Kings of Quarantine (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep #1) - Caroline Peckham ,Susanne Valenti Page 0,221

other beasts were and all they stood for, I could appreciate the power in them all the same. Each of us was capable of real ferocity when it came to protecting what was ours. And Tatum Rivers was ours. We’d written it in blood.

The noise from up ahead reached us like a storm. My heart wouldn’t settle as I ran amongst the four creatures who had saved me. I was still in shock from the attack and couldn’t adjust to this shift in our dynamics. Because it was like all of them had severed off a piece of their souls and handed it to me tonight. And after weeks of abuse, hatred and persecution from the Night Keepers, I didn’t know what to do with that knowledge. It didn’t make sense to me. Yet when we’d stood in the aftermath of that bastard’s death, I’d felt them joined to me as keenly as if as an invisible chain had wrapped around us.

The sound of a baying crowd grew deafening as we crested the hill and ran past Aspen Halls, the scent of smoke filling the air.

My heart stuttered at the sight before me.

We had to slow as the throng of students and outsiders clashed together before the gates. The football team were leading a charge against them, shoving as many people out of the gates as they could, but the outsiders were fighting back hard.

“Let’s save our school, brothers,” Saint barked and he, Kyan, Blake and Monroe rushed into the fray.

Kyan swung his bat with a roar to announce his arrival and the crowd scattered around him in terror. He whacked it against a guy’s ass and he yelped before running for the gate. Saint threw violent punches that cracked noses and spilled blood down his knuckles. Monroe raised his hammer with a yell of fury and that was enough to make a bunch of them run for their fucking lives. He was as wild as the Night Keepers, and as fearless too.

Blake was pointing the gun at anyone who got too close, making them piss their pants before he threw punches and sent them running for the gate.

Screams carried into the sky as the chaos descended and a primal urge made me want to dive in and join my men. No, shit. They weren’t mine. But hell, right then I felt like I belonged in the fight at their sides. And there was too much insanity in the air tonight to question it.

I darted forward, shoving and kicking people towards the gate and I soon fell into the rhythm of the fight. Shove, kick, push, punch.

With every blow I landed, my mind felt freer. It was a fierce distraction from the blood I’d just spilled and I relished the wildness in me as it unfolded.

I wheeled through the crowd with all the skills I’d honed my entire life, enjoying having real opponents to land my attacks on and my veins hummed as I unleashed my inner beast.

A scream caught my ear and I whirled around, spotting a couple of the Unspeakables guarding a pile of toilet paper and hand sanitiser on the ground. They’d formed a circle around it, but the outsiders were swooping in like vultures and I darted toward them to help.

A woman dove at Freeloader and I grabbed hold of her black hair, yanking her backwards before she could get near her. My heart jolted as I recognised Denise from the bar with her tattooed tits and pissed off eyes. The second she realised it was me, she raked her nails down my arms with a shriek of hate.

I shoved her back then threw a hard punch into her mouth, making her yell in pain as blood spilled over her lips. I kept rushing at her, landing kicks and punches as she fought to keep me back, but she wasn’t trained like me.

“Fuck you, you little slut!” she snarled, throwing a fist that landed against my tit and I gasped at the low blow.

I shoved my weight into her with a growl and she hit the gravel, her eyes widening in fright as I loomed over her. “Where’s your fucking girl code?” I demanded, rubbing my sore boob.

She pursed her lips then hurried to her feet and ran away from me. I cursed as I realised she wasn’t running for the gate. A bunch of them weren’t.

I turned back to help the Unspeakables, watching as Deepthroat held onto a roll of toilet paper with bloody fingernails.