Savage Fae (Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac, #2)

by Caroline Peckham

I didn’t want comfort or kindness, compassion or pity. I just wanted blood. And I’d get it whatever way necessary.

If she was this determined to find this guy, I’d do everything in my power to help her.

Especially if I wanted any chance of her accepting me as a mate.

I would do everything in my power to help her figure out who’d murdered him before she got herself killed in this hunt for justice.

And though it was dangerous as hell, I decided the Oscuras were most likely to have done something bad when it came to Gareth. If they had a motive.

I could do it. I’d fucking make sure I did it. For Elise. And Gareth. And all the guilt that choked me up and made me wanna puke. It pushed at the base of my tongue like bile as flashes of that night ran through my mind.

His blood spilling across my skin, the way he’d groaned and flailed. The way I’d held him close and spoken those awful words in his ear. You’re nothing. Oh fuck fuck fuck.

I’d do anything to take it back. How could I share a room with Elise knowing what I did to her brother? How could she ever forgive it?

If she found out, she’d want to rip me to pieces. And who could blame her? I’d do the same if I had a sibling. Who wouldn’t?

My heart thundered in my chest as I recognised Gareth, his hand clasped with Ryder’s, the picture having captured the moment a flash of magic had passed between them as they struck some deal.

Who knew when I might need a quick getaway? I wasn’t gonna pass up something that could transport me half way across Solaria in a blink of an eye. It was invaluable.

I was already hiding a thousand things from Elise anyway. So what was one more lie?

I was obsessing. I knew it. And as much as I needed to figure this stuff out, I wasn’t getting anywhere by turning it over and over and over in my head. I was flogging a dead horse. I needed new ideas, another perspective, a fresh outlook…

If I could just get out of my own head for a while then maybe I’d be able to come back and look at all the evidence I’d gathered from a new angle.

Dante chuckled and I bit my lip at the deep tone of it.

“I’d call you temptation,” he growled. “Of the darkest variety.”

“The kind where men and women live out their fantasies. All of their fantasies without any limitations or judgement.”

Dante’s smile had turned into something dangerous and I couldn’t help but shift a little closer to him, wanting to bathe in the fire in his eyes.

“It takes a hell of a lot to make me blush, Dante,” I breathed. “I think you saw that for yourself in the Pitball locker rooms.” Dante’s pupils dilated with that memory and I smiled up at him as I moved towards the closet.

But I also didn’t want Leon thinking I wouldn’t be dating other people now just because we’d hooked up a few times.

“Maybe I need to set up a schedule with him,” he teased. “So we can have you on alternate days.” “That wouldn’t work,” I replied. “Why not?” “Because then I’d never get to have you both at once,” I teased.

“Sembri abbastanza buono da mangiare,”

He had one hand on the steering wheel while one hand sat in his lap as he absentmindedly thumbed through a tarot deck.

“The stars are certainly testing my commitment to this deal,” he grumbled. “They probably think it was a stupid deal,” I commented lightly.

Dante pulled up on a side street and got out of the car, circling it to open my door for me and offer me his hand as I climbed out.

“Quale stella ha dato alla luce una creatura così celeste?” he asked Dante. “I don’t know, but for tonight at least, she’s mine. So hands off, mio amico.”

“Qui possiamo essere chiunque vogliamo essere,” Dante breathed in my ear and I turned to look up at him. “What does that mean?” “In here we can be whoever we want to be,” he explained seductively. “Maybe I like just being us,” I replied, reaching out to skim my fingers along his jaw.

“And maybe I like to pretend I’m more than just an Oscura when I’m with you.” “You’re not just anything, Dante,” I whispered.

“Sometimes I wonder how it is that you manage to see so much of me,” Dante said slowly. “It’s because I’m looking, Dante. Not at a gang leader or Storm Dragon or an Alpha. I’m looking at you.”

If he wanted to know my darkest fantasies then he might be surprised to find that he starred in a lot of them recently, alongside a Basilisk, a Lion and a Harpy…

They all laughed but their attention slipped to Dante and they each bowed their heads, murmuring greetings to their Alpha.

I inhaled in surprise and Dante’s grip on me firmed as a deep growl resounded through his body.

“But you can’t touch me, Dante.” “No. I can watch you though.” “Watch me what?”

“Do you have a Dragon fetish?” “Sometimes,” I replied with a grin. “But I was thinking more of a private dance.”

“What’s wrong, bella?” he teased. “You look like you were only moments from me finishing you off.”

“You think you can dance well enough to get me off?” Dante taunted. “I’d like to see you try.”

If Dante Oscura wanted me to show him what I was made of then he wasn’t going to be disappointed.

She danced like a fucking pro and I had to wonder how she’d gotten so good at this. With moves like that and a body that made me ache, she would have made top aura in this club. Not that I’d ever have let her dance for anyone but me.

The fucking deal prevented me from kissing her, fucking her, even jerking off over her while she was right in front of me.

My jaw locked tight as Ryder appeared amongst them, his eyes endlessly dark.

He was the only one of the group without a mask in place.

“You said you wanted to see my dark side, carina. So don’t judge me when it’s over.” I gripped the edge of the curtain and Elise hurried to my side.

My eyes locked on Ryder across the room, fighting with one of my cousins while blood was shed all around him by his people. In my club. On my turf. Hurting my people.

His eyes met mine and he mouthed the word Inferno just as he died.

But it was still in my blood, holding my Dragon down in chains.

No pain bloomed; all I felt was cold, hard rage.

If I didn’t get the Medusa antidote soon, I’d be paralysed. It usually lasted several minutes but with the dose I’d had, I’d be out for half a fucking day.

But what weakened me more than all that was the sound of Elise screaming.

Elise leapt over him, landing beside me. A broken bottle in her hand was smeared with blood but I couldn’t conjure the smile I wanted to give her.

“And let the Brotherhood kill my Storm Dragon? I don’t fucking think so.” “Yours?” I sighed, sensation returning to my lips so I could manage a cocky smile.