I kicked off the damn shoes and scrambled up onto my knees, grabbing Dante under the arms and heaving him away from the door so that it could swing closed behind us again.
I glanced around to find us in a huge room laid out with round dining tables. Moonlight poured in from the windows which ran the length of the righthand side of the space and I was finally able to see better.
I dragged Dante further away from the door, my muscles bunching and heaving with the effort.
“Maybe when you survive this you could lay off the workouts,” I hissed through my teeth. “A little less muscle would be appreciated in this situation.”
Dante chuckled, blood spilling between his lips as I worked to pull him into a corner.
“Where now?” I whispered as Dante managed to sit himself up and lean against the wall.
His chest was heaving and glistening with blood. He needed to be healed. Fast. I wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold out like this.
“You might be one of the most confusing women I’ve ever met, carina,” he breathed. “But I’m starting to get the feeling you care about me.”
A humourless laugh fell from my lips as he accused me of that. And the worst thing was, he was right. I didn’t have to be here, I could have run. He could be responsible for Gareth’s death. He could be due this fate. And yet here I was, risking my life to save his. I must have been insane, but I also knew there was no way in hell I could leave him behind and live with myself.
“Don’t get carried away, Dante,” I joked. “You’re just my ride home. I can’t drive, remember?”
He coughed a laugh and my heart leapt as more blood dripped from his mouth.
“I’ll rip this place apart until I find you!” Ryder bellowed from the kitchen behind us and I spun around as the door was thrown open.
He stepped into the room and fell still as his gaze landed on us.
Panic held me in an iron grip and I did the only thing I could think of. I got to my feet, planting myself in front of Dante.
“You’ve won, Ryder,” I breathed. “Just let us go.”
His hard gaze swept over me in my ripped dress, bare feet and bloodstained skin. I looked like hell but I wasn’t done yet. I would place my life between his and Dante’s.
“You’d put yourself at risk for him?” Ryder asked, stalking closer, his eyes hard and without mercy.
“I’d do the same for you,” I said honestly.
He paused at that, his gaze raking over me, his fist tightening so that pain dripped blood onto the carpet.
“I could end the Oscuras tonight,” he growled. “End this feud, this hatred, the death, the sacrifices, all of it. But you’d have me, what? Walk away? Even though I’ve already won? Why the hell would I do that?”
I took a step closer to him, then another. He remained in place, watching me approach like a wolf eyeing a hunter.
“Because you’re better than that,” I whispered, reaching out to catch his hand in mine, my fingers tightening over his split knuckles.
“You’re determined to see things in me that aren’t there,” he snarled.
“You’re determined to deny what lives in your heart,” I countered.
“Get out of the way, bella,” Dante growled behind me and I looked over my shoulder to find him standing up. “Let this end here. I won’t die cowering behind you. I’ll be on my feet, staring death in the eye. A morte e ritorno.”
I shook my head desperately, my gaze locked on Ryder’s, pleading, begging him not to do this, my grip on his hand tightening painfully.
Ryder hissed between his teeth, a low rattle sounding in his chest.
Magic built in his other hand and I could only shake my head as his gaze settled on Dante over my shoulder.
“Please, Ryder,” I begged. “Don’t.”
His eyes slid to me and for a moment I thought he was going to use his hypnosis on me but instead all I found was a different kind of pain in his dark green eyes.
Some of the tension slid from his shoulders and he squeezed my fingers, his cold blood dripping over my skin from the wounds on his hands before he let me go and stepped back.
“I didn’t come here looking for you, Inferno,” he growled. “I came looking for the man who asked me to kill you. The one who wants you gone so that he can take your place without having to fight for it like a real Fae.”
“Who?” I gasped, backing up towards Dante.
“You know who. The one who’s been leading your gang in your place.” Ryder’s words were for Dante and he held his eye for a long moment before turning and stalking back into the kitchen.
Deathly silence fell over us as his footsteps pounded a path away from us and my heart remembered how to beat again as I realised he’d left us. Left Dante. Let him live.
I spun to look at Dante, my eyes wide with hope just as his body gave out and he collapsed to the floor.
“No!” I gasped, racing forwards, aching for my magic, my Order form, something, anything that could help us.
My skin tingled with panic and I reached out to cup his face in my hands, calling his name, demanding he wake up. Ryder’s blood smeared across his cheek and my heart leapt with a different emotion as my eyes widened on it.
I lifted my trembling fingers to my mouth and sucked on them. Sin and darkness, desire and temptation danced over my tastebuds and the smallest tendril of Ryder’s power slid into my chest.
I stuffed my fingers into my mouth, sucking every drop of his blood from my skin, licking it from the back of my hand and from Dante’s cheek. I was an animal, desperate, feral and hungry and I lapped up every single drop of it until the smallest reserve of magic settled in the darkness of my chest.
I pressed my shaking fingers to the worst wound on Dante’s side and willed the healing magic to bring him back to me.
