Zodiac Academy Shadow Princess Quotes

Because we don’t get to choose our obsessions. And you’re mine.

Because I couldn’t keep away from her, that much was becoming abundantly clear. So I’d just have to keep being her villain.

Because you’re in my head all the time. You pulse through my blood with each beat of my heart. I live for every scrap of attention you offer me and suffer through every moment you spend ignoring me,” he said darkly, holding my eye the entire time.

Good. Because I’m not a better man,” he said in a low growl, his eyes full of shadows. “I’m the devil and I want you. I want you like I’ve never wanted anything or anyone. And I will fight to make you mine, no matter what it takes. No force in Solaria will rip us apart.

She is so…everything. Does she know how everything she is?

I don’t want you on your knees. I want you fighting me and hating me and fucking me like you mean it. You’re Roxanya Vega and you weren’t built to bow to anyone,” he growled passionately. “You want me to hate you?” I asked in surprise. “I want you to feel for me. And I’ll take hate if that’s all you’re offering.

You’re what I latch onto to bring me back from the shadows.

The next time you want to drown in them, tell me about it.” “Why?” “Because if you’re going to drown then I’m going to drown with you.

I’m gonna prove to you that I’m the better choice. You’ll fall for me so hard you’ll break bones.

He loved me. Lance Orion loved me. And I loved him back with every corner of my heart and all the spaces in between.

Blue.” I smiled dreamily, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. She is so…everything. Does she know how everything she is?

So this crystal is a promise from me that I’m yours. For now. Forever. Or till it all goes to shit, I don’t know which yet.

Blue. I’m one hundred percent a lunatic for you. And I don’t give a damn.

So what?” I snapped. “So I won’t let you ignore me, Roxy,” he snarled. “I’ll have your attention even if I have to take it without your permission.” “Why?” I demanded. “Why not just go after someone else?” “Because we don’t get to choose our obsessions. And you’re mine.

YOU ALL PASSED THE RECKONING. THE STARS MUST BE FUCKING WITH ME.

Because I’m not ever going to put my life on hold for a man. Especially one who doesn’t think I’m good enough to make the cut long term.

You’re going to be the ruin of me,” Darius growled in my ear and I pushed myself back just enough to look down at him. “Not if you destroy me first,” I breathed in response

So maybe it was time we stopped denying our birth right. Because the Vegas had been born to rule. And I was sick of being forced to bow.

What I’d give for the whole world to freeze right now so I could steal a kiss.

I’d rather be sobbing with sorrow, screaming in fear, laughing until I was breathless or riding the very edge of a high than just keeping to the middle path.

You don’t have a fucking sex addiction,” Darius snarled. “Don’t I?” she asked innocently. “What other possible reason would I have for screwing so many waste of space assholes?” Her gaze flicked from him to me for a moment and I straightened my spine.

Roxy laughed and my heart leapt at the sound of me making her happy.

I’ll never bow to you,” I breathed as the cold stone at the foot of the throne bit into my skin. “But if you like me on my knees then there are better things that I can do down here than kiss your feet.

You will soon realise that all plans are futile. The only ones that matter are written in the stars.

What is it with you and cutting people’s balls off?” Orion’s brows pulled together. “Just go for the jugular, you savage.” Tory cracked a smile and the two of them beamed at each other like good friends. It felt freaking amazing to see them looking at each other like that.

Fuck you,” she snarled, pointing right into Seth’s face before aiming her finger at me. “And fuck you.” She turned to point at Darius last. “And fuck you up the ass with a rusty spoon.

So I won’t let you ignore me, Roxy,” he snarled. “I’ll have your attention even if I have to take it without your permission.” “Why?” I demanded. “Why not just go after someone else?” “Because we don’t get to choose our obsessions. And you’re mine.

Yeah. It takes you by surprise, eats you up, spits you out and keeps you begging for more every single day. And once the bond was sealed between us…I feel like my whole fucking world begins and ends with her. I’ll never get enough, the ache in me will never be satisfied. It’s the best feeling in the world.

The thing I feared most in life was boredom. I didn’t want to live an easy life, I wanted to blaze through an adventurous one and I’d choose to burn out entirely before I’d let myself whither in emptiness.

You can deny it as much as you like, Roxy, but you and me are going to happen over and over," he promised, the scent of him wrapping around me and the heat of his flesh blazing so fiercely I could feel it despite the inch of space diving us. "So no matter how much you hate me or despise me or wish you didn't want me in any way at all, there's no stopping it. You don't feel fire like that and just let it burn out.

