Restless Stars
by Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti
Self-Published
Book 9 in the Zodiac Academy Series
Orphans. Changelings. Princesses. Queens.
We are all and nothing now, our fate weighed on the scales of the stars and counterbalanced by the forces that oppose us. The shadow of the false king spreads as thick as oil across the kingdom we were born to rule, and none remain untouched by its darkness. Our crowns lay within reach if only we can claim them. All souls are at risk now and when the final battle dawns, a new regime will rise. The time for the true reckoning is upon us and we have proven ourselves as savage as our father, as brutal as our mother, and as wild as the Elements which roar through our veins. We can only hope it is enough. When the last sword strikes the final death in this game of fate and fortune, only one side will be victorious. The Starfall Legion charges at first light. And our destiny rides upon our shoulders as we rush into the end. All hail the True Queens. May our rule last longer than this night.
Genre
Triggers
Violence, Death, War and War Crimes, Captivity
Here is part 2 of my favorite quotes from the book! For Part 1, click here!
Xavier: “I’m Xavier Acrux,”
I announced, pumping my cock with furious strokes.
Xavier: “And I may have not been able to come for a long, long time, but now I can come anytime I want!”
Xavier: “We’re busy,”
Geraldine: “Yes, indeed-oh-dandy. And we are all quite jubilant about your willy wanderings, but my dear Pego-brother, I must warn you that- that-”
Sofia: “You’re livestreaming on FaeBook!”
Sofia cried, pointing to the computer.
Tyler: “Shit.”
Tyler leapt off the bed, running over to the desk and I swung around, finding the webcam lined right up with my ass with a little red light blinking on it.
I stared at the screen in horror as Tyler cut the live stream and the video began to play back on the FaeBook post that had been seen by two thousand people already. It was mostly of my bare ass, but there was a fair bit of thrusting, then I said what I’d said, and I was pretty sure you could see my cock between my legs for a second then-
Xavier: “No,”
I rasped in horror as I realised I hadn’t just livestreamed it on my FaeBook page, I’d somehow tagged my mom in it. My dead fucking mother.
Xavier: “Oh stars. Tyler, delete it,”
Tyler: “Working on it,”
Tyler said, and I saw a stream of comments coming in which had apparently been posted live.
Lindsey Staton: Look at that ass! #Asscruxhasawholenewmeaning #bunsofsteel #Pegasass #hornyforthehorn #watchoutCalebAltairmightbeabout
Lindsay Kruse: Is he jerking off??? I’m tagging EVERYONE I know @ Kylie Gibbons @Oriane Steiner @Danielle Frost @ Sophie Valenti @Amber Nicole
Kayla Latham: Go, Xavier! Fuck your hand like there isn’t a war on where everyone is gonna die – woo! #fuckthesystem #fucktheking #fuckthewar then #fuckyourhandinstead
Nicole MacInnes: HE TAGGED HIS BELOVED MOTHER - STARS REST HER SOUL #RIPCatalina #Dragonmomma #lookawaybeyondtheveil
Ashley Mathews: WOW! I saw his cock – it sparkled!! #glitterdick #gleamoftheday #itwinkedatme
It was the comment at the bottom that gutted me most, my lips pursing as I read it.
Gabriel Nox: I saw this coming and could have stopped it #forthepubes #pubemeonce #revengeofthebush
Lance: “This seems all too familiar,”
Orion said casually from the seat to my right as if he’d been there this entire time instead of having just shot into the space so fast that no one had noticed him. I glanced his way, noting the love bite on his neck which the collar of his shirt was doing very little to conceal and the disheveled appearance of his hair.
Darius: “You mean the bit with us sitting on the outskirts like the miserable bastards we too often are, or the bit where you pretend not to have been fucking a Vega five minutes before hanging out with me?”
Lance: “The reaction is mostly in our favour,”
he observed, scrolling through more comments. “
Lance: "Oh, Telisha Mortensen thinks you’re the hottest Fae she’s ever seen and says that even your corpse was hot. That’s sweet.”
Darius: “Pretty sure my corpse was stone cold,”
Darius: “Ugh,”
I cringed as our old water Elemental professor began lunging in his tighty-whities to ‘limber up.’
Lance: “He was my neighbor for years. You’ve seen nothing compared to the scars in my memories.”
Tory: “What will everyone think if they notice the consort I brought back from death sitting so sullenly over here?”
Roxy teased as she came to a halt just out of reach, her body still moving to the music.
Darius: “I was sullen before I died. It stands to reason that I would still be so now,”
I told her, watching as she continued to dance, toying with me like a mouse to a cat.
Tory: “That is nothing to boast about, you know,”
Darius: “You seem to like it well enough. Otherwise you wouldn’t be trying to lure me into your arms.”
Tory: “Oh please. As if any luring is required. If I wanted you in my arms, all I’d have to do is beckon.”
Roxy turned away from me, returning to the fire, the music and her friends while I watched her go, resisting the urge to grab her and reel her back to me. Orion snorted at my expense and I flicked a hand at him, casually setting his bourbon alight.
Darius: “Asshole,”
he cursed, dropping the glass as it was engulfed in a mini fireball and I smirked to myself, keeping my eyes on my girl while she danced.
Darius: “She’d be the one who came running if I beckoned,”
Lance: “I’m uncertain whether to be hopeful or terrified by that,”
Darius: “Welcome to my marriage,”
I agreed before stalking away, a dog falling at the command of his master.
I lunged, whirling her around and closing a hand around her throat, my eyes flashing with triumph as I pulled her body flush to mine.
Darius: “You’d be dead you know, if I had malicious intentions,”
I told her, my eyes finding her mouth and staying there.
Tory: “Are you sure?”
her smile was cunning and wicked, all the things I liked best about her. I looked down to find a dagger of ice pressed to my gut. She bobbed her chin over my shoulder and one look revealed the six wooden spears poised at my back.
Darius: “By the stars, I love you,”
I growled, claiming that smug smile and kissing it off of her lips.
Darcy: “Just wait,”
A smile hooked up the corner of my mouth.
Lance: “Waiting.”
Darcy whispered something to Xavier which I only missed because I was staring at her lips remembering how they’d been wrapped so perfectly around my cock less than an hour ago. Fuck, she was irresistible, and I was star damned thirsty for her.
