When Dante asked me to get him a try-out for the Pitball team, it had been a pretty easy job. Mars practically jumped for joy at the chance to get a Dragon on the team. Especially playing defence. I was actually starting to think we could really have a shot in the inter-academy tournament this year. There was still a bit of dead weight on the team but between the six strong players we did have, we were starting to become a real force.
I stood to the side of the pitch while Coach Mars sent our Earthraider, Lizzie Highcloud, sprinting for the Pit with an Airball in her arms. Dante charged her down like an oncoming tsunami, uprooting her and crushing her to the ground with all his might. She squeaked in pain and he jumped up when Mars finished the count, helping her to her feet.
Dante’s pack had turned up to watch and were all cheering wildly from the stands. “Go on Drago!”
“King of beasts, his scales are so beautiful. So shiny, have you seen them?” I turned toward the voice, spotting Lorenzo Oscura down the far end of the bleachers, standing up on his chair as he clapped enthusiastically. The guy had been kicked out of the pack for Blazing but he always hung around his old Clan on the outskirts. Never getting too close, but clearly never wanting to stray too far. I kind of pitied him as he cheered for Dante again and his Alpha shot him a scowl before turning back to face the pitch.
“You’re up, Tempa,” Mars called to me. “Show him what you’ve got. I’ll give you an Earthball.”
I nodded, stepping onto the pitch and heading to the earth quarter to receive the ball. The hole groaned and spat it out of the pipe running beneath the ground and I picked up the heavy ball, hugging it to my chest.
Dante stood across the pitch, setting me in his sights. I might have feared him outside of this game, but Pitball was the thing I was best at in the world. This was where I thrived. And Oscura King or not, I wasn’t going to hold back.
Mars blew his whistle and cheers rang out as I sprinted toward the wide Pit at the centre of the pitch. Dante ran at me, his arms powering back and forth as he sped forward to take me down. I kept running in his direction, using a tactic I often saved for my strongest opponents. I might have been weaker than Dante, but I was much faster.
I threw the ball up with all my might, propelling it with air magic so it flew high up over Dante’s head.
He glanced up and I dropped to the ground, sweeping out his legs so he tripped, stumbling forward and crashing to his knees. I was back on my feet in a heartbeat, my arms outstretched to catch the ball. I braced for the weight of it instead of jumping to meet it, knowing it would cost me valuable seconds. But with an Earthball it was always better to play it safe, because if I dropped it in a real game, I’d be out and my team would lose five points.
It crashed into my chest and I clasped my arms around it before pelting toward the Pit, hearing Dante take chase close behind. My team were egging us on and Leon was singing the Solarian Pitball League Anthem as I made it to the Pit and slammed it down into its depths. A rush of air made me flinch as Dante collided with me, taking me down into the hole.
I cast air at the last second to cushion our fall and Dante rolled off of me with a bark of laughter.
“I love this fucking game,” he said.
I stood, holding out my hand for him and he smirked as I pulled him up. We both used air to propel ourselves out of the Pit and the crowd noise rolled over me as I headed back across the pitch.
“Nice tackle, Oscura. Tempa is damn quick though, you’ll have to get faster to take on players like him. Apart from that, you’ve definitely earned your place on the team,” Mars said to Dante, barely concealing his grin. He clearly felt the way all of our team looked. Damn hopeful. Because Dante was the best Airsentry our team had seen in a long ass time.
I clapped him on the back and Leon accosted us a second later, wrapping his arms around us in a tight hug. “We’re gonna beat Zodiac!”
“Dude,” I laughed. “That is so optimistic.”
“I’d love to see their Airsentry, Lance Orion, on his ass,” Dante said excitedly. “I’m gonna make sure I’m as good as him when we play them.”
The rest of the team followed Mars in the direction of the changing rooms while we stood there talking excitedly about beating the Zodiac Academy team. Their enthusiasm was intoxicating and poured over me in waves.
“A Dragon playing Pitball hahaha woooooosh can you imagine? Him flying over the pitch with his scaly ass out. Wooooosh.”