What’s it like?” I asked curiously. “Finding your one true love?” Gabriel’s gaze softened as he thought about the girl who owned his heart and he smiled as he answered. “Like, getting hit with a truck and having it back over you several times while you lay bleeding in the dirt.

And fear shackles you just as easily as chains if you let it. So do your worst… or don’t. I can’t control what you choose to do, but I can choose what I do.

Love," I breathed simply. Because what else even really mattered in this world?

Because I’m not ever going to put my life on hold for a man.

Because we’re the same you and me. Both fucked up, broken pieces on a game board that’s bigger than we can cope with. Both hoping to find some way of winning despite the odds being stacked against us all the damn time. Both addicted to things that push our boundaries and make us feel alive. Because at the end of the day, even feeling the worst of things is better than feeling nothing at all.

Because you’re in my head all the time. You pulse through my blood with each beat of my heart. I live for every scrap of attention you offer me and suffer through every moment you spend ignoring me

You usually just get lumped with whatever emotion your subconscious wants to kick you in the teeth with on any given day. Look at me for example, every day I go to bed deciding to wake up perky and peppy, making friends with everyone and anyone I meet. And yet when the morning swings around, I’m still the same mean bitch I was last night.

Neither do I,” he growled. “But when I see you, all I want is to lay claim to you. I want you to be mine and I know you never will be and it’s making me even more fucked up than I was to begin with. That’s why I hate you. Not because I’m supposed to or because my father wants me to, but because you represent every freedom I’ve never been given. It’s like you were designed entirely to taunt me and toy with me and crack me open and I won’t let it stand.

That girl had bigger balls than half the guys I knew. Max practically started crying if we made him take a shot of Sourache and Seth howled the whole time its effects were in place. Roxy barely broke a sweat and came out swinging on the other end of it.

I think it’s time for us to accept who we are. We’re the lost Vega Princesses, Heirs to our own throne and the most powerful assholes in the whole of Solaria. And I think it’s time we stop letting other people tell us what that means and deciding it for ourselves.

Yes! Let’s cook us a Dragon,

His muscles bulged from the workout, the Phoenix and Dragon tattoos which danced with each other on his back gleaming with sweat.

Do you have any idea how much I want her? How much it feels like I need her sometimes? It's like she's burrowed her way beneath my flesh and taken root in the depths of my soul. I hunger for her and ache for her and for the briefest moment, it felt like mabye she felt the same. Like all the anger and hatred between us had just been covering up everything else we desired. Like just maybe I could have something good like that, something pure and honest and just...mine.

I got that he hadn’t found the whole Pegasus thing funny, but the issue I had with that was that he was wrong. That shit was funny. Stupid funny. And he needed to stop pouting like a little bitch about it and learn to laugh at himself from time to time.

That he does my bubbakanoosh,” Hamish said, nodding firmly. “You remember what your Momma always said to do with men like that though, don’t you?” “Cut off their fingers then their dingers,” they said in unison and I snorted a laugh, sharing a look with Tory.

He does not need to feel my boner. Not again.

I think the stars picked you for me,

We’re all just spirits dancing in an endless sea of stars.

like my own personal brand of heroin.

The stars owe you everything.” Orion’s eyes glimmered with that thought.

Dedication in all things usually pays off at some point,

What if I asked you to be mine. Just mine?

We’ve got responsibilities when all I want is freedom.

There’s only one reason that makes sense to me, but I could be wrong. Maybe I fear I’m wrong too.

Mi abuela speaks to me through it too,” Diego said. “She gave every part of her soul to ensure each member of my family would be bonded together through the garments she made.

And more than that, he was my Nebular Ally.

I think she said. ‘I wish I could tell you.

This was a Divine Moment.

Our magic is enough. We’ve fought battles together, we can take on the shadows too.

I heard Lavinia speaking to me softly, “It’s over, Princess. Give in to the shadows, they’ve already won.

He was still all the things I hated about him but he was also my own personal brand of hell. And I’d been sinning for a long time, waiting for him to punish me.

I wonder if he keeps a ruler in his drawer he could teach me a lesson with…

snoopy snooperson, I have a throne room to impregnate.

I think I just fell in love with Geraldine Grus,

Did you just call your vagina Lady Petunia?

Did you just call your vagina Lady Petunia?” I choked.

I’m not in love. I’m just…in trouble.” “Same thing,” he pointed out and I smirked.

Over a thousand years,” Lance murmured, still staring at Gwen like the world began and ended with her.

You make me wanna dress up trees, Blue. I’m one hundred percent a lunatic for you. And I don’t give a damn.

So no matter how much you hate me or despise me or wish you didn’t want me in any way at all, there’s no stopping it. You don’t feel fire like that and just let it burn out.

