“If I’d wanted to get a girl dressed up like a sex toy for me, I could have just hired a hooker,” I deadpanned, refusing to admit how much I was enjoying the view.
“Drop the bullshit, Kyan,” Tatum said lightly as she descended the stairs to join us. “Bitter isn’t a good look on you.”
“Yeah? Is that what I am?”
“Isn’t it?” she arched an eyebrow at me and I glowered in return.
“Naw. I’m not bitter. I’m just horny. Stuck in this fucking school with a bunch of rich girls who don’t know how to fuck properly. It’s already starting to make my balls ache. And fuck knows how long it will be before I can go and find a woman who knows how to be rough enough for me.”
“How exactly do you know that the rich girls can’t give you what you want?” she asked, striding towards me with her hips swaying and her long hair spilling over her shoulders. “When you claim not to screw any of them to find out? Or is that just some new rule? Did you actually sleep with all of them and come up with that when you realised the truth?”
My lips twitched and I almost fucking smiled because that look in her eyes wasn’t blind hatred. I had enough practice studying her expressions to understand that much. No. It was jealousy. Pretty little Tatum Rivers thought I’d had my wicked way with half the girls she sat next to in class and it was eating her up inside.
“Naw,” I replied in a low voice, moving a step closer so I could look down at her as relief spilled through her gaze before she could lock her expression down. “Not all of the girls. I still haven’t had you.”
Jealousy, rage, maybe even a little flash of hurt shone in her eyes before she forced herself to snort derisively and roll her eyes. And after the emotional wringer she’d dragged me through, I was happy at the thought of wounding her, even just a little.
“Well, sorry to be a disappointment. But I’m not going to let you complete the school set.”
“That’s okay, baby, because I wasn’t asking to.”
I turned away from her and pulled the door wide before heading out into the light drizzle that had been persisting all day.
I strode away down the path and Tatum cursed behind me as she struggled to get her boots on.
Three sets of footsteps followed me out and I glanced over my shoulder to find Saint joining us too.
“I didn’t think you liked my hobbies?” I teased him as he buttoned his tailored coat and smoothed out an imaginary crease.
“I don’t. I’m heading to Ash Chambers tonight.” He gave no further explanation, but that was fine. If he wanted to go all Phantom of the Opera over there and play piano in the dark to freak people out as they passed the building then he could have at it.
When we reached the main path, Saint peeled away from us and I led the others up the track and into the woods.
The sound of the crowd spilled through the trees as we headed up the hill and the light of several bonfires soon joined it.
“What is this, a party?” Tatum asked.
“Better,” I replied.
We stepped through a thick patch of trees and suddenly found ourselves in a wide, rocky clearing up on the side of the cliff. There was a stunning view of the lake to our left if you could be bothered to make the trek up here during the day, but I was more interested in the nocturnal activities which were regularly held here.
I hadn’t actually attended a fight night on campus this year at all. They lost their appeal midway through junior year when I realised that the kids here couldn’t offer me a real challenge in a fight. Sure, I liked winning a lot and beating the shit out of people to do it. But I needed it to be difficult. Whaling on a kid half my size who couldn’t even punch as well as my mom got boring fast.
But with no chance of leaving campus any time soon, I was going to have to return to the school fights to get my fix of bloodshed.
Although I’d come up with a few ideas to make it more challenging for me.
A hush fell over the crowd of gathered students as eyes fell on me from all around the clearing and the guys who had come here to fight realised they were in for an ass kicking.
I noticed several Unspeakables lurking in the shadows too. These kinds of informal gatherings were the only places they could go and have some semblance of a normal social life without having to wait on me and the other Night Keepers as we didn’t tend to show our faces. Tough shit for them tonight though. It seemed like a good opportunity to remind them all who ruled them too. Since the corn syrup and tampon attack, we needed to lock down any rebels and fast. We still hadn’t found out who’d done it, but when we squeezed a name from the right throat, that fucker was going to rue the day they were born. And if I could prove it was Tatum then all the better.
I clicked my fingers and three of them rushed forward to serve us.
“We want drinks,” I growled, sneering at Deepthroat as her gaze flicked towards me. “Not from you, though,” I added. If I even saw that girl standing in the vicinity of a drink intended for me, I’d toss her over the cliff myself.
Freeloader and Pigs hurried off to get our alcohol but Deepthroat lingered. “I love your coat, Tatum,” she said, offering my girl a smile.
“Fuck. Off,” I snapped, throwing my arm around Tatum before she could respond and tugging her away from that vile skank.
“Gah, why are you such a fucking, dick, Kyan?” Tatum groused as I tugged her through the crowd. “Just because the poor girl used to have a crush on you, doesn’t mean you get to slut shame her for the rest of her fucking life!”
I barked a merciless laugh and Blake shot me a dark look which reeked of sympathy. But fuck that.
“Is that what I’m doing?” I asked. “Glad to know your low opinion of me is so infallible.”
Of course she didn’t know what Deepthroat had done to me. Had tried to do. But why ask when she could just judge me for herself?
“It’s well earned,” she pointed out.
“Damn straight it is. I’m the big bad wolf - maybe you should call the wood cutter to see if he can come rid you of me.”
