When I got there, I tossed the remaining test tubes filled with Killblaze into the hidden space behind the Solarian Pitball League poster on top of my journal and threw my busted Atlas in there for good measure. I couldn't take it with me when I left anyway so it was probably for the best.
My gaze caught on the white jasper crystal that Leon had asked me to look after for him all those months ago after he’d ripped that pawn shop owner’s arm off to retrieve it. Considering the fact that he’d been so angry about it going missing, he certainly hadn’t seemed to care about it at all since. He’d never even checked to see if I still had it after asking me to look after it. And as I considered the value of it, I made the snap decision to take it with me too.
The white jasper felt warm as I gripped it between my fingers and something about the feel of it against my skin was calming. I released a slow breath and pushed it into my pocket, taking a bit of strength from it even if the idea of that was insane. It probably didn’t really hold any magical ability to help keep me calm, but I wasn’t going to question it. I needed whatever help I could get tonight.
I healed my lip, wiped the blood from my face and changed my shirt before heading back out and down the corridor to Dante's room.
I knocked heavily and Laini's voice called out from inside asking who was out here.
"I need a word with Dante," I called back.
"I'm here alone, reading," she replied. "He went down to the party at the lake to watch the Solarid Meteor Shower."
I cursed my luck and thanked her before jogging away. I still had time to deal with Dante before I had to put my plan together, but I didn't want to waste any more minutes than I had to.
The sun was dipping beyond the horizon as I made it outside and the sky was stained with a beautiful orange glow which made me ache to shift and fly among the clouds.
I ignored the urge and hurried down the path to the lake, the sound of music and people partying drawing me closer the further I went.
When I made it down to the beach, I found the party already in full motion. There were bonfires lit and Wolves howled as they rushed around excitably. The full moon always made them a bit crazy and I spotted a girl getting spit roasted right there on the beach where everyone could see, none of the Fae involved giving a single shit about the fact that they were in public.
Dante's Beta Tabitha danced past me in a red bikini that matched her flaming hair and I hurried up to her before she could escape.
"Hey, I'm looking for Dante," I called out and she turned to me with a frown before her lips pulled into a big smile as she recognised me.
"Oh look, it's the boy who won't sign up," she said, flashing her teeth in a way that made the smile seem more like a snarl. "The boss went that way." She pointed into the trees beside the lake, her eyes glimmering with amusement. "He's pretty wasted though, so you might not get a lot of sense out of him."
I cursed my luck as I thanked her and headed off into the trees the way she'd said, pushing through the undergrowth as I hunted for any sign of the Oscura King.
As I moved deeper into the trees, voices drew my attention and I turned towards them eagerly, needing to get this over and done with.
"I thought you were Gareth's girl?" Dante's voice came first, his tone slow and rumbling and I hesitated at the sound of my name.
"I don't belong to him," Cindy Lou purred in reply and my gut clenched as I instinctively tossed a silencing bubble up over myself and crept closer. I didn't know why, but I wanted to see them, to find out what they were doing. I was supposed to be warning Dante about Lorenzo anyway so it wasn’t like I didn’t have a valid excuse to be tracking them down.
"I'm not fucking my friend’s girl," Dante replied dismissively and my heart tugged as he called me that. Because I hadn't really been anyone's friend for months and I knew it. Between the Black Card and my plan to fake my death, I'd been less than a shitty companion to those I'd once held closest.
"I swear to you, Dante, on the stars, I'm not his. We just fuck sometimes, that's it. He doesn't speak to me unless we're hooking up anymore and we certainly aren't dating. That side of it ended months ago."
Her words hurt as I listened to them, but it wasn't like I could deny the truth in them either. Once upon a time I'd had dreams of something real with her, but fate hadn't let us have that and I knew I couldn't make any claims about her being my girlfriend when all we did was fuck once or twice a week. But I wished it could have been more than that. It just hadn’t been in the stars for us in this life.
I crept closer until I could see the two of them. Dante looked wasted, leaning back against a huge tree with his golden chalice hanging loosely in his fingers as Cindy Lou trailed her hands down his chest.
"Can I tell you a secret?" she asked, batting her eyelashes up at him and I wasn't even sure why I was standing here listening to this. I should have been interrupting them, telling Dante about Lorenzo and then just fucking off out of their lives, but my feet were rooted to the spot as morbid fascination made me watch this play out.
"Sure," Dante replied, not seeming like he cared much one way or another.
"I think Dragons are so hot," Cindy purred and my limbs locked up as I recognised that seductive tone in her voice. "I love how big you are, how tall and muscular and I love thinking about how big your cock must be too."
Dante laughed loudly as she shifted her hands down to his waistband before gliding it over his dick as she clearly decided to find out the truth of that guess for herself.
I should have been walking away. I shouldn't have been standing there torturing myself with watching this, but suddenly all I could think about was her begging me to bend her over and pretend I was a Dragon while I fucked her. In fact, she'd made me pretend to be this particular Dragon more than once. And because I was aching for that physical contact and because I was fool enough to believe that the connection we'd shared before I joined the Black Card still lingered there between us, I'd done it. And I'd believed her when she'd insisted it was all just a game, even though I'd known in my gut that it wasn't. It was just a way for her to build up to this.
