Queen of Quarantine

by Caroline Peckham

  We pulled the other chairs close to the bed too, all of us crowding around him, watching him sleep and waiting for the drugs to wear off while Tatum held his hand.

  "I feel like our future just opened up before us again," I murmured, breathing a sigh of relief.

  "We just got our life back," Nash agreed, clapping a hand on my shoulder and squeezing tightly.

  We shared a look, and I knew he was thinking of how it had felt to be chained up on that cross waiting to die just like I was. Everything had come so close to falling to shit yet somehow, here we all were, alive, free. My dad was safe back at our family home, nothing but a few scrapes and bruises to show for his time held captive at Royaume D’élite. And the club itself was gone. We'd killed all of the major players aside from Troy and Saint had officially handed over every bit of evidence he had on the club of horrors to his contacts within the FBI yesterday so that they could take down the rest.

  It was all over the news, but there wasn't so much as a peep about any of us. Nothing. We were ghosts who didn't exist so far as the reports went, and it would stay that way too.

  This morning the news had broken about Tatum's dad being framed and she'd sobbed in relief for almost an hour before giving her attention back to Kyan's recovery. It had filled me with relief too, knowing the man who had worked so hard to protect his daughters was now exonerated. And his death had not been in vain. I just wished I’d gotten the chance to know him. Because from what Tatum had told me about him, I was sure we would have gotten along. And I wished I’d had the chance to thank him for bringing the love of my life into the world.

  Everything was coming together. It was over. And even if Troy had managed to escape death at our hands, he was still ruined, gone, run away never to return. It was good enough. It had to be. We couldn't dedicate our lives to hunting a ghost. We needed to live.

  We sat there and waited as Kyan breathed in and out slowly, his face more peaceful than I'd ever seen it.

  "He's waking up!" Tatum gasped, pointing to Kyan's hand where she held it, his fingers now tightening around hers.

  "Don't make me find your granny and force her to eat the kitty litter," he mumbled without opening his eyes. "Her dentures aren't strong enough for that and she'll break 'em on the granules while trying to choke the shit down."

  I barked a laugh and suddenly we were all laughing together, relief and joy falling from us in a wave that became hysterical as Kyan opened his eyes and smirked at us even while he was clearly trying to figure out where the fuck he was. But I guessed it didn't matter. Because we were here with him. Tatum's hand was in his and we were laughing, smiling, just waiting for him to complete our tribe.

  I didn't know what we'd do once he was allowed to leave the hospital. I didn't know where we'd go with the country still in Lockdown and Everlake Prep in our past. But it didn't really matter. Because wherever we went and whatever we did, we'd be together. I didn't even need to ask the others to know that that was the truth. We belonged together now and always. That was never going to change.

  In years to come, people would look back on this time of wearing masks and social distancing, of missing people and enduring lockdowns, of the fear of the virus and the hope for an end to it and no doubt there would be a lot of mixed emotions about what we'd survived. But wasn't that the point? We had survived. And that was all that truly mattered.

  Because my family was here, and we had a life ahead of us now. One where the Hades Virus would become a thing of the past and we could look back on our time in quarantine and at least say we'd found this.

  Love.

  Family.

  Life.

  And really, what else could anyone ask for that was more important than that?

  ONE YEAR LATER

  D ear Jess,

  I’m sorry I haven’t written to you for a while. The world got chaotic. Things were frightening, uncertain and I didn’t want to write you letters full of all that. For a minute there I couldn’t see the other side of it. It just looked like a tunnel of darkness stretching out endlessly. But there’s always light on the other side. I’ll remember that in future.