“Maybe I should,” she agreed.
“Well, just remember, little red riding hood was a twat. She was so willing to believe in lies and bullshit that she didn’t even notice that her beloved grandmother was a fucking wolf in a dress. So maybe she deserved to get eaten up.”
“Wow,” Tatum replied. “Your evil really knows no bounds, does it? Going after childrens’ bedtime stories now?”
I snorted a laugh before I could stop myself and she smirked at me. And for a moment it didn’t seem like she hated me quite so much.
“Why don’t you guys just call a truce for tonight?” Blake suggested, snatching the bottles of beer Pigs had found and handing them out to us. “We can just have a night off, no drama, just nice honest, bloody fun?”
He held his beer out in offering and I looked down at Tatum as she considered his words.
“To a night with no drama,” she agreed, clinking her beer bottle against his.
“I can’t promise not to be an asshole,” I warned. “But I guess I can promise to be an asshole to other people tonight instead of you.”
Tatum gave me a withering look which said that was barely acceptable. But I’d take barely over not at all.
I clinked my bottle against theirs and sank the entire drink in one go before tossing the bottle into the nearest bonfire.
Pearl Devickers and Georgie Penfield were manning the fight sign up list, both wearing tiny little designer dresses and stilettos which sank into the muddy ground. They looked fucking ridiculous and damn freezing, but I guessed they’d decided that was the trade they wanted to make for fashion. Fuckwits.
“Oh, hey, Kyan,” Georgie said brightly, batting her fake eyelashes so hard that I was surprised they didn’t take flight and head away to make a nest in the nearest tree. “Are you going to be fighting tonight?”
“Yeah,” I agreed, frowning at the tiny pink dress she was squeezed into. She really did look like an
idiot dressed like that out here. “But the assholes at this school can’t fight for shit. So I want a real challenge. I’ll take three on one. Let’s see if they can beat me with numbers on their side.”
Georgie’s lips popped open in surprise and she glanced at Pearl nervously.
“Maybe we can get Eric, Greg and-”
“I didn’t say I want to fight three pussies at once,” I growled. “Get the three guys who won the last three fights.”
“But, what if they hurt you?” Georgie gasped. “Those odds are seriously stacked against-”
“What are you, my fucking mother?” I growled.
“Kyan will put those three boys in the dirt before you finish taking bets anyway,” Tatum added dismissively. “He’d win against six of them, so why don’t you just get it organised so we can enjoy the show?”
Pearl outwardly glared at my girl, but it seemed like she was beyond giving a shit about befriending that particular brand of mean girl.
We headed over to the makeshift fighting ring which was just a patch of flat ground lined with slate where the rest of the students formed a circle to watch the show. The crowd parted for us like hot butter and I moved to the edge of the ring as Georgie and Pearl found my opponents.
“This should be interesting,” Blake said with a smirk.
“I’m offended you don’t have as much faith in me as our girl,” I joked, shrugging out of my leather jacket and handing it to him. “Do you really think I could take on six, baby?”
“I just wanted to get you away from Georgie before you eye fucked her so hard your tongue fell out of your mouth. That’s an embarrassing look on you,” she replied.
I barked a laugh and glanced across the ring at Georgie as she staggered along in her sinking stilettos like a giraffe high on crack. “I don’t think so,” I said dismissively. “If you wanna know what it looks like when I eye fuck someone, maybe pay more attention to the way I look at you. Not some rich girl idiot who wears high heels to a fucking brawl in the woods.”
Her lips popped open at that comment and I smirked at her before heading out into the ring, rolling my shoulders back to loosen some of the tension in them.
I faced off against my three opponents with a cutthroat smile on my face and was pleased when they shared an uneasy glance.
Someone yelled fight and I roared a challenge as I charged at them. Chad McCormack was in the centre of the pack and I collided with him before he had a chance to do any more than back up a step.
He hit the ground hard with me on top of him and I threw my fists into his face as fast as I could. Grant Hutchins eventually remembered that this was supposed to be three on one and aimed a solid kick at the side of my head, knocking me off of Chad, his boot drawing blood which spilled from somewhere in my hairline down over my temple.
I rolled away with a grunt of pain and managed to scramble to my feet before they could come at me again. Travis Smith launched himself at me next, swinging a fist into my face before I could block it and then the two of them were on me at once. Chad seemed to be out for the count, groaning on the ground already.
I fought savagely, the cheers of the crowd fuelling the monster in me as blood spilled and pain blossomed and I swung my fists as hard and as fast as I could.
Finally, Travis stumbled and I managed to aim a solid punch to his face, flooring him instantly.
Grant paled as he realised it was down to me and him and I snarled like a beast as I ran at him, taking him to the floor and punching, punching, punching until someone was dragging me off of him.
I smirked up at Blake through the blood coating my face and he released a laugh.
“You look like a fucking butcher,” he joked. “And half the girls here look like they wanna jump you for it. You could probably start an orgy if you’re in the mood.”
I laughed as I moved away from my opponents who were groaning and calling me an animal beneath their breath and found Tatum waiting at the side of the ring with a beer in her hand for me.