Lance: “Tick-tock, Blue. The night is young and I have way too many plans for you to waste time sitting here.”
I dropped my mouth to Darcy’s ear.
Lance: “Let’s slip away to the Shimmering Springs. There’s a pretty rock pool there you’d look fucking edible in. Especially naked, sitting on my-”
A wet slap to my head made me look around with a snarl and I found Geraldine pointing at me.
Geraldine: “Stop being a ninny and listen up.”
Darcy smothered a laugh, prodding me in the ribs and I gave Geraldine my attention for her sake.
Caleb: “Oh yeah, your sparkle dick,”
Caleb said with a grin.
Seth: “Sparkle dick?”
Seth perked up even more, glancing between everyone in the room, though all he got from me was a cold glare.
Seth: “Who’s going to tell me then? You can’t go dropping the words ‘sparkle dick’ and not expect me to hound you to the ends of the earth for an explanation.”
I folded my arms in refusal and Darius remained quiet, but my sanguis frater apparently had other ideas on loyalty.
Caleb: “His dick glowed when Lavinia tried to touch it at the Palace of Souls. It burned her or some shit too.”
Caleb laughed.
Seth: “No fucking way!”
Seth said, looking to me for confirmation, and I sighed. I should have known Caleb would give up that truth to his little bestie. I guessed I would have done the same with Darius though.
Lance: “It’s some Elysian Mate thing, I believe. Anyway, that’s not why we’re here-”
Seth: “I need to see it,”
Seth insisted, and Caleb shot him a frown.
Seth: “For science. Darius, touch it, go on.”
Darius: “No,”
Lance: “No one is touching my dick,”
Geraldine: "Anyway, Maxy boy shall be along momentarily, and I sent word to Lady Tory too by means of an illusory bird, gone to sing her a merry tune at her window. She will be most pleasingly roused by the soothing whistles of my sweet swallow.”
Darius: “She fucking won’t be,”
Darius sniggered.
Seth appeared from the kitchenette with a set of silver cooking tongs, jabbing them at my crotch. I grabbed his wrist at the last second to stop him.
Lance: “Don’t even think about it.”
Seth: “Too late for that,”
Seth said with a smirk.
Seth: “Come on. Let us see the sparkle.”
Lance: “No,”
Gabriel walked over as the Pegasuses dispersed and he gave me a stern look.
Gabriel: “You’ll be asking my permission now then, I suppose?”
Lance: “Your Sight has likely shown you the answer to that. She doesn’t need anyone’s permission to do as she pleases.”
Gabriel eyed me for a moment then broke a huge smile, clapping me on the cheek.
Gabriel: “Good boy. This was a test. I thought you might come knocking at my door one day to ask me. I saw that you thought about it once or twice. But this conclusion is all I wanted from you. I’d pick no better Fae for her myself, Orio. The answer to your proposal belongs to her.”
Darius: “I think Hail might prefer if you knelt at his grave and begged his permission though,”
Tory: “No one’s worthy of her, but if anyone deserves her, it’s you Lance Orion.”
Caleb: “What are you thinking?”
Tory: “Something insane,”
Caleb: “Of course you are,”
I half laughed, but the seriousness in her expression told me I should be more concerned than amused.
Caleb's Mom: “They tell you how hard it is to be a parent. How many sleepless nights and temper tantrums it will take to survive those first years, how testing it is to cope with teenagers, but no one mentions the bit which is the hardest of all.”
Caleb: “What’s that?”
I asked and she smiled sadly, her thumb brushing over my cheek as she studied my features.
Caleb's Mom: “How very difficult it is to admit that they’ve grown up.”
Caleb: “I challenged my mother and claimed her place. And if my queens try to tell me no on this then I think I’ll just have to go ahead and commit treason. You are in my head morning, noon and night, your presence invigorates me and your absence leaves me aching. I dream of you whenever I sleep and burn for you whenever you are near. I can’t hide it anymore. I won’t hide it anymore. I want you to be mine, Seth, I fucking need you to be mine.”
Seth: “You took on your mom for me?”
he breathed like he couldn’t quite believe I’d done that.
Caleb: “Yeah,”
I admitted, smirking at him as I took in his swollen lips and rumpled shirt. Aside from that he looked perfectly put together in his white shirt with his hair drawn back into a knot and stubble shorn to nothing on his jaw. By contrast, I looked positively feral after my fight with my mom and it amused me to see our usual roles reversed.
Caleb: “It was fucking hard, too.”
A breath of laughter parted his lips and he touched the rose quartz chain at his throat as though checking it was really there.
Caleb: “I was sick of the world getting to decide what you could or couldn’t be to me. So I took a leaf from our queens’ book and burned it all to hell.”
Caleb: “She told me to do it,”
I said, pointing between the canopy to the moon which winked out at us, low and heavy in the sky, its light seeming brighter than it should have been while dawn fast approached.
Caleb: “I looked up at her tonight and knew that I was done pretending with you. You’re all I want Seth, you’re all I’ve wanted for far longer than I was brave enough to admit and I-”
Seth: “I love you,”
he said, taking my jaw in his hand and drawing me close so that I could taste those words as he spoke them, brushing against my lips and sinking into my skin.
Caleb: “You stole my line, asshole,”
Seth: “Then try it again.”
Caleb: “I love you, Seth Capella, even more than the moon loves the sky.”
He slapped a hand over my mouth, eyes wide and jerking to look at the moon as though she might have heard and taken offence. I grinned beneath his hand then sunk my fangs into the side of his palm.
Seth: “You really are mine, aren’t you?”
he whispered, his words like a prayer and I could only nod.
Caleb: “All yours. From now until the end.”
Caleb: “Fuck your hand while I fuck your ass, pretty boy. I want you to howl with me when I finish.”
I showed my Atlas to Tory.
Darcy: “My horoscope is being weirdly optimistic today. What do you think it means about ‘an important choice?’”
Tory: “No idea. Maybe Orion is gonna ask you if he should shave his beard off.”
Darcy: “Well the beard stays. Maybe I’ll suggest he grows it out. Like Merlin.”
Tory sniggered.
Tory: “Then he can tuck it into his waistband when it’s in his way.”
Seth bounded between us all, looking like he was about to lose his head with excitement, but he managed to keep himself in check long enough to tell us.
