Titan chuckled. “Are you making friends? Settling well?”
“Friends?” I asked curiously. I was conducting investigations, cosying up to suspects and fantasising over guys who I just might have to kill if I found out they’d been responsible for the death of my brother. So no, I hadn’t found a whole hell of a lot of time for friends.
“I know that Vampires can be solitary by nature but it never hurts to have a few chums,” Titan insisted. “Maybe in our next session we can talk about some friendships you’re starting to form.”
I snorted a laugh. “Sure thing. I’ll work extra hard on getting chummy with people then.”
“You do that.” Titan chuckled and I left his office.
As I walked down the corridor, heading for my bunk, the weight in my chest felt a little lighter. Maybe there was someone I could rely on in this place after all. And it didn’t feel awful to know that he had faith in me. I just wished his faith was more deserving. Because I got the feeling that when I dealt with my brother’s killer, I was going to have to shatter every good thing left in me to do it. And I doubted anyone would be Team Elise after that. But if he was, it might be nice to have a visitor while I lived out my life in Darkmore Penitentiary. I guessed I’d just have to wait and see.
It was time to play a little prank on my Dragon friend. He’d gotten me good in potions class the other day; that essence of inkbark hadn’t come out of my hair easily. I was the King of pranks, but he’d be prepared for a comeback so I had to be sly. Luckily for me, sly was my middle name.
I had a Mindy loitering out in the hall beyond my dorm, waiting to see when he appeared to head to the showers.
A ping on my Atlas told me he was leaving and I leapt off of my bed, tucking the bottle of Pegasus glitter into my sweatpants pocket alongside a small jar of staroak sap. Another message from Mindy said he was closing in on the showers so I snatched my towel and headed out of the room.
I moved along the hall, spotting Dante at the far end of it as he stepped through the door.
With a grin, I quickened my pace, slipping in behind him.
“Oh hey, dude,” I said casually as he stripped off beside one of the shower stalls.
“Buongiorno, Leon, you’re up early.”
I stretched out my arms above my head. “Couldn’t sleep.”
Dante stepped into one of the stalls and I hurried into the one beside it as the sound of his shower running filled the air. He started humming a tune and I dropped down, stealing the bottle of shampoo at his feet and adding the Pegasus glitter alongside some staroak sap. I had to contain my laughter as I slipped it back under the stall then stripped out of my sweatpants to have my own shower. I washed quickly, making sure I was back out in the bathroom to catch the moment Dante appeared.
I loitered by one of the sinks in my sweatpants, combing my fingers through my damp hair.
“Merda!” Dante cursed and a snort of laughter escaped me. “Argh it’s everywhere.”
The door to his stall flew open and he stood there butt naked with sparkling glitter stuck firmly in his hair, over his face and down his shoulders and arms too. He spotted me and his eyes turned to slits. “A morte e ritorno!” He charged me down and I was laughing too much to stop him as he Pitball tackled me. An oomph left me as my back hit the door and I crashed through it, slamming down on the carpet out in the hall.
Students gasped and laughed as Dante held me down and threw a punch to my gut, his hair glittering under the lights.
“Stronzo,” he started laughing and I threw him off me with a growl of effort, making my escape down the corridor.
Elise stepped out of her dorm, her brows jumping up as she spotted me. I grabbed her like a human shield, placing her between me and Dante with a grin.
Dante marched toward us as naked as the dawn and Elise started laughing. “What’s all that?”
“Pegasus glitter,” I supplied. “And a lot of it too. It’ll be stuck there all day with how much staroak sap I mixed it with.”
Dante uprooted me with a whip of air magic and my chest impacted with the ground. He prowled forward and Elise stepped aside to give him access to me.
“Traitor!” I called to her as she headed off toward the showers with a laugh - she totally glanced back to check out Dante’s ass though.
“Oh shit,” I gasped, gazing past Dante’s head and pointing frantically.
He glanced over his shoulder at absolutely nothing and I raced for my room, slamming the door shut just before the weight of a Dragon Shifter slammed against it.