"Does it live up to your imagination?" Dante asked, sipping his drink again and watching as Cindy Lou dropped down to her knees in front of him.
"I need a closer look," she panted, reaching for his fly.
I finally snapped out of whatever insanity I was currently experiencing and stepped out of the trees before I had to watch her sucking his monster cock.
Dante had the good grace to look mortified as he spotted me, but Cindy just cursed as he pushed her away from him.
"She told me she isn't your girl anymore, cavallo," he said, frowning at my expression as I tried not to let it show how much this was fucking with me.
"She's not," I replied, refusing to look at Cindy Lou as embarrassment clawed at me. She'd literally been using me as some kind of sex toy to play out her Dragon fantasies and I'd played along with it like a desperate moron. It was humiliating, especially knowing that it clearly hadn't even been enough to satisfy her if she'd come here looking for the real deal. "I'm here because Lorenzo managed to take three of the things you asked me to give him tonight. He's in his room at the dorms but he passed out. I just thought you'd want to know."
Dante cursed and I turned away from him, wanting to get out of this fucking clearing and back to my plan so that I could avoid looking at Cindy Lou and then never have to see her again. Why did this hurt so fucking much?
"Gareth," she called out and I paused a moment as I was forced to glance her way. "Tell Dante that you're okay with me and him," she begged. "I don't want him thinking you're upset over this."
"Do I look like I'm upset?" I asked in a flat, icy tone which I knew would have made Ella proud as hell. "Get back to sucking his cock, I'm sure his Dragon dick will be all you ever could have hoped for and more."
I strode out of the clearing, trying to ignore the sound of her voice as I went even though the words wormed their way into my ears
regardless.
"See, sweetie, he doesn't mind. And I want to make you feel good, won't you let me finish what we started?"
I was thankfully far enough away to miss Dante's reply and I tried not to think about her lips wrapped around his dick as I strode out of the trees and onto the beach with my mind fogged up with a visual I really didn’t want to be having.
It shouldn't have hurt, I shouldn't have cared. But fuck if it did all the same. I thought back over the countless times when she'd said or done something strange with me or when I'd caught her looking at Dante, and I was left with the sickening feeling that she'd been using me to get closer to him all along.
A hard body collided with mine and I cursed as beer sloshed down my front, soaking me through.
"What the fuck?" I yelled, shoving the culprit hard enough to knock him on his ass before I realised it was Leon.
A gaggle of Mindys rushed forward and instantly heaved him upright again as he laughed.
"Shit, sorry, man," he said, swiping at my shirt like that could possibly do anything about the beer.
"Forget it," I snapped, trying to step around him, but he caught my arm to stop me.
"Hey, are you okay?" Leon asked, seeming like he actually gave a shit beneath the layer of booze.
“I just walked in on Cindy Lou begging another dude to let her suck his cock, so not so much,” I grunted before wondering why I’d bothered to tell him that.
“Shit,” he said slowly, patting my arm awkwardly. “Are you alright?”
I opened my mouth to give him an honest answer encompassing all the shitty things I was currently struggling with before stopping myself. I couldn't do honest, not really. And I'd been growing distant from Leon in the last few months even though I knew he'd been a good friend to me before. But my plan was set. Gareth Tempa was going to die tonight and it wouldn't be fair of me to draw him closer right before that happened.
"I would be if idiot Lions weren't stumbling about the place throwing drinks all over people," I snarled, letting my anger over the Cindy Lou thing colour my words.
Leon's brows shot up and I could tell that had taken him by surprise. "Well excuse me for standing in your way, your assholishness. I was just trying to be nice but I dunno why I bothered. You're the one who ditched me for your little Black Card buddies, not the other way around. So if you're gonna be a pissy little bitch then I shall fuck all the way off as requested."
My jaw ticked and I clenched my fists as he turned his back on me, offering up the ultimate sign of disrespect as he headed off into the crowd with his Mindys and I just let him go.
It was the coward's way out really. I didn’t want to have to say goodbye to my friend so I'd been a dick instead. But there was nothing I could do to change it now. I needed to get back to the main campus if I wanted to get everything in place for my escape plan in time to implement it.
The white jasper crystal felt like it was burning a hole in my pocket and I almost called out to Leon so that I could return it to him as guilt clawed at me. But he was swallowed up in a crowd of Mindys before I could even try. I let it go, not having the time to spare.
Tonight Gareth Tempa was going to die. I just had to survive long enough to make it happen.
I shot down the fire escape to my room, leaving Gabriel to call Ryder and get him to come and help us which he assured me he’d seen happening already. Everyone would be returning to the academy following the Christmas break on the second of January and as it was already close to dawn on the first, we needed to make use of the fact that no one was around to see us do this before they came back.
I quickly stripped out of the dress and heels I'd worn to the party, grabbing a pair of black leggings and a black sweater instead and pairing them with a pair of chunky boots before pulling on a coat to stave off the freezing weather.
By the time I raced downstairs, Gabriel was already waiting for me at the foot of them, arms folded over his broad chest as he leaned back against the wall by Ryder's window.
