Page 12 of Cruel Shame

Mr. Burgh raised his brows but didn’t comment. Perhaps Orlando was right and he didn’t mind the knights so much now that Orlando had proven himself more than a lecher who wanted to share me with his friends. But curiosity burning in my chest overrode my speculations on whether my grandfather approved of my boyfriends, and I sat up on the bed.

“What happened with Myra?” I asked.

He lowered himself into the green seat, squeezed his eyes shut, and pinched the bridge of his nose. “It was a bloody gun, not an air pistol. They also found cocaine in her room along with a one-hundred-hole capsule-filling machine. Miss Liddell gave a statement saying she believed the contents of the capsules to be bentonite clay mixed with caffeine.”

“Myra’s getting the blame for the drugs?” I asked.

“The distribution of cocaine is the least of her problems,” said Mr. Burgh. “They’re going to try her for attempted murder.”

I gulped. Ploys like this explained how the Liddells managed to be the dirtiest bastards in the land but with the cleanest reputations. “Am I still under suspicion for anything?”

Mr. Burgh shook his head. “There was no trace of anyone’s fingerprints on that gun but Miss Highmore’s.”

My shoulders slumped with disappointment, and I stared into my lap.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I hoped they would have found Lady Liddell’s prints on the gun, too.”

“She wouldn’t be so careless,” said Mr. Burgh. “Miss Highmore said in her statement that Lady Liddell gave her the gun, but the police checked the CCTV footage, and there is no sign of the woman entering the academy.”

“Are all routes into the academy covered by security cameras?” I asked.

Mr. Burgh shook his head. “Only those most likely to be used by students or intruders.” He slipped his hand into mine. “Lilah, I want you to leave the academy.”

A tight band wrapped around my chest, squeezing off my air. “Why?”

His brows furrowed. “Didn’t the events of today demonstrate how desperately they want you gone?”

“Running away isn’t the answer.” I turned to the window, where an ambulance had parked in the loading bay. The paramedics wheeled out a body bag on a stretcher. “The Liddells can get at me anywhere.”

“They left you alone until you came to Templar,” he said.

Right now, I couldn’t look at Mr. Burgh. I couldn’t bear to see the pain in his eyes, knowing that his worry for me put it there. My throat thickened, and I swallowed hard. Now that I had a real parent, I couldn’t bear to let him go.

“That’s not true,” I whispered. “When I was born, Lady Liddell found a way to get a sample of my blood from the prison infirmary. Between her and Camden Liddell, they can reach me wherever I go.”

After I told him about my encounter with the Deputy Chief Constable, Mr. Burgh went silent for a long time. Maybe he heard the truth in my words, maybe he was trying to work out a place beyond the Liddells’ reach. It didn’t matter because I wasn’t leaving the academy.

I stared down at my fingers, which had intertwined with those of Mr. Burgh’s larger hand. In the few months I had been in Templar Academy, I had made a loyal friend in Gideon, found love with Maxwell, and was about to start a relationship with Orlando. Kendrick and I had something, but it would take a while for him to pull the broom out from his ass and admit he liked me.

“Alright,” he said in a low voice.

“Huh?” I raised my head and met his red-rimmed, sapphire eyes.

“You can stay, but I want you sleeping under my roof.”

“Or in Orlando’s room,” I added.

His eyes narrowed. “Don’t push your luck.”

Chapter Six

Just after a nurse arrived with my discharge papers and pack of antibiotics, Mrs. Campbell called to say that a younger girl had been sent to the Royal Infirmary in an ambulance. She hadn’t been at breakfast this morning, due to having taken too many of Elizabeth’s diet pills.

Mr. Burgh had to rush back to the accident and emergency department to check on the girl, and he let me stay the weekend in Glasgow with the knights.

We piled into the back of a limousine, which took us to the Glaswegian Hotel, a huge building behind George Square, the location of the fateful fashion show. Orlando wrapped an arm around my waist while the twins checked in with a receptionist who welcomed them like old friends.