Page 61 of The Bound Zodiac

Nobody said anything for a long moment. This moment was too tense. Too unimaginable. Centuries of preparation, waiting for hope had led to this one woman and the power swirling inside of her. For so long it had only been theoretical.

“In fifty years in the Order, I’ve never seen anything like that,” Samuel said, eyes still wide.

I flexed my hands, trying to get feeling back. My own magic was singing, tuned to hers like a moth to a flame. The bond was flooded with awe and reverence, but also a staggering amount of relief. Jupiter was okay. She hadn’t burned herself out.

I could feel a sense of hope spreading. Not just among us. Through every member of the Order who’d come to witness the demonstration. It was a wave, bringing some of them to tears. Even Tala’s eyes were shining.

Jupiter sat back on her heels, wiped her face with the back of one hand, and grinned. She looked spent, dark circles under her eyes, skin shining with sweat, hair wild. But her smile was pure satisfaction.

She looked at Tala, and at Malakai next to her as she stood to her feet. “Do you want to know where that portal led?” There was a wicked gleam in her eyes that had me and the guys eyeing her suspiciously.

I’d caught a glimpse of something through the portal, but it was gone so quickly I couldn’t make it out. Tala was about to ask where the portal led, when Draco answered instead.

“The moon.” His voice echoed as the chamber fell to complete and utter silence. All eyes swiveled to him. He stood there, staring at Jupiter like he’d just witnessed a damn miracle in the flesh. “She made a stable portal to Earth’s moon.”

Jupiter only grinned proudly as she echoed, “The motherfuckin’ moon.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

JUPITER

Four months later

There were still nights when everything got so overwhelming, when the nine distinct flavors of male consciousness sloshed around in my head like a dozen open tabs on a crashing computer, but for the most part, I’d learned to filter it.

Aiden and Draco bickered constantly. Eris and Theo had an ongoing debate about the culinary merits of British versus Scottish breakfast. Rowan could not be in a room with Percy for more than ten minutes without it turning into some kind of dick-measuring contest.

Phoenix liked everyone, but preferred his plants, and had started to maintain the little garden just off of his room. Jamie was the only one who could consistently make Noodle laugh, which was so weirdly endearing that I sometimes found myself eavesdropping on their mental conversations. Sometimes I was just thankful Noodle had someone other than me to converse with. Gretchen was always around too, which I appreciated, because having another girl around was refreshing.

The ache that had lived deep in my chest since leaving Dominion had begun to heal over, like scar tissue forming after a catastrophic wound. I could still feel it sometimes when I really got into my own head, but it didn’t control me anymore. Not like it had. This place, these people, were changing me. I had a goal now. A purpose that seemed more and more possible every single day.

The guys and I had so far avoided talking about the elephant in the room. Said elephant being the fact that I’d fucked Aiden. There was no doubt in my mind that every single one of them felt it, and had chosen not to say a damn word.

Maybe they really thought I was so fragile that I couldn’t handle hard conversations. But it needed to happen, sooner rather than later. Preferably before the gala, when we had to present a united front and perform a demonstration of magic.

The headmistress asked me…or, more like instructed me, to demonstrate my portal convergence at the gala. The thought made me want to crawl out of my own skin. It was one thing to attempt it in the privacy of the Nexus chamber, and it was another thing entirely to attempt it in a room full of innocent people. What if something went horribly wrong? What if our magic went haywire and we hurt someone?

Besides, members of the Assembly would obviously be in attendance, and if they knew I’d been practicing portal convergence, they might get ideas into their head. I could just see Charles Callahan plotting now, scheming up ways to get his son and his shield back under his thumb.

Percy and I were in the archives again, as we did several times a week for practice. The only light came from the lantern I’d set on the floor beside us, its glow pooling in a soft circle. Noodle was curled in a ball on the far table, completely uninterested in our shenanigans, as he liked to call it.

I was kneeling on a yoga mat, which I’d started bringing to these sessions weeks ago after many annoying hours of sore knees and dusty clothes. Percy was behind me, his chest practically pressed to my back, arms braced around me.

“Ready?” His voice was low, barely above a whisper, right at the shell of my ear. I fought a full-body shiver.

“Yeah,” I breathed. “Let’s do this.”

Today was the day. I was going to open two hundred portals at once, bring them together, and merge them into a single stable gateway. I felt it in my bones that this was doable. I could conquer this, and then, we’d be on our way home in no time.

I closed my eyes and let my mind unfurl, reaching for the power at the core of me. Even now, after all the training, it still felt a little like jumping off a high dive and hoping I didn’t break my neck on the way down.

The first portal snapped into existence in front of me. A coin of silver light, floating midair. I let it hover for a heartbeat, then reached for the next. And the next. Ten, fifteen, twenty. The air began to hum, the vibration crawling up my skin, through my bones. Twenty-five. Thirty. Percy’s arms tightened around me, steadying me, the heat of his body pouring through my skin.

“Breathe steady…” he murmured.

Thirty-five. Forty. Fifty. A constellation of light flickered in the air, each portal humming. My hands were shaking. Sweat prickled at the base of my neck, but it wasn’t unpleasant. It sort of felt like a good workout, like endorphins rushing through my veins.

“Keep going,” Percy whispered. “You’ve got this, honey.”