Kings of Quarantine (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep #1) - Caroline Peckham ,Susanne Valenti Page 0,79

right choice means I’ll have a chance to beat them.

So which path will offer me that?

If I refused them now, they’d destroy me quickly and painfully. If the entire school worked against me, I’d never have a chance to get closer to the Unspeakables and find strength in their ranks. I’d lose Mila. I’d lose my sanity. But was the alternative really any better? Letting them own me? The thought was repugnant.

Ragged breaths dragged in and out of my lungs and I opened my eyes, finding Saint leering at me. And there it was, just for a second, desire blazing from his inky irises. He wanted me, but he wanted me weak. He craved me like this, losing control. Giving in to his demands. And this time, I was going to have to let him have it. I was going to agree so I could buy myself enough time to find a way out. But even though the decision was mine, it still felt like bowing. Like breaking.

The ice in his eyes was as sharp as knives. He was a starved creature who needed pain to thrive. And mine was a delicacy he wanted to take his time over, chewing on it piece by piece.

Tears pricked my eyes as I felt the weight of his victory crashing over me. Of all their victories. I was boxed in. A fox at the end of a farmer’s gun. And it felt like the lowest point of my life.

“What are the rules?” I breathed, fighting to make sure my bottom lip didn’t tremble.

Saint reached out, brushing a lock of hair behind my ear and it felt anything but soothing. He licked his lips as he savoured this moment, grazing his fingers down my cheek, leaving a freezing trail in their wake. “There’s only three rules…”

“You’re either doing something for us,” Kyan supplied the first.

“Or you’re with one of us,” Blake gave the second.

“Or you’re with all of us,” Saint hissed the last and a biting chill ran down my spine. “So do you agree, Barbie?” he asked in an almost loving tone, but I wasn’t fooled. I doubted Saint’s heart was capable of any warm emotion. It was a lump of ice, kept at fifty below zero at all times.

“I won’t do anything sexual for any of you,” I snarled, looking between them and pressure built in my chest as I waited for their response. I was gonna scream or cry or catch fire. And some shattered part of me wished for the last.

“Like I said, Barbie, we’d rather fuck a hand grenade than you,” Saint purred. “But if you want it, you can have our word that none of us will fuck you until you want us to.”

“Why would I want you to?” I sneered.

“Because I get the feeling you’ll learn to like being our pet,” he said, the glint in his eyes giving away just how much he desired that.

“There’s no fucking chance of that,” I snapped.

“Just give us an answer,” Blake demanded suddenly, his anger slipping past his defences. “Yes or no. Do you agree to be ours?”

I nodded and the second I did they stepped away from me, moving behind me instead so I was angled towards the sacred stone. A tremor ran through my body just as thunder boomed above, sending a shockwave right down to my core

I glanced over my shoulder as Blake took his phone from his pocket and started filming me.

“We’re live,” he muttered to the others, but I caught the words on the wind. This video was now streaming to every student on campus via social media. Holy shit.

Saint waved me forward and my legs felt leaden as I walked toward the rock, my fate, my doom.

As I reached it, a violent ripple of energy ran through me as the wind picked up once more. Close up, I could see the markings on the rock more clearly. At the top were four painted men with a different intricate arrow beneath them. Three of them were the same as the tattoos I’d seen on the Night Keepers and I shuddered to think what their group would look like with a fourth Keeper amongst them. Above the carvings was a fifth figure and an arrow hung above them with five decorated feathers attached to it. Something instinctive told me this was the Night Bound, the legend I was about to embody.

I turned to face three boys before me with a shaky breath. They were cast in