Page 20 of Nova Academy

‘Sir?’ I asked, an almost imperceptible shake to my voice as he approached me with handcuffs already extended.

‘Get up, Cadet. Hands behind your back.’

I nodded, picked myself off from my position on the floor and dusted myself off, then followed the captain outside. I would havethe chance to defend myself, but with the way he was jaw was set and his determination to arrest me, I knew that now wasn’t the time. I heard the others’ raised voices as we stepped inside the elevator, the door dropping shut with the telltale whoosh and click.

‘What’s going on?’ I asked now that we were alone, struggling to comprehend what was happening and what I was being arrested for. I wracked my brain for anything I had done that could have been considered in any way a crime but could not think of a single thing.

‘Shut up and keep moving,’ he spat out, and the way he glared down at me sent a shiver of apprehension up my spine. Whatever he thought I had done, it was clearly bad. I was innocent, though I could tell I would be in for a fight to clear my name. But first I had to figure out what it was I was being accused of.

As the elevator rose through the decks and spat us out on a higher level us cadets did not have access to, the gravity of the situation tried to pin me beneath its immovable weight. The only thing that kept me moving forward, one foot in front of the other and slow, deep breaths to calm my racing heart, was the way Arty had stood up for me. He hadn’t doubted me or my character for a second, and even tried to speak up in my defence. It may not have worked, but it was then that I knew everything was going to be okay.

Away from home and my family, I had left behind the only people who had ever been on my side. But my concern over being isolated and vulnerable here had lessened now that I had someone at my back.

I would get through this, and I wouldn’t have to do it alone.

CHAPTER 10

Alexander

The pale boy followed behind me, hanging his head like he was walking to his death. After the complaint I had received against him, he was right to cower in shame. I had never in my life been more disgusted by the actions of another man, let alone a damn cadet. Sure, they tended to be obnoxiously arrogant when they started their journey at Nova Academy, but none had behaved in such as manner asCadet Lance CorporalReece Hastings. A title I would strip him of soon enough when I booted him out of the military entirely.

I didn’t want the rest of the ship discovering what had happened just yet and all the holding rooms had been converted to accommodate the cadets. Only one option remained, and I led him to the floor of my personal quarters. There were other rooms on the captain’s deck, though they were for the highest ranked officers on board my ship. There were four rooms total, ensuring we had enough space to live comfortably, though they were still only large enough for one person per suite. Mine was the largest, with a full bathroom, kitchen, dining, and living area. Enough space and privacy to personally entertain my more important guests, not that I had very many of those. Two more were occupied by the other highest-ranking members of my crew: the engineering and maintenance CWO, who was, of course Addy, and my first lieutenant, Jorna Kalsur. The latter had recently started dating a good friend of mine, Markus, the ship’s head chef, which was why it didn’t seem odd when I found him loitering in this particular corridor.

He nodded at me and I returned the gesture, but the way my fury radiated was clearly all the indication he needed to keep hisdistance. He shot me a look filled with concern as he watched me practically drag the boy behind me, but he didn’t try to stop me or ask questions. Instead, he went back inside Jorna’s suite, the door snicking as it closed behind him.

No doubt I’d hear about this later when he demanded answers.

At the end of the corridor was an empty room that I typically used for high-profile guests. Today, though, I would be using it as a holding cell for the worst kind of criminal to exist. With two sisters, I had always been wary of the actions of men who thought they were entitled to take whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted it. Especially with youngest sister finding success in her quest for fame. Reece Hastings was my worst nightmare.

I locked the door behind me with the biometric scanner. It was programmed solely for my use since it was currently vacant, so he wouldn’t be able to escape. It was the perfect place to hide him away and to keep him from the other women on this ship.

Taking the cuffs from where I’d clipped them around his wrists, I secured his hands to the leg of the table that was bolted to the floor. There was no doubt in my mind that he would stay exactly where I left him.

His gaze probed me, confused and concerned. The fact that he thought he could pretend like he hadn’t just violated one of my female officers in the worst way imaginable made me physically ill. When my stomach clenched and my skin vibrated with unadulterated rage, it forced me to leave the room before I did something I couldn’t come back from.

Like murder the fucker with my bare hands.

Addy was already waiting for me in my living room when I entered, looking ready to tear my head off, but I held up a hand to ward her off and bolted for the bathroom. The toilet came in handy then as I expelled all the food I had consumed that day. A small hand rubbed soothing circles in my back until I was dry heaving, nothing more than spit dribbling from my lips and chin.

When the convulsions ended, I fell back onto my ass and rested my elbows on my knees. My head lolled backwards, smacking against the side of the bathtub. It made my already throbbing skull feel like it was about to split in two, but I ignored the pain. I deserved it. I had allowed one of my own to get violently raped by a fuckingcadetof all people.

I was just as repulsed with myself as I was with the man I’d left restrained in the room down the hall.

‘Are you done?’ Addy asked, her voice soft, yet stern.

I nodded.

She smacked me so hard across the cheek that my head whipped to the side, banging into the bathtub again but at a different angle that the throbbing spread to accommodate.

My nostrils flared as I jumped to my feet, and though my stomach lurched, I forced the churning to stop, if only for the moment.

‘What the fuck, Adara?’ I yelled.

‘No,youwhat the fuck, Xander? Whatever you think Reece did, he didn’t do it.’

My breaths were heaving as I glowered down at my best friend, beyond angry that she would take the side of an abuser over me.

‘He fucking raped Katira, Addy. She was sent to the med bay last night, beaten and bloody with her pants torn to shreds and her bodymutilated,’ I spat, wanting to tear the universe apart to fix what had been done. But there was nothing I could do except catch the guy who did it.

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