A faint green glow spread beneath my hand as the magic danced its way free of my flesh and into his, searching, hunting, healing as it went.
Dante groaned as he came to and I kept pressing at the magic until the small reserve I’d gathered was all gone, leaving me bone dry in a desert of nothing again. But that didn’t matter, not one bit. Because my Storm Dragon was pushing himself up, a fierce look lining his features as he caught my fingers between his and pulled me up too.
“Ti devo la vita, bella,” he growled, looking into my eyes. “And I’ll pay that debt back one day.”
A hysterical laugh tore from my chest and I threw my arms around his neck, a tear slipping down my cheek as I clung to him in relief. He grunted in pain at my assault and I was reminded that he wasn’t completely healed, not even close. But it was enough. Enough to get us out of here.
“Come on,” I caught his hand and started pulling.
Dante didn’t hesitate long, soon leading the way as we jogged through the lavish restaurant. He was limping, his other hand pressed to the wound on his side but he was moving. We were getting the hell out of here.
Instead of heading for the front of the restaurant, Dante led me left, through a door hidden behind a curtain and down a narrow passage with a glowing green emergency exit sign at the far end.
Dante’s grip on my hand was like iron as we jogged through the dark together, our feet hitting the hard floor the only sound.
When we reached the exit, Dante slammed his hand against the bar securing the door and we sped out into a dark alley, the cool night air kissing our skin and silvery moonlight spilling down on us. I didn’t know where we were, turning my head back and forth as I tried to get my bearings.
Dante stilled beside me, his grip on my hand tightening painfully just as a rough voice sounded in the shadows to our left.
“Dante! I thought you were dead, nipote! How did you escape?”
The tension in Dante’s posture increased as the man stepped from the shadows. His weathered features and the cruel gleam in his eyes would have been enough to put fear in my soul even if I hadn’t recognised him. But Felix Oscura was the most notorious gang member
alive. His face was plastered all over the news week in week out and now that he’d removed his mask he was all too easy to recognise. He was a monster, out of control, a sadist, psycho, madman.
I trembled a little as Dante squared his shoulders.
“A morte e ritorno, Uncle,” Dante growled. “I just made it back from hell.”
Felix tilted his head as he regarded his nephew and my heart leapt at the cruel assessment as it took place.
“Barely though, by the looks of it,” Felix purred, stepping closer. “Do you even have any magic left? I’d guess not by the state of those wounds…”
Everything fell very still around us as Dante held his uncle’s eye, the threat in his posture clear. One Alpha challenging another.
A cold wind gusted through the alley and a faint tingling rang in my fangs despite the fact that I couldn’t call on them.
Felix glanced up and down the dark alley before stepping closer again.
His hand was fisted at his side, a dagger forged of ice growing in his palm.
“We will sing your praises at your funeral, nipote. The Clan will bathe in the blood of the Brotherhood in the name of vengeance for your death,” Felix hissed, stalking closer again.
Dante growled, squaring his shoulders as he pushed me aside out of harm’s way.
Felix spared me a glance for all of half a second before dismissing me as he continued to hound towards his nephew.
“Dante,” I gasped but his focus was on Felix.
A shiver raced across my skin as I looked between the two of them.
“A traitor earns himself the worst kind of death,” Dante promised. “My people will cheer as I tear you limb from limb and leave the pieces to rot for the crows.”
Felix smiled cruelly. “That’s a threat I’m willing to face for the power of the Oscura Clan. I’ll lead them to greatness without you here to challenge my claim.”
He leapt forward with a burst of speed and I screamed as he collided with his nephew.
Dante yelled out, one hand catching Felix’s wrist as he fought to keep that dagger away from him while he threw punches with his other fist.
I ran forward, grabbing Felix’s arm and trying to drag him back. His elbow collided with my face and I fell to the concrete, pain ricocheting through my skull as I hit the ground hard and blood poured through my hair.
The strong iron tang of blood on the air spoke to me as I rolled onto my hands and knees, the tingling in my fangs intensifying. I reached for the monster inside me, calling her, coaxing her out to come to my aid.
My fangs snapped out and I leapt forward with a spurt of Vampire speed before I even gave the move any consideration.
I slammed into Felix’s back, my teeth driving into the flesh of his shoulder and his blood rushing into my mouth.
I snarled like the beast I was as I locked an arm around his neck, wrenching him off of Dante and drinking deeply, feasting on the dark power that lived inside him.
Felix cursed as I held him in place, my power immobilising his magic and stealing the strength from his muscles.
Dante got to his feet, his eyes glittering with the promise of death as he stalked towards his uncle and I held him before me like an offering.
“Vampira whore,” Felix snarled. He swung his hand back with all the strength he could muster, the ice dagger still clamped in his grip.
Pain drove through me as the blade pierced the flesh of my stomach and I fell back, releasing Felix as a scream of agony left my lips.
Dante’s eyes widened as Felix leapt straight for him, dagger raised with my blood flying from it in an arc of red.