“I’ll get you back for this, mio amico!” he shouted through the door, his threat lessened by the snort of amusement that escaped him.
I turned to find my Mindys ready with my uniform while I bathed in the glow of that win. I let them dress me, humming to myself then tucked into the plate of syrupy pancakes they’d prepared for my breakfast. I wolfed them down because I had something to do before class this morning. And my mood took a darker turn as I thought about that.
“Do you want to hear your horoscope, Leon?” Mindy asked sweetly and I figured I had a couple of minutes to spare.
“Go on then.”
She held my Atlas up, reading it out to me while the other Mindy watched me wistfully. “Good morning Leo. The stars have spoken about your day! With Mercury moving into your chart this week, you will find yourself very persuasive to others. Think carefully about what you want from the people around you though as you might just find yourself in deep faster than you expect. So long as you roll with the waves of fate, an unfolding plan could work out wonderfully for you. A warning though, Mercury can be a volatile planet, if you don’t make your decisions fast, you could find them being made for you.”
“Thanks Mindy,” I said brightly, mulling that over.
I sent them both away before I took out the note I’d found in the boys locker room, detailing Elise’s movements around campus. I’d gone to every location on the list whenever I knew Elise was heading that way, but I’d had no luck catching the slippery fucker. I wasn’t going to give up though. If some pervert was stalking her, I’d find out who and make them pay Fae on Fae.
As Elise was currently at the Cafaeteria, that was where I decided to be. I wanted to watch every student in the room and try to figure out if anyone was looking at her too much or touching themselves under a table – unlikely but worth a shot.
I had considered telling Elise about the note, but something held me back. I wanted to prove I could protect her and when I found this bastard, I’d lay him at her feet like a dead mouse. Then she’d definitely be grateful. What wasn’t charming about that?
I gazed over the note again as I headed out of my dorm and started walking downstairs.
Alternates between Lunar/Oscura breakfast times. Route: Vega Dorms > Devil’s Hill > Acrux Courtyard > Cafaeteria
Girl’s bathroom. Altair Halls before lunch.
L/T Devil’s Hill.
Kipling Emporium. Orange soda.
W/E stays on campus. Library pm (Sundays after dark)
My fist clenched as I reread it, committing it to memory.
I’m going to catch you, you creep.
I was soon walking into the Cafaeteria, doing a visual sweep of the room. It was Lunar’s time slot in here but there were plenty of unallied around too. My gaze landed on Ryder at the head of the hall sitting on a table alone. His gaze was pinned on Elise as she helped herself to food from the buffet and I wondered if the stalker was as obvious as him.
But he wouldn’t leave a note. He was cleverer than that. And did he really have time to be stalking my girl when he had an entire gang to run?
Nah, as much as I would have liked to turn Elise off that douchehat, he didn’t fit the bill.
I headed to the buffet line, grabbing a plate and piling it with eggs, toast, avocado, four strips of bacon – oooh they have zebra sausages today – and two more layers of meat. I’d eaten already so I didn’t grab a banana at the end of the line as I veered toward an empty t
able in the corner.
Elise hadn’t spotted me yet but that was okay, because I needed to observe the room anyway. I focused on the Brotherhood first, figuring they were a bunch of dodgy Daves and sneaky Susans.
A few people were looking over at Elise but they were chatting with each other in low voices too and I guessed it was because their leader was staring at her without blinking. One in particular stood out to me. Bryce Corvus looked like his eyeballs were about to pop out with how hard he was glaring at her.
A prickle of anger rolled up my spine and I narrowed my gaze on him. He was a mean bastard and a strong as shit Vampire too. But I could destroy him in a fight if it came to that.
I jotted his name down as a potential suspect then continued my search in case anyone else was acting suspiciously.
My gaze snagged on Cindy Lou who was pouting over at Elise before turning to her friends and talking in a hushed voice. She began to get more frantic, gesturing with her arms and it became obvious she was re-enacting the night Elise had fought her. When she was finished, she slumped onto the table dramatically in a fit of sobs and her friends gathered around her, patting her back.
