Broken Fae

by Caroline Peckham

  “Take a closer look at my eyes and try your luck with more susceptible prey,” I muttered dismissively, trying to get a look around him to see Ryder.

  “I see those silver rings as more of a challenge than a stop sign, love,” he said, his voice dropping to a seductive tone as he leaned closer to me and offered his hand. “Ethan Shadowbrook, soon to be Ryder’s second. So if you’re looking for a bite of the forbidden fruit then I’ll happily be more accommodating than our King seems to be feeling right now.”

  I breathed a laugh as I looked up at this ballsy freshman. I might have had way too much man drama in my horoscope to cope with right now, but I had to admit that he was attractive. And I couldn’t say I hated the idea of him knocking Bryce Corvus off of his perch as the number two.

  “I’m not looking for anything from anyone,” I said, refusing to admit to anything between me and Ryder. Even before all of this shit had happened, I’d never been able to be open about the way I felt for Ryder or Dante for fear of what their gangs would do if they realised I was connected to them both.

  Ethan chuckled, reaching out to snag my apple and taking a savage bite from it. “Well, if you change your mind and wanna take a break from your one true love and have a turn at being my one and only for a night-”

  A harsh whistle sounded from behind him and Ethan turned sharply, his spine straightening as he looked around at Ryder. With a jerk of his chin, he commanded Ethan away and my new friend instantly stood, looking down at me with a knowing wink as he backed away with my apple as his prize, heading back to his spot amongst the Brotherhood. Ryder stood and stalked from the room without so much as a glance my way. But my heart was pounding all the same. Because that little act in itself gave me hope. It was damn like the actions of a jealous man and if he was jealous then that meant he still cared.

  A smile tugged at my lips at the thought of that and I severed the vines binding me to my chair as I headed off for my first class, which just so happened to be Potions. And assuming Professor Titan hadn’t reallocated lab partners, that meant I had two whole hours to work on getting Ryder to at least talk to me.

  I decided to wait until the class was about to start before heading over to it, wanting Ryder to be stuck with no way out of my company unless he wanted to make a scene and prove that he gave a shit about me after all.

  Titan was sorting through some papers on his desk as I arrived, and I was relieved to find that the lab partners were all the same as last year. But as my gaze fell on the desk I shared with Ryder I found an unwelcome admirer perched there, her skirt rutted up over her thighs and her tinkling laughter ringing out as Bryce said something to her. Ryder’s gaze was impassive as she put on a show for him, but I’d put up with this game once before and I wasn’t gonna play nice now. If he wanted to be done with me and move on then he could damn well say the words to my face, look me in the eye and prove I was nothing to him anymore. Until then, that bitch was trying to move in on my man.

  Bryce saw me coming, his gaze darkening in warning and a hiss sliding from his lips as his fangs snapped out like he thought he was laying claim to my Source. And I actually could have laughed as I realised he was on to something there. Because Ryder had never fought me off and I’d never relinquished my claim on him which meant he was my Source. And I was perfectly within my rights to make use of him whenever I deemed fit.

  I strode forward purposely, flicking my fingers so that a gust of wind sent the girl crashing off of the desk and into Bryce where the two of them fell flat on the floor. I smirked as Bryce cursed, my smile widening as Ryder’s surprised gaze met mine a second before I shot forward.

  I dropped my bag and leapt right over the desk, landing in Ryder’s lap, and almost knocking him out of his damn chair. I gripped his jaw in my left hand and shoved his head aside before sinking my fangs into his neck, immobilising his magic and stealing the strength from his limbs with my venom and holding him at my mercy.

  His whole body tensed beneath me as the liquid darkness of his blood washed over my tongue and I moaned into his neck, my free hand fisting in his shirt as I tugged him closer.

  Ryder cursed, a hiss sliding from his lips as his hands shifted beneath my blazer. He was fucked and he knew it. I’d taken him by surprise with this, but his reaction was everything. He’d either just been overpowered by me or he was still my Source. If he didn’t want to be anymore then he was going to have to punish me for what I’d just done in a big, public scene that proved to everyone I was beneath him. The question was, would he do that?

