I snagged my wash bag from the shelf, glad that the academy had provided me with it so that I didn’t have to worry about running out of shampoo too. Although lilac hair dye might be an issue within another few weeks.
I walked to the end of the corridor and took a left into the girls’ bathroom, heading straight for a shower.
I hung my clothes and towel outside the stall and stepped inside. I twisted the knob, waiting for the water to heat up and feeling vaguely jealous of Fae with that Element for not having to rely on the school’s temperamental boiler.
When it was finally hot enough, I moved beneath the flow and started washing.
Muffled giggles carried to me from beyond my stall and I stilled as I recognised Cindy Lou’s voice.
“Oh no! Silly me!” she called overly dramatically and the scent of smoke assaulted my senses.
I started rinsing conditioner from my hair with a sense of foreboding writhing in my gut. I really didn’t have time for her petty bullshit, but that girl seemed determined to haunt me no matter how hard I tried to avoid her.
I was seriously beginning to consider the idea of beating the shit out of her, but I was concerned about letting my inner monster out too soon. So far, I’d managed to avoid enough trouble to be sure that the Kings wouldn’t know what to expect from me when it came time for me to strike back at them and I wanted to keep it that way if I could. But Cindy Lou seemed determined to push me until I broke and I wasn’t sure how much more of her shit I could take before I snapped.
I shut off the water and stepped out of my stall, reaching for my towel only to grasp at empty air.
Cindy Lou’s laughter rang out and I turned to face her across the magnolia tiles as she slapped a hand across her mouth.
“I’m so sorry, Elise,” she gasped falsely as her friends Amira and Helga tittered. “I lost control of my fire magic and burned your things. I guess you’ll just have to shoot back to your room before anyone sees you!”
I pursed my lips. She was right; I could shoot back to my room with my Vampire speed like a whipped little bitch and let her see me run from her with flaming cheeks. But there were a lot of things Cindy Lou didn’t know about me and one of them was where I came from. When your mom was a stripper you grew up without a fear of naked flesh. I’d spent my evenings and weekends hanging out with people wearing nothing but their birthday suits for as long as I could remember. I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of flinching away from showing mine.
“Don’t worry about it, sweetie,” I replied. “I’ve got more clothes back in my room. I just hope you manage to learn how to contain your Element before graduation. It’s pretty embarrassing that you still haven’t got it pegged down yet.”
I gave her and her friends a wide smile and turned to walk for the exit with my chin high and pace deliberately slow.
My confidence held until I made it to the doorway but I refused to balk as I stepped out into the corridor. The boys showers were through the door opposite and predictably a guy stepped out at the same moment as I did.
I turned down the corridor without looking his way and started walking towards my room which suddenly seemed like it was a fucking long way away. A prickle ran along my spine but I couldn’t let my nerves show, I just had to front this out.
“Elise?” the guy asked from a step behind me and I turned my head before I could stop myself to find Kipling Senior looking back at me.
“Yes?” I asked lightly, aware that Cindy Lou and her friends were lurking close, waiting for me to crack.
“I’ve been meaning to have a word with you, have you got a sec?”
I turned towards him, fighting off the urge to cross my arms over my chest as the chill in the corridor made my nipples pebble.
“Well, I was just-” I began but he cut me off. To his credit his gaze was on my face, not once dropping to take in my dripping wet body. And even weirder than that, it didn’t even seem like he was interested in the fact that I was naked. Or even like he’d noticed it.
“It’ll only take a second,” Senior assured me. He raised his hand to cast a silencing bubble before I could object and the magic washed over me, ensuring the rest of our conversation remained private.
I frowned a little as he stepped to the side of the corridor so that people could pass us and wondered why the hell he didn’t think it was weird to be having this conversation with me while I was naked and he had nothing on but a towel around his waist. I cursed myself as I realised that I’d looked below his face and met his eye again, finding his gaze still hadn’t strayed from mine.