“Maybe you should fight them with your hands tied behind your back,” she teased as I accepted the beer from her and poured it between my lips. “Then they might stand a chance.”
“Alright,” I agreed.
“What?”
“Who’s got a rope or something I can tie my wrists with?” I yelled loud enough for the people surrounding us to hear.
The Unspeakables scattered to hunt down what I needed and Tatum looked at me like I’d lost my damn mind.
“I was joking,” she said.
“I never joke about fighting,” I promised her.
“Do you ever fight for something you care about?” she asked and I paused as I considered that.
“Well, I don’t care about anything, so I’ve never had the opportunity.”
“That might just be the saddest thing I’ve ever heard,” she murmured and I frowned at her as I swiped some blood from the side of my face.
“You’re the one who called it, baby, I’m all empty inside.” I shrugged off her pitying look and turned my back on her as Pigs raced towards me with a bit of old rope.
Blake snatched it from him with a wild grin and bound my wrists tightly behind my back as I moved to stand in the centre of the ring again.
All of a sudden there were way more volunteers to take me on and I grinned challengingly as the crowd booed and cheered for the contenders they wanted to see fight me.
I wasn’t surprised when they picked the biggest fucker out of the lot and Gerald Holt strutted forward to take me on.
Blake laughed as he moved back out of the ring, slinging an arm around Tatum’s shoulders as she looked at me like I was a fucking dipshit and I gave her a taunting grin just to rile her up more.
Gerald pranced up to me with his chest puffed out like an idiot. He was pretty stacked but I’d heard more than a few rumours that he was hooked on steroids, so I was guessing his punch didn’t pack much force.
“Are you sure you want me to kick your ass while you’re all tied up like that, Roscoe?” he asked, moving to stand before me as we waited for the signal to start.
“I want you to try and then take a kicking like a good girl and live with the shame of knowing I beat you without even using my hands,” I replied evenly.
“Fight!” Pearl yelled and his fist slammed into my face a moment later.
I’d been expecting it and I rolled with it, stumbling away with the motion and managing to stay upright as he came at me again and again. Besides, my guess about his strength had been spot on and I was willing to bet his knuckles ached from the impact of that blow more than my jaw did.
I ducked and weaved, avoiding a lot of his punches purely because he didn’t know what the fuck he was doing and was swinging his arms so damn wide that I saw his attacks coming a mile off.
Eventually, he managed to catch me with an uppercut that unbalanced me enough to knock me off of my feet and the crowd cheered as I hit the ground and he leapt on top of me.
I grunted as my wrists were crushed beneath my spine and his solid weight only added to the discomfort. But this was what I’d been waiting for and the moment he leaned in close to strike at me, I slammed my forehead into the bridge of his nose. The crack that followed sounded like a gunshot and the crowd screamed and howled in excitement as he fell back, clutching his face as blood pissed from his nose.
I leapt upright in seconds, swinging my boot straight into his side and knocking him over as he cried out in pain.
I kicked him again and again and again as my ears rang with the sound of my pulse pounding and my blood heated with the thrill of bloodshed.
Gerald cursed and cried out as he was forced to curl in on himself, unable to rise as I kicked him back down every time he tried.
A manic kind of laughter spilled from my lips and Pearl shouted out to announce my victory before I was even close to done.
I kicked him once more for luck and grinned as I strode away from him to join Blake and our girl.
�
��You fucking savage,” Blake laughed. “I’m going to hunt us down some more drinks.”
I smirked at him as he headed away then gave Tatum my full attention as I felt her eyes on me.
“Why do you always hit them again after you’ve won?” Tatum asked, her lips pursing like she didn’t approve, even though the heat in her eyes said she really fucking did.
“Because that last hit is the one that guarantees they don’t come back looking for more. It’s the strike that lets them know I could keep kicking until they were dead if the notion took me and they wouldn’t be able to do a fucking thing to stop me. It’s really the only one that counts in the whole fight.”
“Wow, Kyan, that’s so beautiful, it’s like poetry. Maybe you should have gotten me a bunch of flowers to go with it,” she mocked.
“Oh yeah? And what flowers would the pampered little rich girl want? Some fancy endangered orchid that would cost more than some cars no doubt.”
“Pfft, hardly. But if you’re buying me flowers I’ll take forget-me-nots.”
I laughed right in her face and turned my back on her so that she could untie the rope biding my wrists. “If you’re looking for a guy who will buy you flowers then you’re seriously off base with me, baby. I’ll take you out to illegal fight pits and drink you under the table on dirty whiskey. I’ll play your body like a fucking instrument and make you feel the kind of pleasure that blinds you. And I’ll make your heart beat so fast that you’re breathless all the damn time.” The knot came loose and I turned to face her with the rope in my hand. “But hearts and flowers? Naw. That’s never going to be me.”
“Don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it,” she said airily.
“You wanna take your own advice some time,” I replied casually.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“That I know what game you’re playing with me and the other Night Keepers.” I twisted the rope between my hands in well practiced movements as she arched an eyebrow at me while I tied a handcuff knot with deft precision.
Kings of Lockdown: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep Book 2) Page 31