They all turned to me.
“Winning Maddison back. I deserve her anger, and she’s so stubborn. I’m not sure she’ll ever let it go.”
Jesse smiled, a genuine smile for once. “She’s also smart, strong, and compassionate. She will understand. Just tell her the truth and let her know that we will prove our love and loyalty to her.”
I would do more than that.
35
The night of the dance, I slept a full night, waking with a heavy heart around lunchtime. There were no classes today, and I wondered if I could just stay in bed. Everyone needed a mental health day on occasion. I’d been saying for a while now that I was due.
Only the universe apparently disagreed, because just as I started to drift off there was a heavy-handed knock on the door. I waited a few minutes to see if Ilia or Larissa were going to just barge in, but they didn’t.
That meant it was someone else.
With a sigh, I dragged myself out of bed just as another knock sounded. “Be right there,” I shouted, scrounging around the clothes on my floor to try and find something to wear. I usually slept naked or just in panties. As annoyed as I was, there was no reason to flash them my goods.
Finally I found a band shirt that didn’t smell bad and some sweatpants. “Yes,” I said in annoyance as I pulled my door open. Princeps Jones was there, and I paused because this was unusual.
“Atlantis?” I said quickly, not having any other idea what it might be.
He shook his head. “No, and I’m sorry to disturb you so early, but I just got a call through about Kate and Chellie’s trial. It’s been moved up to tomorrow, so we need to head to Germany.”
I swallowed hard.Shit.“Okay, totally was not expecting that. I’m being called as a witness?”
He nodded. “Yes. You and Asher will need to appear and give testimony. I was hoping your written statement would be enough, but apparently they’ve had a few cases of fraud in regard to this method lately, even when using magical parchment. For a trial like this, the council is insisting we have live witness statements.”
I was slow this morning, because it took me a few seconds to register that he’d said my name and Asher’s.
“Asher is coming too?”
I didn’t know why I asked. Of course he was. He was a key witness in this entire thing too.Fuck.
Princeps Jones nodded and then checked his watch. “Yes! And the plane leaves in forty minutes. Pack something businesslike for the trial and a few changes of clothing, because I’m not sure exactly how long we’ll stay.”
He turned to leave, calling back over his shoulder. “Larissa organized a new phone for you as well. I left it on your bed. Meet you at the front entrance asap.”
He left, and I looked at my bed in surprise.How...?Sure enough, there was as shiny new smartphone sitting there.Vampire speed.
Seriously. Sometimes this new world I’d found myself in was scary as fuck.Sometimes.Ha!
Remembering that this was urgent, I grabbed my toiletries and some comfy clothes for travel and rushed to the bathroom. Three minutes later, I was somewhat clean and awake, teeth brushed and clothes on. I didn’t bother with makeup, because there was no time, but I threw a small bag into my overnight case for the trial. No way was I letting those bitches see me looking like a bedraggled mess. Not when they’d kidnapped me and almost got Asher and me killed. It amused me that Connor wasn’t coming as well, since he was basically the dickhead behind the kidnapping, but as always he’d managed to slip under the radar. Shera took the blame for that, and Connor was the poor deluded Arterian.
Eh, whatever. This trial was about the Clover bitches. I’d worry about Connor and his devious ways later.
Fifteen minutes later, I was hurrying with my black bag over my shoulder, staring longingly at the food in the commons. I was tempted to just snatch something as I ran past—they could just order again. But most probably, with this crowd, all I’d get was a fight and I had no time for that.
When I reached the entrance, Princeps Jones and Asher were both there. “Let’s go,” Jones said, looking relieved. We crossed over the moat bridge and hurried through the barrier. On the other side, there was a step-through waiting.
“I can open one inside the grounds,” I reminded the princeps.
He shot me a small smile. “Yes, I know, my dear. But occasionally I like to uphold the rules of the Academy. You know, set an example.”
A snort of laughter left me. “Uh, yeah. Sorry about that.”
He waved me off, and I knew he wasn’t really upset about all the special liberties I took here. The step-through sent us to the nearby supe-only airport, the same one Asher’s plane was kept at, and the Academy planes, one of which was waiting for us on the runway, already prepped and ready to go. Asher hadn’t said a word to me, and I’d been avoiding eye contact while pretending to have a lot of important thoughts that had nothing to do with the faded, worn jeans hugging his long, muscular legs, or the brown leather jacket giving him a rakish and sexy look.
Nope. I was above such thoughts.
