Kings of Quarantine (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep #1) - Caroline Peckham ,Susanne Valenti Page 0,31

didn’t imagine many people were worshipping at this time of night, but it was clearly left open for students and faculty to come and go as they liked.

Classical music called to me from inside. I didn’t know much about music like that, but that particular tune was famous. The most spine-tingling song I’d ever heard, used in countless movies to invoke shivers down the spine. Mozart’s Lacrimosa rolled over me like a cold wind and set my pulse pounding.

I wasn’t in any rush so I headed down the path with my pulse thumping in my throat. Something about this place called to me in the pit of my soul. It screamed my name and lured me in with dark promises. I didn’t understand why because a church should have been a place of comfort, but this one wasn’t. This one felt threatening and equally alluring. Like the devil hid between its walls and had forced God out from its depths.

I pushed the heavy, wooden door open, slipping inside and my breathing hitched at the sight before me. It wasn’t a church at all, it had been converted into an incredible hang-out with plush couches and an eighty inch TV on the wall. A roaring fireplace stood to my left and the heat of it washed over my cheeks, yet somehow didn’t warm me through at all. A wooden stairway led up to a balcony at the far end of the enormous space, but it was too dark to see anything up there. Doors led out of the central area and my gaze snagged on one which was ajar across the room. A series of stone steps led down to the door and the powerful music was calling from beyond it.

I wet my lips, knowing I should run, sensing it in every fibre of my being. But I couldn’t ignore the tug in my gut that drew me towards that room. And I found my feet moving in that direction before I could think any better of it.

I headed down the steps, opening the door and moving into a huge stone chamber which was only lit by a dim blue ring of lighting around the floor. The space had been converted into a state-of-the-art gym, but I barely got to take it in before a weight collided with me.

My breathing stalled as I was thrown against the wall, my cheek pressing to the icily cold bricks as my hands were pulled painfully tightly behind my back. The solid chest of a man crushed me to the wall and his hot breath ran over my ear, the clean, apple scent of him like bottled danger.

“What the fuck are you doing in here?” Saint’s arctic voice cut into me and my mouth opened and closed with no words coming out until I forced my throat to work. The music was building to a crescendo and it felt like the climax was going to be an execution.

“The door was open.” Great answer, Tatum.

“So you thought you’d just come wandering in to my private property?” Saint snarled, the heat of his body almost too much to bear.

“I didn’t know it was private – it’s a church!” I jerked against his iron hold, trying to calm my mind enough to snag onto my training. I jerked one hand free then threw my elbow back. He laughed as it slammed into his ribs, giving me an inch of room to wheel around in his arms. His palms slammed to the wall either side of me and he leaned in close with a wicked sneer.

“This isn’t a church, Barbie doll. It’s a temple. My temple.” His eyes dripped down to my outfit, scouring it like he didn’t approve, but the way his pupils dilated said he did.

I swallowed the hard lump in my throat, straightening my spine against the wall and schooling my expression. “You can’t be serious?” I scoffed.

“Deadly serious,” he hissed like a snake and I wondered if his saliva was venomous. It wouldn’t have surprised me in the least.

His chest was heaving and I couldn’t help my gaze from dropping to take in the hardened muscles of his chest and the inked words curving around his ribs. The days are long, but the nights are dark.

“Most women would pay good money to see me this close and this naked,” Saint growled and I snapped my gaze back to meet his. His eyes were as black as a void, sucking me in and trying to feed