Page 19 of The Bound Zodiac

I’d never seen gravity used against the bane. They were creatures who were normally immune to its influence entirely, but I supposed everything was affected by gravity in some way. Light, time, and the fabric of space itself relied on gravity, so why not creatures of dark matter too?

I only hoped Rowan wasn’t using too much power too fast. His stamina was insane, but nobody could channel power indefinitely.

I left Rowan and Lucas to contain it, and made my way over to Theo and Jamie, who faced off against three bane by themselves while the others were occupied. I felt for the starlight running through my veins, and willed it forth. Blindingly white light filled the center of my palms, expanding outward until the arena was lit as if with its own personal star. In a blink, I molded that starlight into a staff and flipped it several times to test its strength.

A rush of adrenaline filled me as I gripped the starlight staff. In the distance I could hear several gasps and curses from onlookers. I didn’t blame them. I myself was still giddy about it every time I successfully conjured a starlight weapon. Using my magic filled me with warmth and energy.

I pivoted, starlight staff hot in my grip, and a bane lunged low, its shape flickering and morphing, trying to confuse me. The staff flashed in a clean, sweeping arc of light, and the bane recoiled, shrieking as both ends flared blinding white.

They didn’t have a voice, not in the same way we did. It was more of a high-pitched ringing sound. That sound used to keep me up at night, back when I first started hunting them. Now, I mostly tuned them out, focusing entirely on how I would silence them.

I kept tight, herding it just like Saris wanted. Don’t kill, don’t disintegrate, just control. Right. Sure. My magic ached for its true purpose, to annihilate, erase, cleanse the dark matter out of existence. But I held back. I had to. I corralled the thing with sweeps of my staff, giving ground inch by inch until it tripped the perimeter Rowan had set with his gravity field.

Above the din, Jamie wove layers of illusion so thick that half the bystanders probably couldn’t tell which way was up. The arena tilted to the left in my vision, but my brain knew it wasn’t real.

Draco raised his hand, and at first, I thought it was just shadow pooling at his fingertips. But it wasn’t shadow. A heavy smoke spilled from Draco’s skin, thick and black, pouring between his fingers like ink underwater. It spun itself, growing denser, swirling tighter, until it solidified, every inch of it hard, glossy, and jet black. A wall that looked like nothing so much as a scorpion’s exoskeleton, rippling outward, ribs and spines layered and locked together, like a living armor between us and the threat. I’d never seen magic like that before.

One of the bane barreled toward him, inky claws out. The instant its talon hit the shield, it arched back with a high, metallic shriek. The shield didn’t budge, not even a little. Instead, a shimmer ran over the black surface, and I caught the glint of something almost wet, like oil slicked over glass. Venom, I realized. Scorpion venom.

Fuck. I’d seen plenty of Scorpios throw up a shield before, but it was never solid. Mostly they were simple magical barriers composed mostly of shadows or smoke. Usually lecture-hall stuff, maybe a defensive dome in emergencies. My mother could block a thrown book or stop a cup from shattering on the floor. But this? Draco’s shield was solid. It flexed and moved with him, pulsing at his command, instantly adapting to the motion of the attackers.

Most Scorpios became scholars or historians. When a Scorpio decided to be a warrior, it was terrifying.

The bane tried again, lashing at the barrier. The second it touched, the shield seemed to ripple. The bane jerked back, limbs spasming and curling in on itself.

Draco’s eyes went flat and cold. He flicked his wrist, and the shield re-formed, the exoskeleton plates reorienting so they made a corridor, funneling the bane toward the nearest waiting containment cage.

For a second, the crowd above was silent. Even Professor Saris leaned in, watching with eyes wide and excited.

Two of the bane were already in cages, the next three were being herded like demonic cattle, and for a split second I could see it—the merged shield working exactly the way it was supposed to. Rowan’s gravity was an anchor, Lucas froze them where they hovered, Jamie layered illusions so chaotic that the primal lizard brain of the bane didn’t know which direction to attack. Theo and Phoenix were brute strength in the arena, Phoenix lifting and lowering and rolling the packed earth beneath us. Percy, Aiden, Draco and Eris were on their game, working with Stardust as if they’d done it for years.

We got most of them boxed, no problem. Four contained, two more left. Then it all went to shit.

The smallest of the last two moved fast, darting between Theo’s blade and Phoenix’s sand snare. I pivoted to cut off its escape, and the moment I did, I felt the other one shift its attention straight for me.

Too late to dodge, a black talon whipped out and slashed deep into my upper arm. It was like being set on fire. I screamed, stumbling back, my starlight flickering wildly as my magic bucked out of my control. Blood sprayed across my sleeve, and pain erupted all the way to my fingertips.

I could handle it. I’d been hurt worse. But through the bond, I felt it detonate down the line, splitting through Nightfall’s concentration and collapsing every ounce of their fucking focus.

Percy was on me instantly. “Jupiter!”

“Get back, Percy—” I snapped. “Get the fuck back to your position until they’re all contained!”

He flinched at the power in my command through the bond, but of course he didn’t move fast enough, because Rowan barreled in from the left, eyes glacial and jaw set. He planted himself right in front of Percy, practically chest to chest.

“She told you to hold the perimeter,” Rowan growled.

Percy shoved him, eyes gone liquid red. “Get the fuck out of my face, man.”

Rowan’s gravity flared out, and I could feel it bearing down on Percy through the bond which was very much open at the moment. “If your Scorpio shield had done his job, she never would have taken the hit.” His glare cut past me, pinning Draco.

That did it. Percy’s rage spiked, incandescent and white-hot. The two of them were so busy trying to prove which one of them was the Alpha Male Defending My Honor that the last bane nearly took Jamie’s entire arm off. Only Theo’s snap reflexes closed the wound and hit the thing with a burst of healing-light so bright it stunned everyone for a second.

Meanwhile, I clamped my hand over my ripped arm, blood dripping through my fingers.

Rowan’s gravity had gone nuclear. He slammed it down on Percy so hard it buckled me through the bond, a migraine blooming to full detonation behind my eyes. My vision whited out. Pain surged from the base of my skull, drilling straight through my brain and down my spinal cord. I screamed, honest-to-god screamed, and dropped to one knee in the dirt, clutching my head. Every nerve in my body lit up.

It was such a raw, impossible sensation that for a split second I had no idea who was actually hurt. Was it me, or Percy? The whole bond went static, loud and wired and spinning so fast I nearly puked.