We broke apart as we looked up at Lorenzo who was impersonating a Dragon, standing up on the top of his seat, balancing precariously as his arms flapped either side of him. “Then he’d go zap zap zappety zap and zap up all the Zodiac students. How many zaps do you think it would take? I think it would take ten good ones to bring down their stadium. Bang then poof.” He waved his hands then jumped forward like he was about to fly off into the air but he definitely wasn’t.
Dante threw out a hand, casting air magic to stop him smashing his face on the seat below him. Lorenzo scrambled upright and Dante’s pack all shot him glares, baring their teeth and growling.
Dante sighed and we headed after Leon toward the changing rooms. As we exited the pitch, Dante plucked at the back of my shirt to halt me.
“A word, cavallo.” He didn’t wait for a reply as he moved behind the bleachers and I jogged after him as he slipped beneath them into the shadows.
I could still hear Lorenzo laughing wildly, clearly high as a kite as he started rambling about Dragons wearing different types of coats. And apparently that was hilarious. I mean okay, it was a little funny.
Dante cast a silencing bubble around us before giving me a taut look. “My cousin is a Blazer.”
“No shit,” I said, running a hand down the back of my neck.
“He’s an embarrassment but…he’s still family. And Oscuras don’t give up on family.”
I nodded, frowning as I wondered how this was relevant to me.
“But I’m the Alpha and I made my decision. I banished him for continuing to use Killblaze and it’s clear he has no intention of stopping, mio amico.”
“Yeah…maybe he needs to see the school counsellor?” I suggested.
“He already has,” Dante sighed. “I think he’s given up trying because he’s cut off from the pack. He has no one to help him, no friends, no allies. But bringing him back to the pack while he’s still Blazing would show weakness. I have to stick to my decision on this.”
I nodded, my pity growing for the dude. I wasn’t the kind of guy who would ever take drugs, but I’d heard how addictive Killblaze could be. Lorenzo was in deep and he needed help.
“So I want you to be his friend,” Dante went on, his eyes flaring with hope. “Help him, cavallo. Get him what he needs to break this habit so I can bring him back to the Clan.”
I drew in a long breath, already shaking my head. “I don’t think I’m the right guy-”
“You’re the perfect guy. You’re nice, people like you. And I’ll pay you two hundred auras a month if you do this for me.”
My mouth parted. I was already doing work for him but having some consistent pay like that would be peace of mind. And surely befriending Lorenzo was a much easier job than some of the things Dante had tasked me with already?
“Okay, deal.” I held out my hand and magic sparked between our palms as we shook on it.
Dante visibly relaxed as we headed to the locker rooms together and I could see how much this meant to him. I decided to wait to talk to Lorenzo until another day, sure right now wasn’t worth it as he was off his face. Tomorrow, I’d begin the process of becoming the best friend he ever had.
***
I cornered Lorenzo at lunch the next day, having come up with a reason to talk to him rather than swooping down on him out of the blue. He was standing alone at the end of the Acrux Courtyard, gazing wistfully at the Oscuras who were sitting on the picnic tables across the yard.
“Hey man,” I said as I closed in on him.
His bloods
hot eyes flipped to me. I could tell he wasn’t high but it was clear the toll the drug was taking on him. His face looked gaunt and there was no spark in gaze, just a hollow kind of hunger that made a pang of sadness resound through me.
“Who are you?” he asked and I frowned. He’d been right there watching the Pitball try out yesterday but clearly he couldn’t remember a damn thing.
“I’m Gareth Tempa,” I said with a smile, but he gave me a blank look in return.
“What do you want?”
“Well I wondered if you could give me some advice. You’re an Oscura right?”
“I was…” he said miserably, his eyes twitchy as he glanced out at the Clan again. “It’s still my surname but I’m not with them anymore. Dante banished me.”
“Oh…I’m sorry,” I said gently.
