Dark Fae (Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac Book 1)

by Caroline Peckham

  It was stiflingly hot in the window ledge though so I’d thrown the window wide and was enjoying the breeze that swept in from it. The dizzying fall a few feet to my right had my morbid imagination working on overdrive as I wondered what it would be like to fall down there...or push someone else.

  If I don’t watch out I really will end up as a psychopath. Then maybe I’ll have to kill myself to get justice. And where’s the justice in that?

  I couldn’t really concentrate on my essay with most of my attention on the door down the hall and occasionally on that fall so I slowly gave up, doodling on the foot of my page instead.

  I lost myself to dark thoughts of severing limbs and breaking bones, making the murderer pay in kind for what they’d taken from me. I wanted to give them a physical wound for each emotional scar they’d caused me. But even a hundred years of torture wouldn’t come close to the pain that losing Gareth had forced me to endure. Sometimes it felt like two people had died that day. My brother and the girl I’d been when he was alive. I wasn’t entirely sure who I even was now. Just a cold, hard shell for vengeance or a lost girl needing answers? Maybe both. Maybe neither.

  I blinked against tears which prickled the backs of my eyes as I thought over some of my fondest memories of him. Once he’d emerged in his Order form as a Pegasus, he used to let me ride on his back through the clouds whenever I wanted. I didn’t think I’d ever felt freedom like I’d felt between his wings, soaring through the sky. And I guessed I never would again.

  I jabbed my pencil down a little harder than I’d intended, accidentally severing the overly large penis I’d drawn onto a little demon representation of Ryder Draconis.

  I blinked at the ruined sketch, clearing the unshed tears from my gaze as I tried to focus on the paper and push my grief back into the fortress I’d built within my heart to house it.

  “I think you may have lost some of your talent.”

  I shrieked in alarm as a voice came from outside the window beside me, almost falling from my perch in the windowsill before a strong hand caught mine to save me.

  “Try not to fall,” Gabriel said irritably as I looked up into his angelic face in alarm. I wasn’t sure how the hell I’d missed his arrival; with my Vampire hearing that shouldn’t have been possible.

  He was perched on the stone balustrade which ringed the wall outside the window, his body transformed into his Order form. I wasn’t sure I’d ever been so close to a Harpy in their shifted state and I found myself staring. Huge black, feathered wings sprouted from his back, spread just a little to help him balanced in the precarious position. Shining silver scales which looked more like armour coated the lower half of his body before giving way to the muscles of his bare chest and letting me look over his tattoos. His skin was scrawled with countless markings but there was something of a theme to them, star signs and constellations curved around each other in a way so beautifully detailed that I couldn’t help but drink them in.

  “What the hell are you doing out there?” I asked. He hadn’t released my fingers and the warmth of his hand on my flesh was drawing a lot of my attention. I’d barely spoken two words to him before and now he was just...holding my hand?

  “Do you mean physically or are you asking in the larger sense of the question? What are any of us really doing? Is it up to us or have the stars already made all of our decisions for us?” He cocked his head at me and I frowned, wondering if he had a screw loose or if maybe he was just...

  “Are you teasing me?” I asked, raising an accusatory eyebrow.

  Gabriel’s eyes brightened in response to my question but he didn’t confirm it. His gaze slid back to my doodles and I retrieved my hand from his grip, folding the page over to stop him from looking. I wondered if he’d recognise the maimed figures of Leon, Dante, Ryder and himself in my scribbles. I’d drawn him as a fly with his wings pulled off as well as a bird on fire and a crucified man complete with tattoos, but I really wasn’t much of an artist. The facial features were just crosses for their dead eyes and little O mouths to depict their shock as I killed them. Not exactly professional pieces.

  “Are you trying out a new style? I’d have to say I prefer your original designs.”

  “What do you...” My lips parted as something clicked together in my mind and I pointed a finger at him. “Did you go through my things?”

  “Define yours.”

