I looked up at him and smiled tauntingly, letting my fangs descend so he could see for himself what I was.
“Shit,” he said on a laugh. “You really are a little monster. But you can still come join my pride if you like?”
“Vampires prefer to be alone,” I responded instantly. A little stab of pain went through my heart at the words, realising that that was more true now than ever. Gareth was dead. Mom was gone. I was alone. Until I made this right at least.
I looked away from Leon, not wanting him to see a single glint of the pain writhing within me. Luckily, he didn’t seem to.
“Well, the offer’s there, little monster.” He ran a hand through his long hair in a carefree way before pointing to a large building off to our left. “That’s the cafaeteria where you’ll eat all your meals.”
“Okay.”
“Ca – Fae – teria. Get it?” he pressed with a grin.
“I get it,” I replied. “It’s just not funny.”
Leon’s smile widened and he strolled off across the open courtyard we’d arrived in.
I looked around at the echoing, concrete area, noticing a set of bleachers to the right beyond the yard and a row of picnic benches on the left. Beyond them was a hill covered in long, green grass.
“This is Acrux Courtyard where everyone hangs out between classes,” Leon said. “Oscura Clan,” he added lazily, pointing towards the picnic benches. “Lunar Brotherhood.” He pointed to the bleachers. “And those of us who don’t choose to be branded as either sit on Devil’s Hill.” He nodded to it.
And just like that, the divides in this place were marked out. Set in stone. The gangs had carved up the territory here just like in the city. It wasn’t surprising really, but I’d never felt so in the thick of it before. My old high school was firmly in Oscura Territory within the city and there had been plenty of gang members in class. But they were low ranking and had paid me as little attention as I’d paid them. I’d never even met a member of the Lunar Brotherhood before but their reputation for ruthless brutality preceded them. I wondered what it would be like to live in a war zone.
“That’s really the most important thing you need to remember about this academy,” Leon added, like I might not know. “Oh and we call the space between the bleachers and the picnic benches no man’s land. You can hang out there if you want, just don’t wander into either territory unless you’re ready to sign up to gang life.”
I eyed the two turfs suspiciously, wondering how the hell I was supposed to get close to two members of the rival gangs without getting myself killed in the process.
Tomorrow’s problem, Elise, just get through today without pissing yourself first.
My subconscious was a cold bitch but she was right more often than not.
We passed Devil’s Hill and took a path through the meadow towards a looming stone tower which dominated the view ahead.
“The physical lessons are held down there.” He pointed down the hill to the left of us where I could make out more buildings in the distance. “What Element are you?” Leon asked casually, almost like he wasn’t interested but as his golden eyes swept over me again I caught a spark in them that said otherwise.
Every Fae born in Solaria was gifted with power over the Element connected to their star sign, so as a Libra my magic was air. Some of the more powerful Fae were gifted control over multiple Elements because they were linked to constellations too, but I’d never met anyone that strong.
“Air,” I replied. “You?” Although I already knew from researching him, but I had to keep up the pretence.
“Fire, little monster. All hot and uncontrollable.”
“I thought the point of wielding an Element was to gain control over it?” I mused, though I let my eyes trail over his sun kissed skin long enough for him to notice.
“Is that what you’d like to do with me?” he teased.
I smiled without answering. I needed to get close to the Kings of this school if I wanted to figure them out after all. And there was certainly an appeal to getting close to Leon Night’s body - assuming he wasn’t a secret murderer of course. I had to admit that my first impression of him certainly didn’t strike fear into my heart. Maybe a bit of heat into my core...but I wasn’t getting a psycho vibe off of him.
“Is that a yes?” he asked, drifting a little closer to me as we walked.
“Do you always proposition girls you’ve just met?” I asked, slanting a brow.
“Only the hot ones.”
“Lucky me,” I replied mockingly, inching away again. He was toying with me and I wasn’t going to be won that easily, but I didn’t mind letting him chase.
