The light of my Atlas bathed me in a blue glow which bounced off the white sheet encasing me within my bunk. Elise shifted on the mattress above me and a soft hey made me roll over and pull back the sheet at the head of my bed. Elise was hanging upside down, her lilac hair swaying beneath her and I grinned at her hungrily.
“Hello vampirina.” My smile widened and she returned it, her full lips giving me flashbacks about the other day when Leon had fucked her right in front of me. I’d done a lot of filthy things in my life, but that was hands down the hottest thing I’d experienced and I hadn’t even been touching her. I couldn’t stop thinking about me in Leon’s place, making her body bow to the power of mine. Bet I could make her scream louder though, amico.
“Wanna come on a job with me tonight?” she whispered so as not to disturb Laini.
I’d had to close the window after Gabriel had abandoned his bed for the night. So there was no chance of him snooping in on our conversation.
“For the Kiplings?” I asked and she nodded, her head bobbing as blood flowed to her cheeks.
She flipped herself upside down, landing silently and catching my hand, tugging me out of the bed. I went willingly, shoving my Atlas into my sweatpants pocket and heading past her to grab a shirt. I tucked my medallion beneath it, the gold resting warmly against my chest and slowly restoring my power reserves.
“You’re gonna have to start cutting me in, carina,” I toyed with her. “I don’t work for free.”
Her hands landed on my waist and she tugged the hem of my shirt down where it was caught up on my stomach, her fingers lingering beneath it on my skin. A low growl escaped me as I surveyed her in the dark, electricity sparking between us and flashing in her eyes.
“You do for me.” She giggled, catching my hand and dragging me out into the hallway. A pair of my best sneakers were in her hand and she tossed them at my feet before shooting away to the top of the stairs and resting back against the wall. “Come on Dante, you’re holding me up.”
I yawned broadly, pushing my feet into my shoes as I surveyed the fitted black yoga pants and snug sweater she was wearing. She popped a bubble of gum then ran off down the stairs and my heart jolted.
Don’t leave without me, bella.
I chased after her, taking the stairs two at a time until I met the bottom floor. I wrenched the front door open, but no one was there and I huffed in frustration, figuring she’d gone without me.
“Gotcha!” Elise landed on my back and I caught hold of her thighs as she locked her arms around my neck. A grin pulled at my mouth, my heart pounding from the surprise.
“Did you just jump from the top of the damn doorway?” I asked her through a laugh.
“Yes.” She leaned in to whisper in my ear. “Like a ninja mouse.”
“You’re crazy.” And I fucking love it.
“Giddy up, Drago, to the front gate.” She plucked at my shirt like reins but I didn’t move.
“Did you just call me Drago, carina?” I teased.
“Pfft might have,” she said airily.
“You’ve been learning my language, amore mio,” I stated, electricity rolling from my body and making her thighs clench around me.
“Your Clan are always calling you Drago this and Drago that. It wasn’t much of a stretch to figure out it meant Dragon. Now, yah.”
“Where are you heading?” I asked, still not moving and sensing she was about to lose her patience with me.
“I’ve got to get to the farmlands, Dante. Let’s go to the bus stop.”
“Yeah…no. I don’t do busses.” I smirked, knocking her from my back and she stepped around me, folding her arms.
I pulled my shirt over my head, handing it to her, kicking off my shoes and pants next. She wordlessly took my clothes, seeming to be enjoying the show especially when I tugged my boxers off and smirked at her.
“What the fuck are you doing?” She dumped my clothes on the ground and I growled.
“Put them in your bag,” I commanded and she reluctantly slid her pack off one shoulder, her eyes widening as she realised what I was about to suggest. “Are you sure? The Dragon laws don’t allow it.”
“I told you, carina.” I backed up, pressing my tongue into my cheek. “I don’t obey laws.” I turned and leapt forward, letting the enormous navy-scaled beast housed within me rip free of my flesh. My talons crashed into the ground and energy rippled along my spine.
