Chapter 58

After our press conference and Caleb's declaration of love for Seth to the whole world, Tory and I had slipped away to visit the Nymph village again. I was in a damn good mood about my friends finally claiming one another, and even the discussion with the High Nymph Cordette didn't sour my mood. She had been anything but welcoming, but her eyebrows had raised when we'd told her of the bargain we'd made with a fallen star to clean the shadows – leaving out the part where we'd begged for several other gifts from Esvellian before it had been done.

Cordette had asked us to give her time to discuss the possibility of sending some warriors to fight with us in battle but had made no promises. It was something, even if it wasn't all we'd hoped for. And with that, we returned to Zodiac Academy, a sense of hope brightening the day.

As I walked to The Orb with Tory, I checked my Atlas, finding my daily horoscope waiting for me and wondering if it might give any insight into whether Cordette would really end up offering us her help.

Good morning, Gemini.

The stars have spoken about your day!

With Jupiter moving into your chart, you may feel a renewed sense of optimism, even though a dark threat still hangs over you. A conversation with a Scorpio will bring clarity to your mind over the woes of the past, and if you take heed in their words, you may find yourself freed from the cruel chains of trauma. You might feel a sense that something big is coming between you and a beloved Libra, a moment that will place an important choice at your feet. Enjoy the highs while they remain and take heart when the lows seek to drag you down.

I showed my Atlas to Tory. "My horoscope is being weirdly optimistic today. What do you think it means about ‘an important choice?'"

"No idea." Tory shrugged. "Maybe Orion is gonna ask you if he should shave his beard off."

"Well the beard stays," I said. "Maybe I'll suggest he grows it out. Like Merlin."

Tory sniggered. "Then he can tuck it into his waistband when it's in his way."

We both laughed and I leaned in to my sister, wishing we had more free time to just hang out like this.

We walked into The Orb and I spotted Max and Geraldine looking over some maps on the war council table. My eyes scanned the room instinctively for Orion, and I found him on the red couch with Darius, chatting and laughing together like two gossiping old ladies.

I headed in their direction, but a wind came whipping up behind me and suddenly Tory and I were bowled over by the force of two muscular men. Seth nuzzled my face then howled like he was in his Wolf form while Caleb hugged Tory in excitement.

"What the fuck?" Tory laughed.

"Something happened!" Seth yelled.

"Tell them," Caleb encouraged, looking to Seth like he knew he'd want to be the one to say it.

Orion shot over, pulling Seth off of me and Darius was close behind him, spewing smoke from his lips as he stared at Caleb pinning Tory to the floor. Instead of going full Dragon, he paused, seeming to notice something about Caleb.

"Holy shit." Darius grabbed Caleb's arm, yanking him upright and examining something behind his ear.

"What's going on?" I asked, desperate to know as Orion caught my hand and pulled me to my feet.

"Yes, what ho, dear fellows?" Geraldine came jogging over with Max.

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. "So we were in King's Hollow fucking like animals when-"

"Seth," Caleb laughed.

"What? It's important to the story," Seth insisted. "So Caleb was moaning my name and telling me how I'm the best he's ever had when-"

"Seth," Caleb's tone dropped to a warning growl.

"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.

"How is that relevant? And when did I even say that?" Caleb demanded, but he started laughing again, clearly on a high himself. "Just get to the point."

"I think I know the point," Darius said, clapping Caleb on the shoulder then looking to Seth. "But go on, say it, brother."

"The moon got all glowy and big and beautiful – even more beautiful than usual," Seth explained. "She was so, so bright and it was like she was shining just on us. Through us, and into us, all around us, with sparkles everywhere."

"By the stars," Orion exhaled as he realised what they were saying, and it looked like Geraldine and Max were realising it too, but Tory and I were still left in the dark.

"What it is it?" I pressed and Seth leapt at me, grabbing my arms and shaking me.

"The moon mated us, Darcy!" he exclaimed then spun around, pulling his hair back to show me and Tory the space behind his ear.

A silver crescent was marked onto his skin like it was stitched there with threads of moonlight.

"Oh wow." I reached out to run my finger over it and Seth howled, finally unleashing all that energy and racing off to do laps of The Orb.

Caleb showed us his mark, pride lining his features and I rushed forward to hug him.

"I'm so happy for you both," I squealed, finding myself crushed between the arms of the rest of our group.

"This is cause for celebration indeed," Geraldine gasped as we broke apart again. "I shall prepare us a barrowful of brunch and we shall all be as merry as windigogs upon the hour!"

