Page 22 of Nova Academy

But I wasn’t that same boy that struggled to read and retain the information my teachers had attempted to shove down my throat. Like that would mean I was smart or worthy of a respectable job, a good wife, a good life. No, I was a man who had achieved much in my short life. I had taken what skills I did have and implemented them in a career that helped people. I was valued by my crew. I had a best friend that stood by my side through everything and supported me when I struggled to hold my own head up high. And who wasn’t afraid to call me out on my shit and still love me anyway. I had a family waiting for me back home who was proud of me and all that I had accomplished. Of the man I had become.

I was not this weak man who couldn’t handle the hard shit, who refused to take accountability for his actions or who’d let a guilty man roam free while an innocent took the fall.

So I got up, brushed my teeth, slapped my clammy cheeks to bring me back down to reality, straightened my clothes and marched out the door.

Hastings was exactly where I left him, his body sagging againstthe cold hard floor, his wrists held above his head where I’d attached them to the table leg. He looked up when I walked in, but didn’t make a move to speak or plead or yank on the restraints. He simply looked sad and dejected.

Ready for an attack and prepared to take it without fighting back.

It didn’t make sense. He wasn’t involved in putting Katira in the infirmary, fighting for her life. Why was he behaving like he was guilty? Or maybe it wasn’t guilt but self-pity.

It didn’t matter. It wasn’t him, and I had no right to hold him. The cuffs slid to the floor with a scrape and a clang. Hastings gazed up at me from his position below, eyeing me and the key in my grip like I was about to change my mind and lock him back up again.

‘I owe you an apology, Cadet Lance Corporal Hastings. I received information that you engaged in a crime last night that ended with one of my female officers in the infirmary. After some more investigating, I was wrong to assume the information was correct without checking its validity. You are free to go.’

He stood then, but didn’t leave. A frown marred the delicate features of his face. ‘I don’t understand. Whatexactlywas I accused of Captain?’

‘That is none of your concern, Cadet. You should go back to your room and I shall have someone deliver your evening meal to you there.’

When I scanned my hand and the door slid open he still refused to budge.

‘Sir, with all due respect, I have the right to know what I was being accused of, and who is responsible for the accusation,’ he argued.

My shoulders sank in defeat. ‘You’re partly right. I cannot inform you who created the accusation, in part because I do not yet have all the information, and also because it is against regulation to betray their anonymity. However, I will concede that you deserveto know the accusations. Truthfully, I should have read you your rights when I arrested you, but… forgive me, but I was not thinking clearly.’

I took a deep breath before I continued, knowing full well that my belief that he had performed such a heinous act would shatter any trust and respect he had built for me as his captain and superior officer. ‘One of my kitchen staff, a woman, though I shall not release her identity for her sake, was brutally raped, beaten, and mutilated after last night’s closing shift. Witnesses informed me that you were the perpetrator. Again, I must apologise for my lack of professionalism while dealing with this matter. You are innocent, and I should have fact-checked the information I was given before taking action against you.’

He was silent after my explanation. It was as if he completely shut down. No emotion showed on his face, his eyes like empty pools of cool blue ice, and his stance remained respectful of his station compared to mine. When he did eventually speak, it only proved how wrong I was for assuming he would do such a horrific thing.

‘Is she okay? The woman who was assaulted.’

‘I don’t know,’ was the only response I could give. An honest one.

‘Will she survive?’

‘That much I do know. Yes, her body will heal. It is her mental state I worry more for now,’ I admitted.

His chin dipped in acknowledgement of those facts. ‘Well, let me know if there is anything I can do to help,’ he said, and then walked out the door without a backward glance.

I deserved the brush-off.

And I learned in that moment how right Addy was. Reece Hastings was a good man. Better than most. Better than me.

And Iwouldmake it up to him.

Markus caught me again on my way back to my suite, holding an arm out to block me when I ignored him. Feeling more defeatedthat I could ever remember feeling, like that world was baring down on my shoulders and there was no way to dislodge it, I stopped.

‘What’s wrong, Xan? What happened?’ he asked, his concern for me bringing tears to my eyes that I refused to let fall. Markus was the kind of man that was raised to believe emotions were weakness, even when his compassion shone through the way it did now.

‘I fucked up, Markus. Everything’s so fucked.’

His arms snaked beneath my arms to hold me when my knees started shaking as if they might buckle.

‘All right, let’s get you inside and you can tell me all about it,’ he said, guiding me to my sofa and settling me in. He tucked a blanket around me, behaving more like a mother hen than I thought him capable of. Jorna must be having more of a positive effect on him than I’d realised. He left me there to head into the kitchen and when he came back, he held a plate full of easily digestible snacks and a steaming hot cup of tea. The first sip helped warm the chill that had settled into my very bones.

‘Okay, man. Start talking. Tell me everything and I’ll see how I can help.’

And so I did.

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