“What do you want?” It wasn’t Dante who answered and my heart leapt at the sound of a girl’s voice biting at me with acid laced tones. “My cousin is trying to move on from you, Vampira whore, so why don’t you just leave him alone?”
Relief spilled through me as I realised this wasn’t some new girlfriend or anything like that, just a family member who cared about the man I was trying to reach.
“I just want to talk to him,” I said, swallowing the lump in my throat. “Who is this?”
“Rosalie Oscura,” she spat back. “And you might wanna remember that name, because I’m the stronza who is going to hunt you down and wring your scrawny neck for making my Alpha hurt like he has been.”
“I don’t know what you think happened between us, but-”
Rosalie cut me off with a raving torrent of Faetalian which she spat at me with such venom and anger that for a moment all I could do was listen, absorbing her rage without knowing what to say in response to it. I hadn’t wanted to hurt Dante. Fate was the one who had chosen to do this to us.
“Why are you on my phone, Rosa?” Dante’s voice barked in the background and my heart lurched as she growled something in response before his voice came down the speaker to me. “Elise?” he asked, his voice strained and the sound of a door slamming cutting off Rosalie’s tirade in the background so that there was nothing but silence between us.
“I know you asked for time,” I said slowly, biting on my bottom lip as I tried to figure out where I was even going with this. “And I gave you a month...”
“You think a month would be long enough to get over you, bella?” he asked, the rich, deep tone of his voice sending a shiver down my spine as delicious as tasting sin itself. “A month is nothing, a year even less, a lifetime wouldn’t be long enough to remove the mark you’ve placed on my heart. So no, it’s not enough time, amore mio, but it’s too long all the same.”
“Fuck, I’ve missed you,” I breathed, guilt stirring in my gut at the admission because it wasn’t fair of me to say it. Not to him, not to Leon, probably not even to myself, but it was true.
Dante was silent for a long time. “How is it?” he asked slowly. “Finding your perfect match?”
“It’s...he’s...” I wanted to lie but it wouldn’t have been fair to any of us if I did. “He’s everything, Dante,” I admitted. “I’m happier than I ever thought I would be able to be again after everything with Gareth, but...”
“But?” he prompted and I swear it sounded like he held his breath for my answer.
“But I still miss you more than words can express,” I admitted. “The others too. I know it’s not fair of me to say it, but sometimes, I wish...”
The sound of the bedroom door closing in the room beyond the balcony reached me and my heart leapt guiltily as Leon’s footsteps moved across the floor towards me. He knew I’d be out here, this was my retreat from the world and I always welcomed him into it, but for the first time, I wished he’d just given me a moment longer to talk to Dante, to figure this out.
“Little monster?” Leon called just before he stepped through the billowing curtains and I looked up at him, the Atlas still pressed to my ear and tears springing to my eyes as I didn’t know who I should have been feeling the most guilty over.
“It’s okay, bella,” Dante murmured, like he could tell exactly what I was feeling through nothing more than the weight of my silence. “Fate knows what she’s doing. Even if it isn’t always clear to the rest of us...”
Leon tipped his head back with a groan as I continued to look up at him. “Finally. I was seriously starting to think you’d never admit it.”
“Admit what?” I asked and he just tsked at me before holding his hand out for my Atlas.
I handed it over silently, watching him as he checked the caller ID, a smirk touching his lips before he pressed it to his ear.
“We need to have this out, brother,” he said, his gaze fixed on me as he reached out to tuck a lock of lilac hair behind my ear.
I should have used my gifts to listen to Dante’s answer, but my heart was pounding so damn fast that I didn’t think of it until Leon was replying again.
“That sounds perfect. Give me an hour.” He cut the call and leaned down to press a chaste kiss to my lips. “Come on, little monster, we’ve got a date with a Storm Dragon tonight.”
***
We pulled up to the guarded gates at the edge of the Oscura stronghold where a pack of Wolves instantly appeared between the rows which marked the edge of the vineyards.
