Kings of Anarchy

by Caroline Peckham

  "God, I wanna stick it in you so hard and deep, you'll feel me tickle your throat," Kyan growled and Saint cursed him through the earpiece.

  Jesus fucking Christ. Could he ever behave in life or death situations? But alright, maybe I kinda loved his brand of crazy. "Honestly, I don't mind walking back alone. I'll be quick and I'll call you as soon as I get in."

  "Yeah and when you get here you're gonna get on your knees and suck your husband's cock like a good wifey," he purred before bursting out laughing.

  "I'll see you soon," I gritted out, swallowing my amusement at Blake cracking up in my ear and Monroe cursing him out.

  I killed the call, getting to my feet and taking a steadying breath as I packed my things away.

  The plan was simple. The guys would be in their hiding spots now, watching and waiting from the trees. So I just had to walk back to The Temple, take my sweet time and hope for the justice bastard to show up. Then I'd turn tail and lead them to my trap and whoosh, they’d be launched skyward, dangling by one ankle in prime position to face the wrath of my tribe. You shouldn't have messed with me and my Night Keepers, asshole.

  I put the backpack on – not my usual bag choice - which was heavy as shit because the guys had insisted I carry a ten kilo barbell weight in it from the gym to protect me from any arrows flying at me from behind tonight. It was sweet as shit, so I wasn't exactly complaining. But I'd had to put my foot down when they'd all fallen into a detailed discussion of how they could strap one to my chest under my clothes without it being noticeable. Suffice to say, they weren't happy about my role in this plan tonight, but they also knew it was the only logical way to catch the creep. A fact Saint had begrudgingly backed me on. It had been his plan in the first place, only he'd suggested putting a blonde wig on an Unspeakable and setting the bow-and-arrow-wielding-shitbag on them instead. No matter how much the Unspeakables had done, I simply wasn't going to allow that. Besides, this was my fight. And I was glad to be at the heart of it. I wanted to be there when we ripped that mask from their face, to stare into the eyes of my enemy and watch as my men made them scream. I might even partake in a little scream-causing of my own if the notion took me.

  "Ready?" Saint asked in my ear.

  "Yep," I murmured as I weaved through the stacks towards the exit. "Let's take this motherfucker down."

  A ll was quiet between the trees as I waited beneath the shadow of a towering pine, my gaze fixed on the path far below and my bat held loosely in my fist.

  It was cold tonight, the warmer days not making much difference to the temperature once the sun went down and my breath still fogged before me a little as I waited. I'd chosen a hoodie with the sleeves cut off so that I could move more easily in it when the time came to run but as a shiver ran along my skin, I was doubting the sense of that decision. Still, the way Tatum's eyes had heated when she'd seen me in it made me think it was worth the sacrifice. And I'd gladly wrap her up tightly in my tattooed arms if that was what she wanted at the end of the night.

  But for now, my baby was on the hunt.

  I smirked to myself at the thought of that, my muscles twitching with the desire to go prowling through the trees and track down the fucking Justice Ninja myself. But I could admit that when it came to planning things like this out, I tended to be more inclined towards charging in and fucking shit up. Saint was the one with the patience for this level of cunning and secrecy. And after trying to catch this motherfucker in every conceivable way and failing, I was willing to bet that being a sneaky fuck was more likely to work than anything I could have come up with.

  "She's just leaving the library," Monroe's voice came over the earpiece Saint had given me and I twisted the bat in my hand in a slow circle as I kept my gaze on the path between the trees ahead of me.

  I was hiding up on the ridge, disguised in the shadows, but I had a pretty clear view of the path and lake beyond. If anyone down there dared to move, I'd see them.

  "Direction?" Saint hissed. Each of us were located in the trees along the paths surrounding the library, waiting in the dark in every direction so that there was no chance of the bastard we were hunting escaping us.

  "Towards The Temple, obviously," Monroe shot back.

  "So you meant to say, east," Saint growled.

  "Dick off."

