Kings of Anarchy

by Caroline Peckham

  I tapped out a reply, blinking back my tears as I focused on sending my response.

  Tatum:

  I'm sorry. My dad's ashes arrived. I just need to be alone.

  I tucked my phone away again, clutching the box tighter and drawing in a long breath. I fell into myself again, unable to find that safe place within me anymore to escape this slicing pain. Nothing could save me from this emotional turmoil.

  After a while footsteps pounded up the stairs and the door opened across the room. I wiped my tears away, figuring I'd need to leave if students started arriving, but then I saw it was Kyan.

  His eyes found me like a magnet, and he strode across the room with a fierce expression on his face. Was he angry for me staying away from them? I couldn’t deal with it if he was. I wasn’t nearly strong enough to have an argument right now.

  "I don't need a lecture," I forced out, my voice cracking as he reached me, his shadow surrounding me.

  He leaned down, scooping me into his arms without a word and carrying me over to the large table at the back of the room where there was a model of the school filling it. He knocked over a section of trees and sat me down in the bare space, pressing his hands down either side of me as he leaned close to my face.

  "I'm not here to lecture you, baby." He captured my chin, tilting my head up to look at him and he took in my puffy eyes and tear-stained cheeks with his brows knitting tightly together.

  "I need to be alone," I croaked but he shook his head.

  "No, you don't," he said simply. "You need a good man and a warm hug. But you'll have to compromise and take a son of a bitch and a dirty fuck." His joking tone brought a smile to my lips and he sighed. "Ah, there she is." He leaned forward and kissed me sweetly. It wasn't like the way he usually kissed me, with a possessive heat that blazed directly into my soul. This was all giving, no taking. Was Kyan hurting for me?

  He looked down at the box clutched in my arms with a dark frown and I glanced away from him, not wanting pity. But I didn't know what it was I did want. Maybe nothing. Maybe to make him leave, or maybe to curl up in his arms. But I was tired of falling apart and stitching myself back together again. It was never ending, exhausting.

  "Cremation always seemed like the better option to me," he said thoughtfully and I frowned, my interest piqued by the strange comment.

  "Why?" I asked.

  "Beats being put in the ground and eaten by worms." He shrugged. "At least you can be sure you're dead when you're burned to a crisp."

  I released a breath of amusement. Typical Kyan to think of death like that. "I guess."

  "Doesn't really matter either way, I suppose."

  "Because you're dead and gone and you're not around to care anymore?" I questioned, my tone bitter as I held the box even tighter protectively. I'd never attended church or really believed in a god as such, but I had hoped that there was something beyond this life. If only to comfort me when I'd lost Jess, so I could write to her and hope that somehow she was getting those messages. But maybe deep down, I knew that that was all it was. A comfort.

  "No," he said, shaking his head. "I mean the only thing that matters is how you went out, right? Like for example, I quite like the idea of dying in a fiery blaze of gunfire. Seems like your old man went out in a pretty epic way."

  He was so frank about it all, it somehow worked to stop me falling apart again. Made me see it in a new way I'd never considered, even if it still came to the same thing. "I guess..."

  "Naw baby, think about it. There's a million ways to die and he got a Viking's death. If Valhalla exists, he's drinking mead with the gods now out of a golden chalice."

  "Kyan," my voice broke as more tears spilled over. I was smiling though, the image he painted giving me something good to focus on.

  "Tatum," he said heavily, leaning in to kiss my tears away. "You should really stop crying. Your tears make me bloodthirsty and I might go on a killing spree around campus. There'll be so many bodies, baby, and I don't want more blood on your hands."

  A laugh bubbled up in my throat and he growled approvingly at that noise, rubbing his nose against mine.

  "C'mere." He pulled me to my feet, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and guiding me to the balcony door. We stepped out into the fresh air and I gazed up at the now clear sky, an endless expanse of stars staring down at us from above.

  We walked to the edge of the balcony and I just stared up at the impossibly large universe stretching out above me, reminding me of how small I was and yet my pain felt big enough to fill it all up.

