Evergreen Academy - The Complete Series

by Ruby Vincent

  Isabella’s calm cracked. Surprise flickered across her face as her lips parted. “They have—”

  “Gone to the police,” I said again. “They have also told Evergreen the truth. So what do your precious Spades think about that? Who is lying now?”

  Her mouth opened and closed but nothing came out.

  “What are they going to say, Isabella?” Claire pressed. “The victim has gone to the cops and the headmaster. Everything Valentina is saying lines up.”

  “It sounds like they’re the fucking liars,” said Brian, one of Darren’s friends. “What the hell are they trying to do? Why are they protecting her? You spoke to them. You know them. Tell us who they are so we can ask ourselves!”

  “Yeah!”

  The cry echoed in the space as Isabella’s head whipped this way and that. “I-I don’t know them.”

  “You’re lying!” Genesis Smith roared. “She’s protecting them too!”

  She lurched to her feet and most of the class did too. I took the tiniest step back. I could sense something brewing in the air and it was turning nasty.

  Isabella backed up too until she ran into the table. “I’m not protecting them. I don’t know who they are. They— They sent me texts anonymously.”

  “You believe some anonymous person over Valentina?” Claire asked.

  “We believe them”—Natalie shot forward and stood next to her friend—“because they told us the real reason Valentina was marked. She’s the one who lied. She is doing all of this to hide the truth.”

  “What truth?” I snapped. “What are you talking about?”

  Natalie leveled her poisonous gaze on me. “Why won’t you give the innocent act a rest? It’s all out now so why keep lying?”

  I threw up my hands. “You’re still batshit stupid. I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

  “Fine. If you won’t spill it; I will.” She spun to face the room. “Valentina was marked in freshman year because the Spades found out her secret. They discovered she was hiding a kid that was fathered by...”

  Every fiber of my being went still as those words came from her mouth. No. They can’t know. They can’t—

  “...her middle school teacher.”

  I was far away when the end of her sentence reached me, or at least, that was what it felt like. The roaring in my ears was drowning everything out as my brain tried to make sense of it.

  Fathered by... who?

  “That’s not true!” Ryder’s shout broke me from my fog. “They’re the ones making shit up!”

  “Really?” Natalie challenged. “Then why has Valentina been hiding her kid for all these years?”

  I didn’t need Ryder to defend this one. “Because he’s none of your fucking business.”

  Her smirk widened. “Just like you’ll say the father is none of our business, but why is that? Why won’t you tell anyone?”

  I swallowed hard. My body shook as I glared at her.

  “Go on. Tell us who your kid’s dad is.” The chaos had finally settled. No one was yelling or arguing as Natalie faced me down. “Ace said that you wouldn’t—that you couldn’t. You’re the one who has been protecting a pedophile. You seduced Mr. Garret, got knocked up, and hid it so he wouldn’t end up in jail.”

  My chest heaved from the force of my ragged breaths. My middle school teacher’s name had been Mr. Garret. He was kind, thirty years old, and moved out of the country before I graduated. He was long gone and there was no way he could be used to disprove their story. Ace had certainly done their homework.

  “Mr. Garret is not the father of my son,” I forced through gritted teeth. “He was a nice person who never laid a finger on me and you and your Spade buddies should be ashamed for dragging an innocent man into this, but this is what they do. They aren’t above disgusting things like this to get what they want.”

  “If that’s true, tell us who the father is.”

  “He’s none of your—”

  “I’m the father.”

  My head snapped around. Ryder moved to my side, silver eyes locked on to Natalie. “Adam is my son.”

  Natalie’s confidence took a hit for the briefest moment as she lost her grin. “What? You?”

  “That’s right. I’ve known Valentina since before the academy. She got pregnant and gave birth to my son. We didn’t tell anyone because we don’t have to. Our kid isn’t your business.”

  I gazed at Ryder as he took my hand. I can’t believe he’s doing this for me—for us.