"We don't really have time, don't we need to hold a war council today?" Caleb said with a frown.

"That can wait," Tory said firmly, and I nodded. "This is fucking amazing, and we're going to acknowledge it properly."

Caleb pushed a hand into his golden curls, and I could have sworn he was blushing a bit. He looked to Max, then Darius as Seth went sprinting past us again with a whoop of joy. "Is it weird, seeing us together after us being friends for so long?"

"Bro, I have felt your love for each other for the longest fucking time," Max said with a smirk. "I'm just glad you finally had the balls to admit it to the world."

"You knew?" Caleb cursed and Max laughed.

"Of course I fucking knew, I'm the most powerful Siren in the kingdom."

"And you?" Caleb rounded on Darius who shared a conspiratorial look with Tory.

"No, no I knew nothing," he replied casually.

"Nothing at all?" Caleb pushed.

"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.

"What did you see?" Seth demanded though he didn't slow down.

"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."

"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.

"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.

"I'm not sure I remember ever being-" Caleb tried.

"Oh you remember alright," Darius interrupted. "It wasn't the kind of night that could have been scrubbed from anyone's mind – believe me, I know."

"What did they do?" Max demanded.

"That's fine, no need to tell the whole group," Caleb said quickly. "The cat's out of the bag now anyway so-"

"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.

"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.

"Really. Fucking. Physical." Darius shot a look at Caleb who coughed awkwardly then just shrugged.

"Yeah, okay, sorry Tory – we did kinda hook up in your bed. But it was after you went off to find the Damned Forest and we didn't exactly realise we had an audience-" Caleb said, trying to own it.

"No, I assume not because you likely wouldn't have wanted an audience to realise your choice of sex toys included unlicenced 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.

"Why would you use a sex toy with Darius's face stamped on it?" Orion asked with a shudder.

"His face was not stamped on the sex toy," Caleb growled just as Seth said, "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.

"You used a butt plug with Darius's face on it?" I asked, choking on my own laughter.

"No," Caleb snapped while Seth shrugged like that wouldn't even have been that weird.

"Why did you hang around and watch them going at it with off-brand sex toys anyway?" Orion asked Darius incredulously.

"I got stuck there," Darius said with a scowl. "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."

"Who came to help you?" Seth asked, peeling Caleb's fingers from his mouth.

"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.

"You're lying," he accused, pointing at 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.

"That is not how it was-" he tried, but Seth spoke over him.

"He wasn't even vanilla at all after that," he said loudly. "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.

"This…I…I'm never having sex again," he hissed just as Seth shattered the silencing bubble and pointed an accusatory finger at Darius.

"No way you just took that lying down," he said.

"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.

"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. "I knew there was a reason you did that."

"So you're not BFF BJ buddies?" Caleb muttered to Seth like we all might not hear him, but we definitely did.

Seth glanced away awkwardly then looked back at him, clearing his throat. "I kind of…made that shit up."

"What?" Caleb blurted.

"I panicked after I gave you that BJ and I thought you were gonna reject me if you knew it really meant something to me, so I figured the best thing to do was to just… pretend I suck all of my friends' cocks." Seth shrugged innocently and Caleb stared at him in shock.

For a second it looked like he might hit him, but then he fell on Seth instead, kissing him ravenously and the rest of us backed away to give them some room. I couldn't fight the smile off my face as I headed to the red couch with the others, my chest full of light over this revelation.

Geraldine made a call to the A.S.S. and went racing out of The Orb to prepare the brunch, dismissing all offerings we made to help.

We fell into discussion about who had known what about Caleb and Seth and the two of them soon joined us, sitting close together, their intimate touches so natural and full of love, I just wished they'd sorted their shit out sooner.

The door opened and I looked around, finding a beautiful woman with long white hair and dark skin walking into The Orb. She wore a woollen sweater with dark green pants, and she had a sword sheathed at her hip. The men were armed too, but it was pretty common for the rebels to carry weapons in case of attack.

"Geraldine Grus invited me here," she announced, dipping her head to me and Tory in a bow. "My name is Imenia Brumalis, I belong to the society of the Glacials from the Polar Capital."

I shared a look with my twin, recognising her name from what Caleb and Seth had told us and we rose to our feet, approaching her.

"We heard about the mines you were held captive in," I said sadly. "I'm sorry we didn't get to you sooner."

"Your people came precisely at the right moment," she said with a touch of mysticism to her voice, nodding in thanks to Caleb and Seth behind us. "Everything happens just when it is supposed to."

