Cruel Shame (Knights of Templar Academy #3) - Sofia Daniel Page 0,3
children,” said Mr. Burgh’s voice from deep within the hall.
I turned to find him stepping through my doorway, his face slack with grief. At that moment, he looked like an old man about to lose everything. His gaze traveled down my form, taking in the bleeding cuts. After closing his eyes and exhaling a long breath, he turned to Myra, who still hadn’t let go of the gun.
Fury flashed in his eyes, but he hardened his features and turned to the door, where Miss Harper from Home Economics tried to usher the younger students back to the main building.
“Miss Highmore,” he said to Myra, “You were supposed to be waiting for your parents in the sanctuary.”
“Orlando’s breaking my wrist.” Her face twisted. “Tell him to get off!”
“Who gave you the gun?” Mr. Burgh barely spared Orlando a glance.
Myra huffed. “It’s an air pist—”
“Who gave it to you?” Mr. Burgh barked, startling both Orlando and me with the force of his words.
Her lips trembled. “I won’t tell.”
Only one person I knew could reach the academy so quickly, had access to guns, and had enough of a motive to frame me for Elizabeth’s misdeeds. I asked, “Did you call Elizabeth’s mother, too?”
“Lady Liddell didn’t give me the pistol.” Myra’s voice rose several octaves, confirming my suspicions.
I stepped back and tore my gaze away from the other girl’s tear-streaked face. “What did she promise you in exchange for murdering me?”
“She wouldn’t—”
“Lady Liddell must have known I wouldn’t confess, and she probably guessed you’d end up firing that gun.”
“It’s an air pistol,” Myra whispered, not sounding so sure.
“For your sake, it had better be a harmless toy because I intend to press charges against you for threatening my granddaughter.”
Myra’s face crumpled, and she burst into hiccuping sobs. “Lady Liddell said Elizabeth would be sent away if she got caught with drugs. I offered to take the blame, but she said the archbishop would separate us if I confessed to selling cocaine.”
Orlando and I exchanged a glance. The longing in his eyes said he wanted to cross the room and wrap me in his arms, but with so many cuts along my arms and legs, I was in no mood to touch anyone.
“What did she say?” asked Mr. Burgh in a softer voice.
Myra hesitated, and I clenched my teeth. Any pity I might have felt for the girl vanished as my mind filled in the blanks. How could anyone fall so deeply for a creature demented enough to sell drugs to little children? Elizabeth had zero redeeming features. She was cruel, arrogant, and according to Myra’s earlier reaction, she strung people along and withheld physical affection.
I shook my head. The only thing attractive about Elizabeth was her fortune, and my arrival at Templar had put that under threat.
“Miss Highmore, you cannot protect others if you want leniency,” said Mr. Burgh.
Myra gulped back a sob. “Lady Liddell said she would give her blessing to a civil partnership between Elizabeth and me if I saved both our reputations and got Lilah to confess.”
“And you believed her?” I asked.
Her face blanked. “What?”
“She’s married to the Archbishop of Scotland, who leads an institution opposed to gay marriage,” I said. “She has only one daughter who she’s trying to marry off to a prominent family. What makes you think she would follow through and let Elizabeth be with you?”
“It’s true,” said Orlando. “Lady Liddell contacted my grandfather when I was ten. He sent me here to become the next Lord Liddell, and so did the families of several other boys.”
Myra’s eyes darted around the room. I wasn’t sure if she was looking for an escape route or a way to burrow out of her current hole, but she seemed to be thinking through her options. Eventually, her fingers loosened from around the gun, which clanked to the wooden floor, and my shoulders slumped. What a bloody mess.
“Police.” A heavy fist rapped on the door, and marksmen clad in black armor appeared at the open windows.
I held out my palms but couldn’t raise my hands too high because of the cuts.
“It’s alright, officers,” said Mr. Burgh. “Mr. Nevis has apprehended the shooter, and she’s just released the gun.”
Myra nodded from the floor, and Orlando stepped back.
The officer at the door strode across the room and helped Myra to her feet. In a low voice, he placed her under arrest for the possession of a prohibited weapon and fastened handcuffs around Myra’s wrists.
Orlando wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “Are you alright?”