Fallen University: Year Three

Or were they trying to turn the students against us because of that very thing? What were they more pissed about—that we’d missed our exams, or that a bunch of untried students had succeeded where they had failed?

I watched the faces we passed, keeping my own features as expressionless as possible.

This was clearly overkill. The students here already didn’t like us. Somehow, everybody around us had gotten it twisted, like we were to blame for all the shit that’d gone down just because we happened to be around to clean up the mess. We had no friends here.

Well… except one.

“Wait! Stop! You can’t do this!” Hannah pushed through the crowd and stood in front of us, forcing the Custodians to stop. Her eyes were flashing and her face was flushed. She stood tall and looked Clipboard right in the eye. “They didn’t just skip their finals to go get ice cream, you know it. They had a damn good reason for leaving. They’re the heroes here, don’t you see that? They saved the school, and they saved one of our own.”

“Get out of the way, please. This is official business.” The lead Custodian took a step forward, but Hannah didn’t budge. Her chin trembled for a moment like she was about to cry, but she recovered quickly.

“Really?” Her voice grew quieter in disbelief, which echoed through every empathic being around. “You’re really going to punish them for putting the safety of their fellow students and the life of their friend ahead of their own?”

The Custodian said nothing, but his stony expression spoke volumes.

Hannah blinked, looking heartbroken and horrified. Then she nodded. “I see. The rules are more important than people’s lives. Well, let me tell you something, sir. If you banish Piper and her men, you better damn well banish me too. Because I will never adhere to that code. Never.”

I shook my head at her, silently willing her to shut her mouth. She ignored me.

“She doesn’t mean that,” I said quickly. “Hannah, you don’t mean that. You love ethics class, you always get the high scores. You know how to follow rules. You’re a veritable Eagle Scout. Now shut up.”

She turned those liquid amber eyes at me, and her stubborn mouth softened into a gentle smile.

“You see? That. She’s doing it again, putting herself in harm’s way to help someone else. Trying to keep people she cares about safe. And you all think it’s a bad thing.” She swallowed hard, her eyes shining. “I know where I stand.”

“Come on, Hannah, don’t do this,” I said between my teeth. My heart was hammering so hard I thought it might crash right through my ribs. “You don’t know what it’s like there.”

“Full of people like you who wouldn’t toe the line at the expense of their friends, I imagine,” she said with a cheeky little grin. She tossed her head and looked back at the Custodian. “Well?”

“You’ve convinced me,” Clipboard said dryly. “Let’s go.”

He grabbed her arm and pulled her along with us.

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.

My mind scrambled for a way to get her out of this, but I couldn’t come up with anything. It was too late now. She’d thrown down the challenge to the Custodians, and they’d made their move.

Damn it, Hannah, why did you have to go and be noble out loud? Keep that shit in your diary like the rest of us, for God’s sake.

I shot a look at Toland, but the headmaster refused to meet my gaze. He looked miserable, the spineless coward. He knew we were on the right side of this whole mess. If he had any character at all he’d stand up for us, but I guessed that was too much to hope for. I knew his hands were tied by his oath, and I knew he did care about his students. But I wished he was willing to stick his neck out for us. How he felt about this didn’t matter if he didn’t stand up and say shit.

“Make way for the banished!”

The Custodian’s stupid voice echoed in the stupid chamber and all of the stupid students followed us like a bunch of stupid sheep.

I assumed we’d be led to the auditorium or the cafeteria, but no. These dramatic-ass bitches had to take us down to a sub-basement dungeon that I hadn’t even known existed until that very moment. It was like the interrogation room I’d been brought to a few times, but way worse. Dark curtains covered the walls, hiding God-knew-what, and various torture devices and shackles sat theatrically around. I didn’t imagine that they had been used recently, but holy shit. Why were they in the school in the first place?

The floor was a boring gray slab—all except the very center, which was a purple circle with an artistic flame in the middle.

Oh, gee, wonder what that’s for?

A bunch of curious students had followed us inside, and no one made a move to stop them as they gawped at us. Hannah and the guys and I were placed around the circle, our backs to the crowd, facing one another. Clipboard called for silence—unnecessary, since no one was talking—and started to read from his clipboard.

“Piper Lawless, Xero Ashwood, Kingston Reed, Kai Sumida, Jayce Carter, and—what was your name?”

“Hannah Osmond.”

“And Hannah Osmond. You have been found guilty by the Committee of Custodians of crimes against humanity and the Custodian oath. Those crimes are as follows.” He swept his gaze over all of us, his voice ringing out through the room as he listed off our supposed crimes. “Conspiring with inhabitants of the underworld. Communicating with inhabitants of the underworld. Disregarding school rules and regulations. Compromising the safety and security of Fallen University and its residents. Willfully, and with full awareness of the consequences, skipping final examinations. Conspiring with rule-breakers. Speaking out against the Custodians before your peers. You are hereby deemed security risks, as you have proved to be uncontrollable.”