"You've come here with intention then," Tory said, her brows lifting.

"Yes," Imenia said, reaching into her pocket and taking out a roughly cut diamond that was almost as big as her palm. It glimmered with blue and green light, the calming magic that hummed from it entirely bewitching. "A Glacia diamond," she whispered. "One of the few that can wield the power of the Northern Lights."

"What kind of power?" Tory asked, hope bleeding into her voice and I felt it too.

"It is not a weapon," Imenia said quickly. "But I believe it may assist you in battle all the same."

"How?" I pressed, needing to know. Any added strength in the coming fight was immensely precious.

"I will teach you," Imenia vowed. "And when the battle comes, I pray it shall help shift the tide in our favour."

I was unable to move. Trapped in my own body and forced to watch as vicious cuts sliced deep into my mate's skin. His pain was my pain, and the agony of seeing him face this torture was too much. I screamed but no noise came out, my heart just hammered more wildly.

Trapped, I was trapped. And he needed me.

Shadows were tightening around him, blood soaked his skin, and the life was fading from him fast.

I begged the stars to help, then I cursed them for not answering my pleas.

I was his only hope, and I couldn't get free.

I had to burn my way out of this power that held me, use every scrap of my Phoenix fire to reach him. I willed it towards the monster who stood at his back, her eyes two pools of nothing as she ran a blade across Orion's throat.

"No – no!" I screamed so loud the sound rattled my skull, the words finally making it out of my throat, and fire bloomed out from me in every direction.

"Blue!" Orion shouted to me and suddenly I wasn't there in that terrible place, I was in our bedroom in Rump Castle. Phoenix flames were blazing over my skin, burning the bed and blazing hungrily for more sustenance. Within the chaos of fire, Orion was reaching for me, his skin coated in ice as he staved off the flames and tried to get to me through them.

I extinguished them in an instant before they could hurt him, but as the ice melted off his skin, the burns on his arms and chest were clear.

A noise of horror left me and I lunged for him, pressing my hands to his skin and sending a wave of healing magic out to soothe the burns.

"I'm so sorry," I gasped, tears spilling down my cheeks.

He grasped my face in his palm, his eyes full of concern, but none for himself. "Are you alright?"

"It was a nightmare. Fuck, I could have hurt you so bad." I tried to withdraw from him, glancing back at the smouldering bed in horror at the thought.

He grabbed my arm, refusing me my escape.

"Look at me," he growled, and I did, my throat bobbing heavily. "I've got you. It was just an accident. A bad fucking dream, Blue."

"At least when the monsters were in my head, they couldn't hurt anyone. But what I just did…" My heart thrashed in fear as I took in Lance Orion, the man I would do anything to protect, yet I'd hurt him in my sleep.

Orion leaned in, pressing his lips to my forehead firmly then shifting back to look me in the eyes again. "My reactions are ten times the speed of yours. I moved the second the flames touched me."

"It shouldn't have happened at all," I said heatedly.

"No…" He frowned, then scooped me into his arms, walking to the plush window seat and sitting there, pulling me in against his chest. "What can I do, beautiful?"

I shook my head, curling into the safety of his warm body and finding so much solace in the steady pounding of his heart. I couldn't withdraw from him; we were made to be this close. But I had to find a way to deal with this messed up shit in my head, because I couldn't let Lavinia leave her mark on me.

"Do you dream of her too?" I whispered, and Orion brushed his fingers through my hair. "Do you think about what she did?"

"No, not often," he admitted gruffly. "The torture I went through was for you. I chose it. And every bite of pain I endured was for that reason. It was all I thought of in captivity. And now we're free…it doesn't haunt me, because I walked into that fate willingly."

I turned my head to kiss his bare chest, loving him fiercely for what he'd sacrificed for me, even if I was destroyed over it too. "Sometimes everything feels so normal again. We're all back together, and so far, somehow, we're all still breathing. But there are moments when it feels like the shadows still live under my skin. I think they've tainted me, and I'm not sure I'll ever really be free of them."

Orion heaved a sigh, his chest rising and falling beneath me. "There must be something we can do. Perhaps Max can help? He helped Tory after all."

I nodded mutely. I'd thought of that too, but I'd decided I could handle this alone. There were times when I didn't think of Lavinia or our captivity at all, but there were other moments like this when I couldn't escape it. Maybe I should have turned to Max sooner.

