Chapter Fifteen
Alexandr Miroslav
I didn’t return to my dorm when we’d all awkwardly shuffled out of the library, staying true to my promise and storming through the grounds until I reached the teacher’s quarters. It was the same size as the students’ building but closer to the campus. Right behind it on the opposite end, in fact.
I walked in and didn’t take long to find Cassius Vale’s living chambers on the first floor. His name was written Mr C. Browne on the plaque in perfect cursive next to his door.
I suppose he didn’t bother changing his first name when he assumed the new identity.
God, I was going to smash his face in. I was going to steal everything I could and shove those books he loved so much down his throat until he got fatal papercuts.
I went to knock when footsteps from around the corner sounded, dull at first before getting sharper. They were approaching.
I looked around quickly before finding my best bet and ducking under one of the alcoves. If they turned down this hall and walked past Cassius’ room, I’d surely be caught.
Listening intently, they did, in fact, turn down this hall. With each step closer to me I pressed myself harder and harder against the wall, as if that would change anything, looking to the window.
The latch looked old and rusted, and I couldn’t imagine myself prying it open without it making a sound similar to nails on a chalkboard, grating the ears of anyone who’d heard it.
I hadn’t realized how hard my heart was beating until I felt it in my ears, pounding in my head like a sledgehammer, momentarily impairing my ability to hear.
As if an answer to my uncalled prayer, the footsteps stopped, and a knock sounded right. Next. To. Me.
If I so much as breathed, I was sure they’d hear me.
The door opened, and I was glad I didn’t gasp at the voices.
“Ah, look who decided to join us, Bow. Here on business?” Cassius’ voice dripped with amusement when a second voice joined him from inside his room, “Look what the Wind blew in, the man of the hour.”
The second voice was oddly familiar, though I couldn’t place it. I was so sure I’d heard it somewhere.
But the nicknames, those I was sure I’d heard before. Long, long ago, when Cassius wasn’t careful around his self-proclaimed mentee.
Then, Thaddeus Saltford-Windsor’s voice rang right next to me, “Make all the jokes you want. But you all know I always end up with the last laugh.”
His voice got smaller as he stepped inside, and the door closed, and this was too good an opportunity to pass up. So, I made the calculated move to eavesdrop from the outside.
It wasn’t exactly hard. Cassius’ room was on the first floor, and he was the one stupid enough to leave his window open.
I tried peering in, but they weren’t visible enough, sitting in the corner of the room, at a table that was sure to have some sort of booze—if the pouring of drinks and clinking of glasses were anything to go by. So, I begrudgingly settled for simply listening in.
“So, how was the meeting today?”
I could hear Thaddeus laugh. “Well, they seem to be getting on fine. Faster than I’d expected and faster than we did. So, there’s that.”
“Why do you look put out, then?”
“They seem to have formed an alliance against me.”
Cassius laughed, loud and strong, like he always did when he was genuine.
“It is not funny. They called me old and tried convincing me I was going crazy. I knew they were up to something,” he mumbled the last bit.
The other man, the one I didn’t know, replied, “Well, to be fair, we were always up to something as well."
Thaddeus poured himself another drink. “Yes, but at least then, I was in on it. It really isn’t fun when you’re on the outside looking in.” He sighed, and I would have laughed at the notion of August getting to him had I not been so focused on the conversation. “I am getting old.”
“Oh god.” Cassius sounded disgusted. “Don’t come and ruin our fun. Go home to your wife if you’re going to be a bore.”
“Ana won’t ever see the boring side of me, I can assure you.”
“How lucky for us, I suppose. Tell me, how is Lu doing?”
Then, Thaddeus laughed. He laughed so hard that Cassius and the other man laughed along with him, unknowing of the joke until he said, “Myro let slip that Miroslav and Wolf chain-smoke every night–well, really he outright snitched because no one had his back.”
“What?”
Bow’s voice was already deep, and his loud tone made it sound as if he were speaking into a microphone. Cassius was quick to mediate. “Alright, let’s calm down. We weren’t any better, and Bow, you were worse.”
“Oh, piss off, Cass.”
“Keep in mind, he’s in his thirties.” Cassius said, but it sounded as if he was saying this to Thaddeus.
They were bickering like children, but I didn’t dare think of leaving without something short of information of value.
When they settled down, Thaddeus said, "Apparently, Miroslav has been corrupting the lot of them. I might go on a step further and tell you that they seem to be getting along.”
“Did he say they were getting along? Those words exactly?” Bow sounded skeptical.