Darcy is everything to me,” he breathed. “She’s all I think about and all I want. I see so much good in her and she somehow brings out the best in me. And if you feel that you can’t keep this secret for us or like you have to tell the authorities about what’s going on between us, then I understand. Because you want to protect her as fiercely as I do. But even if we’re torn apart, even if I went to Darkmore Penitentiary and had to live out the rest of my days behind bars, I’d never regret a moment of it. Because my life was empty before I loved her. And parting us won’t change the way I feel for her.

Roxy Vega was the piece of me that was missing. She was everything I should have realised I needed sooner. If we hadn’t gotten so caught up in hating each other, we could have already had something to build the foundation of this on. But none of that mattered. Because from this day on, I’d be hers and she’d be mine. And I’d do everything and anything it took to prove to her that I could be worthy of her love.

I think the stars picked you for me, Blue. I think you’re my Elysian Mate.” His fingers intertwined with mine and I bathed in the caress of his magic, tipping my head back to rest against the couch as I absorbed his words.

My Lady Petunia set her gaze on a rather virile Siren and he fell prey to her amorous adventures.” Angelica spat out a mouthful of coffee as a bark of laughter fell from my lips. “Did you just call your vagina Lady Petunia?” I choked. Darcy covered her mouth to hold back her laughter and Sofia was actually crying real tears. “Alas I did. And she’s a real predator when she sets her gaze on a tempting piece of banana drama,” Geraldine admitted.

A snowman,” he said brightly, walking forward, lifting his huge snowball up again. “Darius,” Caleb warned. “Don’t you d-” Darius planted the huge ball of snow over his head and I fell apart with laughter, dropping down to the ground as I clutched my side.

Darius yanked me back by my hair so that he could look me in the eye and he swiped a thumb across my mouth where my red lipstick had been smudged. “I don’t want you on your knees. I want you fighting me and hating me and fucking me like you mean it. You’re Roxanya Vega and you weren’t built to bow to anyone,” he growled passionately. “You want me to hate you?” I asked in surprise. “I want you to feel for me. And I’ll take hate if that’s all you’re offering.” He kissed me again and this time I didn’t hesitate as I kissed him back, my hands finding his shirt buttons as I began to yank them open.

Why ever would I want to roll in your haystack again, Max Rigel? I can add a notch to my bedpost when I get back to my own room and go right on back to the important things in life.” “Important things?” What the fuck is happening right now? “Shall we keep this little noodle blip to ourselves?” she asked as she pulled on her panties.

My Lady Petunia set her gaze on a rather virile Siren and he fell prey to her amorous adventures.” Angelica spat out a mouthful of coffee as a bark of laughter fell from my lips. “Did you just call your vagina Lady Petunia?” I choked. Darcy covered her mouth to hold back her laughter and Sofia was actually crying real tears. “Alas I did. And she’s a real predator when she sets her gaze on a tempting piece of banana drama,

No matter what the stars had to say on the subject, Darius Acrux had made my life a living hell. I wouldn’t give him a moment of happiness in payment for that. He didn’t deserve it. He didn’t deserve me. And that was how it had to be.  My gaze locked with his just as a black ring formed around his pupils. His eyes widened in horror and I guessed the same thing had happened to me too. That was it. We were marked. Star Crossed.

Do you have any idea how much I want her? How much it feels like I need her sometimes? It’s like she’s burrowed her way beneath my flesh and taken root in the depths of my soul. I hunger for her and ache for her and for the briefest moment, it felt like maybe she felt the same. Like all the anger and hatred between us had just been covering up everything else we desired. Like just maybe I could have something good like that, something pure and honest and just… mine.

In Solaria we have a tradition of giving rose quartz to someone we want to be exclusive with.” “You do?” I whispered, my heart pounding madly. “Yeah.” He squeezed my hand. “Look, I don’t know what this thing is between us or where it’s going, Blue, but after everything that’s happened, the one thing that’s clear to me is that I don’t want anyone else. So, this crystal is a promise from me that I’m yours. For now. Forever. Or till it all goes to shit, I don’t know which yet.” He smiled hopefully and my heart could have burst with how much this meant to me.

SO, I head to the steam room and no one’s about so what’s a guy to do? Go in naked of course. I strip down, hanging low (#hunglikeahorse), and head inside getting all steamy and shit – and it is steamy as fuck in there. Like, I couldn’t even see my hand in front of my face steamy. I walk over to the benches, blind as a Halayan bat, then turn and sit down…on a steamy, warm fucking LAP! So, I jump up like there’s a fire under my ass (#therewasactuallyadick) but my glute gives out and I slap right down into it again. That’s when I feel it (#nothisdick but also #notnothisdick) his SIREN LURE. This guy is some Siren asshole trying to feed on me!

