“She just said she has something special going on,” Monroe replied with a shrug, but I didn’t miss that glimmer in his eyes which he got whenever he was around her.
Tatum Rivers was a special kind of girl, the type to capture the attention of brutal boys and keep it. The type to know exactly the right ways to rile us up too.
I clenched my teeth so suddenly that my teeth snapped together.
Blake swore beneath his breath as he made a beeline for his locker, knowing full well I was likely to storm out of here naked any second to deal with this fucking situation.
“Saint,” he snapped. “Clothes, now. Then let’s go see what she’s up to.”
“Up to?” I asked and the razor sharp claws of chaos dug into my brain as I realised he was fucking right. Of course she was up to something. She’d escaped and then sent us a message to meet her. And that girl’s spirit only ever seemed to strengthen when I tried to force her into submission.
“Problem?” Monroe asked, arching an eyebrow as he pushed off of the lockers.
“There won’t be for long,” I snarled. Because if Tatum Rivers thought I’d punished her harshly before this moment then she had no idea. No. Fucking. Idea.
Defying me like this, refusing to take her punishment like she’d sworn to do when she pledged to be ours cut through all leniency I’d been affording her. It burned through any affection I may have imagined I felt. Because now I was going to have to show her exactly who she was messing with when she fucked with me. And exactly what the consequences were for stepping out of line.
I managed to yank some sweatpants and a pair of sneakers on before I charged for the door.
The other Night Keepers were right on my heels, muttering between themselves about me. About her. About exactly what level of hell I was about to unleash and whether or not they should try and hold me back. But fuck that. I refused to be restrained today.
Tatum Rivers needed to learn.
I threw open the doors and stormed out into the dark with fury blazing through my veins.
I set the fastest pace I could manage without actually running, my teeth grinding to dust in my mouth while I was blinded by rage.
“What are you going to do to her?” Monroe demanded, a protective bite to his tone which wasn’t welcome at all.
“Whatever the fuck I want,” I snarled. “She broke my fucking laptop then she was afforded the luxury of a punishment to absolve her of her crime and yet she broke her word, betrayed her oath, went against everything we’ve agreed on. That she swore on. And for what? What the fuck is she up to?”
“I don’t know. But if you lay a hand on her, I’ll-”
“You’ll what?” I whirled on him, grabbing the front of his shirt and yanking him so close that his nose brushed mine and he shoved me off again with enough force that I almost fell.
“Whatever the fuck it takes to protect her from you,” he growled, his muscles bunching with tension as he stared me down.
I barked a merciless laugh at him and whirled away again. I didn’t have time for his fucking puppy dog eyes and theatrics. I had a Night Bound to put back in her fucking box.
It wasn’t hard to figure out exactly where she was on the beach. There was only one bonfire burning after all. And only one figure lit up before it with her long hair billowing in the wind and that white dress whipping around her legs.
She was nothing more than a blacked out silhouette before the flames and yet my whole body ached as I spotted her.
My blood burned with the need to punish her. My heart thundered with the desire to tame her. My flesh shivered with an insatiable hunger which craved her consumption. This woman. This devil. This angel. She was everything in that moment. The entirety of my being was so connected to hers that I was certain if she dropped dead my own heart would cease to beat too. I needed to capture her in every way imaginable. I needed it more than I needed air to breathe or water to drink. She was all that it would take to forever quiet the monster in me and all that it would take to ignite it to levels far worse than I’d ever experienced before.
“You’re late,” she called, her voice mocking as she raised her arms above her head and danced around the bonfire like some kind of mythical creature born of lust and temptation.
We could still only see her silhouette, but I knew for a fact that all four of us were entirely mesmerised by the movements of her flesh before the flames.
“Why do you insist on defying me at every turn?” I demanded, my voice cracking with rage or grief and I wasn’t sure which.
“Why do you insist on being such a fucking sadist asshole?” she yelled back with zero respect. But I’d teach her some fucking respect before the night was out.
I finally got close enough to make out her features in the orange light of the flames and she stopped dancing, about to face off with me, a beautiful, triumphant smile lighting her face. She really thought she’d won something here. But the only thing she’d earned herself was more punishment. Again and again and again until the message sank in. Until she learned the proper way to behave.
“You might wanna get on your fucking knees and start begging right now, Barbie, or-”
Every muscle in my body locked up as my gaze flicked to the fire and I caught sight of something that was enough to stop every single thought in my head from coming to fruition. I couldn’t move, couldn’t blink, couldn’t say a single fucking word as my gaze was hooked on the things which were burning in the flames.
“I hope you don’t mind, Saint, but I needed a bit of kindling for my fire,” she taunted, her words ringing in my ears as I stared at the flames, refusing to admit what I was seeing.
They couldn’t be my records, they couldn’t. I refused to accept it, because if they were-
My gaze fell on a familiar vinyl, the sleeve still almost intact as the fire ate into it and a roar of static noise spilled through my brain.
“What the fuck have you done?!” I bellowed so loud that my voice echoed around the cove.
Tatum screamed in fright as I lunged for her, but I didn’t make it more than a step before a hard body collided with me and I slammed to the sand which lined the beach as my attacker kept me pinned beneath him.
