Page 64 of Deposed

Up ahead, Duncan wriggled out from the wreckage in a strange sort of crab walk, his glasses askew. “S-stay away!”

Edward stalked toward the retreating boy. “You know something about Charlotte Underwood’s party, don’t you?”

“I won’t tell!” he shrieked.

Blake and I caught up with them. As we passed Henry, who was righting the bicycle and checking it for damage, Blake gave him a congratulatory pat on the back. Henry beamed at his friend, but when we locked eyes, his smile faded.

A wave of regret washed over me. If I hadn’t treated him so harshly, he wouldn’t feel so uncomfortable in my presence. Whereas Blake and I had spent a few days alone in his room, sorting out our differences, I hadn’t taken the time to make the effort with Henry. At some point, after we had dealt with Charlotte and her party, Henry and I would have to kiss and make up.

I turned to Duncan. “You once said that things would be better under Charlotte’s leadership, but everyone’s gone to her party, and you’ve been left behind with your newspapers. Things haven’t worked out to your benefit at all.”

Annoyance flickered over Duncan’s face, and he opened his mouth as though to argue but schooled his expression then clicked it shut. He had to know I was right. Last term, he sat with Alice, and this term, he sat alone. Just as things had been at the very beginning when the triumvirate led the academy.

“She’s organizing an orgy, isn’t she?” I asked. Charlotte wasn’t the most original of people, and her hoax invitation had said it had been a sex party. Why else would the boys pay to attend?

“H-how did you know?” Duncan squeaked from the ground.

I folded my arms across my chest. “Do the girls know they’re being set up?”

He shook his head. “It’s not anything as sinister.” He gestured at the triumvirate. “Charlotte said she would give boys the opportunities they missed because of wankers like these.”

Edward’s brows rose. “Wankers?”

“You know what I mean,” spat Duncan. “You’re just as bad as Simpson-West, stringing along Alice and Patricia and not caring what it did to their friendship.”

Edward ran his fingers through his hair. “If I had known they hated sharing, I would have ended things sooner.”

“Liar!”

Strangely, I believed Edward. He was more than happy to share me with Blake and Henry. Until the ultimatum, it had probably never occurred to him that Alice and Patricia had accepted crumbs of his affection because they hoped he would one day fall in love with them.

“You knew about this twisted event and kept quiet?” spat Henry.

Duncan’s brows drew together. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for the rest of us.”

“Them, you mean,” drawled Blake. “She left you behind.”

Duncan’s cheeks turned redder than his hair. His bottom lip trembled with the kind of impotent rage I knew well, and his hands curled into fists. I rubbed a hand over my brow. At the start of last term, Duncan was my ally, and I had firmly believed the triumvirate were wankers.

I shot Blake an admonishing look. He didn’t have to mock Duncan when we needed his help. “Ignore Simpson-West for a minute. If you paid to attend this party to meet a specific girl you liked, what would you expect from her?”

“Quite a lot, actually.” Duncan sat cross-legged on the ground and dusted off his long-sleeved T-shirt.

“Is Charlotte paying the girls to go to this party?” I asked.

His eyes widened. “N-no… but I expect most will be gentlemen about getting the brush-off.”

“Patterson-Bourke,” I spat.

Henry’s brows drew together. “What about him?”

I ground my teeth and snarled. So much had happened since being abducted by Mr. Carbuncle and Charlotte’s brother that I had forgotten the strange conversation I had overheard in the hallway. The squat rugby player had grabbed a fifth year girl, demanded to know why she had rejected him, and then said something ominous that had triggered me to walk into that trap.

“Emilia?” Edward tilted his head to the side, staring at me as though I’d had a seizure.

“He told a younger girl she would change her tune at Underwood’s party,” I spat.

“I don’t follow,” he replied.