Kings of Anarchy

by Caroline Peckham

"I say we take a vote." Monroe folded his arms and Saint looked to him in surprise before nodding keenly.

  "A vote on what?" Kyan drawled. "You can't undo our marriage."

  "Well I vote that you do," Blake chipped in. "Like Saint said, you can wait long enough for the dust to settle then we'll all pay for lawyers to file the divorce and keep it quiet."

  "Seconded," Monroe agreed.

  "I third it," Saint said, smiling cruelly then looked to me. "What do you say siren?"

  My mouth parted as I looked to Kyan and his brows pulled together, his eyes seeming to morph into those of a puppy dog. I looked down at the ring he'd given me and my heart tugged violently. “I say no.”

  Kyan beamed, practically bouncing in his seat.

  "You're still outnumbered," Saint said harshly. "So it's done."

  "Psh." Kyan waved a hand dismissively. "You couldn't make me sign divorce papers unless you cut off my hand and did it for me. Even then I'm pretty sure my dead flesh would fight back and punch you in the dick."

  I folded my arms. “If the truth ever came out to Kyan’s family it would hardly be worth it, would it? Then they’d just come after me again and for what? So that you can guys can feel like the power in the group is still even despite the fact that I’m telling you this hasn’t changed it?” I said with a pout and Blake and Monroe looked like whipped dogs, realising their oversight, while Saint narrowed his eyes, ironing out the kinks of this plan in his mind.

  "Fire!" someone screamed outside in fear and my heart lurched.

  "What the fuck?" Monroe growled, running towards the door and we all raced after him.

  The guys kept close to me as we spilled outside and I gasped at the sight of Kyan's dirt bike sitting on the lawn beside the path, flames rising from it and consuming the whole frame. There was a figure made of newspaper stuffed into a white, long-sleeved dress with a pillowcase for a veil sitting on top of it, the whole thing ablaze.

  "No!" Kyan roared, stepping toward it, his expression hopeless as his bike was consumed by the flames.

  A few students were gathered on the path, gaping at it or recording it on their phones.

  Kyan strode up to the bike, kicking the whole thing over with a furious bellow.

  "Who the fuck did this?" He started towards the small group of students and they scattered with screams of fright.

  Kyan hefted a fallen branch into his arms, chasing them with a growl of rage.

  I broke away from the others, running over to him and he wheeled around, the branch poised to hit me before he lowered it, realising it was me standing there.

  "Stop," I begged, my heart thundering in my chest.

  He looked over my head, jerking his chin to beckon the Night Keepers closer. "Come on, I'm gonna break bones until someone tells me who did this."

  "No," I demanded, turning to them and pressing my back to Kyan as I clutched his arm to keep him there. "Not like this. We can't just mindlessly attack anyone and everyone. We have to be smart. This is what that stupid Justice Ninja wants. If you hurt innocent students the cops are going to come. You'll be locked up for this."

  "I don't give a shit," Kyan gritted out as the others seemed to consider that and Saint started murmuring to Blake and Monroe in a low voice.

  I turned to face Kyan again, making him meet my gaze. "Don't be an idiot. We have to deal with this the right way."

  His jaw ticked as he stared down at me and the branch suddenly fell from his hand. I wrapped my arms around him, squeezing him tight, his heart pounding furiously in my ear. "We'll find them."

  Kyan’s arms closed around me and the tension ran out of my body as he gave in.

  “Since when are you capable of seeing reason when you’re lusting for blood?” Blake balked at Kyan who shrugged and Blake mimed whipping the air while he wasn’t looking.

  "Tatum's right," Saint said, his voice sharp and clear. "This needs some deliberation, but we will find them. And when we do, we will dispose of them cleanly. There will be no mistakes. Nothing that will link us to their disappearance."

  I gaped at him in surprise. "Are you going to kill them?" I whispered, though Kyan had made sure there was no one close enough to hear.

  Saint's face became nothing but a cruel, twisted expression. "No siren, I intend on eradicating them entirely."