Weird.
I wasn’t sure whether I should be insulted by his complete lack of interest in my body, but I guessed I’d just focus on relief that he wasn’t perving. Besides, all the Orders who had to shift got naked all the damn time so I guessed it wasn’t that weird for me to be seen like this. Apart from the fact that I wasn’t of a shifter Order.
“We’ve been thinking about the job you did for us the other day, causing that distraction,” he said.
“Oh yeah?” I asked, presuming the we meant him and his brothers.
“Yeah. We were impressed. Even more so by the fact that you haven’t gone around boasting about that flaming penis you burned into the Empyrean Fields. It takes a certain kind of person to remain discreet and under the radar while still pulling off a stunt like that,” he added with a nod.
“Thanks,” I replied, though I still wasn’t sure why we were having this conversation while I was naked. People were passing us on their way to the showers and unlike Kipling Senior, they were definitely noticing the nude girl standing in their midst. I was just glad that I hadn’t been spotted by anyone I knew well yet.
“So we thought you might like some more regular work? We can pay you in credit at the emporium or auras, or a mixture of both if you prefer?”
“Seriously?” I asked, excitement driving away my self consciousness at that idea. What he was offering was perfect, if I had some money then I could buy clothes and soda and gum!
“Are you in then?” he asked seriously, not returning my smile. In fact I wasn’t sure he did smiling. I certainly hadn’t witnessed one.
“Fuck yeah.”
“Good.” He held out a hand and I slapped mine straight into it, a clap of magic resounding between us as we struck the deal.
“We’ll be in touch about your first job shortly.” He released me and strode away down the corridor, waving a hand to dissipate the silencing bubble as he went.
I was rewarded with a view of Cindy Lou gawping at me from just outside the bathroom as she saw me hanging around for a chat butt naked. I offered her a taunting salute then headed on towards my room at a leisurely pace.
When I opened the door I found Gabriel sitting on his bunk and suddenly realised that I had more reason to feel self conscious in here than I had out there with the masses.
He was no Kipling Senior and his eyes instantly dropped to drink in every inch of me with a hunger that set my skin alight.
I focused on enhancing my hearing and found that Laini wasn’t here but I detected Dante’s heartbeat within the sheet he had hooked around his bed. I was just relieved that he wasn’t looking at me too. At least Gabriel had seen it all before.
“Hey,” I said as casually as I could manage as I padded through the centre of the room to the closet at the back while Gabriel’s eyes hounded me the whole way. He didn’t reply but that wasn’t that strange for him.
A part of me couldn’t help but drink in the attention of his eyes on my flesh and I couldn’t resist the urge to look his way again.
He seemed caught between the desire to approach me and stay away and I bit down on my lip, my heart pounding as I enjoyed the feeling of him looking at me like that.
I looked straight into his grey eyes as I slowly pulled on a pair of black panties and he watched my movements like he was starving for them. I pulled out a matching bra and slipped it on next. Gabriel’s gaze was full of fire and h
is throat bobbed as he swallowed hard.
I turned away slowly and took a shirt from a hanger, turning back to look at him as I drew it on, buttoning it over my chest and causing his fist to clench tightly as he watched me. I’d seen my mom put on this show in reverse so many times that it was kinda funny to see him lapping it up as I put my clothes on.
I pulled my pleated plum skirt on next, my gaze fixed on Gabriel who flexed his huge wings behind him so that they brushed against the wall. The movement of them made my heat patter excitedly as I remembered the way he’d hidden us beneath them while he took possession of my body on the roof.
I rolled my socks up to my knees last then pushed my feet into my shoes. I let my eyes linger on the myriad of tattoos which covered his bare chest before slowly turning away to the mirror to apply my makeup.
Gabriel dropped silently out of his bunk behind me and my gaze snagged on him approaching in the reflection as I applied my pink lipstick.