  Ryder snarled at me as I drank long and deep from his veins, my grip on his chin unyielding, the press of my body against his demanding he admit to what he felt for me.

  His hands slid further beneath my blazer, hidden from view of the rest of the class as he wrapped them around my waist, gripping me tightly enough to bruise but drawing me in all the same. Yeah, he was angry with me, I could feel that in every inch of his flesh, but he wanted me too.

  Tears burned the backs of my eyes as a mixture of relief and anger flared within me so fiercely that I felt like it might consume me. Why did he have to be so fucking stubborn all the damn time? Why did he have to try and pretend he was made of stone so solid nothing could ever leave a mark on him?

  My magic reserves swelled and I slowed down, no longer sucking the blood from his veins but just allowing it to sweep across my lips instead, lingering in his arms and prolonging the moment for as long as I could.

  Ryder released a slow breath which held a thousand more words than I knew he’d ever voice. His grip on me tightened, painfully, possessively, resentfully.

  I withdrew my fangs and ran my tongue over the wound on his neck slowly, feeling the shiver run through his body as his fingers dug into my waist. The tilt of my jaw and the spill of my hair covered the fact that I wasn’t biting him anymore and for the briefest span of time, he kept me there as I pressed my lips to his neck once, twice... As I shifted my mouth half an inch higher, he pushed me back, lifting me by his grip on my waist and dropping me into my own chair hard enough to send a spike of pain through my ass.

  “I assumed you’d be re-pairing to go work with your Elysian Mate,” Ryder growled, his tone cold, eyes hard as he looked at me with anger burning in his gaze.

  “No need,” Leon called out from his desk and I turned to look at him, finding him watching us with a smirk playing around his lips and a Mindy getting his things out of his bag for him. “We’re not attached at the hip, Rydikins, I don’t mind if you have a turn with her.” He winked at me and I flushed as plenty of people around the room caught his less than subtle suggestion.

  I still wasn’t sure exactly how Leon felt about me and the other kings. He was clearly okay with me getting physical with them, at least when he was there...or I guessed I was only totally sure he felt that way about Dante...but it was a pretty awkward conversation to strike up and I just hadn’t found a way to have it with him yet. I didn’t want him to think for a second that he wasn’t everything I wanted, but my pull to the other guys was undeniable all the same. Maybe I was just being selfish. Or maybe I was broken and unable to function right even with a star bond telling me what to do. All I knew for sure was that before we’d been mated, I’d held a claim on all four of them and it had felt so undeniably right that it was almost impossible for me to accept that it was wrong now.

  I looked to Ryder again but he was leaning back in his seat, only a sharp jerk of his chin breaking his stoic routine as he sent Bryce back to his own desk dismissively. The girl had already taken the hint and fucked off which was pretty clever on her part as I was more than happy to kick her ass if I had to keep her away from my man.

  Before I could figure out how to proceed with my serpent, we were interrupted by Principal Greyshine and his morning announcements coming over the tannoy.

  “Bing Bong! Good mornaroo to you my most Fae-some chums! I hope everyone has had an utterly splendid summer tanning up those tooshies and enjoying a darn groovy
time. For anyone who didn’t already know, we’ve had some wonderful news - our very own Leon Night and Elise Callisto had their Divine Moment and have been officially bonded as Elysian Mates. Please join me in giving them all a round of applause as they embark on a lifetime of true love together for now and always!” He paused to allow the supposed applause and Eugene leapt to his feet, clapping profusely on his own as a few other people offered us smiles. The Mindys all looked to Leon as he snorted a laugh but with a small shake of his head, he discouraged them from making a fuss, tossing a grin my way that let me know he’d held them off for my benefit. Being the centre of attention really wasn’t my thing.

  Professor Titan cleared his throat and clapped a little too as Eugene realised people were laughing at him and slowly sank to his seat again with his cheeks bright red.