A tap came at the window and I lurched upright with my hands raised as Orion's fangs snapped out. Gabriel gazed in at us with dark eyes, his black wings beating slowly at his back.

I reached for the catch in surprise, dispelling the magical lock and opening it for him.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

It was the middle of the night, the waning moon high above us and the frosty air sweeping in through the open window.

"I had a vision. May I come in?" he asked.

"Of course," I said.

I climbed down from the window seat and Orion followed, letting Gabriel fly in and land lightly in front of us. His gaze slid to the smouldering bed then back to me, his frown deepening.

"Nightmare," I explained with a tight smile.

"I know," he said darkly, making it clear he'd seen what had happened.

"Have you seen a way to help her, Noxy?" Orion asked hopefully.

"I have actually," he said, and my heart lifted.

"Really?" I stepped towards him. "How?"

"I'll tell you soon enough. But right now, we have somewhere we all need to be," he said mysteriously.

"Good. I could use a distraction," I said, anxious to do something with all this adrenaline in my blood.

"We're going off campus, bring your weapons," Gabriel directed.

Orion shot into the walk-in closet, returning in a flash dressed in jeans, combat boots, a black shirt and his leather jacket, casually swinging his Phoenix sword at his side and leaning against the wall. "Well I'm ready when you two are." He smirked, sheathing the sword at his hip.

"You'll have to give me a minute, we don't all move as fast as a cheetah's fart," I said with a grin, striding past him towards the closet.

Orion sped up behind me, lifting me off my feet and making me squeak in surprise as he carried me in there. In a whirlwind of movement, he dressed me in jeans and a backless long-sleeved black top that would allow my wings to fly free. Then he knelt down, slowing his movements as he helped me into my boots, tying the laces and locking his eyes with mine for a second before sweeping me off my feet again in a flash and sprinting me back to our bedroom. He placed me down in front of my brother and Gabriel glanced at the clock.

"I think you're getting slower in your old age, Orio," he mocked.

"I'm the same age as you, asshole," Orion scoffed.

"And yet you'd hardly believe it," Gabriel teased.

"Let's just agree you're both as old as the hills," I said, climbing up to stand on the window seat and letting my bronze wings extend at my back. "Now where are we going?"

"That's a surprise," Gabriel said, his eyes glittering. "Let's fly up to the edge of the wards. You can make a passage through them and I'll stardust us to our location."

Orion suddenly clapped his hand to Gabriel's chest, casting a glowing pulse of magic over his skin.

"Satisfied?" Gabriel asked and Orion nodded.

"What was that?" I frowned.

"A revealing spell in case this Gabriel was a fake and the real one was lying dead somewhere," Orion said grimly. "Figured it was best before we went skipping off into the sky with him."

"Morbid," I said. "But good idea."

"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.

"Race you to the wards," Gabriel said, taking off and flying out the window at a wild speed that left the curtains fluttering.

I leapt after him, free falling for several seconds before catching myself on the breeze, my wings flexing and carrying me skyward on an updraft. Gabriel was already well ahead of me and I flew faster to try and catch him, glancing back to check Orion was following. He stood on a platform of air that was shooting upward like a runaway elevator, his gaze fixed on Gabriel and a challenge blazing in his eyes.

"You'll never catch him," I called, flying faster to try and outpace him, but Orion's air platform carried him up ever faster. He went speeding by at what must have been closing in on a hundred miles per hour and a laugh left my chest as I chased him.

Gabriel beat him to the wards by half a second, and I wielded the magic of them, allowing us to pass through.

It was a relief to have something to focus on, and I could already feel the grip of my nightmare loosening as Gabriel tossed stardust over us, and we were whipped away into the night.

Between a swirl of stars and galaxies, we found our way to a humid jungle, and I landed softly between Orion and Gabriel, so used to travelling this way now that it had become second nature.

I immediately recognised where we were, the ruins of the Palace of Flames peeking at us through the thick foliage of the jungle. With a jolt, I realised why we were here.

"The Nox flower?" I gasped, wheeling towards Gabriel.

"It's in bloom," he said, a keen hope in his eyes. "It's our one chance."

"And how likely are we to be able to collect its pollen?" Orion asked.

"It's about fifty-fifty," Gabriel said, though his brow lowered and I sensed he was bullshitting us.

"Really?" I narrowed my gaze.

"Alright, no, not really. We have about five percent chance of pulling it off," he said.

"Well damn, we're basically guaranteed to do it then, Noxy," Orion said dryly.

"On the bright side, five percent chance is way more than no chance," I said cheerfully.

