Page 87 of Depraved Boys

Her stern face twisted into a rictus of anger. “Who told you to come in?”

I backed out of the door and ran.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

“Willow!” Sebastian shouted.

Blood roared in my ears, and I glared over my shoulder and kept moving down the dim hallway. At least now I understood why Miss Claymore gave Sebastian the alibi. And why she used to intervene whenever Sebastian approached me. The woman was sleeping with him. She’d been jealous, not protective!

“Leave her, Mr. Garraway.” She grabbed at his arm.

He shoved her aside, making her fall through the open door. I continued hurrying down the hallway, hoping there was a stairwell at the end, so I could double back on the floor below and return to my room. My stomach heaved. Ashley would still be there and likely crazier than ever.

Sebastian wrapped a hand around my bicep. “You’re bleeding.”

“And you’re sleeping with the deputy headmistress!”

“Where are you going?”

“I was looking for Prakash.”

I tried to pull my arm out of his grip, but he wouldn’t budge. “I’ll take you.”

“Go back to Miss Claymore,” I spat. “She needs you more.”

He winced but didn’t say a word in his defense. “It’s here.”

“What?”

“Kash’s room.” He knocked on the door and waited.

After several moments, the door opened. Prakash stood bare-chested in his white pajama bottoms, but I was too woozy to give his muscular chest, tight abs, and thick biceps more than a cursory glance.

“What is—” His eyes bulged. “Did the queens attack again?”

With a single, weary breath, I said, “Ashley.”

“Why?” Sebastian placed a hand on my shoulder.

I shrugged him off. “Leave me alone.”

“You need stitches,” said Prakash. “I’ll take you to the infirmary.”

“The doctor isn’t in.”

“Accident and Emergency, then, but I have to get you patched up first before we make the journey.”

“Why don’t you call for an ambulance?” asked Sebastian.

“By the time the emergency crews deal with priority patients and someone comes all the way from the Cumberland Royal Infirmary, I will have gotten her there myself and seen by a doctor.” Prakash pulled me into his room and sat me on a high-backed chair.

I turned to Sebastian. “Please go away. I can’t deal with you right now.”

His shoulders slumped, and he disappeared into the hallway.

Prakash took the first aid box out from its cupboard and pulled on a pair of disposable gloves. “I’m just going to pack your wounds and see if we can get the bleeding to stop.”

“Thanks,” I murmured.