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

The fourth installment in the Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac series continues the story of Elise Callisto, a Vampire attending Aurora Academy in the gang-controlled city of Alestria, in the magical kingdom of Solaria. In this world, Fae possess elemental magic and shift into supernatural Order forms, and rival gangs wage a bloody war for dominance. At the end of the previous book, the stars bound Elise and Leon Night, a Nemean Lion Shifter and heir to a family of thieves, as Elysian Mates, a rare bond that traditionally makes partners desire no one else. This devastated Elise's three other lovers: Dante Oscura, the Storm Dragon Alpha of the Oscura Clan; Ryder Draconis, the Basilisk Shifter king of the Lunar Brotherhood; and Gabriel Nox, a Harpy with the rare gift of The Sight, the ability to see visions of the future.

The novel opens with Elise and Leon arriving at his family estate. Leon's family spots the silver rings in their eyes, confirming the bond, and welcomes Elise through Lion traditions: offering food from their plates, grooming her in a ritual bath, and watching her resist the Charisma, a supernatural allure, of the other male Lions to prove Leon is her true mate. The two consummate the bond through the Lion "claiming" custom, a wrestling match followed by sex.

Over the summer, Elise settles into life with the Nights but aches for her other kings. Ryder refuses her calls, masking his devastation behind cruelty. Gabriel isolates himself, tormented by involuntary visions of Elise and Leon together. After a month, Leon arranges for Elise and Dante to reunite at the Oscura stronghold and encourages physical intimacy between them, initiating a threesome. Dante feels guilty afterward, believing the mate bond means Elise will eventually want only Leon.

Interspersed with the present narrative are flashback chapters from Gareth Tempa, Elise's deceased brother and a Pegasus Shifter. Set months before his death, these chapters reveal that the FIB, the Fae equivalent of law enforcement, coerced Gareth into spying on Ryder. Dante later enlisted Gareth to join the Black Card, a secretive cult led by the masked figure King, to watch over Dante's cousin Lorenzo. Inside the cult, Gareth discovered that King uses full-moon rituals to steal magic from vulnerable Fae and keeps a blood-starved Vampire imprisoned beneath the academy to supply the blood the spell requires. Gareth stole King's spellbook, the Magicae Mortuorum, and hid it with fake passports, cash, and a coded journal, planning to fake his death and flee with Elise. His final flashback shows the plan collapsing: after Gabriel beats him severely for blackmailing him, Gareth drags himself toward the staged death site, only for King to intercept him.

When the fall term begins, Elise refuses to accept Ryder's silence. She ambushes him in class by biting him publicly as her Source, a Vampire's claimed blood donor, and his possessive grip beneath her blazer reveals his enduring desire. In a hypnotic vision, she tells him she loves him; later, at a beach bonfire, he drags her into a tunnel and asks for time but shows tenderness. Leon, feeling a persistent emptiness, realizes he wants to form a pride with all four kings. When he and Ryder are locked together in detention, Ryder admits Elise made him want to be more than a weapon. After Leon and Elise take an honesty potion, both confirm they want a polyamorous relationship, contradicting everything known about Elysian Mates.

Gabriel, working with Professor Mystice, his Arcane Arts professor at Aurora Academy, follows a vision to an ancient cave and retrieves a ring from a pair of dead Phoenixes, an extinct Order. The ring dissolves into his flesh and shields him from King's Dark Coercion, a form of mind control, allowing him to infiltrate the Black Card as a spy. Meanwhile, Dante's war with his uncle Felix Oscura intensifies as Felix kidnaps Oscura Wolf pups to coerce their parents into betrayal. Dante secretly approaches Ryder, who privately promises through hypnosis to bring the Brotherhood against Felix if Felix attacks.

Following clues in Gareth's journal, Elise and Dante visit The Sparkling Uranus, the strip club where Elise grew up, and uncover Gareth's hidden cache: the Magicae Mortuorum, cash, and fake identity documents. Downstairs, Old Sal, the club's owner, uses Siren powers to manipulate Elise and attempts to have her sexually assaulted as part of a scheme to sell her. Dante intervenes and declares Elise famiglia to his Clan, extending Oscura protection to her.

Ryder and Gabriel develop an unexpected friendship through rooftop meetings where Ryder opens up about his childhood abuse by the Oscura woman Mariella. When Gabriel has a vision of Mariella's location, the four travel by stardust, a form of teleportation magic, to a motel. Ryder kills Mariella with a sun steel blade, a weapon of magically potent metal, freeing himself from the trauma that defined his life.

On New Year's Eve, Leon, his brother Roary, and Dante's cousin Rosalie Oscura attempt to steal a Seeing Eye spyglass from the manor of Lionel Acrux, a powerful Dragon Lord. The spyglass is needed to read the Magicae Mortuorum. When Lionel shifts into Dragon form and pursues them, Roary sacrifices himself to get Rosa to safety and is arrested. Lionel demands a devastating price to keep Rosa out of prison: Dante must swear into the Dragon Guild, Lionel's binding political order; donate storm magic monthly; and impregnate Lionel's niece to produce Storm Dragon heirs. Dante agrees, and Roary is sent to Darkmore Penitentiary. Rosa swears a blood oath to free Roary, and silver moonlight pours from her skin, an early manifestation of her rare Moon Wolf powers.

Leon kidnaps his three fellow kings to a remote cabin for a forced bonding retreat over Christmas. Dante reveals that Ryder's father made a star vow, a magically binding oath, to sacrifice his own life to end the gang war, and that a peace-offering letter Dante sent afterward was intercepted by a traitor within the Brotherhood. When Elise arrives on Christmas morning, each king presents her with a personal gift, and the five are intimate together for the first time.

Using the spyglass, Gabriel reads the Magicae Mortuorum and confirms King's ritual requires Vampire blood. Elise, Gabriel, and Ryder descend into the tunnels beneath the academy, subdue the imprisoned Vampire, and leave him at a hospital, cutting off King's supply.

Felix launches a full-scale assault on the academy with King's help in breaching the protective wards. The four kings and the Lunar Brotherhood fight Felix's forces across campus. When Felix captures Rosa and demands Dante surrender his life, Ryder makes the pivotal choice to save his lifelong enemy. He stages a fight with Dante to get close enough to use hypnosis, and at the precise moment Gabriel's predicted lightning signal flashes, Dante's storm destroys Felix's defenses while Ryder opens the earth beneath Dante to shield him. Dante decapitates Felix, ending the Oscura civil war.

As Elise carries the injured Rosa inside Altair Halls, she collides with King's magical barrier. King reveals that the hospitalized Vampire is unrecoverable and implies Elise will serve as a replacement blood source. Elise shatters a section of the shield and throws Rosa to safety but cannot escape before King reseals it and injects her with something that renders her unconscious. The four kings reunite after the battle only for Rosa to arrive with the news that King has taken Elise, and the story ends as they vow to get her back.