Page 80 of Cruel Hearts

“She was about to unscrew the handle,” he said. “I tried pulling her away, but she flung herself against the door and knocked herself out.”

“Why did you—”

“Come to your rescue?” His eyes hardened. “Did you think I would stand by and let Elizabeth hurt you?”

My shoulders rose. “You’re hardly my biggest fan.”

“That’s because you—” Kendrick tightened his lips. “How many times have you flaunted yourself in front of Orlando and my brother? You’re little more than a tease.”

I gestured at the unconscious girl. “Are you sure you’re not getting me mixed up with someone else?”

He jerked his head away, a muscle in his jaw flexing. “Perhaps.”

A knot of tension unwound itself from my shoulders, and I exhaled a long breath. Knocking a girl out, even one as twistedly Machiavellian as Elizabeth, was proof that his loyalties lay with Maxwell and Orlando. Kendrick stared down at me with impatient eyes.

My gaze darted from side to side. Was I forgetting something? He pressed his lips together and huffed out a breath.

“Should we hide the body?” I asked.

With an amused snort, Kendrick knelt at her side and eased a huge shard of glass out of her hand. “I don’t know what’s gotten into Elizabeth. She was so level-headed until you arrived.”

Elizabeth twitched. Giving her the widest possible berth, I edged around the room toward the door, not knowing if she would rear up with another makeshift weapon. “I don’t remember ever starting a conversation with her or even casting her a dirty look.”

Kendrick uncurled the fingers of her other hand and pulled out a Swiss army knife with a screwdriver attachment. “Perhaps she was envious of your relationship with Mr. Burgh.”

I glanced at her pasty face. “Were they close?”

“Not particularly,” he replied.

“Then why would she be jealous?”

He stood, his brows furrowed. “Everyone suddenly became fascinated by the headmaster’s granddaughter.”

“That makes no sense, considering she was the one who announced my family background to the entire dining room.”

He gave me a peculiar stare. It was part confusion and part realization, as though he was finally seeing Elizabeth the same way that I did—bonkers.

“That’s right. She did.” He scratched the side of his head. “Then why—”

Elizabeth pulled herself to her knees and snarled, “Et tu, Kendrick?”

“What the bloody hell is going on?” shouted Mr. Burgh at the doorway.

For several heartbeats, nobody spoke. The headmaster’s glower seemed to freeze us all in place.

Until Elizabeth threw her head back and screeched, “Rape!”

Chapter 29

It was amazing how quickly Elizabeth’s veneer of sanity returned in the face of someone with authority. The wretched cow dusted herself off and wiped imaginary tears from the corners of her eyes.

“I wish to register a complaint,” she said in a clear, calm, and confident voice. “Miss Hancock dragged me into this bedroom and tried to pull off my clothes. When I fought back, she threw me about the room and created this mess.”

“How do you explain the presence of Mr. Deloraine?” asked Mr. Burgh.

“He was an accomplice.”

Kendrick folded his arms across his chest. “Sir, I arrived five minutes ago and found Elizabeth pounding on the bathroom door, screaming at Miss Hancock to let her in. She held a shard of broken glass in one hand and a screwdriver in the other. Miss Liddell was the aggressor.”