Don’t be with him because we were together once. For one, too brief, earth shattering moment, you were mine. And I never should have let you go.

But not now. Now I just wanna enjoy some time in your company and quite probably spend the night spooning you in the totally platonic, utterly fucking ridiculous way that this bond needs.

Tonight there would be no Nymphs or Councillors or politics or Vegas. Just two fully grown men watching action flicks and quite likely holding hands throughout. Which was pretty much the best kind of night I could imagine having right now. And as Orion reached out and took my hand, I felt myself grinning like a kid at Christmas and all of my problems seemed a little more bearable.

I’ve not really dated a girl before. Not like this. Not the proper way. But with you, making you smile like that…it’s everything. A few months ago, I would have looked at myself now and thought I was losing my fucking mind. You make me wanna dress up trees, Blue. I’m one hundred percent a lunatic for you. And I don’t give a damn.

You assault me, blame me for wearing a hat then tell me you’re in love with my sister and the most pressing issue you have is my treatment of some old books?

Merry Christmass Queen Darcy!” Geraldine said as she spotted me then she looked over my shoulder. “And happy holidass Queen Tory!” She snorted, falling apart with laughter. “Do you see what I did? Instead of saying A.S.S I made it into the word ass!” “Oh I never noticed it spells that before,” Tory said with a smirk.

On the darkest day and longest night, I’ll guide you home with love so bright,

You can deny it as much as you like, Roxy, but you and me are going to happen over and over,” he promised, the scent of him wrapping around me and the heat of his flesh blazing so fiercely I could feel it despite the inch of space dividing us. “So no matter how much you hate me or despise me or wish you didn’t want me in any way at all, there’s no stopping it. You don’t feel fire like that and just let it burn out.

I mean, like the way I lie awake at night, remembering what it felt like to hold you in my arms. How still the world felt, how pure that moment was between us. How I imagine I can still smell your perfume as my eyes fall closed and how I reach across my bed in the night wishing you were really there. Or like the way my heart beats harder when you walk into a room and my throat thickens when I try to think of the right things to say to you. How I fight to get your attention in any way I can because I can’t bear it when you ignore me.

Sometimes I think you’ve got the emotional compassion of a teaspoon,

Okay, okay, just listen. I think it all started the moment we met really. We have a connection, Tor. He gets me in ways that no one else ever has. And I trust him so implicitly that it’s like my soul knows I should. And we tried to fight what was happening between us because we know it’s not allowed. But then, that night when we all went to the party at the Acrux Manor, we just…gave in.” She shrugged helplessly. “And I know it’s crazy and insane and against the rules and that both of us could get into so much trouble because of it but…I can’t just turn off the way I feel about him. I can’t deny what my heart wants and what I need.

Oh lighten up, Darius. If you can’t laugh at yourself from time to time then you’re going to end up spending a lot of your life taking offence over things that really don’t matter.

It would be as if there was a Dragon shaped fart in the room and I just had to avoid getting too close to sniff it.

Our Princesses were lost for far too long. But now you’re home and the Kingdom of Solaria is rejoicing as our most powerful line is restored. The Fae world is built on a foundation of strength and power. And now we have our most powerful family back. There may be those who wish to keep you down or see you fall, but the true Queens are rising. The line of Vega is intact once more. And when you seize full control of your destiny, even the stars won’t be prepared for the might you possess.

Darius Acrux had set out to break me from the first moment he’d ever laid eyes on me. And he’d finally gotten his wish.

You made the last few months the happiest of my life, Darcy Vega. I’m sorry for being an asshole when we first met – biggest regret of my life.

I lay a shaky kiss to his forehead, squeezing his hand and vowing not to give up. I’d never, ever give up on him. On us. We were meant to be together no matter what anyone said. And death wouldn’t get a say in it.

So what you’re saying is, our power is endless?” Tory asked, grinning in a way that was only going to piss Darius off. “As in, so long as I can cast fire, I’ll never run out of magic. Unlike big fat lizard shifters who have to pop off for a snooze on a heap of gold whenever they’re running low?

So you’re saying that this big ass lizard can’t burn me at all, but I can totally cook his ass if I want to?” Tory asked with a smirk as she pointed at Darius.

My Lady Petunia set her gaze on a rather virile Siren and he fell prey to her amorous adventures.

Well…I will admit he knows how to water the lawn,” she said. “Fuck me, how is that a description?” I asked. “Okay, he was very thorough,” Geraldine added. “He pulled out the old buckaroo and whirl.

She was a goddamn savage and she’d caught Max Rigel in her net before tossing him aside like last week’s trash.

