Page 92 of Savage Elites

Prakash, who sat on the edge of the bed and now wore a T-shirt and boxers, leaned across and stroked my bare arm. “There’s no hurry. Don’t try to force it.”

Leopold leaned forward. “Maybe I should take you for another session with Master Chang—”

“I stopped the car.” Words tumbled out of my mouth as the memory replayed itself. “The mirrors reflected that light and nearly blinded me.”

“That was the sensible thing to do,” said Sebastian.

“But they reversed their car and rammed into the side.”

Leopold shot out of his seat. “Fucking hell!”

I turned from Prakash, whose dark features had become pale and drawn and panicked, to Leopold, who stood over me, breathing hard, to Sebastian, who remained seated on the sofa, clutching his middle and looking like he wanted to throw up.

Harsh breaths eased in and out of my lungs. I’d always pictured myself being pinned down by the attacker, rendered unconscious, and had alcohol poured down my throat. Just as Bianca had ordered during Ashley’s initiation. But I’d been driving Mom’s car.

“Why would I get into a car after drinking all day at a private members club?” I whispered.

Prakash knelt at my feet and took my hand. “You had about two gin and tonics, two amaretto and cokes, vino santo, and amaretto coffee.”

I clapped my free hand over my mouth and gasped. “That’s so much.”

“It was spread out through the entire day, and we ate.”

“You threw up later on the roadside,” said Sebastian.

Tears filled my eyes. How could I have been so reckless? “Was I sober when I found you with Miss Claymore?”

“You’re all forgetting one thing,” said Leopold.

I stared up at the blond boy, whose face hardened with irritation. “What?”

“You stopped the car when the headlights filled your vision. It doesn’t matter how much you drank. They rammed into you.”

“The question is, who?” muttered Sebastian.

I dipped my head. Miss Claymore was the most likely suspect, but something didn’t make sense. “Why would she come after me if I was already leaving the academy?”

Prakash squeezed my hand. “She came to your house after forcing you to resign. It wasn’t enough for her to make you leave. You’d become a nuisance, and she needed you dead.”

Pain lanced through my skull, and another memory forced itself to the front of my mind. Prakash had been the last person to see me before the accident, but we had argued.

“I came to you for help,” the words slipped from my lips in a whisper. “Why?”

The door slammed open, and my head snapped up.

A bleached blonde stepped into the room, wearing the white sneakers and blue, checkered dress of a cleaner. But her sneering features hit me like a fist to the stomach.

“Ashley?” I gasped.

She raised her chin. “Hello, Willow.”

“You’ve got a nerve to show your face here after everything you’ve done,” said Leopold.

“I’ve been here all this time.” Ashley placed her hands on her hips. “And thanks to my new job, I know everyone’s secrets.”

Sebastian’s mouth gaped open. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

My head throbbed harder, and I rubbed my eyes, hoping to relieve the pain, but Ashley’s presence triggered a bunch of memories. In the morning after my first visit of the hideout, she’d shown herself in my room, brandishing a bunch of designer shopping bags and boasting about putting the house for sale on auction.