Page 57 of Twisted Elites

The girl on her left said, “You’re supposed to threaten Geraldine.”

Geraldine’s haughty mask faltered. Apparently, she hadn’t quite briefed her young apprentice in the fine art of bitch-craft.

I leaned forward, twisting my brows in a faux-confused expression. “Why would I do that? Geraldine’s intentions are good, aren’t they?”

Her eyes narrowed, and she flared her nostrils. I glanced at Leopold, who rolled his eyes. The entire situation smacked of someone missing her best friend and was bored with the current clutch of sycophants who wanted to create a further rift between Cormac and me.

I folded my arms across my chest. If she wanted to report back to the boy she was playing, she’d have to do it without my input.

Since Geraldine had nothing further to say, I picked up a small jug and poured honey on my porridge.

“I have a message for you,” she drawled.

My head snapped up. “Is Bianca awake yet?”

“From Mr. Byrd.”

“Not interested.” I picked up my spoon and stirred my breakfast.

“You should be,” she snarled. “Because of the pack of lies you told the police, her ten-year-old sister has been taken into protective services, and her mother has moved out.”

The spoon slipped from my fingers, and I raised my head. My lips parted, and shallow breaths moved in and out of my lungs. Had someone questioned Bianca’s little sister? Social services wouldn’t break up a family on the word of a stranger who lived three hundred miles away.

“Good for them,” said Leopold.

She curled her lip and turned back to me. “Mr. Byrd says—”

“Not interested,” I snapped. “And I don’t understand why you’re helping him.”

“Bianca’s my best friend. If anything bad was happening in her home, I’d be the first to know.”

“If your source of information is Mr. Byrd, then it’s going be biased. You should focus on your friend in hospital instead of blaming me for what’s going on in the Byrd household.”

“T-they’re saying she might never walk again.” Geraldine’s voice trembled.

The blond clone shook her head. “Why did you push her?”

“Bugger off, you three,” said Sebastian. “Willow has an alibi.”

Cormac strode through the double doors and stood at Geraldine’s side. He placed an arm around her quaking shoulders. “Is everything alright, darling?”

“I’m too upset about Bianca to talk.” She shook him off and stormed out of the room with her two sycophants hurrying after her.

Cormac’s face fell, and his lips tightened with frustration. It made me wonder if Geraldine had tired of the game, now that Bianca wasn’t around for the inevitable pigging.

I shook my head and picked up a bowl of blueberries. It was great news that the police had followed up on my statement, and it had led to an investigation that had taken Bianca’s sister away from Mr. Byrd. But it was disturbing that the man was now in contact with Geraldine. Perhaps it started with a promise to update her on Bianca’s health, but it looked like he was telling her inappropriate things to garner sympathy.

“Willow.” Cormac rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ve made some progress with the diary. Shall we meet to discuss it?”

“I’m free this afternoon,” I said.

* * *

Later, I sat next to Cormac on a sofa in the scholars’ common room with Corrine’s diary on my knees. Cormac placed my computer on his lap and plugged in his memory stick. He didn’t have his own laptop, as the academy’s computer lab leased the most up-to-date machines and was open all night. We’d finished dinner early to work on deciphering the rest of the code, and other scholars streamed into the room to play board games or make cups of tea.

“What’s the latest with Bianca?” I asked.

“She’s awake but can’t feel her legs.” Cormac tapped the keyboard and frowned.