  You’d totally laugh at me right now if you could see me. I kinda enrolled at YALE – I know, I know! I’m not the college type. But there was a Women’s Studies class which seemed right up my street so Saint pulled a few strings to get me on it. It’s not like I’m getting a degree or anything. I’ll leave that to him, Blake and Nash. Honestly, I swear I’m getting a second-hand degree from Nash anyway because he loves telling me about the Greek history he’s learning. Which is pretty funny considering he said he’d never follow a future laid out for him by Saint Memphis. But when he looked at that Ancient Greek programme, I guess it got him hard because he’s not stopped talking about it since. Did you know some ancient Greeks wouldn’t eat beans because they thought they contained the souls of the dead?? If that’s the case, I’ve eaten several towns worth of souls and I’m sorry if one of them was you. Though I’m pretty hopeful you didn’t get to live on as a bean. That would be a shitty fate. No one wants their afterlife to end in a burrito.

  Okay, I’ve totally circled the point here but if you are watching me from a bean somewhere in this house then you probably already realised I’m dating four men including my husband. Weird, right? You should see the faces of the sorority girls who show up here daily looking to party with my boys. Kyan put a sign up on the door once with a filthy picture of me naked on a throne between all of my guys with the words: a queen with four consorts lives here. They definitely think I’m some kind of witch, but most of them think I’m the boss kind. I even made a few friends out of them who I get to do girly shit with.

  OMG I didn’t even tell you. So Saint bought a whole frat house for us and named it Nu Kappa, it was legit set up and decked out with everything we needed when we arrived. And he totally let a load of guys pledge themselves to the fraternity too and then the Night Keepers put them through the most insane hazing you could ever imagine – and to top it all off, Saint didn’t offer a single one of them a place in the house. He said he didn’t want anyone else living with us, so he clearly just went through with the whole thing so that he could haze those guys!

  Honestly? I think it’s overkill. Especially the super super super king bed he got specially made for all of us. I have no idea how they got it in the house, it takes up a whole room. But it’s sooo comfy. And yes, I’m a total whore who sleeps with four guys every night and yes I let them do all kinds of crazy shit to me. Okay that was TMI. But there it is. And I’ve never been happier.

  “What are you up to, baby?” Kyan’s mouth pressed to the scar on my temple as he leaned over me, resting his tattooed hands either side of my letter on the desk as his bare chest brushed my shoulders.

  “Writing to Jess,” I said, tilting my head all the way back to look up at him.

  He smirked as he dropped his head and kissed me upside down, his tongue stroking the roof of my mouth in the weirdest fucking way. When he pulled back, he snatched my pen and wrote underneath my last paragraph.

  Hey Jess! It’s Kyan here. The psycho husband. If you’re a ghost, I strongly encourage you not to haunt this house when I’m around your sister. She can’t help but take her clothes off and throw herself at me whenever she sees my massive c

  I snatched the pen back, elbowing him in the gut and writing on below his words.

  Sorry about him. I had to buy him a neck brace to help support his big head.

  Kyan started kissing my neck. “I wanna show you something…”

  I smiled, leaning into his touch and finishing up my letter.

  I’ve got to go now but I promise I’ll write again soon. Oh and…I wanted to tell you I’ll be scattering Dad’s ashes today. He’d have wanted you to be there and I know in some way you will be. But just in case you didn’t get the memo. Here it is.

  Love you forever,

  Tatty xxx

  “Tatty,” Kyan murmured into my neck. “I like that.”


  “You can’t call me it, it’s sacred,” I laughed as his mouth tickled my neck.

  “Damn, you shouldn’t have said that. Now I have to defile it.” He nipped at my flesh and I batted at him as I got out of my seat. I was in pink yoga pants and a white sports bra. It was only spring, but I was tempting fate by dressing for summer, begging it to come to Connecticut soon.

  I ran my fingers down Kyan’s chest, following the lines of the ink to the raised scar on his left side. He’d tattooed the word ‘bulletproof’ along the length of it and it made me wish he was.

  “Why’d you have to go and make a memento out of one of the worst moments of my life?” I asked, looking up at him and batting my lashes.

  He rested his forehead to mine and smiled darkly. “Because I like to remember that even a bullet can’t take me from you, baby. I’m here to stay.”

