Page 10 of Savage Elites

My hand flew to my temple. “What?”

“And Kash said the girls had attacked you in the morning,” added Leopold.

I clenched my jaw. “Was it because they wanted to change my decision to press charges?”

“He didn’t say why.” Leopold turned to Sebastian. “Is there anything else you want to tell Willow?”

Sebastian drew his shoulders up, bringing the collar of his winter coat around his ears. My stomach twisted with awkwardness. I’d forgotten to take their coats and offer them a cup of tea.

Pushing aside those thoughts, I leaned forward and fixed my gaze on Sebastian. If there was any light he could shed on that mysterious Monday, it might trigger a memory to help work out who had tried to murder me.

“Perhaps you’re right,” Sebastian muttered, “But—”

“What the fuck is going on here?” An exhausted-looking Aunt Hortense whispered.

“Mummy!” the children chorused.

Leopold and Sebastian shot out of their seats.

“Ashley, who are these boys?” she asked with more steel in her voice.

“Friends from school,” I replied. “They—”

“The same school where they perform deadly rituals?” Her eyes flashed. “You brought them into my home, w-with my children present?”

My shoulders slumped. Once she got an idea into her head, it was near impossible to get her to change her mind. Add that to the stress of having had unexpected surgery, and she was understandably furious.

“Aunt Hortense, Leopold and Sebastian aren’t like—”

“Get out,” she snapped in a voice as cold as winter. “And take your boys with you.”

After gathering my things, we piled into Sebastian’s jeep, and he drove along the vast expanse of land that separated Upperby and Cummersdale.

“Your aunt’s a bit of a bitch,” muttered Leopold.

“She isn’t usually this bad,” I replied. “Can you turn right at the next junction, please?”

“We’re not going to your old house,” said Sebastian.

“Where are you taking me, then?”

“The hideout,” said Leopold. “You need a few days to recuperate, and we’re going to be the ones to take care of you.”

“This isn’t a good idea,” I muttered. “What about Christmas and New Year’s Eve?”

“You’ll spend it with us.”

I stared at the backs of their heads. “At the hideout?”

Leopold snickered. “Certainly not at my house.”

“Or at the academy,” added Sebastian.

I shook my head, watching the fields whizz by through the window. With each passing second, we moved further and further away from Mom and Dad’s house.

A lump formed in my throat. This would be the first Christmas I would spend without them. Uncle Trevor would probably ask Aunt Hortense where I had gone. Would she tell the truth or twist things so it looked like I’d run off with a pair of handsome rogues?

Clutching my possessions to my chest, I asked, “What about my medication?”