  "Someone once told me the people you love become stars and watch over you after they die," Kyan said and I glanced at him in surprise. "I beat the crap out of him to prove him wrong and showed him that even his dead grandma didn't care. But I kinda like the concept all the same."

  I snorted a laugh and he looked down at me with a smirk. Oh Kyan. It was somehow the perfect thing to say because it made the weight in my chest lessen and the crushing grief lose its grip on me a little.

  Kyan tugged me closer beneath his arm as the cold wind tore around us. Spring was on its way, but winter was putting up a good fight. I guessed that was how loss was too. Life always kept moving, even when you expected it to stand still or for the world to wither around you. Everything just kept moving forward and dragging you along with it. But letting go of this pain felt like a betrayal. Moving on felt like he didn't matter. And I was determined that he would always matter.

  I shivered as the cool wind bit at the bare flesh above my knee high socks.

  "You cold, baby? I'll get you warmed up," he growled.

  "I'm not in the mood, Kyan," I sighed and he stiffened.

  "I didn't mean sex." He turned me to face him, opening his blazer and wrapping it around me so his body heat enveloped me. My dad's ashes were held between us and he didn't press too firmly against me, making sure they weren't squashed. "I don't want you to think that's all this is for me."

  "I don't think that," I said earnestly, but he was still frowning. "I can feel that it's more than that."

  "Well…I wanna prove it too," he said seriously. "I've never felt like this about anyone. I'd die for you, baby. And I don't mean that in some bullshit romance movie kinda way, I mean it. I'd take a knife under my ribs for you all the way to my heart." The fire in his eyes made my lips fall open and I reached up, tracing my fingers over his face to memorise the way he looked right now. Like a monster who’d just been handed back his soul.

  "I'd do the same for you, Kyan. If anything ever happened to you, I..." I shook my head, the idea making my heart clench and panic cleave my chest apart.

  "Nothing will happen to me," he growled. "I'm ninety nine percent of people’s worst nightmare."

  "But the last one percent are all the dangerous assholes you've probably pissed off," I teased and he gave me a lopsided grin.

  "That's why I carry a knife." He smirked and I shook my head at him.

  He leaned down to kiss me and I let myself get lost in the slow movements of his tongue, the gentle way he touched me for once. This was all so new to us both and I could sense how deeply he really wanted to prove that this wasn't just some fling.

  "My pa once told me the only things worth loving in life were the things you could rely on to be there forever. Like pay-per-view porn and mediocre coffee."

  I breathed another laugh. "Your family really knew how to raise a kid."

  "Yeah, luckily Martha took on a hefty chunk of the role or I'd probably be jerking off into a shitty cup of joe right now instead of holding my girl in my arms," he joked and I smiled at him. "Then I'd have to gut him for making me miss out on you."

  "You wouldn't realise I was missing from your life if that was the case," I pointed out.

  "Naw, I missed you my whole life, Tatum Rivers. That hole in me would have just gotten wider and wider, filled with whiskey and second rate pussy until I put a gun to my head out of sheer boredom."

  "Jesus, don't say that." I smacked his arm
and he grinned widely.

  "I won't sweeten the truth. Not ever." He shrugged then pushed his fingers into my hair as he gazed at me, drinking me in. "And the filthy, rotten core of it is…you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. And I won't let you go. I'm your captor, baby, but your mine too. And I say we both throw away the key and stay in each other's cages forever."

  ***

  "I don't even understand how they can be all over her like that. Especially Blake. His mom died from the Hades Virus for god's sake," Pearl Devickers' voice carried to me from the stacks as I sat in my favourite spot in the library by the large window that overlooked the lake.

  Mila looked up as she heard her too, frowning at me across the table. We were out of sight here, their conversation clearly meant to be private.

  "I know," Georgie huffed. "There go my dreams of being prom queen with Kyan Roscoe."

  "Firstly, I'd be prom queen," Pearl jested. "And Blake would be my king. I'd pick Saint, but I'm not really into freaky stuff and Candice Norrington said he fucked her mouth so hard two years ago that she had to get her tonsils removed after and still has problems swallowing. Not my bag."

