“You didn’t let me finish,” I said in a dark voice.
“Go on then,” she challenged.
“It was a dumb move because they told you to wash them. They’d know it was you the second they turned up with pink shit all over them. Besides, they won’t give the slightest crap about stained jerseys. You need to hit them where it hurts if you want to strike back at them…and I just happen to know all of their weak spots.”
“You want to help me?” she asked sceptically.
“Yeah. My problem is that I can’t get close enough to use all the shit I’ve got on them. I need someone on the inside to make use of all the things I know. And you need to know all the things I know if you want to strike back at them. We can work together,” I said fiercely.
Tatum blew out a laugh like she thought I was insane and maybe I was. But I still meant every word.
“Why?” she asked, cutting to the quick of it. But I wasn’t ready to trust her with that just yet.
“I have my reasons,” I replied.
“Not good enough. I need to know why a teacher cares about the Night Keepers this much?” she demanded with that rich princess tone to her voice which set rage flooding through me.
“Not the Night Keepers. I want Saint Memphis,” I replied. “His family destroyed mine and I intend to return the favour.”
“What did they do?”
“That’s all I have to say on the subject. Do you want my help or not?”
Tatum looked up at me like she was aching to agree, but I could see the refusal growing on her full lips.
“I’ve had time to read over your transfer file since your last lesson with me,” I said, changing tact.
“What?” she asked in confusion.
“I see that you won medals for kickboxing in your previous school. I happen to be a qualified teacher if you want to start up private lessons for extra credit?”
“What’s that got to do with anything we just said?” she asked, a tiny frown crinkling the skin between her brows.
“You come and train with me three times a week starting tomorrow night. When we’re there we can train and swap information on Saint and his band of merry assholes as well as figure out ways for you to hurt them too.” It was probably better that I didn’t mention the fact that I had a similar arrangement going with one of those assholes already. I’d first offered to train Kyan up with the aim to get closer to Saint, but I had to admit that my relationship with that particular Night Keeper had changed since we’d begun. I almost looked upon him as a friend. Alright, not almost, he was a friend, one of the few I could lay claim to and the only one anywhere near here. Not that it would hinder me in my mission to bring the Memphis family to their knees.
Tatum looked up at me for the longest time like she was hoping I might just be the answer to all of her prayers, but there was a hardness creeping into her gaze too. A fierce kind of independence which clawed and screamed at her not to rely on me for this. To deal with it on her own.
“Thank you for helping me hide,” she said with a slight shake of her head. “But I have my own plan to escape this fate and I don’t need your help.”
I tried to ignore the sharp twist in my gut that came with her rejection and as she reached for the door handle, I realised that I wasn’t going to convince her by trapping her here with me. That was exactly what those assholes were doing to her. Caging her in.
“You can call tonight your detention,” I said slowly, accepting her decision. For now. “You don’t have to come back for one. But if you change your mind about the kickboxing lessons by then I’ll be waiting in the martial arts room in the Cypress Gym tomorrow night at seven. Do you know it?”
“Yeah, I know it,” she replied, her jaw tightening with some other secret.
Sometimes I thought that this school had so many skeletons in its closets that we were doomed to be overrun by the walking dead sooner or later.
I moved away from the door, letting her pull it open and frowning as she made a move to leave.
“Oh.” She paused, looking back up at me from beneath her long lashes and for a moment I thought she was going to change her mind. “Can I have my phone?”
“I should keep it,” I replied, ignoring the disappointment that spilled through me. “I’ll give it to you when you come to see me tomorrow otherwise Saint will realise I was lying to cover for you.”
“Tomorrow…right.” She hesitated for another moment and I waited to hear what she was going to say. “Thank you, for listening and giving a shit. It’s nice to know not everyone in this place is a complete asshole.”
I snorted a laugh. I was most certainly a complete asshole, but maybe I was having a day off for once.
“There’s a window in the back corner of the dance studio,” I said before she could make a move towards the main exit. “It will put you in the trees just off of the path that leads back to Aspen Halls. Just in case they’re still out front.”
A sad smile touched her lips and I felt like an asshole for not offering to do more to help her right now.
“Thanks,” she said and with that she was gone.
I closed the door and headed back to my desk with a frown in place. I wasn’t sure if she’d take me up on my offer come tomorrow or not, but I planned on making sure she did sooner or later. This was the opportunity I’d been waiting for. The thing I needed to set my plans against Saint Memphis and his family into full swing.
I was going to bring them all to their knees. And I’d do it with Tatum Rivers beside me. Because despite what she had to say about accepting my help for now, she was going to get it whether she wanted it or not.
The look she’d given me as she admitted what they were doing to her had cut right into my soul. I’d seen that look in the mirror a few too many times. So Tatum Rivers had just earned herself a knight in shining armour. Though I had to admit that my armour was more than a little scuffed in places and my reputation tarnished by more than just blood. But that only meant I fought all the harder for everything I had and everything I laid claim to. And as of now, that included her.
I ran through the trees, taking the path Monroe had gifted me. He’d saved my ass. More than he could ever know.
