Page 75 of Twisted Elites

Cormac didn’t reply.

“On top of that, you’re upholding the grade averages that keep the academy at the top of the Elite Register. Mrs. Benazir’s the one who needs to do more.”

“Thanks.” He stood. After pulling me to my feet, he stared at a point on his threadbare rug. “I haven’t been frank with you.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I translated the diary intending to hand it to the police and prove that Kashaayah killed my sister and staged it as a suicide.”

My response was a grim nod. I’d worked that out ages ago and accepted his help because my faith in Prakash’s innocence had been unshakable.

“But he’s innocent,” Cormac said. “You can give the decoded diary to the police. It’s a long suicide note that charts what brought her to the final decision to kill herself.”

My mouth fell open. I would have asked if he was sure, but we needed this vital piece of evidence, and I wasn’t about to change his mind. Instead, I threw my arms around Cormac. “Thank you.”

“That doesn’t mean I forgive him for pigging my sister,” he muttered into the side of my neck.

“I understand.”

Cormac gave me a brief pat on the back, his way of saying the hug was over. As I drew back, he wrapped his hand around my bicep. “Be careful. He didn’t kill my sister, but I still don’t trust any of those wankers to do right by you.”

“I will.”

We stood in silence on his rug for several moments. Leopold and Sebastian were waiting for me several doors down, anxious to discover the contents of Corrine’s diary. Maybe finally knowing why Corrine had committed suicide would give Cormac the closure he needed to heal. I gazed up into his watery eyes and gave him what I hoped was a sympathetic smile.

Cormac dipped his head and gave me a sheepish smile in return. “Will you do me a favor?”

“Anything.” I wrapped my arms around his thin bicep.

“I’m getting married at the end of term, and I need a best man.”

Rearing back, I asked, “T-to Geraldine?”

“We’ve got the registry office booked in Gretna Green.”

My insides twisted into knots. Bianca had already confirmed that Geraldine had paid Ashley ten-thousand pounds to win that disgusting bet. To me, it was proof that Geraldine had misused Cormac’s contribution to the honeymoon and intended for his pigging to take place on the day of the supposed wedding.

A lump formed in my throat. If I brought up my suspicions about Geraldine on the heels of reading out Corrine’s last words, I might break Cormac’s spirit. But if I stayed silent, he might follow his sister into death.

“Cormac, I—”

He placed his fingers over my lips. “I know what you’re going to say, but trust me. Geraldine won’t break my heart.”

Chapter 19

Sebastian passed the original diary, plus the software, and the subsequent translations to Mr. Pinkerton and waited. The authorities continued to turn down our requests to visit Prakash, and we couldn’t even send him letters of support.

After a week of not hearing any good news from the lawyer, the three of us began to lose hope. Over the final weeks of the school year, I threw myself into my studies, mostly for the six-thousand-pound bonus Mrs. Benazir had agreed to pay me in our contract. Miss Claymore kept her distance and didn’t call Sebastian out during English class, although she would occasionally cast glances at the royal table during mealtimes.

Without Bianca around, Geraldine took up the reins as the sole Queen of Brittas Academy with a newly popular Barrett as her knight in shining armor. None of us could give a damn when our fourth still festered in a juvenile detention center.

One morning at breakfast, Mr. Blunt led four police officers into the dining room. He looked in our direction and murmured something to the sergeant. Leopold and Sebastian stood, and I scrambled to my feet.

“This has to be about Kash,” I whispered.

Sebastian wrapped a hand around my wrist. “Or Ashley told them a pack of lies that implicated you in the poisonings.”

Panic speared through my heart, pumping blood to my trembling extremities.