Zodiac Academy Fated Throne - Caroline Peckham Page 0,2

promised Roxy and I wasn’t going to back down on that.

The door was heavy and stuck as I tried to open it, magic locking it in place. I quickly placed my axe in the holster on my back so that I could concentrate on opening it.

I closed my eyes as I focused on the lock, working my own magic into it and cursing as I struggled to break it.

“Hurry up, man,” Seth hissed behind me and I grunted in frustration as the lock continued to hold me back before finally breaking through it with a surge of power.

The door swung open with a groan and I threw a handful of Faelights into the dark space to illuminate it ahead of us as we stepped inside.

The clubhouse was immaculate, dominated by a huge open area filled with leather armchairs and dark wooden furniture. A few doors led off of the central room and we glanced around as we moved further into the space. It must have been spelled to stop the dust from settling here, because though the room looked untouched, the taste of magic on the air was long since faded. No one had been here in a long time.

“We’ve got five minutes, tops,” Caleb warned. “Then we need to get the fuck out of here. I’ll check the back rooms.” He shot away without waiting for us to reply and the rest of us fanned out to search for anything that could relate to the Imperial Star.

We hunted with a feverish desire that was bordering on aggressive as we tore through the room, using detection spells to locate anything that might be hidden.

I cursed as we failed to find anything, tossing books, ornaments and anything else I came across in a heap on the floor and my pulse pounded as the minutes ticked down.

“Shit,” Darcy gasped and I whirled around, finding her in the middle of the room with a tarot card in her hand.

She’d explained about the messages Astrum had been sending the twins from beyond the grave a few weeks ago and the look in her eyes said she’d just found one more.

“What does it say?” I demanded.

The last person who we suspected to have been in possession of the Imperial Star was Astrum and I could only hope that this breadcrumb trail he’d been leaving the twins was designed to lead them to it.

“Seek the fallen hunter.” Darcy looked up at me as she held out the card for me to see.

The World tarot card looked back at me, a naked woman dancing above the earth holding a staff in each hand while she was watched by various creatures. That at least was positive – the card symbolised things falling into place, even if the message that went with it seemed like nothing more than a riddle.

“I can’t find anything,” Max called from across the wide space.

“Me either,” Caleb announced as he shot back into the room, his blonde curls dishevelled.

“I don’t think it’s here,” Darcy said bitterly. “We wouldn’t have found a card if it was.”

A terrifying shriek sounded from somewhere out in the woods and we all looked around in alarm as the Nymph army drew closer.

“Then I say it’s time to go,” Seth said, moving to join us as he opened an old bottle of whiskey, drinking the few inches in the bottom of it before tossing it aside.

“Yeah, let’s get the fuck out of here,” I agreed, pulling a pouch of stardust from my pocket.

“One moment,” Caleb said, shooting away before I could object.

The howls and shrieks of the Nymphs outside were so close that my muscles tensed and magic raced to my fingertips.

Caleb reappeared with a jerrycan beneath his arm which he must have found outside and as he twisted the cap off, his eyes lit with excitement.

“Faesine,” he announced, upending the can in a whirl of motion as he shot around us so that every surface in the building was coated with the incredibly flammable substance.

Seth howled with excitement and I tossed the pouch of stardust to Max as we all moved closer together.

The Nymphs were so near that I could hear their rattles now, the cold feel of their presence dampening our magic as Max took a pinch of stardust out of the bag and grinned around at us.

Darcy caught my eye just as the first window shattered and the Nymphs shrieked with excitement as they spotted us.

Darcy sucked in a sharp breath and my heart leapt as they