Elise glanced up and relief spilled into her eyes but not her expression. “Oh thank fuck. Tell them you know me, Ryder.” As she turned her head, I noticed a cut down the other side of her face and acid spilled through my veins in response.
I remained silent as Scarlett raised a brow and every brother in the room waited for my answer.
“Now why would I tell them that?” I asked coolly and her eyes narrowed.
“Don’t be an asshole. Just tell them.” She jerked against the vines holding her legs in place.
I cracked my neck as my eyes raked down her. So Elise wants me to be her saviour even though she refuses to be mine. The fucking nerve of her. And in some other guy’s shirt no less.
“She said she goes to school with you,” Scarlett offered. “That true?”
“That is true,” I agreed and Elise’s shoulders dropped a fraction. “But I wouldn’t say I know her.” I brushed my hand along the bar as I leaned against it, my fingers trailing over broken glass and irritation flashed through me.
She was trying not to show her fear, but her eyes gave it away to me.
“What are you playing at? Tell them we’re friends.” she hissed.
“I don’t play,” I said with a blank look. “And I don’t recall you ever being my friend.”
Her lips parted and her eyes bored into mine as she tried to crack me. I cast hypnosis to let her speak her mind without anyone else hearing, removing the sight of the bar and replacing it with a chamber of steel.
“Get me out of here, dipshit,” she snapped.
“Why should I?” I tilted my head, raising my brows.
“Come on, you’re not that much of an asshole.”
“I’m much worse than you can imagine, new girl. At school I’m bound by certain rules, but out here I’m free to be the villain I am.”
I released her from the hypnosis and Arkin and Fiona drew closer behind her, magic swirling in their palms. I jerked my chin which was enough of a signal to hold them off and Elise looked to me with her lips pressed tightly together.
“It’s your call then, boss,” Scarlett said. “We can have ten pieces of freshly butchered Vampire served up in the back if you say the word.”
A sharp sensation scraped over my heart as she said those words. Elise released a slow breath as she kept her nerve and I dragged my eyes down to her bare legs, one of which was sliced open. Poison pumped through my blood and drowned me in rage. She must have been tapped out or she would have healed herself by now.
“Maybe I’ll do it myself.” I lunged forward, grabbing her arm and severing the vines securing her in place with a wave of my hand.
“Hey!” she gasped as I dragged her toward the door.
“See ya, boss,” Scarlett called after me as I hauled Elise into the alley outside where I’d parked my dirt bike. I pushed her back against the brick wall and she bared her fangs at me.
“What the hell are you-”
I halted her words as I pressed my fingers to the wound on her cheek, her pain washing into me just before I healed her. Her lips parted as I knelt down before her, taking hold of the wound on her leg being not too gentle as I bathed in her pain.
Anger was a bloody red thing coursing inside me. I could barely enjoy the wash of power her pain gave me, knowing my own people had hurt her like this. If they hadn’t called me…
Elise’s fingers brushed my cheek and I glanced up at her with a feeling akin to my soul being put through a grinder.
“Thank you,” she whispered, no bullshit lining her expression just relief and some raw emotion that made me want to look away.
I grunted in response, realising my hand was still pressed to her thigh and her skin had long-since healed. Somehow, she’d brought the King of the Brotherhood to his knees in some piss-ridden alley and I still wasn’t getting up.
I dropped my hand and the spell was broken, the strange tugging in my chest replaced with abject rage once more.
How could she have done this? It’s a fucking miracle she’s still breathing!
I stood, grabbing her arm again while she narrowed her eyes at me as if trying to work out my mood. Good luck with that, baby.
“Get on,” I snarled, pushing her toward my motorbike.
She threw her leg over the seat with a huff and I got on behind her, crushing her between the handlebars as the shirt she wore rode up over her ass. She had panties on luckily for her.
“Ow asshole.” She elbowed me as I locked her between my arms and shoved her head aside with my chin. I drank in the pinch of her pain and growled my delight in her ear, twisting the key in the ignition.
