A ragged breath snagged in my lungs as I remembered the weight of Merl’s body on top of me, the sharp pain in the back of my skull as he’d cracked my head against the ground. Panic bloomed in my chest and I shut my eyes as I tried to force the memories away. I’d barely let my mind stray to it all day. But now it was quiet and late at night and there was nowhere else for my mind to go but there-
A cool hand pressed against my back and I jumped, realising I was clutching onto the sink in an iron grip.
“Routine can calm the mind,” Saint’s voice cast a gentle breeze against my ear and I despised that it actually helped to draw me out of the dark pit I’d been sinking into.
He pulled me away from the sink and I opened my eyes, finding him before me with a blue silk nightdress in his grip. He was stripped down to a pair of black boxers that clung to his hips and drew my eyes down to the rigidly firm muscles of his abs. My gaze snagged on the tattoo that ran over his chest and I had to fight the instinct to reach out and trace the words with my fingertips, the days are long, but the nights are dark.
“Get changed,” he growled. “Then come to bed.” He placed the nightdress in my hand then left the room, swinging the door shut behind him.
I took a steadying breath and changed into it, the silk clinging to my figure and showing off my curves, my breasts partially exposed and my thighs kissed by lace. Asshole. Dressing me up in pretty shit that I annoyingly like.
I headed out of the room and found Saint turning back the covers and sliding into the right side of the bed. His gaze fell on me as I moved around to the other side of the bed, our eyes locked as I gripped the sheets, pulling them back as I moved beneath them.
The bed seemed far colder than when I’d slept in it alone and I stole a look at the man who was the reason for that, a chill seeming to emanate from his body permanently. He was like the Night King in Game of Thrones. I was surprised he didn’t get frostbite from his own heart.
He picked up a book from his nightstand – one I’d looked through myself during my time in quarantine. It was a book of the darkest poems I’d ever read by Edgar Allan Poe.
Saint started reading out loud and my heart ceased to beat as his velvet soft voice spun a web of hypnosis I couldn’t escape from. “From the same source I have not taken… My sorrow - I could not awaken…my heart to joy at the same tone…and all I loved, I loved alone.”
He glanced at me for comment, but my voice was locked deep down in a box in my chest.
“There’s beauty in pain. Poe knew that,” he said, his voice contemplative as he reached out and brushed a lock of hair behind my ear, leaving a freezing trail against my flesh. “That’s why you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, Tatum Rivers.”
I said nothing, my heart wounded by his words.
The clock ticked onto midnight and he placed the book on his nightstand as the lamp switched off automatically and he dropped down into the sheets. He closed his eyes, his arms resting rigidly either side of him and I stared at him at a loss.
I slid deeper beneath the covers, resting my head on the pillow and watching him in the soft light of the moon that filtered in through the stained glass window above his bed, casting us in tones of deepest green.
I was unable to pull my eyes away as I traced every detail of my vicious captor, my cruel saviour, my lonely beast.
“Goodnight, Saint,” I whispered, but he didn’t reply. His routine was iron. But so was my will. And I was going to find a way to destroy him if it was the last thing I did.
I stood before the students in the assembly hall on Monday morning, casually reminding them about after school activities and telling them not to try and leave campus. It was as if we hadn’t just survived an insurgence from the outside world and weren’t currently holing up within this school like a bunch of rats clinging to a life raft in a stormy sea.
I was officially Headmaster Monroe. Saint Memphis had clicked his perfectly manicured fingers and it was so. Headmaster Brown was nothing but a faded memory. The fact that I was amongst the youngest staff members wasn’t mentioned. Nobody seemed to mind that I was seriously under-qualified for the job. I’d stood up and fought for the safety of our school when it counted and the reverence in the eyes of the students and staff alike told me that that was more than enough for them. And I supposed in these times of danger and turmoil while we fought to survive the Hades Virus, that made a twisted kind of sense.
We were more than just a school for the elite now. We were a band of survivors pulling together to weather this storm.
I’d outlined the additional security which was now in place surrounding the school at all times. Governor Memphis had bankrolled a small army of private security guards complete with dogs and guns to patrol the outer wall and keep us safe. He’d even had a series of trailers brought in and set up beyond the wall for them to live in so that they didn’t have to leave the safety of this area and wouldn’t risk contracting the virus and bringing it to our door.
As much as I wanted to sneer at the casual display of wealth, I had to admit that in this instance, it was well warranted. There were still almost a thousand students in attendance at Everlake Prep and their parents expected them to be kept safe while receiving the education they’d paid for.
We’d implemented some additional attempts to impose social distancing. Every other seat on the bleachers in front of me remained empty so that the students could keep their distance from each other. All aside from the four students who sat in the centre of the very back row.
The Night Keepers and their prize. The four of them flouted my rules with the casual obnoxiousness of the elite. Tatum sat between Kyan and Blake, her back straight, blue eyes focused on me as I spoke, like everything I said was truly important to her.
