Dark Fae (Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac Book 1)

by Caroline Peckham

  “You asshole!” I snarled as I directed air magic into the shape of a whip, slashing it at him with a jerk of my hand.

  Gabriel cursed as his arm split open and blood spilled from the wound. A moment later, gloves of ice formed over my hands.

  The ice kept growing as I struggled against it, immobilising my magic and getting so heavy that I could no longer hold my hands off of the ground. I snarled between my teeth like a caged animal and Gabriel scowled at me for a moment before launching himself into the sky.

  I only realised that silence had fallen around us as our fight played out when the murmurs started up.

  I tried to ignore my classmates as I struggled against the ice which still bound my hands. My teeth wanted to chatter from the cold and I was already losing feeling in my fingers.

  “Damn girl, you sure don’t know how to pick a fight. What’s with you and the Kings?” Laini asked as she drew closer to me and I looked up at her hopefully.

  She started melting the ice with the aid of her fire magic without me even having to ask and I smiled at her gratefully.

  “I told you,” I replied ruefully. “I’m just unlucky.”

  Laini tutted knowingly as she continued her work to free me with her magic and I could only wonder why she was helping me. The answer slapped me in the face like a snowstorm in July and I looked at Laini in surprise as I realised the truth of it.

  She was my friend. Somewhere amongst everything I’d come here to do I’d never really considered the idea of making any friends along the way but it had happened all the same.

  For a moment I didn’t know what to say. I’d never found it particularly easy to make friends. I put it down to the solitary nature of my Order form, but I knew deep down it was just the way I was too. Not many people liked my sense of humour. Even less of them appreciated the way I never held my tongue and had an answer for everything. But despite all my flaws, Laini had found reason enough to like me. And I realised I really liked her too. She was the kind of girl I could talk to easily and her laugh was infectious, but she knew how to enjoy the silence too without making it awkward. We could hang out without talking and still enjoy each other’s company. Which for a creature prone to being solitary like me meant a hell of a lot.

  “Thank you,” I breathed and Laini rolled her eyes like the last thing she needed was thanks.

  I smirked in return, relaxing as the warmth of her fire melted through the ice.

  I’d made a friend without even trying to. So maybe there was hope for me yet.

  ***

  My Atlas buzzed lightly beneath my pillow and I jerked awake, quickly switching it off before it disturbed my roommates.

  In preparation for my late night adventure, I’d gone to sleep wearing black leggings and a vest. I pulled a navy sweater over the top of it and slid out of bed.

  My gaze snagged on Gabriel’s sleeping form where he lay on the other top bunk. His sheet had slipped down to pool around his waist and his beautiful tattoos were all on show for me to study. For once I was the one looking at him instead of the other way around despite the fact that he claimed to want nothing to do with me and I took a moment just to watch him.

  I’d relived the night I’d spent in his arms in my dreams multiple times. And if I was being honest, I’d relived it while I was awake too. In my fantasies he obviously hadn’t gone all super asshole on me. In fact he never even spoke. Which was exactly the way I preferred him. If he hadn’t gone and turned all insane on me I probably would have hooked up with him again since. Who was I kidding, I definitely would have hooked up with him again. But I wasn’t about to start announcing my desire to be with him forever or even admit to the possibility of him being my Elysian Mate. It was too crazy. And it didn’t seem like he was wasting much time pining over me either. Aside from the staring which could also be put down to hatred. Not that I’d done anything to earn that. But who was I to judge the mind of a crazy person?

  It was like he really thought I’d want him as my mate for life just because I’d screwed him once. He was so obsessed with the idea of me being obsessed with him that he hadn’t stopped to notice I straight up hated him. Fucking Gabriel.

  Besides, after watching the effects of two heartbreaks on my mom’s life I had no intention of giving my heart to one man alone for safekeeping. Especially one who promised me the stars. I didn’t do hearts and flowers, I didn’t want promises and forevers. I just wanted something real and honest and in the moment. Which was what I’d had with him. Until I hadn’t anymore because he had to go and start being my own personal nightmare stalker. Like a goddamn psychopath.