  I snorted a laugh and kept watching the path beyond my hiding place. I was to the west of the library, overlooking the path which led down to Sycamore Beach, waiting to see if anyone would appear from this direction. I'd give it a few minutes to make sure they didn't and then I'd be stalking my girl through the trees. I didn’t know why the idea of that seemed hot when I was the one doing it, but it probably had something to do with the fact that I was a bit fucked up inside.

  Both Saint and Blake were positioned on either side of the path further around the lake in the direction Tatum would be heading. Saint had chosen to stay within view of Beech and Hazel Houses so that he could see anyone who left the dorms - which we were guessing they would once they'd overheard Tatum announce that she was leaving the library alone.

  But so far, none of the students who had left had caught his attention. Though I was sure that he would be taking down names as each of them exited and they'd all be having a fun interrogation with him tomorrow if this didn't pan out.

  "I see her," Blake said in a low voice and my heart began to pound more solidly in my chest as I started to move.

  If Tatum had already made it to his position beyond the Willow Boathouse, then there wasn't much chance of me seeing anyone way back here.

  I worked to keep my footsteps silent as I moved between the trees, one eye on the path that ran before the water as headed I on.

  It was creepy out here at night. Like all the long dead legends which we'd taken the time to learn actually might have had an ounce of truth to them. If I let my imagination run away with me, I could almost feel the cold chill of the Night People's breath along the back of my neck, the touch of a bony finger running down my spine.

  Good thing I wasn't a superstitious fucker, or I'd probably have been crapping my pants.

  Besides, I'd embodied one of those legends, marked my flesh with their design and taken on everything that came with that fully. If there were any monsters lurking out here in the dark, then I was just keeping company with my own kind. And I doubted many of them would have a soul as brutal and tainted as mine anyway.

  I definitely doubted any of them felt the pull of bloodlust as keenly as I did. Because that was what I was aching for tonight. It was why my muscles were tight and my adrenaline was pumping. I wanted to wet my hands in blood and make someone pay for their crimes. I needed to end this once and for all. To find the person who had been coming after our girl and destroy them so thoroughly that I knew they'd never be the same again.

  "Something just moved in the trees ahead of me," Monroe hissed and I stilled for a moment as I scowled out into the dark.

  If he hadn't started following Tatum yet then I should be coming up on his position, so if there was anything to see here then there was a good chance I'd spot it too.

  "Is it me?" I murmured when I failed to spot anything and started walking again.

  "Shit, I think it is," he admitted and I snorted a laugh as Blake sniggered down the earpiece.

  "Quit dicking around," Saint growled. "Blake have you still got eyes on our girl?"

  "I'm on her tail," he confirmed. "She's coming up on Beech House now."

  "Okay, I see her too," Saint said and everything went silent again as the two of them moved after her, watching, waiting.

  A soft rustle of leaves had me raising my bat, but as I recognised Monroe's broad form in the dim moonlight, I lowered it again.

  "Fancy seeing you here, baby," I teased.

  "If you're looking for a kiss, you're going to have to take me on that moonlit stroll you promised first. I'm a good girl," he joked right back, pushing an imaginary pair of tits up at me suggestively.

  "Naw, sweet thing, that'
s not my style. I'm a married man these days," I breathed as we started walking together.

  "Have I mentioned that I hate you for that?" he murmured and I chuckled low in my throat.

  “Have I mentioned how much I love it?” I shot back.

  "Shit, I think they're here," Blake's urgent voice interrupted us and we both shut the fuck up instantly.

  "Where?" Saint hissed. "I still have eyes on her from the west of the path closing in on Aspen Halls and I can't see anything."

  "I have a clear view of the path over the ridge," Blake whispered back. "And I swear there's someone in the trees near the auditorium."

  "Fuck," I growled, exchanging a look with Monroe and the two of us started moving faster. If they were that far ahead of us then we didn't need to worry about staying quiet.

  "Guys..." Tatum muttered and hearing her voice for the first time made a knot of tension release inside of me. She'd been keeping quiet to make sure she didn't draw attention but that was probably less important now. "I really hope you're ready for this because I'm pretty sure he has a bow again and-" She cut herself off with a shriek of fright and I cursed as I upped my pace and Saint began barking orders.

