Zodiac Academy Fated Throne - Caroline Peckham Page 0,178

that we weren't following the steps at all. I had to bite my lip to stop myself from laughing as he knocked into the other dancers, carving out a path for us and causing carnage with his total lack of shits to give. He wasn't a bad dancer, he just wasn't following the status quo and I got the feeling he enjoyed shaking it up. There was no law to say we had to do the dance that everyone else was doing anyway and I just wished I could drop my mask and laugh my way through this with him.

"Do you trust me, little principessa?" Dante asked, whirling me around and I shifted my hand in his as my mind lingered on the Dark Coercion Lionel had placed on him.

"Why are you asking if-"

"Gabby told me I could trust you," he said, flashing me a smile. "And he said that you could help me too."

My lips parted in confusion as I tried to figure out who Gabby was and Dante spun me beneath his arm suddenly, forcing another couple to stumble away from us as he almost knocked me into them. He tugged me back into his arms and my eyes widened as I found a silencing bubble pressing close around the two of us to keep our conversation private.

"What are you doing?" I breathed.

"No need to keep up the shadow twat act with me, principessa," he teased. "I see the real girl peering back at me clear as day from those big green eyes of yours."

"I don't know what you-"

"Give it up, bella. Gabby told me your secret. So do you trust me with it?"

My lips fell open as I tried to figure out what he was saying, not to mention who the hell Gabby was. I didn't know a Gabby.

"Don't tell me, he makes you call him Gabriel,” Dante groaned dramatically. “He's such a stronzo sometimes."

The penny finally dropped and I snorted a laugh. "You call him Gabby?"

"Yeah. He loves it. Don't let him tell you different. So can you help me with my little Dragon bitch issue, principessa? Because if this Coercion makes me fuck her, my wife will cut my balls off and I happen to be pretty damn fond of them."

I had to fight my smile back so that no one else would see it as I nodded, relief spilling into me at the knowledge that I could do this for him. If Gabriel had sent him to me then there was no doubt in my mind about that.

I squeezed his fingers, my Phoenix fire crackling against the electricity in his veins as I pushed it beneath his skin and sought out the Dark Coercion binding him to Lionel's will. I burned through it easily and Dante laughed loudly, spinning me again as he bumped into a guy hard enough to knock him on his ass.

"What are you going to do about Juniper?" I asked. "If she doesn't end up pregnant then Lionel will know you didn't-"

"Don't worry about that. Gabby has a plan and I've got back up to execute it from mia famiglia." Dante smirked at me as the song ended and he turned me around, bringing me face to face with Darius who was glaring over my shoulder at the Storm Dragon like he had half a mind to shift and lay into him. "Ah here's our new prince," Dante mocked.

"You two seem cosy," Darius said in a flat tone, his gaze taking in Dante's hand in mine as the hint of a snarl escaped him.

"Calm down, mio amico, I have my own girl to keep me more than occupied. I was only dancing with your beautiful mate. But now I need to run and she finds herself in need of a new dance partner.” Dante gave me a little push and I stumbled forward a step so that Darius caught me.

The feeling of his hands on my waist lit a fire beneath my skin and I drew in a breath as he looked down at me.

"Your fiancé will be a little late to the party, so you have time for a dance before she gets here," Dante added with a grin that said Gabriel had told him that too before he strode away.

Darius looked beyond me towards the throne where Lionel had set himself up to receive his subjects before his grip tightened on my waist and he drew me closer.

I looked up at him in surprise as he slid his