A sting of rejection pierced through my chest and he cut me a look which said he’d felt it before carrying on out the door.
“Come in, Miss Callisto,” Mr Pluto said, moving forward to shake my hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”
The moment his skin connected with mine, I felt the tug of his powers as he tried to get a read on my emotions and I yanked my hand back again sharply, a hiss escaping me followed by a sense of dread as I realised I was back to this old shit.
“You’re a Siren,” I said bluntly and he gave me an acknowledging smile.
“It’s a pretty common profession amongst my Order,” he explained with a shrug like that made it okay.
“And I’m guessing that means you’ll use your powers to force secrets from my lips regardless of how I feel about that, like a damn mind rapist,” I muttered, hiding the thundering of my heart with a show of bravado. It didn’t really make sense for me to fear this dude being like Nightshade but after putting up with all of her shit last year, I’d really been hoping that I wouldn’t have to deal with this one thing now.
“I promise it’s not-”
“Here,” Ryder barked from the doorway and I twisted around to look at him, not realising he’d been lurking there. He had another roll of auras in his fist and he tossed them at Pluto with a flick of his wrist. “That’s for her. She doesn’t need to put up with this shit either.”
He turned to walk away but I called out to make him wait, snatching the roll of money from Pluto’s hand and shooting into the corridor to stop him from escaping me.
“Thank you for the thought, but I don’t want hand outs,” I said, my mind still whirling as I pressed the money back at him.
Ryder’s lips twitched with what I could have sworn was amusement, but maybe it was just irritation as his fingers curled around the money.
“And I don’t offer them, either,” he replied. “You can do a job for me to pay for it. Or pay me back with your own money when you earn it from the Kiplings. Or are you too stubborn to accept even that much from me?”
My lips parted on a protest that wouldn’t leave them as I looked into his eyes and finally, I nodded. Ryder huffed out what could have been a laugh and tossed the money to Mr Pluto again.
“Same goes for her, forward her Nightshade’s notes then delete them. You read anything that bitch wrote about either of us and the Brotherhood will see you in ten pieces by the end of the week.”
Ryder turned and strode away without looking at me again and I was left standing there with so many things I wanted to say to him that I couldn’t think of the right place to start.
“Let me know about that job,” I called after him.
“You’ll hear when you hear, baby,” he replied without looking back.
I could tell he still wasn’t ready to talk to me so I let him go, but the corner of my lips tugged up into a smile as Pluto closed his door and I was left there alone. Ryder didn’t do shit for anyone unless he wanted to and that meant he wanted to get me out of these fucking sessions. As there was no benefit in that to him personally, the only possible reasoning behind it had to be that he cared about me. And now that he’d shown his cards, I was more determined than ever to win him back.
Nine Months before the Solarid Meteor Shower…
D ante knew I owed him big time. And I suspected he was going to call in the favour any day now. He watched me across the Cafaeteria as I chatted with my friends and faked my laughter when everyone else was laughing. I didn’t know whether what Harvey had just said was funny or not because I couldn’t concentrate enough to hear it.
Dante jerked his head, beckoning me to join him and I blinked out of my stupor, turning to Cindy Lou and kissing her on the lips. “I’ll be back in a bit.”
“Okay, sweetie.” She smiled and I lingered there a second longer as I hugged her, soaking in the sweet scent of her skin. Then I got up and walked away.
I was seriously grateful to Dante for saving my glittery ass from Ryder. But nothing came for free in this life. I was going to have to pay him back. And it looked like the time had come to do just that.
Dante rose from his seat before I made it to the Oscura table, walking straight out of the double doors and I hurried after him. When I made it outside, Dante was already halfway down the path and I frowned as I quickened my pace to catch up.
He led me across campus while I trotted along to try and catch him and when I rounded the next corner and came up in front of the Dead Shed, he was gone.
Shit on it.
I was suddenly whipped off my feet and a whinny was choked into silence in my throat as Dante carried me on a gust of air and dropped me down beside him. On top of the freaking Dead Shed.