  T he acrid stink of smoke clung to my skin long after we'd put out the fire and Kyan had to accept that his bike had moved on from this world. The five of us had headed back inside The Temple so that we could discuss our next moves in private. While Saint showered to get the stench from his flesh and Kyan paced and raged like a wild beast with the scent of blood beneath his nose, I took myself to the kitchenette and leaned back against the counter, sinking a tall glass of water.

  There was something going on here that we were missing. All of this Justice Ninja shit left a sour taste in my mouth and I was haunted by the certainty that we weren’t seeing something glaringly obvious about all of it, but I just couldn't figure it out.

  Blake was showering in their bathroom too and while I stood there trying to work out this bugging sensation in my gut, Tatum padded down the stairs from Saint's room with her hair wet and a white silk robe wrapped around her.

  I tried not to stare at her as she drew closer, but I couldn't help it. My tongue felt thick with all the words I needed to say to her and all the things I hadn’t been able to when I'd been forced to hide the full depths of my feelings over this marriage.

  Her gaze met mine as she crossed the room and headed straight for me and I held my ground as I waited for her to approach.

  "Are you alright?" I murmured as I looked her over like I was expecting a physical wound to match up to the internal ones that must have been carved into her when she'd seen that fire. It wasn't about the fucking bike. It was the burning bride on top of it that had worry eating me alive.

  "I'm okay," she said with a tight smile before tugging the fridge open to look inside.

  I shifted along the counter so that I was hidden by the fridge door too and caught her arm to make her look at me.

  "No bullshit, princess," I murmured. "Not with me."

  Her gaze met mine and she stepped closer to me, the cool air from the open fridge making her skin pepper with goosebumps as we hid behind it. I knew I should have pulled back but instead I leaned in, cupping her jaw in my hand and looking into her blue eyes.

  "I'm worried, Nash," she admitted softly. "I haven't told a soul about me and Kyan getting married outside of the Night Keepers and I know he hasn't either. No one but you guys and his family know. So how did that Ninja asshole know about it? I feel...violated or something. Like my skin is crawling with the feeling of being watched and I can't help but think about Toby-"

  "I can't believe he would be so stupid as to still be stalking you after everything we've been doing to him," I said as I moved closer to her and she placed her hand on my chest over my pounding heart. "But I promise you I'll look into it. And if it's not him then we will find whoever the fuck it was."

  "So how do you think they found out about the wedding?" she pressed and I tried not to let my anger over the fucking wedding show, even though my jaw tightened and the urge to punch Kyan in his smug face rose up in me powerfully.

  "You walked back through campus wearing your dress," I said with a shrug. "Anyone could have seen you and realised what had happened."

  "So you think someone has been watching me again?" she asked, chewing on her bottom lip and making me ache with the desire to kiss her.

  "I don't know. But you've got four hell hounds at your beck and call, princess, they won't get close to you even if they are watching."

  Tatum released a shaky breath and wrapped her arms around my waist, pressing her ear over my heart and holding me close so that I coiled my arms around her too.

  I inhaled the sweet scent of her shampoo from her freshly washed hair and the ache in my chest forced me to speak.

  "Marriage though, really?" I asked, my voice rough
and barely concealing my anger.

  "It was the only way," she replied and I fought the urge to shout and tell her that wasn't good enough because I'd heard all of the clear and valid reasons for why she'd made the vows. I could even understand the dress if they needed to provide some photographic evidence for Kyan's father, but what was getting me was the way she'd been smiling over it, the ring that still sat on her finger and the fact that she clearly had no regrets about making those vows at all.

  "So you chose him?" I pushed, needing to hear it for myself. "He's the one you want the most?"

  "That's not what this is," she disagreed, pulling back to look up at me. "You don't understand-"

  "So make me understand, princess, because from where I'm standing, it looks whole lot like you've taken on the title of Mrs Roscoe without a single regret. If it's just some arrangement to protect you from the wrath of the O'Briens then why doesn't it feel like that?"

