Queen of Quarantine (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep #4) - Caroline Peckham Page 0,6

her. Because without her, as far as I was concerned there was no world. At least not one I had any desire to exist in.

I yanked the grate covering the vent free and dropped down into the darkened corridor as silent as a wraith.

There was a distant bleeping which continued in a repetitive tone from somewhere further down the corridor, but aside from that this floor seemed silent.

A CCTV camera looked down at me from the far end of the hallway but I ignored it - Saint had already taken care of the surveillance systems for us and I was concealed all in black anyway.

My fingers twitched with the desire to start hunting the rooms on this level of the building for any sign of my girl and I gritted my jaw against my need to do that. I had to stick to the plan. I blew out a frustrated breath as I forced myself to turn away and headed for the door that led to the emergency escape stairs at the rear of the building.

I slipped inside the darkened stairway, the dim, red lighting just letting me see the stone steps as I headed down them at a fast pace.

My footsteps were silent as I descended, my breathing controlled, just the way Niall had taught me. Even with my girl's life on the line, I wasn't going to get sloppy. Especially with her life on the line. The skills I'd earned in blood and bone were worth every moment of suffering on my part if they equalled her life now and I wouldn't let her down.

The acrid scent of cigarette smoke twisted into my nostrils as I made it to the top of the final flight of stairs and I fell still as I noticed a faint blue light mixing with the red coming from somewhere below me.

A half-hearted snort of laugher came next and my pulse leapt as I realised there was someone down there, taking a smoke break and checking out their TikTok feed if I had to guess.

The smart choice would have been for me to hold my ground, wait for him to finish up and fuck off.

But I never had been praised for making smart choices.

My blood was pumping with heat and the desire for violence and I was helpless to resist its call.

With a shiver of anticipation, I continued down the stairs.

I moved silently, my back to the wall and my bulk hidden in the shadows as I closed in on my prey.

When I finally spotted them standing at the foot of the stairs right by the emergency exit, my heart leapt. Not one asshole. Two.

All the better to feed the demon in me.

A grim smile captured my lips as I thought of my girl being held here by these thugs and before I could even consider second guessing my choice, I pounced.

My fist collided with the closest guy's face hard enough to send his skull crashing into the wall beside him and he crumpled to the ground with a cry of pain, the cigarette and cell phone falling to the floor.

The second guard had time to wrench his pistol from his waistband, but my hand closed around his on the butt of the gun before he could even aim it my way.

I used my momentum to slam the gun into his face, locking his fingers in place so he couldn't reach the trigger and spilling blood which made him yell as something most definitely cracked. But before he could get another sound out, I was whirling him around, wrenching the gun from his grip and throwing him face first into the wall.

He staggered away from it, his back to me for the briefest moment, giving me the opportunity I needed to throw an arm around his neck and lock it in place by grasping my wrist in my other hand and exerting enough pressure to cut off his airway.

The guy kicked and flailed, clawing at my arm as he struggled for a breath I wouldn't allow him to take and I just smiled as I thought of my girl, of laying his body at her feet and showing her what depths I'd fall to just to ensure she was safe.

Movement in the shadows to my left drew my attention to the asshole I'd first hit as he scrambled for the radio at his belt and I grunted a curse as I dragged the guy I was strangling towards him and threw a boot