We reached the domineering tower and Leon waited for me to open the door before strolling right through it, almost knocking into me. My mouth fell open in surprise. “Hey,” I complained as he glanced back at me in confusion. “I wasn’t opening the door for you.”
“Oh.” Leon ran a hand through his long hair sheepishly. “Sorry, with the whole Lion pride thing...girls usually just...”
“Well I don’t,” I reminded him. “And next time I won’t be nice about it.” I flashed him my fangs and a glare as I swept past him onto the curving wooden staircase before us which I presumed was our destination.
Leon jogged to catch me as I strained my Vampire hearing, picking up on a lot more sounds in this building. There were people close by, quite a lot of them, conversations flowing, laughter, crying, even a couple having sex.
I withdrew my attention, reining in my senses so that Leon was my focus again.
“This is The Vega Dormitories; all the students are housed here. You’re up on the top floor, like me.” He winked. “Dunno how you wrangled that, little monster.”
I stamped out the sly smile which came looking for my lips. I already knew. Because I’d hacked into the school’s system and selected a dorm myself so that I could be close to the other two Kings who were housed there. I’d had to get the former dorm mate expelled from the academy by screwing with a few of her exam results, but a quick look into her record told me she was a nasty piece of work anyway. Multiple reprimands for fighting, bullying and even an accusation that she’d molested a guy which had been dropped under suspicious circumstances. Leon would be just along the corridor too so it had that perk added as well. Plenty of opportunity for me to find out their secrets.
“Is the top floor good then?” I asked innocently.
“We have the best view.” Leon shrugged. “I like to see the sunrise in the mornings, so I’d say so. The dorms are all the same though so it doesn’t really mean anything. Lunar Brotherhood have the bottom ten floors and Oscura have the top ten but the rest of us are assigned randomly between every level. All co-sexes too, just in case you weren’t told in advance. Guys and girls bunking in together - they think that by housing us in groups of four it will prevent sex. Or maybe encourage it. Who the fuck knows?”
“Well I guess it could encourage group sex,” I laughed.
Sharing a room with guys actually helped me out in my plans to get closer to the Kings so I had no problem with it. Presuming they didn’t realise what I was up to and kill me in my sleep that was...
We reached the twentieth floor and Leon swung left along the corridor. He’d pushed his arms back through his shirt and blazer but hadn’t bothered to re-button them.
“This is you. The rooms are magically keyed to only open for their occupants,” he announced as we reached a door marked 666. Ominous. “You’ll find your school books, schedule and Atlas in there alongside your uniforms. That’s all you really need.”
“So this is the end of my tour?” I asked as I moved to lean back against the door. He hadn’t even shown me a quarter of the academy from what I could tell.
Leon stretched languidly, raising his arms above his head and arching his spine in a way that was so feline I couldn’t help but stare. His black pants shifted low on his hips revealing the deep V which dove beneath his waistband and sent my imaginatio
n down a dirty path. I had to yank her back a little violently.
“The sun’s shining,” he said with a shrug. “I showed you the important bits. My detention is served.”
“This was detention?” I asked.
“Hence the uniform. What can I say? I’m a bad boy,” he joked and I snorted in response.
“You’re certainly something.”
“Wanna come sunbathe with me and find out what that something is, little monster?” he asked, leaning his forearm on the doorway above my head as he peered down into my eyes.
“Thanks for the offer, but I’d better check my schedule and figure out where my classes are for tomorrow. I had a fucking terrible guide show me around and I’ll end up lost if I’m not careful,” I teased.
Leon laughed, a deep rumble sounding in his chest as he withdrew from my personal space. “Do you want these back?” He held out half a pack of cherry gum, four auras and thirteen cents (which was all the money I had in the world now) the hand drawn map he’d given me and a pair of aviator sunglasses which had been perched on my head. In short, everything I’d had in my pockets and on me that wasn’t sewn together.