Seth: “So we were in King’s Hollow fucking like animals when-”
Caleb: “Seth,”
Caleb laughed.
Seth: “What? It’s important to the story. So Caleb was moaning my name and telling me how I’m the best he’s ever had when-”
Caleb: “Seth,”
Caleb’s tone dropped to a warning growl.
Seth: “Alright, alright, I’m just saying the parts that are relevant,”
Seth said with a smug grin, still bouncing on his feet, looking ready to take off.
Caleb: “How is that relevant? And when did I even say that?”
Caleb demanded, but he started laughing again, clearly on a high himself.
Darius: “No, no I knew nothing,”
Caleb: “Nothing at all?”
Darius: “Well, when I was dead there was this weird thing that happened which I guess did clue me in,”
he said, rubbing his jaw as if trying to remember the details of whatever clue he had been given.
Seth: “What did you see?”
Seth demanded though he didn’t slow down.
Darius: “You were in my wife’s room in Rump Castle and you were arguing – my name came up so I guess that’s why I was drawn to you at that particular moment.”
Caleb: “Err, we were in Tory’s room?”
Caleb asked, running a hand down the back of his neck and glancing at my sister who cocked an eyebrow at him as if shocked by this news.
Tory: “Whatever would you have been doing in there?”
she gasped and her tone was so over the top that I had to bite my lip to hold back a laugh.
Caleb: “I’m not sure I remember ever being-”
Darius: “Oh you remember alright. It wasn’t the kind of night that could have been scrubbed from anyone’s mind – believe me, I know.”
Max: “What did they do?”
Caleb: “That’s fine, no need to tell the whole group. The cat’s out of the bag now anyway so-”
Darius: “Their fight got physical,”
Darius said, turning from Caleb to tell us the story like we were all gathered close at a sleepover and he was about to dish up the juiciest bit of gossip known to mankind.
Tory: “How physical?”
Tory asked, her hand on her chest and eyes wide with utterly false surprise, letting me know she clearly knew exactly what Darius was going to say.
Darius: “Really. Fucking. Physical.”
Darius shot a look at Caleb who coughed awkwardly then just shrugged.
Darius: “No, I assume not because you likely wouldn’t have wanted an audience to realize your choice of sex toys included unlicensed Dragon dildos with my face on them,”
Darius drawled, and Geraldine shrieked a laugh before clapping her hands over her mouth so she could hear Caleb’s reply.
Lance: “Why would you use a sex toy with Darius’s face stamped on it?”
Orion asked with a shudder.
Caleb: “His face was not stamped on the sex toy,”
Caleb growled just as Seth said,
Seth: “We only used the Dragon lube and butt plug anyway!”
I fell into a fit of hysterics while Caleb shot after Seth and slapped a hand over his mouth to stop him from talking.
Darcy: “You used a butt plug with Darius’s face on it?”
I asked, choking on my own laughter.
Caleb: “No,”
Caleb snapped while Seth shrugged like that wouldn’t even have been that weird.
Lance: “Why did you hang around and watch them going at it with off-brand sex toys anyway?”
Orion asked Darius incredulously.
Darius: “I got stuck there,”
Darius said with a scowl.
Darius: “I had to call for help so I could escape while enduring the sounds of the two of them going at it like a pair of fucking rabbits.”
Seth: “Who came to help you?”
Seth asked, peeling Caleb’s fingers from his mouth.
Tory: “Our parents,”
Tory supplied, breaking down into her own fit of laughter and shock mixed with my amusement as Caleb’s face went pale with horror.
Caleb: “You’re lying,”
he accused, pointing at Darius.
Darius: “Oh no – that moment is branded into my fucking mind for all of time, I assure you. What was it Seth said? Oh yeah – ‘how vanilla are you feeling, Altair?’”
Caleb looked like he wanted the floor to swallow him whole while we all fell apart in hysterics.
Caleb: “That is not how it was-”
he tried, but Seth spoke over him.
Seth: “He wasn’t even vanilla at all after that. Tell them how much you loved the butt plug, Cal. Tell them how much you liked it when I-”
Caleb threw a silencing bubble over his mate and snarled at all of us.
Caleb: “This…I…I’m never having sex again,”
he hissed just as Seth shattered the silencing bubble and pointed an accusatory finger at Darius.
Seth: “No way you just took that lying down,”
Tory: “You mean like Caleb did?”
Tory asked and I clutched my sides as I failed to even draw breath from how hard I was laughing.
Seth: “I mean, there’s no way that Darius would have known this for all that time and just let it lie. Tell me how you got your revenge,”
Seth barked. Darius simply gave them a taunting grin then flashed the two of them the peace sign. Seth sucked in a gasp as though the act had mortally wounded him and came to an abrupt halt beside Darius, cuffing him around the ear.
Seth: “I knew there was a reason you did that.”
Darcy: “Morbid. But good idea.”
Lance: “If there’s one thing you can count on me being, it’s a morbid asshole, Blue.”
Orion flashed me his fangs and I smiled.
Darcy: “The Nox flower?”
I gasped, wheeling towards Gabriel.
Gabriel: “It’s in bloom,”
he said, a keen hope in his eyes.
Gabriel: “It’s our one chance.”
Lance: “And how likely are we to be able to collect its pollen?”
Gabriel: “It’s about fifty-fifty,”
Gabriel said, though his brow lowered and I sensed he was bullshitting us.
Darcy: “Really?”
I narrowed my gaze.
Gabriel: “Alright, no, not really. We have about five percent chance of pulling it off,”
Lance: “Well damn, we’re basically guaranteed to do it then, Noxy,”
Lance: “He saved me. And it wasn’t the first time, admittedly. I think I’ve been a stubborn asshole.”
Darcy: “Nooo, you? Never,”
I teased sarcastically. He grinned like the Devil.
Lance: “It’s a habit that’s hard to break, beautiful. But I seem to be making exception to more and more companions these days.”
Darcy: “How about Seth?”
Lance: “No,”
he clipped immediately, and I shoved his arm.
Darcy: “Asshole,”
I accused, and he gripped my waist, kissing me hard and reminding me that I wouldn’t want him any other way.
Gabriel: "So… tell me what’s going on.”
Darcy: “You clearly already know,”
I mused, smiling, though it felt dead on my lips.
