“I should hunt him down and tear him limb from limb,” Dante growled as we stumbled along the street towards his SUV.

“Then who would drive me home?” I teased, wincing as pain shot through me from the wound in my stomach. I’d healed most of it before the magic I’d stolen from Felix had burned out, but there was still a deep cut bleeding steadily just to the left of my navel.

Dante wasn’t in much better shape than me; the scent of his blood filled the air as the deep cut in his side continued to bleed and the injuries Felix had given him in their fight only made his condition worse.

The air was cold and my bare feet were frozen against the sidewalk as we hobbled on towards Dante’s car. There wasn’t a Fae in sight, no one I could bite and drain for the magic we so desperately needed. They’d all run far, far away the moment the gangs had collided and I didn’t blame them. Anyone who’d grown up in Alestria knew to run when The Lunar Brotherhood and The Oscura Clan came to blows. It was all too easy to get caught in the crossfire.

We made it to the car and I practically fell inside it, groaning as I leaned back against the leather seat.

Dante started the engine and set a fast speed as we drove back to the academy.

We fell into silence, each of us in too much pain and too exhausted to say anything anyway. But we were alive. That was what counted.

I reached across the seats and took his hand, smiling as his fingers engulfed mine and neither of us let go.

By the time we made it back to the academy, the place was deserted. It was nearly five in the morning, the sun was rising and everyone was safely tucked up in their beds.

I drew in a deep breath as we reached the foot of the stairs in the Vega Dorms and grabbed Dante, shooting to the top floor with my enhanced speed and the final scraps of my energy just to get us there faster.

I dropped him with a hiss of pain and he fell back against the door to our dorm, dragging me into his arms.

I let out a shaky breath and let him draw me close to his chest, pressing my forehead against his shoulder as my heartbeat finally started to settle. We were back. We were safe.

I didn’t know how the hell that was the case after everything we’d come up against tonight, but it was and I just wanted to bathe in the comfort of his arms for a moment to soak it all in.

“I’m sorry,” he began, but I leaned back and pressed my fingers to his lips to silence him.

“How could you have predicted any of that?” I asked, sliding my fingers from his mouth and down his neck until they rested above his heart.

“I should have done something about Felix sooner,” he growled. “But he’s my father’s brother…it’s hard to see family clearly sometimes.”

“You shouldn’t beat yourself up for wanting to see the best in him,” I replied sadly. I knew too well what it was like to hunt for the good in a member of your family. I’d excused every failure my mother had ever made. I’d turned a blind eye to the depression, the gambling, the neglect… I guess I just hadn’t wanted to believe that she didn’t love me like she should have, but I certainly had my proof as of late.

“I shouldn’t have taken you there tonight, bella,” Dante breathed, tucking a bloodstained strand of lilac hair behind my ear.

“No,” I agreed. “Everyone knows that the best strippers perform on Thursdays.”

Dante snorted a laugh and the mood lightened a fraction despite what we’d been through. He fumbled behind his back for the door handle and we spilled inside suddenly as it burst open. I almost fell and his strong arms wrapped around me as he drew me back towards his bed.

“I’ve got you, amore mio. And I’m not letting go.”

I bit my lip as I righted myself, liking the way he said that a little too much.

I glanced around the room to see if we’d disturbed our roommates, but Gabriel’s bunk was empty and the window was open a crack. The cover around Laini’s bed was pulled back showing that it was empty too, so I guessed she’d gone to stay with her girlfriend. Which was lucky for her because if she’d been here, I would have bitten her, no question.

I couldn’t remember the last time my magic had drained this low. It left me feeling hollow, like an empty vacuum. I needed something to fill the wells of my reserves so desperately it hurt.

Dante stripped down to his boxers and dropped onto his bed, lifting the corner of the mattress and pulling out a handful of gold chains which he proceeded to drop over his head so that he could refill his own reserves.

I cursed beneath my breath as I reached up and snagged my Atlas from my bed, tapping out a message to Leon to see if he would come and let me bite him. I was going to give him ten minutes to reply before I went banging on his door, because there was no way I’d be able to sleep with this injury and I needed magic to heal it.

I lifted my dress to get a look at the wound on my stomach, wincing at the huge slice in my skin. It was a wonder I hadn’t bled out before I’d managed to heal myself a little.

“It will take a while for my reserves to fill enough for me to help you, amore mio,” Dante murmured as I dropped my dress again, checking to see if Leon had received my message.

He hadn’t.

I was itching to go and start banging on his door, but I didn’t really want the whole school talking about me again which they would if anyone saw me like this.

Dante reached up to the base of my mattress and started pulling gold rings out of the space around the frame. He placed them on his fingers one after another and I watched him as I tried to convince myself that I wasn’t trying to stop myself from dashing out of the room and breaking down Leon’s door.

A gust of cold air blew over me and I looked around just as Gabriel stepped through the window.

His eyes widened as he dropped into the room and he paused, his huge black wings flexing wide so that they blotted out the view of the sun which had just finished rising into the pale blue sky.

“What the hell is going on?” he asked with his upper lip peeling back, looking down at Dante where he sat on the bed covered in bleeding wounds. “Is this some kind of Vampire blood fetish thing?”

“You think I get off on cutting people up?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

My fangs were tingling with his proximity. My gaze slid to his throat where his pulse hammered like the greatest temptation I’d ever known and I had to force myself not to lunge at him. That wouldn’t go so well for me. I was definitely outmatched when it came to Gabriel Nox, but that really just made him more tempting.

Gabriel’s brow furrowed as he noticed the blood staining my black dress and he strode towards me.

“What the hell happened?” he demanded angrily, glaring at Dante like it must be all his fault.