A big silver wolf pup strutted to the front of the pack and shifted back into a girl as she moved to stand before the hood of the luxury convertible Faeyota Leon had stolen for our drive over, butt naked and looking pissed as all hell.
“Gahhhh.” Leon threw his hands over his eyes dramatically like the sight of her naked body burned him and I found Rosalie Oscura’s furious gaze fixed right on mine.
Damn she’s scary for a kid.
“I’m watching you, Vampira,” she hissed, pointing right at me. “If I see anything other than a big ass smile on Dante’s face after this little visit then you’re dead. You got that?”
“Sure,” I replied easily, not wanting to cause any issues with her. I recognised that protective love which burned in her eyes. I’d once had someone who I would have killed to protect too, and I could respect her feelings on this whole fucked up situation.
“A morte e ritorno,” she growled in warning before shifting back into a Wolf again as the gates swung open to admit us.
“You can open your eyes again now,” I assured Leon and he peeked between his fingers before sighing in relief and pulling the car up the drive.
The wash of magical detection spells spilled over us repeatedly as we drew closer to the house and I shivered at the familiar touch of Dante’s magic as it confirmed our identities and allowed us to pass. I had no doubt that Felix or any of the Lunar Brotherhood who tried to breach this place would find themselves up against a very different response to the powerful spells designed to keep enemies of the Oscura Clan out.
Nervous energy filled me as I looked up at the sprawling white house which Dante called home and Leon cut the engine. He leapt over the door like a total douche to get out and a laugh tumbled from my lips as he darted around the car to open my door for me.
He took my hand and kept it as we climbed the steps up to the house and the door pulled open before we even made it to the porch which ringed the building.
A lump formed in my throat as I looked up at Dante where he stood, taking up the entire doorway with the breadth of his shoulders as he pushed a hand through his black hair to draw it away from his face.
He’d let dark stubble grow across his jaw and the black wifebeater he was wearing was pulled so tight over his huge frame that I could have sworn he’d bulked up even more in the time we’d spent apart. The day was thick with a hot and sultry heat and the basketball shorts he was wearing to match the weather gave me a good look at his powerful thighs too.
Fuck me this man is gorgeous.
His dark gaze dragged down my body in the thin, turquoise sun dress I was wearing over my bikini. My skin had been kissed golden by the sun and as he drank in every inch of my flesh, I swear I could feel the heat of its rays on me with so much intensity that a bead of sweat ran down my spine.
“Le parole non possono descrivere la tua bellezza, amore mio,” he said in that achingly deep voice of his and a shiver of pleasure danced across my skin at the sound of him speaking to me in his language.
Dante’s gaze fell on my hand where Leon still held it before moving to look right into my silver-ringed eyes. Pain danced in his gaze for the briefest of moments before he hid it with a smile and stepped back to let us in.
Leon squeezed my fingers reassuringly, giving me a grin before greeting Dante, filling the air with the sound of their chatter as they both asked inane questions about how their summers had been so far. Dante swapped stories of his gang wa
rs with Leon’s tales of his latest robberies and I just bathed in the sound of their voices as I followed them through the huge house.
There wasn’t anyone else in sight and I could only guess that Dante had commanded them to stay away because I knew for a fact that the place was always booming with members of his pack and family.
We strode down huge corridors before coming to a filigree gate which opened at a touch of Dante’s hand. “Only the Alpha can open this gate,” he explained as he led us through and closed it again behind us. “We won’t be disturbed unless I decide to let someone else through.”
He and Leon continued chatting about everything and nothing, never once touching on the subject which hung between the three of us as we followed Dante into his private wing of the house. He gave half hearted complaints about the fact that he’d been having half of his family members clamber into his bedroom at night and pile in with him to sleep since being back. But as he’d just told us that all he had to do to keep them out was close that gate, I knew that he didn’t really mind it at all.