Gabriel: “Yes, but please indulge the Seer who sees far too much of conversations before he’s had them. I prefer experiencing them in reality rather than in the lonely corners of my mind. It keeps me grounded.”
Darius: “Don’t be an asshole,”
he griped, getting out of bed and pacing over to me.
Tory: “Impossible. Asshole is my standard setting.”
Max: “Morning, Darius, are you planning to get dressed for the meeting or just stand about shirtless the whole time?”
Geraldine: “Pish posh, Maxy, don’t encourage the man to don clothing - let us have something to gaze upon with unfettered appreciation, won’t you?”
Max: “He looks cold,”
Max insisted, stalking over to Darius’s closet and tossing him a hoody.
Darius: “You gonna tell me what you’re planning then?”
Darius asked, bending down to pick up the journal I’d been writing in and flipping through the pages. He frowned as he got back to the start of it then turned the front cover to me with a questioning look. The words Property of Lance Orion had been embossed in gold on the navy cover and I shrugged innocently as I read them.
Tory: “He has like ten of those. He doesn’t need them all. And they’re fancy. The paper is all soft and there’s a little built-in bookmark thing.”
Darius: “There are at least fifteen pages of notes in his handwriting in the front of this,”
Tory: “Yeah, but it’s all just theoretical blah, blah, blah stuff. I needed it for important things.”
Darius flipped through my notes then turned the open book back to me showing me a doodle of a green Dragon with a sword sticking out of his fat head and little Xs for eyes to prove that he was definitely dead.
Tory: “Those are my cunning plans,” I added in a low whisper that made him laugh.
Darius: “Coffee?”
Tory: “I knew I didn’t just marry you because you were dying,”
Darius: “No. It was because I was dying and I have a big cock.”
Tory: “Hail to that.”
Darius: “Why the fuck are you sitting in the bath while he’s in the room?”
he snapped, his words coated in a possessive growl. Honestly, I’d been about to ask Caleb to shut the door while I got out, but Darius’s tone made me narrow my eyes instead.
Tory: “I fell asleep in here and he arrived, no big deal.”
Darius: “You’re naked,”
he pointed out in a low voice, and I glanced at the bag of coffees nervously. If he spilled those while throwing a bitch fit over me falling asleep in the damn bath then I was going to kick his ass.
Tory: “There are a million bubbles in this thing. I’m more covered up than I am in most of the clothes I own.”
Caleb: “That’s true,”
Caleb agreed unhelpfully and Darius’s eyes flashed gold.
Darius: “That is not the-”
he began, raising his hand to point at me, the paper bag full of precious coffees swinging wildly.
Tory: “Gah, put the coffees down and stop freaking out. They’re just tits, dude. No one cares.”
Darius: “You seriously did not just dude me again,”
Darius growled, stalking across the room and Caleb casually turned his eyes back down to the book in his hands even though I could tell he was holding back a laugh and not reading at all.
Darius: “And they are not just tits. They’re your tits.”
Tory: “You wouldn’t care if I was having a bath while you were in the room,”
Darius: “That’s because I’m your husband and we fuck each other so I get to see them.”
Tory: “You assholes get naked to shift all the time and it’s not like I’m concerned about that. Caleb must have seen Seth’s cock a thousand times before he was tempted to start sucking it.”
Caleb: “A thousand and one,”
Caleb put in, biting back his laughter.
Caleb: “The one over was the charm.”
Tory: “See? He’d have to see my tits at least nine hundred more times before he’d be tempted by them, and I don’t bathe that often. You’ve probably got a couple of years before you need to start caring and by then we might be thinking another three-way would be just the thing to spice up our marriage bed so-”
Seth: “Whoa, whoa, whoa, what do you mean another three-way?”
Lance: “Why does it sound like someone’s being murdered in here?”
Orion’s voice came from the door, and if Darius hadn’t been losing his shit quite so spectacularly, I might have chosen that moment to draw the line. As we were already deep into this game, I ignored Orion’s curse of horror as he entered and looked my way, my sister right behind him.
Lance: “What’s with the public bathing?’
Orion snapped, his eyes now firmly on the view beyond the window and shit, I think he might have been blushing because he looked embarrassed as hell. There were a butt ton of bubbles though, so I knew there wasn’t actually anything for him to have seen anyway.
Darcy looked from me to Caleb and Seth and finally to my husband whose fist was looking all kinds of fucked up from how hard he was punching the air shield.
I gave her a look which said ‘I can’t just bow down to this shit’ and she arched a brow which said ‘hell no you can’t’ before speaking for the whole room to hear.
Darcy: “What’s the problem, Darius? They’re only tits.”
Seth: “I’m sorry, are you all deaf? Because I did not know. I knew nothing of this at all. The only three-ways involving another dude that Caleb has ever taken part in to my knowledge were with me.”
Caleb: “Err, I guess you don’t really wanna hear about the time me and Milton Hubert met this blazing hot Chimera in Tucana and-”
Seth held out a hand, gagging as if he had just vomited in his own mouth.
Seth: “I need to be alone,”
he gasped before pressing his fist to his mouth and heading for the door.
Seth: "Lance. Are you coming or what?”
Lance: “Why the fuck would I be coming?”
Orion asked Darcy like she might have some clue what Seth was thinking at any given moment.
Tory: “What now?”
I taunted, raising a hand coated in bubbles and blowing them straight at him. Darius looked about ready to commit murder and I bit my lip. Violence looked so fucking good on him.
Darius: “Out!”
he barked, the word not for me but for the others.
Darius: “Unless any of you wants a visual demonstration of who owns my wife’s body because it’s clear to me that she needs a fucking reminder.”
My smile widened and Darcy wrinkled her nose.
Darcy: “We came here for a meeting. Can’t you two just argue about this later?”
Caleb: “Yeah, I want to eat those bagels before they go cold,”
Caleb said, getting to his feet, the Book of Ether still in his arms.
Caleb: “Can I have one of those coffees too?”
Darius: “Go help Geraldine with the breakfast shit,”
Darius snarled, grabbing the door to the ensuite and shoving it shut, but he threw it closed too hard and it simply bounced against the door frame and slowly swung open again at his back.
Darius: “You can come back here once my wife has put her damn clothes on.”
Caleb: “You realize none of us care about her tits, right?”