“We got caught up in a gang war.” I shrugged like that was just a normal occurrence, which in Alestria it actually was. “And we’re both out of magic.”

“What the fuck?!” Gabriel bellowed, lunging towards Dante like he intended to start laying into him.

I shot between them, cursing at the pain it caused me as I grabbed Gabriel’s arm and used my enhanced strength to stop him.

“Don’t you dare touch him,” I snarled as Dante gazed up at Gabriel through narrowed eyes with his muscles tensing.

“Stupido stronzo. If you took me on I’d leave you bleeding in a puddle of your own piss,” he muttered, reaching beneath his bed and tugging out a box of gold coins which he started scattering over his mattress.

“Didn’t I warn you about hanging around with scum like him?” Gabriel demanded, reaching out with his free hand to press it to my stomach. The bite of pain was quickly followed by a wash of pure bliss as he healed every wound on my body and I sighed in relief. “If you keep behaving like this, you’re going to get yourself killed.”

I blinked up at the rage in his eyes with a flicker of unease. There had been no way that I possibly could have known what would happen in that club tonight, but I wasn’t going to bite back at him over his anger. Because I could see that it was really just a mask. He was afraid for me. And I was more than a little surprised to see how much.

“I’m alright,” I said gently, placing my hand over his where it lingered on my stomach. “Good as new again now.”

Gabriel’s scowl deepened at my words and he drew his hand back. “I don’t hear you saying that you’re going to keep away from this asshole or any of the others you waste your time with,” he growled.

I pursed my lips. I might have been willing to let a bit of his anger slide, but if he started trying to tell me what to do or who to spend my time with again then he’d fast find his way to the sharp end of my temper.

“This asshole is one of the best people I know,” I growled, my own words surprising me as they rang with honesty. “And you can’t tell me what to do.”

“Just ignore the stronzo, carina,” Dante muttered as he reached down the side of his bed and pulled a big ass gold crown out of some hiding place before putting it on his head. “He’ll fuck off back to his rooftop soon enough.”

Gabriel growled a warning, his wings flexing and feathers ruffling as he glared down at Dante.

“Maybe it’s time I reminded you who’s the most powerful Fae in this school,” Gabriel threatened.

“Enough!” I snapped before Dante could reply. “There’s enough testosterone in here to drown a cat. You can have a dick measuring contest later when I’ve had a shower and some sleep. In the meantime, Gabriel can you please heal Dante’s wounds so that we can both rest?”

“No,” Gabriel replied darkly.

“No?” I balked.

Dante was still bleeding steadily and every movement he made was painted with the pain of his wounds.

“I don’t want help from some half-plucked vulture anyway,” Dante growled as he started pushing gold bangles over his wrists. He looked like some kind of giant, demented leprechaun sitting there counting his treasure, but I bit my lip on commenting.

“Just cut the macho bullshit and stop being a pair of assholes,” I demanded. “You’re not going to just lay there in agony for hours while you wait for your magic to replenish enough to heal yourself, Dante.”

“I am,” Dante countered, laying back on his bed, covered in gold and looking absolutely ridiculous.

“Gabriel?” I asked, fixing him in my gaze.

“No,” he replied simply, like a fucking psycho.

Well if he wants to act like a psycho, then I will too.

I lunged forward in a blur of Vampire speed, slamming into Gabriel and knocking him back so that his ass hit the desk and his wings were pinned behind him.

His hands gripped my arms as he tried to force me back, but my fangs were in his neck before he could even try it.

Gabriel inhaled sharply as his blood slipped past my lips and the raw ecstasy of his power flooded my tastebuds. He was freedom and sweetness and something entirely exotic embodied.

Dante laughed behind us and a surge of triumph prickled along my spine. I’d just overpowered the most powerful Fae in the whole damn academy.

I moaned loudly as I drank from him, my body pressing flush to his as my hands moved over the hard lines of his chest.

Gabriel’s grip on my arms tightened and he wasn’t pushing me away any more, he was pulling me closer. His breaths were coming heavier and I could feel the hard length of his arousal driving into my hip. His pulse started pounding faster and I moaned again as I felt exactly how much he was enjoying this.

My hands slid lower and his breath caught as my fingertips traced his waistband.

Dante cleared his throat behind us and I flinched, pulling back suddenly as I remembered he was still there. In moments like this, I could almost buy into Gabriel’s prediction about us. It was too easy for me to get caught up in him, for me to lose myself in his company and forget about the rest of the world.

I looked into Gabriel’s dilated pupils as I licked his blood from my lips and he growled hungrily in response.

He didn’t even say anything. In fact, I was fairly sure he didn’t have words for that because he’d definitely been getting off on it despite the fact that he clearly hadn’t expected to.

My gaze slid down to the huge swell in his pants for a moment before I forced myself to remember why I’d bitten him in the first place.

I shot back across the room and touched my hand to Dante’s wound as I pressed healing magic beneath his skin.

He watched me in silence until I was done then reached out to catch my hand before I could withdraw it.

“I’m sorry for getting you involved in my family’s business, bella,” he breathed, the look in his eyes betraying just how bad things had gotten tonight. He almost died. Hell, I almost died. It was fucked up and insane and weirdly exhilarating too.

“I wanted to come out with you,” I replied, shrugging off the guilt in his eyes. “I’m a big girl, Dante. I make my own decisions.”

I looked over my shoulder at Gabriel who was watching us with a scowl in place.

“I’m gonna go have a shower,” I announced suddenly. Now that I had some magic back in my system, I just wanted to wash the blood from my skin and get some rest. I didn’t give either of them a chance to reply before I shot around the room, grabbing a change of clothes and my wash bag then sped away to cleanse myself in hot water.