Page 49 of Savage Elites

Realization kicked me in the gut. Ten. Thousand. Pounds. “Um… isn’t that the same amount Geraldine offered the boys to take my virginity?”

“I wasn’t there, but I believe that’s what she said.”

“Don’t you think the number is a bit of a coincidence?”

His brows drew together. “It was just a nasty joke.”

I bit down on my lip. In an academy like Brittas, there were three kinds of students, the mega-rich, who could afford any exorbitant fee, the upper-middle class, who used the academy as a means to strive for a better position in life, and scholars like Cormac and me, paid to keep the academy at the top of the Elite Board register.

Geraldine’s mother was an official in the World Bank. Well-to-do, but not wealthy. Certainly not the type to approve of wasting ten-thousand pounds on a stupid bet. I glanced up at Cormac. “Are you sure about Geraldine?”

“Don’t worry about me.” He patted my wrist. “I know what I’m doing.”

The look in his eyes told me what he had left unsaid. To him, my relationship with the kings was just as precarious. But they weren’t asking for money or nude pictures.

“Trust me.” He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pressed a kiss on my temple.

“Alright.” What else could I do but stand by his side and kick the shit out of Geraldine’s smirking face if she ever betrayed him?

* * *

Tensions between Sebastian and Leopold intensified to the point where they barely spoke directly to each other, and most of their comments were directed at either Prakash or me. Anyone looking at the royal table from the outside would still notice their solidarity, but I’d spent enough time with them over the break to see that whatever was between them was tearing them apart.

No matter how much I asked Prakash and Leopold what Sebastian was keeping from me, neither of them would betray their friend’s confidence. Instead, I spent more time with Cormac in an attempt to stop Geraldine from destroying my best friend.

The following week, Cormac and I met Miss Claymore outside one of the academy’s small function room for the meeting with the Board of Governors. Her broad shoulders curled into themselves, and she wrung her hands. I would have pointed out her nervous body language to Cormac, but we were already too close, and I didn’t want to point out the insecurities of a good teacher.

“Did you read your itineraries?” she asked with a barely audible tremor in her voice.

I glanced at Cormac, who gave the deputy head a confident nod. Turning to her with what I hoped was a reassuring smile, I said, “Yes, Miss.”

“Very well.” Miss Claymore placed her fingers on the door handle. “The board is already in place. Please answer their questions to the best of your abilities.”

We stepped inside to the mingled scent of freshly-brewed coffee and expensive colognes. Twelve distinguished-looking men and women sat around a boardroom table drinking tea from the kind of gold-edged china cups I’d only seen in London department stores.

Among them were Leopold’s mother and Bianca’s father. Both their eyes narrowed at the sight of me, and Mr. Byrd’s lips tightened into a grim line.

My throat dried. Mrs. Brunswick disliked me, and Mr. Byrd probably wanted me dead. The worst part was that this was the emergency meeting called to discuss my supposed drink-driving accident.

Miss Claymore spread her arms wide. “Welcome, governors.”

A tense silence stretched out for several heartbeats, and the thud of my frantic pulse filled my ears. I exchanged a nervous glance with Cormac. Had the negative newspaper article caused the school that much damage?

“Where’s Mrs. Benazir?” asked a bald man with an aristocratic drawl.

I chewed my lip. Mrs. Benazir had most likely delegated the task of facing a furious Board of Governors to her deputy.

“She had a meeting with the Elite Board,” Miss Claymore replied, her voice tight with what I could only guess was resentment.

All the disgruntled people around the table relaxed. My shoulders loosened, and I exhaled. Perhaps this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

“I’d like to introduce you to our top-performing students. Cormac Gibbons and Willow Evergreen. Cormac currently averages ninety-six percent. Through the expertise of our staff, Willow’s grades rose from eighty-five percent to ninety-eight.”

I held my breath at the misrepresentation. Miss Claymore made it sound like the school had dragged me from obscurity to academic excellence, when in fact, I used to average ninety-eight and dropped my grades as a result of another assault committed through a lack of discipline and control.

“Very nice.” An older man in a three-piece suit drummed his fingers on the desk. “But some of us shareholders want a report on what we’re getting for our investment.”

Swallowing hard, I surveyed the crowd. What on earth was going on? It almost sounded like Mrs. Benazir was running Brittas Academy like a company instead of a school. I pushed aside those thoughts and focused on Miss Claymore’s reply.