As I was ushered out of the social room, I heard Kris calling my name and I turned to catch a glimpse of her. She had to tell me something—I could see the urgency in her eyes. But I was yanked away before she could say another word.

Chapter Eight

Commander Pete Hudson had left us to wait for the verdict in a small waiting area in the Court Guard Headquarters. Vlad had immediately started furiously texting someone. The mystery of who he was texting was solved the moment Adrian strode into the waiting area like he owned the place, and sat down on the other side of me, sandwiching me between the two guys.

“Damn. What a rebel, Montgomery,” Adrian said.

“Yeah, yeah. Go on, continue winding me up and I’ll have to add your name to the bottom of my long list of rebellion.” Two Court Guards were on the phone with the Court Hospital to find out how much damage I had caused. “You know,”—I turned to Vlad and gave him a look—“you just earned a new nickname. I’m calling you General from now on for putting Commander Hudson in his place.” I rubbed my wrist, still feeling how hard Commander Hudson had gripped me.

“Can you not?” he said.

“You’ll just have to deal with it, General. Sort of like how I’ve told you not to call me Avy and you never listened. Two can play that game.”

We fell into silence and the whole thing felt more real. The Court Guards hovered over the administrative desk as I waited for one of them to come over and drop the bomb. Vlad must have noticed me staring at them anxiously because the next thing I knew, he fished his phone out of his pocket and said, “I’m calling your father.”

“Whoa, whoa, hold on a sec there, General.” I held up both hands in surrender as I stared at his phone, hoping there was no signal here. “No one is saying anything to my dad.”

“Listen, Avy, this is serious. And since you’re under eighteen, a parent needs to be notified.”

I wasn’t happy about it, but I had no other choice. It was only a matter of time before my parents were informed, anyway. I suppose it would be better coming from Vlad than Commander Hudson. Vlad walked off to make the call.

“Man, this sure feels nostalgic. It’s been a while,” said Adrian as he took in the surroundings.

I couldn’t help but smile—I needed a dose of levity, and I was glad he was feeling less crusty than he had been after running into Marsela. “What? You’ve been to jail before? Shocker.”

Adrian laughed. “Not just me. Vlad was here too.” I looked at Vlad, who had just gotten off the phone. Adrian must be joking.

“Vlad was in jail? What for?” I asked.