Look, I don’t know what this thing is between us or where it’s going, Blue, but after everything that’s happened, the one thing that’s clear to me is that I don’t want anyone else. So this crystal is a promise from me that I’m yours. For now. Forever. Or till it all goes to shit, I don’t know which yet.

I can’t stop, Blue. I know it’s fucking insane. But I’ve stopped caring about the consequences. This thing between us gets stronger every day and I can’t fight it…can you?” I inhaled at his words, the pounding of my pulse all I could hear in the pause that passed between us. The answer was obvious. It would be almost impossible to let go. It was as if the stars themselves were pressing me into his arms, holding me there and refusing to let go.

I didn’t know what the future held, but I hoped the heavens were on our side. I really didn’t want to regret the decision I’d made, but it hadn’t even really been an option to call things off. We were in too deep with each other and the universe seemed to be conspiring to keep us that way. I just hoped that meant the stars were on our side and would help keep this secret from ever coming out.

Lady Petunia had her taste of forbidden fruit, but I’ll be guiding her towards safer pastures in the future.

Plan away, Miss Vega. You will soon realise that all plans are futile. The only ones that matter are written in the stars.

Max! Max! His hair’s so shiny. It’s just a shame his dick’s so tiny!

That sex was fucking mind blowing.” “Yes, yes, you were perfectly adequate,

Yeah a Solarian Princess screwing her Vampire teacher who is firmly team Heirs is totally normal.

We’re the lost Vega Princesses, Heirs to our own throne and the most powerful assholes in the whole of Solaria. And I think it’s time we stop letting other people tell us what that means and deciding it for ourselves.

Hashtag black hole for a brain.

And where in the name of Frangelica the fifth are your eyebrows? Did they sprout legs and run away from the frightful fish boy who grew them? I mean, I could hardly blame them.

They’re not like him and you know it,” I growled. “Are you like your father, Darius? Do you judge yourself by the standards he set?

You’re a fine one to talk about being late. Besides, sir, as this lesson doesn’t make it onto the official syllabus I’m not inclined to give a shit,

Happy birthday, Lance,” she whispered and for the first time in fucking years, it really was a happy one.

I’m not going to stand here discussing how many breadsticks I’ve dipped in my honeypot since yours, Max Rigel. It’s none of your business.

I personally found it hard to forget the casual way he referred to me as a whore or the general creepy ass fact that his hat had his grandma’s soul knitted into it.

I could have fingered those pages all day.

Do you have any idea how much I want her? How much it feels like I need her sometimes? It’s like she’s burrowed her way beneath my flesh and taken root in the depths of my soul. I hunger for her and ache for her and for the briefest moment, it felt like maybe she felt the same. Like all the anger and hatred between us had just been covering up everything else we desired. Like just maybe I could have something good like that, something pure and honest and just…mine.

I don’t want to stay away,” I whispered, because I knew it was impossible for me to. I felt bound to him like the stars had wrapped golden thread around us and refused to let us go. In the very root of my bones, I knew we belonged together. “Good. Because I’m not a better man,” he said in a low growl, his eyes full of shadows. “I’m the devil and I want you. I want you like I’ve never wanted anything or anyone. And I will fight to make you mine, no matter what it takes. No force in Solaria will rip us apart.

Fuck you, bourbon. You do not get a say in this. It doesn’t help that that lusty bitch Venus is back in my chart today either. Then again, it is my birthday…

You get one shot to do right by her,” I warned, pointing at him. “And if you fuck it up, if you hurt her or break her heart, then I won’t just kick you in the balls. I’ll castrate you.” Orion shifted his hands before his junk protectively, clearing his throat as he glanced at Darcy. “Fucking hell, I think she actually would,” he muttered, like I was insane. Darcy offered me the brightest smile in the world as she answered him. “Yeah, she totally would.

You have a Dragon and a Phoenix fighting on your skin,

Well spread me on a slice of honey wheat bread,” Geraldine breathed, handing another drink to Darcy, but she didn’t touch this one. “We’ve all gone down under to play on an Heir’s dickeridoo. But you can put the instrument down, Darcy. I for one would never play it again in my life.” “Did I just get rejected again?” Max grumbled.

I’d never wanted anyone like I wanted Darius Acrux, but I’d never hated anyone like I hated him either.

Darius Acrux was probably the most pig headed, arrogant, infuriating man I’d ever met. But he was fucking mind blowing in the sack.

Because if you’re going to drown then I’m going to drown with you.

I knew because I often walked to her door in the middle of the night and pressed my hand to it, reaching out with my own magic until it brushed against hers and reassured me that she was okay. Or if not okay, then at least alive.

