“You wouldn’t,” he said firmly though his eyes betrayed a moment of doubt.
I ran my tongue over my teeth and eyed his neck hungrily. “Want a bet?”
His grip on my wrists tightened at the challenge and I gave him a predator’s grin.
“Elise,” Leon warned, shifting beneath me.
I pressed my weight down over his hips and growled at him, leaning forward as I bared my teeth.
“Stop it, little monster, I don’t want to have to fight you off-”
I yanked my wrists free of his hold with a surge of my enhanced strength, catching his hands in mine and slamming them down on either side of his head as I lunged for his neck.
Leon yelled something and heat built in his palms as he called on his magic but I’d already made it to his throat.
I ran my tongue straight up the line of the carotid artery in his neck where his pulse spiked, throbbing deliciously as blood danced just out of reach.
Leon growled but he didn’t release any magic to fight me off and I smiled against his skin.
“Aren’t you curious, Leo?” I asked as I continued to kiss his neck, moaning a little as his blood called to me, the darkest, best form of temptation I knew.
He released another growl but this one sent a shiver down my spine. I was still straddling him and I could feel his arousal growing between my thighs, adding another ache of longing to the things I wanted to take from him.
“You know the deal, little monster,” he breathed, flexing his arms against my hold on them. But I didn’t let go. I quite liked having the king of beasts at my mercy.
“You might like it,” I pressed, my kisses moving lower. “Or I could bite you somewhere else?”
“Fuck.” Leon shifted beneath me again.
I grazed my fangs over his collar bone, my tongue following them and he groaned. “Are you sure the answer’s still no?”
“Come back to my room, we can miss our next class. Once I’ve claimed you with my body you can bite me as much as you fucking like.”
I laughed, moving back up so that I was looking down into his golden eyes. “Tempting… But maybe I don’t want it on your terms. Maybe I want you to beg me to bite you.”
“Never gonna happen. Pain doesn’t get me off.”
I sighed dramatically. “Well, when you’re ready for me to convince you otherwise, I’ll be waiting.” I touched my lips to his in a sweet kiss that only lasted a second then shot away using my Vampire speed with a laugh.
Leon released a frustrated roar which chased me and I laughed harder as I headed away from him towards the Empyrean Fields and our combat class. I could make it in time with my speed but he’d definitely be late.
I slowed my pace before I reached the class, pushing a hand through my short hair as I worked on wrangling the bloodlust back under control so I could retract my fangs.
A dark shadow fell over me and I twisted suddenly, looking up at the sky just in time to see Gabriel shooting towards me on silent wings.
A scream escaped me half a second before he collided with me, snatching me off my feet and yanking me into the sky.
“What the hell are you doing?!” I cried as he beat his powerful wings and we sped upwards.
“You and me need to talk,” he snarled, flicking his fingers so that vines sprung into existence between us, binding my wrists together tightly and immobilising my hands and magic.
Fear slid into my bones as I strained against the vines. What the fuck was he doing? Why now? What had happened to make him turn on me like this?
We wheeled through the sky away from Combat Class and he shot towards the roof of the Vega Dorms moving just as fast as I could while running with my gifts.
In another second, his feet hit the flat roof and he slowed to a halt just inside his tent, tossing me down onto the heap of blankets in the centre of it.
“What the fuck is wrong with you, you psycho?!” I demanded as I tried to scramble back to my feet, my bound hands making it difficult to right myself.
Gabriel snarled at me, another wave of his hand conjuring vines which wrapped around my legs and pinned me in place on my knees before him.
He ignored my question, snatching my satchel from the floor beside me and tearing it open.
“Stop it!” I yelled, panic thundering through me. If he unraveled my concealment spell he would find the burner phone and Gareth’s journal. He’d know it was me who’d been threatening him. He’d realise-
Gabriel threw my bag down at his feet and held the burner before my eyes, shaking it tauntingly.
“You got anything to say about this?” he asked, his tone dark.
I glared at him, my fangs snapping out as I fought to use my strength to break through the vines which trapped me.
“How about this then?” he demanded, reaching into his back pocket and shoving a photograph before my eyes.
It was me and Gareth last summer, my hair long and blonde, eyes bright with a joy I rarely felt anymore. He knew. He fucking knew. Nothing I could say could cover my ass now. All I had was the truth. And if he knew who I was then maybe he’d give it to me. Because that was the least I deserved. Even if I only got it a moment to hear it before he killed me.
“Maybe you should be the one explaining yourself,” I growled.
“How the fuck do you work that out?” he asked, his wings flexing and blotting out the full sun behind him so that I was shrouded in shadow.
I was struck with the sense of just how much bigger he was than me as I knelt on the ground before him, totally at his mercy. He had my magic immobilised and his speed could match mine so there was no chance of me moving fast enough to get my fangs in him. I was beat. His to do whatever he wanted with. Waiting for the axe to fall upon my neck. But if that was my fate then I’d sure as shit go out swinging.
“I know he was blackmailing you. And I read all the threats you sent him too. A year of promising violence every time you sent him money. And now he’s dead,” I spat.
“You think I killed him?” Gabriel asked, his face paling.
