Queen of Quarantine (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep #4) - Caroline Peckham Page 0,65

the only one who could get him to safety.

I tugged the tactical knife from my pocket, crawling into the car and drawing the seatbelt toward me, gathering it up in my hands as I pulled it carefully to tug the entire length out. I couldn’t move too fast or it would lock but I was so anxious to get to Kyan, it took everything I had to move slower than I wanted to. As I got the last of it out, I used the blade to cut it at both ends and tossed it out of the car behind me.

I dove into the passenger seat, working to pull the other belt free before cutting that one too then moving to the driver’s seat and starting the engine. I drove the car right up to the edge of the cliff, turning on the parking brake and rushing outside.

A metallic groan made my stomach knot and I threw a look over the edge in a panic as the Land Rover shifted further to the right, leaning precariously.

“Tatum!” Kyan shouted. “Did I ever tell you I fucking love you?”

My heart rioted at his words, hating why he was saying them. “You’re gonna tell me again when I get you out of there!” I called as I tied the two belts together with a fisherman’s knot and tethered one end tight around my waist before tying the other to the towing hitch beneath Blake’s car.

Then I gazed down the cliff below as I moved to the very edge of it, the Land Rover slipping once more as the tree trunk started to crack and snap. There was a very real, very desperate fear trying to take control of me, but I wouldn’t let it shatter my concentration. Because the moment I panicked, this was over. And if I couldn’t get Kyan out, then he was going to die. There was no two ways about it. So I either kept my head or lost one of the most important people to me in the whole world.

Breathe, keep moving and remember everything Dad taught you.

Kyan looked back at me through the rear window and his jaw ticked anxiously, looking like he was fighting against something holding him in place.

“I’m coming,” I promised, dropping over the edge and letting the belt slip through my hands as I abseiled down to the side of the car.

The damn seatbelts were only just long enough to reach the vehicle and I thanked any and every god in the sky and devil in the underworld as I fell still, hanging beside it.

Kyan looked at me through the window and shook his head. “If you open the door, the car will tip.”

“Then the car will tip,” I growled. “But I won’t let you go with it.”

He nodded, his eyes filled with trust as I opened the door, lowering it gently so it didn’t rock the whole vehicle. My gut clenched as a groaning, whining noise sounded, but by some miracle, the car didn’t slip again.

I released a slow breath as I dug my feet into the steep hill for purchase and spotted a girl laying in the footwell unconscious. It took me a moment to recognise Deepthroat, her hair now a cheap bottle blonde and my heart stuttered. She was the other Justice Ninja? I guess she fit the bill in ways. She was always hanging around Kyan and had a vendetta against the Night Keepers, but I never imagined she’d be capable of this.

“Never thought I’d have to be rescued like a princess in a tower. Are we going to ride off into the sunset on your horse while fingering me under my dress, baby?” Kyan joked even though his eyes gave away his desperation not to die and I gripped his shirt in my fist as I carefully leaned inside to free him from the car.

“That’s the plan, princess, just hold still.” I sliced the knife through the seatbelt keeping him in place then cut the zip-tie around his ankles. “Brace yourself on the seat with your feet,” I instructed, needing to get his hands free. I wasn’t strong enough to carry him out of here if the car fell so he was going to need to use his arms. But we seriously needed to hurry up.

“If I move, the car will slip,” he said, his voice rough, his brows pulled tightly together.

I glanced towards the front of the car and the terrifying drop beyond the windshield then shook my