Broken Fae

by Caroline Peckham

  "Whatever way, we need decent water players on the team soon or we're going to be fucked in this year's season. I can't see us reaching the finals again if we don't shape up this year."

  I growled in annoyance and my heart twisted as I thought about how ruthlessly we'd been beaten by Zodiac Academy. I'd screwed up my own dream along with everyone else's and the guilt I felt about that was consuming. I'd happily take a Lunar onboard if it meant we'd get that chance again. But Dante would never accept it.

  We arrived at the Dead Shed, or so it was nicknamed. The wooden structure standing tall beside the path, a padlock on the door. It was full of supplies for the school and all kinds of shit people dumped in here.

  Mars unlocked it and gestured for us to walk inside. I headed after Ryder and felt myself passing through a magical barrier as I did so. The door swung shut with a thunk and I turned in confusion, finding that Mars hadn't followed us in.

  "You'll be here for twenty four hours unless you can work together to get out. You must power share to open the box waiting for you inside the shed. If you can't use subtlety to do so, the box will explode and your chance of escaping will be thwarted. Have fun!" His footsteps headed away and I gaped at the door in surprise.

  "No. Fucking, no." Ryder shoved his way past me, raising his hands and trying to blast a hole in the ground at the foot of the door. It was absorbed by a magical barrier and a ringing filled my ears as light skittered out across the edges of the room. It was dark, but a couple of windows at the top of the walls let in enough light to see by. It was a ramshackle of metal shelves and disorganised school equipment collecting dust and making homes for spiders. There was a huge old box at the back of it collecting dust which looked like some sort of sarcophagus. Any old shit around the school was dumped in here when it no longer had a use.

  "That fucker," Ryder kicked a bucket that slammed into the door, hit the barrier and launched back at him, whacking him in the chest. He hissed dangerously, turning to me with a sneer. Then he stormed past me and moved to sit on the floor beside a rack of supplies and I folded my arms.

  The wooden box Mars had mentioned sat at the heart of the room with a golden lock on it.

  "Calm down snakey pants, let’s just power share and get out of here." I strode to the box and held out my hand to him in an offering.

  He shook his head in refusal.

  "We power shared the night we fought King, why is this any different?" I asked.

  "Because that was to save Elise. I can't power share with you, Lion. I won't."

  "So you admit you care about Elise." I dropped down to sit on the floor, raising my brows as I dared him to deny it.

  He grunted. Which was basically him screaming yes! in his world.

  "She cares about you, too," I said with a frown. "You can still hang out with her, you know? I don't care."

  He released a huff through his nose. "I fucked her, I got what I wanted. Now you're welcome to her."

  I growled in warning, my Lion raising its head. "You can deny shit all you like, asshole, but you talk about her like she's nothing again and I'll shift and tear your fucking head off."

  He surveyed me for a long moment then nodded stiffly in agreement.

  "She's not nothing," he said after a moment of silence, his gaze fixed on the wall.

  "You're not either," I said, my heart beating harder. "I miss you."

  "Ex-fucking-scuse me?" he balked, turning to me with his eyes narrowed.

  I shrugged. "Just being honest."

  "You miss me?" he deadpanned. "I was never your friend, we're barely acquaintances. In fact, you’re just a cat who comes scratching at my window sometimes who I need to chase away."

  "Nah, I'm more than that to you," I said cockily and he tsked. "We fought alongside each other, we're bound by that. By Elise. By everything we'd do for her. We're the same in that way. And remember when I totally died and you totally left that bloody handprint on me because you were all sad and stuff?” I took out my Atlas and brought up the photo I’d taken of it on my chest. I’d even added the caption BFFs forever, because obviously that was where this was heading. I’d known that then. “I'm your little pal.” I waved the photo at him and he glowered darkly.

  "You're not my 'little pal'," he air quoted the words, smacking the Atlas away from his face. "I don't have pals. I don't need pals."

  "Everyone needs a little pal," I insisted, and Ryder got to his feet with an angry hiss.

