Broken Fae (Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac, #4)

by Caroline Peckham

Roary laughed beside us, pushing a hand through his mane as he watched us together. “I’m so pleased for you, little brother,” he said. “You’re one of the best people I know and I’m so glad you’ve found happiness like this.”

“Le parole non possono descrivere la tua bellezza, amore mio,” he said in that achingly deep voice of his and a shiver of pleasure danced across my skin at the sound of him speaking to me in his language.

"Mi manchi come al sole mancano tutte le stelle e la luna quando affonda oltre l'orizzonte," I told her and she gazed at me, not asking what that meant. Maybe she knew from the tone of my voice. That I had missed her fiercely and I wondered every day since she'd been bound to Leon, how I was ever going to let her go.

"The stars will give you clues of what to do, they are never your enemy," he said seriously and I clucked my tongue. "Gabriel, this is important. Everything that has happened to you, good or bad, is neither of those things. You decide on the stars’ intentions based on the life you have lived so far, but you aren't considering the life you haven't yet lived."

“There is only one person who can run rings around a king, Elise,” he said slowly. “Let alone four of them at once.” “Oh yeah?” I joked. “And who’s that?” “A queen. So maybe it’s time you started thinking about what good you want to do now that you’ve been crowned.”

Two flames, one anchor. You'll find them when they need you most.

"Friends," he tsked. "A friend is a traitor waiting to happen. People have to respect and fear you in my position or they're a threat."

Dante dropped his silencing bubble and murmured. “Vorrei poterti tenere.”

“Non me ne sono mai andato.”

Where we used to watch the sky, you’ll find the wings you need to fly...

"No, bella. You're a queen among men and the sooner you realise that the better. Haven't you noticed how easily you make men worship you? There's magic in you more powerful than the stars themselves."

"That's because you have a way of seeing the man instead of the monster, amore mio. It's one of the things I like best about you and hate the most too."

"You're always so strong, Dante," I breathed, looking down at him from my position a few steps above him. "You know you don't have to be with me, right? Not if you don't want to be. You can crack and shatter and break and I’ll hold you through it all until you're ready to build yourself back up again. You can lean on me, rely on me, ask anything of me that you need and I'll be there to offer it up." Dante let the smile slip and his gaze ran down my body as he released a low growl. "Only if you promise to do the same, bella. When you need something from me, you don't even have to ask. I want you to take it and always know you can, without question."

"I will always look after you, Elise. Which means, I won’t see you go thirsty. If you have no self-control then I'll have it for you. I'll make sure the only thing you take from me is blood."

"Gareth sarà per sempre nel tuo cuore," he promised and I sighed as I reached for my magic to search this place for a sense of my brother.

"No one will ever hurt you while I draw breath, Elise," he swore. "My heart is yours and my strength is too. Never doubt that, no matter what way the rest of this plays out."

The hypnosis seemed to hold onto me for once, not letting me change his appearance. And seeing Gareth just made guilt well in me and my worthless soul tear at the seams. "I fucked up," I told him, my heart splitting apart. "I didn't know and if I had I don't think I'd have done the right thing anyway. I'm not Inferno, I'm no one's hero."

"You rescued me," he announced and I hissed, spitting actual venom. "I did not," I snarled, but I didn't know why I bothered lying. I'd come racing here in the pocket of a blackbird to warn this bastard. How could I deny that shit? I didn't know why, but I just couldn't let him be cut up by the Lunars for the sake of him taking Elise from me. Even if I'd pictured doing so myself more than once.

"I thrive on pain, baby. I've been gutted and flayed and burned, and none of it has compared to the agony I've been in over losing you."

"I spent years in the dark, living in an endless expanse of emptiness. Where I felt nothing but the words I branded on my knuckles. I thought I was broken, but maybe my soul was just lying dormant, stopping me from experiencing anything good in this fucked up world. But you’ve awakened me, Elise, and I can't go back to sleep."

"I'll always be a monster, baby. I'll be the reason Fae lock their doors at night in Alestria, I am branded on the inside of my enemies' skulls and my name will always strike fear into their hearts. But I will also be your monster, if you'll have me. If you deem me worthy. I don't have much to give but a blackened heart and a tarnished soul, but they're yours because...” I took a breath and expelled my deepest truth, “I love you."

"Not everything is as it seems when looking into death and dreams. Freedom is bought on a lie," I murmured.

"I thought the big, bad gangster was the one who was supposed to do the corrupting?" I breathed as I slowly caressed his dick, loving how hard he grew for me with such little attention. "Me too, but I never knew there were monsters like you before I met you. I never knew that anyone could tame me like you have."

"Ti amo, Dante," I murmured against his swollen lips and I could feel him smiling as he held me close. "Ti amo, Elise," he replied softly, his mouth dropping to my neck as he nuzzled against me. "Non ti lascerò mai andare."

I pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, focusing on nothing else but her in that moment. My light, my girl. I'd been so clouded by the need to run to Mariella and rip her from this world, that I hadn't realised how important it was that Elise went with me. She grounded me, made me hope for a future that wasn't endlessly dark. And after tonight, maybe that future would shine even brighter than before. "I couldn't do it without you, baby."

"I love it when you're rough with me, Ryder," I said, my hands sliding down over his abs until I hooked them into his belt and pulled him closer by it. "But I just want you to know that you don't always have to be if you don't want to. I don't want you to pretend with me. I want all of you, the hurt and pain and lust and the love. Every piece of it."

"Nothing worth having in life comes easy."

"That’s like, honest to the stars solid good luck you're holding, little monster," Leo said, in a low voice just for me as he reached out to tuck a lock of my lilac hair behind my ear. "Because you've had way too much bad luck in life and I want that to change for you more than anything in the world. I want you to know that I'm always on your side and fighting your corner and that I'll back you in anything and everything until the bitter end."

"In my family, when we give someone our heart, we give them something precious to us to prove to them how much they mean to us. This is the most precious thing I own and you're the person who can claim ownership of my heart, so it's only right I give this to you. Tu sei il mio intero mondo, Elise."

Some loves leave a scar on your heart which you never want to heal.

"The enemy of our enemy is our friend,"

"The stars put us together for a reason, little monster. You and me are as unstoppable as the rising sun. So let's go show them what happens when they try to fuck with our boyfriends."