  I hardly listened to any of what he was saying though, because only one thing mattered right now, and that was getting to our girl.

  I gazed into the eyes of my nightmare, that flaming arrow raised, pointing directly at my face.

  I bared my teeth in a snarl before turning on my heel as I raced away from him. His footsteps pounded behind me as I’d hoped, but that didn't save me from the cloying fear as a flaming arrow whistled past my ear. Fuck!

  I tore back down the path, my breaths coming unevenly as I weaved left and right to evade any arrows that came my way.

  “We’re coming, Cinders,” Blake promised.

  “Keep going, princess,” Monroe growled, anxiety filling his voice as he raced to meet us.

  My running shoes pounded across the path as I fled, my pulse jack-hammering as I pushed myself as fast as possible. I sprinted past the dorms, toward the track that led to the trap I’d laid before I veered off the path and up into the trees to my left.

  “We’re coming, sweetheart,” Blake growled in my ear as the Justice Ninja’s footsteps chased after me into the trees. I darted between the boughs as another arrow flew through the air, the arc of fire in my periphery making my heart jerk out of rhythm.

  “Holy shit,” I cursed.

  “Just keep going. Don’t stop,” Saint growled in my earpiece. “I’ve got eyes on the fucker," he added and relief swept through me as I fought the urge to look over my shoulder.

  Keep running. Never stop. Don’t look back.

  My father’s words ran through my head. I’d played this game with him before, pretending to be hunted in the woods. He’d always been so fast and I’d had to learn how to lose him in the dark. But this time, I needed my pursuer to see me, needed him to follow me to my own trap. Because he hadn’t realised that he wasn’t the hunter in this situation, I was.

  “We’re right on his heels,” Blake growled, determination lacing his face.

  “Herd that fucker to the snare,” Kyan encouraged.

  “Hurry up,” Monroe urged.

  “I’m coming at him from the left at a forty five degree angle, but Blake will likely reach him first,” Saint said, ever fucking accurate. Like it mattered what specific angle he was arriving at.

  I crested the hill, my arms pumping back and forth either side of me as I led my enemy towards my trap. It wasn't far now.

  "Run motherfucker!" Blake roared and a yelp of fear sounded somewhere behind me as the Justice Ninja increased his pace. That yelp told me it was a guy for sure and a dark and twisted smile pulled at my lips as I pictured ripping that mask off in the next few moments.

  Another arrow sailed past me, this one so close it ruffled my hair.

  "Stay back or I'll kill her!" the Ninja cried to Saint and Blake.

  "You have to aim straight first, asshole!" I shouted back with a manic laugh, tearing on as I drew him closer and closer to his downfall.

  Another arrow whipped past my ear and I stifled a scream, trying to stay in control. Flames blurred in the corner of my vision and the arrow embedded in a trunk just as I zig-zagged past it.

  "I'm gonna make him bleed, baby," Kyan purred.

  My smile grew wider at his words and adrenaline coursed into my veins. "We'll make him bleed together."

  I charged through the trees with Kyan at my side, the two of us making zero effort to hide our approach as we raced to meet the others and take down this stalking ninja motherfucker once and for all.

  I was so beyond done with worrying about Tatum every time she wasn't with me, afraid of what this obsessed maniac might try and pull next and I was more than ready to make them pay for every moment of fear and pain they'd caused her. Hell, I’d happily beat the shit out of him for the photos he’d taken of her in her most private moments alone.

  Fuck the fact that my job was to look after the little shits who occupied this school. I was meant to protect them first and foremost and removing a predator from their midst was a damn good way to do that in my books. Besides, ever since Tatum Rivers had wound her way into my heart, I'd been filled with the overwhelming urge to protect her from all of the shit in this world. And if there was one piece of shit I wanted to stamp beneath my heel more than any other right now, it was the motherfucker who had been stalking her in the shadows.

  "Almost there," Tatum growled, her voice edged with triumph as she led the Ninja closer to the trap she'd set for him.

