Vicious Fae (Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac, #3)

by Caroline Peckham

She and the other pups needed to be protected, no matter what. And sometimes that was from their own natures too.

And may the stars help anyone who dared.

I could only hope that he was alright despite the fact that he’d brought a mini tsunami down on Alestria for the fourth night in a row.

Dante’s problem was that he wasn’t used to leaning on anyone for support. He had his family all backing him, but as the Alpha, he took the burdens of leadership solely on his shoulders.

I may have been less than half his size, but I could pack a punch like a charging rhino if the need arose.

so I really had no need to fight a vulture like Bryce for anything.

“And I know there’s more to you than your cherry pie smile and your spellbinding pussy.”

“I feel more for you than I’ve felt for anything in so long that I can’t even remember.”

she clearly gave no shits. Not one quarter of a shit. Not even a mouse dropping of a shit.

The guy was the definition of a loner, so if his Mate showed up it was going to be an empty room.

Which was as sad as Sally the snail in a snowstorm because I was more than willing to share my girl to keep her happy. So we were all losing out.

Elise wanted all of us. The asshole Lunar leader as well. Which I’d known because of that deal, but I hadn’t realised until just right now how much she liked him.

She might have hidden her emotions well, but I was starting to become a master at reading them.

She was ours. And I was gonna work my way around that stupid-ass deal he’d struck with Ryder as best I could.

“Forgotten,” she whispered. “But let’s go find him and watch his face when we send it to him.” “Oh hell fucking yes.”

“And I don’t see why I have to be paired with someone so far beneath me on the power scale that it’s embarrassing to even face off with you. But here we are.”

“She’s a fucking liar and a shady bitch and I’m not going to put up with her shit anymore.”

There were cases of Fae who were so good at it that they’d gotten other Fae to commit crimes for them all in the name of a love they’d been tricked into feeling.

And it could be pretty hard to prove that it had been used at all if the Fae in question truly believed they were in love and not under an enchantment.

“I spent weeks searching for it when it went missing. I mourned it like I’d lost him all over again.”

“Per me sei morto,”

“Do you think they bonded over the fact that they both have fangs or because neither of them has a soul?”

I’ll kill every fucking member of your family in ways so fucking torturous they won’t even be able to release the details to the press. You’ll be burying the pieces of them in a hessian sack because you won’t be able to put them back together well enough to fill a coffin,”

I didn’t care what she’d done, I was here for her. In her corner. Always.

“I thought you murdered him, you asshole. I was terrified of it. But you beat him up because he blackmailed you. So what? He would have healed! He was Fae. And a strong fucking Fae too. We all take beatings every day. That’s life. And after what he did to you, why would he expect anything else?”

She tasted like blood and cherries, mixed into a perfect sinful cocktail.

She was my gift from the stars. My one good thing in this world.

And despite the fact that Titan looked knackered, he did also seem to be fighting a grin so I was guessing all that charging about had been fun.

I liked to think that Gareth was here anyway. He’d adored this game. I was playing for him and I’d win for him too.

Gabriel grinned at me as he clapped enthusiastically and I smirked, a light feeling growing in my chest.

We hadn’t just won, we’d fucking smashed them.

And better than that, I’d just lived out one of Gareth’s dreams for him.

Dante and Leon started wrestling more aggressively as they got too into the game as usual and I moved forward to take my place as referee. It was our unofficial post-play tradition and I kinda loved it.

“Thanks,” I said with a grin that just wouldn’t quit. Winning at Pitball might have been the best feeling in the entire world.

My heart leapt in surprise. He’d always been so secretive about his feelings for me before, like letting anyone know how he felt might put me in danger, but it seemed like he’d really meant what he’d said the other night. He was done trying to fight it.

I’m not going to make the mistakes my mother made. I’m not going to limit myself to loving one person. So either you want me like this or you don’t want me at all. It’s simple.”

I’ve always been upfront with you about the fact that I don’t want to be tied to one man. This really shouldn’t be surprising anyone!”

“Just four,” I said, realising as I said it that it did sound a little insane, but whatever. I felt what I felt and each of my Kings gave me something I needed.

“This is how it is. I like you. All of you. And if I’m choosing what I want then that’s what it is. All or nothing. Take it or leave it.”

Leon had a smile playing around his lips and I really wanted to kiss him for it. But with the tension that was still hanging in the air following my last kiss, I decided that might not be the best idea.

I’d made my feelings clear. They could figure out the rest between themselves.

My anger dissolved in an instant because it was her. And her being here was worth the destruction of a potion it took six weeks to brew.

I stilled, slowly closing my arms around her as I got used to being hugged. Motherfucking hugged.

But I didn’t have much of an emotional range no matter what Nightmare liked to say.

But she was here, she hadn’t gone to someone else, so I’d do what I was capable of doing. Even if that just meant drinking away her pain.

“Great. You can’t handle this either, can you? Why do none of you understand I’m never gonna be with one guy? It doesn’t mean I care for any of you any less.”

If she really wanted me like she wanted them, she’d stay.

Because that was the point wasn’t it? If I was going to even try to understand this – which I really didn’t fucking want to – then I guessed she wanted me for who I was.

“I get that this is who you are. But who I am is possessive. And I want to possess you. Not as an object, Elise, like a demon. So does that factor in to your little arrangement, or am I meant to agree to your terms only? Because it seems like everyone else in this arrangement is getting what they want from you. Do I not get the same courtesy?”

“I don’t really care what you’d do with a good girl, Ryder, but I’d like to know what you’d do with a bad one.”