  “Well, that’s a cute answer.” I smirked.

  “Come on.” He caught my hand and towed me through the beautiful office which had a world map on the wall and little markers of all the places we planned on visiting.

  We’d already ticked off Mexico after our vacation last summer and plenty of places around the States. I was excited to see more of the world. Especially after living through a time where travelling had seemed impossible for a while. But like the seasons, winter always turned to spring and spring to summer. It was inevitable. Even if it didn’t seem that way at the time. The flowers would bloom, the leaves would grow green and lush and life would continue, even if a few scars of winters past remained.

  There were still trials going on over the huge scandal caused by us exposing Royaume D’élite and witnesses had slowly crept forward among those who’d escaped. I’d watched every news report since it had happened, cursing the faces of those convicted and toasting with my boys every time another asshole was locked behind bars. The whole thing had caused such an uproar that new laws were being petitioned in Sequoia to have government officials to be more closely assessed during their time in power.

  Dr De La Cost had turned out to be the best investment Saint had ever made and the vaccine had been distributed by Rivers Pharmaceuticals all throughout the world within a year.

  Slowly, little by little, life had returned to normal. And nowadays, it all seemed like a dark nightmare we’d been stuck in for a while. Now we were awake and grasping life by the balls every day. There was a sense of freedom and hope in everyone I met, like they were out cherishing each day as deeply as I was. So maybe the dark days had been good for that one thing. Life tasted sweeter than before because we all understood the brevity of it now. And we knew what it was like to have our privileges stripped away, our doors shut and locked, our days lived in fear.

  But as amazing as this new life was, there was always going to be a part of me that hated the fact that Troy had gotten away scot free. Saint still spent time hunting for him and I knew it had taken a toll on his heart to know his father was still out there. On Nash’s too. I wanted Troy’s death for them even more than I wanted it for myself. But all trails were cold. And if Saint couldn’t find him, no one could.

  Kyan towed me down the long landing with thick cream carpet through to the huge room that overlooked the woodland at the back of the house. The floor length windows of the balcony doors let light stream in and gild the room in deepest amber, highlighting his workspace. He had an artist’s desk beside his easel, all kinds of paints and charcoals, pencils and chalks in a granite holder I’d bought for him alongside the little potted plants I’d got him too. I’d planned to keep them alive for him, but he’d watered them every day like a total cutey and had even drawn a couple of them once.

  On the walls were his favourite pieces, a lot of them of me, and my personal favourite which was at the far end of the room, taking up a huge portion of the wall. It was a charcoal sketch of me standing between my boys as we looked out over a calm sea, all of us leaning close together and each guy’s stance so distinguishable that I knew all of them by that much alone.

  Kyan led me to his workspace and showed me his latest piece of a detailed octopus with its tentacles wrapped around a squid in an embrace.

  A laugh escaped me as I picked it up. “I love it!”

  He grabbed a white frame from his desk and grinned mischievously at me. “I think Saint would like it sitting on his piano, don’t you?”

  “I can’t think of anywhere better,” I chuckled and he fitted it into the frame before we ran out of the room, jogging downstairs into Saint’s music room which was a perfectly organised space with a black grand piano at the heart of it. Kyan placed the picture on top of his piano, spending a moment positioning it just so before stepping back to admire his work.

  “Perfect,” I announced and he grabbed a handful of my ass, tugging me toward him and kissing me hard.

  Saint had tried to insist he take the art course at Yale but like me, Kyan hadn’t wanted the academic life. So Saint set him up his art studio instead and every now and then we all rented a stall at a market in town to sell some of his pieces. It wasn’t about the money. It was about the greasy breakfast, the coffee, the sea air and passing on his incredible work to some of the locals.

  “Oh shit,” I cursed as I broke away from him and glanced at the clock on the wall which told me I only had ten minutes to get to work. “I’ve gotta go.”