  I blew out a breath and turned away from the perfect temptation of his body, heading to the door to retrieve my boots.

  “Sneaky, sneaky, Vampire,” Dante murmured, lifting the corner of the sheet which hung around his bed.

  I stilled, looking into his dark eyes which roiled with the tempestuous energy of a storm.

  “What makes you say that?” I asked on a breath.

  “Where are you running off to now then? And don’t try and pretend you’re hunting this time. Who are you gonna catch at half one in the morning?”

  I pursed my lips, assessing the hungry look in his eyes. He wasn’t going to let this drop.

  “What if I told you I’m hooking up with someone?” I asked slowly.

  “Then I’d follow you and rip their dick off,” he growled.

  I rolled my eyes. “Fine. I’m doing a job for the Kiplings. I said I’d cause a distraction while they get their latest stock onto the grounds.”

  “I want in.” Dante stepped out of his bunk in one swift move, pressing his broad shoulders back as he kicked his sneakers on. He didn’t bother grabbing a shirt, just prowled towards the door in his grey sweatpants which were riding low on his hips.

  “I’ve got it under control, thanks,” I said, a little bite to my tone. I didn’t need an asshole tagging along for the ride.

  “I wanna see what you’ve got, carina,” Dante said, ignoring me. “So you’d better not disappoint.”

  I sighed as I followed him out into the corridor. I clearly wasn’t going to win this debate and I couldn’t afford to be late.

  I jogged down the stairs, fighting against the urge to shoot away with my Vampire speed. No doubt if I did that he’d make me pay for it later.

  Dante kept pace beside me, his arm brushing mine more than once in the dark stairwell and sending electricity skittering across my skin.

  We stepped out into the cool night air and I shivered, drawing my arms around myself. I led the way around the back of the building to where I’d stashed the supplies I’d liberated earlier that evening.

  Dante watched me with interest as I grabbed the fuel can and pocketed the lighter. My plan was simple but effective. Nothing was distracting like a big ass fire and with my air magic I could stoke the flames and make them difficult to put out.

  The Kiplings needed me to distract Professor Mars for ten minutes. That was it. There was no need to do anything more flashy. I knew a good little spell to make the effects of it stick around for a while too so I’d decided to have a bit of fun while I was at it.

  “Arson?” Dante asked with a smirk. “I thought better of you, carina.”

  “Well that was a mistake,” I replied. “I’m as low and dirty as any asshole in this school. It might do you a favour to remember that.”

  He chuckled as we started walking down the sloping path which led towards the Physical Enhancement grounds and the Pitball pitch.

  The clouds were thick tonight making it dark, which suited me just fine as I used my abilities to sharpen my vision. We’d be harder to spot like this but unfortunately Dante wasn’t finding it quite so easy to navigate the darkness.

  The third time he cursed, catching his foot on a tree root, I reached out and snatched his hand into mine. “Just stay close,” I commanded. “You’re ruining a perfectly good plan with all your noise.”

  “If you wanted me close yo
u didn’t have to make an excuse,” he replied but I ignored him.

  I got him moving at a faster pace, heading past the Pitball pitch and straight for the steep hill beyond it.

  The clouds parted as we reached the bottom of the hill and I released my grip on Dante’s hand.

  “What now, bella?”

  “Now you wait here.” I smirked at him as I unscrewed the fuel cap on the can I’d liberated from the maintenance shed and shot away from him up the steep hill.

  I started pouring as I ran, the heady scent of gasoline overwhelming me as I drew a huge outline into the long grass.

  I made it back to Dante and grinned as I dropped to my knees, touching my fingers to the edge of the outline I’d made with the fuel. The spell was slightly complicated but I’d practiced it on a small scale several times this evening and it had worked each time. There wasn’t really any need for it, so if it failed it wouldn’t matter anyway. But for my own personal amusement, I was really hoping the magic would work.

  Once I was fairly confident the magic had taken root along the outline, I quickly pulled my Atlas from my pocket and checked the time.