  Natalie looked unsure for a moment, but then the snarl slammed back into place. “If you’re the father, you’ll be on the birth certificate, or better yet, a quick paternity test will prove it.” She scoffed. “You think I buy your boyfriend’s little confession? The kid doesn’t even look like him. He’s making it up. Just like whoever you’ve got singing to the police is making it up.”

  “You’ll believe what you want to believe.” I turned from her and addressed my class, looking over the confused, angry, and sickly faces. “This is the truth. Scarlett LeBlanc was a horrible person who used her authority to hurt children. When I found out, she used her power as a Spade to hurt me. I don’t know why the Spades would defend someone like that—”

  “They’re not!” Natalie cried. “The Spades are about one thing and one thing only: protecting the academy. We’re the best school in the country, and we stay that way because Evergreen only allows the best. The Spades didn’t want a slutty, old-cock-loving afternoon special ruining our reputation.”

  I gave her a hard look. “Are you finished?”

  She scowled, but didn’t reply.

  “As I was saying,” I continued as I turned back around. “The Spades have decided to protect their own, but the problem is they are using you to do it. They speak through the Knights like puppets. They ask you to drive the marked out while they hide in the shadows with their motives. You decide who you will believe. You decide how you’re going to act, but I’ll tell you this: I’m not going anywhere. I won’t be driven out because those fuckers have gone too far.”

  My eyes passed over the crowd. “You shouldn’t have brought my son into this, Ace. You’ve made it my mission to hunt you down, expose you, and beat your ass. The truth will come out and you’ll remember this moment as your biggest fucking mistake.”

  Hot with rage, I turned my back and stalked to the door. Sofia had just put her arm around me when a noise from behind stopped us dead. The sounds didn’t make sense to me, and when I peered over my shoulder, the sight didn’t either.

  Half of the class had gotten to their feet and they were following me out. Across the room, Airi Tanaka finally rose from the table. She looked at Darren and her friends, then without a word, she climbed off the dais and fell in behind Juliet.

  The door swung shut on Natalie’s and Isabella’s shocked faces.

  “IT WAS INTENSE. THE whole thing was unreal. Half of the students showed their support for me.” I blew out a breath. “I still can’t believe it.”

  “I can’t believe that they all didn’t walk out,” Ezra countered.

  Walking back to the dorm and discovering Ezra had texted lifted my mood. I called him right away. It was great to hear his voice after everything that happened.

  I leaned back onto my pillows and curled my legs under me. “It sucks, but Eric, Claire, and Ciara did. Even Lola and Brian and they acted like beasts when I was marked. I guess there was good hiding behind their fear of the Spades. They’ve finally been pushed too far.”

  “Val, that’s good but... you know it’s not over, don’t you? Ace has come back and hit you hard. I can’t imagine what they’ll do now that half the class has been turned against them.”

  My mood was sinking faster than an exploded blimp. I knew he was right, but today had been a victory. If this was war; I needed more allies. “They’ll strike back, but I’ll be ready for it. The list is getting shorter, Ezra. No matter what happens, I’m going to find them and end the Spades for good. No one will su
ffer under their hands again.”

  “I’ve learned never to doubt you, Valentina Moon. If anyone is going to do it; it’s going to be you.”

  The smile returned to my lips. “Let’s stop talking about Ace. Tell me about you. How is your mom?”

  “She’s doing better—coming to terms with it. She wanted me to stay home for another week, but I’ll be back at school on Monday.”

  “Jaxson told me you’ve gone to the police.”

  “She insisted, and if it gets people to believe you, then I’ll do anything. Even though we both know their investigation will lead nowhere.”

  “I don’t know...” A thought detached itself from my subconscious. Something someone said had been nagging away at the back of my mind. “Their investigation won’t go anywhere... but ours might.”

  “What does that mean? Do you know something?”

  “Nothing for sure.” I shook my head. “Hey, we said we were going to give this a rest for a few minutes. About this weekend. Are we still—”

  “Yes,” he answered. “We are still on for this weekend. I’ve been waiting too long to be with you. We’re not putting this off for another second.”