“This isn’t much of a valiant rescue,” she snarled.
“Who says I’m rescuing you?” I pulled the accelerator and we shot off down the road at high speed.
Elise didn’t even squeal but she pressed back into me so her ass was practically riding my dick.
I took corners at speed, waiting for her to scream or even gasp, but she didn’t make a sound, her hands resting on the bars beside mine as she kept her head firmly in place against my shoulder.
When I reached the edge of town, I headed into The Iron Wood which spanned all the way to the fence ringing the Aurora Academy campus and beyond. It wasn’t far from here that I’d been fucking jumped by Felix Oscura. But I took a different trail this time. I wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice. I knew this forest like I knew my own pulse. And I wouldn’t ever be lazy in taking the same route through it again.
I pulled the throttle and we raced between trees, tearing toward the academy boundary at a fierce pace. Elise bounced in my lap every time we hit a bump and she swore angrily as there was nothing she could do about it.
We finally reached the fence and I increased my speed as I drove directly toward the red X marked on the solid steel surface.
“Ryder!” Elise gasped. “Stop!”
A smile pulled at my mouth as a scream escaped her a second before we reached the fence. We sailed through the magical barrier instead of hitting a damn thing, a hum of energy pressing in on us.
Her whole body relaxed as she sank back into me, but there wasn’t a chance in hell she was going to stay relaxed for long. I took a right, racing alongside the fence as I avoided the Oscura Haunt and burned up a path toward the Lunar Pit.
When I reached the clearing where a charred fire pit sat at the heart of the ring of ancient trees, I pulled up sharply and kicked the bike stand down. I locked my arms around her in case she had any notions of running away with her Vampire speed and hauled her off the bike.
“What the fuck?” She shoved me away and I let her go with a grimace.
“Are you gonna run like a coward or are you gonna talk like Fae?” I growled, dipping my head as I glared at her.
“Talk about what?” She glanced around the woods, seeming unsettled, hugging her arms around her body.
“You insulting me,” I snarled and a deep rattle emanated from my chest.
She swallowed, shaking her head as if she had no idea what I was talking about and that just made it all the more insulting. “How the hell did I insult you exactly?”
I hissed at her, striding forward and she planted her feet, refusing to recoil. I moved up into her personal space, breathing in the man product she reeked of. “I gave you one last chance to come to me last night and you didn’t. Then I’m summoned by my brothers the next morning to come and pick you up from whatever guy’s bed you’ve crawled out of. Do you think I’m just gonna continue to allow you to make a fool of me, Elise?”
Her eyes widened. “Ryder, you’ve got it all wrong-”
“Fuck you,” I spat, jerking back a step. “You stink of some other guy. Don’t lie to my face.”
“It wasn’t like that. Don’t you know what happened last night at the party?”
“The whole school’s saying you got fucking high on Killblaze.” I wrinkled my nose and she growled at me, stalking forward.
“I was drugged and dragged into the
woods. If it hadn’t been for Gabriel, I’d be dead right now. Someone is dead.” She glanced around as if she half expected to find a body and I had to admit I was thrown by her act. “Hasn’t there been an announcement? A guy was killed by some hooded weirdos. He had sandy blonde hair and he…”
“By the fucking stars, Elise. you were off your face last night. No one died.”
“Yes they did,” she snapped, then her eyes trailed over me, confusion pinching her brows together. “I saw so many things last night…so many people. Where were you anyway?”
“You know where I was: waiting for you. Drop the bullshit. I ain’t buying it.”
“Gabriel was there, he saw it happen. He took me away to his apartment.”
Some cold, dead thing awoke in my body and slithered through my gut. Nox. She’d stayed with Gabriel goddamn Nox last night.
“Did he tell you that while he was fucking you this morning?” I narrowed my eyes, cracking my neck as I tried to process the image of his hands all over her body.
