Chapter 6
SIX
Jupiter
Classes at Dominion were not what I’d call welcoming.
The curriculum was structured around designations.
Foundational courses like magic theory, zodiac history, combat fundamentals, and then blended for advanced coursework, which meant that for the first week I was primarily surrounded by other zodiac students who were having their first week, while also having already taken most of these courses with the Assembly.
I sat wherever there was space and received the special gift of being simultaneously stared at and avoided, which is its own special little hell.
The staring, I’d expected. My designation had been the primary topic of conversation across the entire student body since the declaration ceremony, and I’d had forty-eight hours of listening to people discuss me in corridors they didn’t know I was in.
What people said ranged from genuinely curious to openly dismissive.
I’d overheard several shield members discussing the possibility of bonding with me as their axis.
The Nightfall Shield had not spoken to me since their flat dismissal. They had, however, communicated a great deal without speaking, because four very powerful men were hard to ignore when all they did was glare at you.
I wasn’t born yesterday. The Nightfall Shield was playing puppet-master, pulling strings behind the scenes to turn the student body against me.
But damn, they worked fast.
Day three, someone scrawled MYTH BITCH across the whiteboard before magic theory class.
I had to admire the dedication, honestly.
Day four, a gaggle of Leo girls developed a fascinating habit of erupting into theatrical laughter whenever I entered a room.
I bit my cheek to keep from laughing back—wouldn’t want to confuse their tiny pea brains.
Day five, I found a surprisingly well-drawn ouroboros taped to my door with a charming note. Go back to being a myth, bitch.
I pocketed the drawing. It was decent line-work to be honest.
My phone buzzed that evening with a text from Tye:
T: So..how’s academy life?
I snorted. He was such a loser.
J: Magical. Got some fan art today.
T: Heard about the whiteboard incident.
J: Artistic expression is so important.
T: Need me to come rearrange someone’s kneecaps?
J: Tempting offer. Raincheck tho. I’ve got this.
T: Dinner tomorrow?
J: Yes. I need to vent dramatically and require an audience.
T: You know I’m a slut for some good tea.
I put my phone down and looked at the snake drawing again and thought, with a kind of detached clarity, that the hostility was so performative and weird for a bunch of powerful adults.
The next day in Combat Fundamentals, the instructor was called Hadley, who had the build of someone who’d been combat-trained for thirty years and the personality of a brick wall, which I respected enormously.
The training hall was large and smelled of sweat, char and metal.
We were doing a sparring rotation, one-on-one, pairs assigned by Hadley from his list.
“Black,” he said, without looking up from his clipboard. “Paired with Calloway.”
The girl who stepped out of the group was about my height, Virgo designation based on the silver pin she wore, with auburn hair and a solid athletic build that told me she actually trained. She looked at me with curiosity on the surface and something harder underneath it.
I heard someone mutter under their breath, but didn’t quite catch what they said. There was laughter though so it must have been a banger.
I looked at Calloway. She had the grace to look slightly uncomfortable about the commentary from behind me, which told me she wasn’t the source of the hostility. “Ready?” she said, keeping her voice neutral.
I gave her a curt nod, no words needed. We started unarmed, Hadley’s warm-up protocol, and I could feel every eye on me. It was different from the controlled Assembly drills where everyone already knew what I could do. Here, the crowd was waiting for me to trip up.
Calloway was quick and obviously very trained.
She scored two solid hits in the first thirty seconds.
I let her land the first one while I gauged her timing.
The second I could’ve dodged but took it on purpose, learning her style.
Her right shoulder dipped a fraction before she shot for the knee. I filed that away.
Then I moved. Within thirty seconds the gap between us was unmistakable—not cruelly, but unmistakable.
She was a skilled fighter, and I was something else.
I put her down twice, each time clean and controlled, offering my hand when she hit the mat.
She accepted the second time, her eyes flicking between respect and bitterness, but more-so respect, which I appreciated.
“Nice,” Hadley said from the edge, jotting on his clipboard. “Both of you. Good control, great reflexes.”
Nobody on Nightfall Shield had seen live drills today.
Rumor would reach every corner of Dominion by dusk, though.
