out two Nymphs already, but for every one we destroyed, another was released into the pit and I knew we couldn’t keep this up forever.

A tower of fire billowed from the probed hands of the closest Nymph which had large, curving horns on its head and a blackish star between its eyes. It was scarily strong, the stolen Fae power in its veins terrifying, and the only advantage we had was that it couldn’t wield it with much skill.

Orion scooped me up, racing away as the fire flared across the ground where we’d just been laying. We made it to the other side of the pit and I jumped down from his arms, hurrying around to get on his back as a Nymph came at us from the right. I kept the knife in my grip as Orion lifted the bat with a snarl and the crowd called out encouragement to the beasts heading our way, hollering for our deaths.

Orion breathed heavily as he caught his breath and I wished I could offer him healing magic, but I was useless. All I could do was hold onto him and do my best to ensure we survived. But the longer this went on, the more I feared we were moving closer to our end. It was a miracle we’d survived so long.

“Hold on tight,” Orion growled, lifting his bat higher as our enemies circled.

“We can’t go on like this,” I said, looking to the stands where Lionel watched us with amusement twisting his features.

Tory stared back at me with desperation in her eyes as Clara kept her locked in place and I silently communicated to her that I wasn’t going to give up. Not ever.

The closest Nymph sent a blast of water magic at us, ice shards shooting everywhere and Orion raced away, hissing between his teeth as one of them tore along his arm. I gasped, clutching the wound, my fingers coming away wet with blood.

“Keep running,” I begged in terror.

He continued to rush around the pit as magic was thrown at us from all sides and I placed my entire faith in Orion to see us through it.

He