  "We're coming, baby," Kyan purred, swinging his bat in anticipation and decapitating a sapling as we charged past it.

  The ground was sloping upwards beneath our feet and just beyond the top of the ridge we were climbing, we should be able to see the others if they were as close as Tatum thought.

  "Fuck," Blake cursed over the earpiece just as Saint snarled, "Dammit!"

  "What?" I barked at the same time as Kyan, racing up the hill even faster.

  "He's made a break for it," Tatum cursed. "He isn't on track for the snare anymore. But he's running your way."

  "He's a dead man walking," Kyan promised just as movement caught my eye down the hill to our right.

  I pointed as I spotted a flash of white as the Ninja looked back over their shoulder and revealed his mask to the moonlight.

  "There!" I yelled and Kyan howled with excitement as he spotted our target too.

  "You'd better run fast, asshole!" he hollered, a wild laugh bursting from his lips as the Ninja turned and fled.

  "We're coming," Saint growled.

  "No need," I replied cockily, though I knew they wouldn't give up the chase that easily.

  "This kill is mine," Kyan said excitedly and I shook my head in denial as I upped my pace, using the downward slope of the hill to aid my speed as I managed to pull ahead.

  "How many times have I told you to up your cardio training?" I called back tauntingly as I raced on and Kyan cursed me colourfully.

  "He's turning back towards the path," Saint growled. "Don't let him get away."

  A moment after he said it, the Ninja turned towards the path and I had to wonder how the fuck he'd known that that would happen before it had. But now wasn't the moment to question Saint's psycho skills, now was the time to find out just how fast I could run.

  "You'd better pray we don't catch you!" I yelled at the top of my lungs as I sped between the trees, racing downhill with all the speed of an avenging angel.

  "Fuck, don't let him get away," Tatum's voice in my ear urged me on and I smiled savagely.

  "No chance in hell of that, princess. I've got him now," I swore to her and with a burst of adrenaline through my limbs, I leapt out onto the path, skidding as my muddy sneakers fought for purchase before I took off again.

  The Ninja was racing down the path towards Sycamore Beach and a feral smile tugged at my lips as I imagined us catching him right in front of
the sacred stone. If that wasn't a perfect sacrifice to the Night People, then I didn't know what would be.

  "When I catch you, I'm gonna ram this bat so far up your ass that you'll be tasting your own shit!" Kyan yelled from a few paces behind me and a wild laugh tore from my lips as the Ninja raced on, but we were gaining on him and as he threw a look over his shoulder, the panicked look in his eyes beneath the white mask said he knew it.

  "And that'll be the nicest thing we do to you!" I added.

  My feet pounded along the path and I raced on with victory sailing through my limbs and the scent of vengeance in the air. Tonight, the so-called Justice Ninja would get a taste of the justice they sought so desperately, and I was more than looking forward to serving it out.

  I swore between my teeth as I ran on, furious that that bastard had evaded my snare. My perfect fucking snare.

  But Saint’s damn forty five degree angle paid off as he veered after the Ninja. “I’m gonna cut him off!” he bellowed, his voice reverberating through the earpiece.

  Blake turned tail too and I slowed my pace as they managed to loop around him and herd the asshole back in behind me. I let out a scream which was only half feigned as the Ninja aimed another flaming arrow at me and I took off into the trees, unsure where to lead him now and just praying Blake or Saint would catch him before one of those arrows hit its target.

  Sweat was beading on my brow and the weight of the plate on my back was taking its toll as I had to push myself to my limits and keep darting left and right between the trees to avoid the arrows. I counted eight shots so far and there was only ten in a standard quiver so he was almost out. The click of his lighter said he was igniting the next arrow and my heart lurched as I realised we had only a small moment to act.

  "He's lighting another one," I told the guys.

  "I'm right on him," Blake snarled and I heard his voice behind me as well as in my ear.

  I dove behind a tree just as the Ninja released the flaming arrow and it whistled off into the woodland. He shouted out in pain as the weight of Blake's body took him to the ground.