Queen of Quarantine (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep #4) - Caroline Peckham Page 0,129

drawing her over to kiss him deeply. When they pulled apart, she moved to lay across the three of us, placing her head in Saint's lap while twisting her fingers through mine and leaving her legs on Kyan.

It made me uncomfortable to know she wasn’t strapped in but Niall’s car didn’t seem to have any seatbelts back here at all, so we didn’t get much choice in that and I tried not to think about it too much.

I relaxed back into my seat as the miles slipped by and Blake drove us in a looping circle away from the camp and back to Kyan's family home. It was still pretty hard to envision an end to all of this, but at least in that moment, we were together and safe and I could focus on that much.

***

I must have dozed off somewhere before we made it to Kyan's grandfather's house because I woke up sharply as we pulled up outside it.

The place was insanely big, looking more like some kind of resort than a home for a single man, but Kyan didn't say anything to explain it as he got out of the car and moved aside to speak to Niall.

"Is it really a good idea for us to stay here?" I asked dubiously, looking up at the imposing building as I followed the others out of the car.

"Liam has been angling to get Kyan back here for a while now," Saint explained. "He's helped us out a few too many times recently and he won't continue to accept an IOU from Kyan as payment."

"What is he going to make him do?" Tatum asked in a low voice just as the huge front door at the top of the stairs was pulled open.

It was still dark as it was only three in the morning, but apparently nothing took the staff here by surprise as a woman dressed in a servant's uniform waited for us to greet her.

"Don't worry about it," Saint said softly, stepping close to Tatum and pressing a kiss to her forehead. "We need a place to stay and Liam O'Brien's house is locked up tighter than a gnat’s asshole. For now, we will allow him to believe that Kyan is falling into line. It will buy me some time to get the vaccinations to Dr De La Cost and for me to hunt down my father and figure out exactly how we wish to finish this. Once we no longer have need of Liam O'Brien's house and protection, I will find a way to free Kyan from his obligations to him."

"If the dude is as bad as Kyan says he is then I don't see him just being reasonable about anything you might come up with," I pointed out.

"If the only way out is bloodshed then I'll be happy enough to wet my hands," Saint said with a shrug. "I'll let you know once I've decided if it's necessary or not."

He turned away from us and I sighed as I fell into step behind him with Tatum between me and Blake. I still hated it when Saint tried to pull rank like that, but I could admit that when it came down to all of this plotting and scheming, I was out of my depth. So I'd let him think he was in charge for now if that was what it took to keep the peace.

Kyan moved to stand between us and the house before we could go any further while Niall hung back and lit up a cigarette as he leaned against the hood of his car.

"Niall has asked for a favour," Kyan said, rubbing a hand over his jaw. "He said Tatum already gave him a vaccination when he first showed up to help get her out of the city-"

"I did," she agreed. "It made sense. Plus it felt like the least I could do."

"You should have run that past the group," Saint ground out.

"It would have been pretty difficult to explain my attachment to that cooler box if I hadn't told him what was in it," she shot back, tilting her chin in that way which told us all she was up for a fight if he kept questioning her on it. “And once he knew, it would have been kinda rude for me not to offer him one, don’t you think? Considering he saved my ass. Followed by all of your asses, might I add.”

"Fine," Saint sighed. "So what else does he want?"

"Two