Caleb pushed because apparently I wasn’t the only one who got a kick out of poking ill-tempered Dragons. Darius’s gaze snapped to his and he took a threatening step forward which Caleb answered with a wide grin and a salute before shooting from the room.
Caleb: “You can try your luck with me when I get back, asshole.”
His words carried to us as he disappeared and Darius growled, taking a step as if to follow him, but I caught his wrist with a whip of water that I lifted from the bath, suds sloshing over the sleeve of his shirt.
Seth: “Come on, Lance,”
Seth barked. Orion threw Darcy over his shoulder and shot from the room without another word, the door slamming at his back. Within less than a minute, Darius had hauled me from the tub with a fistful of my hair, bent me over it and was ten inches deep inside me before I could even say fuck you.
Tory: “Hey,”
I snapped, lunging for him, but he swung the chocolate out of reach and my coffee almost became a casualty.
Tory: “That’s mine.”
Seth: “It’s compensation,”
he accused, pointing at me with the chocolate.
Seth: “You should just be glad I’m not demanding you and Darius have a three-way with me to make this right.”
Tory: “Ew, I don’t want to have a fucking three-way with you. And how would that make it right?”
Seth: “It would reset the balance,”
he said like that was the most obvious thing in the world.
Seth: “Or…actually the balance would be better reset if I had the three-way with you two,”
he said, now pointing my chocolate bar at Orion and Darcy.
Darcy: “Ewww, Seth,”
Darcy protested, and Orion glared at him.
Lance: “I would sooner peel my own skin from my bones than have your cock anywhere near my mate.”
Seth: “But not you,”
Seth sniggered, and Orion’s glare grew deadly.
Darcy: “Ew,”
Seth: “Stop with the fucking ews. I don’t want to have to fuck any of you either. I’m just saying what we should do.”
Seth: “No. I’ve held this in for far too long, dancing around the truth of all I saw, of the demon vagina, of the…the…the fucking heads.”
Max: “It’s okay,”
Max said, leaning forward to take Seth’s hand and offer him some relief from the memory but he cried out as the connection clearly showed him what Seth had witnessed. The flash of horror and revulsion he felt was so vivid and powerful that it crashed from him and collided with all of us, showing us a momentary vision of Lavinia squatting over what looked like a fucking nest and a severed head poised beneath her, its mouth fixed in a silent scream.
Everyone: “Ahh!”
we all yelled out at once, cursing Max, Seth, and the universe for ever allowing such a thing to happen. I scrunched my eyes up against the vision as I recoiled into Darius’s arms.
Tory: “My quarrel was never with you,”
Roxy said firmly, not even seeming shaken as the master of death glowered at her, his piercing gaze raking over the rune which smouldered between us, his upper lip curling back in understanding.
Ferryman: “And yet you feel the need for that,”
he pointed out, making Roxy grin.
Tory: “Well, I’m not a fucking idiot.”
Lance: “Come on, mutt. Wake up and annoy the fuck out of me.”
He didn’t stir, his face so fucking pale that panic took hold of me.
Lance: “Seth!”
I shouted, shaking him and releasing all of my healing power into his body.
Lance: “Wake up, you asshole. We’re fucking moon friends, alright? There, I said it. I like you. You’ve made up for what you did. So come back here and let me give you some star damned forgiveness for it, yeah? You can’t go dying on me when I didn’t even get to stop being an asshole to you. Mostly.”
Seth: “You called me your moon friend,”
Seth said on a gasp.
Lance: “I don’t think so,”
I said, pushing to my feet and pulling him after me.
Seth: “You did! I heard it,”
he said, bouncing upright and hugging me. I hugged him back, letting him nuzzle me too because fuck it was a relief to know he was alive. It had been one damn close call though.
Lance: “Must have been the wind,”
I said with a shrug as we parted. He gave me a knowing look.
Seth: “Uhuh. And did the wind also say that it loves me?”
Lance: “I said I like you, not love.”
Seth: “I know.”
He smirked like he was just a cocky little shit in my classroom one again.
Seth: “I just knew you couldn’t resist correcting me.”
Darius: “I think that was my stalker,”
he said mildly like that wasn’t disturbing as fuck.
Tory: “She pissed herself,”
I pointed out as if the stench of her urine which still lingered from the puddle she’d left behind wasn’t reminder enough of that.
Darius: “Yeah. That was fucked up. Poor Cynthia, the object of her obsession was obviously overwhelming in person. I can’t really blame her though, I’m fucking irresistible.”
Tory: “Her name wasn’t…”
I trailed off, uncertain why I was even bothering with him on the names thing anymore anyway and addressing that big headed bullshit instead.
Tory: “And you’re not irresistible – I resisted you plenty,”
Darius: “Nah, baby, you really didn’t. Even before you ripped my clothes off in the Shimmering Springs, I was all over your filthy fantasies. If I hadn’t wanted you just as much in return you might have ended up like poor Sandy, obsessed and pining from afar for the rest of your-”
I shoved him away from me with a scoff, refusing to even acknowledge that nonsense as I continued my path to the Earth Caverns.
Darius: “Beautiful, brilliant, liar,”
he growled, turning from the glimmering armour and catching my jaw in his rough palm as he forced me to look up into those dark and ruinous eyes which owned my entire soul.
Darius: “Stop trying to downplay this and own it, Roxy. It’s utterly exquisite, the most valuable thing I have ever laid eyes on bar one.”
My lips toyed with a smile as his other hand moved to my waist and drew me closer.
Tory: “Fine. I worked myself to death over it and I’m fucking exhausted by the effort it took. I did it for you because I won’t ever risk you again. You own my heart, Darius.”
I pressed my palm to his chest where his pulse sounded in time with mine.
Tory: “Not like this, but in the purest and most vital way any one person can. And I will follow you into death if that’s what our fate demands. But I don’t plan on letting death have us that easily, I plan on living with you and loving you this fiercely through the grey hair and wrinkles and rocking chairs surrounded by a hundred great grandbabies and every glorious moment between now and then. So this is a command from your queen, Darius Vega. Don’t die out on that battlefield. Bring me your father’s head and let’s start a new life by dancing on his funeral pyre.”
Darius: “So beautifully, brutally, violent, my Queen,”
Darius rumbled against my lips, teasing me with a kiss which was only a breath away.
