Page 20 of Savage Elites

His twin doubled over with laughter, and Bruce clapped him on the back. Ashley smirked at his side and flipped her hair. I curled my lip. Had she always enjoyed seeing me insulted? Perhaps with Mom and Dad gone, she no longer had to attempt solidarity.

“Have you looked in the mirror recently?” I snapped.

“Have you?” the twin shot back.

“Yes, thank you. And I was delighted with what I saw.” I raised my chin and glowered into his malevolent, gray eyes until he walked away in a huff.

Cormac pulled me to one side. “Willow, you didn’t need to stoop to his level.”

I leaned against a storage closet and folded my arms across my chest. “Rising above these people doesn’t work. That’s twice someone’s tried to kill me.”

His face dropped. “What are you talking—” He glanced from left to right and whispered, “The car accident?”

“My memory of that day is blank, but can you imagine me getting into a car while drunk? They said my blood alcohol was three times the limit.”

“That can’t be right. When I saw you that night, you were sober.”

I shrugged. “Exactly.”

He glanced around. “Who do you think—”

“He’s right, you know.” One of the twins, presumably the one who had observed his brother call us ugly virgins, stalked toward us.

“What are you talking about now?” I snapped.

“You two are made for each other.”

Cormac’s nostrils flared. “Thank you, Mr. Riley, but I already have a girlfriend with whom I am very happy.”

The auburn-haired wretch reared back. “You?”

I looped my arm around Cormac’s and walked away. When we reached the far end of the hallway and were out of earshot, I whispered, “Who’s your girlfriend?”

“I’d love to tell you,” Cormac whispered back, “But she’s asked me to keep things quiet for now.”

My brows drew together. One of Corrine’s diary entries had mentioned that Prakash hadn’t wanted to announce his relationship to the rest of the kings. I hoped this girlfriend was a scholar like Michelle or Cora and not one of the mainstream girls playing the pull-a-pig game.

Chapter 6

Any curiosity I might have had about the identity of Cormac’s girlfriend faded with the intensity of my headaches. After two-and-a-half hours, the pain returned to the annoying, background throb I’d had at Uncle Trevor’s apartment, and after four, it became so blinding, I couldn’t think. It got to the point where I had to take paracetamol in between doses of codeine and ibuprofen so that I didn’t collapse into wracking sobs in the middle of lessons.

Prakash sat next to me in Advanced Calculus but barely said a word. Not even to snipe at me to leave the academy. Perhaps something had happened while he was in India because he had been kind enough to visit me in the hospital, and I couldn’t think of any other reason for his regression.

When Miss Weir dismissed us before the bell, he gathered his books in his arms and stormed out of the room. I shot to my feet, but the teacher called me over.

“Were you able to follow everything this afternoon?” she asked. “I noticed you drifting at times.”

“I-it’s my medication.” That was partially true. My mind had blanked for the entire lesson, partly because I wondered what was wrong with Prakash.

“Did you understand the inverse trigonometric functions?”

“I read my prep.”

She nodded. “If you’re following the textbooks in your own time, there’s no cause for concern.”

The bell rang.

I gathered my books and headed for the door. “Thanks, Miss Weir.”