The surveillance cameras.
I heard my name called out, but the sound was faint like it didn’t belong where I was. I tried to ignore it as I searched for more clues, but it got louder each time. I closed my eyes. My body shook, and when I opened my eyes again, I was no longer in the room. I was sitting up on the blanket, and Sacha was on his knees. His hands cupped my face. “Where did you go?” he asked. “You were here with me, and then you were gone.”
“I had a memory fragment return,” I replied, still trying to settle my mind. “I was back in that room, but it wasn’t a hotel or even a house. It was a prison. That’s where Cassius took me. I was his prisoner.”
The expression on his face turned deadly. “It’s time for the vampire and I to have a conversation, although I doubt he will enjoy it much.”
I touched his face, and he visibly calmed. “I will have words with Cassius, but not until he gets me the laptop. I can’t move forward without it.”
Sacha sat down next to me and ran his fingers through his hair. He seemed to be okay with waiting, but I doubted he liked it. “Very well, умная девочка. I will follow your lead.”
As we made our way back to the dorms, he asked me to break down everything I’d seen in the vision. He stayed silent and never gave his opinion, but I could see it all over his stern expression. Still, I couldn’t accept that Cassius had done anything bad to me. There wasn’t enough evidence to go one way or the other. One thing was certain: my memories were returning.
And they couldn’t come at a better time.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The next day I found it hard to concentrate.
I tried to focus on my courses, but my mind had other plans. I was re-playing the memory I had last night. I tried to find the details I might have missed. Some clue that would confirm he hadn’t kept me imprisoned the entire time I was under the spell of compulsion. I wanted to believe Cassius was the person I’d gotten to know since I arrived at the academy. But I couldn’t shake the image of those bruises on my wrists.
Or the chains attached to the wall.
By the time I got to detention, I was exhausted. I didn’t want to think about anything else, and I found myself looking forward to the gardening. I needed a mind-numbing activity. When I saw Sacha waiting for me, a shrill of excitement rippled through me. Last night was one of the best moments of my life. Everything was perfect from beginning to end, and that kiss was something I’d never forget.
A smile grew across his face, and I realized he must be sensing my emotions. My cheeks burned. “It’s not polite to intrude on someone’s private thoughts.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” he teased.
I glanced around the shed and didn’t see any of our gardening equipment. “Did someone take our stuff?”
“No,” he replied, pointing into the distance. “I got here early and moved all of our tools over to our next flower bed.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
He reached out for my hand and entwined our fingers. “I prefer walking like this, but the wheel barrel gets in the way.”
I bit my lip, not sure what to say. “Oh, okay.”
Hand in hand, we strode over to the flower bed together. We spent the next two hours in the back of the academy. There was a lot of shade for once, which made the work more pleasant. Sacha kept the conversation going with stories of his childhood in Russia. I did notice he rarely mentioned his parents. Kiera had told me he killed his father to become alpha. I imagined their relationship was complicated, so I didn’t ask.
When he wasn’t talking, Sacha was flirting in cute ways. He stepped in if I struggled with a thick root I couldn’t pull, or he’d offer to get me different tools so I wouldn’t have to stop what I was doing. He was courteous and charming and wildly sexy all at the same time. Mostly, he worked right next to me. We were so close, our body parts occasionally rubbed together, but I didn’t mind.
Time passed swiftly, and sooner than I expected, we completed the task. Once we returned all of the tools, I started to make my way toward the front door. Sacha caught up to me, and then did something I wasn’t expecting: he took my hand. Was he planning to enter the academy like this? I had my answer when we stepped through the front door. Supes stopped and stared at us as we maneuvered our way through crowded hallways.
It was evident by the shocked expressions on their faces that they were not expecting to see a reaper holding hands with a shifter. The fact that I was a Van Helsing, and he was an alpha, increased the sizzle level of what they were seeing. No doubt, we would be the talk of the academy for the rest of the week. I prayed no one leaked any of this to the press. I planned to tell my parents about Sacha. I’d prefer they didn’t read about us before I got the chance.
