Zodiac Academy 7: Heartless Sky
Heartless Sky: Chapter 56

It hadn’t taken me long to break through the wards my father had left in place to protect his old home and the four of us crept across the sweeping grounds of Acrux Manor with our breaths held in anticipation and the need for vengeance pumping through our veins.

“I’ll be glad to finally have our parents away from that asshole,” Seth muttered as we moved through the dense woodland to the rear of the property, circling the lake and closing in on the manor house as quickly as we could while still remaining cautious.

“I’m just worried about what he’s done to our siblings,” Caleb said and I growled at the thought of him hurting Hadley or the others.

Max remained quiet and I knew what was on his mind without him needing to voice it. His father would still be resolutely backing him, but his stepmother and Ellis were likely more than happy with this current arrangement which put his younger sister in his place. We’d discussed it more than once over the past months. And as much as there had been no love lost between Max and his father’s wife, Ellis was a different story. Yes, she was irritating and obnoxious and they butted heads all the time, but she was still his blood. Still his father’s daughter. And I knew he was worried about the idea of her choosing to side with Lionel and what that might mean long term in this war.

“This way,” I urged, leading them around the lake, using the full force of my power to shroud us in shadows and divert the attention of any unwanted eyes on us.

There was an old rabbit trail which cut through the undergrowth along here which Xavier and I had often used to slip between the formal path which ringed the lake and the wildness of the woodland where we preferred to play and pretend that we were free.

It had been a long time since we’d made use of it, but I found it all the same and Seth used his earth magic to widen it enough for us to pass through.

There was a heaviness in the air which seemed to grow thicker the closer we got to the manor, and I fought a wave of nausea which pressed into me the closer I got to those walls which had been my prison for so long.

I hated this fucking place. I hated the monster who had made it hell for my mother and brother too. And even now, when I was just here to sneak inside and take something from that monster instead of being forced to return like a dog on a leash, I couldn’t shake off that feeling of foreboding which had long since accompanied my approach to those dark walls.

A high-pitched scream bit into the air and we jerked to a halt as we listened, the sound echoing out around us before dying away in an agonising wail.

Seth’s face paled and Cal reached out to grasp his shoulder as we all recognised his mother’s voice in that scream and the fiery pit of rage in my gut burned hotter at the mere thought of what was going on in that fucking house.

“We have to keep our heads,” Max said firmly, pushing a sense of calm and courage over our small group as Seth bit his tongue on a mournful howl. 

“We’ll get them out of here,” I vowed, turning my attention to the manor again and eyeing the tall tower where I’d once resided.

“If we can get up to the roof of my old room then I can get us inside,” I said.

“I can get us up there,” Max replied confidently and Seth nodded his agreement.

“Then it’s on you and me to keep us shielded from view, Cal,” I said, turning to look at him as he pushed his blonde curls out of his eyes and assessed the distance between us and the house. It was a long run across open ground, but there was little we could do about that. 

“I’ll shoot everyone across the lawn,” Caleb said decisively. “It’ll be a lot easier to hide us for a shorter burst like that.”

We nodded our agreement and he shot forward, hoisting Max from his feet and speeding away across the lawn in a blur that I lost sight of within moments as the combination of his speed and their magic made it impossible to track them.

“I’m gonna enjoy looking at your dad’s corpse when this is all done, Darius,” Seth said in a dark tone. “Sorry if that’s a weird thing to say, but I really hope he gets cut up into tiny little Dragon sush-ahh!”

I snorted as Caleb grabbed Seth next, speeding away with him so fast that I barely even caught the movement and I braced myself as I waited for him to return for me last.

Caleb’s shoulder slammed into my gut and he hoisted me off of my feet, shooting across the lawn so fast that I could see nothing at all but a blur of movement surrounding me until we were suddenly whipped off of the ground and were sent soaring into the air.

The air magic guiding us upwards, catapulted us past all ten floors of the tower and before my brain could even figure out what way was up, I found myself crashing down onto the stone platform at the top of the turret and the wind being driven from my lungs as Seth landed on top of me.

“Well, I seriously doubt anyone saw that,” I grumbled as I fought my way out of the pile of bodies and we got to our feet once more. “Now we just need to make it inside without triggering any magical alarms.” S~ᴇaʀᴄh the FɪndNøvel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“We need to hurry,” Seth urged, moving to my side as I reached out with my magic to hunt for the taste of my father’s power. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Well that makes all four of us,” Max muttered darkly.

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