Queen of Quarantine (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep #4) - Caroline Peckham Page 0,212

pushed himself to sit up too.

"By nightfall, my father will be dead and yours will be safe," Saint said, looking me straight in the eye to show he truly believed that and I nodded.

"I hope so," I said, pinching the bridge of my nose as I forced my head into game mode.

I'd been tossing and turning all night worrying about what was happening to my dad, but now I just needed to focus. Freaking out about the situation wouldn't help him and it could just fuck everything up.

Warm hands slid around my neck as Tatum crawled into my lap and I opened my eyes to find her there, her hair all tousled from sleep and a grey t-shirt covering her slim frame which I was pretty sure belonged to Kyan.

"This is going to work," she swore with such certainty in her voice that I couldn't help but believe her.

"It's going to work," I agreed firmly, leaning forward to kiss her and seal that promise because she was right. It would work. I refused to consider any other outcome. I was born a winner and I wasn't going to start losing today.

***

Despite us seeing Troy's winter home before we camped last night, it had still taken us the full day to trek down into the valley and through the forest to reach it.

It had started to snow around midday and had slowly begun to settle all around us so that by now it was several inches deep. We'd stashed our camping equipment in the trees before closing in on the house and as we stood looking at it from the edge of the forest, we had nothing on us but our phones and weapons as we lurked in the dark.

"I still believe the wine cellar is the most obvious place for my father to be holding your dad," Saint said in a low voice as we looked at the dark building. Light spilled out from the edges of a few windows where curtains were drawn, but that was the only signs we'd seen to say anyone was in there.

"We get him to safety first then finish this," I murmured, saying the plan out loud for my own benefit. We'd gone over it plenty of times and I knew that we were going to prioritise my dad's safety over everything else. But I wouldn't be able to settle this frantic pounding in my chest until I was certain he was okay.

"Let's do this then," Kyan growled, his fingers curling into fists as the bloodlust in him showed.

"Follow me," Saint commanded and he took off without another word, slipping through the trees to avoid leaving footprints on the freshly fallen snow as we circled around towards the left of the house.

Tatum was right behind him and I moved to her left while Nash was on her right and Kyan behind her. We didn't need to communicate about our positioning like that. Each of us knew she was the most important piece to our puzzle and whether she liked it or not, we were always going to protect her in whatever ways we could.

It finally became impossible to stay off of the open ground which ran up to the rear of the property and Saint led the way out from beneath the trees and across the lawn. I just hoped no one noticed our footprints in the snow before we'd either done what we'd come here for or they were covered once more by the falling flakes to hide our passage.

We made it to a door partially hidden beneath a stone arch at the corner of the property. The wooden door was bolted and secured with a heavy looking padlock like Saint had predicted and Kyan pulled the handheld blowtorch from his pocket before lighting it and aiming it at the lock.

I looked around cautiously as the sounds of the dark forest behind us filled the night, listening out for anything unnatural amongst the call of owls and branches rustling in the wind.

"Are you sure this will work?" Nash hissed as the seconds ticked by and nothing but the low sound of the blowtorch filled the air.

"I've got it," Kyan growled.

"It will work," Saint added, his tone brokering no arguments.

"Shit, I love it when you guys go all criminal on me," Tatum purred and my lips twitched with amusement.

A click sounded from the lock and Kyan cursed as he used his hunting knife to move the burning hot metal off of the latch. As