“Yeah well, it’s only temporary. I’m gonna be back in there soon. Like a day or two more. Maybe a week.”
“That’s good,” I said brightly, though I didn’t really believe him. “Maybe you could give me some advice then like…just between you and me?”
“What advice?” he asked, turning to me curiously.
“I’m thinking about joining the Clan, but I don’t want to take the initiation until I’m sure it’s the life for me. And I don’t wanna align myself with anyone until I’m sure.”
“Sì, most pledges are anonymous anyway so if they don’t make it into the Clan, the Lunars won’t beat the shit out of them for the rest of their days.”
“That’s good of them,” I commented.
His eyes glittered for a moment as he surveyed me. “Hey if I teach you how to act maybe Dante will forgive me. Maybe he’ll welcome me back in if I make you the best pledge ever, right?”
“Right,” I said brightly, though I had no real intention of taking the initiation. I couldn’t sign up to the Oscura Clan when I was working for Ryder Draconis too. Not that he’d offered me any work yet, but I didn’t get the feeling he was the type to forget about the fact that he’d offered. “So what’s the first thing I need to know? Teach me anything.”
Lorenzo smiled broadly like I’d just made his day. He probably hadn’t had anyone speak to him properly for weeks. “The first thing you have to know about the Oscuras is they’d do anything for each other. Anything. If you can’t put someone else’s needs in front of your own, you’re already a bad match. So do you think you can do that?”
I nodded in earnest because hell, if there was one thing I knew about myself it was that I could put someone else’s needs before my own. It was what I’d been doing for Ella all year. It was why I walked a dangerous line every day, just to make sure she didn’t end up in Old Sal’s clutches. “Yeah, I can definitely do that.”
“Bene, I’ll make an Oscura out of you then, Gareth. The best one they’ve ever seen.”
The Oscura party had gone on into the small hours and I woke to an alarm blaring out from my Atlas and a pounding headache.
I groaned as I rolled over in my bunk, checking the time on my Atlas and seeing that it was gone half ten.
I cursed as I shoved myself upright. I had a counselling session at eleven which had been especially arranged for me to have on a Saturday in honour of me skipping out on the last one and storming out of my first. I sighed. I really didn’t want to attend but I had no choice; the sessions were compulsory and if I missed any more of them I could be putting my place at Aurora Academy on the line.
My daily horoscope was waiting on the screen for me and I let my eyes trail over it for a moment, not really having time to worry about whatever it said.
Good morning Libra.
The stars have spoken about your day!
Sampling forbidden fruit may come back to haunt you today. Mercury has shifted into your chart and chaos could be heading your way. The strongest boughs learn to bend so that they don’t break. Compromise will be your friend and help you through the storm. It’s a good time to listen to the will of others and allow yourself to follow a different path for a while.
What the hell is that supposed to mean?
I had no time for confusing as fuck horoscopes so I tossed my Atlas down and dropped out of bed.
“Big night?” Gabriel asked from his bunk as he looked up from a Numerology book he was studying. Rain hammered against the windows as a storm pounded the academy and I guessed it wasn’t a great time to be up in his roof cave.
“Something like that,” I muttered, heading for the closet.
Dante was snoring in his bunk and he hadn’t pulled the sheet around it. The smell of stale beer hung in the air and I spotted his golden chalice hanging from his fingertips where his arm hung over the edge of the bed. I wasn’t sure what time he’d gotten in, but it was after me and I’d seen four am flash up on my Atlas before passing out.
“You’re the talk of the school,” Gabriel added casually although I was fairly sure I detected a hint of irritation hidden in the depths of his voice.
“Am I now?” I asked disinterestedly, not knowing what he was talking about and not having time for it either.
I grabbed at the closest thing to me and pulled another new pair of jeans out of the closet, stepping into them beneath the long t-shirt I’d worn to bed. I hadn’t realised quite how well the Kiplings would pay me for my work and after a search online for some sale items I’d managed to stock my wardrobe with several new outfits after just one job.