If the Night Keepers were out looking for me, I was gonna have to lay low until it was time to meet the others beside Aspen Hall. Thank fuck I planned that before I had to abandon my phone.
My heart tugged knowing I was going to be cut off from contact with Mila, but I had her full name, and when this shit blew over, I’d be able to track her down online.
Male laughter carried from out by the lake and I stilled on the woodland path as I listened. A couple of jocks started talking about girls and my shoulders relaxed. It wasn’t them. They weren’t here. They weren’t on my scent.
I didn’t have a watch to check the time, but it had been nearly half eight by the time I’d left Monroe’s office. That meant I had thirty minutes to get back to Beech House, dig up the firecrackers, get my bag and head to the gate.
Easy.
My breathing grew heavier as I jogged on. The path through this part of the woods was narrow and wasn’t lit at all but that was only doing me a favour, keeping me hidden in the shadows.
The air was getting cold and a chill swept along my bare legs, making my cuts sting. Those bastards were done hurting me. I just had to pull this off and they’d never touch me again. And the idea of that brought a smile to my lips.
I can do this.
The track soon curved back towards the main path by the lake, but I couldn’t risk going that way so I headed straight on into the trees instead. My white canvas shoes were soiled by the mud, but at least they wouldn’t draw any attention if anyone was looking for me.
A prickle ran up my spine and sweat collected on my brow. The darkness thickened between the trees, the moonlight barely able to penetrate the thick canopy above.
Come on Tatum, keep going. Eyes on the prize.
I ran on with determination driving
every muscle in my body.
The sound of girls chatting reached me up ahead and I slowed my pace, picking my way across the ground, careful not to make any noise. Dad had taught me how to move like this on our woodland cabin trips. I could move like an animal slipping through the undergrowth, never making enough sound to draw attention.
I reached the edge of the trees and dropped down to crouch beside a pine, gazing through a holly bush to the front of Beech House. The glow of the porchlight illuminated five figures beneath it. The Night Keepers were standing outside the door like sentinels and the two girls in front of them were twirling their hair and flirting their little hearts out. Part of me wished the guys would accept whatever sexual favours those girls were no doubt offering, because that would buy me the time I needed to run.
Blake was pretty much the only one responding to whatever they were saying, while Saint stood like an angel of hell, gazing straight down the path, waiting for me to appear. Kyan was leaning against the wall, playing with something in his hand, looking bored out of his mind.
I wet my lips then withdrew into the trees, turning back to make a large circle around the building. I finally reached the back of it and wished I knew the time, because I was sure I was cutting it close.
I located the tree with my pack, reaching up and hooking it out of the branches before shrugging it onto my shoulders. Without the light of my phone to hunt for the stick I’d left in the ground, it was impossible to see it in the dark.
I dropped down to my knees, cursing as I brushed my hands across the ground in my hunt for it. I bit into my lip so hard I was sure I was gonna draw blood.
Come on, where are you you piece of shit twig? I am not gonna fail my mission because of some dead piece of foliage!
My hand brushed it and I mentally apologised for insulting the twig, praising its damn existence instead as I snatched it out of the ground and started digging with my fingers.
I pulled the firecrackers from the soil, stilling as Blake’s laughter reached me. It was freaky how he could flip his charm on and off like that, switching between the laughing golden boy to a psycho asshole in the blink of an eye.
They were so close. So freaking close. I couldn’t breathe for a long moment, suddenly trapped in a vision of what they’d do to me if they found me.
Fear slid along my spine and brought on a tremor in my body. I was so fucked if they caught me. It didn’t even bear thinking about.
Move, Tatum.
I got to my feet, heading back into the trees and having to cut a wide arc past the boys’ dorms in the direction of Aspen Halls. I was no longer cold, my body burning from the running and the adrenaline flooding my veins.
Water was seeping into my shoes and I was starting to regret my choice of footwear as I nearly slid down a hill from the lack of grip on them. My heart free fell in my chest and I dragged in a lungful of air, reminding myself they weren’t on my tail. They were waiting back at the dorms and they had no reason to come hunting the woods for me.
I took another steadying breath and carried on, heading down another steep bank and spotting the glimmer of lights up ahead beyond Aspen Halls.
Sneak was standing by the gates with her suitcase and I cursed as I realised I must have been really close to being late. Lanterns lit the driveway, but the lawn flanking it was dark and that was what I’d have to use to get close to the gates.
I reached the edge of the trees and hurried across the path into the shadow of Aspen Halls. A psst caught my ear and Bait stepped out from behind a stone water fountain in the courtyard.
He hurried to my side with a pack on his shoulders and a look of worry in his eyes.
“Are you alright?” His gaze slid over my clothes and I realised there were leaves in my hair, half a thorny branch hanging from my dress and my shoes were so caked in mud that it was impossible to tell they’d once been white.
“I’m good.” I waved him off, pushing a hand into my hair and pulling out some leaves before peeling the thorny branch off and tossing it on the ground.
Bait visibly swallowed, glancing over my shoulder towards the gate. The crackle of a guard’s radio caught my ear and adrenaline made my heart flutter.