  My hand was tight around my pen and Mila gave me an expression that told me to ignore them. But screw that.

  "Maybe this is all some long term plan. Like they're gonna make her fall in love with them then rip her heart out by hosting an orgy for every girl in school at The Temple," Georgie suggested and they both fell into hysterics.

  "You're right, it has to be that," Pearl agreed.

  "I guess they could be taking pity on her since her dad died though," Georgie said thoughtfully.

  "The guy was a psycho who unleashed a fucking plague on the world. She's trapped us all in this place until they find a vaccine. And frankly, I'm not sticking any kind of shit in my body even if they do come up with one. The government will use it as an opportunity to put trackers on all of us."

  I stood up, rounding the corner into the stacks as I lost my cool and Georgie's eyes widened as she spotted me, making Pearl wheel around to find me there behind her.

  "Why would the government want to track you, Pearl?" I asked icily. "I'm sure they have far more important things to be doing than watching you take multiple trips to the Botox clinic."

  "Have you been eavesdropping on us, Plague?" Pearl hissed at me.

  "It's hard to miss your shrill voice when you're standing within five feet of me." I strode toward her and was pleased when she cowered, backing into Georgie in alarm. "If you talk about my Night Keepers, my dad, or me again, I'll have you outcast into the Unspeakables."

  Her powder pink lips fell open. "You don't have the power."

  "Want a bet?" I growled, taking my phone from my pocket and making a show of me bringing up Saint's number to call.

  "Okay, okay," Pearl blurted. "But it’s not like I'm saying anything the whole school doesn't know anyway."

  Georgie tried to hush her, but Pearl clearly didn't have as much control over her tongue, even with this threat hanging over her. I wouldn't actually do it. Pearl might have been a rude bitch, but she hadn't done anything that would serve her a place amongst the Unspeakables.

  "I'm going to say this once and if I hear you contradicting it again, I'll make the call to Saint and make sure you’re named Liar as an Unspeakable." I got into her personal space, my upper lip peeling back. "My dad is innocent. The Night Keepers know that as well as I do."

  I turned my back on her, about to stalk away when her foolish tongue ran away with her once again.

  "Was innocent," she corrected, her voice biting, aimed to hurt. "You can't talk about dead people in the present tense."

  I wheeled towards her with a snarl and she tried to run, shrieking as she shoved Georgie aside and high-tailed it down the aisle. I took chase after her as rage coursed through me, catching a handful of her raven hair and yanking her backwards. She screamed like a banshee as I threw her up against the shelves and books came tumbling down around her.

  "Miss Gaskin!" she screamed for the librarian and I smacked her hard across the face, leaving a pink handprint across her cheek.

  The librarian appeared in a fluster wearing a garish knitted jumper with a creepy ass looking rhino on the front of it and stared between us in alarm.

  "Miss Rivers, what are you doing?" she gasped.

  "Nothing," I said simply, lying straight to her face as I stepped away from Pearl.

  "She hit her!" Georgie wailed overdramatically and I rolled my eyes.

  I looked to Miss Gaskin, folding my arms and waiting for my punishment, refusing to apologise for it.

  "Now, now, I'm sure Miss Rivers wasn't doing anything of the sort, were you?" the librarian asked, her eyes flickering with fear. Holy shit.

  I shrugged and that was apparently good enough as she ushered Georgie and Pearl away. "Go back to work, don't bother Miss Rivers."

  My jaw practically hit the floor as they walked away and I was left with a sense of power that could only have been gifted to me because of my association with the Night Keepers.

  "Fuck me, girl," Mila's voice came from behind me and I turned, giving her a bemused look. "I want your super powers."

  I laughed. "Well, apparently it just takes being Night Bound to do it. You wanna go touch the Sacred Stone?"

  "Hell no," she laughed then checked her watch. "But I do have to head off.”

  “Oh have you got plans?” I asked.