“Get out of here!” Kyan commanded and Tatum’s face paled, that taunting smile slipping from her features as she stumbled away from me. From the monster I was sure she could see glaring back at her as I fought tooth and claw to escape Kyan’s hold.
Monroe snatched her hand and tried to drag her away but she hesitated, glaring down at me as I felt Blake’s weight crushing me to the sand too.
“How do you like it, motherfucker?” she hissed, but I could barely even hear her.
Gone. Gone. Gone.
Chaos reigns.
Carnage follows no man’s rules.
Stupid boy, did you really think you could control everything? Life is chaos and it’s time you learned to accept it or you’ll never grow into the man you were born to be.
Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuuuuuuuuuuuuck!
I threw my elbow back and managed to hit Kyan in the face, making him rear away so that I could scramble out of his hold.
Tatum was long fucking gone and if she was smart she’d keep running and never look back. Because when I saw her again I was going to tear her limb from limb.
I dove towards the flames, my flesh burning as I tried to save my collection. Some of it. Any of it. A single record would have sufficed. My hand met with molten plastic and I roared in grief without feeling any of the agony in my flesh before the other Night Keepers dragged me back again.
I swung my fists, kicked and cursed and even bit as I fought to escape them.
My gaze caught on her for a moment, watching from the edge of the beach, full lips parted, blue eyes wide, like she was shocked to see what she’d done to me. But if she hadn’t figured out what kind of fractured, volatile creature I was yet then she’d been seriously deluding herself.
Freezing water enveloped me suddenly and I c
hoked as I inhaled a mouthful of lake water and my head was forced beneath the surface.
Strong hands gripped me, holding me down as I fought and convulsed until I was sure I’d drown. And the agony of that would have been such bliss compared to the utter fucking torture and torment of my reality.
Before I could die and leave this plain of anarchy for those who could survive it unscathed, unscarred, unbroken, I was yanked back out of the water and dumped on the beach.
Blake slammed his palm against my back and I coughed and heaved and retched and forced water back up out of my lungs. Bile seared the back of my throat and I vomited over the sand as my entire body shook from the shock of almost drowning.
“Have you got it locked down yet?” Kyan demanded, his grip on my arm tight enough to be unpleasant, like he thought I might leap to my feet and chase after her even while my lungs were still clogged with water.
“She has to pay,” I hissed between coughing fits.
“Not today,” Blake said firmly.
“Not today,” Kyan agreed. Like I couldn’t be trusted. Like they valued that fucking girl over me despite the years we’d spent together.
I snarled at them as I rolled over and threw Kyan’s arm off of me through pure force of will as I scrambled to my feet.
The burn on my hand had been eased by my dip in the lake, but it was still angry and red like the wound she’d carved into my soul.
I hunted the beach for Tatum Rivers and her fucking bodyguard, Monroe, who’d chosen to shield her from me alongside the others but they were nowhere to be seen. Though there were only so many places that they could be and all I had to do was pick which destination to begin my hunt. I’d find them eventually. And when I did, my vengeance would be beyond sweet, but it wouldn’t soothe the pain of what she’d taken from me.
“We’re going back to The Temple,” Blake said fiercely as he moved to stand at my side.
“You’re not in control right now,” Kyan said as he stepped up on my other side, his eyes dark with intent and promising violence. “You need to go back and reclaim yourself, brother.”
“Fuck you,” I spat, storming away from the two of them. They always acted like they knew what it was to be haunted by my demons, but they didn’t. They had no fucking idea. Not even the slightest clue about the things I’d survived. About what it had taken to form the kind of strength I could claim. I’d been sculpted and grown into the monster I was. I was ruthless and callous and vicious in all the right ways and all it had cost me was my soul. But who needed a fucking soul anyway? Who needed to want and hurt and care? Not me. And certainly not my demon.
I strode up the beach, coughing again as more water forced its way up out of my lungs and the sopping wet material of my sweatpants clung to my thighs.
“When I find her, I’m going to give her a real lesson,” I hissed. “Just like the ones I was given by my father. And then she’ll realise exactly how easy I’ve been on her. Then she’ll see how kind I’ve been up until now. Then she’ll find out exactly what it takes to break someone and carve something new, better, stronger out of the dregs that remain.”
“No you won’t,” Blake snapped. “Because I won’t fucking let you.”
“Neither will I,” Kyan added in a deadly tone.
I twisted toward them in my rage, wanting to make them bleed for their betrayal. “So that’s it? You’re siding with her after what she’s done? You’re breaking our bond for the sake of a girl who didn’t take our oath seriously, who fights against the bond she agreed to time and again?”
“When she made that oath, I agreed to make her mine,” Kyan snarled. “And that means I’ll protect her from anything that threatens to hurt her. Even if that thing is you.”
I started laughing, this insane, maniacal cackle that tore from my aching lungs and wouldn’t fucking quit.
“Where are your fucking lines, asshole?” I gasped. “Tying her up and leaving her there while we go to practice is okay, but unleashing my wrath on her crosses some kind of fucking barrier for you?”
