Kings of Lockdown: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep Book 2)

by Caroline Peckham

  I sighed as I took the path that led to the eastern side of the lake and my back prickled with bruises from my fall in the bathroom. It crossed my mind that I should tell the Night Keepers what had happened. The instant it flickered through my thoughts though, I shoved it away. I didn’t need them to fight my battles. And whoever was trying to freak me out was not going to win. They weren’t even brave enough to face me head on. But why was someone targeting me at all?

  It was kind of obvious as soon as I thought it. There were plenty of people in this school who resented me - foolishly – for being the Night Keepers’ pet. Pearl was a pretty likely candidate. Most girls at Everlake looked at me like I’d ascended to heaven, but did they even realise the abuse I faced at their hands? Or maybe some of them would have taken the abuse just to get their lips around their kings’ cocks. I could certainly think of a few girls who would. Then again, a guy could have followed me into the restroom too…

  I shook my head, forcing the thoughts away, figuring I’d deal with it if it happened again. There wasn’t much I could do anyway but watch out for someone strutting around school wearing a dare me red shade of lipstick.

  Better start carrying around a colour chart.

  I shot a group message to the Night Keepers and a grin pulled at my mouth.

  Tatum:

  I’m taking my library time now. *squid emoji*

  I snorted a laugh as their replies poured in.

  Blake:

  What does the squid mean??

  Saint:

  Was that a mistake, Barbie? Because emojis are for simpletons who are unable to use the English language to effectively express their emotions.

  P.S. A squid is not even an emotion or an idea and, therefore, it offends me that it is included in the emoji collection. Most emojis offend me in a similar fashion. The crustaceans are not quite as offensive as the clocks however, of which there are 24, showing times at half past the hour or on the hour, essentially stating that quarter past or quarter to the hour is irrelevant. It’s quite disturbing.

  Kyan:

  *Octopus Emoji*

  Blake:

  Whhhhhyyy?

  Side note to Saint: who puts a P.S. in a text, dude?

  Saint:

  Someone with good breeding.

  I swallowed down my laughter as I upped my pace to the library, reading waaaay too much into that octopus emoji from Kyan which had felt awfully like he was playing along with me.

  I hated when they made me smile, it felt like my own body betraying me. But at least I was about to make up for that treachery tenfold. Scrap that, make it fiftyfold. Because very soon, those boys were going to be tasting their own medicine.

  I headed into the library, walking to the back of the building to my usual table that was hidden beyond the stacks, finding Mila already there with four boxes of tampons lined up on the desk in front of her. I took out the two I’d managed to steal from the Night Keepers’ stores and placed them down beside the others. We could still receive supplies to the school, but these were a precious enough commodity that we didn’t want to go overkill. Six boxes could be spared for the name of revenge though.

  “I’m freaking out and totally excited, is that normal?” Mila asked, laughing as I dropped down beside her and she poured a box out in front of us.

  “Totally normal.” I smiled, then filled her in on my creepy experience in the restroom.

  She frowned, taking it way more seriously than I’d expected. “You should report it to Headmaster Monroe.” She clutched my arm. It sounded hella weird hearing him called that. I knew it was true, but it was strange to think he held so much power in this school now.

  I shook my head. “What could he do? There’s no CCTV anywhere near that restroom and if he made some announcement to the school about it then whoever it is would know they’d gotten to me.”

  Mila sighed, picking up a tampon and pulling off the cardboard casing, laying the soft middle in the pile with the rest. “I guess…I just don’t like the idea of Pearl getting away with that.”

  “You think it’s her then?” I asked.

  “Who else?” She leaned in closer. “Last year, Pearl almost got suspended because she ripped a girl’s skirt off in one of the restrooms. The poor bitch had to walk all the way back to her dorm in her panties, which happened to be a freaking G-string. And that same girl transferred to a different school not long after, so I’m guessing it was an ongoing thing.”

  “Well, I can handle Pearl Devickers. She might be a bully, but she can’t fight me. And if she does anything public, the Night Keepers will destroy her.”