Kyan’s arm was slung around the back of her chair. Blake’s legs were spread wide so that his thigh was pressed to hers and as he shifted his position, her skirt was tugged up a few inches, revealing the bronzed skin of her thigh above the top of her socks. I watched the way they touched her with a hungry kind of jealousy which made my skin prickle and my jaw tick. Not that I had any right to feel anything like that towards her. But since the night of the break in, my thoughts had landed on her more and more often, my concern for her safety bordering on obsessive. It was hard to keep my emotions detached from her when I’d killed for her as easily as breathing and knew I’d do it again in a heartbeat. That act had felt like claiming her in some small way. But if I believed that about myself then I had to believe it about the Night Keepers too. And the idea of them feeling that way about her made my blood boil.
I forced my gaze back to the rest of the students in the room as I continued my speech, putting emphasis on hand washing and social distancing.
I’d decided to return the school to the normal timetable now that we were starting classes again. Sixteen students and two members of staff had shown signs of the virus during their quarantine and they’d left the premises to go to hospital. The cleaning staff had worked tirelessly to decontaminate the entire campus and I was secure in the knowledge that the Hades Virus had been expelled just as thoroughly as the looters who’d come to steal from us.
I finished up with my speech and the students clapped a little more enthusiastically than I’d expected. I guessed they were still riding the high of surviving the looters and I wasn’t going to snub their enthusiasm. I still wasn’t convinced I was the best man for this job, but I was as certain as herpes on a whore that I’d work to make sure I exceeded everyone’s expectations with it.
The students began to file out of the hall to head for their first class and I waited until the Night Keepers drew close before calling out to them.
“Roscoe, Bowman, Memphis – a word.”
They turned away from the flood of students and approached me with all the casual arrogance of the elite. Kyan still had his arm slung around Tatum and he guided her over to me with them as if I’d asked for her too.
I watched as s
he walked between the three of them, her gaze seeking mine out with a question in the deep, blue depths of her eyes.
“We have a training session tonight at seven, Rivers,” I said as they moved to stand before me and the rest of the staff and students filed out. “I’ll see you then.”
Saint’s jaw tightened as I dismissed her and for a moment it seemed as though Kyan wasn’t going to release her. He pulled her closer, the stubble on his jaw scratching against her ear as he leaned down to speak with her.
“Catch you later, baby,” he murmured and she looked up into his dark eyes for long moment with colour rising in her cheeks before stepping out of his hold and walking away without a word.
The four of us watched her go in silence and my muscles tightened at the attention they were lavishing her with. When she moved, they reacted. Even Saint’s eyes burned as he gave his focus to her.
She glanced back as she pulled the door open, that waterfall of blonde hair skimming over the arch of her back as she looked my way. Her gaze met mine and she gave me the barest hint of a smile which made my throat tighten. If she was surprised to find the four of us watching her go, she didn’t let it show, she just accepted the attention like she was owed it and turned away from it like it meant nothing to her.
The door fell closed behind her and silence reigned as we all drew our focus back to each other. None of us mentioned the siren’s spell that girl had just cast on us. There was something intangible about Tatum Rivers which sent my heart pounding and I was getting the distinct impression that all four of us were falling prey to the same feelings whenever we were around her.
“Have there been any issues?” I asked in a low voice, folding my arms over my chest as I scrutinised the three of them.
Saint tutted lightly like the question was insulting and Blake yawned like I was boring him.
“Everything is dealt with,” Kyan said, the only one of them who seemed to be willing to offer me an answer, not that that was exactly much detail to go on.
“How?” I asked, my voice a low growl which demanded they cut the shit. We’d dealt with the body, but we needed to make sure no one was looking for the son of a bitch. We didn’t need a police investigation heading our way.
“I’ve been wondering,” Saint said casually, picking an imaginary piece of lint off of his sleeve so that his platinum cufflinks caught the light. “Would you kill for any of your students?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked tersely, irritated that they weren’t answering my questions.
“It just occurred to me that there was no one forcing your hand down in the catacombs. The rest of us had already done a thorough job in finishing the fucker. No one held a gun to your head. But the way you looked at our girl…well, it just seemed like you did it for her in particular.”
“What’s your issue, Memphis?” I snarled. “Do you think I didn’t see the way you looked at her that night? We all did it for her. I’m failing to see what the point of this-”
“The point is that we all did it for her because she’s ours. Bound to us, mind, body and soul. So I guess what I’m asking, is what makes you think you’ve got a claim on her too? Have you been fantasising about fucking a student? Are you hoping that those sweaty little kickboxing session of yours will end up with the two of you in the showers and her screaming your name?”
“That’s enough, Memphis,” I snapped. “I’m your teacher, you’ll speak to me with respect, or-”
“Or what?” Saint hissed, moving into my personal space until we were practically nose to nose. Blake and Kyan were right behind him, closing in on me like a wolf pack scenting blood in the air. “Seems to me like you don’t have anything to threaten me with, Monroe. And if you want the answers you’re looking for then you’re going to have to do a lot more than just wet your fingers in the blood of some scumbag.”
“Like?” I demanded, wondering what the fuck he’d want from me if killing someone and disposing of their body with him wasn’t enough.