He cast a silencing bubble around us and frowned at me.
“Look down there, cavallo. What do you see?” He pointed over the back of the shed and my heart pounded as I moved towards the edge and peered down.
Lorenzo was there amongst a handful of other Blazers, all of them laughing and rolling on the ground.
“Grass is like tiny, tiny trees,” Lorenzo mused as he stared at the stalks beneath him then leaned down and bit right into the ground, chewing through a mouthful of mud. By the stars.
Dante yanked me back by the collar and glared at me. “He’s never going to be able to return to the Clan if he doesn’t fix this habit. How often is he doing this shit?”
“I…er-” I gave him a guilty look. It was impossible to watch Lorenzo at all times and whenever I saw him sober, he was twitchy and obviously out for his next hit. I didn’t know how to handle his drug habit. I sighed, my shoulders dropping. “Killblaze is so addictive, I can’t stop him from doing it. And even if I did, he’d lose his mind. I heard that Blazers who are cut off from it can actually die if it’s not done slowly.”
Dante sat on the roof and I lowered down beside him, searching his expression as electricity crackled around him in the air.
“He needs to be weaned off of it then,” he said thoughtfully, looking to me with a smirk. “So I’ll just cut him off from his dealers and ensure you’re the only one he can get Killblaze from.” He clapped me on the shoulder and I felt the blood draining from my face.
“Me?”
“Yeah, I’ll have the Kiplings get you the drug and make sure he’s not going anywhere else for it. They can cut it with ambergrass to weaken it and slowly, bit by bit as we lower his dosage of Killblaze, we’ll break his addiction.”
“I dunno Dante…I don’t wanna be a drug dealer.” I flinched as his electric aura zapped me in the back of the head.
“It’ll just be Lorenzo, it’s not like I’m asking you to set up a drug ring, cavallo. And it’ll be for his benefit. You can think of yourself as Lorenzo’s guardian angel.” He tugged me under his arm in an iron hold and spoke in my ear. “You’re the best chance he’s got. I need you.”
I nodded, releasing a sigh as I realised I didn’t have a choice in this. He had saved me from a violent death at Ryder’s hands after all. And I guessed he was continually saving me from that just by being my friend since.
“I can’t ask the Clan to help with this. It has to be a secret,” Dante said seriously, turning to me with a frown. “I’ll make it worth your while, amico mio. I may not be close with my cousin, but he was a part of my pack. I need to protect those who love him from the fate he is walking towards.” He scruffed my hair and I smiled a little. Sometimes I could see a real friendship blossoming with Dante. But that belonged to another life. One where I didn’t have to be secretly working my ass off to pay Old Sal back every month, one where I wasn’t planning to run with Ella and take her as far away from this city as possible.
Maybe I’d miss him when I was gone. But then I remembered I was now officially a drug dealer for the king of the Oscura Clan and I doubted I’d miss anything at all about this life. I couldn’t wait to live without looking over my shoulder all the time, without my heart racing constantly and sleep evading me every night. No, when this was
all over, I’d never look back. I’d only look forward to the future where me and Ella could carve our own fate. And we’d never have to answer to anyone again.
***
I lay in my bunk with Cindy Lou, a sheet hanging around the edges of it so no one could see in and a silencing bubble in place. Not that that had stopped the bed rocking and Amy muttering curses from the bunk above. My bad.
I held onto Cindy, not wanting to get out of bed as I clung to this moment. With her, things weren’t so bad. The stress I was under drifted away and I could just enjoy some peace for a while in her arms. And as I regularly needed to keep my mind off of the raging shitstorm that was my life, I was more than glad to hide away in bed with her for as long as I could get away with.
I ran my hand down the smooth plain of her bare back and she sighed contentedly as she painted circles on my chest. Her black hair fell in a waterfall around us, the scent of shea and honey carrying from her and helping me relax for once.
“Are you planning on joining the Oscuras?” she asked, reaching up to kiss my neck.