Elise backed up and I realised I should have explained she wouldn’t be harmed by my electricity while she was riding me. I could control the current so it flowed through her body and never hurt a single hair on her head. But it sure would give her a rush.
I nudged her with my nose and she stumbled back with a small gasp. Slowly, she moved forward again, her expression shifting to fascination as she rubbed the soft spot between my eyes.
She leaned in, moving to my ear and breathing words to me that made my heart thump with happiness and surprise. “Mi fai sentire vivo.” You make me feel alive.
She’d learned that phrase just for me. And she’d waited until now to say it because I could say nothing in return. I nuzzled into her and she trailed her hands across my scales, her lips parted in awe.
I nudged her toward my shoulder, lowering my wing to give her room to get on. She climbed up using my front leg and rested between my wings and my neck. She curled her hands around the spine which sat at the top of my backbone and I flexed my wings, giving her a moment’s warning before launching myself into the sky.
She inhaled sharply but didn’t scream and I bared my teeth in a grin as I took that as a challenge, racing for the clouds above and bursting through them at speed. I released a roar that sounded like thunder and her thighs tightened just before I spiralled through the air, making her cling on for dear life and drawing a scream of surprise from her lips.
Amusement filled me and a zip of electricity crashed down my spine as I soared north, heading toward the farmlands which stretched for miles at the edge of the city all the way out to the base of Fable Mountain.
I soon dipped below the clouds and Alestria spread out beneath us, the network of darkened streets like rivers of ink flowing between the buildings.
I beat my wings harder and we soon sailed over the northern most point of the city to the farmlands. The perfectly square crystal paddy fields stretched for miles, each glowing with the colour of the crystals forming within the watery depths of the magical solution that encouraged their growth.
I swept across them to give Elise a view of the beautiful sight, the shining fields forming a rainbow of colour for miles in either direction. Finally, I circled back, heading for the warehouses where the crystals were processed and stored, flying down to land on a grassy knoll concealed behind the warehouse at the far end of the row.
I waited for Elise to climb down before retreating into my Fae form. She tossed me her bag, her hair swept back and her eyes bright.
“That was insane,” she breathed, flattening her hair as I tugged on my clothes.
“Have you never ridden on a flying Order before?” I asked and she frowned.
“I have... My brother was a Pegasus,” she said quietly and my heart twisted. As I pulled up my sweatpants, I moved toward her, pulling her into a tight embrace. She resisted for half a second before going slack in my arms. There was something fiercely protective in me when it came to her and the thought of her grieving over the loss of her brother pained me to my core. I knew what it was like to lose family. There was nothing worse.
“Come on,” she said eventually, pulling away and taking hold of my hand. “The Kiplings will be here soon.”
She led me out from behind the warehouse onto a long road and the sound of a vehicle soon caught my ear.
Elise tugged me down behind a bush at the edge of street and we waited in silence. A black van came into view, its headlights off so it was barely visible. It stopped close to us and Kipling Senior jumped out of the driver’s seat.
Elise jumpe
d up with a breath of relief, guiding me out of the bushes with her. Kipling Senior glanced at me then back to Elise.
“We thought it would just be you,” he said.
“Dante just came along for the ride.” Elise shrugged and Senior nodded, sharing a glance with his brothers as they poured out of the van. When they’d seemingly had some silent conversation, he tossed Elise the keys.
“We need you to circle the area, keep a lookout for the farmer or any other busy bodies coming this way. If you see anyone who looks like a threat send the three of us a message.”
Elise nodded, taking out her Atlas. “Got it.”
The three Kiplings silently reached into their pockets, taking out balaclavas and pulling them on at the exact same time. Those guys were weird as fuck, but just as useful.
I raised my brows as they jogged across the street and disappeared between two of the warehouses.
Elise turned to me, biting down on her lip. “Can you drive?”
I barked a laugh. “You can’t?”