  "Stop talking," he demanded, pointing at me.

  "I can't. I'm a talkative person. And we've got twenty four hours to kill so that's a looooot of time I need to kill. I'll most likely do it talking. And snoozing. There will be some snoozing. But when that ends, the talking will start again."

  "Just. Stop," he half pleaded, walking back towards me as he looked at the box.

  "It can all stop if you just put your power in me, Rydikins," I encouraged. "Just put it in. Just the tip."

  He snorted a laugh before he could stop himself then tried to cover it with a furious hiss. But I had him pegged. He found me funny. Deep down, beneath all the emotionless bullshit he showed the world was a beating heart that needed love as much as the next guy’s did. And I had a lot of love to give. Endless amounts really. So I was happy to care about him until he let me in.

  "Fine, but only because I don’t want to spend another second in your company,” Ryder agreed, offering me his hand.

  I stood up and took it, sliding my fingers between his. He tried to jerk it away again, but I smirked at him and held on tight.

  “Relax, sweetheart, it’ll only last for a second,” I taunted and his eyes turned snake-like and furious.

  “Is that what you say when you’re about to fuck Elise?” he tossed at me and I barked a laugh. Not the reaction he’d been hoping for clearly.

  I let my magic push at the edges of my skin until it pressed against Ryder’s palm. His barriers were up tighter than a duck’s asshole, but if he didn’t chill out and let me in we really were going to be stuck here. And I didn’t sleep on hard floors with no heating. I’d be very much in my own bed tonight with my little Vampire wrapped naked around me, freshly fucked and glorious. I would not be sleeping here like some reject street cat in a shed. A. Shed.

  “Ryder,” I sang. “You’re not trying very hard.”

  He glared at me and I could see this was going to be an impossible mission if he didn’t relax.

  I sighed, dropping his gaze, figuring it was going to take more than me joking around to make him do this. “Look, dude, I really am sorry about all the hurt you must be going through over Elise. You don't have to confirm it or whatever, you can hold onto this heartless bullshit all you like. But I've seen the truth. I know you even if you don't want me to know you. And...it's shit. I don't want Elise to lose you."

  "Has she-" he cut himself off and I squeezed his fingers, which was definitely not the way to go as he tried to yank them free again.

  "What?" I encouraged.

  "Doesn't matter," he grunted.

  "Ryder."

  His gaze told me to back down, but I couldn't. There was an ache in my soul over Ryder. I'd seen his scars, everyone had. He'd been hurt more than any person should be in their lifetime. It was no wonder he was like this. No wonder he couldn't trust anyone or admit he cared for anything. Who knew how much had been taken from him in the past? I longed to heal that wound in him as keenly as if it had belonged to my girl. It was as if he was my…Lioness.

  "If she wants you like she used to, I want her to have you. I want her to be happy. Really happy. And lately, I get the feeling that she's not," I admitted, bearing my heart to him even though I knew he couldn't do the same for me. My stomach twisted as I said those words. It made me feel like a shitty mate. I should have brought this up with her sooner, but maybe I feared that she'd shut the idea down. Because in my bones, I knew I wanted this. When I'd shared her with Dante, it had felt so good, no matter what the stars had to say about it. But I always followed
my instincts, always trusted myself, and currently they were leading me to Ryder and begging me to wrap him up in cotton wool and cuddle him like a cub.

  "Why are you looking at me like that?" Ryder growled as I stepped closer to him.

  Just a little squeeze...he won't mind a little one.

  I released his hand and pounced, wrapping him in my arms and dragging him in for a fierce hug. He struggled hard so I clutched him tighter, fighting to keep him there. Then he got his palms between us and shoved me away, his teeth bared.

  "What the fuck, Mufasa?" he roared.

  "You liked it.” I smirked. He totally did.

  "If you try to hug me again, I will grow a vine so far up your ass that it'll get lodged in your throat and suffocate you to death," he warned.