Who was she? She knew you,” he said to Orion. “I don’t know,” Orion said,

Bile coated my tongue as I watched the eyeball start to twitch and writhe in Alejandro’s hand which he held aloft as he continued to chant and pray, the words making every hair on my body stand on end as I felt the rush of the shadows racing into the room. Darkness swept towards the Nymph’s eye and as Alejandro continued to call on the power of the Shadow Princess, the thing began to twitch more violently, until suddenly it sprung clean out of his hand and landed on Vard’s chest with a wet and bloody thump. “Fucking hell,” I gasped as I watched the thing filling with more and more tendrils of darkness as it began to wriggle its way up Vard’s chest like some sort of fucked up worm and made its way to his face before lodging itself in the empty eye socket which awaited it there. Vard screamed bloody murder as the shadow eye attached itself to his body and I had to fight the urge to heave as Alejandro watched with a cruel and malicious smile on his face. “Ask and you shall receive,” he purred, watching as Vard thrashed and screamed against his restraints and the darkness of the shadows took a grip on his soul.

You must understand that the Nymphs are not all loyal to the Shadow Princess,” Miguel said hurriedly. “Many of us are enslaved as I was, but many more are in hiding.” “Wait, what if Alejandro is able to hear this discussion?” Darius hissed. “He cannot see anything but the memories in the web,” Miguel promised. “And he is no longer uploading memories here himself, believing it a pointless endeavour now that his sister is dead and there is no information to be shared.” “So what is it you want to tell us?” I asked. “I know what you are doing,” he said excitedly. “You closed one of the rifts and have weakened the Shadow Princess. She is most aggrieved, and it has been hard to hide my jubilation and pretend I am still a slave among her ranks.” “What do you know about the rifts?” I asked hopefully. “I don’t know their locations, but I do know how you can find them. You see, I was there the day Vard was gifted a shadow eye. I know of its power. And I believe it can be used to find the rifts.” “Are you saying we need his eye?” Darius asked in confusion. “Yes,” Miguel said eagerly. “It is no normal eye, it’s infected with the shadows. If you could make a spyglass strong enough to hold it, I believe it could show you the locations of the rifts.” “How are we supposed to get close to that asshole?” Darius asked. “Perhaps you can think of some way,” Miguel said anxiously. “For if you can find those rifts and close them, you will be able to block Lavinia off from her power.

No – wait! Listen to me,” Miguel begged. “You were there the night I was freed, Lance Orion. The night Darcy Vega killed my wife Drusilla with her Phoenix fire.” I paused, sensing Darius pulling on my psyche urgently, but then I recalled this man shouting at us to run that day, like he’d wanted us to escape that place. “What do you want?” I asked hesitantly. “I want to repay Darcy for what she did. She returned my mind to me. Drusilla had me bound to her control by the will of the Shadow Princess. Many years ago, I was captured and enslaved by her, for my power is strong and so long as it runs in my veins, my strength aids the Shadow Princess. Drusilla wanted to birth a son equally strong, combining my power with hers, but I was simply a pawn, fed so much of the shadows that I was drowned in them. The darkness infected my mind for so many years as Drusilla prayed to Lavinia to keep me drunk on their endless power, to keep me compliant and practically braindead. But now Drusilla is gone and I have awoken. I see my life clearly for what it has been. My poor son is dead. I hardly got to know him at all and now I have nothing left but an ache for vengeance in my heart.

That’s a mindlessly fucking stupid answer,” Orion said, his smile withering. “Try again.

Blue.” I smiled dreamily, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

A shriek approached as Vard closed in on the temple and two Nymphs appeared at the top of the steps we’d not long destroyed, making Vard jerk to a halt in alarm. He turned to run but four more of the creatures had appeared at his back and he found himself surrounded. “I’ve come to beg mercy of the Shadow Princess,” he called loudly. “I’ve felt her presence in my work with this blade and I wish to offer myself up as her humble servant. I have the gift of The Sight and was a member of the Savage King’s court until he did this to me.” Vard trembled as the Nymphs closed in on him and I glanced at my mom, finding her ready with a pinch of stardust between her fingers, but she stayed where she was, watching, waiting. A man strode out of the temple next, my blood chilling as I recognised Diego’s uncle Alejandro with his black curling hair, thin moustache and dark, forbidding aura.  “Wait," he called, raising a hand as the Nymphs closed in on Vard and causing them to fall still. “The Shadow Princess has use for him.

The rifts may have been a problem, but at least now I knew more about them. So we were just going to have to figure out how to track them down and close them too because I had the feeling that if we managed that, we’d soon find ourselves on a level playing field with the so-called Shadow Princess.