I knew my reputation would have to make room for whatever whispered version of me would spread next, and secretly, I was relieved.
Better to be a fresh rumor than an old legend.
I wanted them all to know I could fight.
That I wasn’t the type to take shit sitting down.
After class, I walked across the building still in my workout gear. The corridor lights hummed overhead as I turned toward the library, my thoughts drifting to the mountain of zodiac history texts I’d been thinking about checking out.
Rounding a shadowed corner, I almost bumped into him.
Draco was taller than I expected. His shoulder length white hair was loosely tied into a knot, a few rebellious strands framing brows darker than midnight.
The barbell in his brow caught a glimmer from the wall sconce.
His sleeves were pushed up, revealing intricate tattoos that curled around pale forearms—ink so fine it must have required hours of stillness.
“Sorry,” I murmured, stepping aside. “Didn’t see you there.”
“I hear you can actually fight,” he said by way of greeting.
I arched a brow, folding my arms over my chest. “Did you think I made all that shit up about fighting the bane for three years?”
He took a small step closer, and I held my ground. “I don’t know what to believe anymore.”
I stared at him, wanting to say something snarky, but I didn’t necessarily see disgust or hatred in his pale hazel eyes. Only frustration.
I let out a humorless laugh, running my fingers through my hair.
“It’s new to me too, you know. Trust me, I didn’t exactly wake up one morning and decide to become the zodiac boogeyman everyone’s been whispering about.
My parents are both Scorpios, so I guess statistically speaking, my chances were higher than most. But shit, when it happened I was just as blindsided as everyone else.
Four years ago, I was planning on being a normal, boring Scorpio like my parents.
Maybe a nice desk job tracking bane movements, not actually fighting the damn things. ”
“Yet here you are,” Draco said, running his gaze over the length of me. “The Assembly’s shiny new asset.”
That made my hackles rise. “I’m not an asset. I’m a person.”
“So you’re not just here to infiltrate what will likely be the most powerful shield in history?”
I felt a flash of anger. “You don’t know the first thing about me.”
“I know that coincidences don’t exist in our world.” He shifted his weight, leaning slightly against the wall. “So forgive me if I’m skeptical about your sudden appearance at Dominion.”
“Trust me, there’s nothing sudden about it,” I said, crossing my arms. “And if you think I’m enjoying being paraded around like some kind of sideshow, you’re delusional.”
He opened his mouth to respond, but footsteps approached from around the corner, and we both tensed. Percy appeared, stopping short when he saw us. His eyes narrowed, moving between Draco and me with obvious suspicion.
“Everything alright?” he asked Draco, though his eyes remained fixed on me.
Draco straightened. “Fine. Just having a chat with our resident myth.”
Percy’s jaw tightened. “We need to go. Eris and Aiden are waiting.”
I watched the silent communication pass between them, the slight nod from Draco, the minute relaxation of Percy’s shoulders. Shield bonds were fascinating and terrifying, the way they moved as extensions of each other.
“See you around, Black,” Draco said, already turning away.
“Can’t wait,” I muttered.
Percy lingered a moment longer than necessary, his dark eyes sending me several warnings in the one look. Then he followed Draco, disappearing around the corner.
I continued toward the library, my mind turning over his words. The Assembly’s asset. The phrase bothered me, not just because of who said it, but because a small, traitorous part of me wondered if he was right.
I decided to follow through with my original plan. The library was nearly empty when I arrived, most students at afternoon training or lounging in common areas. Perfect. I headed straight for the ancient texts section, where the most valuable information was kept.
“Can I help you find something?” The librarian, an older woman with silver-streaked black hair and kind eyes, approached me.
“Yes, actually. I’m looking for texts on the First Crossing. Primary sources if possible.”
Her eyes widened slightly. “Those are in the restricted section.”
“I have clearance.” I pulled out the Assembly authorization Orion had given me before I left. The librarian examined it carefully before nodding.
“Follow me.”
She led me through a set of ornate doors to a room that smelled of old paper and preservation spells. The walls were lined with ancient tomes, their spines bearing faded titles in languages I barely recognized, some of them Sumerian or Latin.