Orion shot me a sideways glance, biting down on the inside of his cheek.

"There are some factors I can't quite see…" Gabriel trailed off, his grey eyes glazing. "Something I cannot predict."

"Perfect. Nothing to worry about then," Orion said, his hand going to his sword's hilt.

"If you can't see it, could it involve Nymphs, or Lavinia?" I asked, though I couldn't imagine them all the way out here unless they had somehow predicted our arrival.

"I'm not sure, but we'd best remain on guard," Gabriel said then strode off down an animal track, leading the way.

Part of me hoped Lavinia might just show up here tonight, because my heart was full of wrath and I knew one sure-fire way to rid myself of her taint would be to send her right to the depths of hell.

Orion gestured for me to go in front of him and I started walking while he took up the rear like a sentinel at my back. Always in my shadow.

The ring on my finger began to tingle, and I'd grown used to the sign that Shadow wanted to come out. I lifted my hand, letting the beast materialise in a swirl of grey smoke, his large form landing heavily on the undergrowth, and his back foot snapping a small tree in half.

"Damn clumsy beast." Orion threw a silencing bubble around him, and I glanced back at him with a grin.

"Are you sure we need the beast out right now?" he clipped.

"Yup," I said brightly as Shadow walked along at my side, the sound of him trampling bushes lost to Orion's bubble. So what was the problem?

"We really need to talk about that thing," Orion growled.

"That thing has a name," I said fiercely. "And I can't see what else you'd have to say about him. I've already decided he's staying."

"If you think I'm going to drop the matter then wake up one day to that creature feasting on you, you'd better think again," Orion said in his most bossy voice.

"Don't be so dramatic, he's completely docile," I said.

"Docile?" he scoffed. "It's a Shadow Beast that forced you to kill people. Lavinia summoned the damn thing from the Shadow Realm, and nothing good comes from there."

"Enough," Gabriel called. "We're close now. We need to focus."

We arrived at the base of a hill, and at its peak a delicate, pale blue flower stood upon a single stem.

Gabriel glanced up at the sky, his mouth moving as if counting the passing seconds, seeing something far beyond anything Orion or I were capable of perceiving. My brother dropped his head expectantly, and the flower began to spread its silky petals, cracking open, and allowing a silvery light to spill out.

"It's…" I trailed off, rendered speechless by its beauty.

I reached for it, but Gabriel slapped my hand away.

"Wait," he said firmly, his eyes gleaming with The Sight.

I nodded, knotting my fingers together instead, and Shadow sat beside my brother patiently like he knew it was time to wait.

"How come you listen to him when he tells you not to touch things?" Orion muttered.

"Because defying you is too much fun," I whispered, shooting him a teasing look.

"Is that so?" he growled.

"Yes, plus Gabriel can see things you can't."

"I err on the side of caution when it comes to you and mysterious objects."

"Well I haven't died yet," I said brightly.

"The word ‘yet' is delightfully comforting, Blue," he drawled.

Gabriel blinked out of his vision. "It's a trap!"

Orion spun around at speed, his hand flying out and catching a fiery spear an inch from the side of my head. He tossed it away with a snarl, healing the burn on his palm.

"Fuck." I swung around in alarm and cast an air shield over the four of us, bolstering it with power.

Five more spears came flying at us from the trees and smashed to pieces against it, and Shadow grunted, his deep growl rumbling from his throat as his hackles rose.

"It's Phoenix fire," I gasped, recognising the red and blue flames.

"Queen Avalon organised this," Gabriel said, pointing to one of the broken spears which had her royal insignia engraved into it.

"For what purpose?" I frowned as more spears came flying our way, dashing to pieces on my shield. "Most Fae could protect themselves from this."

"Nymphs," Orion surmised. "Perhaps Avalon feared they would find out about this flower."

"Or maybe they did," Gabriel said sombrely, turning to face the flower. "Shit."

"What?" I asked, but my answer came as a golden cage snapped up from the earth, closing around the flower and locking it away from us. The metal winked with power, and words glittered on a shining plaque that I read aloud. "The flower of Nox may be touched only by Queen Avalon herself. Turn back or face the wrath of the Phoenix Queen."

I stepped forward to break through it with my flames, my teeth clenching in determination.

"No," Gabriel warned quickly. "That doesn't end well."

Orion tugged me back from it like he was afraid the thing might detonate.

"Perhaps we can send a vine into the cage from below to retrieve the pollen," I suggested, and Gabriel let his Sight follow that idea.

