Page 21 of Nova Academy

‘What?’ she beathed after a beat, stunned speechless.

‘He beat her into submission, raped her, and cut her up with a knife from the kitchens. The same knife Markus reported stolen two nights ago. Then he stabbed her in the gut and left her for dead. Addy… he’s a monster.’

But she wasn’t listening. Instead, she was pulling her holo-tab from its pouch on her utility belt, and then a hologram of the shiphovered over the screen.

‘When did this happen?’ she asked.

‘Last night,’ I replied, annoyed at having to repeat myself.

‘No, Xan. When? What time?’

‘She was brought into the med bay around two turns past midnight. Her roommate, Ari, went looking for her when she didn’t come back to their room.’

She typed something into the controls and the images began to rewind. I physically recoiled when I figured out what she was doing.

‘Fuck, Addy,don’t.Why would you want to see that?’

That somehow earned me another slap, backhanded this time. ‘I don’t, but you’re blaming someone my new friend cares about. I know he didn’t do it, Xan. Reece is not like that, I’m sure of it.’

I rested my hand over her holo-tab, pushing it down so she was forced to look at me. I gentled my expression to avoid setting her off, because she wasn’t going to like what I had do say. ‘Addy, there were witnesses. They told me everything personally. He attacked her in the kitchens at the end of her shift, and the team of cadets under her command were still hanging around when they heard a commotion. The door was barricaded so they couldn’t get to her in time, but when they finally shoved it open Hastings pushed past them and ran away.’

But she was already shaking her head, refusing to listen. I knew she wouldn’t let this rest until she had physical evidence right in front of her, so I removed my hand and reluctantly let her look up the security footage. I had avoided it myself, too afraid to see that sort of crime in action against one of my own.

Except, what I saw didn’t match what I’d been told.

The door was open and the team of cadets that had pointed their fingers were waiting on the other side, cowering away from the scene before them. This lasted for close to an entire turn before the offending rapist walked out, the others backing away as if hewere about to do the same to them. But whoever it was that walked out, though their face was covered by a towel he was in the process of tying over his face, was decidedlynotReece Hastings.

For one, the build was all wrong. Mister Hastings was short and stocky, a typical build for those with Yu’Rom genes. The rapist was much taller, with a leaner build that caused his clothes to hang off his frame. And though his hair was long enough to peep out from under the knotted towel, its colour was unable to be discerned from the blue glow of the hologram. Yet it was definitely darker and shorter than Hastings’ long, white braid.

Oh, fuck.

‘Did you even check this before you came storming into my workshop and accusing an innocent man, a man who happens to be onmy friend’s teamof mutilation, rape and attempted murder?’ Addy asked, her voice cracking with emotion and tinged with disgust. For the scene she had just watched or for my actions I didn’t know. Probably both.

Again…fuck.

‘I… No. No, I didn’t.’ My head hung low, shame drilling into me from every angle.

‘Release him. Now, Xan. And fucking grovel while you’re at it.’

I staggered back, feeling queasy again. I was numb. My legs didn’t want to hold my weight, and I slid down the wall as I crumpled in front of the toilet. I used its proximity to my advantage, the insistent heaving wracking my body in persistent waves.

Addy didn’t touch me this time. Her anger with me was righteous and justified.

‘You know you’re going to have to find the true culprit, right? And talk to those boys again. They need to face disciplinary action for lying. Reece never did anything to deserve this, and if it comes out that you considered him a suspect it won’t just ruin his reputation. It’ll destroy the standing of his whole team purely byassociation.’

My head bobbed up and down on autopilot. I could hear what she was saying and responded accordingly, but it felt like everything was far away. Muffled. The world had narrowed to a pinpoint, my only goal shallowly sucking in my next breath.

The small part in the back of my brain that was still conscious and functioning recognised when Addy left, leaving me hanging over the toilet like the sad fuck that I was.

Miserable.

Useless.

Pathetic.

Worthless.

All the comments I had received from my teachers and classmates at school came back to me then, whispering in my ear like an ex-lover, toxic and persistent.

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