Darius: “And of course, your wish is my greatest command.”
Lance: “Did you bring it?”
Gabriel: “Bring what?”
Gabriel frowned and as I opened my mouth to curse him out, he smirked and took a small wooden box from his pocket engraved with the Libra and Gemini constellations.
Gabriel: “I took the liberty of making this, seeing as you didn’t have one.”
Darius: “That’s nice. Not as nice as gifting him the ring he’s going to propose with. But nice.”
Darius: “It’s almost time for the ball, Cinderella,”
Darius taunted, and I checked my watch, finding he was right.
Gabriel: “You look more nervous for this than the battle tomorrow,”
Gabriel said with a laugh.
Lance: “Combat I can do,”
Darius: “She’s your Elysian Mate, even if she says no, she’ll still be yours, brother,”
Gabriel: “Some Fae just aren’t into marriage.”
Lance: “She did make a comment or two about that before. Maybe I’m a fool to want this.”
Darius: “Well you’ve got a ring and you’re dressed up like a prime asshole. You may as well shoot your shot.”
Darcy: “Once upon a time, I was a girl afraid to be burned by the world, now I’m a queen who rules the fire. I will win this war for you, Lance, and I swear to the stars I will meet you at the altar.”
Bitchy Flame Eyes: Give it a rest, asshole. They’re having a moment.
Wolfman: Can you SEE it? Are you watching from the bushes?
Dragzilla: She can’t see shit, she’s in the middle of getting her pretty dress torn off.
Wolfman: That’s twisted! Are you watching them fuck?
Dragzilla: I was talking about my wife, idiot.
Dragzilla turned their notifications off
Bitchy Flame Eyes turned their notifications off
Wolfman: Rude.
Fish Fury: Nah, I quite like being the only one in the know.
Big Bird: He’s not the only one.
Big Bird changed their name to Gabriel
Wolfman changed Gabriel’s name to Big Bird
Big Bird: Well I was going to tell you, but now you can get fucked.
Big Bird turned their notifications off
Fish Fury: Hahaha
Caleb: “A pocket watch?”
Caleb’s eyebrows arched.
Caleb: “It’s…shit, that Elemental craftsmanship is perfect, Seth. But where are the clock hands?”
Seth: “It doesn’t have any,”
Caleb: “So it can’t tell the time?”
Seth: “It tells our time,”
I said tightly, heat rising in my cheeks as I placed the watch in his palm and closed his fingers around it.
Seth: “Our clock doesn’t tick, Caleb Altair. There’s no seconds, minutes or hours, it has no day or night. It just is. Forever.”
I stepped closer to him, cupping his cheek and staring into those navy blue eyes which saw right through to my soul.
Seth: “Whatever happens tomorrow, our time is always.”
I touched my lips to his and he pulled me closer with a surge of passion, our kiss deepening and my heart beating to the most powerful tune it had ever played. There was pain in that tune, the fear of what fate would befall us, but I tried to focus on the love I felt instead. Because there was really no greater thing I’d experienced in this world than him, and if my number was about to be called, then knowing I’d had his love and given him all of mine in return…that would be enough for me in this lifetime. In fact, it was more than I ever could have hoped for.
With a surge of power, I pulled the clay from the earth, moulding it into a range of mounds and shaping them roughly before letting Leon take over with his fire Element to finish them.
Gabriel: “Don’t give the clay tits,”
I cursed as Leon shaped two giant breasts onto one of my creations. Leon baked the tits in place with his fire, ignoring me.
Leon: “You just do your bit, and I’ll do mine.”
Gabriel: “You’re wasting time,”
Leon: “Tits are never a waste of time,”
he said, giving me a pointed look and I huffed out a breath, knowing that nothing I said had ever worked to control Leon in the past.
Death couldn’t have me now or ever, because I belonged to her. I would lay in no grave until our life was well-worn and her smile had brightened thousands of glorious days. We were meant to rise with tomorrow’s sun, and I would see that dawn in with my love by my side come what fucking may.
Tharix: "Besides, your queen made a deal with me – she owes me.”
Darius: “Owes you what?’
I asked, narrowing my eyes at him and making a mental note to have words with my wife about making dodgy deals with ferocious creatures because she was making altogether too much of a habit of it.
Darius: “I’m headed for the Jade Castle. And when I get there, I plan on decapitating our father. Do you have any issue with that?”
Tharix grinned.
Tharix: “Do you know, just this morning, I was thinking how much better he would look without a head. It will match with his missing hand.”
I held out for all of a few seconds before barking a laugh and grinning back at the brother who I hadn’t asked for but now found myself lumped with.
Darius: “Well, maybe we are related after all.”
Geraldine: “Tell me I made them proud,”
Max: “You did, of course you did. They couldn’t have done any of this without you,”
Tory: “Fight hard, and if it comes to it, die well,”
I told him as I wrapped him in my magic and prepared to launch him away from me.
Seth: “Same to you, my Queen,”
Tory: “I am Tory Vega, daughter of the Savage King, sister of Darcy Vega and rightful queen of this fucking land. I. do. Not. Beg.”
Hail: “That’s something you need to learn about being a monarch; you should never apologize for making the hard decisions,”
Hail: “Tell the poor choice,”
Hail murmured in my ear as we prepared to charge into war.
Hail: “He did…okay.”
Tory: “For Solaria!”
I yelled so that every one of them could hear me.
Tory: “And for Lionel’s fucking head!”
Geraldine: “If I die this day, know that I loved you, you wandering whelk. Know I loved you to the depths of my dilly garden and beyond.”
Max caught me before I could follow her into her grave, and I chuckled as I turned in his arms then patted him fondly on the cheek.
Geraldine: “That’ll do, starfish,”
Tharix: “I want to pick my own paths. And I have come to see that I will never do that while our father keeps trying to yank on my leash.”
Darcy: “You fight for power while I fight for love. Let’s see which one triumphs on the cusp of oblivion.”
Lavinia: “I cannot die,”
Ferryman: “Die? All things can die if I wish it,”
a dark voice made the ground rumble, and I looked up to find a cloaked figure standing there with a weathered paddle in hand and his black hood drawn low to conceal his features.
Lance: “You did it, Blue,”
he said, his voice rough with emotion.
Lance: “You’re a damn warrior of the stars.”