  I laughed, holding out my hand again. "Alright, alright, we'll put a pin in the hugging idea."

  "No, there's no pin. It's a hard limit."

  "Jeez, just power share with me already and we can figure it out later."

  "There will be no hugging," he snarled. "Ever. I don't hug people."

  "You’ve hugged Elise. I saw it," I said playfully. He wasn't smiling, but maybe deep, deep down, he was smiling. I was going to assume so.

  Ryder snatched my hand in fury and I pressed my magic out to meet his. It didn't.

  "If you were just honest with me, you might find you like getting a little vulnerable, then your magic barriers will come down and I'll slip right inside you."

  "Can you stop talking about it like you're about to fuck me in the ass, because it's making this impossible. Let me do the pushing, I’m not a taker in any sense."

  "Okay, just tell me something real. Something that you don't want to tell me."

  He levelled his gaze on me and I cocked my head as I waited. I could feel him trying to let his barriers down without doing this, but it wasn't gonna happen.

  "I'm a good friend, Ryder. Whether you want me as one or not. Whatever you say, it won't leave this shed just like the ghost of the kids who died in here." I painted a cross over my heart and he frowned at the gesture like he recognised it.

  He looked away from me to the wall and several seconds of silence passed.

  He cleared his throat. "For the longest time, I've been a weapon for the Lunar Brotherhood. Elise made me want to be the Fae I was before all that. Now she's gone and I can't forget what she made me feel. With her, I started to think I didn't have to just be a weapon anymore. At least before I met her, I didn't care that I had nothing in my heart. Now, I can't get back to that. Now I feel too much and I can't turn it off. I've tried every spell and cure and potion I know, but this pain makes me bleed inside every day. It won't go away."

  I opened my mouth to respond, pain twisting through me at his words and he looked to me as he felt it.

  Our barriers rushed down and our magic met like two powerful waves colliding. His dark power twisted through me and the two of us gasped, moving closer instantly as the essence of our beings washed together.

  I knocked my forehead against his and he didn't pull away as I clapped my hand to the back of his neck. "I hate that you're hurting, brother," I rasped.

  He looked like he was going to reply then pulled me down to kneel before the box and guided our magic gently toward the lock instead. I let him take the lead as he wielded our combined power like a paintbrush against the golden latch until it suddenly clicked. The lid swung open and the magical barriers around the shed came rushing down in a wave.

  Ryder pulled his hand free of mine so his magic was yanked away from me. He got to his feet and I stood too, about to say something that could help solidify this connection between us, but he shoved out the door and was gone before I could.

  I stared after him with a piece of my heart begging for him to come back. And I knew it was time to talk to Elise. And to be honest. As honest as we could possibly be.

  Leon:

  M eet me in our room in ten. There’s something I need you to put in your mouth.

  I barked a laugh and Laini gave me the side eye as I broke the sanctity of the silent library. I flashed her a look at the message I’d just received to explain and she choked back a laugh herself.

  Laini glanced around, flicking a silencing bubble up around us like she was concerned about breaking the unspoken law of the library by doing it. I didn’t really see why it mattered if we were talking within a bubble, but the Sphinxes got weird about all kinds of shit that went on around books like that and I wasn’t going to argue with her over it.

  “Okay, I know I’m all in to a vag so maybe it’s just my preference prejudice speaking but please explain to me the allure of the blowjob,” she hissed, half laughing but also giving me a look that said this was a great mystery of the world which she was dying to know.

  “I mean, I guess the addition of the tongue to the hole adds a level of pleasure to the guy’s experience,” I teased and she scrunched her nose up even further as I gave her the man’s perspective on it.

  “Ew, no I don’t mean for them,” she said, shuddering like the idea of pleasuring a man gave her the heebie-jeebies. “I’ve shared a room with Dante for over two years. I’m well aware guys wanna stick their magic wand in any and every hole they can find. I wanna know why you wanna be half choked by a one eyed snake for their benefit.”

