The Reckoning, Zodiac Academy (Book 3)

The Heirs meet up at their secret treehouse. Seth seeks affection from Caleb, reminding him of the time they kissed, but Caleb denies the advances, claiming it was a threesome where the girl had already left, and tells Seth to go to Kylie, his girlfriend whom Seth genuinely forgot about. Caleb also reveals he wants to be exclusive with Tory. Seth comes clean to the Heirs about accidentally making Darcy an Omega. Max uses his Siren skills to read his friends’ emotional states, revealing that Caleb likes Tory, Darius is wildly jealous of Caleb's "relationship" with Tory, and Seth has affection for Darcy but wants to be with Caleb. Realizing three out of four of them want to stop messing with the twins, they agree to leave Tory and Darcy alone during Hellweek, hoping they'll fail the Reckoning and get kicked out of Zodiac Academy instead.

Tory worries her fear of deep water, stemming from a mortal world incident where her ex-boyfriend Zane abandoned her to drown after crashing their car off a bridge, will interfere with her water trial. Given their temporary truce and his guilt over Tory keeping the secret of his heritage, Max teaches Tory how to breathe underwater using her air and water magic, which she successfully accomplishes.

On their way to Earth elemental class, a group of seniors intercepts the twins for some Hellweek hazing. Tyler, the Pegasus, swoops in to save them and, in return, asks to be repaid with an introduction to Sophia. Eager to make up for past transgressions, Seth and Caleb hilariously and publicly serenade Tory and Darcy, dancing and singing "I Want It That Way" by the Backstreet Boys. Seth initiates Darcy into the pack by having her "please" him by listening to a story about him foraging in the mountains as a five-year-old pup and then going for a run by the ocean in his wolf form. To build trust, he gives her an incriminating video of him renouncing his claim to the throne (after a strip tease) to use as blackmail if he ever hurts her again.

While Darcy meets up with Seth, Tory, Diego, and Sophia create a secret bubble and play a truth or dare drinking game in the Orb. Tory gets too drunk, passes out, and has a nightmare about drowning. She starts throwing up water and uncontrollably expelling sheets of ice. Darius enters the Orb to get a beer after training with Orion and walks in on this. He helps Tory and takes her back to his room to make sure she doesn’t hurt herself or anyone else. Darius is a gentleman, and he and Tory get along, cuddling and talking in the morning. Tory asks what she was dreaming about. When Darius admits she had a nightmare, the mood sours, as they both know Darius caused it by nearly drowning her in the pool. Darius tries to get her to stay and talk, but his guilt only angers Tory. Darius explains that his father and other Fae literally beat the fear out of their children, but Tory does not accept this excuse, telling Darius, “Congrats, now you’re just like him,” cutting him deeply.

The next day in Orion's class, he teaches them a contraceptive spell because of the upcoming Lunar Eclipse, which tends to make Fae a little impulsive. After class, Orion holds Darcy back, and they almost kiss, but Principal Nova drops in, asking Orion to help implement the curfew. Caleb asks again to play the hunting game with Tory, but this time she wins. Caleb thinks about biting her anyway, but Tory holds firm. Caleb finally agrees, and insteaad does her a solid by healing her hangover from the night before. Darcy sneaks out to the Asteroid Place that night to see Lance, and she and Lance hook up.

To avoid a Hell Week prank, the twins go to the beach. The stolen dagger Tory took from Darius leads them to a cliff wall. When Tory scores specific lines on a spot, the wall disappears, revealing a cave. Inside, they see Darius and Orion, who cannot see the twins, practicing dark magic. Darius's eyes go black and swirl with shadows, and he wields a huge fire cobra that attacks Lance, who blocks the blow; they celebrate that Darius “did it” for the first time. The men have another knife, identical to the one Tory stole, making the Vegas realize how mad Darius will be when he learns the truth (also realizing that Lance gave Darius the daggers). Lance and Darius perform magic with the knife that produces a vision Tory and Darcy also witness, since the knife made Tory cut herself and offer up blood to the magic. The vision depicts Diego’s uncle, Alejandro, making a pact with Lionel to have Diego spy on Darcy and Tory in exchange for Lionel securing Diego a spot at Zodiac Academy. Darcy interrupts the vision by slapping Lance awake, since Tory is bleeding out. When Darius sees Tory’s unconscious body, he loses control, diving for her, holding her, and saying the shadows aren’t allowed to have her, and he’ll follow her into the darkness to drag her back (HEAVY foreshadowing...iykyk). After Lance heals her, Darius becomes furious about the stolen knife. Everyone argues, and Orion pieces together that the Vegas were the ones who messed with the Heirs. Darius fights Tory, knocking her down in the mud and grabbing her by the throat. He then takes off, flying away in Dragon form to burn off his rage, with Orion following.