“I know how to read through the lines, idiot,” Thaddeus replied, offended.
Cassius must have mumbled something I couldn’t catch with his lips around his cup before taking a gulp. “I can’t remember if we ever did that. Did we?”
Thaddeus laughed. “No, though we did handle that affair for Adama, if you recall. When Valerius tried that thing.”
It was finally getting interesting, and that’s how he describes an event?
Bow seemed to read my thoughts, and I almost wanted to jump up and hug him. “I can’t say that I do. When?”
Cassius chuckled. “That thing… When Valerius tried–”
“Oh, right! I remember.”
Oh, screw you all right to hell.
“Good times.” Thaddeus mused.
My legs were beginning to cramp, and I was hoping they’d get more loose-tongued as they continued drinking.
I tried squatting, but it only made my thighs burn, my muscles stretching, and so I stood back up, quietly huffing.
I peered into the room but could only see half of Cassius’ face, as Bow’s back covered most of him, and the side of Thaddeus’ profile.
“So, they’re a good batch this time around?” Bow asked.
“Mhmm.” Thaddeus nodded along. “They passed their first test with flying colours. My plans are set in motion.”
“Funny, you never mention these plans until they’re done and their rewards are coming to fruition,” Cassius retorted.
Thaddeus ignored him for Bow’s remark. “I’m not sure why you asked for a vial of blood, though. The first test has always been that god-awful ceremony. So why break tradition?”
Cassius cringed audibly, most likely at the memory, but I only furrowed my brows. Not following where their minds had gone.
Thaddeus sighed. “Gentlemen. My mind is, regrettably for you all, ahead of its time, and I just don’t think strapping kids down and torturing them to the brink of their limits helps me figure them out in any way.”
My heart faltered in its beating, my stomach dropped. I wanted to go back to my dorm, clean my ears, and come back to check if I’d heard that right.
Yet they remained unaware, speaking as though it was a casual conversation. “So, what did the vials do for you?” Cassius asked.
“I gained their trust for one, or at least, they don’t look at me as if I’d skin them at any moment.
And two, I get their darkest truths without the hatred and tears.
” It sounded like they didn’t believe him, because he elaborated, “Look, Marigold brought the blood of a rabbit. The girl is a natural killer. Rain brought the blood of her secretary, a natural leader, Paris brought the blood of one of her father’s suitors.
Drugged him and drained him. The poor fella doesn't even know.
“That is all I need to know about them. Besides, I hardly believe the ceremony would do us any good. We’d only be putting targets on our own backs.”
Cassius shook his head. “We turned out just fine.”
Whose side is he on?
Thaddeus shot him a blank stare. “You’re a school teacher, Cas. Before that, you were a lobbyist, and before that, an art collector. ‘Board member’ was never on your resume. No, that, you gave to your brother.”
“He’s older.”
“He’s incapable.”
“Careful.”
That meant the vials were a calculated move on his part, divorced from the Founder’s Society and the board, for Thaddeus’ own plans. What those plans were, I didn’t know.
And Cassius has an older brother, exactly as Rain said.
But… isn’t that prohibited?
Bow was the one to break the stifling silence and pull me from the short moment in my thoughts. “I still don’t like that Miroslav kid. He’s a liar and a thief, a bad influence on Lu, and– Oh! He drugged me.”
Liar!
I don’t even know the bastard.
When have I ever drug–
Oh.
Oh.
Evan. Bow.
The man on the plane.
That was why he sounded so familiar.
I was left reeling, staring blankly at the brick wall, trying to make sense of the situation. If Evan, whoever he is, was on the plane, it wasn’t a coincidence. He must have been there to vet me, assess me.
Did they do that to everyone?
And who is Lu?
LuLuLuLu
I repeated what could only be a nickname in my head, trying to place it.
Hoping that the letters around it would form on their own, a full name.
Luther?
Luis?
Luciano?
Evan. Bow. Evan. Bow. Ev–
That one there is Evander… Barthelow Kingsley.
The memory slipped into place. A puzzle piece right next to the name.
I hadn’t placed his face in memory since the last time I’d seen him, but thinking back now, he didn’t change much from the photo.
But if Evan was Evander Kingsley, that meant Lu had to be none other than Wolf. The nickname made sense.
Le loup.
The wolf in French, my mind offered the translation as if by default.
I gripped my hair.
Cassius knew I was being watched; this entire time, he knew and acted as if he hadn't recognized me?
Why?
Was this all a test? Was this what Thaddeus meant by holding me to a higher scrutiny than the others?
And then, my question was answered.