Blackstone Academy: The Rogue

20. Troy Roman

Troy P.O.V

Date: October 2, 2238

The conversation with Dean Winston stayed at the forefront of my mind the entire elevator ride down to the ground floor. In particular, his question about loyalty. Something I'd never questioned of any of my friends, new and old alike. They'd never given me a reason to. That was until today. I-

"Hello? Troy!" Nova's voice penetrated my thoughts as she waved a hand in front of my face.

I straightened from the wall, blinking away the haze clouding my vision. "Yeah?" I muttered, only now realizing the elevator had come to a stop

"Are you alright? You were just staring into space."

"Yeah, I'm fine." The slight warble in my voice contradicted my words, earning a raised eyebrow from her.

"Troy, I've known you long enough to tell when you're lying, so... you might as well just tell me."

I let out a deep breath before relaying the conversation with Dean Winston. All of it, not leaving out one detail. And by the time I finished, she stood silently in utter shock, but it quickly morphed into anger.

"How could they-they... Ugh!" She squeezed her eyes shut, resting her head against the wall as she slowly breathed in and out. After a minute had passed, she slowly reopened her eyes. "So... do you think Kayden had something to do with Ms. Jacob's attack?"

"I don't know, but I'm about to find out." I mashed the button for the basement. The only way to know the truth and ease my doubts was to speak with Kayden and let him explain.

"Okay, let me know what happens." She stepped forward, reaching for the button to open the elevator doors, but I grabbed her hand and stopped her.

"What do you mean? You're going with me."

"Oh, no, no, no, no. You've lost your damn mind if you think I'm going back down there. You do realize they've doubled the guards since what happened, right?"

I lazily shrugged one shoulder. "Yeah, so?"

"So?! That means it increases the chances of us getting caught. And this time, Maverick might not save us."

"Yeah, but we still have to try. And if we do run into guards, we can say we accidentally pressed the wrong button."

"Uh-huh, because there are just so many floors to choose from." She replied sarcastically, waving her hand at the eight buttons on the keypad.

Only four of them lead to a floor in the building. While two were the alarm and the emergency stop button. The last two buttons were for opening and closing the elevator doors.

When the elevator arrived, I looked out the doors into the empty hall and whispered, "See. No guards. You were worried for nothing."

"Yeah, yeah. You got lucky." She muttered.

I started to step out, but she grabbed my arm. "Wait. Here." She said, handing me a ragged baseball cap and a pair of sunglasses. "I forgot to return these to Jax."

"You had these? He tore up our dorm room, looking for them." I slipped the glasses into my pocket and placed the cap on my head. "I'll take them to him when we finish."

She nodded and mumbled a quick thank you before we approached the door. Kayden's keycard that I somehow still managed to have gained us quick access inside. There wasn't a soul in sight as we headed down the hallway to the left.

"Are you sure he's here?" She asked as we passed the lab room we'd seen last time we were here. But unlike the last time, the windows were shuttered.

"Ye-"