He sighed as he returned to us. "No, the cage will crush the flower if we attempt that. There is an answer here though…something close."

He pressed his lips together as he lowered to the ground and touched his hand to the earth.

I crouched down too, mimicking him and sensing the earth beneath my fingers, every rock and rivet in the mud that went deep, deep down.

"What are you looking for?" I asked him.

"Anything that shouldn't naturally be here…" He closed his eyes to focus, and I pressed my own power deeper into the earth to quicken the search, hunting for anything that felt out of place.

My magic slipped over something hard and as my power spread further, I sucked in a breath. Bones. Hundreds of them, piled together in a mass grave.

"What happened here?" I whispered, and as if in answer to those words a vision burst through my mind.

I saw Queen Avalon leading a legion of Fae to this very hill, declaring it a sacred place that demanded protection until the Nox flower bloomed again. The Nymphs could be defeated only if the magic of the flower could be harnessed. But the Nymphs had learned of her secret, a traitor among her ranks working with Lavinia's army. So she spoke a spell to them that was built of a terrible power, then she made them line up upon the hill, all twenty of them under the wrathful gaze of their queen. Avalon handed a silver knife to the one at the very end of the line, still speaking her spell into the air, and one by one, they slit their own throats, falling to the ground where their blood spilled deep into the earth.

As the last woman fell choking into death, Avalon knelt at her side, laying a chain over her neck which held a golden key.

"Only I can stop your wrath," she whispered to them all, then the earth began to swallow up the bodies, dragging them down and claiming each one like it was feasting on their corpses.

My mind snapped back to the present and I let out a heavy breath, looking to Gabriel. "One of the bodies has the key."

"Bodies?" Orion stepped closer, but before I could explain the ground trembled with an ominous pulse of power.

I leapt to my feat, pulling Gabriel up too and Shadow growled, sniffing the air like he could sense danger on the wind.

"Avalon cast some dark spell on this place," I said hurriedly, taking my mother's sword from my hip, and Gabriel and Orion unsheathed their weapons in response.

A skeletal hand shot from the earth, latching onto my ankle and I gasped, yanking my leg sideways out of its grip then blasting Phoenix fire at the bones. The skeleton didn't stop rising, and the whole hill shook as all twenty dead Fae bodies dragged themselves out of their graves.

I swung my sword, striking the one trying to pull itself from the earth at my feet, but the bones didn't break, the impact making the sword bounce back like it had struck metal. Orion sped away across the hill, swinging his sword with the furious strength of his Order, but each hit did no damage, only knocking the skeletons from their feet. Shadow went bounding after him, snatching up a fallen skeleton and shaking it violently before sending it flying away into the jungle.

Gabriel was caught in a vision, frozen as a skeleton made it fully out of the ground and came straight for him. I raced past him, sending a blast of Phoenix fire at the corpse, but it just fluttered over its bones without damage.

"Phoenixes," I cursed, realising that might just be why I couldn't destroy them that way.

The skeleton made it to me, reaching for my throat with bony hands and I feigned left, kicking it hard in the hip. It stumbled only a little, but the impact sent a wave of pain up my leg.

"They're unkillable," Orion called, darting back to me with Shadow bounding after him.

Gabriel blinked, looking to us as the bodies closed in again and we readied to fight.

"Any fancy visions tell you how to defeat them?" I asked him, sheathing my sword in favour of my magic. If I couldn't shatter their bones, I'd drag them back into the earth they came from.

"We can't," he said heavily. "We must get the key."

He pointed to a group of the bodies that were crowded together, and I noticed one was being protected by the others in the centre of the circle. A glint of gold was all I needed to know about which one had the key.

"Distract them," I commanded. "I'll get the key."

I beat my wings, flying skyward as Orion sped toward the group, blasting them with air and uprooting two of them, sending them tumbling down the hill. Gabriel froze two more in place, binding their limbs together with inescapable ice, and Shadow snatched another between his powerful jaws, trying to crush it with his teeth, and when that didn't work, he shook it like a ragdoll.

I flew overhead, swooping down on the one with the key and wielding the earth beneath the final two skeletons protecting her. The ground opened up, swallowing them down into it and Gabriel froze the arms and legs of the skeleton with the key, holding her still while I snatched the chain right off her neck.

"Throw it to me!" Gabriel called. "I'll collect the pollen; I've seen how it must be done."

I tossed him the key and he caught it, flying up and away from the skeletons closing in on us.