“Screw you,” she snarled and a black curtain of fury fell over me.
“What kind of man leaves you on the streets of Lunar Territory half naked?”
“He didn’t leave me anywhere, I ran away,” she huffed, turning to go.
I lunged forward, catching her hand as panic scorched my insides. “Did he hurt you?”
If he had, I’d have him in ten pieces before midday. I’d make him suffer and drink up every drop of pain his body could give.
Her expression softened and the tension ran out of her limbs. “Of course not. He just pissed me off that’s all. He started lecturing me about ‘staying safe’.” She rolled her eyes and I gritted my teeth.
“So you ran to The Rusty Nail? Really fucking mature, Elise.”
She prised my hand off of her with a snarl. “Now you’re starting to sound like him.”
“Well maybe he had a fucking point!” By the pissing stars, did I just agree with Nox? “You realise they would have killed you, right?”
Her eyes glazed in a way that told me she didn’t really care and that hurt me more than anything else had this morning.
“I’m going back to my room.” She started walking away and I knew she was about to use her Vampire speed at any moment. I caught her arm with a vine conjured from the nearest tree, tethering her to it. She practically spat venom as she yanked against it to try and break free, but the magic was powerful.
I had to end this. Had to regain control, because this feeling of total fucking humiliation was simply not acceptable for a guy like me. “We’re done, Elise. You’ve made that clear as fucking day. That includes hanging out.”
She used her Vampire strength to break the vine, glancing back at me with a scowl. “Good. I don’t need you in my life anyway.”
She sped away and something shattered inside me like glass. I grunted as pain spilled through me, filling up my magic reserves. I was ruined and made at once.
I stalked over to my bike, swinging my leg over the seat and riding it back to the Kipling Cache. When I’d left it deep beneath the earth in the caves, I shed my clothes and shifted into my snake form, becoming the size of a python and moving through the undergrowth until I coiled against a cold, hard rock. My body was as frozen as the stone. We were one and the same. Between the ice and the dark, I remembered who I was. A man without a heart. A vessel made to destroy the Oscuras. I didn’t feel anything but pain and lust.
Memories of my father and the boy I’d once been licked keenly against the inside of my skull. For him, I had to do as Felix Oscura had asked of me. And when he gave me Mariella and she lay wasted and bloody at my feet, I’d get my retribution.
Elise was no longer going to distract me from what I had to do. She was just a girl, one who’d managed to slide beneath my skin like a needle ready to inject poison. Ryder Draconis did not have weaknesses. There wasn’t a single dent in my armour. And Elise Callisto was no exception.
Through pure force of will, I made it out of The Iron Wood and up the stairs into the Vega Dorms with a single shot of my Vampire speed.
By the time I reached my dorm, I could hardly even stand up straight and the pain in my head had increased from an aching throb to an all encompassing pounding.
I kicked my stilettos off as I stumbled through the door, groaning against the light in the room and looking up just as Dante stepped right into my personal space.
“Where have you been, carina?” he demanded, catching my shoulders and shaking me roughly.
“Ow!” I complained at the treatment.
My gaze was on his throat and I tried to hold out but I couldn’t. I lunged at him and though his eyes widened with surprise, he didn’t try to stop me.
I wound my arms around him, dragging him closer as my fangs drove into his skin and the electric ecstasy of his blood poured into me.
I moaned at the feeling, knowing it sounded really damn sexual but in that moment, I needed the taste of him more than any orgasm and it felt just as fucking good.
“Where were you?” Dante asked as he drew me closer. “I was only gone a minute to get you a glass of water and when I came back you were nowhere to be found. I’ve been hunting for you half the night.”
My heart skittered at that admission and I drew back as his electronic power settled within me, lending me strength.
“Really?” I asked in surprise as I looked into his dark eyes.