  “My stuff. The things I brought from home...the, my-” I couldn’t quite bring myself to say it. If he hadn’t looked at Gareth’s drawings then I didn’t want to mention them to him. I didn’t want anyone else to see them. Especially not one of the men I suspected of killing him. They were all I had left, they were everything to me. They-

  “If I’m the most powerful person in the room and there are things in that room, then don’t they just belong to me anyway?” Gabriel asked in a low voice which made the hairs raise along the back of my neck. His gaze trailed over me like he could see every scar on my soul shining out through my eyes. “And if those things are mine, it would make sense for me to look at them.” For a moment it didn’t seem like he was just talking about my stuff, but like he meant me as well.

  “What did you do with them?” I demanded, too stunned to even think of anything else to say and absolutely refusing to cower before him no matter how strong he was.

  “Nothing. I only looked. You’ll know about it if I decide to touch.” Gabriel took off before I could respond, his wings throwing a gust of wind into my face and blowing my hair back.

  “Asshole!” I shouted after him, shock thundering through me too keenly to give me the clarity to insult him any better than that. “What the hell is wrong with you?!”

  Define yours. Who the hell did he think he was? Of course the stuff I’d brought here with me belonged to me, who the hell else’s would it be? He was damn lucky he’d flown off when he had or my fingers would have been locked around his neck right about now.

  Gabriel flew up into the clouds just as they sailed away from the sun, letting it shine down over the academy. I slumped back against the wall in defeat, fully intending to track down Gabriel and finish our goddamn conversation with my fists. Just as soon as I checked on Gareth’s sketches and made sure he hadn’t done anything to them.

  I got to my feet, meaning to do just that right as the door to Leon’s room opened. He stepped out, followed by the two Lioness girls. One of them was carrying his coat while the other offered up a bag of chips as he dipped a hand into it, apparently unable to support the small packet on his own.

  They turned away from me without even noticing my presence and I quickly cast a gust of wind towards their door, stopping it from falling closed as they walked away.

  My argument with Gabriel would have to wait. I needed to take this opportunity to see if my brother had left any clues behind in his room.

  I shot towards the gap in the door with my Vampire speed, slipping inside before letting it fall closed behind me.

  Three of the bunks were clearly still in use but the one on the bottom left of the room sat bare and unadorned.

  I didn’t spare much attention to the various bits of Pitball kit and men’s clothing strewn about the rest of the space. It was almost like the two girls didn’t live here at all and I’d wandered directly into Leon’s man cave.

  I stepped forward until I made it to the stripped bed and slowly lowered myself down onto it.

  My breathing hitched as I felt a divot in the springs beneath me. Was this a spot he’d liked to sit in? Was my soul residing in a place that used to house his so often he lost count of the time he’d spent here?

  My fragile heart was trembling, but I couldn’t let it rule me now. I had to conduct my search. And quickly. Who knew how long the sun would stay out on a cloudy day like this? The Lions wouldn’t linger outside if the clouds returned.

  I ran my hands back and forth over the mattress, feeling with my flesh and my magic for something unusual but there was nothing there.

  I che
wed my lip and dropped off of the bed, looking into the dark space beneath it. I shuffled into it, sweeping my hands back and forth as I continued my hunt. Lint and an old sock found me but no secret hiding place.

  “C’mon,” I growled, my patience thinning as I wore through my time.

  I shuffled back out from under the bed and looked around it with a frown. The closet doors were hanging open and I could see that Leon and his roommates had made use of the space which used to be Gareth’s already. Plus a closet was an obvious hiding spot and Gareth tended to be smarter than that...

  Think, Elise! You knew him better than anyone!

  My brow furrowed as I turned in a slow circle. A huge poster hung on the wall at the foot of the bed depicting the Solarian Pitball League slogan. The top corner of it was a bit dogeared, like it had been tugged on more than once.

  I shot forward and peeled off the bit of tape holding it to the wall, lowering the poster to reveal...nothing.

