Page 32 of Triumphant Kings (Boys Of Kingston Academy #3)

Sadie

“ H ow weird is it being back here?” Emma asks, popping a piece of popcorn in her mouth.

“The funny thing is, it’s not weird.” I shrug, smiling as I look around my childhood home.

One that's been in my family for decades. “I miss it. And being back here right now, I’m not sure if I even want to leave again.” I sigh, curling up onto my side, snuggling into the blanket my great-grandmother made.

“Why don’t you move back in?” Alice suggests. “Wasn’t that the plan all along? Once things got cleaned up, you were going to move back? Why didn’t you?”

“Kind of got used to living at the mansion. I don’t care about the big room or the fancy things in the house; I honestly like being closer to Mom. And Grayson.” I smile.

“I mean, easy access to dick is always nice.” Mia nods.

“Like you’d know.” Alice snorts. “Name one dick you had access to?”

“Ben and Jerry,” Mia says matter-of-factly.

Alice's eyes go wide before she bursts out laughing.

"What's so funny?” I ask, smiling as I sit up, looking between my two friends.

“Who the fuck are Ben and Jerry?” Emma asks, looking confused.

“They’re the names of her dildos,” Alice says, struggling to breathe before sucking in another breath.

“Hey.” Mia laughs, tossing some popcorn at Alice. “Don’t laugh. They’ve always done an amazing job of satisfying me. No complaints here.”

“Ben and Jerry...” Emma says. “Like the ice cream?”

“What can I say, those men know how to satisfy more than one kind of hunger.” Mia winks, and we all laugh.

“I can’t believe you named your dildos.” Emma snorts.

“Yeah,” Mia says as if it’s a dumb statement. “Who doesn’t?”

“Me.” Alice laughs.

“And me,” Emma says.

They all look at me. I grin, biting my lower lip.

“No way!” Mia says excitedly.

“Listen, I don’t use him anymore. Don’t need to because hello, four cocks who keep me more than busy. And satisfied beyond words. But...” I shake my head, still grinning. “My first one, I named Niklaus.”

“Wait... Like Niklaus Mikaelson from The Originals ?” Emma asks.

“Yes.” I laugh.

“Fuck. I remember when you were soooo in love with him.” Emma tosses her head back and laughs. “You had posters all over your walls.”

“I still can’t believe Grayson wanted me to rip all of those down.” Mia laughs.

“Wait, what?” My brows furrow.

“Oh yeah.” Mia laughs. “One time in school, he overheard us talking. Then, when I was heading to class, he stopped me and told me to take all the posters off your wall. Said it in a huff before taking off quickly. I thought the whole thing was bizarre. Now it makes more sense.”

I stare at her for a moment before bursting into laughter. “Fuck me. My men really are crazy.”

“Amen, sister.” Alice raises her hand in the air like she’s in a damn church.

“Not the only one who’s crazy.” I grin, shaking my head.

“I think there’s just something about you, babe. You attract the crazies.”

“Tell me about it.” I smile.

After the night out at the club the other week, I quickly realized that getting out and having fun didn’t always have to involve drinking and dancing.

I think that's more of a once-in-a-while thing. But my therapist thinks it’s a good idea to keep trying to do something fun to get out of my own head at least a few times a month.

Needing a real girls' weekend, I thought coming back here would be a good idea. It’s where we spent most of our time growing up, having so many memories and sleepovers. It just felt right.

I’m glad we did. We’ve been here for a few hours. First we made supper, then baked some cookies, and now we’re having some girl talk before movie time.

I feel safe. Relaxed. At home.

“I wish this place were big enough for me and the guys.” I sigh, flopping back onto the couch.

“I mean, it is doable,” Alice says. “Might be a tight fit, but the four of us and your mom got around just fine.”

“Yeah, because I’m sure the four richest men around want to leave their nice big mansions to live in a tiny cottage.” Emma rolls her eyes.

“Hey, Declan lives in a dorm room by choice when he has a big ass mansion he could be living in. It's not that far off of an idea.”

“True.” Emma nods her head.

“I don’t know.” I sigh. “I plan on keeping this place. It’s part of the family. I’d never be able to give it up. Plus, I plan on taking over the family business, so it’s not like it’s going to be used by anyone else.”

“You do?” Emma asks. “Still? Girl, you’re set for life. You're never going to want for anything.”

“So?” I turn my head to raise a brow at her.