“Really.” Dante brushed his fingers along the side of my face as his gaze raked over me. “Were you bleeding?” he asked, his thumb skimming my cheek where Scarlett had cut me open. Ryder had healed me but I guessed there was still some blood on my skin.
“I ran into a bit of trouble this morning on my way back,” I admitted.
“What kind of trouble? And where have you been?” There was real concern in his eyes and for a moment all I wanted to do was soak myself in it. Bathe in the feeling of his protection and just let him look after me the way he kept asking to.
“Were you worried about me?” I teased gently.
Dante held my gaze for a long moment, his lips parting to respond just as the window was thrown open.
“There you are!” Gabriel growled as he dropped inside and glared at me.
I flinched at the loudness of his voice and recoiled into Dante’s arms.
“Not so loud, asshole,” I snapped.
“What the fuck is wrong with you, running off like that in Lunar Territory?” he demanded.
“Me?” I hissed. “You’re the reason I-”
“What do you mean, Lunar Territory?” Dante growled, catching my chin to make me look at him again.
“It doesn’t matter,” I muttered.
“I’m surprised they didn’t butcher you! Did you run all the way back here?” Gabriel demanded.
“No,” I growled. “You may not have noticed but I can barely fucking function thanks to that shit I was given. And all I want now is to try and sleep it off before-”
“I searched everywhere for you!” Gabriel shouted angrily. “I thought you might have ended up in the fucking Rusty Nail or something. I almost went banging on their door to see if-”
“That’s exactly where I ended up, actually,” I said because he was making my fucking head hurt worse and I just couldn’t help but be a smart ass.
“What?” Dante snarled, his grip on me tightening painfully.
“Ow,” I snapped. “What is it with assholes manhandling me today?” I yanked myself out of his grip and found the two of them glaring at me.
“How the hell did you survive walking into the Lunar headquarters and leave with your life?” Dante demanded. “They’d kill anyone outside of their inner circle just for hanging out near there.”
“That’s what I want to know,” Gabriel piped up because apparently they’d decided to side together on something for the first time ever and it was against me. Brilliant.
“If you must know, I got Scarlett to call Ryder and he came and picked me up,” I said
, skimming hard on the details but my brain had no energy for the words required for a better explanation. “Now can I go to bed or-”
“You called that stronzo for help?” Dante asked, looking at me like I’d just taken a shit on his grandma’s birthday cake.
“Well I hardly think I’d still be alive if I’d asked her to call you,” I replied, rolling my eyes at the ridiculousness of that idea. Oh hey Scarlett why don’t we call up your mortal enemy and see if he can come get me? “And as I was dumped in the middle of their turf with no cash or Atlas by that asshole I didn’t have much choice.” I pointed at Gabriel and he bristled.
“You’re the one who ran off,” he snarled but Dante had already shifted his rage around onto Gabriel, static electricity rolling through the air and making my hair raise around me.
“You did what to her?” Dante demanded dangerously.
“I’m not the one who left her alone outside the party so that she could get kidnapped,” Gabriel growled, shards of ice forming in his hands.
“I’ve actually got a thumping headache, I feel like absolute shit and all I want in the world is to go the fuck to sleep and ideally wake up feeling better,” I said loudly. “So if you two are going to keep arguing I’m just going to go.”
“You fly around this place, acting like you’re so fucking superior, Gabriel,” Dante snarled. “But having two Elements only makes you more powerful. It clearly doesn’t make you any more of a man.”
Gabriel snarled at him, throwing a fistful of ice which Dante blocked with a shield of air. The ice shattered loudly against the wall and it was like every fucking fragment of it was piercing my goddamn brain. I flinched, scrunching my eyes up against the noise as they started throwing more magic at each other.
Fuck this, I need sleep not douchebags.
I reached up to the shelf beside my bed and snagged my Atlas before turning and heading out of the room without looking back.
My tongue was swollen in my mouth and pain was driving itself through my limbs like a thousand nails hammered into rotting wood.
Savage Fae (Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac Book 2) Page 3