  My laughter echoed around our bubble and she grinned too. “You mean you don’t like the idea of having someone at your complete and utter mercy, wrapping your lips around their long, hard-”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get that it’s about pleasuring someone else, I can lick pussy like I’m a world class harmonica player putting on the concert of my life,” she replied, rolling her eyes. “I’m more thinking logistics, like are you just half choking most of the time? Do you have to breathe through your nose? Like in my imagination I guess I can only picture it as trying to swallow a baguette without chewing. What about teeth? Aren’t they a hazard when you have something that big all jammed up in there? And that can only be worse for you - your fangs snap out when you’re turned on and I’m guessing no one wants a fang to the dick even if they are into biting elsewhere. Do you have to think about other things to keep them in check while you’re down there? Like, are you silently going over your Numerology assignment while trying not to choke? Or mentally listing all the things that Griffin shit can be used for when it isn’t causing a health hazard?”

  I couldn’t even try and hide my laughter as it rang out and she grinned too, letting me know she was at least half joking.

  Eugene came back from his bathroom break at that moment and took his seat opposite us again. Laini extended the silencing bubble to include him and he looked between us with a smile.

  “What did I miss?” he asked.

  “Elise was just trying to explain the art of sucking dick to me and I’m waiting on her feelings on the subject.

  Eugene flushed as red as a beetroot and my Atlas pinged again, saving all of us from my reply.

  Leon:

  Why am I waiting alone in our room? Come on, little monster, I need to put this inside you to get to the bottom of something we’re both aching to know.

  Elise:

  You can’t just click your fingers every time you want me, Leo. I’m working on my Astrology charts, so you might have to sort yourself out if you can’t wait for me ;)

  Leon:

  No can do. This is a matter of BIG importance. I’m playing the mate card. You can’t say no.

  Elise:

  Your blue balls are not a matter of BIG importance. If I come running every time you need help dealing with them, I’ll end up with you twenty four seven.

  Leon:

  I’m hurt that you think I’d only call you back to me for sex, little monster. But you’ve brought this on yourself...

  I frowned down at my Atlas, wondering what the hell he meant by that.

  “My mate needs to learn a thing or two about who’s in charge in this relationship,” I joked, tossing my Atlas aside and g
iving my attention back to my work.

  Laini smiled down at her own assignment. “I think it’s pretty clear you’re the one making him jump through hoops all the time,” she said. “And not just him...” Her voice trailed off and I looked at her, wondering if I wanted to insist she explain that comment, but Eugene gasped dramatically, making me forget all about it.

  I looked up to find him staring down at his own Atlas before glancing up at me sheepishly.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Leon set the Mindys on you. He said that the first Mindy to deliver you back to your room will be his favourite.”

  “What?” I snarled this time, snatching his Atlas to see for myself.

  Leon Night: Me and @EliseCallisto are playing a game of hide and seek. The first girl to find her and bring her to our room will be my favourite forevermore.

  P.S. Bring snacks for bonus points ;)

  Natalie Brooks: I will find her even if I have to gouge my eyes from my face and throw them into the sky to spot her!

  Lauren Lockwood: I’ll smother her in chocolate so that she IS the snack.

  Kaysie Ward: I saw a fishing net down by Lake Tempest that I can catch her in.

  Merranda Devereaux: I will find her even if it kills me and only my rotting corpse remains to deliver her to you.

  There were over three hundred likes and sixty eight more comments and the damn thing had only been posted for one minute.

  Movement in the corner of my eye made me look around as I spotted a gaggle of Mindys rushing my way.

  I snarled, baring my fangs at them but they didn’t even slow.

  “For fuck’s sake.” I shoved myself to my feet, meaning to shoot away from them and hide just to teach Leon a lesson but as I spotted more of them blocking the exit, I huffed out a breath of frustration. No, he didn’t deserve me simply avoiding him, he deserved an ass kicking. I refused to be herded up by Mindys every time I didn’t want to give in to his demands. This shit stopped now.