Page 94 of Nova Academy

‘Sir,’ Arty piped up as he stood, but one look from the captain had him rooted in place. ‘Captain, you can’t let him do this. You know it wasn’t him.’

‘My hands are tied, cadet. Reece Hastings has been discovered to be the assailant by evidence uncovered by the IU law enforcement officials. It is not my place to stand in the way of justice,’ he said, but even though his tone was brimming with apology he was still allowing this man to arrest me for a crime we all know I didn’t commit. ‘Reece, do as he says. Don’t make this harder than it has to be.’

Not knowing what else to do, I turned around and placed my hands behind my back, my shoulders slumped and head bowed in defeat. I knew this was Tarren’s doing. He’d always had it out for me since I was the only mutt in our purist community. It didn’t surprise me he would stoop to such a low to hurt me, but it hurt even more that the captain, who had done so much to protect me so far, was allowing this to happen.

‘They won’t find you guilty, Reece,’ Bromm said from beside me. ‘There’s already enough evidence to prove it wasn’t you. This is just because they can’t find the real asshole who did it. You’ll be out in no time.’

I couldn’t look at him, shame burning through me at being placed in this position in front of my team yet again. Thatshame was compounded when Dorian’s team finally caught up and entered the room, just in time to see me being carted off in handcuffs.

‘What’s going on?’ Dorian asked.

‘Reece is being charged with the assault,’ Foryk answered.

‘What? Why? Those charges were already dismissed,’ Cadmus exclaimed, and I was taken aback by the protectiveness in his tone. He even tried to step in front of the officer to prevent him from taking me out of the room, but he was quickly pulled back by Henrik.

‘Don’t. We’ll get him out, but we can’t impede an arrest without getting arrested ourselves,’ he warned him in a low hiss.

‘This is wrong,’ I heard Arty call while the door was still open. ‘You’re wrong. How could you do this?’

‘Mercer, it’s not my call.’

‘Fuck that. And fuck you. I’m not sticking around to watch an innocent man go down for something so heinous,’ he snapped.

The door closed before I could hear any more of the words exchanged, but I did hear their elevated voices.

The officer guided me to the same suite I had been held in before, but before we got there he stopped, glanced up and down the corridor, then leaned in close. ‘I’m sorry, but we have to arrest someone. Fighting back won’t help you.’

I reared back as if he had punched me. He wasn’t making any sense. ‘I don’t understand,’ I whispered back, matching his secretive tone. ‘Is this Tarren’s doing?’

‘Tarren Christianson? He is playing a part it in, yes, but he’s not who you have to worry about. You might be in cuffs right now, kid, but something else is going on. All I can say is I’m sorry you’re getting caught up in it, but when we walk through those doors I can’t be Mister Nice Guy, do you understand? This arrest is real, and it is serious.’

I shook my head. ‘No, I don’t understand. My innocence wasalready proven.’

He looked me steadily in the eyes and refused to let me break the connection. ‘I don’t have the answers, kid, I just wanted you to know you have people in your corner. Now let’s go, we’re out of time.’

He scanned his hand to allow our entry into the suite. It opened to reveal the team that had spread the rumours about me lounging about as if they were on vacation rather than being held as prisoners. They stopped what they were doing to gape at me and the large green officer. I glanced back at him, finally comprehending that I was about to be spending a lot of time with the very people who dropped my name in the shit to begin with.

‘You can’t be serious,’ I snapped.

‘Get moving, Hastings. Now.’

He gave me a firm shove to force me forward, and I stumbled into the room. It took a little longer than usual to find my balance with my hands cuffed behind my back, and the other boys in the room snickered.

‘Quiet!’ the officer’s voice snapped out like a whip and demanded instant obedience. They complied, eyeing the angry Tornu with trepidation. ‘I don’t want to hear another peep out of any of you, you hear me? Now sit down, shut up, and wait for further instructions. You’re being moved into a proper holding cell today.’

He walked back out into the corridor before any of us could respond. And terse silence permeated the room when I turned to glare at the assholes who had put me in this position in the first place.

‘Who really did it?’ I demanded.

One of them made a sound of derision. A Drakfern was spread out on one of the sofas so no one else could sit there, his feet propped up on one of the arms and his arms spanning the backrest. ‘You’re the rapist here. We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t foryou,’ hesneered.

‘Cut the shit,’ I spoke, my tone serious and possessing a warning note of danger that had never come from me before. ‘We all know it wasn’t me. You saw who it was. Tell me.’

The Drakfern used slow movements meant to intimidate as his feet slid back to the ground and he rose. He towered over me, my Yu’Rom genes lacking his Drakfern height, but I stood my ground and glared the asshole down.

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,mutt. We sawyou. You’re the fucking rapist, just like we said you are,’ he spat at me.

My blood boiled. Who did this guy think he was? I wanted to lash out, to tear my wrists free from my restraints and choke him with the chain. I wanted to see his face swell and turn purple, and I wanted to see my marks left behind on his skin. I wasn’t a naturally aggressive male, but I wasn’t a damn doormat.

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