Page 86 of Twisted Elites

“It was from Leopold.” The lie slipped from my lips. “They’re still waiting to hear from the surgeon about Sebastian’s grandfather.”

“They’re down in Brighton, aren’t they?”

“Yes.” I clicked my contacts and selected the option that said SHARE MY LOCATION.

Forcing deep breaths in and out of my lungs, I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to think. Leopold had suspected Miss Claymore, and the story of her affair with Sebastian had colored my view of her.

What if Sebastian had been right about her when he had said she wasn’t the type to take her anger out on an innocent party? I hadn’t actually seen Miss Claymore do any of the things I had suspected she had done, but I automatically blamed her because her motive seemed the greatest.

“Cormac?” I asked.

“Yes, Willow?” he replied in a voice full of warmth. Warmth that seemed inappropriate for someone who had supposedly just been jilted.

“Where are we going?”

“Not back to the academy.” He snorted. “If that lot are planning on ambushing me, they can think again!”

The wind roared in my ears, and blood drained from my face, leaving me light-headed. Perhaps the ambush Cormac feared wasn’t really anything related to being pigged. Perhaps what he really feared was a truckload of arresting police.

“Where are we going, then?”

“I’ve got to pick a few things up, then we’re driving down to Southampton and taking a ship to New York,” he said.

Despair washed through me like warm acid, burning through my nerve endings and everything I believed about Cormac. My shoulders sagged, and all the strength drained out of me with the realization that there was something deeply wrong with my best friend.

I pressed the record function on my phone and cleared my throat. “Where’s Geraldine?”

A smile curled his lips. “It’s hard to decide what I love about you the most. Your big heart or your intelligence. How much have you worked out?”

“Are you going to hurt me?” My voice shook.

He reached out and placed a hand on my arm. “Never.” He said with so much conviction, it brought tears to my eyes. “I’ve done a lot of things to further my goals, but I swear to you on Corrine’s life that I will never hurt you again.”

So, Miss Claymore really wasn’t the cause of all my problems. “It was you who knocked my mom’s car down the side of the mountains.”

“That was an accident.”

“Why?”

“When you took up with Garraway, it was the perfect opportunity to hurt Miss Claymore for pressuring Corrine in her final year of life.” He spared me a glance and then continued down the highway. “Corrine’s biggest source of anguish was getting expelled and returning alone to a foster home.”

“But you would have gone with her,” I replied.

“Yes.” He sighed. “But she didn’t want to ruin my chances of getting a good scholarship.”

“How did you use me to hurt Miss Claymore?” I asked.

“The anonymous, harassing notes were a start. As was messing up your room. Sorry about the watercolor of your family. We can have another made as soon as we’ve settled in America.”

I stole a glance at the smartphone on my lap then snapped my gaze back to Cormac. “What else did you do?”

“Blame Garraway for being so stubborn, not me.” He wagged his finger. “I thought he would report Miss Claymore for harassment and for the notes, but he said nothing. Then when you decided to leave the academy, I borrowed someone’s car and put on a black wig to make you think Miss Claymore was chasing after you.”

I shook my head. This was so convoluted. “And knocking my car down the side of a mountain was an accident?”

He spluttered. “How was I supposed to know you didn’t use your handbrake!”

“And you forced alcohol down my throat and made it look like I was drink-driving.”