  "Because it's not," Kyan growled as he appeared beside us, tossing the fridge door closed and smirking cruelly as he took in the sight of her wrapped in my arms. "It's about me standing up and claiming her as mine in front of the whole world and letting every motherfucker know that she belongs to me and I belong to her. And that's not something you're willing to offer her, is it, coach?"

  I released my hold on Tatum as I stepped up into Kyan's face, practically snarling at him as I moved close enough for our chests to brush up against one another.

  "If you're looking for someone to fight so that you don't start crying over your precious dirt bike then keep pushing me, Kyan," I dared him. "Because I'll happily take the excuse to kick your ass right now."

  "And why is that?" he goaded. "Is my marriage rubbing you up the wrong way, Nash?" he taunted right back, flexing his muscular arms and making the anger in me multiply tenfold.

  "Maybe it is," I hissed, knowing that this was dumb as fuck with Blake and Saint in the building but not backing down all the same. If I didn't say this now then I had no idea when I was going to get the chance to say it.

  "She deserves better than being married into a family of thugs and cutthroats," I hissed.

  "Yeah," Kyan agreed like he knew that full well and that earned him back an inch of my respect. Or at least it did until he opened his big mouth again. "And she deserves better than some low paid fucking teacher who can't keep his dick in his pants too."

  "Stop!" Tatum demanded but it was way too late for that.

  I threw my fist straight into Kyan's gut and he grabbed hold of me as he wrenched me away from Tatum and shoved me out towards the middle of the room.

  I was on him again within moments, punching and cursing and fighting him in a way unlike anything we'd ever done in the ring. This was all savage emotion and hurt and rage and I didn't even know which one of us was feeling it more.

  "What the fuck is going on?" Saint's voice carried over the room a moment before strong hands gripped the back of my shirt and ripped me away from Kyan.

  I was angry enough to take a swing at Blake too, but Tatum caught my other arm and gave me a firm look as she moved between me and the fucking savage who she had claimed for a husband.

  "Nash just wanted to help me vent a bit of my anger is all," Kyan said, offering up a goading smile like he wanted me to deny it.

  He reached out for Tatum and pulled her away from me, tucking her beneath his arm and smirking like he actually wanted me to lose my shit and show my cards to everyone here. But I wasn't giving Saint Memphis access to a secret that could destroy me. If he sent me to prison then that would be the end of all my plans and everything I'd been working to achieve for all of these years.

  I couldn’t afford for that to happen. I needed to get justice for Mom and Michael, even if it fucking killed me to get it. It was all that mattered to me.

  My gaze slid to Tatum and a heavy, uncomfortable feeling built in my gut at the lie I’d just told myself. Because that was bullshit now, wasn’t it? Vengeance wasn’t the only thing I cared about anymore. There was a girl with blue eyes and the power to make my heart race unlike anyone I’d ever met, who I cared about a whole hell of a lot and who I could fucking lose if Saint ever found out about us.

  My reasons for wanting to protect our secret weren’t about keeping me out of prison so that I could go after his father and finish what I’d started. I couldn’t bear to be parted from her. I just didn’t want to admit that to myself because doing so meant owning the fact that I was fucking terrified about the idea of something happening to her. And this Justice Ninja asshole coming after her alongside the threat from the members of Royaume D’élite, Kyan’s family and the lethal virus plaguing the world and sending everyone crazy meant I had plenty of reason to fear losing her. And I knew it would destroy me if I did, but I couldn’t even own that feeling, not publicly.

  I couldn’t offer her what Kyan had by marrying her and proclaiming to the world that she was mine and I would stand between her and any danger that might come her way. Which left a vile, bitter taste of envy coating my tongue and a desperate feeling of inadequacy flowing through my veins at knowing I couldn’t offer her the world in the same way that he could. Or that any of the other Night Keepers could.

  I jerked out of Blake's grip and stalked away from all of them, dropping into Saint's chair beside the fire and glaring into the flames as I fought to get a hold of my emotions before I gave myself away.