  “Kinda… see you later, girl.” She hurried away, seeming distracted and I frowned after her in surprise, wondering what she was up to.

  I dropped back into my seat and looked out at the rain hammering against the window. Football practice probably wasn't much fun right now. The guys had told me to wait here to meet them and walk back together, but they wouldn't be done for another forty minutes and I only had a few paragraphs left of my paper to write.

  I finished it up soon enough and packed my things away, figuring I'd head back to The Temple and run a bath. I dreamed of sinking into the heated water and got carried away with the idea of the four of them coming home and finding me there, the door open, bubbles foaming over my flesh. Not that Monroe could join in on that fantasy, and Saint clearly would never come close to crossing that line again. But hell, a girl could dream. And Blake and Kyan would certainly be game...

  I pulled the hood up on my coat as I headed outside, the librarian waving enthusiastically at me as I went. It made me wonder if the Night Keepers had something on her or if she was just terrified of invoking their ire. Either way, I guessed she had my back.

  The rain hammered down on me and I ducked my head as I jogged along to the main path and started heading up the eastern shore of the lake. The trees were swaying hard in the storm and the wind was howling up on the mountain. There were no other students around, everyone taking shelter from this crazy weather.

  I gave up trying to keep my hood up as it was blown back again and again, giving in to the rain as it beat down on me and soaked my hair. The bath idea was sounding even better now. Maybe I could get my hands on some chocolate and wine in the crypt too and make a cosy evening out of it.

  Movement amongst the trees to my left made my heart judder and I looked over into the shadows dancing between them, increasing my pace even though I saw nothing there. Toby was well under heel now, so I was sure I didn't have to worry about anything…I just had the uncomfortable feeling of being watched.

  But there was nothing there and surely my imagination was just getting carried away? I had plenty of reason to fear shifting shadows in the dark nowadays. I just wished I didn't feel so jumpy.

  I turned back to face the path and slammed to a halt as I saw a figure a hundred yards ahead, dressed in black with a bone white mask over their face. From here, it was impossible to tell if they were male or female, but their frame looked fairly slight. Fear cascaded through me as they stood statue still, just staring at me. There was something long and curved in their hands, but I couldn’t tell what it
was. I fumbled my phone out of my pocket, panic racing through me as I brought up Monroe's number and hit dial. He was the only one likely to have his phone on him during practise. I looked up as I held it to my ear and found the path was now vacant. Shit.

  The rings sounded again and again in my ear and I started walking along the path once more, but slower this time, fearing how close I was coming to the place where that weirdo had just been. If they were trying to scare me, it was working. But why? And who was it? They looked too small to be Toby. So what did that mean? Did I have some other enemy to fear? The freaking Justice Ninja??

  My heart thrashed in my chest as I reached the spot where they'd been standing and I turned, looking into the trees, spotting fresh boot prints there in the mud.

  I wanted to run and run until I was safe deep inside The Temple. But more than that, I wanted to expose this asshole and stand my ground. I'd faced real demons, looked my death in the eye, lost my only family. I wouldn't run from this creep.

  "Who are you?!" I shouted, my voice lost a little to the storm, but if they were close, watching, then they'd hear me. "Come out here and face me!"

  The phone suddenly answered and I jumped as Monroe spoke in my ear. "Tatum?" he asked anxiously.

  "Hey," I breathed, a shiver gripping my spine. "There's some asshole out here trying to scare me."

  "Where are you?" he growled fiercely.

  "On the east shore. About a hundred yards from the turning to Beech House."

  "Go there, back to your old room. We're coming," Monroe said firmly and I agreed before hanging up.

  I started hurrying along the path, my neck prickling with the feeling of being watched. Hunted…

  "Taaatuuum," an eerie voice called, the sound distorted like it was played back through some sort of voice changer. My pulse skipped at the horrid, raspy crackle of it coming from behind me.

  I glanced over my shoulder and my stomach clenched into a tight knot as I saw the figure standing there again fifty yards away, this time with a bow and arrow raised in their hands, the tip of the arrow alight with flames.