I was officially Headmaster Monroe. Saint Memphis had clicked his perfectly manicured fingers and it was so. Headmaster Brown was nothing but a faded memory. The fact that I was amongst the youngest staff members wasn’t mentioned. Nobody seemed to mind that I was seriously under-qualified for the job. I’d stood up and fought for the safety of our school when it counted and the reverence in the eyes of the students and staff alike told me that that was more than enough for them. And I supposed in these times of danger and turmoil while we fought to survive the Hades Virus, that made a twisted kind of sense.
We were more than just a school for the elite now. We were a band of survivors pulling together to weather this storm.
I’d outlined the additional security which was now in place surrounding the school at all times. Governor Memphis had bankrolled a small army of private security guards complete with dogs and guns to patrol the outer wall and keep us safe. He’d even had a series of trailers brought in and set up beyond the wall for them to live in so that they didn’t have to leave the safety of this area and wouldn’t risk contracting the virus and bringing it to our door.
As much as I wanted to sneer at the casual display of wealth, I had to admit that in this instance, it was well warranted. There were still almost a thousand students in attendance at Everlake Prep and their parents expected them to be kept safe while receiving the education they’d paid for.
We’d implemented some additional attempts to impose social distancing. Every other seat on the bleachers in front of me remained empty so that the students could keep their distance from each other. All aside from the four students who sat in the centre of the very back row.
The Night Keepers and their prize. The four of them flouted my rules with the casual obnoxiousness of the elite. Tatum sat between Kyan and Blake, her back straight, blue eyes focused on me as I spoke, like everything I said was truly important to her.
Kyan’s arm was slung around the back of her chair. Blake’s legs were spread wide so that his thigh was pressed to hers and as he shifted his position, her skirt was tugged up a few inches, revealing the bronzed skin of her thigh above the top of her socks. I watched the way they touched her with a hungry kind of jealousy which made my skin prickle and my jaw tick. Not that I had any right to feel anything like that towards her. But since the night of the break in, my thoughts had landed on her more and more often, my concern for her safety bordering on obsessive. It was hard to keep my emotions detached from her when I’d killed for her as easily as breathing and knew I’d do it again in a heartbeat. That act had felt like claiming her in some small way. But if I believed that about myself then I had to believe it about the Night Keepers too. And the idea of them feeling that way about her made my blood boil.
I forced my gaze back to the rest of the students in the room as I continued my speech, putting emphasis on hand washing and social distancing.
I’d decided to return the school to the normal timetable now that we were starting classes again. Sixteen students and two members of staff had shown signs of the virus during their quarantine and they’d left the premises to go to hospital. The cleaning staff had worked tirelessly to decontaminate the entire campus and I was secure in the knowledge that the Hades Virus had been expelled just as thoroughly as the looters who’d come to steal from us.
I finished up with my speech and the students clapped a little more enthusiastically than I’d expected. I guessed they were still riding the high of surviving the looters and I wasn’t going to snub their enthusiasm. I still wasn’t convinced I was the best man for this job, but I was as certain as herpes on a whore that I’d work to make sure I exceeded everyone’s expectations with it.
The students began to file out of the hall to head for their first class and I waited until the Night Keepers drew close before calling out to them.
“Roscoe, Bowman, Memphis – a word.”
They turned away from the flood of students and approached me with all the casual arrogance of the elite. Kyan still had his arm slung around Tatum and he guided her over to me with them as if I’d asked for her too.
I watched as she walked between the three of them, her gaze seeking mine out with a question in the deep, blue depths of her eyes.
“We have a training session tonight at seven, Rivers,” I said as they moved to stand before me and the rest of the staff and students filed out. “I’ll see you then.”
Saint’s jaw tightened as I dismissed her and for a moment it seemed as though Kyan wasn’t going to release her. He pulled her closer, the stubble on his jaw scratching against her ear as he leaned down to speak with her.
“Catch you later, baby,” he murmured and she looked up into his dark eyes for long moment with colour rising in her cheeks before stepping out of his hold and walking away without a word.
The four of us watched her go in silence and my muscles tightened at the attention they were lavishing her with. When she moved, they reacted. Even Saint’s eyes burned as he gave his focus to her.
She glanced back as she pulled the door open, that waterfall of blonde hair
