Queen of Quarantine (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep #4) - Caroline Peckham Page 0,27

girl," I said in a rough growl that made it clear I wasn't fucking around. "Tell me where they're keeping her."

I took a good look at the fear in his eyes before loosening my hold enough for him to speak.

"I don't know what you m-"

I slammed my hunting knife down into his bicep and bared my teeth at him as I cut off his air once more.

"Where. Is. The. Girl?" I didn't need to elaborate. He knew which fucking girl.

This time when I let him speak, he looked about ready to piss himself. "T-top floor," he gasped. "Isolation unit. But you'll never-"

I slammed my blade down into his chest just as Blake and Monroe made it to us, stabbing him over and over, purposefully avoiding anything too fatal for the first few blows as I let my beast feed on his pain before finally driving it into his cowardly heart to end it.

I was covered in blood by the time I reared back, and Blake's hand landed on my shoulder as he wrenched me away.

"Were you hit?" he demanded, his eyes widening behind his mask as he looked at the round hole in my shirt right in the centre of my chest.

"Yeah," I grunted. "Hurt like a bitch too."

I reached down to tear the front of my shirt open, using the tip of my bloody knife to pop the bullet out of the Kevlar I was wearing and taking in a deep breath. If I lived to see tomorrow that was gonna leave one hell of a bruise.

"What was it you called that vest when Saint insisted you wear it?" Monroe asked, giving me a look that said 'you would have been dead, idiot' as we headed towards the stairwell.

"A coward's cheat sheet to get out of death," I replied, shrugging as I refused to backtrack on that opinion. "But if I have to cheat death to make it to my girl then fine."

“You’re insane,” Blake muttered.

"We will be discussing your lack of care for your own mortality in further detail once we get our girl back," Saint snapped as he abandoned the computer hacking shit to join us, drawing his own gun. "But as of right now, we need to focus on getting to the top floor."

I shoved the door to the stairs open but flinched back as bullets rained down from above, cursing as the four of us were forced to back up into the reception again. Who knew how many assholes were headed our way? I cursed at the idea of a shootout. Not that I didn’t enjoy blowing people’s brains out, but we didn’t need to be wasting time on these motherfuckers.

The dead guard's radio suddenly crackled to life and I glanced towards him as words came over it that set dread pooling in my gut.

"Chopper inbound, prepare for evac."

"Fuck!" I roared, shoving the huge desk across the room to block off the stairs and looking around.

"We have to get up there before they get her on that helicopter," Saint snarled. "My father won't be this sloppy again. We won't get another chance."

We all looked to the staircase where the sound of the approaching guards was getting loud enough to let us know we were almost out of time. We could fight our way through them, but could we do it before the chopper got here?

"There's gotta be a maintenance ladder in the elevator shaft," Monroe said, turning and running across the room to force the doors open.

"I'll hold them off," I said firmly as he and Blake managed to yank the doors wide. "We can't have them taking pot shots at us on that ladder."

My brothers all looked to me with concern in their eyes and a silent communication spilled between us. We were all equally desperate to get to our girl, but this plan could only work if we were smart about it and played the best game possible. So long as one of us made it to her, that was all that counted.

"I'll stay too," Blake agreed.

“Be careful.” Monroe clapped us both on the shoulders before heading into the elevator and climbing up to force the maintenance hatch open.

"Don't get yourselves killed," Saint growled in a command that brokered no negotiation.

"Yeah, yeah, we love you too, you fucking psycho," I teased.

I grabbed an assault rifle from the body of one of the guards I'd already finished off and the door to the stairwell began to rattle as the guards beyond it started trying