“This is me you're talking about. Money means shit all to me. I want to continue in my family’s legacy not because I feel obligated, but because I want to. My mom lives in that big fancy mansion, but she still has her job and works just like she did before. I can do it too.”

“Shit. I totally forgot she still works.” Alice blinks.

She’s hired some more people to help take on things when she goes away with Mark, but she’s still very involved with everything that helps keep this place up and running. It makes me proud. I’ve always wanted to be just like her when I grew up, and that hasn’t changed.

“Who knows? Maybe one day, my son or daughter might want to take over the family business. When they come to school, they can live here if they don’t want to live at home or in the dorms.” I muse.

“Look at you, talking about babies,” Emma coos. “How many do you want?”

“I don’t know.” I shrug. “I’d like two of each, but gender doesn’t really matter to me.”

“Do you want one from each of the guys?” Mia asks.

“Yeah,” I smile. “A mini one of them all.”

“Oh boy.” Alice laughs. “Good luck with that.”

Nah. I can’t wait to have a tiny human made by me and each of them. Sounds like a dream.

But for now, I’m just trying to make it one day at a time.

If I didn’t have so many people here that I loved and a life I’m building, I’d ask the guys to pack up and move far away. Sadly, we can’t always run away from our problems.

THE COOL NIGHT AIR has me shivering. I’m cursing at myself as I head towards the tower. I should have brought a damn sweater or something.

Looking down at my phone, I sigh in annoyance when I see that Preston didn’t respond to my text.

It’s only midnight. He shouldn’t be sleeping. Last time I heard from him, he and Declan were spending the night at his dorm.

He wanted to be close to me just in case I needed anything.

The guys were hesitant to leave me alone for the weekend, but I promised them to keep them updated and to check in. Collin made sure to check in with his guys, and there are still no signs of his father trying to come back into the country.

After the girls fell asleep, I lay there in my bed, staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep.

I texted with Grayson for a little bit, but then things started to turn sexual when he sent me a photo of his dick and said he missed me.

I felt weird being all turned on with my friends around, so I decided to get some fresh air, sit outside with a cup of tea, and enjoy the stars.

Then the tower popped into my head, and I got excited because I haven’t been there in what feels like ages.

So, I texted Preston and told him to meet me there in the group chat. The other guys saw it, but he and Declan didn’t. I’m going to assume they’re busy.

Sad, because I was looking forward to that bit of my life I miss so much.

Still, I’m going anyway. And thankfully, I’ve left blankets there, so being cold won’t be an issue much longer.

Pocketing my cell phone, I head up the hill towards the church. Thankfully, there are lights all over the campus, so it’s never really too dark for the most part. Still, the light casts some pretty creepy shadows.

“Stop creeping yourself out, Sadie,” I mutter, starting to hate the silence of the night.

I’m hyper-focused now, every sound making me jump. Maybe this was a bad idea.

It shouldn’t be. This is something I’ve done for years, and nothing bad has happened before. I’ll be fine. Right?

The sound of footsteps coming from my right has my head snapping over to the side.

My breath catches in my throat when I see someone standing in the tree line.

“What the fuck?” My breath catches, fear settling in the pit of my stomach. The figure steps into the light, and I see they’re wearing a Ghostface mask.

Brows furrowing, I wonder for a moment if this is the guys. No. I fucking pray this is the guys wanting a repeat of the very epic night we shared.

“Grayson?” I call out, voice shaking. “Collin? Preston?” I don’t bother calling out Declan because after that night, he told me that while it was fun, it wasn’t his thing. I respected that and thanked him for giving me that one time. “I’m really not in the mood, okay?”

It has to be them. They all know where I’m headed. I pretty much gave them an opening. Right?

When the figure doesn’t move, my heart starts to race.

“This isn't funny,” I call out. “I don’t want to play this game, okay? Not tonight.”

A sound from my other side has me whipping my head around in that direction, but I see nothing.

When I turn back to look at the figure, it’s gone.

“No. Fuck no.” I try not to cry, shaking now, my breathing coming in fast.

Grabbing my phone out of my pocket, I quickly call the group chat. Both Collin and Grayson pick up.

“Hey, baby. What's up?” Collin asks as I hold the phone to my ear.

Spinning around, I try to find the person and freak out inwardly when I see no one. Nothing.

“Please, for the love of god, tell me you're hiding somewhere in a Ghostface mask. Or Grayson.”