I dragged them all down into the earth, power pouring from me in a flood as I let the hill devour them, sending them back to their place of eternal rest. One by one they were dragged beneath the jungle, as deep as I could bury them, my veins humming with power.

The ground trembled with their oncoming fury, as they tried to claw their way back to the surface, but I hardened the ground, turning the top layer to stone and barring their way out.

I landed lightly, hearing their bony fingers scratching at the rock below, but there was no way through for them now.

I smiled at Orion as he sheathed his sword, a sideways grin lifting his lips, and Shadow sat at his side, grunting happily.

I turned to Gabriel, hurrying further up the hill to the flower, the cage now open as Gabriel knelt down, his arm extended into it as he carefully extracted the pollen into a vial.

A roar made me swing around in fright and I found a fireball of Phoenix flames tearing towards Orion's back. He moved to defend himself a beat too late, but Shadow was there, rearing up in front of him and taking the full impact right to his chest. He whimpered and fell to the ground in a heap just as another fireball came flying their way and Orion sent an air shield out to protect himself and Shadow from another hit.

"Hang on!" I cried then took off into the air, racing down the hill in the direction the fireballs were coming from, sweeping up between the branches of a tall tree. I spotted the ancient contraption built of metal, attached high up on the bough. I gritted my teeth and flew higher, grabbing a branch to steady myself beside it then placing my hand against it and sending all the heat of my flames through it, melting it into a glob.

When I was sure it could blast no more fire, I flew back to the hilltop, landing beside Orion who was trying to heal Shadow, his hands pressed to the beast's chest as he lay on his side. Shadow whined softly as I came down to land, my heart tugging with worry.

"It won't work," I said in fear. "We can't heal him."

"It's alright," Orion said soothingly, and for a second I thought he must be talking to me before I realised his eyes were on Shadow's face, and hope filled me as I noticed Shadow's injuries fading, his own shadows fuelling the magic.

The wound was soon healed and Shadow's long tail wagged before he sat upright and leaned over to nuzzle Orion's face.

Orion scruffed the beast's head, trying to look like he wasn't that invested in doing so, but I could tell he was.

"He's okay," I whispered in joy, leaning in to hug him and Shadow at once.

"He saved me," Orion said quietly. "And it wasn't the first time, admittedly. I think I've been a stubborn asshole."

"Nooo, you? Never," I teased sarcastically.

He grinned like the Devil. "It's a habit that's hard to break, beautiful. But I seem to be making exception to more and more companions these days."

"How about Seth?" I asked.

"No," he clipped immediately, and I shoved his arm.

"Asshole," I accused, and he gripped my waist, kissing me hard and reminding me that I wouldn't want him any other way.

"Through and through," he said against my lips. "Don't forget it, or I'll need to give you a reminder."

"My memory is getting hazy," I said, glancing up at him through my lashes.

"Here we are." Gabriel arrived, holding up a vial of glittery pollen triumphantly. "I know someone who can brew this into a potion that will be enough for our army. I'll bring it to him tonight."

He took the stardust from his pocket and tossed a pinch over our heads, carrying us away into a sea of stars. We arrived high above the academy in the sky and Orion caught himself on a gust of air as my wings spread wide and Gabriel swooped around us.

Rump Castle lay below us and as I let us through the wards, we circled down to it together. Orion landed in the window seat of our room and offered out a hand to draw me inside, but I hesitated, glancing back at Gabriel.

My brother nodded to me, telling me it was time to discuss what we'd left unsaid and I looked to Orion once more.

"I'll come back soon, I need to speak with Gabriel," I said, and Orion glanced at my brother knowingly.

"I'll wait up," he said, then withdrew into our room, leaving the window open for my return.

Gabriel followed my lead and I headed across the sea and onto campus, soon landing on the very top of Aer Tower, the familiar building giving me a sense of coming home.

My brother came down to sit beside me, our legs dangling over the edge, and no fear found me over the sheer drop beneath us. It was strange to think of my first night at Zodiac Academy when Seth had taken me up here and goaded me into jumping right off this very spot. In ways, I still felt like the girl who had arrived in Solaria that day, but deep down, I knew I'd changed. My faith lay in the wings at my back and the magic in my veins, and it was strange to think of how the Heirs alone had rattled me back then. It took a fearsome war to strike true fear in me these days. And most of that fear was for those I loved, which now included the very Fae who I'd once despised at this academy.

My wings fluttered at my back, brushing Gabriel's black feathers and drawing my gaze to him, only to find him already looking at me.