“How the hell did you get those?” I asked, more impressed than annoyed. I hadn’t even noticed a thing as he’d lifted them.
Leon grinned. “Maybe I’m more than just cute,” he said, still holding my meagre possessions out for me. “But I’m feeling generous so I decided to let you have them back on account of your hotness.”
“Wow, I’m flattered,” I deadpanned as I reclaimed my crap.
Leon chuckled again and I twitched a smile in response.
“I guess I’ll see you around then, little monster.”
“Maybe,” I agreed.
He sauntered away from me and I took a steadying breath as I listened for anyone in the dorm before me. I instantly picked out three heartbeats and prepared myself for what was about to follow.
I’d faced my first King already, but the next two were endlessly more terrifying.
I took another deep breath, banishing my fear as best I could. Fae fought for their position. I had to go in strong.
For Gareth. For Mom. For me.
I placed my hand against the door and felt the magic sweep around my body before it clicked open to admit me.
Buckle up bitch. Here goes nothing.
I turned over the solid gold medallion that rested against my bare chest, drawing power from the depths of the metal as I used it to replenish my magic. One side read Oscura Clan alongside our symbol of a wolf. They were my gang, my family, my life. The other side read a morte e ritorno. Which meant to death and back in my native tongue.
I sighed, missing my family. Especially since my cousin had shown up dead. It sounded like he’d been off his face on Killblaze then rammed an ice blade into his own chest. That shit was seriously strong and caused more deaths in the city than the gangs did these days. I knew for a fact it made you go fucking crazy. I’d seen it with my own eyes.
I’d been shunning him since he’d started blazing to try and make him quit the habit. But he hadn’t. And now look what had happened. A part of me blamed myself for his death. As the future leader of the Oscura Clan, I was like a damn god to my subordinates. And I knew it would have gutted him to be outcast. So now I had to bear the weight of that decision. We hadn’t even been closely related. He was like my third cousin once removed or some shit. But I was responsible for all of my family and the rest of my clan too. And I should have done more to get him off of that soul-sucking drug.
I was laying on my bottom bunk, hidden by a sheet I’d hung from the side that didn’t press against the grey wall. The sheet fluttered as someone walked past, feathers brushing against it and pulling one end off of it so it fell halfway down.
“Gabriel!” I snapped, yanking the sheet back and finding him all the way on the other side of the room, sitting on his top bunk and gazing off into the distance. His heavily tattooed chest was on display and his huge black wings were folded innocently behind him. I pursed my lips when he didn’t meet my eye.
I know it was you.
Guy said a dozen words a month and never when you wanted them. He was a Harpy with a serious attitude problem. He always went around half-shifted with his huge-ass wings flapping about the place. I swear he did it to piss me off.
Our other roommate, Laini, poked her head out from the bunk beneath his, looking between us like she was about to step in. Never actually did, but always had that tight-lipped face slapped on.
I shot out of bed, smoke pluming from my nose as I snatched the end of the sheet and snagged it back around the bunk. “If you come in through the window, put your fucking wings away before dragging them over my stuff, capisce?”
Gabrielle didn’t acknowledge me and he was about the only fucker in the academy who could get away with that. He was the most powerful Fae in this place and had two Elements to his name, more than anyone else in this school.
The shit I have to deal with around here. Papà would be turning in his grave if he hadn’t been buried in ten pieces. But I’d bet at least one of them was twitching.
“I could eat you in my Order form,” I reminded him but he continued to look at the wall, apparently thinking about something much more important than what I was saying. Muscles wise I beat him, but he was a tall bastardo and with those two Elements humming in his veins I couldn’t take him on in Fae form. I could shift though…
The door swung open and a hot-ass angel had apparently swooped down from heaven to improve my day. The leggy girl with choppy lilac hair and anime eyes that were as green as the pools of Faelandia stepped into our dorm. Her expression said back off but she gave my bare chest a lingering look that said hell yes.