When we reached the dorms, he kissed the back of my hand. “If you hear from Cassius, send me a message.”
I was so happy; I practically floated to my dorm room. We hadn’t discussed labels, but it seemed like Sacha was close to boyfriend status. When I first came to the academy, everything in my life was going wrong. Now I had a maybe-boyfriend along with supes I could call my friends. And I was close to getting the evidence I needed to clear my name, which would also save Cassius from his brother.
I was living my best life.
Kiera was sitting at her desk when I stepped inside our room. She turned around in her swivel chair, and she had an excited expression on her face. “You’re finally back. I feel like I’ve been waiting for hours.”
“What’s going on?”
“Cassius sent you a message,” she replied, handing me a small piece of paper. “He’s got a laptop, and he wants you to meet him tonight at eleven o’clock in his dorm room.”
That was going to be tricky. He wanted to meet well past curfew, and I’d have to sneak by several cameras to get to Cassius’s dorm. I was lucky the last two times with Sacha, but he said someone owed him a favor. I didn’t know how I was going to do this on my own. At least I didn’t have to leave the academy. Cassius only wanted to meet in his room. Kiera stared at me like she was waiting for me to say something.
That’s when it hit me. I only needed a distraction. “Kiera, would you be willing to do me a favor?”
“For the super squad?” she asked. “Of course! What do you need me to do?”
I cringed. “The super squad?”
“I told you I was working on a name,” she reminded me. “The super squad makes perfect sense because we all have superpowers, well, except you, but you’re a badass reaper from a famous family. That gives you plenty of street cred.”
I laughed. “And who else is on our super squad? I thought it was just you and me.”
“Well, we’ve recently added Sacha,” she explained. “Oh, and Cassius. We can’t forget about him.”
I thought this whole thing was crazy, but if it made her happy, I’d go along with it. “Okay, then. Here’s the plan.”
The fire alarm went off, and it was time to move. Supes filled the hallway quickly, and I managed to blend in with everyone else. I was small enough that no one noticed when I made a shift toward the boys’ dorm. Cassius used his compulsion abilities to make sure that when it came time to account for everyone, the super squad made the list of attendees. I shook my head. I couldn’t believe I was going along with this team name.
By the time I reached Cassius’s room, Sacha was waiting inside. A boy I assumed was Alexei stood by his side. Sacha’s hacker didn’t look anything like the rest of his pack. He was scrawny with brown hair that fell into his eyes and silver-trimmed glasses. He wore a red t-shirt with a character on it I’d never seen before and baggy jeans. Cassius was busy hooking up the computer with all the tech gear I’d given him earlier today.
“It’s ready,” Cassius announced, crossing his arms as he stared at the screen. “I think.”
Sacha turned to Alexei and spoke something to him in Russian. Alexei nodded, and Sacha patted him on the back. Alexei cautiously moved tow
ard the laptop, keeping his eyes focused on Cassius. Sometimes I forgot the tension between shifters and vampires. For the most part, they didn’t get along.
“Let’s see what we’ve got here.” Alexei sat down in the desk chair and started typing. The screen changed to long lines of code. Cassius, Sacha, and I stood behind him while he worked.
The door opened, and I jolted. When I pivoted around, I saw Kiera scanning the area with her mouth slightly open. She moved slowly around the room, taking in all the luxuries Cassius had that no one else seemed to have. “Hashtag upgrade,” she announced. “Are all of the boys' dorms like this? Seriously, where do I file my complaint?”
“The other dorms are not like this,” Sacha corrected. “Prince Cassius is the exception.”
Once Kiera finished checking out all of Cassius’s cool stuff, she came to stand next to me. She remained quiet for a minute or two, and then she noticed something on Alexei’s shirt. “Oh. My. God,” she exclaimed. “Is that a Shoto Todoroki t-shirt.”
