Kings of Quarantine (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep #1) - Caroline Peckham ,Susanne Valenti Page 0,28

the clear rules about students living in dorms, though I guessed it helped that his mom ran the school board too. There were plenty of other examples of the brats having grades re-assigned or punishments reduced though. I was just glad that I was allowed to run my own classes how I saw fit.

Miss Pontus raised a hand, tucking a lock of mousy brown hair behind her ear self-consciously as all eyes of the faculty fell on her.

“Yes?” Brown asked.

“I’m just wondering about the stricter measures they’re talking about putting into place. I know we aren’t at that stage yet, but do we have a plan for enforcing lockdown if it comes into practice? I can’t see some of the students taking kindly to having their parties ended…”

She had a point there. Saint, Kyan and Blake lived to no man’s rules, especially in their downtime. If they didn’t want to adhere to lockdown regulations then we would have one hell of a problem on our hands when the time came. Plus all of the other students followed their lead, so if they made it clear that they weren’t following the rules then none of them would.

“I am confident that the staff will be able to enforce any and all sanctions which come into place as and when they’re required,” Brown replied with a tight smile. “But for now, the only rule we have to worry about is us isolating ourselves from the outside world. The students aren’t allowed to leave school grounds anyway so it’s no different for them. But now the staff will have to stay on site at all times too. Is that clear?”

A wave of agreement spilled from the lips of all the staff members, but I remained silent. I rarely left the grounds anyway so it didn’t mean much to me, but I couldn’t say I loved the idea of having to stay here. I don’t know why it even made a difference but somehow, the second he’d given me that order I’d instantly had the urge to leap over the gate and run for the hills. Probably won’t get paid too well out in the hills though.

It didn’t sound like I was getting much choice in my isolation status so I took a deep breath and sucked it up just like I had with countless other shit this job had thrown my way. And as the meeting finished up, I moved to slip away.

“Monroe?” Brown called over the crowd, beckoning me close. “A word.”

I fought the urge to sigh. There was a plate of spaghetti on order from the kitchens waiting for me in the staff dining room and I still needed to shower before I could demolish it. I really didn’t appreciate his sense of timing.

I moved between the crowd towards him with a tight smile on my face that didn’t exactly do much to mask my feelings on this summons. Not that Brown ever seemed to notice such signs. I just hadn’t figured out if that was because he was thick or just an asshole.

“Can I count on your assistance if we need to rein in the Night Keepers?” Brown asked as soon as I reached him. Of course this was about those three. They’d be the key to the student body’s cooperation if the time came to put more restrictions on the kids.

“They don’t respond well to demands,” I warned him. I was being polite. We both knew those boys would do whatever the fuck they wanted whenever the fuck they wanted and if we made ourselves too much of an irritant to them, they’d have their parents onto the school board gunning for our jobs.

My friendship with Kyan might be enough to buy me some measure of protection from their wrath but I doubted it. He was as ruthless as a starving alley cat with a cornered mouse when he wanted to be.

“I know. I was hoping you might be able to help me come up with a strategy to manage them,” Brown said, a cunning glint in his eyes. “I’m thinking that if we can present this to them right, offer them the right incentives, then they might just agree to it anyway. Besides, Bowman’s own mother recently died from this damn virus, they know well enough to take it seriously.”

“Sure,” I agreed because I couldn’t see any point in arguing. “I’ll have a think about the best way to handle them.”

“Have you eaten yet? We could brainstorm over dinner?”