I screamed my defiance to the stars, throwing my hands up and sending a whirlwind of air magic from my palms straight into him.
Felix bellowed as he was thrown away from us, tossed to the farthest end of the alley where he slammed into the ground.
Darkness came for me, tugging at the edges of my vision and promising oblivion.
I gritted my teeth, ignoring the pain that blazed through my gut and channelling my nature.
With a surge of defiance, I shot forward, wrapping my arms around Dante and throwing him over my shoulder before speeding out of the alley and getting us as far from Felix Oscura as I could before my strength gave out.
I ran further and faster than I’d thought possible before finally collapsing.
I dropped Dante, a hiss of pain escaping me as I fell to the concrete and my eyes closed, promising me an escape from the torment of my injury.
“Elise!” Dante demanded from somewhere close and far away at once. “Elise! Stay awake, you need to heal yourself!”
He grabbed my hand and pressed it to the warm, wetness of my blood which pulsed from my stomach.
“Now!” he commanded and somehow I managed to concentrate enough to do as he’d instructed.
The pain receded and the tension evaporated from my muscles as I managed to peel my eyelids open again.
“Dante?” I breathed, looking up at him as he was silhouetted by the moon above me. “Did we get away?”
“We did, amore mio,” he replied, brushing my hair from my face. “Thanks to you.”
“And Felix?”
“Gone. For now.”
“What does that mean?”
Dante’s gaze darkened, his fingers sliding along my jaw as he looked at me.
“Che sta per iniziare una guerra: that there’s a war starting. And the streets will run red with blood before it’s won.”
Want more bad boys from the ruthless world of Solaria?
Dive into Zodiac Academy where the most powerful and elite Fae go to school…
**This series is NOT reverse harem**
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Yesterday, I was nothing.
Today, I'm a Fae with unspeakable power, an heir to an entire kingdom, and a threat to the four most ruthless supernaturals in a world I didn't know existed.
And I'm a twin. So she's damned to the same fate too.
Our biggest problem is them. A ruthless Dragon Shifter, a menacing Vampire, a vicious Werewolf and a manipulative Siren. The popular, vindictive bullies who just so happen to be the hottest guys in school and heirs to the throne we just laid a claim on.
They want to hurt us.
They want to break us.
And they'll stop at nothing to make us bow at their feet.
My Gemini sign meant little to me until now, but the stars rule this world. They define my Elemental magic, determine my nature and twist my will.
But I've never bought into daily horoscopes, so I'm not gonna start now.
I'll determine my own fate. And I'm here for one thing and one thing alone: the inheritance my royal parents left in their wake.
There's just one catch...
We have to graduate before it's given to us. So until then, the heirs won't stop fighting to get rid of us. And I have the awful feeling they just might kill us in the process.
This is a full-length medium burn supernatural academy novel that is the first in a university-age academy series. Expect forbidden teacher romance and bully romance at this paranormal academy with a hot and heart-pounding story suitable for upper YA/NA readers and onwards.
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BOOKS BY CAROLINE PECKHAM
SUPERNATRUAL BULLIES AND BEASTS
(CO-WRITTEN WITH SUSANNE VALENTI)
ZODIAC ACADEMY: ORIGINS OF AN ACADEMY BULLY (A PREQUEL NOVELLA TO THE SERIES)
ZODIAC ACADEMY: THE AWAKENING
ZODIAC ACADEMY: RUTHLESS FAE
ZODIAC ACADEMY: THE RECKONING
ZODIAC ACADEMY: SHADOW PRINCESS (COMING SOON)
THE AGE OF VAMPIRES SAGA
(CO-WRITTEN WITH SUSANNE VALENTI)
ETERNAL REIGN
ETERNAL SHADE
ETERNAL CURSE
ETERNAL VOW
ETERNAL NIGHT
ETERNAL STORM
ETERNAL LOVE
THE VAMPIRE GAMES NOVELLAS
A GAME OF VAMPIRES (SERIES PREQUEL - FREE)
– FREE WHEN YOU SUBSCRIBE TO MY MAILING LIST!
CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE
THE VAMPIRE GAMES: SEASON 1
V GAMES
V GAMES: FRESH FROM THE GRAVE
V GAMES: DEAD BEFORE DAWN
THE VAMPIRE GAMES: SEASON 2
WOLF GAMES
WOLF GAMES: ISLAND OF SHADE
WOLF GAMES: SEVERED FATES
THE VAMPIRE GAMES: SEASON 3
HUNTER TRIALS
HUNTER TRIALS: INTO THE DARK (COMING SOON)
THE RISE OF ISAAC SERIES
CREEPING SHADOW
BLEEDING SNOW
TURNING TIDE
WEEPING SKY
FAILING LIGHT
THE RISE OF ISAAC NOVELLAS
FALLING FIRE (PART ONE)
FALLING FIRE (PART TWO)
Savage Fae (Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac Book 2) Page 45
