My throat closed up as I thought of the two human twins who'd taken the fate that was meant for us. And that made me feel all kinds of uncomfortable things towards my birth mother.
How can we be related to people like that?
“And you think Darius's family is involved in that somehow?” Tory asked, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“There is much evidence to suggest it, yes. And the stars…they give me clues.” He took a Tarot deck from inside his tan blazer, rubbing his fingers across them. “I consult with the heavens using these…they were your mother’s. She was adept at reading the stars and we often consulted over them together. When she died…this pack arrived on my desk. She must have bound them to me.” He sighed heavily, the pain of her loss clear in his eyes.
“What was she like?” I asked and felt Tory stiffening in my periphery.
Astrum gazed between us with a dark grief in his eyes. “Strong, beautiful, powerful. Her death still haunts me. For many years I tried to deduce from her cards what occurred before the night your parents were murdered. My instincts tell me the answers to my questions lies amongst them but they have only revealed some to me.”
“So what have they told you?” Tory asked.
“They told me a dark conspirator was pulling the strings behind the murders. That the Nymphs were just pawns in a much bigger game,” he said, his voice dripping with fear. His eyes flicked over our shoulders and I could sense he was getting jittery. “No Nymph would have gotten into the royal palace without help. And though they receive Fae power when they kill, rarely do they learn to harness it well enough to attack our kind with skill.” He started thumbing through the cards in his hand, doing it so smoothly I imagined it was a habit he was accustomed to. “They were trained by Fae,” he whispered and icy water seemed to spill through me. “And now that you have returned, I believe whoever controlled the Nymphs before is doing so again. I have long suspected Lord Acrux and now I think his son has taken up the torch too. With the help of Orion, a man whose family has deep roots in dark magic.”
“Dark magic?” I breathed and Astrum nodded.
He looked over his shoulder, his thumb brushing through the Tarot deck at an increased speed. “The attacks are starting again and both Darius and Orion are linked to every scene. And each death is occurring frighteningly near to you both. If they are somehow controlling the Nymphs to try and-”
A creak sounded somewhere deep within the shelves and I stiffened.
Sweat beaded on Astrum's brow and his thumb suddenly halted on a card. He flipped it out of the deck, his eyes whipping across it back and forth. When he looked back at us, his face was as white as a sheet.
“Someone is listening to us,” Astrum said so deathly quiet I almost didn't hear it.
My heart crashed against my ribcage and my breathing hitched as Astrum backed away.
He shook his head, seeming frantic as he continued to thumb through his deck. “Go now. I'll find you again another day. There is much more to be said.” He darted into the shadows and Tory grabbed my arm, pulling me into a fast walk then a jog, then a run.
We fled through the library and out onto the path, my breathing ragged as we hurried away from the building.
I didn't relax until we were closing in on The Orb and the creeping feeling from the library finally started to wear off.
“What do you think?” I asked Tory as we stopped outside the huge golden dome. Laughter and music sailed from inside, the noise comforting after what had just occurred.
“I think he's one loose screw away from crazy, but he also has a point.”
“But if Darius and Orion are after us, why do it this way?” I questioned. “They could have killed us a hundred times by now. Orion said himself students dying in accidents on campus is regular enough.”
Tory shook her head, frowning as she tried to provide an answer. “Maybe they don't wanna risk getting caught, so they want a Nymph to do it instead?”
“Maybe,” I said, thinking back to the night I'd confronted Orion. It might have been stupid, but I'd believed him when he'd told me he didn't want to hurt Tory and I. But what if I was just being naive? The guy wasn't exactly a moral martyr. He could be a pro liar and a seasoned killer. I didn't know him enough to judge.
I sighed, my insides in knots as I tried to figure out the answer. Because it felt like we were missing something vital.
“Come on,” Tory sighed. “Let's enjoy the party at least. I'd rather not dwell on the fact that our father was some psycho king.”
“And our mother swapped us for two random human kids who died in our place?” I added.
“And that,” she agreed with a grim smile.
Someone shoved their way past us and I stumbled into Tory, spotting Marguerite heading up to The Orb, her arm linked with a gorilla-sized guy I recognised as a junior.
I straightened my dress, lifting my chin as I headed inside with Tory, irritation sparking through my gut. All thoughts of Marguerite were forgotten as I took in the incredible decorations laid out inside The Orb.
The lounge had been transformed into a ballroom that embodied the season of Fall. Golden leaves swept across the light wooden floor in an endless magical breeze. They dropped from a mass of beautiful vines which sprawled across the ceiling, turning green then orange, red, gold, finally falling to join those dancing on the floor. The process started all over again and I gazed up at the vines in fascination as we moved deeper into the throng of students.
I spotted Sofia chatting with a couple of girls with silvery hair and bright smiles. Something about the Pegasus Order held a calming kind of aura that made them stand out as what they were. The longer I spent at Zodiac, the easier it was becoming to recognise the differences in each one. But there were still so many I was yet to even learn about. And I was lost as to where we fit in.
I searched for Diego but before I located him, someone brushed my elbow as they stepped up behind me. My breathing hitched as the scent of cinnamon rolled under my nose.
“Evening,” a deep voice murmured in my ear and I didn't have to look up to know who it was.
Orion moved past me and disappeared into the crowd before I could say a word in greeting. I was left with the lasting impression of his quarterback body fitted into a nice shirt and ebony slacks that clung to his ass and practically forced me to stare at it.
Great, now I'm eyeing up a potential serial killer.
If there was one final ass I had to stare at though…
Tory snatched a couple of shots from a waiter's tray and planted one in my hand with a devilish grin. I wasn't sure it was the best idea after what had happened last Friday. But then again, when had I ever said no to a free shot of tequila?
AS THE NIGHT wore on, I began to relax more and more. No one had come at Darcy or I with embarrassing forms of Coercion or jibing insults. I’d barely even caught sight of the Heirs at all. It was definitely looking like we were going to be able to enjoy our evening in peace. And with that thought in mind, I was in search of another drink.
An endless cascade of falling leaves in every colour of fall swept through a soft wind above my head, making the fire-based lighting flicker all around us. It was like something out of a movie, too impossibly beautiful to be real and yet there I stood, beneath it all.