“What?” Grayson says, and I let out a whimper because he sounds confused. Maybe he’s just playing along?

“Sadie. What are you talking about?” Collin asks in a panicked voice.

“Where are you both?”

“I’m at home,” Grayson says, “Playing video games. Sadie, what's going on?”

“Collin?”

“Fuck.” Collin shouts. “Sadie, where the fuck are you? Because wherever it is, I’m not there.”

“I’m going to die.” I laugh, but not because it’s funny. It’s either I laugh, or I freak the fuck out. “This is how I go. Murdered in the middle of the night.”

“I’m on my way!” Collin shouts. “Where are you, Sadie, for fucks sake!?”

“I-I-I’m almost to the tower.” I run a hand over my hair, looking around in panic.

“Okay, I want you to turn around and run back home. Don’t stop for anyone, okay?”

“Okay,” I say, nodding. “God, I'm so stupid. Why did I do this?”

“It’s probably nothing,” Grayson says, trying to convince himself more than me. “It’s Mayhem night, remember? It’s probably some student being an asshole, trying to scare people. It’s what the night is all about anyways.”

“Fucking hell, that’s tonight?” I curse. Way to go, Sadie. Picking the one night of the year when the students let loose and have some fucked up fun.

It’s some stupid night kids made up like twenty years ago to let off some steam towards the end of the school year when students start to get restless with it being so close to summer but not quite there yet.

I’ve never participated, and neither have my friends. It’s not even talked about much, like this big secret society event. Normally, it’s something the Host Club puts on, with a big after-party around midnight. But my guys opted out of it this year.

“Sadie. Go home. Now!” Collin demands. “I’m not taking any chances. I’m calling Preston to get his fucking ass over there.”

“Okay. Okay. I’m going.” I turn around, ready to run, but let out a scream of horror, dropping my phone to the ground when I see the figure is back. And it’s closer. Not only that, it has something in its hand.

Lifting their hand, the moonlight shines off a very big knife. Pointing right at me.

“Sadie!” shouts sound from my phone, but I’m too frozen in terror to say anything, to do anything.

Then, when they start to charge forward, my survival instincts finally decide to kick in.

Turning around, I take off running towards the tower, regretting not grabbing my phone instantly.

“Help!” I scream, my throat hurting as I shout for help. “Anyone, please!”

As I run, I keep screaming, hoping someone, anyone, will hear me.

Will they believe someone is in danger, or think it’s part of a game?

For a moment, I wondered if it’s Bradly, but the person was smaller, skinnier.

Then I wonder, is it Lionel? Did he come back to shut me up for good? I told the guys I was thinking about testifying against him along with the other girls. Did he find out, and now he wants to shut me up?

Whoever it is, they want to hurt me. You don’t just run around with a knife like that to scare someone.

When I see the tower, I let out a sigh of relief. I can hide until my guys come. I’ll be okay.

I have to believe that.

This whole time, I haven’t risked looking back, not wanting to trip over my feet, so when I reach the door, flinging it open, I rush inside and go to shut the door, but someone rams their body into it, making it crash open.

“Oh fuck.” I shout, eyes widening in terror, when I come face to face with the masked person. Turning around, I head up the stairs, ignoring the way my lungs scream and my limbs ache.

They follow me up the stairs. All I can think about is how I’m going to die. All because I wanted to go for a fucking walk.

Just as I make it to the tower room, a body slams into me, and I go crashing to the ground with a hard thud.

Needing to stay alive, I start fighting, kicking, and screaming, fists flying. Then they get a punch to my face, and my head snaps back.

Pain radiates through my skull, making me groan.

“Stop fighting, you stupid bitch!” the person shouts, and I feel the cool press of the blade to my neck.

Blinking my eyes open, I squint up at the familiar voice, unable to pinpoint who it is through the mind fog.

They rip their mask off, breathing heavily as they glare down at me.

The moonlight streams through the tower window, shining right on my attacker.

“Tina?” I rasp, blinking in disbelief.

“You think you can take everything from me?” she asks, her voice low and sinister.

“You think you can take my man, my school, my fucking life!?” she roars in my face.

“No. Fuck no! I’m not letting some worthless whore like you destroy my life.

Preston is mine! You made a fucking fool of me.

And now, you're going to pay.” She grins down at me, her face eerie in the low light, and there's this final credence that fills me that this is my end.

“Can’t take anything else from me if you're not alive to do it.”