A Cyclops would pull the truth out of her head and then what? Would she get in trouble too?

Why?” I demanded. “Why not just go after someone else?” “Because we don’t get to choose our obsessions. And you’re mine.

golden scales

I just hoped he was right about the meaning of Gabriel’s vision

We’ll help her then,” I said firmly, banishing my own doubts. Because I couldn’t even imagine the pain of losing a sibling and if there was even the slightest chance that I could help him get her back then I’d do it. No matter what.

Less of the ‘old’ I’m only eight years older than you.” “Yeah so when you were my age, I was ten,” I pointed out. “So you’re like half my age again. Hence, old.

El puente de las estrellas,” Diego breathed in awe. “Yes, the bridge of stars,

How come you call him Gabriel?” “Oh, he’s family,” Caleb explained with a shrug.

Some things can be cast in stone without you even realising when it happened.

So I’d just have to keep being her villain.

I wasn't fragile, I was a weapon forged in fire.

Why are you standing there like a lemon, girl?

If you can't laugh at yourself from time to time, then you're going to end up spending a lot of your life taking offense over things that really don't matter.

That’s not how feelings tend to go,” I pointed out. “You usually just get lumped with whatever emotion your subconscious wants to kick you in the teeth with on any given day. Look at me for example, every day I go to bed deciding to wake up perky and peppy, making friends with everyone and anyone I meet. And yet when the morning swings around, I’m still the same mean bitch I was last night.

The Dragon Master led his beasts to land beneath the Phoenix Queen, bowing to her as they all roared. She nodded to them and my heart shattered as I watched the world fall around me. My chance at true power stolen away. The Queen landed before me in her golden armour, her flaming wings folding behind her as she gazed down her nose at me. “This is the end of your reign of terror, Lavinia.” “You can’t just kill me,” I gasped. “I’m a princess of my kind. There is no other left to lead them.” “You are nothing but a princess of the shadows now, so you will die with them,” the Queen growled, clutching the Imperial Star in her hand and murmuring something to it. I pushed to my feet, raising a knife from my hip, but the Queen melted it with nothing but a flick of her hand. Another twist of her fingers sent a blast of air magic crashing into me and I flew back, thrown through a rift between worlds opened up by the Imperial Star once more, dragged away into nothing but shadow. The dark Element wrapped around my body and consumed me whole, tearing through my flesh until I became one with it. I didn’t die as I expected, as that vile queen expected.

Oh my god,” I breathed. “That’s her. The Shadow Princess.” “Somehow she’s bound to my sister,” Orion said, clawing a hand over his

He’s never done anything like that to me,” I protested. Apart from that time he drove me up a mountain and I half thought he was going to kill me. But he didn’t, so...

into

You’re not just Tory’s enemy, Darius, you’re your own. It’s like every time you punish her, you’re trying to punish yourself too.

Let me know how that pans out for you though. Because thinking a girl feels something and knowing it are two different things. They’re a fucking enigma wrapped up in a secret, cloaked in a goddamn layer of confusing as fuck. So if you figure out the key to them then feel free to share with the group.

A thousand auras says she ends up kicking his ass to make him leave her alone,” I said. “A thousand says she’ll change her mind and be dropping her panties within the week,” Seth said, shaking his head. “She won’t resist him for long.” “Pfft,” Darius shook his head. “A thousand says she’ll break his heart without even trying.

Because thinking a girl feels something and knowing it are two different things.

The shadows could have me before I’d go begging for help at Darius’s door.

I’d be protecting myself and my sister from the threat he clearly still posed us.

the honey will be all the sweeter once you’ve faced the hive to take it.

And I had a bit of a run in with the Dragon asshole.

But maybe, when you looked really closely at all of the choices I made, it turned out that there was a simpler explanation than that. I just didn’t know how to be happy. And perhaps sometimes I believed I didn’t deserve to be either.

And apparently she preferred our separation to sharing the truth with me.

I came because all I want is to be free. And fear shackles you just as easily as chains if you let it.

the Phoenix and Dragon tattoos which danced with each other on his back gleaming with sweat.

Plan of dreams: Step one…get Blue naked. Oh shit wait, I need more steps.

You’re all I think about. All I dream about. You’re under my skin and in every thought and I know that I’ve done a thousand unforgivable things, but I swear I’ll never hurt you again. You’re meant for me. I’ll protect you with my life-

Please,” Darius asked again. “I’m giving you my heart. If you give me yours in return I’ll spend every moment of our lives proving to you that I can be worthy of it.

I felt bound to him like the stars had wrapped golden thread around us and refused to let us go. In the very root of my bones, I knew we belonged together.