"Are you ready to talk about it?" he asked. "There have been many times I wished to come to you, but I foresawit was not the right time. Until now."

I blew out a breath that fogged in the air, blue strands of hair dancing around me in the icy wind, but no part of me felt it. Fire lived in me, always burning, and I offered it to Gabriel too at the lightest touch of my arm to his.

"No need," he said with mischief in his voice, reaching into his jeans' pocket and showing me a fire crystal. "I always carry these when the nights are cold. I'm well versed in weathering the winter. So… tell me what's going on."

"You clearly already know," I mused, smiling, though it felt dead on my lips.

"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."

"Do your visions still pain you?" I whispered, horrified over what Vard had done to my brother.

"Less with each day," he said, smiling tightly. "Now stop stalling and tell me."

I sighed. "I guess it's moments of panic, memories of mine and Lance's time with Lavinia and Lionel." My throat tightened. "I can't control it. It takes over and it's so suffocating, I can't do anything but…panic." I clutched my chest, feeling that fear rising now, always there even when I buried it deep. "But it's not me I'm scared for, Gabriel." I looked to my brother, my pulse ticking faster. "It's Lance. It's you. Tory. Everyone." The panic deepened, my breathing coming quicker. "The chances of us all making it through this war can't be good. And I bet you know. You've seen what's coming, but I can't bear to ask you."

I clutched his arm and Gabriel laid his hand over mine, his gaze tinged with pain.

"Yes, I see death. More now than I ever once did. But all potential fates are the ghosts of a future which may or may not come to pass. Nothing is tangible until it is done. So that is where I lay my hope, in the measures of possibility that linger between our death-marked paths."

My nails dug into his arm as I gazed into his eyes, part of me wanting to see what he did so that I might stand a chance of avoiding it.

"How do you bear it?" I breathed, admiring my brother so much for the burden he carried on his shoulders.

"It drove me to madness once. There was a time I couldn't control it or understand it. It was a gift I should have been mentored through, but as I've told you before, when I was sent to live in Alestria the night our parents were killed, a block was put on my memories along with my Seer powers. That block eventually cracked and gave way, but it meant I had a lot of catching up to do on mastering my gifts. Even now, I'm still learning. But I was afraid of what I saw sometimes, afraid I couldn't change fate, afraid that the terrible things I saw would come to pass."

"But?" I pushed, sensing there was more to it than that.

"But, after a time, I began to realise The Sight, though horrifying at times, was a gift more valuable than any other I might be offered in this world. It gives me an opportunity to protect those I love. I've saved you all more times than I can count. More times than you even want to know about."

I laughed a little. "And I'm grateful for every one of those times."

He smiled, but it fell away. "Darcy…you have Harpy blood in you. Our mother was fiercely protective by nature, as am I. And from what I know of Hydras, they weren't exactly laid back in that department either. You need to embrace that part of you. Your mind is trying to warn you about what you desperately fear might come to pass. Of Lance being captured and tortured again, of your loved ones being killed. It's telling you, at its core, that you must protect them. And if you decide that that is your duty and step into that role as fully as you possibly can, I believe the nightmares will fade. It is how I cope with the visions, and I can teach you my ways if you'd like?"

"Your ways?" I asked curiously.

He nodded. "In my family, I am the last to sleep and the first to rise." He got to his feet, his wings flexing as he offered me his hand. "A Harpy's duty is to protect the nest. Let me show you how it is done."

I took his hand, letting him help me to my feet, then Gabriel leapt off the tower, his wings snapping out to catch him on the breeze. I jumped after him, my wings beating as I sailed through the air and that familiar rush of freedom twisted through my veins. There was nothing like flying; I couldn't imagine my life without it now.

Gabriel started climbing into the sky towards the moon, flying higher and higher as I stayed on his heels. Finally, he levelled out, keeping his wings extended and gently gliding along on an updraft.

I copied him, our wing tips grazing as I took in the sight of the campus far below.

"Every night, I come up here and scour the perimeter a few times," he said. "I do the same back home. I scout until I'm sure there are no enemies on the horizon, nothing out of place, and no cause for concern. I may have The Sight to aid me, but this part of me is all Harpy."

I followed him in a large circle around campus, looking for any sign of disturbance below and after a while, that knot in my chest loosened. All was calm, at peace.

"This really works," I called to him.

"You can scout with me any time," he said, and I knew I'd take him up on that offer. "Take control of your fear, Darcy, and it will never control you again."