Zodiac Academy Fated Throne - Caroline Peckham Page 0,49

scattered around me with screams, but I was shielding anyone close enough to me. The darkness slammed into my shield and I swore as I had to focus for a moment, straining with the effort of holding them off, but I managed to keep talking for anyone who cared to hear the truth. “We were cast into the Shadow Realm and when we returned, the Fifth Element was gifted to us all, including Lionel Acrux and his followers. It was the same ritual he did years ago to Clara Orion and that’s where she came back from. She’s been in the Shadow Realm all these years and now-” Power blinded me as the full brunt of Tory’s shadows crashed over me and my air shield finally buckled.

I was thrown to the ground and my Phoenix reared up to protect me from their power before they wound around my body and dragged me across the room. I was hauled forward and thrown into a seat.

As the fog of darkness cleared, screams reached me that made my blood curdle.

I twisted around in my seat which had been dragged forward away from any of my other classmates, finding all of the Pegasuses falling prey to the shadows, crying out and whinnying as they paid for what I’d done.

“No!” I yelled, trying to get up, but the shadows were still wrapped around my waist, holding me in place.

Highspell was smiling, delighting in the chaos and when the screams finally stopped, she turned to the board, ready to teach the class while I silently vowed to destroy her.

***

I flew with Gabriel at my side, releasing all the tension of the day as we twisted through the clouds, flying up above them to watch the sun die. We weren’t allowed to do this, but technically Gabriel was teaching me how to fly, so if anyone asked he could cover for us.

“Highspell gave me a week’s detention,” I said as we hovered side by side, my burning wings flapping behind me as his ebony ones beat in time with mine.

I’d told him what she’d done, not that he could do anything about it, but maybe he’d had a vision that could give us some hope in this situation. I’d held off on asking until now, just wanting to fly and be free and forget all the bad shit that had happened today.

“I despise that woman,” he snarled.

“I don’t suppose you can see a way to get her fired, can you?” I asked, half joking, half serious.

“I’m afraid she’s here to stay for now,” he sighed.

“And what about Lionel? Is he here to stay?” I asked, my throat constricting as I turned to him.

His grey eyes darkened. “I’ve been consulting the stars about that all day,” he admitted. “There is still hope. But it rests with the Imperial Star.”

I nodded and he dove down through the clouds suddenly. I took chase, tucking my wings and swinging away from a herd of Griffins as they sailed beneath us.

Gabriel kept ahead of me as we moved into view of the campus below and I followed at a distance before he flew through his office window. I circled the building once, making sure the coast was clear before doing the same, landing lightly inside. He might have been able to cover us to an extent, but I didn’t want anyone looking too closely at how much time we spent together. His connection to me and Tory was still a secret as far as I knew unless Tory had spilled it, but as she barely seemed to know who any of us were, we were hopeful that wasn’t the case.

He pushed the window closed and cast a silencing bubble. His office was sparse and I didn’t think he spent a whole lot of time here. Gabriel went home most evenings by stardust to see his family and despite him saying I was welcome to go with him anytime, I knew I couldn’t leave Zodiac while my sister was here. She needed me, even if she didn’t know it. And I had to be around to help her if anything ever happened.

Gabriel moved to his desk, taking a bottle from the top drawer with a few syringes. “Here’s the Order Suppressant antidote,” he said with a half smile.

My heart lifted and I rushed to take it, but he shook his head. “You’re going to be stopped on your way back to Aer Tower, and if they find it, they’ll take it then Nova