For one, too brief, earth shattering moment, you were mine. And I never should have let you go.

You want me to hate you?” I asked in surprise. “I want you to feel for me. And I’ll take hate if that’s all you’re offering.

Caleb shifted his hand higher and my heart leapt as his knuckles knocked against Darius’s.

I’m not a god, but I can see why you’d make the mistake, Miss Vega.” Orion winked and I snorted a laugh, serving me a glare from Diego.

THE STARS MUST BE FUCKING WITH ME.

I don’t know how long we have, Blue, but my heart will be yours whether we’re together or not.

Look, I don’t know what this thing is between us or where it’s going, Blue, but after everything that’s happened, the one thing that’s clear to me is that I don’t want anyone else. So this crystal is a promise from me that I’m yours. For now. Forever. Or till it all goes to shit, I don’t know which yet.” He smiled hopefully and my heart could have burst with how much this meant to me.

she was like a breath of fresh air. When she looked at me, it was like she really saw me.

I want you to feel for me. And I’ll take hate if that’s all you’re offering.

That wasn’t that hard, was it? You don’t want me long term, so why would I commit to you short term? We have fun Caleb but I’m not your girl. If you can’t handle the idea of me meeting other people, maybe even hooking up with them, then we can just call time on this thing between us. Because I’m not ever going to put my life on hold for a man. Especially one who doesn’t think I’m good enough to make the cut long term.

Cut off their fingers then their dingers,

Leo and Gemini. I’d recognise those constellations anywhere. And if the sky was rearranging itself to bring them together, then it could only mean one thing. This was a Divine Moment. The stars had guided me here and they’d be bringing someone else to join me. Someone who was perfect for me in every way. Who pushed me and challenged me. Who made my heart beat harder and my flesh prickle with desire unlike anyone I’d ever known. She was my mate.

I want you to feel for me. And I'll take hate if that's all you're offering.

Darcy scrambled to my side, wrapping her arms around me and I knelt there in shock, unsure what to think, what to do. My heart hurt in a way I would never have expected from witnessing my mother’s demise, and I didn’t know if it was the coven bond she’d forced on me or some long lost love for her stirring in my bones. Deep down, I knew coven bonds couldn’t forge feelings as powerful as these, and I hated the way my emotions fragmented and confusion rattled my mind. I felt the collar of shadow dissolve around my throat, liberating me from the Shadow Princess’s control once and for all. My mother’s sacrifice had freed me.

I ripped a book off of the shelf behind me and threw it at Orion’s head. “Run, Darcy!” I gasped, throwing another book at him. “He’s lost his fucking mind!” “What?” she breathed, taking a step closer in spite of my instructions. “He’s had a brain transplant with Washer, but decided to go full on gropey in his creepy ass Professor Pervert role!

sang in my veins like my own personal brand of heroin.

Numbers. Are. Everything.” He pressed a button on his Atlas and jazz music began to play throughout the room. He clicked his fingers to the beat, shutting his eyes as he lost himself to it, sucking on his lower lip. “Mmm yeah.

What the thuck! You bwoke my nothe you thucking thycopaff!” Seth shouted as he got to his feet, blood running freely down his face.

Diego frowned heavily. “My family use magia oscura – dark magic.” My lips parted and I nodded slowly, waiting for him to go on. “They’ve been using it ever since I can remember. My mother, my father, Uncle Alejandro. My father fights it, but the other two…” He shook his head. “They’re ruled by the darkness. They gave into its clutches a long time ago and who they were before just desapareció – disappeared.

Can you guys just call me Gabriel?” he asked with the hint of a smile. “I’ve already seen enough of our relationships in my visions to know we’re Nebula Allies and if we’re going to be friends for life I’d rather just cut the shit.

I found Gabriel goddamn Nox perched outside on the windowsill staring in at us.

every day I go to bed deciding to wake up perky and peppy, making friends with everyone and anyone I meet. And yet when the morning swings around, I’m still the same mean bitch I was last night.

But how had they gotten into the palace? And how many of them were here?

I couldn’t spot Lionel or Melinda in the fray.

Xavier is hiding,” Darius said loudly before Lionel could say anything, pretending the Pegasus beside him wasn’t his brother. “He’s safe, Father.

The wards have fallen around the palace. They must have wielded some truly powerful magic to manage it,” Lionel answered, taking control of the room as all eyes fell on him. “But as we know, they have managed it before…

She’s going to need you,” I said gently. “Who knows what effect this has had on her…” “I’ll look after her,” he swore, his jaw ticking. “I’ll do whatever it takes to protect her. I owe her that and so much more.