Dark Fae (Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac Book 1)

by Caroline Peckham

  “Shit,” I exhaled, my eyes trailing over Leon for a second. Could I screw this Lion over? It wasn’t like we were friends. And that crystal was the answer to my damn prayers. I could pawn it for cash before he even knew it was gone. How would he ever trace the crime back to me if I was smart about it?

  Hell, what other choice did I have? The stars were putting a solution right in front of my eyes. I’d be a fool not to take it. I hadn’t made any headway with Nox and my time was running out.

  “I’ve messaged you the login to my Faeflix account on FaeBook,” Leon announced with a bright smile. “So...?”

  “Let’s go see Mars,” I agreed, ignoring the tug in my gut as I led him out the door. “He runs detention on Thursdays in the Empyrean Fields.” I had to figure out a way to get my hands on that crystal, so I might as well start by cosying up to him.

  Leon fell into step beside me as we headed downstairs and out of The Vega Dormitories. He thumbed through his Atlas as he walked, moving as slow as a snail riding a tortoise which was frustrating as hell.

  “Do you wanna walk a bit quicker, bro?” I glanced over my shoulder at him.

  He chuckled to himself, lifting his eyes. “Sure, dude. But check this out first.” He passed me the Atlas and my gaze fell onto his FaeBook newsfeed, showing a post from him.

  Leon Night: So I’ve thought long and hard about this and I’ve decided it’s time for us to take things to the next level. The blowjobs you give me are sublime and fuck if I don’t think about you all day and all night long. You know who you are. Wear a pink flower to show me you love me too and wait for me to come and claim your heart. #meanttobe

  Susan Gwent: Ohmystarsss Leon finally! I’ll wear it every day until you come for me!

  Amy Starling: It’s me, I know it’s me! I’ve waited so long for you to admit your feelings!

  Rachel Jupiter: MY LION KING! I’M WAITING! #Icanfeelthelovetonight

  Dione Apollo: He’s mine bitches!

  Susan Gwent: He’s talking about ME. Don’t try and get in the middle of true love, Dione.

  Dione Apollo: As if he’d go for your skinny ass, bitch. Leon likes a booty on his cutie. #donthatemecozyouaintme

  Principle G: Now now, gals. A skinny kaboose can be just as appealing as a big booty. #anotherproblemsolved #Gforce

  Click to load 283 more comments.

  I arched a brow as I turned to Leon, passing him back his Atlas. “So who’s the real mystery girl?”

  He leaned in closer, looking like he was about to burst out laughing. “There isn’t one.” He lost it, clutching his side and it was so infectious that I couldn’t help but fall apart too.

  He clapped a hand to my shoulder and I grinned.

  “That’s hilarious.” Dammit, why did I have to like this guy?

  We headed on, walking down the corridor side by side and I didn’t really care about hurrying anymore.

  Leon started telling me about the pranks he’d pulled in school so far and he’d only been here a month. He’d swapped sugar into Ryder Draconis’s morning eggs instead of salt, causing Ryder to hit his minion so hard he went to the ward, he told Dante Oscura a dark-eyed woman was out to kill him so he broke up with two girlfriends and glared at any dark eyed girl until she left him the hell alone. He’d convinced Gabriel Nox he was moulting by scattering black feathers behind him wherever he went, and he set off the fire alarm more times a day than was even funny anymore.

  When we arrived on the Empyrean Fields, I was feeling extra shitty about planning to rob him. But I couldn’t pass up this opportunity for the sake of some guy I barely knew. I needed to help my family. It was my priority now. And I’d sworn I’d do whatever it took, so I wasn’t gonna blink at this.

  Mars was standing to one side of the field, making five students run laps around it. When they ran up to him, he ordered them onto the ground to do push-ups before sending them off to do another lap. I’d attended a few of Mars’s detentions in the past and I knew how fucking gruelling they were. He’d have this lot out here until midnight, dripping sweat and covered in blisters. They weren’t allowed to heal until Mars decided it was time and that usually lasted at least until the next day.