“I know someone at this school did,” I snarled. “And from the evidence I’ve found, you look like a pretty strong candidate.”
“Candidate? You make it sound like you’re conducting a fucking investigation.”
I just scowled at him because that was exactly what I was doing.
Gabriel’s lips parted. “So you’ve just set yourself up as a private investigator? For what? He died of an overdose-”
“Don’t spout that shit at me,” I snapped. “Gareth never would have taken Killblaze willingly. Everything he did was to dig us out of this place. Our life. He wanted us to escape this shithole and he never would have risked his life for that crap.”
“Escape what?” Gabriel asked, a frown pulling at his brow. “Why did he want my money?”
“What difference does that make to you?”
“Because you say he never would have risked his life taking drugs, yet he obviously thought blackmailing me was worth the risk it could have posed-”
“He didn’t have a choice. He was doing that for me.”
“What? Why do you need the money?” he asked, clearly completely losing the thread of what I was talking about.
“I don’t,” I ground out. “Or at least I didn’t know I did. Our mom… It doesn’t matter now anyway.”
“It does to me,” he snapped.
I blew out a breath of frustration, sending a lock of lilac hair flying out of my eyes.
“Fine. If you must know, our mom was a stripper amongst other things. And she was a gambler too. She got into too much debt with her boss and was going to make a deal that meant I’d have to work at the club too to pay it off.”
“Your mom wanted you to start stripping?” Gabriel asked, judgment spilling through his eyes. “What kind of mother-”
“The point is that Gareth found out and took on the debt instead,” I interrupted because he was starting to look at me with pity in his eyes and I d
idn’t fucking want it. “I only just found out about all of this. If I’d known the lengths he was going to to clear the debt on my behalf I would have…I mean anything would have been better than what happened…”
“You would have agreed to working in the club?” Gabriel asked, a note of anger in his tone.
“Sooner that than this!” I shouted because look at what had fucking happened because of me. “He died because of the things he was doing to try and protect me. Because he lied to me about it and didn’t give me the choice to take on the debt myself-”
“But it wasn’t either of your responsibilities! A parent is supposed to-”
“Fuck supposed to,” I snapped. “What would someone like you even know about it anyway? You grew up with your cushy family and endless money. As if you’d have the faintest idea what it’s like to have to sell yourself to put food on the table for your children and keep a roof over their heads! My mother might be a shitty mother but fate dealt her a shitty hand. Two men broke her heart and left her with children she couldn’t afford to raise. She sold every piece of herself to pay for what she could for us until she had nothing left. Gareth’s death broke her. It broke me too. So if you’re going to kill me as well then why don’t you just do it rather than dragging it out?”
“What the fuck are you talking about? I didn’t kill Gareth!”
I glared at him but his eyes shone with honesty and I couldn’t help but believe him. My lips parted and something inside me shattered, only to rebuild itself out of the broken pieces of everything I thought I’d known about him. Relief flooded me and tears welled in my eyes as I bit down on a sob before it could escape me. I half wanted to throw a myself into his arms and bury my face against his chest as he held me but I didn’t. I still didn’t know enough about what had happened, I might have believed he wasn’t responsible for Gareth’s death but there was more to it than that. And if he hadn’t done it then I was back to square one and I didn’t even know where to begin again.
“So tell me what happened between you and him then? You obviously figured out that he was the one blackmailing you. So what did you do about it if you didn’t kill him?” I demanded.
Gabriel chewed on the inside of his cheek, his eyes flashing with something that looked a hell of a lot like shame and maybe even a hint of fear.
He turned away from me, shaking his head. “It’s not important.”
I stared at him, my lips parted as tears stung the backs of my eyes. So I just told him everything and he was going to give me nothing in return?
“If you’re sure someone killed him though, I’ll help you find out who,” he added, his back to me now as he moved out of the tent. “And if you feel you need to do something to me in retaliation for my part in things then go ahead.” The vines fell from my arms as he released me from his magic, leaving his back to me as he offered up this chance.
I stood, glaring at him as a tear slid down my cheek and rage coiled in my gut. My fangs tingled, my muscles tensed and the desire to hurt him flooded me.
I took a deep breath and expelled it again.
“Fuck you Gabriel,” I hissed. “If you wanted to help me you’d give me the truth about what happened between you and my brother not fake promises of help. If you wanted to help then you should have done so when Gareth needed you. But I guess you only help girls you have bullshit visions about. Although you really shouldn’t worry about being my Elysian Mate. Because I’d rather be star-crossed than stuck with you for the rest of my life.”
I shot away from him before he could respond, taking the fire escape off of the roof and heading for our room and my bunk.
He didn’t follow me.
And for some reason, that hurt even more than his lies.
Twelve Months Before the Solarid Meteor Shower…
I jumped up and down on the spot, loosening up my muscles as the sound of the gathered crowd called to me beyond the locker rooms. My teammates were all in similar states of unrest and excitement as we waited to be called out to the pitch for our first Pitball match of the season.