  A smile played at my lips. “I’m glad to hear that. I miss you.”

  “I miss you too. I’ve got the whole weekend planned. I promise you’ll love it.”

  “I know I will.”

  “Ezra?” Amelia’s voice came through the phone. “Sweetie, are you almost done? I need to talk to you.”

  “I should go,” said Ezra. “I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  I hung up and placed my phone on the nightstand. It had been a long day, but sleep was way off. I padded out of my room and down to the first floor. Jaxson’s door was open. I stepped in front of the entrance and found him on his bed, talking on the phone like I was.

  I drank him in. Jaxson Van Zandt was truly gorgeous. His pants were low on his waist, allowing the band of his silk boxers to peek through. He wore no shirt which let my eyes travel over the bumps and ridges of his torso. I thought he was cute when he was fully shaved, but the style he sported now was perfect on him. His blond locks fell into his eyes and begged me to brush them away.

  It was hard to steal time with the boys with everything that was going on, but it was worth it to have even five minutes with them.

  “I know, Dad,” he said. Jaxson glanced up and waved when he saw me. “No, I want to be here. She’s gone. Right. Okay. I’ll talk to Evergreen. Good idea. Alright. Love you too. Bye.”

  Jaxson sighed as he hit end. “He’s been talking to Marcus and Amelia. He thinks he should have pulled me out of school too.”

  “Do you want to stay home? Get away from the craziness for a bit while you sort stuff out?”

  “Getting away from the craziness means getting away from you. I definitely don’t want that.” Jaxson heaved himself off the bed and snagged his shirt from the floor. “They’ve also been talking about hiring private investigators. They don’t trust the police to track her down themselves.”

  I stepped in as far as the ever-watching cameras would allow me. “We don’t want her to be tracked down.”

  Jaxson crossed the room and took my hands. They dangled between us as he leaned in until our noses brushed. “We started something that can’t be stopped. If we try, it will look suspicious. There’s no reason to think any investigation will lead to the cliffs.”

  “Unless Ace releases that video.”

  “I’ve been thinking about that.” Jaxson reached back and flicked off the light. “Come on. Let’s talk outside.”

  We slipped through the front door into the evening. The sun was beginning to set but there was still enough light out for us to paint the sky. Jaxson picked up where he left off when the dorm was at our backs.

  “Ace could have released that video at any time, but they haven’t. I don’t know what they want, but getting us in trouble with the police doesn’t seem to be it. Plus, it was an accident. None of us pushed her and if it came out now, people would see a predator screaming and threatening her victims. It would only support that LeBlanc isn’t innocent.”

  I nodded. What he was saying was making sense. “Ace has chosen to paint me as a liar and LeBlanc as the random person I accused. A video of her ripping my hair out and dragging me toward the edge of a cliff wouldn’t support that theory.”

  “Yes.” He moved in front of me, stopping me in my tracks. “We may not have to worry about the video, but we’re not in the clear. There is plenty more the Spades can do.”

  “I know.” I shook my head. “I can’t believe they would pull that crap with Mr. Garret. At least I know why Ace went silent on me. They were working overtime on how they would discredit me.”

  “Whoever is leading the Spades is twisted like I’ve never seen. You’d think it would be easy to spot someone like that.”

  I grasped his forearms. “We’re getting close, Jaxson. I can feel it. Somehow all of this fits together. I just need to make the connection.” I looked over my shoulder at the castle-like structure that was Evergreen Academy. “I’m going to expose the darkness that has been hiding beneath this school.”

  “I’M GLAD FOR A BREAK.” Sofia folded a pair of jeans and placed them in her bag. “It’s great we have more people on our side now, but it’s been feeling like a powder keg that is moments away from exploding.”

  “Can’t disagree with you there,” I muttered.

  The ban had continued for the marked and those on their side. We were barred from the cafeteria, library, and everywhere the remaining Knights—and the Spades who acted through them—could control. The difference now was that it was friend against friend, teammate against teammate, or even family against family. The sides had been chosen and anger and bitterness were brewing against those they felt had chosen wrong.

