Zodiac Legacy

1

Julius

Although he’d reemerged into the world after faking his death for the Descendants, Julius Long was still, by all accounts, living like a dead man.

It would not do to go to greet his brethren at Earthly Branches Academy just yet, not until he ascertained that his presence would be greeted with more welcome than shock. And besides, after his plans to ambush his younger sister, Evangeline, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art had gone badly awry, Julius needed a moment to regroup.

Julius used one of the family safe houses in the East Village as a hideout while he figured out his next steps. It was frustrating, to say the least, to go from days of adrenaline-­pumping action . . . to sitting around and waiting with his Talons.

“Would you like a skewer?” Louis, a fox spirit who had as many tattoos as he did muscles, leaned over from where he sat on a cold stone seat, one of the few scattered throughout the tiny, cramped space. He offered a spicy beef skewer to Julius with a tentative smile. It was clear that Julius’s bad mood had put off his three remaining loyal gang members, as they ate their food in silence and avoided one another’s gazes, lest they set him off.

You know I don’t need to eat human food, you dolt, Julius thought curtly, and he almost spoke the words aloud, but then he paused in a rare moment of restraint. He had already isolated himself from most of his (now former) comrades, and he had even betrayed his sister; was it really in his best interest to offend the few Talons who remained loyal to him?

Julius surprised everyone, including himself, by taking the skewer and saying, “Thank you, Louis.” He brought the food up to his mouth and bit into it, but of course, to his vampire taste buds, it tasted like chalk. It was a travesty that the curse upon the Descendants had turned them into vampires, werewolves, and fox spirits, each with their own demons to battle, thanks to the new batch of problems their supernatural existences brought them. At the moment, the greatest offense of being a supernatural was that it impeded Julius’s ability to enjoy human food. The only thing that really tasted good to Julius ever since he’d been cursed into a vampire was blood, and as he’d just fed from one of the several blood bags he had his Talons carrying around for him, he wouldn’t be hungry for a while. He was eating this cursed meat skewer mainly out of politeness, as well as out of a need for something to occupy his attention other than sitting around and twiddling his thumbs—­or even worse, thinking about how at this time yesterday, there were six Talons with him and not three.

A pang of an unfamiliar emotion hit him. Remorse. Julius had avoided letting himself feel his feelings for so long, and he was an expert at numbing his emotions. It was a defense mechanism that he’d learned as a young boy raised by parents who expected so much of him and reprimanded him for showing his true feelings. But the emotions he’d been keeping at bay were piling up, and he couldn’t quite maintain his emotionless mask anymore.

Julius had betrayed his sister, whom he’d loved for over a century, and though it had been for a good cause, it didn’t soften the blow of losing her. Evangeline, like many of the other Descendants, believed that the only path forward for their kind was to restore the Circle of Twelve and break the curse that had befallen them when the circle was originally destroyed by foreigners over a century ago; Julius knew she would never come around to his view, which was that the Descendants were better off in their cursed but immortal forms.

Unfortunately, what was best for Julius and the other Descendants was to retake power from Evangeline after faking his death.

It wasn’t only Evangeline whom Julius had hurt. Julius had sent three of his loyal Talons—­Megan, Stephanie, and Evelyn—­to their deaths at the hands of the Wrathlings. And sure, he had carefully calculated each of these moves, and he had made them in the name of pursuing the greater good for the Descendants, preserving their immortality and keeping the status quo. Julius desperately did not want to be mortal again. The thought of dying terrified him, and furthermore, they did not owe anything to the humans, particularly those who did not tolerate those who looked different from them.

Still, the guilt of hurting Evangeline and sending his Talons to their deaths was almost too much to bear. Julius could keep those feelings at bay, but for how much longer?

Focus on the task at hand, he urged himself, shutting off his guilt before it could jab at him again. Without even thinking about what he was doing, Julius snapped his skewer in half. He glanced up to find the Talons staring at him with alarm.

“We let these skewers sit for too long,” lamented Gina, Louis’s fiery twin. He was grateful for the distraction. She stared forlornly at her half-­eaten food. “They’re cold and tough now.”

Normally Louis would have retorted something that would result in the twins bickering, but this time, he stayed silent. The only sound in the safe room was that of the Talons chewing their food slowly.

The silence stretched on, heavy and awkward. The Talons had been subdued ever since half of them had been wiped out by the Collector. Julius hadn’t been able to stomach the idea of telling them the truth: that it was due to his failure as their leader, losing three of the Circle’s fountainheads to his sister and her crew, that their fellow Talons had been killed. In fact, in his twisted fashion, the Collector had made Julius choose which Talons got to live and which ones had to die. No, Julius could never bring up the truth to his remaining loyal followers. They would view him as a monster for letting Megan, Stephanie, and Evelyn die, and their loyalty might waver. Still, they must have sensed that he kept secrets, for there was a frigid air among them all that hadn’t been there before.