“No, why’d you ask that?” I asked breathily as her hand pushed beneath the sheets and curled around my dick.
“You always jump to attention whenever Dante looks your way.”
“He has that affect being the leader of the Oscura Clan,” I snorted.
“Yeah,” she breathed, running her tongue up to my ear. “He’s a bad Fae. Do you ever fantasise about what it would be like to lead a Clan like that? To be a Dragon who could eat someone whole?”
“Um…” She started pumping my dick and I struggled to focus on that question.
“How about we do a little roleplay?” She quirked a brow as she leaned over me, kissing the corner of my mouth. “You could pretend to be a big scary Dragon and I’ll be the bad little Centaur he has to punish.”
“Er, do we have to?” I cupped her ass as I tried to pull her on top of me but she resisted, pouting down at me.
“It’ll be fun,” she pushed. “You go on top.”
“Ah…okay.” I moved to get up and she dropped into my space, rolling onto her front.
I frowned down at her as she lifted her ass and whimpered like I was about to hurt her. It was totally fucking weird, but she looked hot as fuck so maybe I could play along.
“You’re gonna be – er- in big trouble,” I tried and failed terribly at sounding scary.
“Maybe try a Faetalian accent,” Cindy suggested, writhing in the sheets. “And hold me down.”
“Okay…” I tried to ignore how awkward I felt and focus on how much I wanted Cindy, especially when she was wriggling like that and tempting me in. I could try dominating her I guessed. I took hold of her hands and pulled them sharply behind her back.
She yelped and I immediately let go. “Shit, are you alright?” I asked.
“Don’t stop!” she demanded and an alarmed whinny escaped me as I hurried to grab her wrists again and lock them at the base of her spine. “Do the voice.”
By the stars, what I’ll do to get laid.
“You’re in trouble, bella,” I did an exaggerated accent which was definitely bordering on offensive, but Cindy let out a moan that said she liked it, so screw it. “You’d better take my punishment or I’ll…punish you more.”
“Oooh, how will you punish me Dragon Alpha?” she gasped as I ground my hard length against her ass.
“With my big…weapon.” By the sun, why am I so shit at this?
“Ohh, what’s it like? Describe it,” she begged, rubbing her ass back against me and making me groan.
“It’s um…a large-” she moaned excitedly “-thick-” she gasped “-scaly-” she slurred ohmystars into the pillow “-Dragon dick-” Damn, that seemed like it was going somewhere better.
“Yes!” she cried and I started fucking her while she screamed. I grabbed her hair and forced her down beneath me as she begged me to growl like a Dragon – which I totally did. She came faster and harder than ever before and I followed her into bliss as she tightened around me.
“Oh Dante,” she panted and my brows pulled tightly together as the effects of my orgasm passed. I flipped her over beneath me, frowning down at her.
“You don’t really want Dante, do you?” My heart twisted and she quickly shook her head, pulling me in for a kiss.
“It’s just a game, silly, next time we can play out your fantasy,” she said.
“My fantasy is you,” I murmured, pouting like a little bitch as I realised she fantasised about someone who was nothing like me.
She slapped my chest before grabbing her underwear and pulling it on. “Don’t be moody, Gareth. It’s just a bit of fun.”
“Okay,” I muttered as she tugged on her dress and slipped out from under the sheet. It must have been nearly lunchtime and as it was Saturday, I was hoping to spend the rest of the day with her.
I pulled on my boxers and followed her out of the bed, finding my roommates absent. Amy must have gotten sick of her bed rocking like a boat in a sea storm.
Cindy pecked me on the lips and was at the door before I could even get one leg in my jeans.
“See you later!” she called and was gone before I could ask her to have lunch with me. Great.
I gave up putting my jeans on, deciding on a shower instead and I grabbed some fresh clothes from the closet with a towel before heading down the hall.
When I was washed and dressed, I wandered downstairs, my stomach rumbling for food. I’d worked up a serious appetite this morning and I was down for grabbing a bunch of snacks and sitting on Devil’s Hill watching the Blueshine game on my Atlas this afternoon. Sounded like bliss to me. But apparently that wasn’t in my stars because Lorenzo came barrelling towards me on the path after springing out of a freaking bush.