  Ryder growled low in his throat, his right fist tight on the desk with the word pain glaring at me while he kept his eyes on the front of the room.

  “We also have a new staffing announcement,” Greyshine continued. “Miss Nightshade has regretfully, erm, left and so we have a new school counsellor. I hope you will all enjoy getting to know Mr Pluto and welcome him fondly into the fold. Every student in need of sessions with him will find yourselves with appointments within the week. That’s all for now, dudes and dudettes - catch you on the flip!”

  I groaned as the speakers cut off, glancing at Ryder as he huffed too. I’d been hoping that Nightshade’s absence would mean an end to those fucking sessions and I was willing to bet he felt the exact same as I did about that.

  “And here I was hoping to avoid any more of that shit,” I said in a low voice.

  Ryder ignored me and I pursed my lips as Titan began laying out the details of the potion we’d be working on today.

  “So...you’re just pretending I don’t exist then?” I asked, brushing my lilac hair away from my face as I looked at him.

  Ryder said nothing and I rolled my eyes at him, pushing some cherry gum between my teeth and taking a moment to chew it before blowing a bubble and popping it loudly right beside his ear. He continued to give me nothing so I decided a little provocation was in order.

  “I just want to know why you draw the line at this, when you were willing to ignore all the rules that night in my hotel room when we-”

  Ryder whirled towards me with a violent hiss, his gaze slamming into mine and his hypnosis snaring me in an instant. I made no effort to fight my way out of it, letting him construct a vision around me until I found myself standing on the top of a hill with him before me, long grass swaying around my legs. It was so unlike any other vision he’d ever trapped me in that for a moment all I could do was look around at the sweeping view and enjoy the feeling of the sun on my skin and the wind in my hair.

  “Do you know the kind of death you could earn yourself if you ever let anyone find out what happened in that hotel room?” Ryder demanded and I looked around at him, wanting to snap and snarl and yell but suddenly finding I didn’t actually want to do any of those things at all.

  I sighed, glancing down at myself and finding he’d dressed me simply, none of the overtly sexual crap he normally went for, just jeans and a black tank. He himself was dressed almost exactly the same and I wondered if he’d matched us on purpose for a moment before forcing the words from my lips which hurt to utter.

  “I miss you, Ryder,” I breathed, looking him in the eyes and showing him how much being away from him was hurting me, knowing he could feel it without me having to try and explain.

  He frowned, a denial hesitating on his lips as his powers showed him the truth of my words.

  “Aren’t you supposed to have everything you could ever want now?” he asked bitterly. “What is it that you miss about me that Simba can’t offer you? Is he having trouble hitting the spot?”

  “It’s not about me and him,” I replied, my gaze fixed on his dark green eyes as I hunted for some inch of honesty there, needing to know what he was feeling in that moment more than I needed air to breathe.

  “Well there was never really a me and you either,” he spat and I knew he felt it when his words made pain scatter through my chest.

  I moved to stand before him, closing in on him step by step until I was forced to tilt my head back to look up at him.

  His stiff posture only tightened as he looked down at me and I moved even closer until my lips were almost touching his.

  “I meant what I said to you,” I breathed, knowing it was true no matter how terrifying the prospect of admitting it was. Because owning it made it real and if it was real then it could cut me deeper than any blade. Before I’d met my kings the only kind of true love I’d ever really known was for Gareth and this was so different to that, but just as primed to hurt. Because if it wasn’t enough, if they left me or were lost to me then I knew the wounds this love would give me would never stop bleeding.

  Ryder looked into my eyes, his throat bobbing as he fought to keep any and every hint of emotion within him locked down and hidden away, but I was calling bullshit.

  “I love you, Ryder,” I said, looking him dead in the eye, my lips brushing against his and drawing a low groan from his throat as he closed his eyes for a second and almost leaned into me.

  My heart pounded as his lips stayed so close to mine that I could almost taste him, but he didn’t bridge that gap.

  “You don’t even know me,” he said in a low voice. “And if you did, you’d know there’s nothing here to love.”

