The Only Faith [boyxboy]

The Only Faith {23}

                The next day, we all acted normal in our classes. The day miraculously passed without incident, but no one had heard anything more about the person being blamed for the fire alarm incident. Rumors were still flying about Leon's secret, but there were too many for any single one to be credited as correct.

                We went back to the dorm building, waiting until Leon came into the room. Judging by the way he looked, I'd doubt if he'd even slept an hour last night.

                "Do you have the stuff?" Beckett asked once Leon had locked the door.

                Leon nodded and dropped his backpack onto my desk. He unzipped it and pulled out several papers, hesitating before turning to face us.

                "I found some pictures of my sister drinking underage," he said. "I got proof that both my father and brother knew about the abuse happening to the students. Um, actually..."

                He held up the papers. Beckett raised an eyebrow, waiting for an explanation.

                "Well, my dad's not an idiot. Either he's never emailed anything concrete or he's deleted the emails. But I found the evidence that pins my brother as guilty in a case dealing with a girl named Bianca Keene. I found handwritten notes in her file. And the evidence pinning my father are handwritten letters I found in Casimir Warrick's file," Leon said.

                Beckett looked surprised. "Kaz? What did the letters say?"

                "My dad was writing back and forth with some of Kaz's teachers. They were listing who Kaz's friends were and what topics in class they were sensitive to." Leon's face was pale as he looked through the letters. "One of them is from Mr. Sudlow saying Kaz froze up when he grabbed Kaz's neck, and my dad told him to keep at it when Kaz misbehaved. Kaz's friends are also mentioned in here. Um, you're in here, Beckett. My dad ordered them to leave you alone, though."

                "Because of my father," Beckett said, expression darkening.

                "He said your brother Emmett would keep you under control," Leon said, passing the papers to Beckett.

                Beckett's eyes scanned through them, growing angrier. "They're so shitty!" he snapped.

                "Your dad didn't get rid of these papers?" Tessa asked in surprise.

                Leon shook his head. "He keeps all past files locked away in his study at home. You can't get at them without the right key and a passcode. I only got these by sneaking the keys after my family was asleep. I saw him put in the code for that particular section when he first had me assigned to watching Beckett."

                "We burned the files Constance had on us," Beckett said. "We broke into his office six years ago, stole the files, and set them on fire."

                "He wouldn't have kept these notes in his office. Too risky. He probably reconstructed your files using the online versions. He likes to have a paper copy," Leon explained.

                Beckett looked at the letters in his hands again. "These prove he knew what the teachers were doing to my friends. He encouraged it." His grip on the papers tightened. "Even Kaz never knew about these letters. He was abused before he came to this Academy and Constance used that to have weak spots so he could control Kaz."

                "And the Prince condones that," Fagan said. "So glad we have him on our side."

                "He was 11 when Beckett's friends were being abused," I said. "What did you want him to do? Walk in there and hope his childish innocence would be enough to stop the abuse?"