My parents came rushing to me, my mother drawing me upright while Hail hauled Orion to his feet.
Hail: “You have my blessing, good choice,”
my father muttered to Orion, and I shook my head in disbelief, finding no words as purest shock took hold of me.
Hail: “My little darling. I wish I could spend all your coming days right here with you. But I promise we’ll be watching. We’ll be here, even when you cannot see us.”
Merissa: “We are so proud of you all. You have overcome the dark that dared to try and have you. But not my children. You are all far too strong, able to face anything life throws at you.”
Tory: “Don’t go,”
Tory breathed, pain in her voice.
Merissa: “We will see you again one day. But not until you have lived life to its fullest. Not until you have worn your hearts out with love and have known the depths of all this world has to offer.”
Hail: “And we will be there to watch it all, so close you can hardly imagine,”
Hail said, his skin beginning to crack as the clay body he wore started to shatter.
Darius: “My other brother is one of us now too. The dead souls which were bound to him have been banished into death and he proved his loyalty in the battle.”
Something in Tharix’s expression shifted at those words, his lips parting slightly as his dark eyes met mine and I gave him a wry smile.
Darius: “He mentioned something about the True Queens owing him a favour – so maybe just pardoning all the shadow creep shit would cover it?”
Tory: “Oh it would, would it?”
Roxy called after me.
Darius: “Yeah,”
I agreed but I jerked to a halt as a vine caught my arm and forced me back around to face them.
Tory: “And where do you think you’re going?”
my wife asked me, her bloody sword in hand as she strode closer, Darcy right behind her and the rest dogging their footsteps.
Darius: “I told you, I-”
Tory: “Thought you were the only one here interested in that hunt? Fuck you, asshole. You don’t get to claim that bastard’s head all for yourself – the rest of us plan on taking part in tracking him down too. We all have debts to pay back to your father.”
Tory: “Death doesn’t seem so terrifying with you by my side,”
Darius: “Not now that I know we will face it together. But let’s leave that adventure for another day, shall we?”
Darius: “I’m not the one you should be frightened of,”
Darius replied cruelly, a smile gripping his features as he watched me summon every scrap of my power into my fist ready to blast him from this life and see him destroyed for his betrayal.
Lionel: “I’m not frightened of you,”
I retorted, the acrid taste of a lie caressing my tongue.
Darius: “You are. You have been for a very, very long time,”
he countered like it was a fact that was so very obvious to him.
Darius: “But the problem with waiting for the beast at your front to strike is that it’s so easy to miss the one aiming for your back.”
Everything from the air, to the rock, to my own body burned. Everything, except her. And as Roxanya Vega’s sword slammed straight into my chest, piercing my heart and ripping my soul from the confines of my living body, her final words to me rang like a death toll throughout my skull.
Tory: “So much for the reign of the great Dragon King.”
Tory: “You look like one of those Christmas nutcracker things,”
I told him as my eyes ran from the black boots on his feet over the fitted blood red suit and ruffly shirt thing all the way up to the perfectly disheveled black hair which was spilling down into his eyes as always.
Tory: “You just need a top hat.”
Darius: “And you look like a toilet paper doily,”
he retorted, his lips brushing my ear as he leaned in close to speak to me.
Darius: “I look forward to hunting for skin beneath the many layers of that thing once we’re done here.”
Tory: “Only if you get yourself the hat,”
I teased, and he smirked at me in that utterly obnoxious way which always got me as infuriated as it did hot.
Darius: “Your ideas of roleplay really do take some interesting turns,” .
Gabriel: “You look beautiful. We should get going. We’re exactly late enough to have Orio freaking out.”
Lance: “Oh yeah? Is it a kiss, wife?”
Darcy: “Nope,”
I said, a tease in my voice as I leaned back to avoid his mouth. He placed his hands either side of me on the table, a hungry growl in his throat.
Lance: “What then?”
Darcy: “This place,”
I said with a mischievous smile.
Lance: “Hm?”
he grunted, not understanding as his eyes remained on my lips and he continued to chase me for that kiss.
Darcy: “The Library of the Lost. It’s yours. All yours. You can rename it if you like. The Library of the Not Lost. Or The Library of Orion’s Precious Books that No One’s Allowed to Touch. Or-”
His palm came down on my mouth to quiet me.
Lance: “Blue,”
he warned like I’d done something bad, and heat burned a path between my thighs.
Lance: “Are you toying with me, because that’s a very dangerous game to play.”
I scooped up a handful of the cake behind me, keeping it hidden as he dropped his hand and tried to get another kiss, then I shoved it against his mouth, smearing it over his face. I ducked away from him, laughing as I ran back to the dance floor and he chased after me with a burst of speed, licking the frosting from his lips as he gripped my hips and swung me around. I laid my hand on his chest, dancing in front of him while he stood there rigidly, amusement sparkling in his gaze.
Lance: “Did you really buy me the library?”
Darcy: “Really, really. And Arnold’s not even mad because I set up a fund for the restoration of any damaged or deteriorating books. He was so delighted, he mooed for a full ten seconds.”
Tory: “Why do you look like someone just tit punched you?”
Darius: “Twins don’t run in my family – you can’t blame me!”
I yelled, ducking as my wife hurled a fistful of ice at my head and scooping little Tarin into my arms as I nearly trampled him in my attempt to escape.
Tory: “Don’t go using the kids as a shield, it’s your man bits that got us into this!”
Roxy snarled, using a whip of air magic to snatch our two-year-old son from my arms and gently depositing him back in the playroom with his twin brother Rygar.
Darius: “My man bits?”
I barked a laugh, ducking another ball of ice as it hurtled towards my head.
Tory: “You know the boys will have a field day with the word cock if I use it,”
Tarin: “Cock,”
Tarin replied instantly, running back out of the playroom with Rygar right behind him as always.
Tory: “He can’t fight back, because he’s gone and gotten me pregnant again.”
Darius: “Which you were excited about until Gabriel showed up,”
I reminded her, shooting a poisonous look across the room at her brother who was lounging on my white couch with one eye on his wife’s Pitball match which was playing on the TV and eating my damn snacks as if he was innocent in all of this.
Gabriel: “I saw the babies,”
he replied with a mischievous grin which told me he had known about this before today and had waited to tell us until he was here in person so he could watch Roxy lose her shit with me.