  01:57. Time to go.

  I snatched the lighter from my pocket and flicked it once. Twice. Three times. No flame appeared and I cursed as I flicked it again and again.

  “Let me,” Dante muttered, a smile hooking up his lips as he called on the electrical power of his Dragon form.

  Static energy rose all around us and I could feel my hair lifting on my head as a shiver danced down my spine.

  Dante caught my hand in his again just before he released a shot of his magic and I gasped as I felt the energy spike through my skin, waking every nerve ending and heating my veins. The taste of his power danced across my tongue and a heady feeling sped through me as my body was filled with electricity for a bliss filled moment.

  A shot of purple electricity slammed into the ground in front of us where the edge of my gasoline art began and it burst into flames instantly.

  I directed a surge of air magic after it, driving oxygen into the flames to stoke them as they raced along the path I’d created.

  A grin pulled at my lips as Dante started laughing.

  “You drew a huge dick?” he asked just as the balls burst alight at the far end of the hill.

  “I did,” I agreed on a laugh. “And I cast a holding spell to block earth magic beneath it too. So they won’t be able to make the grass grow back over the burned soil.”

  Dante’s laugh was so loud that I glanced around in concern. The huge blazing cock was sure to attract Professor Mars at any moment and Dante couldn’t run as fast as me.

  “Come on,” I urged, tugging on his hand.

  Dante shook his head, tightening his grip on me but refusing to move. “Too soon,” he said. “We aren’t even close to getting caught yet.”

  “You want to get caught?” I asked incredulously, adrenaline thundering through my veins, urging me to run.

  “I want it to be a close thing,” he countered. “It’ll make you feel alive.”

  I hesitated short of yanking my hand out of his grasp. He’d just said the one thing to me which was likely to give me pause and I doubted he even knew it.

  “I don’t want to get in trouble,” I murmured, though I’d already stopped trying to run.

  “You were in trouble the moment you came out here with me and you knew it,” he replied. “And I think that’s exactly what you want.”

  I looked up into his eyes where the flames of the burning field were reflected back at me.

  “One month’s detention!” Professor Mars bellowed from somewhere way too close and I screamed as a blast of water magic shot towards us like cannon fire.

  I barely managed to throw a shield of air magic up in time and I glanced at Dante as I realised he’d done the same.

  The water crashed over our combined shields like a tidal wave before running off of them again to reveal Professor Mars charging toward us up the hill, his face contorted with rage as he spun more water between his hands. He was bellowing at us to stay put but with our backs to the flames I was sure he couldn’t see our faces.

  Dante threw a vortex of air at our teacher and snatched my hand into his grasp as we turned and started running.

  I could have gone a lot faster with my Vampire gifts but I matched his pace instead, my heart thundering adrenaline through my limbs in a delicious way as we ran.

  We raced around the Pitball pitch and started uphill back towards the dorms.

  I threw a wild look over my shoulder as another wave of water was thrown our way. It scattered wide though, flooding down and drenching us but not doing enough to actually slow us at all. I squealed at the onslaught of cold water but Dante barely even flinched, yanking on my hand to keep me running with him.

  We made it to The Vega Dormitories and Dante pulled me inside. I made to run for the stairs but he dragged me to the right, pulling open a metal door and pulling me through it. He closed it again and tugged me after him down a short flight of stairs in the pitch black. Dante threw up a tiny globe of orange light, just enough to banish the shadows so that we could see where we were placing our feet.

  At the bottom of the steps he led me down a stone corridor lined with pipes and cables and we finally stopped running as he pushed me back against the cold wall, placing his hand over my mouth to keep me silent.

  I looked up at him in the almost-dark, my chest rising and falling heavily as I fought to catch my breath.

  A door opened and closed above us, heavy footsteps thundering straight towards the stairs for the dorms as Professor Mars stalked his prey.

  Dante’s hips were pinned against mine and his gaze was alight with thunderstorms as he looked down at me.

  “Who knew you were such a bad influence, carina?” he purred, easing his hand from my mouth.

