Zodiac Academy Fated Throne - Caroline Peckham Page 0,89

on the tiles and sunlight streaming in the window. Seth and Gabriel climbed up behind me as I turned toward a large lounge in tones of cream and sandy brown, the whole place gleaming. There were beautiful paintings on the walls of exotic beaches and cliffs and the floor was blue and shimmered like the ocean.

Orion was lying in a huge bed at the far end of the space and Darius was spooning him, the two of them looking freaking serene as they slept. It would have been funny if it wasn’t so sad. The damn Guardian bond tying them together had been driving Darius insane these past months. He didn’t feel everything the way Orion did as I understood it, but he always pined for him. As I gazed at the two of them, I had the sudden urge to crawl in there and curl up with them. Yeah, because that would be a totally sane thing to do.

My gaze tracked over Orion’s face and my heart ached with a need it was never going to have fulfilled again. Lock it down right now.

Gabriel dissolved the silencing bubble, opening his mouth to wake them, but Seth sprinted across the room, diving on top of them before he could.

Darius roared almost as loud as if he was in his Order form and Orion threw Seth away with the strength of his Order, sending him flying onto the floor with a hard thud. My lips popped open as Seth leapt to his feet again, wheezing as he healed himself then jumping on Darius and starting to lick him.

Orion shot out of bed and his eyes suddenly fell on me, his naked chest heaving. His abs were taut and gleaming and his shoulders were even more built than they’d been before. Holy shit.

I forced my eyes up to his face, taking in his beard and unruly hair, not entirely hating the wolverine look, but I did miss his dimple. Gah. My heart was fit to bursting as the temperature in the room seemed to rocket up fifty degrees. He darted towards me and Gabriel in a blur and I gasped as he grabbed my hand, tugging me into the arc of his body with his eyes blazing like he was gonna hug me or something crazy. I sent fire magic bursting through my veins and he hissed as I burned his fingers, making him let go of me before I quickly backed up. His brows knitted together and he mumbled something about instincts before he lunged at Gabriel instead, the two of them embracing hard.

“How did you get in here?” Orion demanded.

“The King’s passages,” Gabriel answered as he released him. “Darcy can open them.”

“That’s enough,” Darius snapped and my eyes flicked over to where he’d pinned Seth to the bed by the throat, Seth’s tongue lolling out his mouth as he panted. “No more licks.”

He released him and Seth whined in disappointment, but didn’t lunge at Darius again as he started wiping the slobber from his face.

Orion folded his arms over his bare chest which I still absolutely wasn’t checking out. “So is this some sort of rescue mission because I’m afraid I’m going fucking nowhere.” He lifted his wrists and my heart stumbled at the sight of the black rings wrapped around each one like tattoos. “These stop me from going beyond the boundary of shadows Clara has cast around the palace.”

I reached out for them on instinct before curling my fingers up and pushing them through my hair instead. Totally smooth. He was wearing Tory’s friendship bracelet, the leathery vines intertwined together in an intricate design. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. I didn’t want to think it was sweet, but dammit I did. Orion’s dark eyes lingered on me for a moment, making my heart race as I gave him a cool look in return. Not that you’ll find out how sweet I think it is.

Gabriel moved to examine the rings on Orion’s wrists and I frowned as I realised they were shadows writhing beneath his flesh.

“I knew we couldn’t move you from here. But I couldn’t see why. I can never see the damn shadows,” Gabriel murmured. “Fuck Lionel.”

“Father clearly hasn’t thought of everything though,” Darius said with a look of determination in his eyes. “You can all get in here.”

“What good does that do?” I asked, feeling Orion’s gaze on me again which I refused to meet.

I felt like he was trying to examine my