Kings of Quarantine (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep #1) - Caroline Peckham ,Susanne Valenti Page 0,60

other two guys beside him. Blake’s expression was cold, distant and Kyan’s eyes were shadowed as he stared evenly back at me. Saint’s face was a picture of calm and that was somehow more frightening than the darkness seeping from the other two.

I didn’t move, my eyes skipping between them before I turned away from them and leaned back in my seat.

“I’m good,” I said offhandedly and I swear the whole room gasped. It was ridiculous. Had I broken some sacred Night Keeper vow by being late to breakfast or something?

“Come here, Tate,” Blake’s soft voice reached me and my heart leapt in my chest.

I turned to him again, his expression warmer now though I still sensed danger on the wind. Apparently everyone in this room had turned to stone and I didn’t think they were gonna move again unless I played along with their leaders’ bullshit.

I huffed, pushing out of my seat and heading up to their table, my jaw grinding as I looked to Blake. The closer I got, the harder his features became and something in his eyes made my blood run cold.

Saint leaned forward in his seat, a cruel smile pulling at his mouth. Whatever was going on, he was in his element because of it. So I was sure it had to be something bad.

“Have I offended the mighty kings?” I asked dryly, but my heart juddered as the three of them stood up in unison.

My knees butted against the empty chair opposite Saint as I stopped moving, trying to keep my give-no-shits mask in place but hell, inside I was quaking. Something was wrong. Awfully, terribly wrong. And it had everything to do with me.

Saint lifted an iPad from beside his bowl of fish stew, flipping the black case open and twisting it around to show me something on the screen. A picture of my dad stared back at me. It was the one used on his lanyard for work, I’d seen it a thousand times.

My eyes tore across the headline above it and my whole world started cracking and splintering.

Virologist on the run after setting the Hades Virus loose around the world in unveiled conspiracy.

“What?” I shook my head in refusal as a laugh broke free of my chest. Was this some kind of stupid joke I didn’t get?

I reached for the iPad but Saint pocketed it before I could get close.

Confusion rattled through me as I tried to understand what was happening. The words of that headline sank in as the Night Keepers glared at me like I was their number one enemy. This wasn’t a joke. It was true. That article was real.

But Dad couldn’t have released that virus. He wouldn’t have. If they knew him at all, they’d never believe those lies.

My heart beat thundered in my ears and time seemed to slow as I stood in the wake of that news, fear blossoming in my gut. I needed to speak with him, to hear him deny it, swear he didn’t-

The cold, sickening splash of fish stew hit me square in the face and I gasped, stumbling back a step as I swiped it from my eyes in disgust. Blake sneered at me, tossing his now empty bowl onto the table with a clatter and my heart juddered in time with it.

“This bitch and her piece of shit father are responsible for the Hades Virus!” he bellowed to the room and I shook my head in horror.

“No!” I insisted but Saint threw his bowl next, the thick goop slapping against my chest and seeping down inside my uniform.

I backed up into a table as my heart collided with my throat and I desperately tried to find a way out of this nightmare.

The boy sitting in the seat I’d hit pushed out of his chair, knocking me back a few steps as he and the rest of his friends stood up with the disgusting stew in their hands.

“Don’t!” I tried to dodge it, but so much of the vile substance flew through the air I couldn’t avoid it. The backs of my legs hit the Night Keepers table and I heard Saint growling, “Do it,” before another bowl was poured straight over my head.

I cried out in horror, the stew stinging my eyes and making me gag and cough from the disgusting smell. I turned to find Kyan placing his empty bowl down. There was no light in his eyes, just a void. But it was nothing compared to the way