Dark Fae (Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac Book 1)

by Caroline Peckham

  Someone’s fist connected with my temple again and I hit the ground beside her, dazed and drinking in the power their blow had offered me. I looked up to find Dante fucking Oscura standing over me and a feral beast unleashed itself in my chest. My muscles rippled, threatening to shift, my teeth sharpening to points as the process started.

  “I will not have gang fights in my class!” Professor Mars roared. He was huge and of the Cerberus Order. As a guy from the streets himself and now the teacher of Combat Class, I knew fucking with him was a bad idea, but I wasn’t going to let this go.

  “You want a fight, Inferno?” I snarled, rising to my feet as Mars darted between us, planting a hand on each of our chests. He was about the only guy in this school who ever dared to step between the gangs.

  Elise scrambled to her feet, brushing down her skirt, her eyes flitting between us. Then she turned her back and walked away, like she gave no shits in the world. Yes you do, baby. You’ll be back for more of me before the week’s out.

  “She’s not yours, Draconis,” Dante spat at me.

  “She’s not yours either, scum,” I hissed as Dragon Boy began to pace side to side, anxious to destroy me. But I’d bury him if he tried.

  “You are both going to be in detention together for a week if you don’t take this outside of my class,” Mars warned and that was enough to end this. Because I wasn’t going to spend a fucking second in that piece of shit’s company unless I was crushing his skull with my bare hands.

  “This isn’t done,” Dante warned.

  “I know. It’s not done until you bleed,” I confirmed, spitting at his feet and marching away.

  If he wanted Elise, I would make it my personal mission in life to never let her fall into his bed. Which meant I needed to lay my claim outside of visions and tricks of the mind. Dante Oscura was clearly trying to take my girl. So I needed to lock her down fast.

  ***

  After dinner, I waited in the stairwell of The Vega Dormitories where Elise would have to pass me to get to her room. I had one foot kicked against the wall while I rolled a razor blade between my fingers.

  Everything up from the tenth floor was Oscura Clan, everything below was Lunar Brotherhood. The unallied were scattered between us, but if they ever chose a side it was imperative they were in a dorm on the right side of the lines we’d drawn. No Oscura would dare sleep below the tenth floor. If they did, they’d wake up in ten pieces. It was our signature kill. If a body was found in the city hacked to bits, you knew the Lunar Brotherhood was responsible. We didn’t just kill our enemies, we obliterated them.

  I waited right on the edge of my territory on floor ten. The stairwell was no man’s land. We had to cross paths from time to time, but we tended to stick to different schedules to spend the least time possible rubbing shoulders.

  Rain tapped against the window behind me and I fought a flinch at the first raindrops.

  “Pain is your friend. Show me how strong you are, Ryder.”

  I cracked my neck, forcing out that voice. That fucking voice which haunted me, wormed its way into my head no matter how hard I tried to cut it out. But nothing short of a lobotomy was gonna rid me of her.

  That particular memory involved three days inside the box with her casting water into the single air hole every other hour. That was before I’d been Awakened. Before my blood had turned ice cold. Back when the cold actually hurt. Just before she filled the box with freezing water, she showered it over the wood above me like rainfall to let me know what was coming. Even after all these years the sound of the rain still made me flinch.

  I rolled the razor blade along my thumb, letting out the pain, the crippling squeeze around my ribcage. From the outside I was an unshakeable fortress, but at that moment, on the inside I was crumbling apart in a silent earthquake.

  “Ryder?”

  Elise’s voice jumpstarted my heart and I kicked off of the wall. Her eyes were wide as they dropped to my hand and I realised it was pissing blood. I dropped my arm and the blood pooled into a puddle at my feet.

  “Heal it,” she practically commanded, stepping forward as if she was going to do it herself.

  “Are you worried about me, new girl?” I smirked and she snatched my hand, healing the wound in an instant.

  “No, I just don’t appreciate the hazard you’re causing in the corridor. Someone could slip over on all of that blood.” Light danced in her bright green eyes, causing something warm and airy to fill my chest that I wasn’t familiar with.

