Page 2 of Save You (Maxton Hall #2)

“Sorry for phoning,” I whisper, my voice broken, and I end the call.

I feel a stab in the heart as I get up and leave my little safe haven to go and check on my brother.

Ember

My sister is ill.

I wouldn’t normally find that surprising—after all, it’s December, it’s freezing, and everywhere you look, people are coughing and sneezing. It’s only a matter of when, not if, you’re going to catch a cold.

But my sister never gets ill. Seriously, never.

When Ruby came home three nights ago and went to bed without a word, I didn’t think anything of it.

After all, she’d just come through the marathon of applying to Oxford, and it must have been mentally and physically exhausting.

But the next day, she said she had a cold and couldn’t go to school.

That made me dubious because anyone who knows Ruby knows that she’d drag herself in, even with a temperature, out of fear of missing something important.

Today is Saturday, and I’m starting to feel really worried.

Ruby’s barely left her room. She’s lying in bed, reading one book after another, and pretending that her eyes are red because she’s ill.

But she can’t fool me. Something bad has happened, and she won’t tell me what, which is driving me crazy.

Right now, I’m squinting through the crack around her door, watching her stir her soup without eating any of it.

I can’t remember ever seeing her like this.

Her face is pale, and there are bluish circles under her eyes, getting darker with every day.

Her hair is greasy and limp, hanging uncombed around her face, and she’s wearing the same baggy clothes as yesterday and the day before.

Normally, Ruby is the epitome of togetherness.

It’s not just her planner or her schoolwork—she takes pride in her appearance too.

I didn’t know she even had any slobby clothes.

“Stop lurking outside my room,” she says suddenly, and I jump, caught. I act like I was coming in anyway, and push the door open.

Ruby raises her eyebrows at me. Then she puts the bowl of soup down on her bedside table, on the tray I brought it up on. I suppress a sigh.

“If you don’t want it, I’ll eat it,” I threaten, nodding toward the soup. Not that it has the desired effect. Ruby gestures vaguely.

“Knock yourself out.”

I groan with frustration as I lower myself onto the edge of her bed. “It’s been hard, but I’ve left you alone for the last couple of days because I can see you’re not exactly in the mood to talk, but…I’m genuinely worried about you.”

Ruby pulls her duvet up to her chin, so that only her head is peeking out.

Her eyes are dull and sad, like whatever happened to her has just this minute hit her with full force.

But then she blinks, and she’s back—or she’s acting like she is.

There’s been a funny look in her eyes since last Wednesday.

It’s been like only her body was here, and her mind has been somewhere else entirely.

“It’s just a cold. I’ll be better soon,” she says flatly, sounding like one of those lifeless computerized voices when you’re on hold, like she’s been replaced by a robot.

Ruby turns her face to the wall and disappears under the duvet again—a clear sign that as far as she’s concerned, the conversation is over. I sigh, and I’m about to stand up when her phone lights up on the bedside table, catching my attention. I lean over slightly so that I can see the screen.

“Lin’s calling you,” I mumble.

All I hear is a muffled “don’t care.”

I frown and watch as the call ends and, a moment later, the number of missed calls pops up on the screen. It’s in the double digits. “She’s called you more than ten times, Ruby. Whatever’s happened, you won’t be able to hide forever.”

My sister just growls.

Mum says I should give her time, but every day, it’s getting harder to watch Ruby suffer. It doesn’t take a genius to come to the conclusion that James Beaufort and his arsehole friends have something to do with this.

But I thought Ruby had got over Beaufort. So, what’s happened? And when?

I’ve tried to analyze the situation the way Ruby would, and I’ve made a mental list:

Ruby was in Oxford for her interviews.

When she got back, everything was fine.

That evening, Lydia Beaufort turned up on our doorstep, and Ruby went off with her.

After that, everything changed. Ruby hid away and has barely spoken since.

Why???

OK. So, Ruby’s list would probably be way more structured that that, but I’ve put things in a logical order, and clearly, whatever happened, it happened on Wednesday evening.

But where did she and Lydia go?

My eyes wander from Ruby, or rather the top of her head, which is all I can see poking out of her duvet, to her phone and back again. She won’t miss it, I’m pretty sure of that.

“If you need anything, I’m next door,” I say, even though I know she won’t take me up on the offer. Then I give an extra loud sigh as I stand up and make a lightning-fast grab for her phone. I shove it up one sleeve of my baggy, loose-knit sweater and tiptoe back into my own room.

Once I’ve shut the door behind me, I exhale with relief—and instantly feel guilty.

My gaze is drawn to the wall, as if Ruby can see me from her bed.

She’ll probably never speak to me again when she finds out that I’ve invaded her privacy like this.

But as her sister, it’s my duty to find out how to help. Right?

I walk to my desk and sit down on the creaky chair.

Then I pull her phone from my sleeve. My sister makes a massive secret of everything that goes on at Maxton Hall, but obviously I know the kind of people she’s at school with: rich kids whose parents are actual aristocrats, actors, politicians, or entrepreneurs.

People with power and influence in this country, who quite often hit the headlines.

I’ve been following some of Ruby’s year on Insta for a while, so I know the gossip.

Just the thought of what some of them might have done to Ruby turns my stomach.

I only hesitate for a tiny moment, then I unlock Ruby’s phone and bring up her calls list. Lin isn’t the only person who’s been ringing.

A number she doesn’t have saved has called her loads of times too.

I make up my mind and find Lin’s details—after all, she’s the only person from Ruby’s horrible school I’ve ever met in person.

Hesitantly, I hold the handset to my ear. She picks up after just one ring.

“Ruby,” I hear Lin say breathlessly. “Thank God. How are you?”

“Lin—it’s me, Ember,” I interrupt her.

“Ember? What…?”

“Ruby’s not doing very well.”

Lin goes quiet for a moment. Then, slowly, she says: “That’s hardly surprising, considering what’s happened.”

“What has happened?” I burst out. “What the hell has happened, Lin? Ruby won’t talk to me, and I’m so worried. Did Beaufort hurt her? If he did, the dickhead, I’ll—”

“Ember.” Now it’s her cutting me off. “What are you talking about?”

I frown. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the fact that Ruby messaged me on Wednesday to say she’d made up with James Beaufort, and now today, I hear that his mum died last Monday.”