He grabbed my arms, his fingers digging in. From his bloodshot eyes and manic expression, I could tell he was as high as a Harpy on an updraft. I’d been doing as Dante said, giving him a steady supply of drugs for the past few weeks as the Kiplings made sure the dosage was being slowly diluted. But I swear it was just making him more volatile.
“I need another hit,” he begged. “I’m coming down, down, down. I’m gonna go splat. Don’t make me go splat, Gareth.” He fell to his knees, hugging my legs and I shoved him off, backing up and casting a silencing bubble around us. There were no teachers nearby, but it was broad daylight and I didn’t want to be caught with a Blazer on his knees before me, wailing about getting his next fix.
“You can’t have more today. You had two tubes yesterday,” I hissed, grabbing him by the scruff of his collar and pulling him off the path and behind a bush.
“It’s gone. Gone to the stars, the moon, to the little pixies living in the rainbow. Those little bastards. They took it away.” He laughed wildly then started sobbing. “I hate when it goes away. Then everything is dark and grey. There’s no colour, Gareth. It’s not even black, just nothing, nothing, nothing!” He gripped my shirt in his fist, shaking me and glitter tumbled from my hair. He swiped his finger through some that landed on my shoulder and sucked it off. “Ohhh you’re made of it, you’re made of Killblaze.” He reared forward to try and lick the glitter off of me, his dark hair falling into his desperate eyes. I pushed him back again with a growl and he lost his footing, falling onto his ass. “Please!” he cried. “I have to go and see them today and I can’t focus without it. Please Gareth.”
“See who?” I frowned as he started rolling in the grass, kicking his legs like a toddler.
“Them! And the man with the power!”
“What power?” I demanded.
“The power of voodoo.”
“Voodoo?” I frowned.
“You do!” he laughed like a madman, pulling grass stalks up between his fingers then staring at them as he held them above his head. “I killed them! Ahhh!” He tried to re-plant the grass and I sighed, scraping a hand through my hair.
“Maybe you should come back to my room. We could chill out, watch the Blueshine game
together?” It didn’t sound like the best day ever, but maybe once Lorenzo had calmed down he might act normal again.
“No. I’d better go. I’m very late for an important date. The Black Card won’t like me being late,” Lorenzo said, suddenly looking anxious.
“The Black Card?” I questioned, unsure if he was just rambling nonsense again but he nodded seriously.
“I lost my family, so I got a new one. They don’t talk much, but they let me sit with them. It’s nice. They’re nice.” He nodded several times and my gut knotted.
“Have you joined them?” I asked. As far as I could tell, the Card were nothing but a bunch of cult weirdos and it was the last place Lorenzo was going to stay out of trouble.
“Yes. Had to do things. Weird things. But now they’re my friends. It’s nice having friends.” He was drooling. Which confirmed this situation definitely couldn’t be ignored.
I took out my Atlas, hoping Dante wouldn’t mind me calling him about this, but I didn’t know what else to do. Weaning him off the stuff wasn’t working.
I lifted it to my ear and Dante answered a few rings in. “Cavallo?”
“We have a problem with Lorenzo.” I told him where I was and soon hung up, wrinkling my nose as Lorenzo found a toad under a bush and started licking it. The little creature blinked furiously like it was mildly offended, but didn’t hop away.
“Lorenzo, I don’t think you should lick that, it could be poisonous.”
“But it’s good luck. Lick a toad today and your problems go away.” Lorenzo suddenly started choking and the toad hopped away as the guy rolled onto his back and spasmed on the grass.
Shit on it.
I dropped down in alarm, pressing my hands to his throat and letting healing magic wash from my body, connecting with his magic force and encouraging it to work against the poison. Heavy footfalls sounded behind me and Lorenzo’s face returned to a normal colour just as Dante appeared, helping me and Lorenzo to our feet.
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