earth these people were hiding.
“Miss Hancock,” Liddell said with a snarl. “As soon as we find your fingerprints on that weapon—”
“Bugger off, Chief Cunt,” I snapped.
If looks could kill, Camden Liddell’s glower would have incinerated my body into ashes and blasted me into the ninth circle of hell. I raised my chin, daring him to say something incriminating, but he turned on his heel and left.
As Orlando stepped out of the room, I sucked in several frantic breaths. “Shit!” Maybe I shouldn’t have called him the c-word. “Shit, shit, shit!”
The door opened, and Orlando returned. “What the bloody hell was that about?”
“I don’t know.” The words came out in a rush. “Do you think Myra said something incriminating in her confession?”
Orlando turned to the door, as though Camden Liddell might kick it down at any moment. I also glanced at the room’s only exit and frowned. After dodging two bullets this morning, my sense of paranoia blared at full alert, but there was no mistaking what I’d seen earlier.
“That wanker had something in his pocket,” I said.
“What?” Orlando turned back to me, his eyes wide.
“You distracted him.”
“It’s a good thing that I did.” Orlando crossed the room and stood by my bed. One of his large hands cupped the side of my face. “You can’t be left alone. Ever.”
I dipped my head. “They want to get me.”
“We won’t give them a chance.” He pressed a kiss on my temple. “There are three of us. Four if you count Mr. Burgh.”
“And Gideon,” I said.
“Right.” Orlando nodded. “Adewale, too. Between the five of us, we’ll keep you safe.”
“They’ve fucked with the wrong person,” I said. “Every time they come after me it just makes me more determined to work out what they’re hiding.”
Chapter Five
Orlando and I spent the next several minutes waiting for the return of Camden Liddell, the arrival of a doctor, or even DCI Cromar, but nobody disturbed us. He positioned us both on the bed so that I lay between his parted legs with my back resting on his strong chest.
He caressed my hair with soft, rhythmic strokes until my arms and legs stopped throbbing, and my eyelids became heavy.
“This is nice,” I murmured.
“It could be like this every day when you return to the academy,” he said.
A soft laugh huffed out of my lungs. “Mr. Burgh won’t allow it.”
“He didn’t approve of me before but I think he does now,” said Orlando. “You saw how he thanked me for saving your life.”
“Did he?” I murmured. “Everything about this morning is a blur.”
Orlando kissed the shell of my ear. “It won’t happen again.”
“Hmmm…” Drowsiness held my tongue, as did Camden Liddell’s parting words. It wasn’t over. Those bastards would come after me until I was in no position to threaten their precious fortune. I shifted to the right, wrapped an arm around Orlando’s middle, and rested my side on his chest.
Right now, I wanted to lose myself in his embrace. To drift into a deep sleep in his arms and wake up from a bizarre dream where Myra had tried to shoot me. A long breath heaved out of my lungs. This academy might look like something out of a Disney movie but my experience was turning out like a story from the Brothers Grimm.
“How is she?” whispered a voice.
My eyes cracked open, and two identical faces peered down at me. My vision was too blurred to make out the smaller figure behind them, but from the dark brown skin, it could only be Gideon. I had felt safe with Orlando, but having my best friend and the knights at my bedside wiped away my last layer of tension.
Warm fingers brushed my hair off my face. “What did the doctor say?”
“She hasn’t seen one yet,” said Orlando.
“Why didn’t you call someone?” snapped Kendrick.
I wanted to explain that neither of them had seen me nearly shot or threatened by one of the most powerful police officers in the whole of Scotland, but a wave of tiredness dragged me under. As I drifted to sleep, Orlando murmured something about not wanting to leave me alone.
The next time I awoke, a pair of doctors stood at my bedside. Gideon sat on the fluorescent green chair with the kind of smug expression I recognized from being the teacher’s pet.
“Lilah,” said the older doctor, an Indian lady whose hair was cut in a severe bob. “I understand you’ve had a nasty incident with a gun and broken glass. May we examine your wounds?”
The younger