Alexei turned to her with wide, excited eyes. “Are you a fan of My Hero Academia?”
“Hell, yeah,” she squealed. “Shoto is my favorite.”
Alexei and Kiera were going back and forth, talking about some manga or comic book thing. They were both going a mile a minute, and I had no idea how they heard what the other was saying. My eyes darted between Cassius and Sacha. “Does anyone know what’s happening?”
Cassius picked at his fingernail. “Nerd bonding.”
Sacha placed his hand on Alexei’s shoulder, and he stopped mid-sentence. He continued typing code into the computer. I glanced at Kiera. She put her hand over her heart and made a face like she was gushing. It looked like I wasn’t the only one crushing on a shifter. We all remained quiet for the next twenty minutes. Cassius sat on the sofa, casually reading a book. Kiera and I talked amongst ourselves, and Sacha stood behind Alexei.
I startled when Alexei leaped up from his chair. “I found it,” he proclaimed. His eyes connected with Sacha, and they spoke in Russian.
The rest of us hurried over to the screen. Alexei sat back down in the chair and pressed play. Most of the video was nothing but trees and the occasional forest animal. He fast-forwarded until I stepped into the footage. He paused the video. “That’s it,” I squealed. “Can you turn the volume up?”
“There’s no volume,” Alexei corrected. “The picture is all we’ve got.”
I didn’t want to seem ungrateful. “This is enough. I don’t know how to thank you. I couldn’t have done it without you.” I gazed at Sacha. “Either of you.”
“What about me?” Cassius asked. “Or did you already forget who provided the laptop?”
I smiled. “Thank you, Cassius.”
Sacha stepped in front of me, facing Cassius. “She owes you nothing, vampire. You are the cause of this, or have you forgotten.”
Cassius moved forward, and now they were nose to nose. Alexei positioned himself right behind Sacha, ready to support his alpha if needed. “My brother is trying to kill me, shifter,” Cassius sneered. “Please explain how that is my fault.”
The amount of testosterone in the room was making it hard to breathe. I squeezed between Cassius and Sacha, forcing both of them to step back. “There’s plenty of blame to go around. Let’s play nice. We don’t need to do this.” I put my hand on Sacha’s shoulder. “Let’s take a look at the footage, okay.”
His nostrils flared, then Sacha nodded his head.
Cassius put up his hands in retreat.
We made our way back to the laptop, and Alexei pressed play. I was there holding my taser wand, and then I fell backward onto my bottom. I quickly rose to my feet and stood in a crouched fighting stance. Two vampires appeared on either side of me. They attacked me at the same time, and I hit one of them with the taser. The taser sparked as it connected with his face. The fight went on for several minutes until I killed them both.
“Those two are from my clan.” Cassius pointed to the screen. “Both of them are members of my brother’s private guard. We’ve got the proof we need.”
My eyebrows furrowed. “How are we going to prove that your brother sent them to kill you?”
“We only have to show this video to my father, the king. He will recognize them as members of my brother’s guard. They would never make a move without my brother’s consent,” he explained. “I will tell my father you were protecting me.”
“But we have to make the high council understand,” I corrected. “Not your father.”
Cassius shook his head. “Silas, the vampire high council member, is my father’s younger brother. He will do as my father asks.”
Relief spilled over my shoulders. I handed Alexei a piece of paper with my father’s email address. “Send the video here. My father will want to see this for himself. Tell him we’ve identified the two vampires as members of Declan Stoica’s clan. He’ll know what to do.”
“Leave the video with me,” Cassius insisted. “Once I send the video evidence to my father, he will want to speak with me. This information will be difficult for him to accept.”
I didn’t envy Cassius at that moment. I wanted to speak with him about what I’d seen when my memory returned, but he had more significant issues to work through. “I think we should give Cassius some privacy,” I announced.
