Page 54 of Wicked Elites

The little boy ran off laughing. Probably back to Sebastian and Leopold, who had sent him over. I raised my head to glower at them, but they also weren’t at their table, and neither were the queens. Prakash sat alone and stared back with the most peculiar expression. It was part anger and part pity.

My stomach tightened. If Prakash had been at my bedside, did that mean he had found me in the mountains? I couldn’t dare ask, so I snatched my gaze away and stuffed a piece of chicken kiev in my mouth.

Cormac nudged me in the side. “Miss Claymore’s coming.”

I raised my head to find the deputy headmistress strolling toward me. As soon as our eyes met, she crooked her finger and spun on her heel. I sucked in a deep breath, rose from my seat, and followed her out of the dining room. We walked in silence through the hallways and up the stairs until we reached her office.

She opened the door and gave me a millisecond to walk through. “The rumors about you have been disturbing. How many of them are true?”

“W-what did you hear?” I tried to keep the shake out of my voice.

“Nothing I dare to repeat to a student.” She walked across the room and sat behind her desk. “Needless to say, I want to know if you performed those acts with raw meat as everyone is suggesting.”

My gaze dropped to her steepled fingers, and I whispered, “I don’t think I did.”

She leaned forward and raised her brows. “Elaborate.”

The story spilled from my lips. The woman’s face tightened with each word, and her hands balled into fists. By the time I told her about the pork ribs and the forensic medical examination, she shot out of her seat. “Mr. Garraway and Mr. Brunswick were not in the academy this weekend. Did you see either of them during your ordeal?”

I shook my head.

“Are you sure?” There was an urgency in her voice that made me wonder if she knew but wasn’t sharing.

“They weren’t there.” I was about to mention that I may have seen Prakash at my bedside, but the words wouldn’t come out. While I appreciated her efforts to stamp out bullying, she seemed to have a particular hatred for the Kings of Brittas Academy.

“Come with me.” She stood. “We have to tell Mrs. Benazir.”

I followed her down the stairs and into the headmistress’s office and listened to Miss Claymore’s account of events. By the time she finished, humiliation had wrapped its talons around my chest and squeezed my lungs in its excruciating grip. If Mrs. Benazir became skeptical and asked for proof, I wasn’t sure the words would come out.

The headmistress’s nostrils flared. “You said Bianca Byrd and Geraldine Hill were involved. Who else?”

“I don’t know their names and didn’t see all their faces.”

“But these unknown girls held you down and rendered you unconscious?”

I nodded. “On Bianca and Geraldine’s orders.”

Mrs. Benazir leaned forward, her dark eyes shining with compassion. “I’m very proud of you for coming forward and sharing your story. We take bullying seriously here at this academy, and these girls will not get away with such deplorable acts.”

Some of the tension around my lungs eased, and I let out a long breath. “Thank you.”

She turned to Miss Claymore. “Please fetch Miss Byrd, Miss Hill, and the other Miss Evergreen.”

The deputy head walked out of the room, and the receptionist brought in a tray with two cups of tea and a plate of pink wafers. I murmured my thanks, gulped down a mouthful of hot, bergamot-scented liquid, and waited. Mrs. Benazir didn’t speak, and I didn’t raise my head from the tea tray.

Part of me resented the headmistress for not warning me about the extent of the bullying in her academy. If she had advised me to stick with the scholars, I would never have gone to that party, and I would never have attracted the attention of the kings or the resentment of the queens.

A soft knock on the door broke me out of my thoughts, and I raised my head to find Geraldine and Bianca stepping through the doorway. When my eyes locked with Bianca’s, her nostrils flared, and her lips formed a tight line.

Geraldine’s face paled, and she wiped her palms on the sides of her skirt. I clenched my teeth. Did they really think I would stay silent about such an unforgivable attack?

Miss Claymore folded her arms across her chest. “Miss Evergreen is outside.”

The headmistress nodded her thanks. “I want to hear in your own words what happened on Friday night.”

“Willow and Ashley wanted to join our little sorority,” said Bianca. “Each person needs to perform a dare, like name a celebrity they like or do a handstand.”

“Where did this initiation ceremony take place?” asked the headmistress.