Page 25 of Wicked Elites

“Kings?”

“You’ve met them all. Leopold Brunswick, Prakash Kashaayah, and Sebastian Garraway. A deadly combination of miscreants.”

The memory of identical, auburn-haired twins kissing and fondling a girl with bleached blonde hair rolled to the forefront of my mind. If the three of them had given Corrine that kind attention and then told her it was a prank, the effects would be devastating.

I bit my lip. “Your sister… Did those boys—”

“Depression overwhelmed Corrine to the point where no one could reach her. Toward the end, she became so obsessed with the kings, she would make up these little rules in her head.”

We reached the top of the stairs, and Cormac opened the door.

“Rules?”

“Devil’s bargains.” He gestured for me to walk with him down a hallway with wooden floors. “I can’t describe it.”

Gulping, I glanced around. This place had to be the attic, the location of the scholars’ common room. “Can you give me an example of what you mean?”

“If she gave up chocolate, then Sebastian might smile at her. If she failed Advanced Calculus, Prakash would offer to help. That sort of thing.”

“Did she get counseling?”

Cormac opened the door to a large room lined with worn sofas. At the far corner stood a kitchenette complete with a fridge-freezer and a table-top stove. After stepping inside, he said, “Corrine refused to cooperate with any counselors. One of the rules she made up was that if she refused help, the kings would see her commitment and make her their queen.”

Curiosity burned in my chest, and I blurted out, “Did her bargains get dangerous?”

His eyes shuttered closed. “Like if I swallow these pills, one of the kings will appear at my bedside and declare his love?”

“Did she do that?”

“And more.” He picked up a kettle, held it under the tap, and turned on the water.

“Did the kings encourage her behavior?”

His head dropped to his chest, and he placed the kettle onto the bottom of the sink. “Sorry. It’s too soon.”

My heart jumped into my throat, and I turned off the water. “O-of course. I-I’m sorry for delving.”

“Miss Claymore says I need to talk about these things,” he said, voice choked. “I suppose it’s best not to unload everything onto a stranger.”

“You weren’t unloading.” I placed a hand on his arm and squeezed. “You were trying to help me.”

“Did it work?”

“It’s made me realize what’s important.” After replacing the lid on the kettle, I poured out the excess water and plugged it into the wall socket. It was time for a nice cup of tea. Maybe even a whole pot.

“Good,” he said. “Because I’m not sure I can take another girl falling to ruin because of their sick games.”

* * *

From that moment, I spent most of my free time in the scholars’ common room, away from Ashley. And I kept our conversations to a minimum. Ever since we had moved out of London, she had done a lot of shitty things. Stood by while people insulted me for not looking as svelte as her, skipped out on family events to party with friends, and delivered barbed comments on my appearance.

I’d thought that her theft of Jerome had been bad, but this was the first time she’d laughed at my public humiliation.

Cormac and I sat together at mealtimes and in all classes except Advanced Calculus, which I shared with Prakash, who only addressed me to ask when I was leaving Brittas Academy.

Sometimes, I would catch Sebastian looking in my direction from the opposite end of a classroom, but I always turned away. It wasn’t as if I had planned on seeing him again after that night, but the incident in the dining room had soured the memory of my first kiss.

Geraldine and Bianca made half-hearted slurs about the pull-a-pig prank. A few of the girls who orbited them joined in, but it didn’t have the same impact as that first time. After about two weeks, they became background nuisances I tolerated for the sake of the monthly bursary Mrs. Benazir deposited into my bank account.