  “Sure could.” I shrugged as she released my hand. “So here’s the deal, I want you in the Brotherhood. You can skip initiation if you agree to be my girl. I’ll have you moved to a dorm downstairs before tomorrow.” I raised my brows, waiting and she looked at me like I’d just put on a tutu and done a pirouette.

  “No.”

  The rejection stung. And for once it wasn’t a pain I liked. “Elise,” I growled. “I’ve never offered this to anyone. Take a long moment to think about what you’re refusing. You won’t ever get this offer again.”

  She tapped her chin, taking a long fucking time to mock pretend to think. “It’s still a no. I don’t want to be in your gang.” She tried to move past me and I snatched her wrist, squeezing hard enough to make her wince.

  “Is that because you’re with them? With the Oscura filth?” The mere idea made me want to burn down this entire building with everyone in it.

  “No,” she said, softer this time as she leaned into me and rested a hand on my chest. She dug in her nails and I relished the dry scrape through my shirt. “I don’t want to be in any gang. And I’m not anyone’s girl. That’s not how I roll.”

  “How can I make you mine?” I demanded.

  “I can’t be owned.”

  “How do I make you see me exclusively then?”

  “I dunno, maybe you can figure that out.” She twirled a lock of hair around her finger and I nodded, pressing my tongue into my cheek. “To be honest, Ryder, you’re an open book. It’s a short book, but definitely an open one.” She took both of my hands in her small ones, brushing her thumbs across the two words painted over my knuckles. “I tend to go for a little more depth in the guys I date.”

  On impulse, I snared her in my gaze and showed her something I’d never shown anyone. Me before I was Awakened. Before that she-devil came into my life.

  I was young, smiling, my knuckles tattoo free. My father sat beside me on a bench reading a newspaper. The street was busy in front of us. I couldn’t quite get my father’s face right, the memory blurred around the edges like a snowstorm blowing in. Clearer than anything was the bright red ice cream in my hand, the way the sweet strawberry taste sat so intensely on my tongue. And if I pulled the strings of that memory just right, my father lifted his arm and dropped it over my shoulders.

  Then I got it, just for a second, but every time I remembered it right that memory sharpened tenfold. The stale scent of cigarette smoke mixed with the suede of his jacket. Then it was gone, lost to the darkest depths of my mind, replaced by her.

  The vision shifted before I could stop Elise seeing this part. I didn’t want anyone to see this. But it was too late, it was already playing out and I couldn’t halt it.

  Me in that box. Screaming. By the sun, how I’d fucking screamed. I didn’t make noises like that anymore. My throat had been rubbed raw like I’d scraped off several layers of my oesophagus.

  Every time I stepped out of line, I went in that fucking box in the garage. The smell of gas fumes rose around me as that bitch started the car and revved the engine again. Red brake lights flared against the walls of the box. I was seeing it from inside, but outside too. The vision was swallowing me, taking me so deep I couldn’t get out.

  I was coughing in the vision and coughing in reality. I couldn’t fucking breathe. Couldn’t see.

  Hands were on me, soft and warm. I found two light green eyes to hold onto and it took me an age to recognise them. Her magic crashed through the barriers of my sk
in and melded with mine. For a moment we were one and it was bliss like nothing I’d ever known. I didn’t power-share with anyone. But somehow, I’d let Elise’s magic into my body, let it wash through my veins and fill me up. It was intoxicating, like a drug only better. So much fucking better.

  She released me and I was free from it all, aching for that contact again. I stood before her in the stairwell panting, exposed. Humiliation crashed into me at what she’d seen followed by a torrent of rage.

  Sympathy crawled across her face and my right hand curled into a tight fist.

  “It’s okay-” she started but I stormed away, heading downstairs to throw my knuckles into a wall until I broke every bone in my hand. I wouldn’t stop until the pain inside bled outside. And then I’d shed my skin and leave it there to rot.