Saint backed up a few inches, smirking like I’d just stumbled right into his trap. “Like, becoming one of us for real. A Night Keeper. Swearing it in blood and bone, mind, body and soul. Forever.”
“You want me to join your little boys club?” I scoffed. “How is that more meaningful than helping you kill that bastard?”
“Because if you become a Night Keeper then you’re bound to us for life. You’re one of us permanently. It’s a tie stronger than any family bond and it gives you the right to question me. It will also give you the protection of our brotherhood. We will never see you fall, never see you hurt, your life will be tied to ours irrevocably. You’ve seen how far our reach can go in the space of a few days with your new position as leader of this school. You can’t imagine how much life could have to offer you as one of us.”
“What if I don’t want to join your little gang?” I scoffed.
“There’s no blurred lines. You’re in or you’re out. You want our secrets? Our protection? Our devotion? Our girl? Then you’re going to become the fourth Night Keeper. All or nothing.” Saint shrugged like he wasn’t asking me to sell my soul to the devil and I glanced at the other two to see what they made of this.
Blake’s interest was definitely piqued now and he was eyeing me like I was a competitor, a rival, someone worthy of his attention. Kyan’s dark eyes flared with a hunger I hadn’t often seen in him outside of the ring. The intense way they were all looking at me said they wanted this. And not only that, but they believed in it wholeheartedly. They truly thought that if they initiated me into their gang, I’d belong to them for life. That my loyalty would be unfaltering and my trust in them implicit.
“And what exactly does becoming a Night Keeper entail?” I asked in a bored tone, not letting them see my interest in it. But if they truly believed in the bond of their brotherhood the way they were claiming to, perhaps it would be the golden ticket for me to gain access to all of their deepest, darkest secrets. They could be offering up the chance I’d been waiting for to strike at Saint and his family in a way that could truly damage them.
“For starters, you’d need to be initiated in front of the school,” Blake said.
“And you’ll be needing some new ink,” Kyan added, reaching out to tap the back of my neck.
A tingle ran along my skin at that suggestion. Of course I’d noticed the matching tattoos the three of them had in that exact spot on the backs of their necks. Each of them slightly different but clearly linked. An arrow in flight. Violence waiting to happen. There was beauty in the art of those designs, but there was danger in it too. Would I really let them mark me out as one of them in such a permanent, obvious way?
“I doubt there are any tattoo parlours open,” I said dismissively.
“Luckily for you, I have my own gun,” Kyan said. “I can do it for you.”
“You expect me to let you near me with a tattoo gun?” I scoffed.
“He did ours,” Blake said. “And half of his own tattoos too. It’s one of his many hidden talents.”
“Like sucking your dick to get you singing his praises?” I drawled, mostly because I felt like I was being backed into a corner here and I needed time to think. This offer could be the answer to my dreams or the start of a serious fucking nightmare.
I’d seen and heard all about the way they treated Tatum since they’d gotten her to agree to be theirs and even though I had zero intention of agreeing to any terms like that, I had to think this came with a catch. If I tied myself to them this way, it would be a lasting bond. One they wouldn’t let me back out of easily. Although I was willing to bet that tearing Saint’s family apart and burning them to the ground might be enough to get me cast out.
“Yeah, I suck dick real good,” Kyan teased. “But only for my brothers. You can find out for yourself when you swear in.”
Blake snorted a laugh and Saint’s lips twitched with amusement, but none of them took their attention from me.
“How do you expect m
e to get away with joining up to your little gang while I’m the headmaster of this school?” I scoffed, buying time as I tried to figure out what to do. “I’m just supposed to go through with your initiation, get a tattoo everyone can see all the damn time and come hang out in The Temple with you and no one will care? The parents and teachers won’t have an issue with it? Come on-”
“I really don’t think you have any grasp on the power we hold,” Saint tutted. “If we say it’s acceptable, you can bet your ass every fucker in this school will agree it’s the best fucking thing that ever happened to them. You’re too used to living life amongst the masses. This isn’t even about being the elite. We’re beyond the elite, above all of them. They bow down to our desires and thank us for any molecule of attention we give them. What we decide supersedes any rules you may believe bind you. Because I can assure you, they don’t. This world is governed by two things. Money and power. We have more of both than you can even imagine.”
“What about love?” I asked, because he may have had a point, but I knew for a fact that love was just as powerful. My love for my family was what had driven me down this path, it made people do all kinds of insane things and motivated like nothing else.
Saint rolled his eyes at me. “Love is something that most people can put a value on. I guarantee you I could buy a night with most married women if I cared to find the right price. But I will concede that real, pure love like I have with my brothers is a force of its own. If you join with us then we would be inviting you into that bond too.”
I blew out a breath as I looked between the three of them. I could see what he meant about their bond, but no matter what position he gave me, I wasn’t just going to slot in amongst them. We all knew that, and I had more than a few questions about why they would offer this to me. They didn’t know me, not really. And killing some asshole together might have bonded us, but it certainly didn’t make us love each other. There was something more here, but I couldn’t figure it out and not knowing was like having an itch I couldn’t scratch.
Kings of Lockdown: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep Book 2) Page 6