Conclusion: not a stalker. She was beat down hard since Elise had put her in her box. But that was the way of Fae. Cindy needed to move on with her life. It wasn’t proper to keep dwelling on a fight like that. Most people in school got beat down at least twice a day. I’d know, I often did the beating.
It was how we claimed our position in society. No one was judging Elise for that. I’d found it hot as fuck. I just wished I hadn’t lost sight of her that night, because maybe she wouldn’t have gotten caught up in the shit that went down in the woods.
I shifted my gaze to her roommate, Laini, who was caressing the arm of her new girlfriend. She sat a few seats down from Elise and I realised they hadn’t spent much time together since Laini had hooked up with that girl at the Spring formal. I eyed the empty seat beside Elise with a pinch of longing. I’d surveyed the room long enough. My girl wasn’t going to sit alone.
I snatched up my plate, moving across the room and dropping into the seat beside her with a wide grin. Her brows jumped up in surprise and a smile pulled at her mouth. A mouth I definitely wanted a kiss from. I leaned in for it and grinned as she let me take one, my soul singing as she shifted closer so her thigh pressed against mine.
“You taste like chocolate poptarts,” I noted, licking my lips.
“Well I like the cherry ones but I couldn’t get to them under the mountain of chocolate.” She shrugged but I puffed my chest out like a hero and headed over to the buffet.
She hadn’t been kidding about the chocolate poptarts. I mean, holy shit, did we really need this many? I started digging through the pile, knocking them on the floor and causing one whole hell of a landslide. Finally, I snagged my prize and strolled back to Elise to present it to her on a plate.
I placed it down for her, dropping back into my seat and she gave me the biggest smile. It did a lot of things to my heart (and my dick).
“Thanks Leo.” She took a bite out of it, drawing a moan of delight from her throat.
I’d stopped eating, full on staring at her devouring that poptart while wishing it was me. When she bites me she’s never gonna want to drink from any other Fae in the whole of Solaria.
The Brotherhood started filing out of the room and I glanced at the clock to see it was half eight, so the Oscura Clan would be along soon enough. They alternated their time schedules day to day and I wondered if they had special liaisons who sorted shit like that out for them so they crossed paths as little as possible. I couldn’t wait to see what Dante had done to cover up his hair. A beanie hat? A bandana? A beret? Oh please stars, let it be a beret.
The Oscuras appeared, filling the room with loud chatter. They were the opposite to the Lunars, all of them messing around together like a pack of dogs. Which most of them were to be fair.
Dante appeared amongst them and I was kinda proud to find he was just owning the hair disaster so its glittery glory was on show.
“Hey Tinkerbell, wanna go on a date with me later?!” I called across the room at him.
He turned to me with a smirk while his Beta, Tabitha, ordered the wolves about to lay out a spread of food for him.
“Only if you plan on putting out,” he called back. “Otherwise I’ve got another offer from a Captain who said he’ll put his hook up my ass.”
I burst out laughing and Elise smiled her amusement as she glanced between us. Dante sat down with his wolves and I took my Atlas out, snapping a photo of him while he wasn’t looking. I uploaded it to FaeBook while Elise glanced over my shoulder and started giggling.
“How the fuck do you get away with this shit?” she asked. “He’d kill anyone else who tried it.”
“Same reason you get away with winding him up.” I glanced at her with a seductive grin. “He wants to put it in your ass.”
“Leo!” she buried her face in my shoulder as she fell apart and I grinned from ear to ear.
“What? It’s true,” I said lightly and she thumped my leg, shaking her head as she continued to smile.
I loved making my little monster happy.
“He’s going to destroy you at Pitball practise later,” she warned.
“Naah.” I took a bite out of my toast. “He’s over it.”
***
“Bloom! Pay fucking attention!” Mars roared at Harvey on the Pitball pitch. He was gazing up at the sky like it fascinated him. Fucking Blazer.
