Page 66 of The Bound Zodiac

Draco shook his head. “I’m genuinely horrified and yet not at all surprised.”

“Next,” Theo said.

Eris spun the bottle, and it was Draco’s turn. “Truth.”

Draco didn’t even look nervous. He just sat there with that glacial, unbothered expression, hands folded in his lap.

So of course Theo, the chaos gremlin, whispered into Eris’s ear, feeding him the question.

“Draco, did you or did you not break into the Director’s office and steal a fragment of a Sagittarius moon from the display case?”

The whole group erupted. Phoenix actually choked on his marshmallow.

To his credit, Draco just tilted his head, considering. “Define ‘steal.’ I intended to return it. Eventually…”

Aiden called his bluff. “He’s had that damn thing on his bookshelf since the day I met him. There was absolutely zero intent to return it.”

Theo pointed at me, grinning. “Our Scorpio is a criminal mastermind. Any comment, Jupiter?”

I shrugged, grinning into my drink. “I’ve never been more proud.”

Draco straightened slightly. “In my defense, it was being kept under fluorescent lighting. Fluorescent lighting, Jupiter. The thing is older than most governments.”

Lucas deadpanned, “You could have just written them a strongly worded letter, mate.”

Draco scoffed, and picked up the bottle and spun it, sending it whirling across the circle. It landed on Jamie.

There was a pause, like everyone was taking a quick mental bet on what Jamie would choose. He just shrugged. “Dare.”

Lydia perked up immediately, eyes sparkling with mischief. “Perfect. Jamie, I dare you to… uh… eat a marshmallow out of Gretchen’s mouth. Like, Lady and the Tramp style.”

The group howled, even Theo, who looked like he might die from oxygen deprivation.

Jamie just shrugged again, completely unfazed. “Okay, but technically it’s Draco who should come up with the dare.”

Lydia waved him off and called him a chicken.

Gretchen, for her part, didn’t move a muscle, just fixed Jamie with a look and said, ‘Do not embarrass me in front of the lesser species.’

He broke a marshmallow in half, then offered her one piece, which she plucked delicately from his fingers. He popped the other half in his mouth, and then, to the shock of absolutely no one, executed the dare perfectly, meeting Gretchen’s beak with his lips and sort of… slurping the marshmallow out. Jamie wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, shot Lydia a deadpan look, and spun the bottle. It landed on Theo.

Theo flashed his most angelic smile. “Dare, obviously.”

Phoenix nudged Jamie so he could take the reins, abandoning the rules entirely, and rubbed his chin, thinking. “I dare you to let Noodle choose the next fruit you taste. No matter what it is.”

Everyone turned to Noodle, who immediately began slithering toward the fruit basket like he’d been waiting for this moment his whole life.

‘Eat the yellow one,’ he said, nudging a spiky, fist-sized fruit toward Theo.

Theo eyed it. “Is that even edible?”

Phoenix looked delighted. “That’s a Dromel melon. Tastes like ass, but it won’t kill you.”

Theo eyed the fruit as Lucas tossed it his way, then, with extreme hesitation, bit into it. He immediately gagged. “Fucking hell, it’s like dog shit and burning plastic.” The guys were losing it, and even Rafe gagged sympathetically. Theo spat the fruit into the fire, where it hissed and sizzled. “Noodle, you’re a sadist.”

‘I evolved for survival,’ Noodle replied, sounding proud.

It was Theo’s turn to spin. The bottle came to a wobbling, tipsy stop in front of Valeria. Valeria stretched her legs, yawning like a cat. “Truth. Hit me.”