Page 29 of Twisted Elites

“Bullshit,” whispered a voice several tables away.

I turned around to find Barrett, the surviving Riley twin, sitting among some of the boys I’d fought at Ashley’s pigging.

Mrs. Benazir turned over her index card. “In times of need, please turn away from the temptation of drugs and turn to faculty members for academic and emotional support.”

My muscles tensed, and angry heat surged through my veins. How many times had I approached the headmistress, only to have my concerns dismissed? With all the money she made from tuition fees, she could have invested in counselors to take better care of the students, but she only cared about profits. Her lack of investment in discipline had caused this mess, as had the pressure put on students to perform.

“Bullshit!” Barrett shot out from his seat.

Mrs. Benazir’s face dropped. “Mr. Riley, I understand—”

“This place is bullshit.” He stormed through the dining room and stopped about ten feet away from the head table. “Where was Dr. Forrester? Or any of the teachers? If someone did first aid on my brother, he might have been alive.”

Glancing at the doctor, who shrank in his seat, I nodded. Barrett was one-hundred percent right. The ambulance had taken an eternity to arrive. Instead of doubling up the doctor’s role as a primary health giver and teaching staff, the headmistress could have employed a nurse or a paramedic on permanent staff.

Mrs. Benazir squared her shoulders and fixed Barrett with a stern gaze. “Your brother and Mr. Wilmington died of an overdose. They were at fault—”

“We were smoking weed from a hookah, for fuck’s sake! No one overdoses on cannabis. Something got mixed in our stash.”

All the blood drained from my face and joined my plummeting stomach. There was only one person I knew who had a significant enough grievance against the knights, access to their rooms, and access to class A drugs.

Ashley.

What if she had tampered with their drugs during her time as a maid? Just as she had poisoned me with antidepressants and beta-blockers?

My throat dried, and the pulse between my ears drowned out Barrett’s rants. I released the kings’ hands, rested my elbows on the table, and clutched at my temples. Ashley hadn’t shown an ounce of resentment toward the knights. Was she capable of putting something in their drugs?

“Willow.” Sebastian leaned into my side. “What’s wrong?”

Shaking my head, I exhaled several shuddering breaths. After her pigging, Ashley had emerged from her room, looking composed. She had denied the sexual assault had ever taken place and told the police I had Crying Wolf syndrome.

Leopold placed a hand on my arm. “Willow?”

My breaths became rapid and shallow and loud. In the time we had spent waiting for the police, Ashley must have already devised a plan to avenge herself. Reporting their crime would only give the police a reason why she might want to lash out at the boys on a later date.

I blinked away the fog and gave the boys what I hoped was a reassuring smile.

Mrs. Benazir glanced at the seat on her left, the one previously occupied by Miss Claymore. Without the deputy headmistress around to cover up her lack of interest in the students, her cluelessness was laid bare for everyone to see.

Some of the staff members shot her hateful glares, and when no one spoke in her defense, she said, “Mr. Riley. I appreciate—”

Barrett’s face turned purple. “Someone in your school killed my brother and my best friend, and that’s all you have to say?”

The sounds of smartphone cameras filled the air. Either some of the vultures sitting at the table wanted to make memes, or they intended to record Mrs. Benazir’s blasé attitude toward a potential murder.

“Take up the matter with the police,” she said.

“Oh, I will, and I know exactly who poisoned them.”

Gearldine shot out of her seat, jostling Cormac as she stood. “We’re probably more cut up about the loss of Bruce and your twin than you.” She placed her clasped hands on her chest. “Please, tell us who you think is the murderer.”

Barrett whirled around and pointed at me. “Her.”

A bolt of shock shot through my heart, and I sucked in a breath through my teeth.

The scrape of Sebastian and Leopold’s seats cut through the silence.

Sebastian stalked toward Barrett, his back and shoulders expanding with every step. “What. Did. You. Say?”