“Are you ready?” I asked him and he nodded firmly, strength filling his gaze.
“What’s the plan?” he asked.
I took the firecrackers and lighter from my pocket, looking over at the wall stretching out either side of the gate.
“When Sneak’s mom shows up, I’m gonna cause a distraction. As soon as the guards move, you run and get in that car. Don’t wait for me,” I said firmly, praying on everything I was that this was gonna work. Dad had taught me to always bet on myself. Because if I didn’t have faith in me, then no one else would. And this was the ultimate test.
“Okay,” Bait breathed then he moved forward and wrapped me in a hug. “Thank you for this, Tatum.”
The use of my name brought a smile to my lips and I drew away with a nod. “No worries. You can pay me back in the free world.”
He chuckled and I bobbed on my heels, readying to run the moment I had to.
The seconds ticked by and Sneak glanced back in our direction from time to time, though I wasn’t sure she could actually see us here in the shadows.
Headlights flashed along the drive beyond the gate and I pressed back against the wall, holding my breath. A shiny silver car pulled up to the gate and I could just make out a guard leaning down to the window to talk to the driver.
I bit my lip as he moved forward to unlock the gate and let Sneak leave.
I ran, not wasting another second as I powered across the dark lawn, making a beeline for the wall. I clutched the fire crackers in one hand and the lighter in the other, feeling more alive than I had in days.
I reached the wall, clicked the lighter and held the flame up to the fuses.
One more click, two.
Come on you piece of shit!
They caught in a burst of sparks.
One glance to my right told me Sneak was buying us time, dropping down to tie her shoelace.
I gazed up at the top of the spiked wall and launched the firecrackers beyond it. Then I turned towards the gate as Sneak stood and started tugging her suitcase out of it.
Bang bang bang bang!
The firecrackers went off like a rattle of gunfire and a guard shouted beyond the wall. The pounding of footsteps on the gravel told me they’d fallen for it and I raced along the wall towards the open, unmanned gate. Hope bloomed in my chest like a garden of wildflowers. I was so close. So freaking close.
Bait was tearing down the drive, throwing caution to the wind and his shoulder brushed mine as we made it through the iron gates together.
Sneak was already in the car. Her mom was turning it around, but then she took one look at my muddy clothes and the apocalyptic look on my face and her foot hit the gas. I saw Sneak shout something as her mom tore off down the drive in her flashy Audi and my throat locked up.
Every single fibre of my being screamed no!
“Hey!” a man barked behind me and I grabbed Bait’s sleeve, tugging him along, having no other choice but to run. The drive out of here was flanked by the wall on one side and a huge hedge on the other. The only way was forward, but we were in plain sight.
“Faster!” I commanded Bait and we tore down the gravel at a tremendous pace.
The thundering of two sets of footfalls pounded after us and my heart screamed at me to move quicker.
“Stop! You can’t leave!” a guard barked.
“Fuck you!” I cried, pushing my legs harder. Bait was panting heavily, falling a few steps behind me, but I could still hear him following.
We made it to the end of the drive and found ourselves at a T-junction as we reached the road. Opposite was a thick woodland rising up a hill and I knew our only chance was to get ourselves lost.
“We have to split up,” I shot at Bait.
“What? Where the hell are we even gonna go?” he pante
d.
“Anywhere,” I tossed back, determined to escape this place. Once the guards gave up on us, we could hitchhike to Murkwell. I’d fucking walk if I had to.
The sound of dogs barking made my heart freeze over. We couldn’t waste another second.
I dragged Bait into the woodland and shoved him to the left.
“Go that way!” I demanded and he gave me a look of horror before sprinting away into the darkness.
Fuck fuck fuck!
My mind reeled as I thought over everything my dad had taught me. But against dogs, my only hope was laying a false trail. And I didn’t have the time for it.
My muscles burned and my legs ached as I climbed the hill as fast as possible, the sound of the dogs growing ever closer. Flashlights whipped through the trees and I knew the guards weren’t far behind their hounds.
Bait yelled in the distance and a dog howled, the sound echoing up to the sky.
“One down!” a man shouted.
No – Bait.
My heart twisted, but there was nothing I could do except keep running and pray for a miracle.
Somehow, I made it to the top of the hill but my heart slammed to a screeching halt as I found myself high up on ridge, a sheer cliff dropping away down the other side of it.
I gazed left and right, weighing up my options just as a dog burst out of the trees. I screamed as he threw his huge paws up on me and barked loud enough to make me wince. I shoved him back to the ground, my heart thumping wildly.
Two guards burst from the foliage and I lifted my hands in innocence, feeling like I was being goddamn arrested.
“Listen, just fucking listen,” I demanded and they slowed to a walk, but kept coming. They were both huge, built like brick shithouses. The dog continued to bark at me and the noise made my thoughts rattle as I tried to focus. “I can’t stay here. There’s three boys in that school making my life hell. They’re gonna torture me if you take me back. Just let me go, say you didn’t find me.”
Kings of Quarantine: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep Book 1) Page 25