“She knew she was making her bed with monsters when she chose to lie in it,” he replied steadily. “And the punishments we give her might be fucked up, but they never really hurt her. The mood you’re in now, I’m not convinced you can control yourself and I won’t let you do something you can’t come back from.”
“Hurt her?” I scoffed. They fucking knew I’d never raise a hand to that girl in violence. “What do you think I’m going to do? Take her out and flog her?”
“Worse,” Blake growled. “You’re threatening to punish her the way you used to be punished. And we’re not going to let you do that to her. Or yourself. When you come to your senses again, you’d hate yourself even more thoroughly than you already do.”
I turned away from them and their fucking accusations and roared my rage to the wind which howled around us. It whipped the tortured fragments of my soul away on a heavy breeze and I wasn’t sure I’d ever really reclaim them again.
I took off through the trees and the others followed me like predators tracking the scent of blood on the air.
It’s too late.
It’s never too late.
Hunt her down.
Leave her.
Make her pay.
I’m the one who deserves to pay.
Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck.
They were right. I was losing my shit. Peeling apart at the seams. Those wounds which I stitched together so carefully were breaking open and bleeding all over my soul.
I had to find a way to get them to scab over again before I bled out, and hurting Tatum Rivers would only make my death come swifter.
I didn’t bother with the paths, carving through the trees regardless of the thorny bushes which caught and bit at my skin, scratching my flesh and making real blood spill. I didn’t care. I just needed to get back. To do something to smother this rage. To dampen it enough for my thoughts to come together cohesively so that I could deal with this rationally.
We reached The Temple and I threw the door open so hard that the heavy wood slammed against the brick wall and a tremendous bang echoed through the space.
“We stick to the schedule,” I said firmly, glaring at Blake and Kyan in turn. Tonight, Tatum was due to sleep in with me and I refused to let that routine get fucked up too.
“If you get yourself under control,” Blake agreed while Kyan just glowered.
“Consider it done.” Though I had no fucking idea if I could even manage that aside from knowing that if something else went wrong tonight, I was fairly sure my brain would self combust.
I turned and headed straight for the crypt, needing to lose myself in exercise, exhaust the beast in me so that it didn’t have enough energy left for rage and I could regain control over my own thoughts.
I managed to raise my trembling fingers to the control panel on the wall and set a playlist running, the angry tones of the classical music reaching out and stroking the beast in me in a desperate attempt to calm it.
I cranked the volume, higher and higher and higher until the voices in my head were drowned out by the power of it. I was going to work out until I was bleeding and everyone in the entire school died from hearing too much goddamn Beethoven.
My sweatpants were still cold and wet from the lake and drops of ice cold water ran down my back from my hair, but the physical discomfort was a good thing. It was a welcome distraction from the mental discomfort which threatened to consume me. And as I fell into the rhythm of the exercise, I tried to let my body take over and my mind fall still.
Of course it made no difference yet, but I wouldn’t stop until it had. Until there was nothing in my mind but silence and the venom in my blood had washed away.
***
Four and a half hours of abusing my body was what it took to still my rage, though the chaos of my mind still ruled.
My limbs were trembling and I could barely stand, but I forced my spine to straighten through pure will before quieting the music wh
ich still crashed from the speakers.
Silence fell so heavily that it made the air easier to breathe. My ears were ringing from so many symphonies that I was almost certain I wouldn’t have been able to name all of the ones I’d listened to. Sweat coated my skin and my mouth was so dry that my tongue felt swollen.
I took the stairs slowly, rising up out of the crypt like the demon I was and pausing before the door at the top as I spotted a plate of food and a tall glass of water waiting for me.
My fists clenched as I realised I’d missed dinner. My ritual was so beyond fucked that I couldn’t even bear to think about it.
But one of my brothers had known. Had left this secret solution here for me so that I didn’t have to face the dilemma of cooking and eating at the wrong time on top of everything else. I demolished the sandwiches and drained the water, soothing the growl of hunger in my stomach which had been vying for my attention for hours.
I continued my ascent as soon as I was done, opening the door and heading into the living area.
My heart stilled in my chest as I spotted her sitting on the couch, wedged between Kyan and Blake like they were two muscular book ends.
Monroe wasn’t here. And I guessed her presence meant they’d trusted my word that I could contain myself.
“Bed,” I commanded, dragging my gaze away from her as I headed for the stairs.
I couldn’t bear to look at her. I didn’t want to see that defiance in her gaze and know that she’d enjoyed cutting me open and laying me to ruin. I didn’t want to face the fact that she held enough power to do that to me.
My feet pounded up the wooden stairs and I ignored the whispers passing between the three of them behind me.
I headed into my closet and dropped my sodden sweatpants at last, throwing them in the laundry basket before stalking through the perfectly hung clothes to the drawers at the back of the space. I retrieved a pair of white boxers for myself and reached out to grab the closest nightdress I could for Tatum without looking at it.
I don’t give a shit what she wears anyway…
I turned away from the sight of the other options, clenched my jaw, closed my eyes and tried to convince myself to keep walking.
Kings of Lockdown: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep Book 2) Page 25