  We headed over to him and he noticed us, placing his hands on his hips. “Evening, Mr Tempa,” he nodded to me. “And Mr Night, isn’t it?” He looked to Leon who nodded.

  “Hey sir,” I said, ready to work the charm I’d relied on my whole life. “So I was thinking....you want the best Pitball team in Solaria right? One which stands a chance at beating the other teams. Even Zodiac Academy...?” I said enticingly and Mars’s eyes narrowed.

  “Yeah…” he said suspiciously and I nudged Leon forward.

  “Well Leon just showed me his tackle and it’s fucking ace. Like Solarian Pitball League good. I think you should consider him for the position of Fireshield.”

  “I’ve already filled the spots. It’s too late.” Mars folded his arms and Leon pushed a hand into his hair.

  “Maybe I can still change your mind?” he suggested. “Nothing is set in stone unless you say it is, right sir?”

  I fought a smirk. Looked like Leon Night was as much of a charmer as I was.

  Mars was a hard nut to crack but I could see his shell splitting. “Well I suppose so.”

  “Let him prove it,” I suggested with an innocent shrug and Leon nodded keenly, eyeing the detention squad running around the edge of the field.

  “How about I take down every one of those students?” Leon offered and a laugh escaped me.

  Mars grinned at the idea, watching the five of them as they ran. “If you do it in under ten minutes and impress me with each tackle, I’ll consider you,” he announced and Leon bounced on his heels. “But,” Mars said firmly. “You also have to stay for the rest of this detention so I can test your mettle.”

  “A-fucking-greed,” Leon said brightly, tugging off his shirt and exposing muscles as golden as a sandy beach. He was already in sweatpants and sneakers so he didn’t need to change. He scraped his hair up into a bun, eyeing up his prey across the field then ran off at high speed, chasing down the nearest student with a whoop of excitement.

  She glanced over her shoulder, her eyes widening as she spotted Leon charging her down. She screamed as he caught her by the waist and slammed her to the ground. I laughed and Mars’s lips pulled up at one corner.

  Leon was already up again, powering along the edge of the field. Cries went up ahead of him as the other four students realised what was happening.

  He took the next guy down like a car crash, their limbs tangling as they rolled and Leon slammed his face in the mud. Mars’s smile grew wider as Leon sprang up again, chasing after the third one. She stopped, raising her hands as if to fight him, but Leon cast a fiery blaze around him which blinded her. He leapt through it, throwing her to the ground and splaying his whole body over hers to keep her in place.

  The final two guys were running like an axe murderer was after them, shoving each other as they both tried to take the lead. Leon sprinted after them at full speed and I started to think we really did need him on our team.

  The first guy went down with a yelp and a crack that said something was broken, while the second guy was thrown into a tree at the edge of the field by the force of the collision. Leon held him down for the five second count before jumping up and hollering excitedly in our direction.

  “Good call, Tempa,” Mars said to me. “That’s why you’re gonna make a great Pitball Captain.”

  ***

  I lay in bed, fucking thrilled to know I’d made Captain. I’d worked my ass off to gain that spot and nothing compared to actually attaining it. But my excitement was short-circuited knowing what I had to do tonight. I’d come up with a plan and I just hoped it worked out.

  It was past midnight when Leon finally returned to the room. The lights were off and as he shut the door, the dorm was plunged back into darkness.

  I kept my eyes shut, the sound of Sasha and Amy’s shallow brea
thing filling the air.

  The scent of shower gel reached me as Leon moved about then finally climbed up into the bunk above mine with an exhausted exhale.

  I waited half an hour before I made my move, shifting out of bed and urging my skin to glow just enough to see by. In the dim light, I spotted his dirty sweatpants dumped on a chair. I crept toward them, pushing my hand into the pocket with my heart hammering in my ears - jackpot.

  I took out the crystal then hurried to the door. I was fully dressed, shoes and all. I’d been waiting for this opportunity all night and I had to be careful not to fuck it up at the final hurdle.

  I tiptoed out the door, sending a message to the strip bar’s bodyguard Petri with my heart hammering like crazy. The guy knew the dodgiest dealers in town and if anyone could pawn this crystal in the middle of the night, it was him.