When we made it to the top of the stairs, he led us through a set of hand carved wooden doors with the name Oscura branded into them and a pack of wolves running beneath the full moon below each one.
We stepped into a room with a huge four poster bed at the heart of it and dark furniture decorating the cream space. There were hand painted murals on the walls, each depicting different wolves and one showing an enormous navy Storm Dragon flying through the clouds.
Dante led us to a small iron staircase which was hidden in a corner and twisted up towards a hatch in the roof. We followed him up the stairs and my eyes widened as we emerged on the roof in a little hidden garden with trellises all the way around it, thick with flowering rose vines that effectively hid us away from the world on all sides.
He casually tossed a silencing bubble up over us, muttering about this house having walls with ears and pups trying to spy around every corner for gossip.
“Wow,” I murmured as I looked around at the beautiful spot, noticing a covered hot tub in one corner of the space and a set of wrought iron patio furniture on the other.
Dante led us to the seats which clustered around a small table and leaned down to open a mini fridge set up against the wall. He grabbed us a couple of beers and Leon kept hold of my hand as he moved towards one of the chairs, waiting for Dante to sit down before nudging me to take the seat beside him.
I looked up at my Lion and he winked at me as I found myself sitting right beside my Storm Dragon, his dark eyes finding mine and pinning me in his gaze.
Dante opened the beer, transferring his into his golden chalice before passing out the other two to us.
“Salute,” Dante said, clinking his drink against mine and Leon’s in turn as we all paused to take a swig of the citrusy beer.
“This is awkward, isn’t it?” I admitted, biting my lip as I glanced between the two of them, full to bursting with all the things I needed to say and having no clue where to even begin.
Dante chuckled and Leon grinned. “Well, you’ve been hard work from the day we met you, little monster, no need to stop now.”
“Isn’t that the truth,” I groaned, leaning my head back against my chair as I looked up at the bright blue sky.
Before either of them could reply, Dante’s Atlas started ringing where he’d tossed it on the table and we all looked at it like it was a Griffin taking a shit on our dinner plates before Dante suddenly barked a laugh.
“I need to take this call,” he said with a smirk. “But if you can contain your laughter while I do then feel free to listen in.”
I leaned forward eagerly, looking at the caller ID and seeing the name Dragon Bastardo flashing up.
Dante smirked excitedly as he answered it, leaving it on the table and putting it on speaker so that all of us could hear the tirade of screaming that poured from Lionel Acrux’s mouth the second the call connected.
“I don’t know who the fuck you think you are, you jumped up little gangster, but I assure you that you’re setting yourself up for a world of fucking misery if you’re seriously trying to play this bullshit with me!” Lionel roared and my eyebrows rose as Dante didn’t even bother to hide his laughter, the deep rumble of his amusement pouring from his lips as he antagonised one of the most powerful Fae in the whole kingdom.
My heart pounded and I had to seriously wonder if he was out of his fucking mind. I had no idea what he’d done to upset the Fire Lord, but it had to be bad and that kind of thing could easily cost him his life.
“Calm down, amico,” Dante said warmly, grinning as his gaze stayed glued to the Atlas. “I’m not going to post that video anywhere. It’ll stay between you, me…and Charlize of course. But I do have a kill switch on that and several other home movies which will be posted to FaeTube if anything were to happen to me or anyone I love in response to this.”
“I’m warning you now,” Lionel snarled. “If even a single frame of that video is leaked to the press-”
“Get off your prejudiced high horse Papa Dragon, your bullshit doesn’t fly with me. I’ve seen you with your dick deep inside a Pegasus girl so I’m not buying it,” Dante replied, smirking his ass off like he was really damn proud of himself.
My gaze met with Leon’s and I mouthed what the fuck? to him as he wrapped his arms around his waist and buckled over, fighting to stifle his laughter.