  Mila nodded keenly. “So why not tell them?” she laughed. “Imagine her face when they put her back in her box.”

  “Because I want to be the one to do it.” I smirked and Mila grinned darkly.

  When we had the last of the tampons out of their casings, I gathered them all into a paper bag and tucked them away while Mila gathered up the shells in another one, scrunched it up and headed off to throw it in the trash.

  I took out my phone, shooting a text to Monroe.

  Tatum:

  Ready to take one for the team?

  Monroe:

  I’m ready. We’ll be there in twenty minutes sharp.

  “Blake says they’re going for their run,” I told Mila, not liking lying to her, but it was difficult to explain about Monroe and me being on the same team. I knew I could trust her, but I didn’t think it was my place to tell her about Monroe’s revenge against Saint.

  I took a moment to change into the sneakers I’d brought with me, stowing my school shoes in my bag. Then I rose from my seat, patting the ass of my skirt to check it had dried out before I pulled a black hoodie out of my bag and put it on – I’d borrowed it from Blake’s room as Saint would rather gouge an eye out than see me in something like this. I tucked my hair into the back of it and shoved my blazer into my bag in its place.

  When Mila returned and pulled on her own hoodie and sneakers, we headed out of the library and my pulse elevated as we hurried along the path in the direction of Tahoma Mountain. The path was cast in the low light of the moon as we hurried up into the forest rising.

  As the path curved back down to the side of the lake, we reached the stone bridge which crossed over the main path. I walked straight up to the thick bushes at the base of it and pushed the foliage aside, revealing the large drum of corn syrup we’d stashed there yesterday. It had been a bitch to steal it from the kitchen stores and carry it all the way out here. But we’d taken the quieter paths in the dark during my library time, not meeting a single soul along the way. Fate was on my side for once and it was turning me against the Night Keepers with a powerful wind at my back.

  I rolled the drum onto its side and Mila moved forward to help lift the other end and we carried it up onto the bridge. There was no lamp up here, but the path below us was lit in an orange glow while we remained hidden in the dark. I pulled up my hood to be sure I was well hidden and Mila did the same.

  “You don’t have to stay,” I told her.

  The idea of me getting caught was bad enough, but I didn’t know what they’d do to Mila. I was pretty sure I was the only one who’d get punished considering my rules, but I couldn’t be certain. This was going to piss them off hard. And I didn’t want her risking her neck for it.

  “No way, I’m staying right here.” She stepped closer. “They might scare the shit out of me, Tatum, but they’ve fucked with you for too long.”

  “Thank you,” I breathed just as my phone buzzed in my pocket it. I took it out, my heart thumping madly at the message waiting for me.

  Monroe:

  Two minutes.

  Mila took a little tripod from her bag and set up my phone in it, angling it down ready to record the whole thing. Then she helped me heft the drum of corn syrup up onto the wall.

  “Pour then throw,” I said with a smirk, placing the paper bag of tampons ready on the wall. “Then run for your damn life. I’ll m
ake them chase me east, you go west. Get inside somewhere as soon as you can.”

  “Is your escape plan really solid? They’re gonna suspect you straight away,” she said, supporting the drum while I opened the top.

  “I know, it’s solid.” I hope.

  Adrenaline dripped through me as we crouched down behind the wall, watching the path in silence as we waited.

  Four shadows soon appeared up ahead and we both ducked our heads, taking hold of the barrel on either side. I bit my lip, anticipation making my muscles coil. This was going to be epic if we could pull it off. I just had to make sure they didn’t find out it was me. Because I had a feeling kneeling down to Saint was not going to save me a second time.

  The four Night Keepers jogged side by side on the wide path, growing closer and closer as we readied to pour.

  Twenty feet…

  Ten…

  Five.

  Four.

  Three.

  Two.

  One.

  We tipped the barrel up just as they made it beneath us and the amber gloop cascaded over them as we swivelled it side to side to splash it over them all.

  “Argh!” Saint roared as the others swore and Mila turned on the flashlight on her phone, blinding them as they all looked up.

