My skin tingled from the imprint of his palm and I refused to turn my head to look at him. “Go ahead, Miss Vega,” he commanded.
“Which one?” Tory and I said at the same time.
“Blue.” He tapped me on the shoulder. “Vega number two can come with me.” He nudged Tory and she rose to her feet with a frown, casting a look my way. I gave her a sympathetic glance as Orion led her to his desk and sat down in his chair. “Palm,” he ordered and she hesitantly placed her hand in his. He started doing a reading and I wondered if it was the same one he'd done on me the other night. “I don't hear Zodiac Signs filling my ears.”
I ground my teeth at his rude tone and the sound of giggles carrying from Kylie and her friends.
I called out the names to him in a flat tone. “Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn.”
“Good, five points to House Aer,” Orion said and I could have sworn my jaw nearly hit the table.
Maybe he’s covering his tracks. When they find my mutilated body Kylie will say, “He can’t have killed her Principle Nova, he gave her five house points just a few hours ago!”
Orion jotted down notes as he read Tory's palm and she squirmed uncomfortably under his touch. Her posture alone told me how much she hated him.
He finally released her hand and passed her a slip of paper. “These are your Element scores. The higher the number, the stronger your power. Your principal magic is fire.”
“Oh…right.” She nodded, moving to walk away but he caught her wrist and dragged her forwards.
A wave of horror crashed into my chest as he dug his fangs into her wrist.
She gritted her teeth, sagging forward as he drained her power and stopped her from using her magic to throw him off.
“Oh my God, sir!” Kylie gasped, but he ignored her, continuing to feed from my sister.
“Stop it!” I snapped at him, raising a hand in a wild act as I prepared to slam a blast of air into his face to push him off. Tory threw me a look, shaking her head in warning and I released a noise of distress.
When Orion finally released her, she staggered away from him with a dark expression. He rose to his feet, seeming in a better mood as he continued to chat about star signs.
As Tory walked back to her desk, my attention was snagged by a notification flashing up on her Atlas.
You’ve been mentioned in a FaeBook post, Tory!
My heart stammered as I clicked on my own Atlas, tapping on the app to find the post. Tory dropped into her seat at the same moment as I found it.
Kylie Major: Looks like Professor Orion is tapping in to someone else’s Source. #sharingiscaring #hairsgonnacare
Attached to the post was a picture of Orion feeding from Tory's wrist. My sister shot a vicious look at Kylie over her shoulder.
Comments popped up at the bottom of the post and I bit into my lip as I pointed out the top one to Tory.
Comments:
Caleb Altair: W.T.F???????????????????????????
Ranjeep Shan: @Calebaltair – this is not okay bro…
Tyler Corbin: Had a front row seat for it. #Orionwentdeep
Laughter started ringing out in the room and Orion halted mid-sentence as he spotted all of us staring at our Atlases.
He looked like he was about to murder every one of us when the door flew wide open and Caleb sprinted into the room, diving over Orion's desk. He slammed the Professor against the board and a collective inhale sounded around me. My heart took a freedive as Orion shoved him off with a blast of air and Caleb's head slammed into the desk, sending a crack up the middle of the wood.
Caleb snarled like a beast, slashing at Orion's face with a hand full of flames.
“Enough!” Orion bellowed before Caleb could land the strike. The Terra Heir paused and it felt like everyone in the class had turned to stone.
Tension rippled through the air as Caleb extinguished the flames in his palms, a low growl emitting from his throat. “She's my Source. Touch her again and you're dead. Professor or not.”
Orion snatched the front of his shirt, pulling him within an inch of his face. “Get out of my classroom.”
“Not until you swear it,” Caleb spat, wheeling a hand around to point at Tory. “She's mine. Keep your teeth out of her.”
“I don't belong to anyone!” Tory snapped and I nodded my agreement.
When Orion didn't respond, Caleb pushed the Professor off of him so hard his back smashed into the board.
Tense mutters broke out in the class and I realised I was clutching the edge of my desk, my knuckles turning white.
“Fine,” Orion said in a deadly tone. “But the other Vega Twin is mine.”
“Excuse me?” I gasped, but they continued to ignore us.
Caleb grumbled something, starting to stalk back and forth before him like a caged lion. “Deal,” he finally forced out then marched from the room, slamming the door behind him.
Orion straightened his shirt then turned back to the board. “Aries are ruled by Mars so they can be particularly impulsive and often aggressive when…” He went on and I turned to Tory in absolute shock as Orion continued as if nothing had just happened.
“Don't we get a say in this?” I hissed to my sister.
“Not unless we can fight them off,” Tory said, her brow creasing with rage.
“Which you won't be able to do unless you listen in class!” A book slammed into our desk and Tory and I sprang apart to avoid it hitting us. Orion glared at us, the clear perpetrator. “One more word out of either of you and you'll be in detention for the rest of the year.”
I pressed my lips together as fury bubbled and steamed inside me.
Is he serious right now?
He stared at us, waiting for either of us to talk back. We remained silent and he returned to teaching.
“When you're Awakened, you will always obtain the Elemental power linked to your star sign. For example, as a water sign, all Pisceans are gifted with the Elemental magic of water. Those who gain more than one Element are usually gifted this way because they are linked to more than one constellation.” Orion tapped the board and a chart appeared which showed every constellation in the sky. “As you can see, there are hundreds of combinations. The powers gifted to you by the stars are very elusive. Little is known about how or why some Fae are born with more than one Element. But we do know that genetics play a roll and so does your Order.” He gave us a pointed look and I gave him a cold stare back.
You literally just claimed me as your blood bag, you jackass! How can you go on with life as if nothing just happened!?
He approached me with a smile that made my chest hollow out. “Can you name some of the constellations which aren't linked to a Zodiac sign, Miss Vega?”
Why was he always picking on us? There were nearly a hundred people in this class. And he knew for a fact that my sister and I had the least knowledge here out of everyone.
I thought back to my youth, lying under the stars beside Tory. Our foster mother at the time had laid with us, pointing out the few constellations she knew. She’d been a kind woman, but her husband had never wanted us there. In the end, she chose him and we were cast out. The story of my life.
One of the constellations had stuck in my mind from those long-ago days. “Um…” I cleared my throat. “The little bear?”