But before we could break out into a full-on tussle, the Heirs appeared, descending on him and pulling him and Tory into their arms, crushing them in a tight hug circle while Seth howled his joy. They all started to echo it until the crowd in the room were cheering and I stared on, feeling out of place as my heart seemed to shrink two sizes.
“All rejoice! The true queens and the Heirs to the Celestial Council are united at last on the path of freedom and prosperity for us all!” Geraldine cried, her voice bouncing magically around the room and causing more and more people to cheer at the sight of my best friend as I was pushed away from him.
The crowd shoved past me, knocking me further back while keeping their eyes averted from me and my throat tightened. I stared at Darius over their heads while Max scruffed his hair and Caleb jumped up and down with Seth bouncing around them.
Darcy made it to them next with Geraldine in tow and they all hugged again, practically spinning around in circles as Geraldine started singing.
“Oh a great and merry day has come! The stars shine brightly on us all, us all,” she sang and half the room joined her, apparently knowing this random song as she went on. “Oh now the gleaming moon has come! To glow upon us all, us all.”
Seth howled louder and a chorus of howls carried up from a large group at the back of the hall who I recognised as the Oscuras. And if they were here-
“Must be sad having no friends.” A hand landed on my shoulder and I turned, finding Leon Night there with his long golden hair and broad chest puffed out. He’d been in Gabriel’s year at Aurora Academy and I’d played against him in Pitball a few times back when I’d been attending Zodiac, before he’d gone pro and ended up living the dream I’d always ached to live myself.
“I’ll still be your friend, buddy,” he said with a Lion’s grin. “It must be lonely back here. All alone, without people.”
“I’m fine,” I muttered, my eyes falling on Darcy as Seth lifted her up on his shoulders and Tory was lifted up on Darius’s a second later. My teeth ground in my mouth and I forced myself not to intervene as Darcy laughed, reaching out to hug her sister with happy tears in her eyes. Fuck, that girl deserved this. Both of them did. There’d been too much shit in their lives to wade through ever since I’d brought them to Solaria.
“I wouldn’t be fine if I was Power Shamed,” Leon said sadly. “I can’t think of a worse fate actually. I’d rather be eaten by acid slugs, or chomped up and swallowed by a Bear Shifter, or dropped from a really, really, really, really-”
“I get it,” I gritted out.
“Really high building,” he finished with a sympathetic smile. “Oh shit, gotta go, dude. I put glimmer glue in Dante’s poptarts.” He darted away into the crowd and I saw Dante’s huge form barrelling through the crowd as he tried to shout at Leon, but his lips were stuck together with a thick purple gloop so all he managed was a furious growl.
I watched Darcy until my eyes burned and I remembered to blink, slipping back into the shadows at the corner of the room. It was a relief to escape the disgusted glances that came my way, the backs turned on me and offering me insult upon insult as I was treated like a living plague. I tried not to care, but I did. Though I only had myself to blame for it. I’d known the fate I was dealing myself when I’d sat on that stand in court and proclaimed myself a monster. And I was sharply aware of how little I could ever really be to Blue again because of it.
So long as she becomes the queen she is destined to be, it will be worth it.
Xavier and Catalina arrived for breakfast though she remained concealed within her fake identity and a new wave of laughs and sobs broke out as they hugged Darius. For a moment there was so much peace in the room, it was hard to remember that we were at the start of what would likely be a bloody war.
I edged around the side of the cavern as the songs and dancing finally came to an end, making a swift exit out the door and moving into the darkness of the tunnel, not really wanting to endure everyone treating me like I didn’t exist and instead waiting in a dark alcove for someone to appear with a fresh coffee in hand. I’d shoot past them and steal it, then find the stores in this place to see if they had any of the ingredients I needed for the Zodiac Guild elixir. Then I could decide who might make good candidates to initiate into the Guild. I’d have to brew it from scratch again over the next six weeks and there were a few things I’d have to go and fetch myself, but it was something to focus on besides the feeling that now the bond was gone between me and Darius, he might not need me anymore.