"Is he coming?" I asked.
"Do you actually think he'd say no to anything you asked of him?" Gabriel asked in response and I shrugged.
Ryder had proved time and again that I could rely on him, but I wasn't stupid enough to think he was under my thumb. No, the Lunar King only ever did what suited him. I was just lucky enough that pleasing me suited him more often than not these days.
"How are your power levels?" I asked him less than subtly as we started walking towards The Weeping Well.
My fingers were itching with the desire to start casting but I was running lower than I'd like to be for an encounter with that crazy Vampire beneath the well.
"I'm about half out, but the sun will be up soon so if you want to top up before it rises I can go for a fly to replenish before we head down into the dark," Gabriel offered, taking my hand in his and winding our fingers together.
I released a slow breath as I squeezed his hand tightly. "Does that mean you're my Source now too?" I teased.
"I get the feeling I'm your everything now," he replied. "Even if the stars chose someone else for you."
I tugged on his hand to make him stop walking and turned to look up at him. "The stars might have mated me to Leon, but that doesn't mean I see you as any less permanent than him. It doesn't mean I want you any less, or love you any less either."
Gabriel's gaze raked over mine and I could see that there was something on his mind even though he wasn't saying it.
"What's wrong?" I asked, stepping closer so that the rich earth and cedar scent of him enveloped me and he wound his arms around me.
He was so tall that I had to tilt my head right back when he was standing over me like this, but I loved the feeling of being wrapped in his shadow.
I slid my hands up his chest until they were clasped behind his neck and he released a sigh before telling me what was bothering him.
"When I first had a vision of you with silver rings in your eyes, I saw you in my arms, touching me, kissing me, filling my heart with joy as I looked at you with more love than I could even imagine feeling at the time. And now that vision has come true. That exact scene played out on Christmas Day in that damn cabin Leon dragged us to. I just hadn't realised when I first saw the vision that if I’d looked around, I would have seen three other assholes in the room with us."
"Well, I don't think any of us could have predicted that," I teased. "So maybe even the stars weren't sure of it."
He smiled as he ran his hands up my spine slowly, making my skin shiver at his touch.
"But I also saw my eyes ringed in silver," he said quietly. "And people don't get more than one Elysian Mate, so that means..."
I flinched at the mere suggestion of that, shaking my head in furious denial. "No. No fucking way," I said. "There isn't any way in the world that I will accept that some other bitch out there is destined to take you from me. Besides, you have to actually cross paths with your Elysian Mate to get called beneath the stars with them, so I can just lock you up somewhere and never let you meet another girl again if you see yourself crossing paths with her."
"You're going to lock me up to keep me?" Gabriel asked, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips like he didn’t mind the sound of that at all.
"Yeah, I would," I agreed, tiptoeing up so that I could push my fingers into the black hair at the nape of his neck. "I'd chain you in my cellar and come down to bite you in the dark."
"Why does being locked in your dungeon sound so hot?" he murmured, his smiled widening.
I liked that. I liked it a whole lot. Gabriel didn't smile enough. Not by half. And I wanted to give him all the reasons in the world to smile as often as possible.
"Oh, it would be hot," I promised him. "Though I have to wonder if you'd really be any good at playing prisoner. You're way too controlling in bed for me to believe you'd play nice like that."
"I haven't actually had you in a bed yet, so how can you be sure of that?" he teased.
"Well maybe if yo
u didn't insist on sleeping up in a nest like a vulture all the time, you could come and climb into my bed some nights?" I offered.
"With your mate too?" he asked looking less than impressed with that idea.
"Well you haven't seemed to be as against sharing me recently," I pointed out. "And I'm never going to complain about being caught between the two of you."
"You're absolutely insatiable," he teased, dipping forward to brush his lips over mine.
"I don't know about that. The four of you certainly managed to wear me out at Christmas."
"So it just takes four of us, huh?" His smile widened and I reached out to paint the lines of his face with my fingertips.
"I love making you smile, Gabriel," I murmured.
"It's been happening more frequently recently," he admitted.
"I've seen you smiling with Ryder, too," I said, touching my lips to his jaw and slowly trailing kisses towards his ear as he growled with longing.
"Once or twice," he admitted. "Perhaps your taste in men isn't as terrible as I first believed."
I laughed as I kissed him beneath his ear and the deep growl that escaped him made a shiver run right through me.
"Are you going to admit you like the way I bite you?" I asked as my fangs lengthened and I grazed them over his skin, my tongue trailing down the line of the vein in his neck as I felt his pulse thump beneath my lips.
"Are you going to admit I taste the best?" he asked, the smile clear in his voice making my heart lift even after the shitty night I'd had.
"Never," I breathed before sinking my teeth into his neck and moaning as the hot spill of his blood ran between my lips.
Gabriel pulled me closer, his hands sliding beneath my sweater as I wound my fingers through his hair and drank in the endlessly alluring depths of his power. There was something so wild and free about the way he tasted, like I was literally consuming the way it felt for him to fly through the clouds.
I swallowed mouthfuls of his blood with a deep sigh of satisfaction but just as I pulled back, another hand caught my chin and pulled my gaze to my right.
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