Page 71 of Deposed

A burst of fury powered my limbs and dulled the pain around my ribs, and I closed the distance between us. She wasn’t going to get away.

Channeling Henry, I leaped through the air and tackled her. “Stupid bitch!”

We both tumbled to the ground. My knees hit the paving stones, sending pain radiating up my thighs. I winced and held onto my quarry.

“Get off me, you trollop!” Charlotte elbowed me in the gut, aggravating my bruises.

I clenched my teeth. “Not until you tell the police and the medics what you put in the girls’ cocktails.”

She wriggled in my grip like a floundering fish. “Rape,” she screeched. “Police!”

Large hands lifted me off Charlotte. “Calm down, Emilia,” said Henry. “She’s trying to make herself look like the victim.”

A male police officer ran over with his female colleague a few feet behind. “What’s going on here?”

Charlotte pointed at me. “Didn’t you see her assault me? Arrest her!”

“That is Charlotte Underwood, the daughter of Neil Underwood, the disgraced Cabinet Minister, and the organizer of this party,” I said between clenched teeth. “She sold tickets to boys from our school, promising them sex with girls they liked. Then to make sure the girls were compliant, she put something in their drinks.”

“No,” spat Charlotte. “You put the drugs in the punch!”

The policewoman turned to me with her lips pursed, as though I were the liar. “Alright. I need you both to come with me.”

“But Emilia wasn’t even on the boat,” said Edward.

The policewoman raised her brows. “And you are?”

“Edward Mercia, Viscount Highdown.” He pulled out his wallet and showed them some ID.

I held my breath and examined the policewoman’s face. Surely, that fancy title would sway her.

She inclined her head a fraction. “And you can vouch for this young lady?”

“We all can,” said Blake. “She drove down with us in the limousine.”

The policewoman blinked as though she recognized Blake from somewhere, then her gaze darted to Henry, and her eyes widened with recognition. She smoothed her features into a neutral expression and asked, “And the other young lady?”

“It’s as Emilia said,” Edward replied. “Charlotte Underwood organized this party.”

Even more police officers arrived and took us all to one side, making sure to separate us from Charlotte. While more ambulances arrived to take the girls away, a huge coach pulled up at the side road. Either it was something that Charlotte had organized, or one of the boys had called their parents to send transportation back to the academy.

Long after the Saturday Correspondent reporters had climbed into Tom’s black van and left, and the ambulances had pulled away, we all stayed at the waterfront giving our details to the police. No matter what we said, they wouldn’t arrest Charlotte. I supposed they suspected we were bullying her. That, or she had a guardian angel.

The police escorted the boys onto the coach and stopped the traffic on the main road for it to reverse out.

“Good riddance,” muttered Henry.

“What a disgusting bunch of bastards,” added Blake.

Edward rubbed his temples and sighed. “I’m just grateful for Charlotte’s incompetence.”

“Just think of what would have happened if she had made the girls compliant instead of violently sick.” I shuddered.

A limo pulled into the side road, and the policewoman asked, “Is that your transportation, My Lord?”

“It is,” replied Edward.

“Alright, you lot.” She hooked her thumb in the direction of the road. “You’re free to go.”