He still hadn’t spoken one word to me so I had no way of knowing if he was going to touch or torment me today. His mood swings gave me whiplash, but in that moment I was definitely hoping for option A.
He passed within an inch of me before taking a shirt from his section of the closet. His wings shimmered out of existence as he retreated fully into his Fae form and he pulled the shirt over his arms as I turned to look at him.
I glanced towards the sheet tent that Dante had created and stepped forward to close the distance between me and Gabriel, my heart pounding a dangerous rhythm. A part of me didn’t want Dante to see us. Another, insanely imaginative part wanted him to come out and join us.
I reached out to Gabriel and silently started buttoning his shirt for him. My fingers skimmed the hard planes of his tattooed chest and his breathing grew heavier at the slight contact.
The lower my buttoning got, the wilder the look in his eyes as he watched me, his pupils dilating dangerously, begging me to keep going.
As I reached the final button, my fingers remained against his waistband and I dragged my eyes up from my hands to meet his.
There was a dare hanging between us. We weren’t doing anything at all. And yet we were at the same time. I just wasn’t sure which of us would have to admit it first.
Dante shifted in his bunk and I released my grip on Gabriel’s shirt, turning back to the mirror as if we hadn’t been doing anything. Which we hadn’t. Mostly.
Dante pulled the sheet aside and climbed out of his bed. He was already dressed for class and he switched his Atlas off as he stood.
“Do you wanna walk to breakfast with me, carina?” he asked, his gaze sliding over me.
“Sure,” I replied easily, moving away from Gabriel as if we hadn’t just been...well I didn’t even know what we’d just been doing but I hadn’t really wanted it to stop.
“See you in class, Elise,” Gabriel called after me as I made it to the door with Dante.
I looked back at him in surprise and Dante scowled, never seeming to like it when Gabriel chose to speak.
“I’ll save you a seat,” I promised and Gabriel’s lips curled into a smile just before the door closed between us.
“Why would you want to sit with that stronzo?” Dante asked me as we started walking.
“Well I’m walking with you aren’t I?” I teased. “So maybe assholes are my thing.”
Dante snorted a laugh and threw an arm around my waist, drawing me in. “You have no idea, bella. I’m the biggest asshole you’ve ever met.”
I considered shrugging out of his grip but I couldn’t say I hated the feeling of his muscular arm holding me close and it was a cold day so I was stealing some body heat from him too.
“I’m not sure about that,” I said casually. “You don’t really know anything about me or where I come from.”
Dante laughed darkly. “If you think you’ve met a bigger badder asshole than me then by all means introduce me to him so that I can prove you wrong.”
“I dunno, Dante. I mean sure, you’re scary and all. Big and strong and mean and super intimidating,” I smirked as my tone didn’t come off intimidated at all. “But what have you really done that’s so bad?”
Dante looked down at me and for a moment the darkness in his eyes made my heart skitter. His grip around my waist loosened and he lifted his arm, twisting a finger through my short hair like he was considering whether or not to tell me. I held his eyes, biting my lip as I silently urged him to spill his secrets to me. Maybe there was a chance that he would admit to being involved with what had happened to my brother. Or maybe I just wanted to know what made him tick.
“I was born into this life, carina. Being an Oscura isn’t just something you can claim by name alone. I was forged into the man I am with blood and steel. My father trained me in everything I’d need to survive in my role as the leader of my people. The things I’ve done aren’t the kinds of things nice girls want to hear about.”
I looked up at him in surprise, wondering if he was really so blind that that was all he saw when he looked at me.
“Look a little closer, Dante, I’m not a nice girl. And being a Callisto was never a walk in the park either. Your father may have forged you into the man you are, but I built myself up into the woman I am. Each cut and every scar only toughened my skin. Every break and fracture only steeled my determination. And everything I’ve lost has only strengthened my soul. I won’t flinch at the worst of you because there is no best of me anymore.”
