Ellis smiled vaguely at me and I smiled back, wondering if she’d ever considered the challenge of vying for Max’s position worth her time or if she was happy enough in her position too.
“Tiberius.” Lionel nodded to him.
Tiberius’s gaze fell to Tory beside him, a look of concern twisting through his eyes before he quickly schooled it.
Father tugged her closer without shame as Tory gave him that dreamy eyed look again. I had no idea what the other Councillors thought of my father’s new pet, but from the few looks they’d exchanged at Darius’s birthday party, I had to think they thought it was weird as shit. The whole kingdom surely thought that too. And anyone who knew Tory would be able to see it the second they got close. But that was the problem, Father didn’t let anyone near her. And if he did, he was clearly going to be right there beside her like an overbearing husband. Ergh. Should not have gone there.
Tiberius’s wife Linda looked around, her nose wrinkled like there was a bad smell under it. She pulled Ellis close, arranging her hair over her shoulders and her daughter indulged it, smiling serenely at her mother’s affection.
“Melinda and Antonia will be arriving together momentarily,” Tiberius said. “Exciting, isn’t it?”
“Quite,” Lionel said coolly.
The air shimmered beyond us and Melinda Altair appeared with her golden hair tumbling around her shoulders in soft curls and Antonia Capella materialised beside her, her coppery brown locks pulled up into a chignon bun. They were both wearing fine dresses and I wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d come from an interview with the press. Behind Melinda was Caleb’s younger brother Hadley with his sharp jaw and blue eyes as piercing as the rest of his family’s. His hair was dark though, honey brown and shaved in at the sides. If he was a Vampire, his Order would emerge the moment his magic did, and I imagined they were expecting that, just as Father had expected me to be a Dragon. I wondered if he’d receive the same kind of treatment I’d endured if he turned out to be a Pegasus or something else, or if his family actually loved him and would accept him no matter what.
Beyond Antonia were two of Seth’s younger siblings. The twins had grown into their looks this past year; Grayson was tall, his features angular and his eyes dark, his sister Athena was the female mirror image of him, though she had dark purple streaks running through her wavy hair whereas Grayson’s was a floppy, brown mess on top of his head. They tickled and shoved each other as they laughed and played, looking like the Wolves they were. I grinned at them and they grinned back, running over to snare me in a two sided hug.
“Xavier! You’d better take me flying soon,” Athena begged and Grayson grabbed my face to pull me around to look at him.
“Me first, dude,” he insisted and I laughed, shoving them off and throwing a glance at Father whose right eye was twitching. Dragons didn’t let anyone ride them, but there was no such law for Pegasuses. Would he expect me to refuse like a Dragon or would he just accept that my Order lived by different rules? Not that I was going to ask for his opinion. No doubt he’d make it perfectly clear if he wanted to.
Hadley was carefully positioning his hair as he walked over to join us, but Ellis held back with her family while her mother whispered something in her ear.
“We’ve been placing bets on our second Elements, you want in Xavier?” Hadley asked with a dark smirk, his eyes drifting to Athena and lingering on her cleavage peeking out of her fitted blue dress before he looked back at me.
“My bet’s on Hadley being a single Elemental,” Athena taunted him and Hadley scowled.
“You’re just jealous that I’m going to get the best Elements, Athena. Earth and fire.” He pushed his fingers into his hair in a way designed to draw attention to his bicep, but Athena’s gaze didn’t falter from his face.
“Well unlike you, I don’t want to have the same second Element as my older brother, because I’m not a little Heir clone. I’m going to have air and water then I’ll make a tornado that sweeps you into a lake of my own design so I can drown your vain ass in it.”
Grayson barked a laugh, bouncing on his heels. “Maybe I’ll get air and fire and firenado your ass too, Hadley.”
Hadley rolled his eyes as Grayson shoved his arm. “You wish, Gray.”
“What do you think you’ll get, Xavier?” Athena turned to me with a bright smile.
I shifted on the tarmac, shrugging. “Honestly, I just can’t wait to have one Element, let alone-”
“Nonsense,” Father boomed, laughing loudly in that fake way he did at his pretentious parties. He dropped an arm around my shoulders, steering me away from the others and planting me next to Tory. “Xavier will make us proud as a double Elemental.” His grip on my shoulders grew painful, like he was warning me to produce two Elements or I’d be gutted. But what did he expect me to do? I couldn’t pluck extra Elements out of my ass if I didn’t have them. It was up to the stars what I was gifted tonight.
“What do you think you’ll get, Ellis?” Grayson bounded over to her like a dog who’d just been let off its leash, apparently having no awareness of her standoffish stance as he slung an arm around her and nuzzled into her hair.
She growled, shoving him off. “I don’t know, Grayson.”
“She’ll have water and air, just like Max,” her mother said firmly, elbowing Tiberius who quickly chimed in to agree.
“Yes, yes, most likely,” he agreed, smiling proudly.
“Are you gonna pick Aer House then, because your big brother doesn’t like you stepping on his toes, does he?” Grayson taunted and she rolled her eyes at him as he tried to paw at her again.
“I’ll go wherever I fancy,” she said with a cool smile and Grayson barked another laugh.
The gates suddenly opened and my heart beat powerfully in my chest as a tall woman appeared with her dark hair pulled into a bun. I’d seen enough pictures of her to know this was Principal Nova. She’d been especially helpful to my Father lately. Mom had told me she’d sent a letter promising to keep an eye on me while I was here. I mean, it wasn’t exactly a surprise to me that Father had the staff under his control considering he pumped Zodiac full of gold whenever the school board asked, but I still didn’t like the idea of being watched. This was a big school though and there was no way she’d be able to keep an eye on me twenty-four seven. And just the idea of being able to go about my day without a Dragon Lord breathing down my neck was like fifty million times better than my previous circumstances, so I was calling it a win.
Beside Nova was a woman with flowing raven hair and pale skin; she was dressed in long black robes, looking like some sort of medieval witch. She gazed at my father and the other Councillors with respect, but something in her eyes told me she wasn’t exactly thrilled they were here. Her gaze fell on Tory and a squeak of horror left her as she took an abrupt step toward her. “My dear, are you quite well?”
“Quite well,” Tory echoed and the professor pulled at her own hair, glancing at Father and quickly schooling her expression again.
“Good evening High Councillors,” Nova said brightly, ushering an entourage forward to take all of our bags from us – or our porters anyway. “We are absolutely thrilled to welcome your children to Zodiac Academy.”