“I never had money for a car, let alone lessons to drive, asshole.”
“Lucky you brought me along then, isn’t it, carina?” I plucked the keys from her hand, jumping up into the driver’s seat while she climbed into the passenger side.
“I’ve got heightened hearing, super speed and night vision. I reckon I could have managed without you,” she said airily and I smirked.
“But you didn’t want to,” I pointed out and she shrugged, a smile dancing around her mouth.
I started the van, turning it around and following the long road. After a beat, I cast a silencing bubble around us to quiet the engine noise and Elise cocked a brow at me.
“You’re not just a pretty face.”
“Nah I’m mostly a pretty face.” I shot her a grin and she returned it before glancing away to look out the window.
All was still in the area, the workers having gone home, but in the distance was a large house where the lights glinted in the windows and I wondered if the landowner lived there. There were no other cars out this way, but we’d see them a mile off if any did head toward us.
Silence fell between us as I circled the roads around the farm, wondering how long this was going to take. I kinda hoped it lasted hours, because so long as the Kiplings were busy, I had Elise alone.
“I guess you’ve been on a bunch of stake outs before?” she asked.
“Bella, I was always the one on the job. I don’t wait in cars.”
“Except for today,” she teased.
“It’s not my job.” I grinned and she shifted across the bench, laying a hand on my knee and making my cock jerk to attention. But I couldn’t go there thanks to the fucking deal I’d made with Ryder, no matter how great the image of Elise getting me off in this van was.
I scooped her hand off my knee, placing it back in her lap and could feel her stare burning into my skull.
“You make me wanna forget the deal, carina. But I’m never gonna do that.”
She released a breath of laughter. “You and Ryder need to sort your shit out.”
A snarl ripped from my lips and she sat up straighter in surprise. “There is no sorting it out. We’re Astral Adversaries like our fathers were. It will be that way until one of us kills the other.”
She withdrew into her seat. “That’s crazy,” she muttered.
“The stars chose it, so take it up with them if it bothers you.”
“It seems pretty mindless to me. The stars told you to hate someone, so you did. It’s not much of a reason when it comes down to that.”
I shook my head, releasing a hollow laugh. “It’s much worse than that, carina. The stars make good on their promises. They gave us the reasons to despise one another. We’ve both done terrible things to each other’s people. To each other’s family.”
“It seems like your ancestors did that shit and now you’re just carrying it on. Why not break the trend?” Elise offered like it was the easiest thing in the world. She had no fucking idea.
My palms bit into the steering wheel as I pressed my foot down on the accelerator, turning a corner past a polytunnel which was lit up like moonlight from the inside. “No, carina. I’ve done despicable things. Things that would make you look at me differently. Things that haunt me.”
Silence brushed my ears, but it only lasted a second as Elise broke it.
“Tell me. There’s nothing you could have done that would make me see you differently.”
“Pah,” I laughed. I turned to look at her, taking my eyes from the road. “You keep telling me you don’t see the ruthless Clan leader I am, that you can’t see my dark side. And I think it’s best to keep it that way.”
I turned back to the road and Elise shifted in her seat.
“I want to know, Dante. Tell me what you’ve done,” she whispered, like she was slightly afraid of the answer, but I could sense the need in her voice.
She wanted to know who she slept above, who she sat next to in class, who was driving this vehicle right now. And maybe it was time she knew. Maybe it was the right thing to do by her, rather than let her believe the lie that I was this friendly Dragon she could poke and jibe. She was the only one in the entire school who got away with that. And I liked playing up to it. But we were supposed to be friends now and friends didn’t lie to each other.
“I’ve got a request before I tell you this,” I said in a dark tone, a line of electricity rolling off my body and crackling around the steering wheel.
“What is it?”
“Don’t pity anyone in this story,” I growled, my jaw clenching and I saw her nodding in my periphery.
“I won’t,” she whispered. “Tell me.”