  The others slowly moved to join me, Kyan, Blake and Tatum taking up the couch while Saint stood before the fire, lording it over all of us as he was silhouetted by the orange flames.

  "I’ve put in an order for a network of hidden surveillance cameras which I'm going to install at key points around campus and The Temple to help us figure out who this fucking Justice Ninja is," Saint said, cutting straight to the point. "Tomorrow we will put out a request for information from the students. The prize will be advantageous to their career beyond the walls of this school. I'll offer them a single favour from us which they will be able to call in at any point in the future. Most of them are at least intelligent enough to know that we already have more than enough power and influence to crown kings and destroy empires so they'd be fools not to take us up on that."

  "And what are we going to do to the fucking Ninja once we've exposed them?" Blake asked, his eyes lighting up like he had plenty of cruel and twisted ideas himself.

  "We'll do our worst," Saint said simply and even I got a chill at that suggestion. Whoever the hell had decided to take on the Night Keepers either had more guts than anyone I'd ever met before or they were seriously confident in their ability to get away with it. Or maybe they were just goddamn stupid. "In the meantime," Saint carried on like this was a board meeting and we were all just here to listen to him lay out the law. "While Kyan and Tatum were running off to get hitched, I've been making more progress on Royaume D’élite."

  "And?" Kyan asked, perking up at the idea of having a new target for his wrath and I had to admit that I was curious too.

  "The main issue I'm having is in locating the compound. To be honest, the simplest way to find it would be for you to attend one of their events, Kyan. As a member you can gain entry and I could track you there,” Saint mused.

  "I told you it’s not that easy. They don't even let the members know where it is,” Kyan replied with a shake of his head. “You have to send a message to say that you want to attend the next meeting. Then they just send you a random location in the city and when you get there, a car picks you up and you ride to the club in the back of it with the windows blacked out and no way to know where you're going. They scan you for cell phones and listening devices before you even get into the car too, so I don't see how we could track shit," he said as he wound his arm around Tatum and then lifted her into his lap. If she had any protests to the way he was manhandling her then she didn’t voice them and I had to fight off another wave of jealousy and anger as I gave my attention back to Saint.

  "I'll figure out a way around that. But I'm beginn
ing to think that the only way for us to find the compound is by you making an appearance. Because there isn’t a single clue anywhere online or via any of my contacts as to its whereabouts, so it’s clearly a very well guarded secret." Saint folded his arms over his chest like the fact that he couldn’t figure this out was pissing him off and I tried and failed not to be smug about that.

  Kyan grimaced at the idea of going to the club, but didn't outwardly refuse which made Saint's eyes flash with triumph.

  "How does the membership work?" Tatum asked, turning to look up at Kyan and the way his gaze softened when he looked her way made my gut twist with envy. "Aside from the whole death games bullshit for the entry, I mean. Like, what do you do then? Just turn up at the club whenever you want?"

  "Usual old rich dude bullshit," Kyan said with a shrug. "They gave me this dumbass crest thing and a code number in place of my name to hide my identity from the other members if we don’t wanna share. Then I was just given a number to message any week when I want to attend so that they can arrange the car-"

  "Can't you use that number to trace them or something?" I asked Saint and he gave me a withering look in reply.

  "No. It's a dead end. It's not even an actual phone number, just one of those text collector things. It clearly takes the information and then encrypts it before passing it on to the actual recipient. There's nothing there for me to trace," Saint replied scathingly like I was a child trying to understand the inner workings of a supercomputer. God, I wished I could beat his face in sometimes.

  "Okay, but what about bringing guests?" Tatum went on and Kyan shrugged.

  "Naw, baby, I can't just invite you all to come with me. Members and spouses only. Nothing in life is that easy," Kyan replied.

  "Spouses?" Tatum perked up and every man in the room fell utterly still.

  "No," I growled.

  "No chance in hell," Blake snarled in agreement.

  "I'm not taking you to that fucking hell, baby," Kyan growled passionately, but Tatum just turned to look at Saint as he considered that like it wasn't out of the fucking question.