  The vision shattered and my breath caught as I found myself just as close to him in reality as I’d been in the vision, our mouths almost touching as we’d somehow moved despite the fact that that wasn’t the way it was meant to work.

  Ryder lurched away from me and I stared after him, realising that almost everyone in the class was currently grabbing the ingredients they needed to brew today’s potion and I watched as Ryder shoved his way between them to gather ours too.

  No one seemed to have noticed what had just happened. Or at least, I thought no one had until I felt the creeping sensation of eyes on my flesh and I turned my head to find Bryce glaring at me from the other side of the classroom. He bared his fangs in a clear threat before turning and stalking away and I dropped back into my seat as I waited for my racing heart to settle.

  Ryder didn’t speak to me again for the rest of the lesson and the moment it ended he was gone, leaving me alone with my thoughts and my heartache, wondering if there really was any way to fix all of this, or if I was just praying on a star that didn’t care about my fate.

  Nine Months before the Solarid Meteor Shower…

  J ust get evidence on the snake, they said. Just follow him and see what you can find, they said. Video, audio, photo, documents, whatever way you can, just as soon as you can. And who gives a shit whether or not the psycho will kill me if he catches so much as a whiff of what I’m up to? Shit.

  A Pegasus was not designed for sneaking. We were big creatures with hooves that clip-clopped over every damn surface. And, okay, I wasn’t in my Pegasus form right now so technically there was no hoof to tile contact, but I swear my inner Order form was trying to burst free of my flesh and make as much fucking noise as possible.

  This was insanity. It had been weeks - over a month, of this shit. Sneaking and following and hoping and living on a damn prayer and the only things I’d ever caught Ryder doing were small fry. Beating on other students who would swear blind it was a regular Fae on Fae fight even if I found them drowning in a puddle of their own blood and bleeding out their ass. One time I’d caught him stealing potions ingredients right in front of Professor Titan who had pointedly said that he had no idea what I was talking about when I questioned him on it. Not that that would have helped anyway. The FIB wanted solid evidence of the kinds of crimes that could lock Ryder’s ass up for good. Telling them he snaffled a few pine shells and ollyfig roots into his pockets wasn’t going to cut it.

  So much for my help from Dante too. The big man was all smile
s and knowing winks, he’d send members of his pack rushing around to cover for me if I got myself into a sticky situation where Ryder might catch on to me following him, but when it came down to it, he wasn’t actually going to have any part in helping me gather any evidence against his rival. Sure, he would be more than happy if I got Ryder sent down, but that wasn’t how the gangs did things. He wasn’t going to suddenly become a snitch, and neither would any of his people. And as Ryder persecuted the Oscuras the most out of anyone on campus, I had very little chance of ever even getting one of them to testify.

  In short, I was fucked.

  Agent Asshole wasn’t going to keep waiting for me to come up with the goods. He’d dragged me down to the precinct three more times in the last seven weeks to let Professor King put the pressure on me, but it was no good. They couldn’t do anything to make me more aware of my predicament, they didn’t need to keep upping the threats. I got it. They had me over a barrel. If Ryder discovered I was the one to get that recording of him fucking Professor King then I was a dead man, but I just couldn’t get what they wanted from me.

  My shoe squeaked on the tiles as I rounded the corner and my heart leapt as I looked up to see Ryder still walking away from me, none the wiser. Of course, I had a silencing bubble around me, so there was no way he could have heard the noise, but that didn’t stop me from having a mini heart attack every time I made a commotion.

  He took a right, heading towards the rear exit and I frowned. I’d followed him here, followed him inside Altair Halls and around the long corridors and now he was just...heading back outside. That was odd. Maybe odd enough to suggest he was up to something. And if it was, all I had to do was keep on his heels, get it on camera and then I’d be out of this fucking predicament. I’d only just managed to scrape together the money for Old Sal last month and I couldn’t keep letting this distract me from what I needed to do. Ella was my priority. This snakey gang bastard needed dealing with and fast.