Blake painted circles on my ankle bone with his finger and a carnal heat spread between my thighs. I shifted my hands and knotted them in their hair instead, pulling tight enough that I knew it would hurt. If they were going to carry me like royalty, then royalty I would be.
They followed Monroe and Saint over to the fire and the crowd parted to make a path for us, the students crying out in excitement and pumping their fists in the air. The drums stopped beating and someone started playing Monsters by Ruelle, my heart ticking as the music fell over me.
The Sacred Stone was illuminated in the glow of the fire on the verge of the water, the paintings on it seeming to move and ripple in the light. Though I knew it held no real power, seeing it again made my skin feel too tight. It was a solid reminder of the invisible chains which bound me to the Night Keepers. And I didn’t want to look at it for too long.
The crowd quietened down as Freeloader rushed forward and planted an overturned apple crate in front of Saint. He stepped up onto it, ushering her away before straightening his crown, his mouth twisting down at the corners. His cloak billowed around him in the breeze and my heart beat wildly at the sight of him, framed by the fire, looking like a creature of purest sin.
“Tonight, Nash Monroe will take the place of the fourth Night Keeper!” Saint called out and everyone started screaming and clapping. “It’s time to initiate your new king!”
Monroe glanced at me, his eyes glittering with darkness, determination and if I wasn’t mistaken….devotion. I didn’t know what I’d done to earn this secret guardian angel. But if he was my protector, I’d be his in return. We were entangled so deeply with the Night Keepers now, there was no going back. Either we’d fail and pay dearly, or we’d win and destroy these three beasts. It was clear we were both willing to offer up whatever price was necessary. But I wasn’t going to let him lose himself in the destruction of these monsters. When it came down to it, I was willing to bleed for our victory so he didn’t have to.
Because Saint was an overachiever and a perfectionist, he’d planned out the entire coronation ritual down to every fucking detail and he took the lead as he drew Monroe to stand before the Sacred Stone.
With a strike of his hand, the drums and the crowd fell deathly silent and the silence was only broken by the crackle of the bonfire and the lapping of the waves against the shore.
Tatum was still balanced on mine and Blake’s shoulders, watching the show with her hands fisted in our hair and I didn’t mind being beneath her like that one bit. There were eyes on all of us as the rest of the school looked on in reverent silence and I noticed more than a few jealous gazes landing on her from some of the girls in the crowd. And a few lust filled looks from guys too. I took note of who was salivating over our girl so I knew who to beat up later.
“The legend says that there were four Night Keepers,” Saint called, as he reached into a pocket concealed in his cape and drew a human skull from it, holding it out for all to see.
There were more than a few gasps of shock and terror and that made the sadist in me perk up his little bastard ears hungrily.
I’d totally helped Saint pillage the crypts for that thing and he’d sanitised it especially for this. Assuming a skull could be sanitised. I mean, who fucking knew? A brain had definitely rotted away in there at some point, so I was willing to bet some of that lingered. But fuck it, I wasn’t the one who was going to have to deal with that anyway.
“Myself, Kyan and Blake rose to our positions years ago,” Saint went on. “But we ached for the final position in our circle to be filled. Even finding our Night Bound tribute wasn’t enough to fill the void. But now, we’ve finally found someone worthy of our title. Who here thinks Nash Monroe stands as a god among men awaiting his ascension?”
The crowd roared their agreement, their gratitude for him defending them from the looters coupled with a healthy dose of booze and a splash of Saint’s dramatics driving them into a frenzy. They knew Nash had what it took to be one of us. They could see in him that thing they all lacked. A demon, ready to fight and feast and fuck until his blackened soul had had enough. And if he was anything like me then that time would never come. The four of us were kindred spirits. And after tonight, we’d be bound together as brothers until death came to claim our tarnished souls.
While everyone was screaming, Saint moved to the lakeshore and dunked the skull into it, filling the top half with water before stalking towards Monroe and placing it in his hands.
“By the water of the lake which our kind have guarded for all of time!” Saint bellowed, pulling a knife from his pocket and pressing the tip of it to his finger until blood welled. “And by the blood of your brothers, you will be reborn as one of us.” He held his finger over the skull full of water and let a drop of blood fall into it.
Saint used the knife to prick my finger then Blake’s as the
