“She’s on her way back to the campus, pursued, I believe, by her bodyguard,” she said, straightening her notepad on the desktop.
There’s a knock on the door, and it opens, two guards escort Kon, Aleks, and Mariya inside.
“Ah, and we add Miss Morozova to the list, of course. Come in,” the Dean says genially, “Mr. Toscano is on the hot seat, so you may all be comfortable on the couches.”
One of the guards whispers in her ear, and she nods. “Fetch Dr. Giardo and some clean clothes and bring her here.”
“Are you talking about Tatiana?” I stood up, nearly knocking the chair over, “Is she hurt? What happened?”
“Be seated, Mr. Toscano,” the Dean says, each word encased in ice. “Miss Aslanova is fine. Dr. Giardo is only here as a precaution.”
The door to the antechamber opens, and I can faintly hear Tati speaking to Dr. Giardo and the loud, strident tones of Camilla. Looking over at Mariya, I raise my eyebrows.
“She wasn’t helping us look,” she whispers.
Camilla’s voice is cut off abruptly, like someone gagged her. The Dean smiles pleasantly. “Miss Aslanova is in somedishabille,Miss Morozova, you may be excused to help her change. And no, Mr. Toscano, she is uninjured and you will not rise from that chair.”
Mariya heads out the door, and we all wait in painful silence for another five minutes. When a guard escorts Tatiana in, I ignore the Dean’s order and hurry over to help her sit down in an armchair by the fire. She’s wearing large, shapeless sweatpants and a t-shirt, and her face is wet.
“Baby, what happened?” I whisper, cupping her cheek.
She leans into my hand. “I’m all right.”
I kneel next to her and Lev enters the room, standing behind her.
“Well then, we’re all here,” the Dean says pleasantly. “As I was saying to Mr. Toscano, I’m disappointed in you all, assuming that I would not be keeping track of unusual activity on campus. Miss Aslanova was abducted by Miss Boucher and two other students who belong to her father’s organization. She was drugged with chloroform, but vomited rather violently and regained consciousness before they arrived at the airstrip on the island. She was able to alert Mr. Khorkina, who dispatched most of the group before my guards intercepted the rest and brought them here.”
She looked at Lev. “Impressive, really. There will always be a position here for you if you ever wish to change your employ.” He smiled graciously.
“Well then,” she says, folding her hands on the desk, “now that we have caught up on recent events, let’s address why we are here. You three murdered Mateo Costa tonight and threw him over the cliffs.”
“I did it,” I interrupt her. “They knew nothing about it, I take complete responsibility.”
“Hush, Mr. Toscano, I did not ask for your input,” she said. “Here at the Ares Academy, I have a very strict two-strike system. Not for silly little things like fights, of course, but attempted rape and attempted blackmail and murder? That falls under my guidelines for termination of a student. Not expulsion. Termination.”
The room is completely silent when she finishes speaking, so the gunshot in the antechamber is painfully loud. Mariya jumps and lets out a little shriek.
“Miss Boucher also falls under this category with attempted kidnapping and intent to cause severe bodily harm,” the Dean continues casually. “Now then, I believe Mr. Khorkina has the floor?”
He looks a little surprised, but nods to her. “Thank you. Tatiana, I was already awake when your emergency alert went off, that’s how I found you so quickly. Well done for keeping your head, even drugged. Your brothers have been kidnapped.”
“What?” she gasped.
“I’m sorry.” Lev said, “An hour ago, I received this from the Bratva’sDerzhatel Obshchaka-”
“Viktor?” she interrupts, trying to focus.
“Yes. He sent me this video.” He holds up the phone for her, and Kon, Mariya, and Aleks risk the Dean’s wrath to crowd in behind her.
It’s a video of Tati’s brothers, stripped to the waist and tied with their hands attached to hooks set in a concrete ceiling. They’re both looking beat up and bloody, but conscious.
“The kidnappers are demanding possession of you, and one hundred million dollars within twenty-four hours or they will kill Ilia slowly and very painfully. If the demands are not met within the following twelve hours, they will torture and kill Roman,” he said, mouth tight and furious.
“Where do I need to go?” Tatiana whispers.
“You’re not going anywhere, that is not happening!” I snarl.
“No need,” Aleks says. “I know where this is.”
