by Sofia Daniel
He rolled a nipple between his thumb and forefinger. “Ringtone.
I gave his shoulder a shove. “It might be important.”
His brows drew together. “I’ll put him on speaker.” Leopold scrambled through the pile of clothes and clicked a button on the screen of his smartphone. “Kash, what’s up?”
“S-something’s happened,” whispered Prakash.
“What?”
“I-it’s bad.” His voice sounded choked. “I can’t talk about it on the phone.” He hung up.
We both stared into each others’ eyes for a heartbeat, then scrambled off the bed and gathered our clothes.
“Call Sebastian.” I threw on my shirt and fastened its buttons.
“Right.” Leopold pressed a button, but the call went straight to voicemail. “Shit!”
My stomach tied itself into knots. “If something happened to him…”
“Claymore?” Leopold snarled. “Fuck. She’s insane for him. And she’s strong as shit. She could easily have—”
“Stay calm.” I slipped on my skirt and scrambled around to find my shoes. “We don’t know what’s happened yet.”
Leopold pulled up his pants, grabbed his shirt, and hurried out of my room. A moment later, he ran back in and picked the pile of things he’d taken from Ashley’s room. “Let’s go.”
The drive back to the academy was excruciating. I didn’t dare call Prakash again in case he was hiding from Miss Claymore, but I sent him a text, asking if he and Sebastian were alright.
Prakash didn’t reply.
Leopold sped down the highway that led to the mountain. “Try Seb’s phone again!”
I did. “It’s either turned off or has lost power.”
He groaned. “Or he’s in a place with no reception.”
“What about the hideout?”
“What would he be doing all the way out there?” Leopold’s voice was strained with panic. “We were supposed to look for where Ashley hid all that crap.”
“R-right.” I tried not to picture Miss Claymore carrying Sebastian over her shoulder like an avenging Queen Kong, but images of the woman pushing him against the wall assaulted my mind.
My heart took permanent residence in my throat for the entire journey through the Lake District, and it remained there as we ran through the academy building and up to the top floor of the east wing.
We tried Sebastian’s door first, but there was no answer. Then we walked down the hallway and across to Prakash’s room and knocked.
“W-who is it?” whispered Prakash.
Leopold and I exchanged puzzled looks. Neither of us had imagined him safe in his room.
“It’s us,” I said.
Prakash opened the door a crack. Frantic, dark eyes roved over us. “Who else is out there?”
“Nobody,” said Leopold. “Just let us in.”
I swayed on my feet. If anything had happened to Sebastian… My mind went blank. It was unthinkable.
He stepped aside, leaving the tiniest gap for us to squeeze through. Sebastian went first but froze the moment he stepped through the threshold.
“Bloody hell,” he whispered.
Panic lanced through my gut, making me double over. Something terrible had happened to Sebastian. I clutched at my stomach. We’d only just reconciled. “P-please… I have to see.”
“Don’t come in,” said Leopold.
Tears filled my eyes. “What is it?”
“What, ho, Pigsty!” One of the auburn-haired Riley twins approached from the end of the hallway, flanked by Bruce and his brother. “You’re sniffing around the wrong room. Cormac’s over there!”
Prakash opened the door, yanked me through, and slammed it shut.
I glanced up at Leopold, who stared open-mouthed at a point further in the room. All the color had left his face, and his breathing became hard and labored.
I followed his gaze and froze.
A woman’s body lay naked and battered on his bed. Bruises covered every inch of her flesh, and her face was so swollen it was barely recognizable.
Barely.
I’d know that face anywhere.
It was the face of my twin.
Cold seeped through my veins and penetrated my heart. This didn’t make any sense. I turned to Prakash for an explanation, but he was already looking at me.
“Is she alive?” I asked.
“I didn’t do it,” he whispered.
“Of course, you didn’t,” said Leopold.
I nodded, because what else could I say hours after Ashley had stormed in here threatening to expose Prakash for the murder of Corrine Gibbons? The entire situation was too obvious to be his doing.
“When did you find her?” Leopold asked.
Prakash swallowed. “The moment you called.”
My legs collapsed, and I slid down the wall.
“Willow?” Prakash knelt at my side.
“I-I’m fine. Just…” My heart accelerated, my lungs tightened and wouldn’t let me inhale more than a few inch into their depths. Who could have done this? Who hated Ashley enough to hurt her to this extent?
Leopold stepped toward the bed. “She’s breathing.”
“Don’t get close!” Prakash turned to me.
“Why didn’t you call the police?” I whispered.
“I couldn’t act until I heard back about the evidence she had against me.”
I swallowed hard, and I tried to think of ways out of this predicament. None of them resulted in Ashley getting the medical attention she needed, and all of them resulted in Prakash getting arrested for nearly killing Ashley.
“We have to call the police,” I whispered. “Whoever did this will have left their DNA all over her. They’ll know it wasn’t you.”
Prakash shook his head. “I can’t go through this again.”
A heavy fist banged on the door. “Prakash Kashaayah?”
“Who’s asking?” said Leopold.
“Detective Sergeant Banner. Can we come in?”
Prakash strode to the door, but Leopold grabbed him by the arm and whispered, “What are you doing?”
“Trying to make the best of a shitty situation.”
My heart beat so fast, it nearly exploded in my chest. Scenarios whirled in my mind, each as ridiculous as the other. Geraldine and Bianca had attacked Ashley and placed her in this room to teach Prakash a lesson for having saved me after the initiation. Ashley had approached Mr. Byrd and tried to blackmail him for another twenty-five thousand pounds.
Prakash opened the door, and the officers stormed inside. They stopped the moment they saw Ashley on the bed, and one of them radioed for help.
The sergeant turned to Prakash and said, “Prakash Kashaayah, you are under arrest on suspicion of grievous bodily harm…”
The rest of his words faded into a blur.
It didn’t matter that there was a shitload of evidence against Prakash and that we’d found my blackmailing sister naked and half-dead in his room.
Prakash was innocent, and if we didn’t do something now, a condition for grievous bodily harm would be the least of his troubles. My hands clutched at my chest, and my breath froze at my next thought.
The police might put two and two together and convict him of Corrine’s murder.
END OF BOOK TWO
READ BOOK THREE
From Sofia Daniel
Thank you for reading the second part of Willow’s story! If you enjoyed Bully Boys of Brittas Academy, please take a moment to leave a review. A sentence or two can make the difference to a book!
Want teasers for upcoming books? Join my reader group, Sofia’s Study Group.
Other Reverse Harem Bully Romances:
Kings of Mercia Academy (complete)
Royals of Sanguine Vampire Academy
Read book three of Willow’s story
www.SofiaDaniel.com
ok 2)