The silence was broken when Julius’s cell phone buzzed and the screen flashed with an incoming call from one of his remaining close connections at Earthly Branches Academy: Dylan Hu. Dylan, an intense loner who had always intrigued Julius, had wasted no time reaching out to Julius as soon as the news broke that he was indeed still alive, and Julius had quickly put him to work serving as his main contact at the Academy.

Julius answered before the first ring even ended. “What’s the latest at Earthly Branches?” he asked, getting straight to the point. He’d asked Dylan to feel out whether it might be appropriate for him to make a grand return to the school just yet. After all, Julius had allowed all of the Descendants to believe he was dead; they had already mourned him. He was not fool enough to expect everyone to welcome him back with open arms.

“You won’t be happy to hear this,” Dylan said grimly, “but the Descendants’ opinions are completely scattered on the revelation that you’re alive.”

Julius bounced his knee up and down. Of course he had known the risks of making as bold a move as faking his own death. It had been the best decision in the moment, to force Evangeline to pull together a crew of Descendants and steal back the long-­lost fountainheads. He had expected the Descendants, minus that crew, to be overwhelmingly relieved at his return, to welcome their Chancellor back with open arms.

Of course, he had also thought his sister was the child of prophecy and the only one who could retrieve the lost fountainheads. How wrong he had been, on all counts.

“Please define scattered,” Julius said tersely.

A short sigh crackled on the other end. “Well, I didn’t want to say it like this, but the truth is that the majority of the Descendants are unhappy with you, Julius.”

Julius gritted his teeth. This realization was a hit to his pride, without doubt, but he would have to let go of his pride if he was to reconcile with the Descendants and reestablish himself as their leader.

“However, you haven’t lost all support. There are a few who are all for the idea of you making a return as leader.” Dylan spoke slowly, sounding as though he was weighing each word carefully. “Everyone is divided over the idea of supporting Marcus, Evangeline, or you. If you play your cards right, I think you still have a good chance of swaying Descendants to your cause. They’re unhappy with Evangeline right now for leaving and failing to complete the Assignment, not to mention alerting the fae to our activity in their realm. But others are unhappy with Marcus because he’s behaving like a brute. You might be able to come off as the least offensive candidate, but I imagine you’ll have to give it a bit of time for resentment toward Marcus and Evangeline to grow.”

A pounding headache developed over Julius’s eye. He was not so surprised, but he was annoyed. Things were straying from his plan already. He had expected his revival to be greeted by a mixture of welcomes and rebuffs, but he’d never imagined that the ratio would tip so overwhelmingly in favor of the latter.

“Well, do what you can to rally support.” It was crucial that Julius reestablish himself as the Chancellor of Earthly Branches Academy, essentially the leader of all the Descendants. There were sure to be supernatural clashes in the future, and he planned to be the one in charge.

“What are you thinking? Will you still be paying a visit to the Academy?” asked Dylan.

Julius thought carefully. Dylan was right, much as he hated to admit it. While Marcus and Evangeline were more active presences among the other Descendants, so long as nobody was primarily happy with either candidate, Julius had a chance. But the best chance was to wait until ill feelings toward him died down and in the meantime, resentment grew against the other two.

“Not at the moment. I have other business to take care of, anyway. I just need you to remain in control of the situation at Earthly Branches,” Julius said. “Let me know the moment—­and I mean the very moment—­anything disruptive or unusual happens. If you play your cards right, Dylan, you’ll be initiated as one of my Talons in my renewed reign over Earthly Branches Academy.”

“Understood.” Though Dylan generally spoke in a monotone, as though he couldn’t be more bored by the proceedings, now his voice took on a note of excitement. Julius hadn’t initiated a Descendant into his inner circle in well over a decade.

Julius hung up the phone, and then he stood up abruptly. He didn’t allow himself to wallow in his annoyance that it seemed he’d lost any control he’d once had over the Descendants. In due time, with the proper moves from him, they would of course come to see that his way was the best way. For the moment, though, like he’d said to Dylan, he did need to attend to more urgent matters. The key to gaining power over the Descendants was getting back the three other fountainheads from Evangeline, so that he had all of those magical treasures in his custody and thus held all the power.

“What’s next?” asked Xavier, the third remaining Talon. “Do you really intend to continue helping out the Collector, Julius?” He was typically reserved, but he’d spoken very little even for him since they’d lost the other Talons.

Julius surveyed Louis, Gina, and Xavier, who all looked worn out. Unfortunately, there was no time to rest. He slid his emotionless mask carefully back into place, ignoring the remorse and pain he felt over what he was doing. One day he would no doubt have to address those feelings, as eventually everyone needed to pay that emotional price. However, that day would not be today. There was far too much to do and far too much at stake.

“It is too dangerous to make an enemy out of the Collector for the moment,” Julius said slowly, “so the plan is to continue acting like an agent of his. But rest assured, he does not and never will have my loyalty, and should he make any attempt to harm the Descendants, I will personally send him back to the Underworld.”