Kings of Quarantine (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep #1) - Caroline Peckham ,Susanne Valenti Page 0,96

way to clear his name and then we were gonna fucking live.

***

I breezed through classes the following week, not caring when the Night Keepers made me carry their shit or pick up stuff they threw on the floor at my feet. I nodded my head, I bit my tongue, I obeyed. I even turned up at The Temple at six am every day and knelt there like the most pious nun in the world. And I was happy to play the good girl for a little longer because the day had finally come. Tonight, I was gonna escape this hell hole and by tomorrow I’d be far, far away from those ménage à twats. Sneak had told me her mom was gonna arrive at nine pm, so I just had to hold out until then.

When school ended, I headed back towards Beech House with no ass wipes calling my name or demanding I do a single thing. So that meant for the first time in a long time- but for who knew how long - I was free. Saint and the rest of the Powerpuff dicks had been sure to take my phone number pronto though, so they could track me down whenever they wanted to summon me.

I took out my phone, shooting a text to Punch and asking him to meet me around the back of the girls’ accommodation in ten minutes. I hurried up the path towards the door, pausing and opening my school bag, pretending to rummage through it as girls filed past me into the dorms. I didn’t want anyone to see me acting shady just in case they called the Night Keepers with a tip off, hoping to win the chance to suck at least one of their royal cocks.

Some of them looked my way and hissed the word Plague, but most of them ignored me like I didn’t even exist. I wasn’t sure which I preferred.

I waited until there was no one around before darting behind the brick building, following a dirt path around to the back of it and leaning against the wall as I waited for Punch.

I kept checking my phone; he’d seen the message but there was no reply. My foot tapped anxiously as I waited, the time ticking onto ten minutes then slipping on by.

“Come on, Punch. Pull through for me you big pussy.” I muttered to myself.

I shot him another message, grinding my jaw as I begged him to show up.

The sound of breaking twigs and a hulking beast moving through the trees around the corner caught my ear. I breathed in deep, certain that only three things were big enough to make that noise. Punch, a Night Keeper or a freaking T-rex.

Punch rounded the corner in a black hoody and sunglasses - like, was he for real?

“Dude, I could tell it’s you even if I only saw your shadow. You’re pretty distinguishable.” The guy must have been nearly seven foot and was as wide as a damn bus. Gah, I wished I could have seen him punching Blake. I bet he hit the ground. But what the hell did Blake do in retaliation to this dinosaur to break his Jurassic spirit?

Punch shrugged, taking off the glasses and pushing back the hood. He glanced around like he expected the birds to rat on him and I rolled my eyes as I strode over to him.

“Do you have them?” I asked hopefully.

He reached into his pocket and held out a handful of firecrackers and a lighter. I near enough jumped for joy as I took them, because this was better than any Redwood Rattlesnakes ticket I’d ever held in my hand. This was my ticket to honest-to-shit freedom.

I lunged at Punch before I could stop myself, wrapping my arms around his huge frame and squeezing him tight. This week had been awful. Scrap that, it had been unbearable. And Punch was helping me to escape, something I couldn’t even begin to express my gratitude for. Especially after being shunned by nearly everyone else in the school. It almost brought me to freaking tears. “Thank you.”

He pressed me back with a serious look on his face, dabbing at his forehead as he got that sweaty look again. “Get out of here, Tatum Rivers,” he whispered, his eyes searing into my soul. “Get as far away from those guys as possible. Because if you don’t…no one will be able to save you from them.”

My throat thickened at his words, fear trickling into