Kings of Quarantine (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep #1) - Caroline Peckham ,Susanne Valenti Page 0,80

shadow, their capes billowing behind them as scowls twisted their features into something truly evil.

“Tatum Rivers, do you swear to devote yourself to us and spend your days working to please us?” Blake spoke over the storm and the answer got stuck in my throat.

Can I really agree to this?

Give myself to them?

Promise to do everything they ask? Anything they ask?

One heartbeat, two, three, four.

Blake was about to lower the phone when I forced the word out. “Yes,” I choked. It tasted like poison on my tongue.

The three of them smiled in unison like their dark souls were somehow connected to one another’s in that moment.

“And do you swear to obey our every word?” Kyan growled and I managed to nod, though my neck felt stiff, like my body knew I was betraying it.

“Do you swear to follow the rules, to be bound mind, body and soul to the Night Keepers. And only us?” Saint’s voice ripped into my ears. He wasn’t smiling anymore, he was leering like a monster, looking like my darkest nightmare brought to life.

“Yes,” I rasped, my tongue heavy, my heart hollow.

“Touch the sacred stone,” Saint commanded. “Prove your promises and become Night Bound to each of us as Keepers.”

My fingers curled up instinctively, trying to fight the decision I’d made. But it was already over. The dice had landed, the deal was done. And I felt tears running hot and fast down my cheeks as the weight of that truth sank into my veins.

I reached out to the rock, hesitating a final second, my last scrap of defiance fading away. I pressed my palm against the cold stone and adrenaline poured through me like a vat of liquid nitrogen spilling into my blood. Lightning flared above me and thunder clashed so loudly in the heavens, I winced. The rain came half a heartbeat later and rushed down on us like a tsunami.

I retracted my hand from the rock, my fingers icily cold as I curled them into a fist and tried to ignore the tingling scattering through my palm. What the fuck?

I knew the legend wasn’t true. I knew it was just ghost stories and fairy tales, but I’d felt something when I’d touched that thing. Like my soul had shifted inside my body. And maybe it was just the freezing cold and the raging storm, but somehow, I felt like they really did own me now. And that terrified me more than anything I’d ever experienced in my life.

Blake stopped filming, tucking his phone away as he glared at me with victory in his eyes. There was so much hate in them too, I could feel it as powerfully as the storm against my flesh. How was this the same guy who’d kissed me so passionately a few nights ago? Had made me laugh and been so full of warmth it had burned right through me?

I felt worthless as I waited for the first axe to fall. The first command to hit my ears. I lifted a hand to wipe the tears from my cheeks, wishing I’d had the strength to keep them from falling.

What do they want from me? What are they going to demand?

“If you break the rules, we’ll ruin you,” Saint warned, a manic flare in his gaze. It was almost like he wanted me to go against him. “You and any friend, acquaintance or fucking mosquito who takes a liking to you.”

I nodded, pressing my lips together and continued to wait for whatever bullshit order they were going to give me.

“What do you want?” I growled when they said nothing, just stared at me like I was a piece of meat on their plate they were deciding whether to eat or not. My eyes skipped between the three of them. I knew I’d agreed to play along, but what the hell did they want from me out here in a thunderstorm?

“Stay here on the beach until we come back for you,” Saint said simply, his lips tipping up into his infamous psycho smile. He directed the other guys ahead of him, but Kyan lingered on the beach as Saint and Blake swept past him.

“You’re gonna just leave me here in the rain?” I called in horror. “For how long?” My heart drummed to a war beat in my chest at the idea of staying out here. I was soaked through already in only my uniform. Not even a coat.

None of them answered, but Saint looked to Kyan and snarled, “Come