Lance: “Babies plural?”
Orion asked as he followed Darcy into the house.
Lance: “As in twins?”
He looked between Rygar and Tarin for a moment then added,
Lance: “Again?”
Gabriel: “Yup,”
Gabriel said, grinning over a fistful of chips before stuffing them into his mouth.
Darcy: “Wow,”
Darcy said, looking from the boys, to her sister, to me.
Darcy: “You really don’t do anything by halves, do you Darius?”
Darius: “Come on, Rox, you love the boys. You can’t be that upset over it-”
Tory: “I love them alright – and once they vacate the premises, I’m right here for it. But in the meantime, I will once again be playing host to two massive Dragon babies in my womb at once.”
Darcy pulled a pained face, clearly glad not to have that particular issue to contend with in her own pregnancy and I broke a smile which was likely not the best move.
Darius: “You know I loved it when you were as round as you were tall. It was so cute-”
A fireball took out the curtains behind me as I just about managed to duck it in time.
Tory: “Never again,”
she hissed, glaring at me.
Tory: “You are never again putting that thing near me after this.”
She waved a hand in the general direction of my dick and strode away from me, taking a place on the couch beside Gabriel.
Geraldine: “Is there a reason why the curtains do smoulder so?”
Lance: “Tory’s having twins again,”
Orion said, throwing a handful of water at the blackened curtains while Geraldine fell to the ground with a pterodactyl shriek which soon became a cacophony of joyous tears, plus praises to the stars and my loins.
Darius: “See,”
I said, grabbing Roxy a beer then swapping it for a soda as I realised my mistake and dropping down beside her on the couch with it held out in offering.
Darius: “Geraldine is praising my loins.”
Tory: “So you admit that your loins are the issue?”
Darius: “Never.”
Geraldine: “Tonight, as we do once a year, our minds linger on the long-departed Lame Lionel. As there are surely none in this lifetime who might grieve him, we come together on this day – the anniversary of his vanquishment – year upon year and remember him. We think of him like this for one reason alone; so that he may never pass on from The Veil. We wish for his soul to be tethered by the thoughts of the living, so that his suffering can go on and on eternally at the hands of those who fell prey to his evil machinations. So here is to Lionel Acrux – the Fae who shall forever be trapped within the hell of death! The Dragon who burned!”
Caleb’s eyes widened in shock as he took in my swishy tail and sparkly horn.
Caleb: “Seth. What fuck are you doing?”
Seth: “It’s okay, Cal. I know.”
Caleb: “You know what?”
Seth: “I knowwwwww,”
I said with a wink, placing a hoof against his chest.
Seth: “You can be yourself with me. You don’t have to hide it.”
Caleb: “Hide what?”
Oh my poor, embarrassed little Cal, still unable to fully unveil his inner desires even now.
Seth: “That you’re horny for the horn,”
I said, crawling around so my ass was to him and shaking my butt so the tail swished for him.
Seth: “You can whip me like a bad pony if you like, or ride me like a good one. I’ll be your Pegasus Sub, and you can be my Dom. Or do you not want to pretend you’re a Pegasus too? Do you like to be the big, bad Vampire claiming his stallion?”
Seth: “You can be anything with me, Cal. I want to be a part of this.”
Caleb: “Be a part of what?!”
he snarled, his face kinda red and maybe that was what he liked, being all angry when he fucked me like a naughty Pegasus who’d eaten all the carrots. That was how it had been in that video that had gone viral with him and the Pegasex doll. Yeah, that must have been it. He liked to be wild, he wanted to punish his bad bronco.
Seth: “You…don’t want this?”
I asked in horror. How could I have gotten it wrong? There had to be something to the rumours. Surely I wasn’t kidding myself here. I’d picked up on the hints and drawn this conclusion. He was my mate; how could I get it so wrong?
Caleb: “Of course I don’t,”
Seth: “Not even my multi-function horn?”
I pressed the button on the horn and it began intermittently spinning, vibrating and thrusting. Caleb stared at me in stunned silence.
Caleb: “And where is that supposed to go?”
Seth: “Well, I mean…”
I shrugged innocently.
Caleb: “It’s my ass, isn’t it?”
he growled, eyes narrowing.
Caleb: “That is not going anywhere near my ass.”
Seth: “I don’t judge you for it. I’ve done all kinds of crazy shit. This is actually one of the least crazy things I’ve done.”
Caleb: “Are you actually bringing up other people you’ve fucked right now?”
Seth: “I’m just saying I’m totally cool with this. I’m into it if you’re into it. There’s no shame in being horny for the horn. Look how hot I look in this shit.”
I flexed my muscles, and Caleb’s gaze trailed over my abs.
Caleb: “Fuck. You do look hot.”
Excitement flared inside me at the breakthrough.
Seth: “I knew it!”
Caleb: “No. That doesn’t mean I’m horny for the horn, it’s just because it’s you in all that glitter.”
Seth: “Sureeee it is, Cal,”
Caleb: “Dammit, Seth I’m not into Pegasuses.”
Seth: “Do you wanna see my dijazzle?”
I offered, onto him now, knowing his truth. He couldn’t admit it out loud, but the way he was looking at me confirmed it. This was getting him hard. And when Cal was hard, I was hard. Caleb hesitated, his gaze dropping to my shiny purple shorts.
Caleb: “Well… I kind of want to see. Out of curiosity.”
I laughed.
Seth: “Oh you’re so fucking hot for Pegas-ass.”
Caleb: “I’m not, I’m hot for you. Now show me the fucking dijazzle.”
Caleb: “You will tell no one about this,”
Caleb warned, his fingers reaching behind me to knot in my tail.
Seth: “No one,”
I breathed, though obviously he didn’t include everyone in that statement. Our besties knew all our secrets. And I bet Orion would be happy to know his sanguis frater was having such a great sex life. Caleb loomed down on me, his fangs extending.
Caleb: “Then neigh for me like a good pony and do exactly what I tell you.”
Gabriel smiled at Azura, having no better answer, then turned his attention to the kids who were piling onto the backs of the two Dragons beneath us.
Gabriel: “Uh-oh. We should probably tell the others.”
Lance: “That their kids are all about to ride away on two newly-Emerged Dragon children? Yeah, Noxy. I think we should tell them.”