Kiera and Alexei were talking in the corner. Neither of them seemed to be paying attention to what we were saying. Sacha stared at me with a look of confusion, and I shrugged. He let out a long exhale, then went to where Alexei stood and gave him an impatient glare. A moment later, the two of them were out the door.
“It will be all over soon,” I hugged Cassius. “I know it.”
Cassius took my hands in his. “I couldn’t agree more.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
The next morning, I had a note from the headmaster on our door.
He requested I come to his office at eight o’clock. There was no sense of urgency in his request, which led me to believe I wasn’t in trouble. This meeting had to be about the new evidence we discovered last night. Filled with excitement, I got dressed, brushed my teeth, and hurried down to his office. I knocked three times on his door. When I heard him invite me in, I turned the knob and got a real surprise.
My parents sat in the chairs across from his desk. My mother had a broad smile across her face as she came toward me. She wrapped me in her arms, and I took in the scent of her honeysuckle perfume. “We’re so proud of you, Mina,” she whispered. “We knew you could do it.”
Mom took my hand and guided me over to my father, who was now standing. He gave me a tight hug that wasn’t as warm as my mother’s, but it didn’t matter. I was happy to see them both. I hoped they had come to pick me up, that the high council had rescinded my sentence. “What are you doing here?”
“They came to share the good news,” the headmaster replied. “The high council has called for an emergency session. Vampire king, Declan Stoica, has presented the court with new evidence that links your case with the attempted murder of his son, Cassius.”
“Declan confirmed the identities of the two vampires you killed,” Dad interjected. “They belonged to Orpheus, his eldest son's private guard. Apparently, he’d sent them as mercenaries to kill his little brother. It sounds like the king is dealing with a very sticky situation if you ask me.”
My eyes darted between my parents, and I read their wordless expressions. They wanted me to play along as if all of this was news to me. I returned my attention to the headmaster. “What does this have to do with me?”
“Declan confirmed that you committed the murders to save Cassius’s life,” he explained. “Cassius admitted he used compulsion on you, which is illegal, but the laws are flexible when the spell is necessary for self-defense.”
“How was this new evidence discovered?” I asked, trying to extract what he knew.
“King Stoica was able to prove that someone tampered with the surveillance footage used in your case.
The video we recorded here on campus.” The headmaster appeared visibly irritated. He turned to my father. “We’re currently conducting our own investigation, and I assure you, we will discover the culprit.”
I couldn’t believe what Cassius was able to accomplish. Somehow, he managed to clear my name and present evidence against his brother without involving any of us in the process. The headmaster had no clue. I was going to walk away from all of this without anyone finding out about my sleuthing, my family’s purpose for sending me here, or any of the illegal activities our super squad participated in last night.
My parents knew the truth, but it appeared that they were just going to go along with it. I wanted to scream with excitement, or at the very least, high-five everyone in the room, but I couldn’t do any of that. I had to keep pretending I had nothing to do with any of this. “Where is Cassius now?” I asked.
“He will serve as a witness against his brother, Orpheus,” Mom explained. “He’ll remain in protective custody until his brother’s trial.”
I was pleased to know Cassius was safe, but disappointed I couldn’t thank him for all that he did. He shouldn’t have used compulsion against me, but in a way, I was grateful he did. If he hadn’t, I would’ve never come here. I would’ve never known about the abuses the reapers have committed against the supernatural factions. Now I could help them and forge better relationships between humans and supes. I also made a friend for life in Kiera and a maybe-boyfriend in Sacha.
Coming to the academy was the best thing that could’ve happened to me. I glanced at my parents. “Does this mean I’m free to go?”
“Not yet,” Dad replied. “We have to wait for all of the evidence to be presented to the high council. Once they agree, I suspect formal charges against Prince Orpheus will be issued.” He waved his hand dismissively. “Red tape and all of that nonsense.”
Van Helsing Academy Page 16