“But don’t worry your scaly green ass about it, your highness,” Dante went on, his voice dripping disdain. “Your secret is safe with me. This is simply a bargaining chip. Nothing more than that. I know you seem to be under the impression that I’m transferring to that fancy ass academy of yours-”
“Any Fae in the country would sell their own soul for a spot at Zodiac Academy,” Lionel shouted. “And yet you’d sooner risk the wrath of the most powerful man in the kingdom to stay in your shitty little corner of Alestria?”
“That’s where I think you need to work on your understanding of me, Papa D,” Dante said like a total asshole and I had to admit it was pretty fucking hot to watch him face off against such a powerful adversary with a smirk on his face and not an inch of fear in sight. “You can’t buy my loyalty with fancy shit, hell, you can’t buy my loyalty at all. And I know, everything in this world is a transaction, and I understand that I’m a commodity you’re looking to purchase, but you need to understand, I’m not for sale.”
Lionel tried to interrupt but Dante continued as if he hadn’t even heard him.
“But, I get it, you’re the big I am and you’re not gonna let a punk like me just refuse you. So how about we call this a negotiation. Point one, I’m not moving away from mia famiglia, my clan or my academy. But, if you want me to show up every now and then and act like a good, loyal little Dragon I’m sure I can manage a bit of bullshit at a few fancy parties, considering there’s free champagne.”
“You really think that’s all I want from you?” Lionel demanded, the rage slipping from his tone as it lowered into something more deadly.
“No, Papa D, I don’t. But I think that’s all you need right now. Perhaps when you’ve calmed down a bit, jerked off over that video a few times and let the smoke stop blowing out of your ass we can discuss the future of our arrangement. But until then, I’m going to be going back to Aurora Academy and the world is going to stay oblivious to the fact that you stuck it to a Pegasus girl with her horn on.”
“Fine,” Lionel snapped and I swear my brows rose all the way up until they disappeared into my hairline. “Continue your sub-standard education if you must and remain amongst the dogs you call your family. But don’t for one moment allow yourself to believe that I won’t have the rest of what I want from you. You’re mine, Storm Dragon. And I’ll be coming to collect on what we discussed in due time.”
The line went dead and I just gaped at the Atlas as Dante fell apart entirely and Leon joined in.
“Holy fuck, Dante that was badass,” Leon gasped.
“That
was fucking hot,” I breathed, my skin flushed with colour as he turned to look at me with a heated expression of his own.
“Show me the video and tell me how the fuck you got it,” Leon demanded and Dante laughed as he pulled up the file on his Atlas and played it for us.
“Charlize is one of the best whores we have working at the Black Hole,” Dante explained. “She’s an Incubus and can imitate any Order real convincingly so long as she’s been in contact with someone who desired them above all else. She can seduce pretty much anyone because all she needs to do is touch them to get a read on what their perfect sexual partner would be and she can transform into them. I managed to get her into a hotel where Lionel was staying, she touched his hand in the elevator in the morning and that night, she just made her way to the bar and got herself in his line of sight while looking like his perfect wet dream. Being a powerful bastardo and a total stronzo, I was fairly sure he’d cheat on his wife with little thought and of course he did. Charlize had a hidden camera set up and the moment he was five inches deep in her, she shifted her front end into a shiny pink, Pegasus.”
I gasped as that exact thing happened on the tape we were watching. One second Lionel was fucking a stunning brunette doggy style on his bed, the next, he’d closed his eyes and tipped his head back and she had the head and horn of a Pegasus. He came with a loud and throaty groan, slapping her ass as he did so before opening his eyes just as she let out an excitable whinny.
“Oh my stars,” I gasped as Lionel began screaming and cursing and Charlize shifted again, black wings bursting from her back as she took on a Harpy form and shot out of the open window too fast for him to catch her.
Leon was laughing so hard he couldn’t breathe, and Dante tipped his head back with a deep roar which made my skin prickle as electricity crackled all around us.
Broken Fae Page 5