Fallen University: Year Three

Finally, Jayce shook his head. “Nah. It doesn’t feel good enough. Like, it’s not a big enough word, y’know?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I do know.”

“I’ll have to think about that and get back to you,” he said, and I could hear the grin in his voice.

“Okay. I can’t wait to hear what you come up with.”

Maybe it was a dumb conversation to have as we were marched through the Custodian headquarters, still not entirely sure what they planned to do with us. But it was a moment of normalcy and sweetness that I’d been craving. A moment that reminded me why we were doing all this, reminded me that there could be something really good on the other side of this terrifying, seemingly insurmountable challenge.

If we survived it, anyway.

Before Jayce could say anything else, we reached our destination—a large room that looked like it doubled as the director’s office and a sort of command center. We were ushered inside, and a little flame of hope lit in my chest when I noticed that most of the guards who’d been escorting us left the room.

Do they trust us? Really?

Director Price crossed around the large desk on one side of the room and sat down behind it. Gregory came to stand to one side of the desk, and the rest of us gathered in front of it.

The older woman threaded her fingers together, steeling her index fingers and tapping them against her lips as she regarded us.

“Believe it or not, given the amount of inefficiency in this organization”—she shot me a pointed stare, and I blinked, unable to tell whether she was joking or completely pissed that I’d insulted the Custodians—“your news doesn’t come as a total surprise to us.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well, we’ve been aware for quite some time that Gavriel was planning some kind of attack. We knew that simply infiltrating earth in greater numbers wouldn’t be enough to appease him. However, we did not know he was planning to use one of the Great Portals to invade. And we certainly were not aware that he planned to lure us into a trap.”

“So… you believe us?”

I almost didn’t want to ask the question, in case putting it into words made her suddenly reconsider her stance, but Director Price just nodded once.

“You all passed your interrogations with no lies detected. So did Mr. Gaede.” She jerked her chin behind us to where Dru stood by the door. “Nothing is ever one hundred percent certain in this world, but I do believe you are telling the truth. Not only because no lies were found, but because it jives with what we already know. It fills in several pieces of a puzzle we’ve been trying to complete, and the pieces fit.”

My knees felt like they’d gone boneless. I wished there was a chair I could sink into, but since there wasn’t, I locked my legs and straightened my shoulders, determined not to collapse out of relief.

“I’m… I’m really glad to hear that,” I said slowly. “Because the thing is, we didn’t come here just to tell you what Gavriel has up his sleeve. I have an idea of how we might be able to stop him, but we would need your help. The help and resources of the entire Custodian organization.”

Around me, the guys all stiffened. I hadn’t had a chance to fill them in on my idea yet, since it’d only just taken solid shape in my mind. I’d been working on it slowly ever since our phone call with Michael, and it’d finally clicked into place.

Director Price cocked her head at me.

“And what might this plan be?”

I took a step forward, and my men and Hannah did too, moving with me so that we presented a single, united front. They might not know the specifics of my plan yet, but they believed in me. They had faith in me.

And even more shockingly, for the first time in a long time, I had faith in myself.

“You probably aren’t gonna like this,” I warned Director Price. “But hear me out…”

Chapter Twenty-Six

I was right.

Director Price didn’t like the plan.

And Gregory, Mr. Fucking Clipboard himself, hated it.

But as I spoke, I could feel the guys around me nodding, beginning to agree with me. Hannah jumped on board, and eventually even Dru stepped forward to tell Director Price that while my plan might not be perfect, it also might literally be the only shot we had.

I wasn’t sure that was actually much of a vote of confidence, but it seemed to convince the director.