I was running for Elise as she tried to get a Fireball into the Pit, casting air to keep the blazing ball above her hands as she ran with it. I charged at her like a freight train but someone took me out from the side and I hit the ground so hard something cracked.
“Dante!” I roared, swinging my fist for his sparkly head.
He laughed, shoving my face down in the dirt as the pain in my side immobilised me.
“You’re out, Night!” Mars called and Dante jumped off of me, holding out a hand to help me up.
I took it, wheezing as I clutched my ribs and healed away the wound. Elise had gotten the ball into the Pit and she stood to the side of it with a casual expression like it had been no effort at all. Girl was a natural and looked shit hot in those tiny sports shorts.
I strode off the pitch to sit in the stands, grumbling as I had to wait out the next round. It was only five minutes, but whatever. I still hated to be beaten at my favourite game in the whole world. We had a big match coming up soon. We’d made it all the way to the semi-finals of the inter-school league. If we beat Sunrise Academy in the next game, we’d be facing Zodiac Academy in the finals.
It would be a dream come true. A fucking miracle when you analysed it. Aurora hadn’t made it to the finals in half a century but to beat Zodiac it would take more than a miracle. It would take divine intervention from the stars. They were the top academy, full of elite assholes who had been privately educated since before they could walk. They’d had the best start in life, had access to professional pitches, the Solarian Pitball League had even brought star players from across the world’s finest teams to visit them last year. They’d toured a bunch of academies but none of them would ever have even set foot in Alestria. But if we won the tournament…we’d put ourselves on the map. They’d have to pay attention to us.
I took my golden whistle out from where it was hanging beneath my shirt.
Oh my stars, imagine if the Fireside of The Skylarks, Alid Kerberos, came to this academy. He could brand a burn mark on my whistle at long last. I could die a happy man then. Hashtag bucket list complete.
A heavy crash sounded out on the pitch and I looked up to find Dante pinning Elise to the ground. It didn’t piss me off for once though, something about the sight of them like that sparked a purr deep in my chest.
I shook off the feeling, figuring I was losing my mind. But then again…they sure did look hot together.
Ryder Draconis was nothing if not a creature of ha
bit. Eat, sleep, work out, repeat. A little threatening and general assholishness thrown in for kicks and giggles but essentially that was it.
So despite the fact that my plan was fucking insane, I was semi sure it would work anyway. And luckily for me, his room was on the ground floor.
I was lingering outside the Vega Dorms, seemingly minding my own business reading a Tarot book while really listening out for any sounds of Fae lingering nearby.
It was after class on Tuesday and that meant one thing: Ryder was in the gym, lifting weights until he half busted a gut. He’d have almost all of the other members of the Lunar Brotherhood alongside him as they took advantage of their time slot in there.
So I had a little window of opportunity to break into his room. That was made more difficult by the magic placed on all the dorm doors which only allowed their occupants to enter. Hence the lingering. Because in that moment, my attention was really fixed on the window about ten feet in front of me which I just so happened to know led into Ryder’s room.
I’d taken yet another field trip to the Dead Shed and located myself a handy crowbar for window wedging which was currently super covertly concealed within my blazer.
It wasn’t the most subtle of plans but I hadn’t been able to come up with another one and it was time for me to look at the King of the Lunar Brotherhood more closely.
Ryder had practically boasted about knowing the ingredients in Killblaze despite the fact that the FIB still hadn’t managed to figure that out. Which had left me to come to the only conclusion which made any sense: the Brotherhood were responsible for creating and distributing the drug all over Alestria.
I scowled at the offending window as I thought about that. Ryder’s gang of assholes were almost certainly responsible for creating the very thing which had stolen my brother from me. And with Ryder’s love of potions and natural ability to create new and strange concoctions, I couldn’t help but wonder if he himself was the one who had created the drug in the first place. And if he had, did that mean I would hold him responsible enough to kill him for it?
Savage Fae (Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac Book 2) Page 10