  I frowned at the blank space, running my hand along the smooth wall before suddenly feeling the faintest prick of magic against my palm. Gareth always did have a knack for concealing spells. Luckily, I knew the kinds of locks he cast and quickly directed my own power into unravelling it.

  The seconds ticked by as I picked apart his spell, eventually forcing the vision of a smooth wall away with a surge of will so that a hole about the width of my splayed hand was revealed.

  I reached into it, pulling out an Atlas with a jagged crack running through its screen and a well-used journal with a brown leather cover and several pages hanging loose. The final items were three clear test tubes housing a few violent blue crystals in each. I recoiled from the vials of Killblaze, recognising the drug even if I’d never gotten so close to the stuff before. I tossed them back in the hole, not wanting anything to do with them and wondering if that meant Gareth had been dealing. I knew without a doubt he’d never take the shit but dealing...we’d always been hard up for money and he’d sent Mom quite a bit of cash over the last few months leading up to his death, claiming to have a part time job. I guessed drug dealing was part time.

  I sighed, trying not to be disappointed in him as I gave my attention to the other things I’d found and my heart pounded with triumph as I shoved the haul into my blazer pocket. I stuck the poster back into place and turned for the exit just as a casually thumping heartbeat drew closer in the corridor outside.

  Triple shit with a cherry on top, I’ve fucked it. What kind of Vampire forgets to keep her senses tuned in to her surroundings when she’s breaking and entering?

  I glanced at the window half-heartedly but quickly abandoned that idea. We were on the twentieth floor and I’d go splat from that fall if I even attempted to climb out there. I might have been able to control the fall with my air magic but I’d never attempted it from a height like this and I wasn’t inclined to do so now.

  I cast around in desperation, wondering what the hell I was going to say to cover my ass when he came in here and found me-

  The door clicked open and I snatched a Pitball ball into my hands at the last second, slapping an amused look on my face just as Leon came in. Thankfully he was alone. Or maybe not thankfully - I could have just thrown myself at the mercy of a psychopath for all I knew.

  “Little monster?” he asked in confusion, coming to a halt on the threshold. “How did you get in here?”

  “It was open when I came looking for you. And I’m nosey so...” I shrugged, fronting out the situation.

  “Okay...so what are you-”

  “I wanna play Pitball,” I said quickly, tossing the ball up and down in my hand like it was obvious. He was the team captain so it made sense for me to come to him about it even if I could have just gone to the coach instead.

  “You do?” he asked, his attention piqued.

  “Yeah. I’m a damn good player and I hear you need some of those. So...” Joining the school Pitball team hadn’t actually been on my to-do list. That went more like this…

  1. Find out who killed Gareth.

  2. Kill that motherfucker. Slowly.

  3. Figure out the rest of my life (presuming said murderer doesn't kill me first and I don’t get caught).

  But still, playing Pitball might not have been the worst idea I’d ever had. I’d played a lot in my old high school and I hadn’t lied about being good. Gareth had been on the academy team too so it could be an opportunity to get closer to some of his old friends and find out more about the things he’d been up to here. Plus, more than half of Pitball was just about beating the crap out of people and I seemed to be in the mood to do that pretty much all of the time at the moment. Venting some of my rage could be a good thing. It might help me keep a clear head when the darkness tried to swallow me so I could do what I needed to find the killer.

  “You’d better be able to back up that claim,” Leon said, his gaze trailing over me in an assessing way.

  “I can. Do you want me to try out?” I asked, smirking at him. “I can wipe that pretty smile right off your face for a start.”

  Leon snorted in amusement. “Alright. Come for a tryout tomorrow down at the pitch. We can see if you’ve got what it takes to make the cut.”

  “Oh, I do,” I promised as I tossed the ball into his stomach. He threw his arms out to catch it and I slipped around his back and out into the corridor.

