Page 36 of The Bound Zodiac

“What, was that loud?” Inside I was cackling.

“Do it again,” said Jamie, which surprised everybody including, I think, Jamie.

So I did.

Hi.

And nine voices came back at once, overlapping, tumbling over each other, and it was chaos.

Hi, love.

Hey.

Aye.

Ridiculous.

Hello, Jupiter.

Hi.

Hi, babe.

—Biscuits—

Theo, I swear to God.

CHAPTER TWELVE

JUPITER

The Ophiuchus tower had never once been full in my time at Imperium or any time before that. Not since it was constructed a bazillion years ago. Now, it would be home to an official shield team.

My stomach gave a little flip at the thought of sharing my space with Nightf—no. No that’s not who they were anymore, was it? There was no more Nightfall Shield. No more Stardust Shield. Only Horizon. We had to look to the Horizon if this was going to work.

“Right.” Eris dropped his bag in the middle of the floor with a thud that echoed up the stairwell. “How’re we doing this?”

“Doing what?” Theo said.

“Rooms. Who gets what?”

“Ah.” Theo set his own bag down with far more care. “First come, first served, obviously.”

“Absolutely not,” said Rowan.

“Seniority,” Percy said with his usual scowl in place.

“Whose seniority?” Lucas didn’t even look up from the ancient radiator he’d crouched down to examine. “Because if we’re going by bond age, that’s you lot, and if we’re going by time at this academy, that’s us, and if we’re going by actual age, it’s Phoenix. Now if we’re talking about mental maturity age, then the four of you get whatever scraps are left over while James gets the room with the good window, obviously.”

I rolled my eyes. Not even five whole minutes into living together…

“There’s a room with a good window?” Eris asked, perking up and ignoring the insult.

“Gets the morning light over the grove.”

“That’s mine, then,” said Eris.

“On what grounds?”