Page 50 of Wicked Elites

I raised my head and gazed into his hazel eyes. Eyes the same color and shape as Mom’s. “What?”

“Brittas Academy is killing you. Any much longer with these terrible people and the sweet, clever Willow your mother and father cherished will be gone, replaced by a harder version neither of them would recognize.”

My throat convulsed. Had the academy changed me that much?

“Think about it,” he said. “Focus on preserving the living and not the dead.”

* * *

Uncle Trevor left shortly after because Aunt Hortense wasn’t feeling well, and I lay in bed, running everything through my mind.

Bianca despised me because she didn’t want the boys’ attention going to me and not her. She told me I would fall down a ditch and she instigated the foie gras treatment.

But someone had found me and brought me to the Royal Infirmary.

The vague memory of seeing Prakash didn’t fit into the story unless the kings had been with the girls all along.

I shook my head. They didn’t seem that vindictive, but Cormac’s constant criticisms and warnings about them weren’t without foundation. His sister had become obsessed with the kings and had committed suicide.

Was Corrine the other girl found drunk and stuffed with pork ribs?

A soft knock on my door broke me from my thoughts. My heart flipped, and I pulled the sheets up to my chest.

A middle-aged, black nurse with short braids poked her head through the door. “Willow, may I come in?”

“Yes.”

She stepped into the room, followed by a female police officer who carried a large bag. My heart thudded in my chest. They had to be here for the forensic exam. The two women stood at the foot of my bed, each giving me kind and sympathetic smiles. A lump formed in my throat.

“I’m Nurse Petra Williams, and this is WPC Karen Dobson. Did Dr. Croft explain why we are here?”

“Yes,” I croaked.

“Let’s get a statement from you first, as the forensic exam is quite time consuming,” said the policewoman.

My gaze lingered on her bag. “What happened to the other girl who was found with mud and pork ribs?”

“I’m not at liberty to say,” replied the female constable.

I stared at my lap. Had Corrine died from something like this? The senior consultant had asked me why I had drunk to excess. It had never occurred to her that someone had force-fed me alcohol.

I set aside those speculations. Right now, I needed to gather my thoughts and give my statement. Everything I needed to know would be in Corrine’s diary. I just needed to be smarter about deciphering it.

“Are you alright?” asked Nurse Williams.

“Yes,” I said through clenched teeth. “Let’s just get this finished.”

Chapter 12

It took ages for the hospital to discharge me because I wouldn’t leave until the doctor assured me that my prescriptions contained every precaution to prevent the raw meat from infecting me with parasites or disease.

Uncle Trevor wanted me to move in with him and Aunt Hortense, but I refused. Then he offered to stay with me at Mom and Dad’s house.

I shook my head. Hiding away from my problems would only make them bigger when I returned. I needed to speak to Mrs. Benazir and make her see what was going on in her academy. It was time to face Ashley and time to see how far the headmistress would go to stamp out the bullying.

On Monday morning, Uncle Trevor drove me back to the academy and parked outside the double doors. “I’m so sorry.”

“What for?”