  Once I’d asked Laini to point out the Black Card to me I wondered why I hadn’t noticed them before. They hung out on the fringes of the school wearing dark clothes and darker scowls. I couldn’t pick out what precisely it was about them that made them stand out, but they all had the same look about them. And they had zero interest in making friends.

  I’d approached seven of them now. In class, the cafaeteria, the corridors, even in the sports hall locker rooms. My friendly greetings were met with cold, hard resting bitch faces and zero words. I’d even faced a group at once. Nothing. It was mildly humiliating. It also meant I wasn’t getting anywhere. So I decided to narrow down my hunt in another way.

  I knew Gareth had been dealing Killblaze before he died so maybe if I followed that back to the source I could glean some more information. At the least, he might have been friends with some of the other dealers. Because drug dealers tended to be chummy right?

  By the sun I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel now.

  But now I had another issue. Drug dealers didn’t exactly wander about wearing a sign on their heads announcing their line of work to anyone and everyone. And I obviously didn’t have that buyer look about me to mean they'd approach me.

  Nope. I needed information. And there were three guys in this school who traded in just about everything so I was sure that I knew where to get it. Trouble was, I had nothing to trade. But I guessed it couldn’t hurt to ask.

  I squared my shoulders as I headed across the courtyard towards the corner where the Kipling Brothers were holding court. A small crowd was gathered around them, trading for snacks and drinks which weren’t available in the cafaeteria while negotiating the best prices.

  The crowd parted and I found myself before the oldest brother. He was bigger than the others, broader, meaner by the looks of that frown too.

  “You’ll have to pay for orange soda if you want it today, unless you’re Ryder’s girl now?” he asked, seeming interested from a business point of view.

  I glanced over my shoulder to the bleachers where Ryder was sitting, surrounded by his gang. He was leaning forward, elbows on his knees as he glared off into the distance, utterly still and seemingly oblivious to everything going on around him.

  “No. I’m not Ryder’s anything,” I said firmly. I didn’t need those kinds of rumours circulating about me. Oscura Clan would be out for my blood in an instant.

  “Then that’ll be two auras.” He held out a can of soda for me like I was a regular and he had my order pinned despite the fact that I’d only visited their little shop that one time several weeks ago.

  Nice to know I made an impression.

  “Umm, no thanks. That’s not actually why I’m here.” Though I eyed the soda longingly. I’d spent every scrap of money we’d had on getting my mom into that wellness centre and had literally come here penniless. Aurora Academy was full board so I got all of my meals, uniforms and a bed which was all I really needed anyway and I’d brought enough of my own clothes for use outside of class. But sometimes the knowledge of just how broke I was made me feel a little uncomfortable and I chewed on my lip, half wishing I could afford the damn drink. I was running low on gum too and I wouldn’t be able to replace it once it was gone. That was damn depressing.

  “So what can we do you for then?” Kipling Senior asked, drawing a little closer to me conspiratorially.

  I glanced around a little nervously and my gaze caught on Gabriel who just happened to be right behind my shoulder.

  “What are you staring at?” he snapped and my lips parted in surprise.

  “I’m not entirely sure,” I replied icily. “But my best guess would be the result of a turkey mating with an asshole.”

  Gabriel leaned close to me, his breath dancing over my neck as he whispered into my ear. “If you won’t keep away from me on your own then I’ll have to give you more reasons to.”

  My eyebrows pinched but he was already striding away, gliding between the crowd as if he hadn’t been lurking at all. And maybe he hadn’t. But it seemed like every other time I turned around he was there recently. Which seemed pretty weird for someone who claimed to want me to stay away from him. Stalker Harpy. My cheeks heated at the memory of his mouth on my flesh and I quickly turned away from him to give the Kipling my attention again.

  “I’m actually looking for a Killblaze dealer,” I said in a low tone.

  Kipling Junior, the shortest, skinniest of the bunch perked up at that, sidling closer and cocking his head at me.

  “Wouldn’t peg you for a Blazer,” he said analytically.

  “I’m not,” I scoffed.