The black jeans I’d grabbed had rips in the knees and I kept my back to Gabriel as I tossed my T-shirt aside and pulled on a black shirt with a knot tied over my navel and can’t quite give a shit scrawled over my chest. I didn’t bother with a bra because I was too damn late for underwear and Miss Nightshade didn’t seem like the type to take kindly to tardiness.
“You’re actually trending,” Gabriel pressed and I was about to tell him I didn’t have time for this conversation just as the sound of a video playing reached my ears.
I turned to look at him as he held his Atlas out for me to see. The video was dark but my lilac hair stood out as I danced between the two men who had dominated my time at the party last night.
Dante’s hand caught my face and he tipped my mouth up to meet his. The memory of that kiss made my lips tingle with the electric energy I’d felt at the time. My heart beat a little faster as Leon started kissing my neck from behind while my mouth stayed locked with Dante’s. Their hands were all over me and after a minute of full on kissing with Dante, he turned my head so that Leon could capture my lips instead. It looked even hotter than it had felt, which was saying a damn lot.
“Oh, that,” I said as dismissively as I could manage but my heart was pounding and my voice caught on the last word.
Gabriel shut the video down and I met his eye, my cheeks flaming at the memories though I refused to be embarrassed by them. I was pretty sure the two of them would have taken things further if I’d wanted to last night but I’d been drinking and although I was hardly some innocent girl, I’d never done anything like that before. I didn’t want to make that decision without a clear head no matter how good it had felt being pinned between their bodies.
“Are you trying to make me jealous?” Gabriel asked, scowling at me.
“You think I’d go to a party you weren’t attending and kiss two guys who aren’t you under the assumption that some random person would video it and post it online for you to see just so that I could try and make you jealous?” I asked, scoffing. “Get over yourself Gabriel.”
He frowned at me as I grabbed my Atlas and I started heading for the door.
“Don’t you feel the pull to me?” he asked, the seriousness of his tone making me hesitate. “The draw of our bond urging you back my way whenever we’re not together?”
I was about to tell him no, but that wasn’t entirely true. I did think about him a lot. I fantasised about the night we’d spent together and the way his mouth had felt against mine the way his body had felt as it possessed mine... But then I spent a lot of time thinking about all o
f the Kings and plenty of other people besides. Because I was trying to figure out if any of them had had a hand in my brother’s death.
“Why would I be drawn to a liar who won’t even speak up for me when I ask him to? Or at least explain himself to me after the fact?” I countered, edging for the door because I really was going to be late if I left it much longer and I at least wanted to brush the taste of beer out of my mouth before I went.
“There’s a lot about me I can’t tell you,” he said darkly.
“Well keep your secrets. I couldn’t give a shit. Just don’t expect me to pine for someone who isn’t even real with me.”
“But Dante and Leon are real with you, are they? They tell you all their dark secrets? They both come from criminal families, they’ve both done things that would give you nightmares if you knew about them,” he growled.
I scoffed. “I don’t think so, Gabriel. You’ve painted this pretty picture of me in your head as this poor innocent girl or something but the truth is, you don’t know me at all. In fact you’ve made it your mission not to know me. So don’t go telling me I don’t know anything about the darkness in them. Because that might just be what I like about them the most. And you have no right to make any kind of comment on what I do or who I see anyway. You’ve made it perfectly clear you don’t want me, so why are we even having this conversation?”
Gabriel let out a heavy breath and looked away from me towards Dante where he slept for a moment. “Just because it would be better for you if you weren’t mine doesn’t mean I like seeing you becoming someone else’s. I haven’t thought of another woman since the stars brought you to me, you consume my desires.”
My lips parted in surprise at that admission and I couldn’t deny I liked the way it sounded. But he couldn’t expect me to put my life on hold for him when he’d made it clear he didn’t want to get close to me.
“Well if you really are my Elysian Mate then you’ll want me for who I really am,” I said, grabbing my wash bag. “And I’m not the type to be tied down to one guy.”
Savage Fae (Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac Book 2) Page 13