Chapter 36 Ashlyn
I was in the middle of a hot and heavy dream about having Niko to myself in our secret spot in the library when a hand shook my shoulder. I snorted to consciousness, finding myself at my desk in History of Warfare with Miss Blake scowling over me.
“Huh?” I asked, blinking myself into further awareness.
“You’re being called to Director Dracul’s office,” she informed me in a clipped tone.
Director Dracul. How ludicrous.
Wait? Fear chilled within me. Why was I being called to General Dracul’s office?
I shouldered my bag and stepped out of my desk, gazing around at the curious looks on the faces of my classmates as I walked out of the room. They seemed to be just as in the dark as I was.
“Right this way, Miss Summers.” Major Cockburn was standing in the hall, wearing a smug expression as he tipped his head for me to follow him.
Shit. This can’t be good.
I tried not to panic as I followed him through the halls. This could be about anything. My grades, my trysts with Niko, the incident with the asshole soldier last night. Hell, I’d rather it be all of those things. I swallowed my fear and held my head up high, reminding myself that I was a Summers.
“Did you come to return my headphones?” I asked cockily.
Cockburn didn’t so much as look at me in acknowledgment; he just maintained his brisk pace to the general’s office.
“They’re really high quality, but if you’ve used them to listen to porn, you can keep them.”
Still, no response, though I saw the corner of his lips twitch downward, and that put a skip in my step, even if I was walking to my own execution.
Don’t be so pessimistic. It could be anything. It’s probably nothing.
But I knew I was lying to myself; the icy lump hardening my insides told me as much.
When we finally reached the office, Major STD opened the door and gestured for me to go in ahead of him. My eyes fell on the faces of my partners in crime, and my world narrowed down to the frantic beating of my heart.
My legs carried me robotically inside and to the last empty chair in front of Dracul’s desk, where I sat and tucked my hands between my knees. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
“What is this about?” Jackson asked, looking more irritated than worried.
General Dracul held up a hand. “Hold on. We’re waiting for one more.” He put his hand back on his desk and began to drum his fingers against it.
I glanced cautiously up at Niko, finding some small comfort in the fact that he was standing behind the general and not sitting with the rest of us.
The door swung open, and I had to force myself to look. It was Ignaeus. He seemed just as nervous as me, his skin flushed, his posture rigid. Oh, no.
“You sent for me, General?” Ignaeus asked, now looking the part of the perfect soldier. I wondered if my poker face was as good as his.
“Yes,” the general said, looking quite pleased with himself. “I thought you might want to be here for this interrogation.”
“Interrogation?” Ignaeus asked.
“It has come to my attention that your daughter and the rest of these troublemakers have been conducting meetings in secret,” the general said.
“That’s bullshit,” Jackson barked.
“Then why were the six of you in the greenhouse unattended yesterday evening?”
Petra cut him a glare like he was the biggest idiot on the planet. “We volunteered to rebuild it.”
“That may be, but you were unattended for fifteen minutes while your chaperoning faculty fled the scene,” Dracul added.
“Yeah, because we needed more screws,” Brett argued. “You’re really going to punish us for volunteering our time to help the school?”
“If that was truly the case, of course not. But several of you were spotted in the halls after curfew the night before. Isn’t it strange that the same group of you would volunteer to be alone together after school hours?”
“Sir, if I may—” Niko began.
The general put up his hand to cut him off. “No, you may not, Private Candida. Considering you were also seen with Miss Summers the night before last, you should consider yourself lucky to be behind my desk rather than in front of it.”
Niko set his jaw and took a step back, and I was grateful. Better he keep his position and go on to fight another day than throw himself under the bus with the rest of us.
“Forgive me, General, but I don’t quite see the problem here,” Ignaeus hedged.
Dracul put his hands flat on his desk. “The problem, Lieutenant General, is that these students, including your daughter, have been meeting in secret, and I want to know why.”
Not one of us so much as breathed a response. Not even prim and proper Letti or goody-two-shoes Katya. We had chosen wisely for our group of rebels.
“If someone doesn’t give me an answer right now, you’ll all be severely punished!” The general roared, his voice booming through the small room and making my ears ring.
I flicked my gaze to my comrades, seeing my fear mirrored in their faces, but also their determination and unwillingness to break.
“Ugh, fine,” Jackson groaned, and all of our eyes widened with panic. He reached into his leather jacket and tossed a square box onto the desk.
The general leaned forward and picked up the carton of cigarettes, turning it over in his hand. “What is this?”
“What does it look like?” Jackson snorted. “It’s a pack of smokes, dude.”
My heart was still beating furiously in my chest as I watched with bated breath to see where he was going with this.
“Clearly, I can see that,” the general ground out. “But what I can’t see is what it has to do with you meeting in secret.”
Jackson shrugged. “Your men raided everyone’s stash, and I pride myself in being a purveyor of goods. These guys just wanted some of my product.”
Dracul eyed him for a long moment, as if debating whether or not to believe him. And even though I was metaphorically on the edge of my seat, I was majorly impressed with Jackson’s cool exterior, as well as his confession to the lesser crime.
“I’ve got cigarettes, weed, liquor, wine for the sophisticated partier—” Jackson rattled off like a salesman.
“Enough!” Dracul barked. “Is this true?” He scanned hateful eyes over our group.
We played along, nodding guiltily, even though relief was surely singing in their chests as much as it was in mine.
“You all should be ashamed of yourselves,” the general scorned. “Especially you, Miss Summers, dragging your father’s good name through the mud like this.”
Ignaeus tutted, shaking his head. “Ashlyn, I’m surprised at you.”
“I’m sorry, Dad,” I whimpered rather convincingly.
He continued to shake his head and look disappointed, and a shaky breath left my chest.
“Well, I have no choice but to punish the lot of you,” the general said, as if he took no pleasure in that decision.
“What? Why? I’m the one distributing,” Jackson argued.
“You wouldn’t need to if there wasn’t the demand,” Dracul reasoned. “You’ll all spend the rest of the day cleaning the defense room from top to bottom.”
“What?” Petra stood up, balling her fists at her sides. “But that will take us all night. You expect us not to sleep?”
The general gave her a wicked grin. “You weren’t so concerned about getting sleep the other night, were you? Not when you had something to gain. And tonight, you have much to gain.”
“Like what?” she spat, throwing her hands up.
The general leaned back in his swivel chair and laced his fingers over his lap. “Character, Miss Adder. Character and discipline. One day, you’ll thank me. Now, Major Cockburn, if you’ll please escort these miscreants to the Defense room.” He waved us off with his fingers.
Petra snickered. “Cockburn,” she whispered.
“What was that?” the Major quipped.
“Nothing!” Petra chirped, grinning impishly.
Glad I wasn’t the only one who found it hilarious.
We all rose and reluctantly followed him out of the office, one by one. I stole a glance at Niko, and we shared an instant of relief at how horribly this all could have gone. I didn’t care about our punishment. Yes, it would suck, but it was far more lenient than it would’ve been if our true agenda had been exposed.
We just had to be more careful in the future. Because, come hell or high water, we needed to get that fucking psycho out of here.