  Kyan groaned, tugging me flush to his body again and trailing his mouth down to my neck. “Call in sick, it’s not like we need the cash.”

  “That’s not the point,” I laughed breathily, kissing him hard before darting out of the room, grabbing my light blue coat from the rack by the door and pulling it on. “Love you!” I called to Kyan as I kicked on my sneakers, threw my phone into my grey handbag and darted out the door.

  “Love you harder,” he growled, catching the door before I could tug it closed. My eyes widened as he knocked it open, following me onto the porch in his boxers and grabbing me by the throat as he dragged me into a filthy kiss that sent heat skittering everywhere through my flesh.

  “Fuck,” I breathed as he released me, my gaze dropping to the huge bulge in his boxers.

  “That’s what we’re gonna do when you get home. I’ll pick you up at six,” he said with a wink.

  “I’m taking my own car, I don’t need a ride home.”

  “I’ll pick you up anyway. I wanna take you for a spin, baby,” he said with mischief in his eyes.

  “You know Saint hates you taking me on the bike,” I said with a teasing grin, trying to push him back into the house, but he wouldn’t go.

  “Which is why I’ll tell him I’ll take the Hummer,” he said with a smirk then released me.

  I turned away, missing his touch already and my cheeks blazed hotter as I spotted a group of girls across the street who’d stopped to stare. I recognised them as some of the hopeful students who were always eyeing up my men. They better not have been eyeing up my dark sinner’s monster dick.

  I flipped them the finger and jogged over to my shiny white Audi, taking my car keys from my pocket. But before I got there, a car horn sounded and I looked around to find Blake flashing his lights at me and speeding down the road toward me in his fancy ass blue sports car.

  He pulled up in front of me with his window down, his hair swept back and still looking damp from a shower, his grey sweatshirt taut against his muscles and a pair of dark aviator sunglasses in place. “How much for a night in your company, sweetheart?” he purred.

  “You can’t afford me.” I smirked and kept walking toward my car while he drove along beside me like a stalker. Joe Goldberg eat your heart out.

  I noticed the girls had stopped to watch again, whispering between each other, my life apparently far more interesting to them than their own. Which was kinda sad really.

  “I’d pay top dollar for those lips alone,” he purred and I shook my head at him as my smile grew wider.

  “They’re not for sale. They belong to someone else. Four someone elses actually,�
� I said lightly.

  “Lucky guys,” he said. “Is there room for one more in your harem? I’ve got a big dick and know how to wash dishes good.”

  “Your dick does the dishes?” I teased.

  “No, I do, sweetheart,” he said with a low laugh.

  “Well I have four big dicks and a dishwasher to keep me happy, so I’m good.” I tossed my hair and he reached out of the car, hooking his fingers into the back of my yoga pants to make me stop.

  I looked around at him, biting my lip as he slid his aviators down his nose to look up at me with his hungry green eyes.

  “I can wash and iron clothes too,” he offered with a wink.

  “I’ve got a cleaner who does all that, thanks though.” I tugged his hand out of my pants and took off toward my car again, my heart starting to flutter. It was crazy how much my guys still affected me on a daily basis. I didn’t think I was ever going to stop feeling this insane, loved up way about them.

  “I’ll eat your pussy for three hours straight if you get in the car with me!” Blake shouted at the top of his lungs and the girls across the street gasped, staring over at me with parted lips and jealous glares.

  I glanced back at Blake, stifling a laugh then shrugged casually and jogged to get in the car, slipping into the passenger seat. He dropped his hand between my thighs, tugging one leg open as he encouraged me toward him and I kissed him greedily, tasting all the light in the world on his tongue.

  “Fuck you,” I breathed against his mouth and he chuckled darkly.

  “Yes please,” he growled, pulling on my leg like he wanted me to get into his lap.

  “You’re an animal.” I sat back in my seat and clipped my belt in place. “And I’m late for work. There’s far too many dicks trying to stop me from getting there this morning, it’s like a cock obstacle course.”