  I’d be back before dawn, tucked up in bed with no evidence on me. I’d tell Leon he must have dropped the crystal in the Empyrean Fields. I’d even help him look for it if he asked.

  The guilt I felt was nothing in comparison to the rush of relief that filled me. Because Elise was safe from Old Sal for another month. And that was worth everything.

  Combat class was an excuse to use my earth magic to hurt every motherfucker who I was paired with. Eugene Dipper had the misfortune of being paired with me first and I smiled darkly at him as he approached me across the Empyrean Fields. His small frame lacked an ounce of muscle and his large front teeth and blonde hair gave him the appearance of the white rat of his Order form. He was shaking like a leaf in a hurricane and I smirked as he raised his hands to fight me. He also possessed the power of earth, but the pathetic quake he rocked beneath my shoes was a damn joke.

  “Is that the best you can do?” I hissed, planting my feet.

  “I- I um-” He screwed up his face in concentration and the ground beneath me rocked harder.

  I took an abrupt step forward and he shrieked, falling down into the mud on his ass. I lifted a hand, making a vine grow beside his head and push its way into his mouth and down his throat. He started choking and I drank in his pain like fresh water. He began to turn blue and I grew bored. He’d be so easy to kill, no challenge at all.

  Mars barked an order at me to stop and I released Dipper, offering him my hand to get up. The one inked with the word pain. He stared at it like it was a loaded gun then hesitantly reached for it. I curled my fingers into a fist and terror flashed across his features.

  “Hurry rat boy or I’ll start breaking teeth.”

  He scrambled away from me, springing to his feet and sprinting across the field. I cracked my neck, turning to face Mars as I waited for him to re-pair everyone in class.

  And it was my lucky day because the professor directed Elise over to me.

  She tugged at a lilac lock of hair, twisting it around her finger as she walked toward me. She was chewing gum, popping a bubble like she gave zero shits about pairing with me. After the other night in the Acrux Courtyard, I realised how unbreakable she really was. And that made me want her even more.

  I’d spent a lot of time thinking about the exact way I was going to punish her for her rudeness over the orange soda. And how she’d bitten me after I’d vision-fucked her. Sure, I’d damn well liked it. But I was still Fae. And in Solaria, everything was tit for tat.

  I snatched her arm, drawing her toward The Iron Wood at the edge of the field away from all the other fuckers in class. Cutting off prey from the herd was the first essential step in a hunt.

  “Are you ready to take me on, new girl?” I asked, settling into a fighting stance and cracking my neck to drag a satisfying pop out of it.

  She observed me with indifference, lowering into a fighting stance of her own with a simple nod.

  “I’m gonna make you choke on that gum,” I warned. “Then you can choke on something else after.”

  “Fuck you.” She popped another bubble and I grinned. Game on. This is going to be fucking hilarious. But if I actually laugh I’ll have to print happy on my shitting forehead.

  She raised her hands, drawing a storm of air between them with a finely tuned skill. I conjured a thick green vine into my right palm, letting it lengthen until it was a deadly whip. Adrenaline thumped at the base of my skull and that swinging dial that lived in me flipped onto pain.

  She moved to release her gust of air and I didn’t even bother to shield myself. I locked her in my eyes, sending her a vision of my dick in her mouth that made her stumble back and cast her magic right over my head. A laugh built in my throat but I didn’t allow it out. I let pain take over and slashed the whip across the backs of her tanned legs. She staggered forward with a yelp as a reddened line raised across her skin. I drew power from her pain, sighing as it filled up my magic reserves and swam like sweet honey in my chest.

  She gritted her teeth. “No Order gifts,” she growled. “That’s cheating.”

  “In the real world, people don’t fight by the rules, new girl. They fight filthy, bloody. They’d gut their own mother if it meant their worthless heart kept beating. But maybe you’ve lived in a comfy little home all your life and don’t know that?”

  Something flickered in her eyes and the warmth inside me built again as I tasted something else in her. Emotional pain. I sucked it in and I knew she felt my invasion because she threw up a shield beneath her skin to keep me out.