  A smirk tugged at my lips. “Yeah, I totally corrupted you.”

  A dark chuckle rumbled through his chest and I could feel it where we were locked together as if it came from within my own body.

  Professor Mars cursed loudly upstairs and the front door slammed again as he gave up his hunt.

  “Did you feel the rush?” Dante breathed.

  I nodded slowly, biting my bottom lip as I fought to keep my fangs under control. I could hear the whooshing of the blood in his veins, see the steady pulse in his throat as it drew my hungry gaze. I’d used a fair bit of magic out there and I hadn’t been running on full to begin with.

  Dante seemed to realise what was on my mind and he reached out and brushed his thumb over my lips. I lost control over my fangs with his flesh that close to me and they snapped out, the promise of his blood calling to me.

  He eyed me for a long moment but I didn’t make any move to try and bite him. We seemed to be on the same side tonight and I didn’t want to do anything to change that again.

  He held my eye and slowly shifted his thumb until it was pressed against my fang. My heart pounded with bloodlust but I held still through pure force of will.

  A knowing smile tugged at the corner of Dante’s mouth and he exerted just a little pressure, splitting the pad of his thumb open so that his blood spilled into my mouth.

  A moan escaped me at the pure, electric taste of his power flooding into me and his smile widened. I moved my hands to grip his wrist and slowly pulled him closer, sucking his whole thumb into my mouth while I held his eye.

  “Do you like that, carina?” Dante growled.

  I moaned again, sucking harder as I drank more of his delicious blood which tasted like a hurricane and charged my veins with lightning.

  Dante pressed against me, the bulge in his pants straining hard against my hips, his leg pushing between my thighs. I sucked harder and a growl of desire left him as he watched me, his eyes alight with need.

  I swept my eyes over his bare chest, more than a little tempted to give in to what he wanted. His huge muscles were taut beneath his skin, the energy he exuded was purely mascul
ine, demanding my attention in a way that was impossible to ignore.

  He didn’t skirt around what he wanted from me but I wasn’t going to forget myself with another one of the Kings. I wanted them close because they were suspects. But I wasn’t going to complicate my investigation by letting them become anything else.

  When I’d finally had enough, I pushed his thumb back out of my mouth and looked up at him. “Do you like that, baby?” I teased, echoing his words back at him. Before he could respond, I wriggled out from his grasp and started backing away. “Race you back to the dorm.”

  “What?” he asked with a frown.

  I laughed as I shot away with my Vampire speed, the sight of his shocked expression the last thing I saw before I sprinted all the way back to my bunk.

  I hopped in with another soft chuckle, changing into my pyjamas and throwing the duvet over me in the dark before he even made it up the stairs.

  As I rolled over, my face pressed against a piece of paper on my pillow and I squinted at it until I realised it was a list of names. At the bottom were the words, thank you for your business, payment received in full. We hope to work with you again in the future. 3K.

  I grinned at my prize in the dark and let sleep call to me on the breeze slipping in through the window. It looked like I was finally starting to turn up some answers at last.

  I’ll figure this out, Gareth, I promise.

  “Well aren’t you just a strawberry dipped in yoghurt?” I said to a strawberry dipped in yoghurt as Mindy placed it in my mouth.

  I lazed in the morning sun on Devil’s Hill. The bell had sounded a few minutes ago but I didn’t wanna get up and Mindy’s strawberries tasted so damn good. I parted my lips as she placed another one in my mouth, grinning at me before checking her watch. This Mindy was gonna be late to class. This Leon did not give two shits.

  “Read me my horoscope, Mindy.”

  She picked up my Atlas, tapping in the code and clearing her throat. “Good morning Leo. The stars have spoken about your day! You’re feeling great today, but then again, you always feel great.” I nodded at that as she went on, “Your libido is extra high since the influence of a Libra entered your life. If you wish to find relief from your daily frustrations, you’ll need to work harder than is normally natural for you. Be warned though, for the inner scales of this Libra may have been tipped, leaving them unpredictable in their behaviour. Tread carefully, or you may end up more frustrated than when you started.”