They land on an island near the school. Orion explains that when he found Darcy and Tory, they were starving and living in squalor, and when Darius and his friends attacked them, they needed money and a way out. Orion also tells Darius that when he attacked Tory and pinned her throat, he was acting like Lionel, a comparison Darius hates. The next day, Orion tries to connect with Darcy, but she is angry that he stopped her from helping Tory while Darius attacked her. Orion asks for Darcy’s help spying on Diego. Seth sees Darcy leaving Orion’s office and asks if Lance is harassing her.

Before their Water trial, the Heirs confront Tory during her run. Darius, still upset with Tory, pushes her into the mud and calls her a whore, which leads Caleb to defend her. Tory and Darcy crush their Water trial, the first to complete the test of retrieving three keys. That night, Tory sneaks over to Caleb’s window, texts him “15 minutes,” (a reference to their hunting game), and after he "catches" her in his room, they hook up and watch Rambo. Darius saw Tory sneak out to see Caleb and asked her not to go, but she went anyway. Enraged, he flew to Terra House (Caleb's dorm) as a dragon and roared all night, waiting for her to leave. He texts Caleb to come to the treehouse, but Caleb says he’s busy. Darius confronts him about sleeping with Tory, and Caleb responds by telling him he can meet him in an hour or two. Darius crushes his phone, shattering the glass and cutting his wrist and knuckles. Max arrives and calms him down.

When Darius gets Caleb to the treehouse, he tells him the Vegas have been fighting back by designing all the pranks the Heirs endured in Book 2. They devise a Hell Week hazing scheme to torture them, telling all the freshmen they’ve covered them in faescene and they must run from Darius in Dragon form or risk being burned alive. The twins win, reaching the middle of the circle course, where the Heirs tell them to beg and apologize. The Vegas fight back with Earth magic.

The freshmen then have their Fire trial, where they have to cross a fire pit on a bridge while simultaneously producing an object made of fire. Darcy slips, and Tory comes back to help her up. They drop their fire objects but keep going, realizing that fire from the pit doesn't burn them; they are immune to fire and pass the trial, to the horror of the Heirs. Max’s dad calls, telling them the FIB caught a nymph, and they must observe the interrogation. Max reveals in his POV that Lionel is the only person he can never read any emotions off of. Caleb's mom forces him to come home for the Lunar Eclipse, worried he might lose control and kill someone like he almost did a few years ago.

Next, the twins pass their Earth trial. After the Earth trial is the Faerie Fair. Diego takes Darcy, and Caleb takes Tory. Caleb is late, and when he finally shows up, he locks Tory in his car and speeds away to an isolated forest location, furious about the Pegasus rumor she started, and forces her to play hunt. Tory barely manages to calm him down. Meanwhile, Diego kisses Darcy but then gets angry when she defends Orion a little too quickly and calls her a whore. She slaps him, and they part. Orion sees the kiss and retaliates by kissing FIB agent, and his Nebula Ally, Francesca. Orion corners Darcy on the Ferris wheel and confronts her. Darcy says they aren't over but demands he apologize for not letting her help Tory. To make up for his actions, he signs up to be electrocuted at the circus. Darcy sneaks backstage and overhears staff saying his opponent isn't plugged in. Darcy finds his plug, plugs him in, securing Orion's victory when the opponent succumbs to the pain game.

Going into the Reckoning, the Vegas score a 9 from their trials. In the Reckoning, the stars show Darcy how she’d been made, revealing flashbacks from their past: their human "parents" dying in a fire while they survived, impervious to the flames. They pass the Reckoning with a perfect score of 20. Sophia gets a 15, Kylie and Tyler get 18, and Diego gets a 12. All pass (12 or above), while 30 other students fail.

That night, the Heirs throw a party for the Lunar Eclipse. Tory sends Darius a photo of herself in her underwear after he sends the house an invite to his party, saying she doesn't know what to wear. Darcy leaves to meet up with Orion. Seth interrupts them and tries to take Darcy to the party, but she refuses. Max and Geraldine are drawn together. Tory is called down to the beach by the cliffs, where she meets Darius. Darius tells her he always thinks about her/watches her and asks if she’ll ever forgive him, and she nods. They barely kiss when Lionel Acrux shows up, blasting them apart and congratulating Darius for being helpful (isolating Tory so he could kidnap her). He also has Orion and Darcy. He takes all of them to Acrux Manor, where he reveals his plot to send them to the Shadow World or he’ll kill Xavier. Orion and Darius fight back until Xavier’s life is at risk. Tory and Darcy are forced into the Shadow World. Darius tells Tory she’s strong enough to survive. Tory and Darcy resist the shadows, and their order emerges as big, fiery, feathery wings, and they fly out of the Shadow World. When they return, everyone present—them, Orion, Darius, and Lionel—now has the power of the shadows, also known as the "fifth element." The book ends with Lionel trying to compel Darcy and Tory to forget everything that happened other than their order emerging, and for Darius to take them back to Zodiac Academy. Before they Stardust out, Darius tells them he's sorry. Tory ominously says, “Not yet…”