  They were covered from head to toe in the sticky mixture, their faces twisted in fury. Monroe was fighting a smile and I had to swallow back a laugh as hard as possible as I grabbed the bag of tampons, upending it and shaking it all over them. One got stuck right to Saint’s forehead, and another one stuck to Kyan’s lips before he spat it away. Blake yelled as he tried to get them off and that was it. No more time.

  “You’re dead!” Kyan bellowed and my heart tumbled into panic.

  “Go,” I hissed at Mila and she took off in the opposite direction to me, sprinting down the bridge and darting into the trees to the right of it.

  I snatched my phone, flashing the screen back towards them a couple of times so they followed me instead of her. Then I stuffed it in my pocket as I reached the end of the bridge, taking the dangerously exposed route along the eastern path beside the lake.

  I could still hear them shouting and footfalls thundered this way, but I had a plan. And I was fast. I could do this.

  My hood covered my gold hair as I ran, rounding a bend and following the edge of the lake, sprinting towards the Willow Boathouse ahead.

  “If that’s you Tatum Rivers, be fucking prepared!” Saint cried.

  “I’ll get her,” I heard Blake growl as the footsteps drew closer.

  No no no.

  I pushed myself to my absolute limits, rounding towards the boathouse and practically skidding to a halt at its side. I hurried along the edge of it then lifted an overturned rowing boat on the ground and scrambled under it. It fell over me half a second before they arrived.

  “I’ll check in here, you go ahead,” Kyan demanded and a sliver of dread ran down my spine as heavy footsteps pounded into the boathouse.

  I’m not in there, asscheeks.

  The sound of things being roughly turned over made my heart jolt and skip, but he finally gave up, storming out of the house and starting to run again.

  “Keep going!” he shouted to his friends. “She’s out here somewhere!”

  Not for long.

  I pushed the boat up, slipping out from under it and running around into the boathouse. My heart pounded madly as I grabbed a kayak and an oar, heaving it out to the pier and dropping it into the lake. I lowered myself down into it, readying the oar and pushing it into the water.

  I rowed hard, my eyes on The Temple far across the lake, a light illuminating the stained glass window so it reflected in the water in a rippling blur of red. I couldn’t go directly back there. I had to hide the kayak first. So I gritted my teeth and rowed hard and fast, heading for the Oak Common House where a few kayaks were usually docked.

  Sweat beaded on my brow as I tried to mentally calculate how long it had been. I just had to hope they weren’t racing back to The Temple right this second.

  I finally pulled up at the small stony beach beside the Oak Common House, my heart soaring at the sight of the kayaks stacked up to one side of it. I jumped out onto the shore, carrying it up the pebbles as quietly as possible, the sound of voices reaching me from the house. I held my breath as I placed it with the others then I ran like there was a zombie about to bite my ass.

  I tore down the path toward The Temple, my chest heaving as I dragged down lungfuls of air.

  I finally rounded onto the path that led to the church, my heart hammering as I slowed for a moment at the door, listening for them.

  Nothing.

  I turned the handle, pushing inside and finding it empty. But I wasn’t in the clear yet.

  I hurriedly sent the video to Monroe, deleting it from my phone straight away. He said he knew a way to send it to every student in the school anonymously so it would never get back to us. That man was a complete god sometimes.

  I kicked my sneakers off, placing them back in their usual spot before taking my school shoes from my bag and putting them down neatly too. Then I raced through the living room, down the hall and through into Kyan and Blake’s bathroom. I pushed the door shut, tore off my clothes and jumped into the shower.

  I scrubbed myself in my vanilla honey blossom shower gel in record time, stepped out, grabbed a towel and wrapped it around me before dumping my uniform into the laundry. Then I took the hoodie, hanging it back in Blake’s closet.

  At last, I hurried into the kitchenette, pulling the fridge open just as the door flew wide.