  “You’re leaving already? The girls are off finding me some snacks so-”

  “Soooo...?” I raised an eyebrow at him, daring him to finish that thought but he only grinned, pushing a hand through his long hair as he leaned back against the wall again.

  “So, I’ll see you tomorrow after class then,” Leon said.

  “It’s a date,” I agreed before shooting away from him.

  I needed to check the haul in my pocket and make sure that Gabriel hadn’t damaged the sketches while I was at it.

  Of course, when I headed to the far end of the corridor and into my dorm I found that I wasn’t going to have time alone in there.

  Laini looked out from her bed as I arrived and I smiled at her in a way that felt fake even to me. She ducked back into the sheet-made cave which surrounded her bed with a casual hey and I hopped up onto my bunk.

  The first thing I did was crawl over to the little shelf which sat above the foot of my bed. A collection of textbooks were piled on top of it alongside the envelope filled with the only belongings I really cared about in this world.

  I held my breath as I slid the sketches out and leafed through them carefully. I knew them all like they were old friends and I traced my fingers over the broad lines and delicate details as I checked each of them for any signs of damage.

  A shuddering sigh escaped my lips as I completed my count. They were all there, all okay. Whatever the hell Gabriel had wanted to prove, he obviously felt it could be done without actually taking them from me.

  A tear slid down my cheek and splashed onto the back of my hand. I rubbed it away absentmindedly and decided to take a leaf out of Gareth’s book.

  I lifted one of my Astrology textbooks into my hands and opened the cover, slipping the sketches inside. It took me a few minutes to construct a glamour into place which would hide them from anyone who came looking. I bound them to the front page so that they wouldn’t fall out and made them appear as nothing more than just another blank sheet of paper in the front of the book.

  The magic pulsed from my fingertips, drawing from the diminishing well of power within me. My supplies were growing low again. I needed to drink from someone. My mind went to Dante and the way his power had sizzled through my veins. The thrill of it had kept me up at night more than once, making me crave another taste. That wasn’t going to happen though. Dante was more powerful than me so claiming him for my Source was pretty much impossible. I might have been able to sneak up on him once or twice but it would only end in him beating the crap out of me with his magic in a public way to reassert his dominance. I sighed, letting that idea go. I’d just have to find easier
prey.

  I glanced back over my shoulder to make sure Laini was still safely tucked away within the confines of her bed and pulled the broken Atlas from my pocket. I tried switching it on but unsurprisingly, it was out of power. As I eyed the damage I had to wonder if it would even load up with a full charge. It was worth a shot though so I plugged it in, sliding it beneath my pillow as I lay down, putting my back to the room as I took the journal from my pocket.

  I leafed through it with interest. There wasn’t much written in it – it was mainly just sketches of things and people who had caught Gareth’s attention. There were the odd words or notes added here and there and I frowned as I tried to figure out if there was any deeper meaning to any of it. Some of the sketches seemed to have a purpose to them and I had to wonder if there was something here that might help me figure out what he’d been up to before he died. But if there were answers here, they weren’t leaping out at me. I’d just have to study this thing front to back again and again until I figured them out.

  When I was sure I wasn’t going to glean any more information from the journal right away, I surreptitiously moved it into my school bag, sealing it into an inside pocket with magic. After finding out that Gabriel had been snooping through my things, I wasn’t going to risk leaving anything important in the dorm while I wasn't here again so I’d just have to keep the journal close at all times.

  I looked over at Gabriel’s bunk, pursing my lips in annoyance. Who did he think he was, going through my shit?

  With a twist of my lips, I ripped a piece of paper from my notebook and scribbled two words onto it before shooting from my bed over to his.

  “What are you doing up there?” Laini gasped in alarm from beneath me.

  “Making sure this asshole understands my point,” I replied as I pulled back his duvet and the smell of earth and cedar assaulted me.

  I bet Gabriel’s blood tastes like ecstasy.

  “He’s the most powerful Fae in the school. Are you insane?” Laini demanded but I only scoffed.