  “Killblaze is easy enough to come by,” Senior cut in, clearly not caring if I looked like a user or not. “We don’t keep illegals with us in the courtyard though so you’ll have to wait until-”

  “No, no,” I interrupted. “I don’t want any Killblaze. I want the names of the dealers.” I folded my arms and waited as Junior released a low whistle.

  “Gonna cost you,” Middle Kipling added as he joined the conversation. For the moment the rest of the crowd had dispersed so I was alone with their full attention.

  “I don’t have any money,” I said flatly. No point in beating around the bush. “Or anything of value really. I was hoping maybe I could trade a favour.”

  The Kiplings all exchanged a look, though instead of the scoffing I expected, they seemed eager.

  “We could keep it in the bank,” Junior said. “See how the tug of war plays out between Dante and Ryder. Once she’s all in with one of them she’ll have their ear.”

  “Pfft, if we wait for that we might lose out. When she makes a choice between them the other won’t let it stand. She’ll end up gutted before we can call in our debt,” Senior said dismissively.

  I scrunched my nose up at that assessment. “I’m not going to be picking either of them,” I piped up. “Gang life is absolutely not in my future.”

  Three sets of amber eyes swivelled on me for half a second before turning to each other again.

  “She’s unproven anyway. Her word could mean shit for all we know, we should get the payment before giving her the information she wants,” Middle said.

  “Hey!” I objected. “My word is good.”

  They all shrugged.

  “She could help with the import tonight?” Junior suggested half-heartedly.

  “That’s not a terrible idea,” Senior said thoughtfully. “Professor Mars almost caught us last time. She could cause a distraction and take the detention if she gets caught while we get the goods in.”

  “I like it,” Middle agreed. Junior nodded, seeming pleased he’d come up with it.

  “Alright then,” Senior said, taking control of the negotiation again. “Tonight at two, we have a delivery coming in via the Empyrean Fields. You need to get down there and draw any lurking teachers away from The Iron Wood on its border. Somewhere near the Pitball pitch should be close enough for them to hear you and far enough from us to let us get our goods in. You do it and the names of every Killblaze dealer in the academy is yours. I’ll throw in the name of two street dealers from the local area too.”

  I grinned. A distraction I could manage just fine.
“You’ve got a deal.”

  Senior held his hand out and I shook it, a clang of magic echoing through my palm as I gripped his and the bargain was struck.

  I looked over at Ryder as I walked back through the Acrux Courtyard and into no man’s land. I couldn’t approach him in his gang territory but I wanted to speak to him. I didn’t really know why I cared but ever since he’d shown me that flash of his childhood, I’d found myself thinking about him more and more often. He hadn’t spoken one word to me since. Hadn’t come anywhere near me.

  I stopped walking and looked at him on the bleachers, meeting his gaze without flinching even though I knew it left me vulnerable to his hypnosis.

  I tilted my head just a little, not an order but an invitation.

  His gaze trailed over my face for a long moment before a vision slammed into me. Ryder stood right in front of me, covered from head to toe in blood.

  “Fuck off!” he yelled in my face and I almost flinched.

  I claimed control of the fantasy version of me as he tried to make her bow her head in deference to him. Instead, I held my chin high and looked him right in the eye.

  “Gladly,” I replied, my tone clipped and my gaze cold. “But if you didn’t want me to see inside your head then you shouldn’t have shown me. Don’t blame me for your own failure.”

  My fangs snapped out and I shattered his illusion before he could respond, narrowing my eyes at the real Ryder who still sat unmoving on the bleachers glaring my way.

  I turned and strode away from him without looking back. That would teach me to try and see anything good in him. If Ryder Draconis wanted to stay on my shit list then that was fine by me. I didn’t have time for his melodramatic bullshit anyway.

  I walked up Devil’s Hill, smiling at Laini and her friend Daniel as I headed their way but before I could reach them, a dark shadow dropped from the sky and landed right before me.

  Gabriel smiled darkly as I stumbled to a halt and scrambled to throw up an air shield to defend myself. Before I could get it into place, the ground beneath my feet trembled so violently that I tipped back onto my ass half a second before a torrent of water crashed over me.