Dante pulled me to a halt just outside the Cafaeteria and turned to face me. His gaze scraped over my features and I looked back steadily.
“If you were mine, I’d protect you from everything the world ever had to throw at you,” he said. “No one would ever dare to hurt you or take something from you again.” He reached out and pushed my lilac hair behind my ear as he looked deep into my eyes.
And for a heartbeat I almost wanted to say yes. How nice it would be to let someone else look after me and right all the wrongs that came against me. But that just wasn’t who I was.
I placed my hand over his against my cheek and looked up at him, wanting him to see more of me than the picture he’d painted in his mind.
“That’s not what I want though,” I said firmly. “I don’t need someone to look after me or protect me or own me. I’m perfectly capable of doing that for myself. And I have nothing left to lose now anyway.”
I offered him a hard smile then walked inside to get my breakfast, leaving him to join his Clan on the far side of the room. From where I was standing I was freer than him anyway. Being in one of the gangs seemed a lot like shackling yourself to a certain kind of life and relinquishing any freedom over your own decisions. I didn’t care how much power they promised or what protection they claimed to offer, I had no interest in ever joining one of them.
I made my way along the counter and grabbed a bagel and a mug of coffee before taking a seat towards the back of the room. I gave my attention to my food and only looked up when I heard someone calling my name.
“There you are!” Leon said enthusiastically as he strode right through the room towards me.
A Mindy was following close behind him holding a large black box tied with a white ribbon.
Leon dropped down opposite me with a grin and I eyed his long, messy hair with a smile. It didn’t look like he’d made any attempt to tame it this morning and I was really just surprised to see him out of bed before class started at all. The Mindy placed the box down before me, offering me a tight-lipped assessment before he dismissed her with a flick of his fingers like she was a speck of dirt on his glove and she scurried away.
I frowned after her for a moment before giving him my attention again.
“Can’t you just turn that shit off?” I asked before he could say whatever the hell he was bursting to say. He was literally bouncing in his seat and I could tell he wanted me to ask about the box so I decided to pretend it wasn’t there.
“What shit?” Leon asked with a faint frown,
clearly thrown by the fact that I hadn’t asked about the box.
“The Lion charisma or whatever it is. It’s weird watching a bunch of girls fall over themselves for you like a horde of wind up barbies. Surely you could just set them free from it if you want to?”
“You jealous, little monster?” he asked hopefully.
“You wish.”
“Do you wanna be exclusive then?” he teased.
“Never,” I replied easily. That shit had never done my mom any favours. The only way I’d ever give myself to one man completely would be if he turned out to be my Elysian Mate. Which Gabriel seemed to think he was. But I wouldn’t be believing that nonsense until I was stood beneath the stars looking him in the eyes and answering the question of fate. And even then, I’d be asking to see the contract before I signed on the dotted line. I was sure even fate could be open to negotiations.
Leon scrubbed a hand across the blonde stubble lining his jaw and looked at me like he was trying to spot a lie, but there wasn’t one to find so he had to let it drop.
“So...” Leon leaned forward and drummed his fingers on the box, an excited smile on his face.
“Aren’t you eating?” I asked casually.
“I- aren’t you going to ask about-”
“There are lots of studies into the detrimental effects of missing breakfast.” I took another bite of my own meal to hide my smile.
“A Mindy will get me something after you-”
“And a growing boy like you really needs to make sure he looks after himself.”
“If you wanna take this somewhere private, I’m sure you can watch a piece of me grow real quick,” he joked and I barked a laugh as he caught me off guard. I wasn’t really sure how Leon managed to spark joy in me like that so easily. When he wasn’t around, I didn’t really feel like there was anything like that left in me at all. Like I wasn’t capable of feeling anything but grief and pain and loss. But every now and then, Leon dug right through it all without even seeming to try. He made me feel joy and light and laughter and I just wanted to drink it all in and never let it go.
Dark Fae (Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac Book 1) Page 36