Heartless Sky

Heartless Sky, the seventh book in the Zodiac Academy series, continues the story of twin sisters Darcy and Tory Vega, raised in the mortal world before discovering they are rightful heirs to the throne of Solaria, a magical Fae kingdom. Their parents were murdered by Lionel Acrux, a Dragon Shifter who rules as tyrant alongside Lavinia, an ancient shadow-born queen who had possessed a girl named Clara, known as the Shadow Princess. The twins fight to reclaim their kingdom with the help of the four Celestial Heirs, the noble sons of Solaria's ruling Councillor families: Darius Acrux (Lionel's eldest son), Caleb Altair, Seth Capella, and Max Rigel. Their ally Lance Orion, Darcy's lover and a disgraced former professor, has been Power Shamed, a cultural punishment causing all Fae to shun him. As the book opens, the group has escaped a devastating battle at The Palace of Souls.

The rebels take refuge at The Burrows, a hidden underground stronghold run by Hamish Grus, father of the twins' loyal friend Geraldine. The twins use their Phoenix fire to free Xavier, Darius's brother, from Lavinia's shadow control. Darcy and Orion notice the curse mark Lavinia left on Darcy's arm has vanished, concluding her Phoenix, the rare Order form she and Tory share (an Order form being a Fae's magical creature shape), has burned it away. This assumption proves dangerously premature.

Tory reunites with Darius, who reveals he visited an ancient palace with Gabriel Nox, a powerful Seer, and convinced the stars to break the Star Crossed bond that punished the couple for being together. Darius is evasive about the price, and the reader soon learns why: He traded his own life. The stars showed him visions of both twins dying, and he bargained one year of life for their survival. Gabriel sees no alternative future and agrees to keep the secret.

Lionel rages over his losses. Lavinia, now fully herself after Clara's soul departed, demands Lionel marry her and produce a shadow-born heir, demonstrating terrifying control over the shadow hand she fashioned to replace his severed one. He reluctantly agrees.

Life in The Burrows settles into tense routine. Orion endures humiliation while teaching combat magic. Caleb establishes secret contact with his mother, confirming the Councillor families cooperate with Lionel under duress. A series of gruesome murders begins in the tunnels, with guards found torn apart, and investigations reveal nothing.

Through an enchanted hat left by Diego, a Nymph (a magic-draining creature) friend who died protecting Darcy, the group witnesses memories showing Diego was forced into serving the Nymphs as a child and sent to infiltrate Zodiac Academy. His grandmother's protective hat helped him resist Lavinia's control through Clara, and he ultimately died defending Darcy. The revelations force the group to question whether Nymphs are inherently evil or corrupted by shadow influence.

Orion's father's diary reveals the existence of twelve zodiac gemstones. Six are recovered from the Chalice of Flames; reuniting all twelve will reform the Zodiac Guild, an ancient alliance tied to the twelve zodiac families. When Gabriel foresees Lionel ordering the slaughter of Xavier's Pegasus herd, Darius and Xavier rescue them, bringing the herd back to The Burrows along with Sofia, Xavier's friend, and Tyler Corbin, a rebel journalist. The twins also use their royal authority to dissolve the marriage between Lionel and Catalina, Xavier's mother. Freed, Catalina marries Hamish.

Gabriel devises a plan to steal the shadow eye from Vard, Lionel's Seer and torturer: Hundreds of rebels plan simultaneous assassination attempts on Vard, flooding his Sight so he cannot detect a theft. Geraldine scoops the eye from his face in seconds. The group then discovers a shadow rift, a tear between realms feeding power to Lavinia, inside an onyx temple. During the mission to seal it, Orion and Caleb accidentally create a sanguis frater bond, a forbidden Vampire coven formed through mutual blood exchange that ends their rivalry. When the twins combine their Phoenix fire to destroy the temple, Darcy's magic violently explodes, revealing her curse is far from defeated.

Darcy's condition worsens as she collapses and loses access to her magic. At the Library of the Lost, she and Orion discover that Phoenix power-sharing can burn away curses. Gabriel then guides the twins to The Palace of Flames, where the ghost of Queen Avalon, the Vega ancestor who banished Lavinia, trains them for four months in combat and fire magic. In their final test, the twins refuse to fight each other for the crown, instead combining their power to destroy Avalon's ghost and split her crown in two.

Upon the twins' return, Orion publicly declares his love for Darcy, appearing shirtless in the dining hall with her name written across his chest and kissing her before the entire rebel population. The stars summon Darcy and Orion to an Elysian Mate bond, the stars' designation of fated mates, marking their eyes with silver rings. They are briefly arrested by agents of the Fae Investigative Bureau (FIB) but rescued by Darius and Tory. The bond ends Orion's Power Shaming, as Fae culture recognizes that the stars' choice overrides any disgrace.

Using the shadow eye mounted in a spyglass and a map of espial, a rare magical artifact for locating shadow rifts, the group closes seven remaining rifts. Darius reveals his death sentence. Tory forces him into a star-bound oath, a magically binding vow enforced by the stars, to fight his fate, and they marry the next morning in a brief ceremony.

Lionel attacks The Burrows with his full army while a false message lures the Heirs to Acrux Manor, where their families power a new shadow rift. At The Burrows, Lavinia activates Darcy's curse, revealing its true nature: A Shadow Beast has been growing inside Darcy, feeding on her Phoenix. The beast was responsible for all the murders in The Burrows, transforming Darcy in her sleep. Now fully manifested, Darcy becomes a massive shadow creature attacking rebels indiscriminately. Geraldine is severely mauled protecting Orion. Darcy briefly returns to herself but discovers her magic is gone and flees in beast form.

Darius fights Lionel in single combat, nearly killing him with dark magic. Lionel drives a sun steel blade, a metal that prevents magical healing, through Darius's heart. Darius dies on the hilltop, his final thoughts of Tory.

Orion discovers Darius's body and confronts Lavinia, who reveals Darcy's curse was bound through his blood. She offers a deal: Orion surrenders his body for three moon cycles, enduring whatever she wishes, and she will free Darcy. Orion agrees, sealing a death bond, a magically enforced blood oath. Lavinia collars him and leads him away via stardust, a form of teleportation magic.

Gabriel seals the escape tunnels with his last magic, saving the rebels but trapping himself; Lionel captures him as a replacement Seer. Catalina and Hamish hold the tunnel entrance until their power fails, then take their own lives rather than be recaptured, dying hand in hand. Tory finds Darius's body and pulls the blade from his chest. When a Nymph touches the corpse, an explosion of Phoenix fire obliterates every Nymph on the battlefield. As Tory collapses over Darius, Gabriel's final prophecy appears in golden light across the sky, offering cryptic guidance for the war's final chapter.