Queen of Quarantine (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep #4) - Caroline Peckham Page 0,152

inside in a tangle of limbs. Kyan snatched a security card from one of them before wedging the door shut.

I grabbed a rug from further down the hall, laying it over the small puddle of blood the last guard’s death had caused and Kyan grabbed my hand as he towed me to the door across the hall.

He slapped a security card against a keypad and it beeped as it opened, the sound making my adrenaline spike. We rushed inside as the woman’s footsteps sounded seriously close by and pressed the door shut behind us, leaning against it. I was squashed between my two men in the dark as we listened and the guard strode through the hall without stopping.

I released a slow breath and stepped away from Blake and Kyan, moving down another set of stairs.

“Leave the light off,” I breathed. We couldn’t risk alerting anyone to our presence before we made it down to the basement.

A scream carried up from the depths of the darkness and we started moving faster into the gloom, my gut clenching at the noise.

We tip-toed on until we reached the bottom where a slit of light spilled under a door. I took hold of the handle, cracking it open silently and peering into the room that awaited us beyond, holding my breath.

Rows and rows of large cages were stacked up two high, full of people who wore varying amounts of clothes. Sickness made my upper lip peel back at the sight, especially when my gaze fell on the guard who was struggling to pin a half-naked man down over a bench at the centre of the room.

“Dibs,” I breathed to the others, hatred licking the inside of my flesh.

“Make it hurt, baby,” Kyan purred and I pushed the door open, stalking my prey like a tiger in the long grass.

I felt the eyes of the captives on me, but they seemed to sense what I was here for as I held my blade ready and crept up toward the man trying to rape the guy on the bench.

As I got close behind him, the scent of body odour reached me, making me grimace. I aimed my blade just right then stuck him in the liver with one sharp stab. There was no way he’d be heard down here so I wasn’t gonna be gentle. He screamed in surprise and agony, wheeling around as I yanked the blade out and ducked down to slash at his legs. He screamed louder, hitting the concrete floor and the captives in their cages cried out excitedly, banging their fists against the bars.

The man he’d been harassing stood straight, tugging up his boxers, his hands shaking. His gaze met mine and I took in his handsome face, his eyes hard and full of unspeakable tortures. I tore my mask from my face, wanting him to see I was on his side. That I was here to help. Then I held out the knife for him and he took it with a determined nod, leaning down to finish his enemy. The bastard’s strangled screams followed me as I turned, running to help Kyan and Blake as they used the key card to unlock the cages.

The freed men and women soon gathered around us, seeming unsure what to do as they hugged their bodies and shared frightened looks with one another.

“What’s happening?”

“Where do we go?”

“How do we get out?”

“There’s a way out upstairs,” Kyan announced.

“We’re going to get you out of the manor then the police will come and pick you up,” I promised. “We’re going to burn this place to the fucking ground and destroy the people who hurt you.”

Sobs of relief came from the crowd mixed with cheers and murmurs of doubt.

“Follow our queen!” Blake cried dramatically and I released a breath of amusement, only to find every pair of eyes in the room set on me. So I sure as hell wasn’t going to let them down.

Kyan moved to my side and we headed back to the stairs as he murmured in my ear. “There’s an exit which is a straight shot across the hall upstairs. But we might need to force it open.”

“Okay, let’s get them out of here. Then we can finish this,” I said.

“I love burning the world down with you at my side,” Kyan said in a low voice.

“It’s not burning yet,” I tossed back with a grin before placing my mask back on as we made it to the top of the stairs.

I