I drew in a deep breath. “It starts with my father and Ryder’s father. I was thirteen when shit got bad. Their attacks on each other were escalating in the city. Barely a day went by without the Lunars hitting our territory. The moon would only just be rising by the time the Oscuras fought back. Do you remember it, carina?”
She nodded, inching closer. “The mayor tried to set a curfew. No one unallied was supposed to be out after dark. People were always getting caught up in the crossfire. Mom thought about moving for a while, but I don’t think she ever really meant it. We just kept our heads down and tried to ignore the danger.”
“Yeah. Well for us it was all out war. My magic hadn’t been Awakened then so I felt fucking useless most of the time. I didn’t get my Order until later that year either, so all I could do was stay at home while my cousins shifted into their Werewolf forms and went out to help.” Jealousy prickled under my skin at the thought of it, even after all these years. “Anyway, one day there was an ambush in a coffee shop around the corner from my home. Papa went there regularly-” I forced down the serrated lump rising in my throat, trying to keep breathing as I relived that day. “Ryder’s father came with a huge group of the Brotherhood. They killed everyone in that place then carved up my papa into ten pieces. Ryder’s father lost an eye for it and three fingers. But it wasn’t enough.” I gritted my jaw as Elise reached out to touch me.
“No pity,” I snarled as a reminder and she withdrew her hand with a nod.
I cleared my throat, forcing out the rest of the words as the space in my chest started closing. “Mamma was too distraught to go and identify him at the morgue, so I went in her place.” Flashes of that day filled my vision. The ice cold room that smelled like metal and chemicals. The bright blue sheet covering his remains. The wolf tattoo on the back of his hand as the mortician pulled the sheet aside. The hollow thump in my chest. The taste of bile. The distorted features on his severed head. The mouth that had kissed me goodnight when I was a boy. And in that moment, I had shed away what remained of that childish part of me. I became a man. A man who was determined to be worthy of taking my father’s place and seeking out the vengeance he deserved.
I realised I’d stopped driving, the van idling as I blinked out of the vivid memory.
Elise had moved clos
er, but she kept her word and didn’t show me pity.
“My father’s brother, Felix, stepped up to take his place while my mother fell apart with grief and I waited for my Order to Emerge. But I grew tired of waiting on the sidelines so I asked Felix for his help. He took me in, decided to mentor me and while Mamma was barely paying attention to the world, I put my life at risk by joining Felix on his runs.”
“Without magic?” Elise gasped and I nodded.
“I wanted to be on the frontline. I wanted to know every one of the Lunar’s faces. I was so filled with rage and hate, I never stopped to think how dangerous it was.” I shrugged.
“Dante,” Elise breathed, a note of fear in her voice.
I went on before she could stop me, “Felix taught me to be ruthless, merciless. That it was the only way to win against your enemy. We had to be more terrifying than they were, we had to spill more blood and strike fear into their hearts. I believed that back then so fully, it devoured me. It was the way I dealt with the grief of losing my father. I saw Felix murder a hundred Fae and I knew that I had to follow in his footsteps if I was ever going to get revenge for my father. I had to be ready to kill even though when I did, it might take a chunk of my soul with it.”
Elise’s hand curled around mine but I knew this wasn’t sympathy. This was understanding. But how she could ever understand this, I didn’t know. It seemed she did though.
“A couple of months after my father’s death, Felix summoned me to meet him at his house. He took me to the stables on his land, but the horses had been put out to pasture. In their place were fourteen men and women, their hands bound in thick blocks of ice and their bodies wrapped in chains.” I could still see all of their faces as clearly as if they were knelt before me now. The fear, the confusion, the hate, the resilience. “Felix placed a bone dagger in my hand. It was dark magic, the blade still infused with the Element of the Fae who’d possessed it and my uncle whispered in my ear, this bone belonged to your father, his fire still lives in it. Use it to destroy those who destroyed him.”
Savage Fae (Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac Book 2) Page 28