My dick saluted her and I almost did too.
“Da fuck is this? A photo op? Close the fucking door and come in.” Laini stuck out a foot, wafting it to encourage the new arrival further into the room.
“Are you the new girl?” I asked hopefully. Leon had been tasked with showing her around and fuck me I wished I’d volunteered as tribute on that detention shift.
“Define new,” she said, strolling through the room with the air of someone who owned the place.
“Fresh, appearing for the first time, brought into being. You look like a specific kind of new though…”
She eyed the empty top bunk above mine, her eyes falling to the bottom one before she rounded on me. “Oh? What kind of new?”
“Spanking.” I grinned. She did not.
Static rose in my chest and filled the room, causing her hair to lift a little along with every other hair on her body. I wasn’t just any Dragon. I was a rare ass Storm Dragon. Electricity was my thing and a live wire was shooting off sparks somewhere in my body right now.
“He does that when he’s turned on,” Gabriel spoke his first words of the day and I could have punched him for them as a smirk danced around his mouth.
“And happy,” Laini added.
“And being an asshole, so it never really stops,” Gabriel said and the new girl laughed.
I bent down, snatching one of my leather shoes from the floor and throwing it at his head with perfect accuracy. He waved his hand, catching it out of the air with a vine conjured by his earth magic and placed it back where I’d taken it from.
My right eye twitched with rage as I glared at him. The electricity burned hotter in my blood, tempting me to shift and rip his head off. He was the single student in this entire school who outranked me magic wise and I had to share a goddamn room with him.
I snarled at him and Laini retreated back into the shadow of her bunk. She was all talk, but she’d never face off with me. I’d tear her apart for it. She was just a low-powered Sphinx.
I turned back to the petite treasure who’d strolled into my life and found her moving my stuff onto the top bunk – woah what the fuck?!
Dominance forced me into action so fast, I thought she wouldn’t be prepared for it. But as I snatched her hair
, yanking her away from my things, she spun around sharply, baring fangs to try and sink into my flesh.
“Shit!” I shoved her back with a blast of air magic and she countered it with her own, a storm crashing between us.
Our power was closely matched, but I could sense I had the edge. I smiled with satisfaction, uprooting her with a flick of my fingers so she slammed into the floor on her back. Her skirt slid up those delicious thighs of hers which looked like they needed a visit from my tongue. “You’re on the top bunk, carina. Don’t test me.” I flipped my medallion around so she could see the name of my gang. A warning.
She nodded, not seeming overly surprised, but then again nearly half the school was part of the Oscura Clan. She didn’t yet know that I was the fucking Oscura. My great great grandpapà had damn well founded the Clan. So if she thought rising against me was a good idea, she was going to meet the full wrath of my ancestors directly through me.
The fight went out of her and I offered her my hand. She took it, her palm sliding into mine as smoothly as butter as I pulled her to her feet. I wonder what the rest of her feels like.
She smiled overly falsely, tossing her bag onto the top bunk and climbing up, giving me a perfect view of her bare ass around a black thong. She didn’t seem to mind either, turning and batting her lashes at me over those big Bambi eyes. Is she baiting me or mocking me?
“Chin up, carina, maybe we’ll be sharing the bottom bunk soon anyway.” I winked and she tilted her head, seeming to assess me.
“What does carina mean?”
“Cutie.” I rested my forearms on her mattress, owning it. Just like I was gonna do with her. The look in her eyes said she knew it too. Okay so maybe I was being hopeful. But she’d get the message soon enough.
“Oh but, sweetie, you’ve got me all wrong,” she said mischievously, crawling forward to give me a view down her top and a sniff of her skin which smelt like my new favourite flavour. Elderflower and cherry gum. “I’m not cute, I’m deadly. And I wouldn’t share a bunk with you if the only other option was the roof.”
Dark Fae (Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac Book 1) Page 3