  I ran my tongue across my teeth. “That was quite the appetiser, baby. Give me a little more.”

  “I’d rather you take pain from my flesh.” She lashed out with her hand, a storm of air flipping me off my feet so I slammed onto the ground. She rushed forward, hand raised above me, holding me down with the raging force of the wind blasting from her palm. It compressed my chest but not nearly enough to give me the pain I wanted.

  I swung my legs, taking her out by the knees and she crashed into the grass. Her sports skirt got caught high up on her thighs, revealing more of that untarnished flesh. It was so smooth and creamy it practically begged for bruises. I pinned her arms down with two vines that grew from the earth as I got to my feet, a third one curling around her throat and tilting her chin up so she was looking at me. And I finally gave it to her. Her punishment.

  The gifts of my Order form took over, the power of hypnosis rearing up and slithering into her mind.

  Her mouth skewed and her eyes widened as I showed her a torture chamber of my own design. The vines which held her now appeared as chains. She was splayed across a metal table wrapped in nothing but leather and the sight was so arousing, I jerked forward a step on instinct.

  Her eyes whipped across the scene I’d conjured, the walls wet with blood, oozing, painting the word pain to my right and lust to my left as I approached her.

  “Are you frightened, Elise?” I used her real name for once because a name held power. And I claimed it from her now by possessing it with my tongue.

  In the vision I was stripped to the waist in jeans with a bone white mask across my face, the mess of scars on my body on show for her to see. She didn’t shrink as I expected, she bloomed. Her eyes glittered with trepidation, but not fear. Maybe because she knew this was a vision. Or maybe, just fucking maybe, she had a part of her which was as twisted and frayed as me. And that was what I’d searched for my entire life. A mate who understood this need. Someone who could withstand what I needed from their body.

  “No,” she answered, though her delicate throat bobbed. “Not yet.”

  I removed the mask from my face with nothing but a thought. I didn’t want her fear. That was a test. What I wanted was her pain.

  She yanked at her chains. “A true Fae would let me fight back.”

  “I will. But I want my pound of flesh first. You bit me…so I’ll bite you.” I pushed her right thigh to one side, admiring the leather thong I’d done a damn good job of conjuring. Then I dipped my head. She inhaled, but didn’t flinch. I grazed my tongue piercing along the inside of her thigh, ice cold and sending goosebumps rushing outwards f
rom my mouth.

  “Don’t toy with your food,” she said breathlessly, her thigh muscle tightening beneath my hand as I held it in place like a rare steak I was about to devour.

  I bit gently, groaning into her flesh at the taste of her. I wanted this to be real so bad I almost stopped to ask her if she wanted to sneak out of Combat Class and come to my room. The visions were good but never enough. Like I was feeling it all through a layer of plastic. If she tasted this good here, she’d taste like a cardinal sin in real life. I dug my teeth in, harder and harder. Waiting for that blissful moment when she-

  “Ah!” she yelped and her pain washed into me. I bit even deeper, marking her with a red welt that would have remained there for days if I’d really done it. She didn’t even thrash against her chains as I tightened my jaw and tasted blood. I ran the pad of my tongue across the wound, lifting my head and meeting her dilated gaze. Her lips parted as she exhaled, breathless and wanting.

  “You like it,” I stated, my voice raspy, hopeful even. When was the last time I hoped for something?

  Slowly, excruciatingly, she nodded and I swear I came in my pants. “You passed with flying colours, new girl.”

  “I’m not new anymore,” she said with an eye roll.

  I stood up, leaning over her, ready to plunge my tongue into her mouth and take no prisoners.

  “You’re new to this,” I breathed against her lips, so ready for this kiss. It was going to be anything but sweet.

  She broke the chains through will of mind and I fucking loved that about her as she tangled herself around me, her back arching like a bow to press her body into mine. I was about to claim her mouth and take this vision a whole lot further when someone punched my head so hard, I was knocked out of the hypnosis.

  I found myself collapsed over Elise, the two of us tangled on the ground like we had been in the vision. But that wasn’t right. I never actually moved when I was casting. We must have been so deep in the hypnosis I’d lost control, and it looked like she had too.