  “You heard Airi today,” Sofia continued. “Saying that she was a Knight too and she’s not going to stand for being kicked out of the cafeteria.”

  “I heard all the people agreeing with her too, but if we roll in there demanding a place, I doubt the other side will sit by quietly.”

  “They say this is what Walter did.” Her hands stilled in the middle of folding a blouse. “He turned people against the Spades. What if they try to hurt us? We can’t go everywhere as a group all the time.”

  “Yes, we can.” I crawled across her bed until she was looking me in the eye. “We’ll always watch out for each other. We’re a team.”

  She smiled. It was a tiny one and gone as quickly as it came, but it was there. “You’re right.”

  “Of course I’m right. So you focus on your weekend with Zane. I think pretty much everyone got a pass. We’re all taking a break from this place.”

  “Zane and I are going to have my house to ourselves. There is a problem with one of the overseas deals and Mom went to meet Dad.” Sofia lowered her voice. “But that’s not the interesting part. Tomorrow night, Zane and I are going to double-date with Kai... and Paisley.”

  “Are you serious? He asked her out?”

  “Yep. About time, am I right? They don’t want anyone to make a big deal of it while they’re figuring it out so we’ve been sworn to secrecy.” She shrugged. “But I tell you everything so now you know.”

  I laughed. “You do tell me everything. You gave me graphic details about that thing Zane did on the night of your anniversary. I couldn’t look at him for a week without blushing.”

  “I couldn’t look at him for a week without tearing his clothes off. Hopefully there will be more of that tonight.” She winked. “For you too.”

  I flopped back onto the sheets. “I can’t wait to see Ezra. It’s weird being at school without him.”

  “What about Maverick? How is he doing?”

  “We’ve talked every night since Tuesday. He’s sure he’ll be back next week, but doesn’t know what day.”

  “It’s crazy they both got food poisoning.”

  “Yeah,” I replie
d, averting my eyes. “Crazy.”

  Sofia packed up the rest of her things and we went down to the front room. Sofia wasn’t lying about everyone getting away. Bags littered the floor and people were running around getting last-minute things and pulling on their jackets.

  “Zane!” Kai shouted down the hall. “Get your ass out there. The car’s waiting in front of the gates.”

  “So is mine.” Paisley gave Sofia and me a hug. “Have a good weekend, Val.” She let go and dashed for the door. I saw her throw Kai a secret smile on the way.

  A hand snaked around my waist as Jaxson kissed my temple. “Dad wants me home so I’m heading out too. I’ll call you.”

  I twisted around to give him a proper kiss on the lips. He left after we broke apart and I spotted Ryder coming down the hall.

  “You’re going home too?”

  He nodded. Ryder walked up to me and pressed his mouth to my ear. “I’ve been thinking I need to have a talk with Mom.”

  “You mean...?”

  He didn’t go on. He just brushed his lips against my cheek. He was gone before the tingling sensation went away.

  “Let’s go, Val,” said Sofia. “I’m more than ready to get out of here.”

  I didn’t need to be told twice. The last ones out, I locked the door behind us and we headed down the hill to the wrought-iron gates. Sofia and I split up at the sidewalk, waving goodbye as she made for her driver and I went up to Ezra.

  I broke into a run when that grin crossed his handsome face. I jumped into his arms and he caught me and swung me around.

  “I guess you missed me.”

  “So much.” I squeezed him tight. “I can’t wait to start our weekend.”

  “It starts now.”

  I squealed when he suddenly snagged me under the legs. Bridal-style, he carried me to the car and placed me on the seat. The driver took off the second he closed the door.

  “What are we going to do?” I asked as I snuggled into his side.

  “I owe you two more labors.”

  “What?” I drew back and looked him in the face. “Ezra, I love that you guys wanted to do that for me, but trust me, I know you’re sorry and you know that I’ve forgiven you. You don’t have to do them anymore.”