  I turned to the guys, my brows raising in mock alarm. “Holy shit, what happened?” I burst out laughing, figuring I could get away with that considering it was seriously hilarious. Tampons were stuck all over them plus they’d picked up a fair bit of debris from the woods too. Saint even had an entire bramble stuck to his arm.

  They stopped dead, finding me wrapped in a towel, totally fucking innocently grabbing myself a snack and nowhere near the scene of the crime.

  “You.” Saint pointed, his tone accusing, but his scary ass voice was lessened by the fact that he had a tampon glued to his forehead. “You did this.”

  “What?” I gasped, acting for my life.

  “How could she have? She’s right here,” Monroe said with a grimace. It was superb acting. Gold star effort.

  All of their eyes narrowed in suspicion then Blake huffed.

  “Must have been some other fucking prick. We’ll hunt them down. As soon as that video goes live, we’ll know who it was anyway. And we’ll destroy them.”

  “I want blood,” Kyan said in a dark tone, pulling a tampon from his hair while I snorted, burying my head in the refrigerator as I came completely apart.

  “I’ll get them expelled,” Monroe said fiercely and I roared with laughter, forcing my head deeper into the fridge to share my mirth with a block of cheese.

  Oh my god. So funny. I’m gonna die.

  “Barbie!” Saint snapped. “Get your head out of the fridge and wash this shit off of us. Now!”

  I stepped back, wiping tears from under my eyes as I nodded.

  “Me first,” Saint growled. “Upstairs. Go.” He turned, marching upstairs and showing me his ass which had a tampon hanging perfectly between his butt cheeks, the string swinging left and right as he walked.

  I couldn’t stop laughing all the way upstairs, even when Saint shot me glares that said I was going to pay for every laugh that escaped me. But I couldn’t stop. It was too fucking funny.

  I headed into his closet while he marched into the shower and I tugged on a pink bikini before following him into the bathroom. He stripped down to his boxers, marching into the shower and glaring at me, waiting for me to wash him off. It was mainly in his hair now that his clothes were off, but there was still a determined tampon or two clinging to the back of his head.

  I didn’t even care about having to wash them all off. It was worth every second.


  I can’t wait to see the video.

  I ran my hands over Saint’s chiselled chest, biting my lip as his eyes burned into me.

  “If I find out this was you, you will severely regret it,” he warned and I looked up at him innocently while my heart fluttered.

  “How could I have done it? I was right here.”

  His gaze became razor sharp. “Because no one else would dare.”

  “Clearly someone would,” I said with a shrug.

  He stepped out of the shower with a grunt, marching out of the room in a towel and Blake appeared a second later in his boxers.

  “Hey trouble,” he purred. His hair was all stuck to his forehead and I chuckled as he stepped into the shower and I picked a tampon out of it.

  My heart beat wildly as I cleaned his tempting body, losing myself to the sculpted muscles on his frame, tracing them with my fingers long after I’d washed the syrup away.

  “Wanna barricade the door and fuck me silly?” he asked casually and I slapped his chest.

  “Get out, asshole. And send Kyan in.”

  “He’s gone to use our shower,” Blake said as he exited, dropping his boxers so my eyes fell to his muscular ass before he wrapped a towel around his waist.

  “Oh,” I breathed, my stomach twisting. Of course he did. He can’t stand me these days. I just wish that didn’t bother me so much.

  When Blake left, Monroe arrived, kicking the door shut and smirking at me like a fucking wolf.

  “You brilliant, glorious, perfect girl,” he growled as he stripped off and yep I was watching. His body was a work of art I wanted to admire for hours on end without judgement. He stripped down to his boxers and my throat thickened as he stepped into the shower with me. He’d already picked the tampons out of his hair and to be fair, we hadn’t been aiming at him as much, so he’d received less of them than the others.

  “Woman,” I corrected with a smirk.

  “Yeah,” he purred in agreement, the sound setting my veins alight. I reached up to scrub the syrup from his hair and he watched me with an intensity that brought a deep blush to my cheeks. “I’ve never met anyone like you, princess.” He stepped closer so my hands slid around the back of his head and my breathing hitched as the water cascaded over us.