Leon was sitting on the low bench to my left while four of his Mindys fought for position to massage parts of his body while he kept his eyes closed, enjoying the attention. His hair was pulled up into a bun to keep it away from his face for the match and it was surprising how much of a difference that made to his features. With his hair up, the strong lines of his jaw and brow made it easier for me to see the beast that lurked beneath his skin.
Though I hadn’t seen him flip out again since that night at the pawn shop, it was something that was pretty difficult to scrub from my memory. And although that made me about fifteen percent terrified of him at all times, I was secretly hoping his inner monster might just make an appearance for the match today. We needed this win and we goddamn deserved it too.
Dante’s Atlas started ringing and he answered it with a wide grin, instantly starting up an animated discussion in Faetalian to whoever was on the other end of the line.
He ended the call and got to his feet with a wide smile. “Mia famiglia are here,” he said, turning and striding towards the doors.
“Wait,” I called after him, trying to ignore the fact that he’d told me a notorious crime family had just shown up for the match. “We’re about go out on the pitch, you can’t just-”
“The coach will wait for me,” Dante said dismissively, waving me off as he headed out of the room and I cursed beneath my breath. Coach Mars would not wait for him. He wasn’t the goddamn King. And even if he was, Pitball waited for no man.
I looked to Leon hopefully and he cracked an eye at me, shrugging one broad shoulder. “He’ll be back,” he said unhelpfully and I huffed.
The locker room door swung open again and I looked up hopefully, thinking he might have decided to come back already but instead, a stranger stood in the doorway.
He had the kind of intimidating aura that made me want to move out of his way, his golden eyes sweeping over the locker rooms like he had every right to be there and wasn’t out of bounds at all. His long, dark hair fell all around his shoulders in a tangled mane which somehow looked totally cool even though on anyone else it would have seemed messy as shit. His muscular frame pressed against the confines of the expensive leather jacket he was wearing in a way that said he could crush me like a bug if the notion took him. In fact, everything he was wearing was black right down to the laces on his boots but instead of looking like an emo douchebag he just looked like a total badass.
“Hey little Leonidas,” the stranger said casually, turning his gaze to Leon with a lazy smile.
The four Mindys surrounding Leon suddenly stopped massaging him and looked around as one. Like a gaggle of meerkats who thought they smelt a predator. Or perhaps spied a feast. In a flash of movement, they all jumped up and scurried towards the new guy, one of them smacking into Leon in their haste to get away from him and knocking his hair out of its bun.
“Oh for the love of the moon,” Leon growled as he got to his feet, re-tying his hair as his gaze narrowed on the new guy. “What are you doing here, Roary?”
“Can’t I come and see my little brother have a go at Pitball?” Roary asked, ignoring the Mindys as they clamoured around him, trying to get his attention by pulling their shirts lower and skirts higher. He growled a little as one of them reached out to touch his arm and they drew back, staying close but not daring to touch him again.
“This is your brother?” I asked, taking a step forward with my hand outstretched in an attempt to cut some of the tension that seemed to be spilling from Leon. The last thing I needed was for him to get all het up right before the match.
“Yeah. I’m Roary Night, Nice to meet you,” Leon’s brother said, his gaze sweeping over me in a way that felt like an assessment.
“Gareth Tempa,” I said in return, grasping his hand in mine.
The moment my skin met with his rough palm, my breath caught in my throat and my lips parted as a tingle ran down my spine.
Leon made it to us and yanked my arm by the elbow so that I dropped Roary’s hand and I blinked to try and clear it of the thoughts that had just possessed me. Had I just been fantasising about ripping his clothes off of him?
Roary snorted a faint laugh as he looked my way and heat clawed up the back of my neck. I wanted to say something to him, but it had to be cool. Nothing dumb. This was my shot at impressing him and I didn’t wanna fuck up my chances of being his friend. Or maybe more…
“I love your mouth,” I said before I could stop myself and Roary cleared his throat, raising an eyebrow at his brother like I was nuts.
“Dammit, Roary, cut that shit out with my friends,” Leon said.
“My Charisma is off,” Roary said defensively. “But you know how skin contact makes our inner beasts win through.”
“Well can you and your inner beast just go already? We need a functioning team captain if we’re gonna win this match,” Leon huffed.
“Sure, sure. I just wanted to say hey before kick-off. Mom wanted me to come as I was in town and you know I don’t like to let her down. Catch you later Darren,” he said to me with a nod before turning and heading off.
The Mindys hurried after him without so much as a backwards glance at Leon and he growled as his brother’s footsteps faded beyond the door. I had to fight hard not to follow them too.
“Gah, he’s such a douche. Sorry about the name thing, I swear he does that shit on purpose,” Leon said, turning to me.
“That’s okay,” I said. “I think Darren is probably a better name for me anyway. Maybe I should just change it.”
Leon growled again, gripping my bicep and turning me to look at him. “Listen Gareth, if you’re any Lion’s Mindy, you’re mine, okay?”
His power swept beneath my skin and I found myself admiring the way his golden eyes sparkled like the sun. My gaze slid to his mouth and a sigh escaped me as I wondered what it might be like to earn a kiss from his lips.
Savage Fae (Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac Book 2) Page 22
